My Party Is in Denial About Donald Trump - Politico

[Pluvious]

Meanwhile, the strange specter of an American president’s seeming affection for strongmen and authoritarians created such a cognitive dissonance among my generation of conservatives—who had come of age under existential threat from the Soviet Union—that it was almost impossible to believe. Even as our own government was documenting a con­certed attack against our democratic processes by an enemy foreign power, our own White House was rejecting the authority of its own intelligence agencies, disclaiming their findings as a Democratic ruse and a hoax. Conduct that would have had conservatives up in arms had it been exhibited by our political opponents now had us dumbstruck.

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/07/31/my-party-is-in-denial-about-donald-trump-215442

[Iliyah]

1. Duh

[Bleacher Creature]

2. This Jeff Flake redemption tour is so cravenly dishonest.

He's as reliable a vote for Trump's agenda as anyone in Congress. His only complaint goes to Trump's personality and behavior.

AZ voters need to make him pay next year.

[Caliman73]

3. Nice that he says so, but what is he going to do about it?

Flake voted almost lock step with Trump's agenda. Is he now planning to vote against all of Trump's proposals or is this fake self flagellation to sound reasonable?

[Zoonart]

4. Are bullshit. The myth of the"reasonable, statesman Republican" is long dead.

This is a zombie that needs to die. I can't tell you how many times over the past twenty years I have had conversations with intelligent women in the reproductive rights movement, who happened to be lesbians, that informed me that they were "fiscal" Republicans.

I mean WTF? I had to tell them that, sadly there had not been a "fiscal" Republican since Nelson Rockefeller... if then.

This is a rake we need to stop stepping on.

[Caliman73]

7. At least since the late 1800's Republicans have been the party of unfettered capitalism.

That is it. They talk about personal responsibility and fiscal conservatism but as you said, it is all bullshit. They simply want everything to run through capitalist market systems with the average and low income people of the US providing the muscle through military service. Defense spending is the only thing that they agree should be paid for by taxes. Eisenhower, who I think was probably not really even a Republican (more likely a conservative Democrat) used government spending to improve infrastructure in a way that would disgust Republicans today, but even his motives weren't pure, he funded the highway system to facilitate military maneuverability. The benefits were great, but it wasn't about a better society, it was about a quicker military response against the Red Menace.

Republicans scream about budget deficits and the national debt, until they are in power and then they spend without raising taxes. I remember in the 80's, the great slur against Democrats was, "He is a tax and spend liberal". Yeah, that is how you do it. You raise revenues to pay for needed services. Republicans are "borrow and spend" or "cut from the poor and middle class to spend on the wealthy". Not as catchy, but accurate.

Like I said, Flake and other Republicans need to stop flapping their gums about how bad Trump is, even when they acknowledge the truth. They need to actually do something.

[procon]

5. The above except is attributed to Republican Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona,

and although he laments having Trump for a president, he's still willing to vote the partyline. Flake is paving the way for his own presidential campaign. He very unpopular with Republican voters in his home state, and he needs to appeal to broad swaths of Independents and siphon off as many Democrats as he can.

Let's not be too keen on lauding Flake's mild criticisms of Trump, or mistaking his words as anything more than carefully planned campaign rhetoric.

[MagickMuffin]

6. I noticed he didn't include Senator in his By, he only refers to his name

Is he ashamed to be identified by his title of Senator?