The real issue isn't Donald Trump. It's his party.

[babylonsister]

https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/04/politics/republicans-gop-donald-trump/index.html?fbclid=IwAR3CUAJHwpf4x_WmCKgoQe-LiOfp5tCKfWD0dVmw3wAv-f1qKuc8vALMwqk

The real issue isn't Donald Trump. It's his party.
Chris Cillizza
Analysis by Chris Cillizza, CNN Editor-at-large
Updated 12:34 PM ET, Fri October 4, 2019

snip//

As Tim Alberta, who wrote the seminal book on how the Republican Party reacted to Trump's hostile takeover, put it on Twitter Friday morning:

"Barack Obama stands in front of the White House.
"With the entire world watching, he declares, 'China should start an investigation into the Romneys.'
"Republicans wouldn't just call for impeachment. They would call for charges of treason."

Yeah, that about covers it. And speaks to one of the most underplayed narratives of the first three-ish years of Trump's presidency: The total and complete capitulation of the Republican Party's elected leaders to the cult of personality that is Donald Trump.

Trump's brand of conservatism -- as I've noted many times -- is hugely far afield from the vision of the movement most Republican elected officials once espoused. Trump cares little for debts and deficits, and his protectionist view on trade runs directly counter to the free trade policies advocated by Republicans in the not-at-all distant past. His turbulent personal life -- and coarseness in communication -- stand in stark contrast to the once-proud evangelical wing of the party.

And yet, even as his actions in office grow more and more erratic and without historical precedent, the party stays united behind him.

Why? Simple! Fear.

Every GOP elected official lives in fear of becoming the next Jeff Flake or Justin Amash -- conservative Republicans in good standing with the party until they decided to publicly criticize Trump for something or other. The President pounced, his base attacked and both men found themselves in deeply precarious political predicaments.

Fear of being "Flaked" explains, for example, Sen. Lindsey Graham's (R-South Carolina) absolute and total about-face on Trump. Ditto Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul. And dozens and dozens of other Republican elected officials who voiced deep concern about the idea of Trump even being their party's nominee in 2016 -- much less the President of the United States.

If political survival is your only goal, then what Republicans are doing vis a vis Trump is not only fine, but right. Of course, leadership is a very different thing than what we are seeing out of Republican elected officials at the moment.

And there is the very real possibility that the damage Trump is doing to the party (let alone the country) will have impacts that last well after he is gone from office -- and come back to haunt those Republicans who stood silently by.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

1. the cult of disinformation has created the modern GOPer

They are immersed. They can't see anything except threats to their power.

[lapfog_1]

2. something like 25 million adults

have been made mentally ill by decades of right wing radio and faux news

[Newest Reality]

3. It's...

It's a codependent relationship. Trump is not just a titular head here.

Good POV, though.

And there is the very real possibility that the damage Trump is doing to the party (let alone the country) will have impacts that last well after he is gone from office -- and come back to haunt those Republicans who stood silently by.

And that is one of the best benefits we can add to our list of outcomes after going through this ridiculous horror show that has brought us to the brink of disaster. Hopefully, there will be others as we recover from the shell shock.

[Lib 4 Life]

4. Headline aside, the rest is stretch. They have never actually cared about debt/ deficit,

Evangelicals have always been white nationalist and the free traders have wanted a trade war for some time. and alberta worships romney.

[Caliman73]

5. 100% Correct!!

Republicans do not give one damn about deficits or debt, not one damn! Not since maybe Calvin Coolidge's time. Republicans will spend us into oblivion to give the military weapons it does not need and does not want. They will drain the treasury to give tax breaks to the wealthiest people. Deficits be damned when it comes to their desired outcomes. What the Republicans don't want, is to spend one penny on helping the poor, disabled, elderly, etc... THIS is when deficits matter, when the average person needs some help. We have always allowed them to frame that narrative. It isn't about how much money we spend, it is about on who and what we spend the money. Republicans don't like taxes because it takes money away from their wealthy donors. They magically think that "market forces" will bring in the revenue we need to have a functioning society but ultimately they do not care because they don't want ANY money spent to help the poor, sick, disabled, or middle class.

This nostalgia for "Republicans of old" is simply bull shit. Maybe they were not as batshit crazy as they are today, openly racist and nationalist with stupid ideas of privatizing Medicare and Social Security, but the reality is that it has ALWAY been their plan to privatize the commons, and shrink government (the social welfare part) down and allow "business" to be the driving force in society.