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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe GOP are so pathetic it's hilarious...
Don't get me wrong I think what's going on is terrifying in so many ways. Terrifying, and sureal, we are in Alice in wonderland, Twilight zone territory. We have been for some time.
But it's also side splittingly funny. The GOP are in a position where they own both the house and the senate. They have a wannabe dictator as their president. And they STILL can't get shit done. Lol. Don't get me wrong it's not like I'd want to see America gutted like a fish like they want to. Trust me I don't. But I realise that's what they want. That's what they are trying. And they have indeed done a lot of damage. But they have the power and the position to actually pretty much gut everything. And they don't even lie that they want to.
But because of the sheer degree of their childishness, their machiavellian level of greed, they are actually unable to manage to work together to get anything done. It's like the hen house is finally left unguarded and a pack of hungry wolves let loose. But instead of feasting like they want, they can't even reach the hens because they are too busy tearing each other apart.
unblock
(52,112 posts)And the Republican Party as a whole is too splintered, and most notably, has too many inflexible ideologues to forge a concensus.
Bizarre that our greatest asset might not be the senate filibuster power, but their incompetence!
Locut0s
(6,154 posts)It's telling that we normally associate this level of childishness, this level of incompetence, in basically most any government in the world with those states that we tend to label as "failed states".
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(52,112 posts)Orsino
(37,428 posts)Just not as rapidly as their empty pledges. The calls for O-Care repeal were vaporware, as the party has nothing palatable to offer us...but they can't just quit that stance in an instant. They'll eventually find little ways to fuck up the economy if the Big Lie can't get signed into law. They'll be stacking the courts and paralyzing the federal government beyond the ability of democrats to repair, assisted all the while by Big Money and media.
We may not come back from this swing of the pendulum.
Moostache
(9,895 posts)The pendulum is going to swing back, and when it does...2018, 2020 or more....we MUST govern like Republicans...no more herding cats mentality...hard core party line discipline is MANDATORY. IF you are a D, then you are going to vote like one or your ass is out of party politics and you can go sit in the corner with the other DINOs or go pound sand elsewhere.
The GOP is more effective at intra-party discipline and has been for 40+ years. Today is the culmination of those years of discipline. We need to recognize this and act accordingly.
Orsino
(37,428 posts)...is trying like hell to buy the Democrats. Discipline such as you correctly identify as necessary will prove nearly impossible to maintain, when donors sing sweet lullabies of capitulation.
They are what is keeping the pendulum from swinging far in our direction.
Demsrule86
(68,455 posts)like asshat Republicans. What we do need to remember is to consider the voters...all of them.
We need to listen to what Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Adam Schiff, Al Franken & Kamala Harris are saying; and we need to get Howard Dean back into power within the Democratic Party
We need to reach out to the millions of millennials who backed Bernie.
We need to reach out to the moderate Independents.
We need to reach out to the Greens who voted for Jill Stein.
We need to fight voter restriction laws and voter suppression techniques like Crosscheck, in the courts.
We need to register 15-20 million new Democrats, because the Republicans can only steal elections that are close (Obama proved that in 2008 & 2012)
We need to organize a million-person march on Washington, and hundreds of thousands of people marching in other cities as well.
Otherwise, we might as well just give up, and let Agent Orange, Eddie Munster, Turtle-Man, and the other GOP leaders continue to destroy this once-great country.
Demsrule86
(68,455 posts)of it...all others are part of the big tent...we don't need to extend a special invitation to any Democratic coalition...and I would remind you that more baby boomers voted for Trump than Millennials. As for cross check and voter suppression...elections are run by states. We are limited on what we can do...seems to me you left off taking back states which is super critical. Also, the courts are not in our favor and could get worse...so I am not sure sending things to court where they will be knocked down and establish a precedent is smart...we could have had it all...but we lost 2016. It will be a tough road and we will only succeed if Democrats understand they won't get everything right away and show up at midterms.
Locut0s
(6,154 posts)I agree with you 100% btw that America is still fucked. I'm actually in Canada. I'm still scared of the outcome for the whole world. I know they will manage to fuck everyone over still.
But.
The rhetoric behind the ultra right wing that controls so much of the modern GOP isn't conservative , it isn't right wing, it's evil. And a hell of a lot of the lesser evils are willing to still throw their support behind them because they still get their back scratched. These are people who want to rob the country blind in broad day light, in front of a camera, while smiling and giving all of us the middle finger. I agree they will still manage in smaller ways, slower.
But they actually have the votes to do it fast. But because they can't agree exactly on how to split the spoils of war they actually end up fighting among themselves instead of passing legislation. It's quite literally like some weird heist movie where the bad guys' team falls apart because they are so greedy that they start fighting among themselves about who gets how much of the spoils.
Orsino
(37,428 posts)...or they would have passed something quickly. They are not only nt in agreement about how to split the spoils, they are also queasy about the backlash if they try the big play.
I take this as a sign that our voting systems are not yet completely fucked, and that is my remaining hope.
BannonsLiver
(16,288 posts)Watching the GOP stooges fumble this so badly only makes Obamas accomplishment all the more impressive. And it also highlights the legislative skills of Pelosi and Reid.