General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe GOP's problem is, Trump has undone the unification orchestrated by Rove/GWB.
GWB "won" in 2000 because Karl Rove managed to get all 3 wings of the Republican Party together: the religious, the tax-cutters, the national-security hawks.
This alliance worked during GWB's reign, because the common enemy islamic terrorism united them.
This alliance worked during Obama's reign, because the common enemy Obama united them.
Except that new wings of the Republican Party appeared:
* The Tea Party, Freedom Caucus, whatever you name it, were now the crazy and rabid part of the tax-cutters.
* Obama-hatred gave birth to a whole new world of conspiracy-theories. The Alt-Right.
* And at the same time the religious wing massively lost influence, because their votes were now expendable and taken for granted. As if they have any other choice than voting republican...
Trump's election has cracked the Republican Party.
* The religious wing is desperately trying to co-opt Trump, to keep up the illusion that they matter.
* The national-security hawks (McCain, Graham...) are disgusted by Trump's incompetence.
* The fiscal conservative wing is now cracked into a moderate wing and the burn-it-down Freedom Caucus.
* The Alt-Right is now in direct competition with the Republican Party for the hearts and minds of republican voters.
There is no common enemy to unite them.
No Obama.
No Hillary Clinton.
And Trump's "my-way-or-the-highway" style of government offers no vision that could attract critics to join him.
Turbineguy
(37,372 posts)I felt that Hillary Clinton would be the glue that held them together.
truebluegreen
(9,033 posts)Without a common enemy they are now shooting at each other.
iluvtennis
(19,876 posts)dchill
(38,546 posts)LiberalLovinLug
(14,176 posts)I think even now Bannon and co. are planning a new Reichstag.
That or if they hear whispers of plans for a big attack on US soil by ISIS, they'll gladly lay out the breadcrumbs and look the other way.
truebluegreen
(9,033 posts)We have to be prepared to counter the hysteria, as we were not on 9/11. This time we have to be ready to throw their incompetence--at best--in their faces.
mikeysnot
(4,757 posts)The Daily show segment was eye opening. They still want to "lock Her Up" for "whatever"...
There is absolutely no reason to try and talk logic to a trump supporter.
Waste of time.
truebluegreen
(9,033 posts)(everybody has those, even Dimson Bush) and then there are those who voted for him with reservations. Imo we can reach those...although we may not have to: the tangerine shitgibbon is doing a good job of turning them away already.
dalton99a
(81,599 posts)certainot
(9,090 posts)somewhere soon
keithbvadu2
(36,937 posts)Trump's bff Putin has free reign.
Ilsa
(61,698 posts)their AHC bill that they had to vote for it, they had no choice, one of the representatives said, "No one has tried to tell me what to do since I was 18. That person was my father. I didn't listen to him, either."
Bannon is toast on Capitol Hill. Only a matter of time before Kushner or Preibus gets rid of him.
truebluegreen
(9,033 posts)I'm guessing the discrediting of Bannon and the elevation of Kushner will not sit too well with the alt-right.
dchill
(38,546 posts)by anyone but Putin. Think about it...
calimary
(81,507 posts)exert influence. He won't willingly climb down from the biggest dream job he's ever dared to imagine. This has been his wet-dream for YEARS, being in a position this powerful and influential and so loaded with possibilities.
He won't give it up without a murderously dirty fight, and I further suspect, once he realizes it's a losing effort, he'd try to take as many of his adversaries as possible down with him.
I'd expect he wouldn't give this up and go quietly. He seems like the type whose mentality is - "if I have to shed blood, YOU'RE gonna shed MORE."
unblock
(52,331 posts)hate radio and foxnews have promoted bigotry and extremism.
gerrymandering has promoted hyper-partisanship
an irresponsible m$m has promoted, well, self-promotion and angry rhetoric over substantive policy.
look particularly at the struggles the speaker of the house has had for a long time keeping the republican caucus together. ryan's had problems but boehner was non-stop drama trying to hold them together.
some of these problems have been in the works for a long, long time.
the main difference now is that it's gotten a lot worse over the last 8 years and it's not as obvious when you're not the governing party. they were free to pass bills they knew would get vetoed, for instance. now they have to try to write bills that actually work.
Fast Walker 52
(7,723 posts)gordianot
(15,245 posts)None of them are in a position to deliver more tax cuts to the ultra rich and oligarchs which was the unifying purpose of the Republican coalition.
Sunlei
(22,651 posts)He wouldn't even be missed except by the daily freak show fans and his family.
DetlefK
(16,423 posts)The Republican Party has whipped up the base and the result was the no-compromise Tea Party.
Trump has whipped up the base and the result was the no-compromise Alt-Right.
There is no going back. Even if Trump were to die tomorrow of a heart-attack, the crazies would still be around and demand to be catered to.
Sunlei
(22,651 posts)GliderGuider
(21,088 posts)That mandate obviously doesn't come from the American electorate. It's part and parcel of Putin's Duginist geopolitical agenda: to fracture, weaken. destabilize, and isolate America by any and all means available. So far, so good.
BadgerMom
(2,771 posts)He has a PhD from Stanford in Russian history. He was raised in evangelicalism but left it. He has some fascinating and rather frightening threads. After reading him, I wish I believed the religious right was diminished. Unfortunately, it seems they've allied themselves with Russian Orthodoxy and the alt-right. It's a devil's brew.
Really, read him.
certainot
(9,090 posts)manifestations of talk radio psyops and their only success comes from their being ignored by dems/liberals/left.
limbaugh and sons will ultimately steer that talk radio base to help putin/trump
he'll be trying to play neutral, take no blame for anything, inoculate the base from coming to the correct conclusions, pretend it's up to the listener to interpret it their own way, and then steer them where they're supposed to go.
i cna't listen any more and it sounds like at this point it's ryan's fault not trump, with the democrats the main culprits
Kablooie
(18,641 posts)A volunteer is secretly surgically altered to be alien-like.
He was to land his space ship in Washington and declare to the world that an alien invasion was imminent.
This would create a false enemy and pull all the warring governments together.
The ultimate false flag.
Be wary of any large threat to America right now.
(BTW: The show ended with the "alien's" space ship going off course and instead of landing in Washington, landed in an isolated farmer's field. As he emerged from his ship the farmer shot him. )
titaniumsalute
(4,742 posts)So they preach preach preach about the stuff they will do. Mexican Walls, immigration control, lowering taxes, repeal Obamacare.
Well once they are in office for 2 years there will be an election. If not wall is built (or some little shell of a wall) that won't be good. If taxes aren't lower for the normal working class that won't be good. The immigration stuff has already been very unpopular and a fantasy pipe dream. They didn' repeal Obamacare. None of this will be good for the right wing. Hopefully many of the voters from 2016 will just be exhausted of over promising and under delivering.
Wounded Bear
(58,721 posts)(doesn't anything fucked up about Repubs? )
He started the famous 11th Commandment: Thou shalt not speak evil of a fellow Republican.
Since then, the Party has drifted farther and farther to the right, selling out to religious fanatics and libertarian anti-government assholes who want to burn it all down, but don't say nothing bad about your fellow Repubs!
Until Repubs learn to disagree publicly and coherently, they will remain the disruptive, destructive force that they are now.
LiberalLovinLug
(14,176 posts)IronLionZion
(45,540 posts)and a national security party and split their votes. Trump needs to focus his efforts on punishing Republicans who won't join him. He needs to stew about it
Tatiana
(14,167 posts)Of course, we know there is no such thing.
The Trump cabal... their motto is literally "F You!"
babylonsister
(171,094 posts)and his staff is equally nutzo.