Trump’s kind of Republican

What sort of Republican does Trump support for positions of leadership? Based on who Trump endorsed in the recent race for GOP conference chair, we can conclude that Trump likes:

  1. People who voted against the Trump tax cuts.
  2. People who vote against funding the border wall.
  3. People who favor the Paris Climate Accord.
  4. People who favor overturning the results of the 2020 presidential election, and putting Trump back in office.

Especially #4. In other words, in the modern GOP there is only one issue that matters—are you willing to kiss Trump’s ring? The Republican Party has now become nothing more that a Latin American style personality cult. When I warned of Trump’s authoritarian tendencies back in 2016, I was viewed as being “hysterical”. What do you guys think now? How many of you predicted that in 2021, Liz Cheney would be fired and replaced by Elise Stefanick? (And watch the comment section, I almost guarantee that some moron will think it appropriate to discuss the relative merits of Stefanik and Cheney, as if that has any bearing on this post. Some people can’t see the truth if you put it right in front of their faces.)

Make no mistake, Trump’s efforts would have caused a second civil war if he succeeded in overturning the election. Democrats would not have taken that lying down, there would have been a large and violent response. I would have actively supported the “terrorists”. Thank God Trump did not succeed.

In today’s GOP, it’s impossible to have a position of authority if you loudly proclaim that elections should determine who becomes president. It’s now an anti-democratic authoritarian party, which is what I warned against in 2016.

I told you so.

PS. Here’s another way of seeing the picture:

Trump = Darkside

Modern GOP = Colonial Pipeline

Eh, what could go wrong?

PPS. This caught my eye:


Tags:

 
 
 

19 Responses to “Trump’s kind of Republican”

  1. Gravatar of Michael Rulle Michael Rulle
    14. May 2021 at 10:14

    I cannot imagine you liked Cheney—but maybe you did–although she seems more like the “enemy of my enemy” is my friend type of person for you—

  2. Gravatar of Michael Rulle Michael Rulle
    14. May 2021 at 10:23

    Club for Growth? You are funny—-Omar is their second highest Democrat. Stefanik ranks higher than the other 215 or so Democrats. Maybe Omar is not so bad.

  3. Gravatar of ssumner ssumner
    14. May 2021 at 10:31

    I said:

    “And watch the comment section, I almost guarantee that some moron will think it appropriate to discuss the relative merits of Stefanik and Cheney, as if that has any bearing on this post.”

  4. Gravatar of Sean Sean
    14. May 2021 at 14:18

    Doesn’t that negate your point that Cheney was just removed because she wouldn’t kiss the ring. There’s nothing I like about Cheney. And while I backed the Iraq War it’s obvious it wasn’t execute well and a lot of the justification was based on lies.

    I’d gladly defended Romney. But why does anyone want Cheney. The only people defending her are leftists.

    Obviously political parties have to form coalitions.

  5. Gravatar of Sean Sean
    14. May 2021 at 15:56

    Honestly don’t even know what you mean by a second civil war. They already picked that fight during the summer riots. And their lack of respect for peaceful politics.

  6. Gravatar of Gene Frenkle Gene Frenkle
    14. May 2021 at 19:18

    I participated in the 2016 Republican primary…and the event that made me never want to vote Republican again was Cheney being elected to leadership in the House. And even though I didn’t vote for Trump I was never anti-Trump…but I knew Trump would be a failed president when he appointed Tillerson on Condi Rice’s recommendation. Tillerson was the worst CEO in America by MAGA standards and he was obviously a Bush loyalist. So even though Trump ran against the asinine wars and neocons it was clear to me he had a very superficial understanding of dynamics of the GOP comprised of Bush/Cheney/McCain and their loyalists and heirs in the party. I see the GOP similar to Francoist Spain and Trump is their new Franco and George W Bush was their old Franco. So unlike Franco George W Bush was very clearly a failure, but instead of the people in the party admitting failure they merely look for a new and improved Franco.

    Liz Cheney is a vile human being who saw an opportunity to take back the GOP on behalf of her donors and fortunately for America it backfired. Now I need two more things to happen to ever vote Republican again—the Trump/Kushner families to get out of politics and George P Bush’s political career to come to an end.

  7. Gravatar of BC BC
    14. May 2021 at 21:12

    Another way of stating all of this is that, while the Democratic Party’s fault is that they are too progressive or left-wing, the Republican Party’s fault is that they are too pro-Trump rather than too conservative or right-wing. Liz Cheney is far more conservative than Stefanick.

    The funny thing is that even progressives and Democrats would probably agree that Republicans have become a party of Trump sycophants rather than principled conservatives. Why do I say “even” progressives and Democrats? If Democrats advance progressive policies but Republicans sacrifice conservative principles in favor of Trump, then policy generally will have a left-wing bias. In turn, that means American policy can be improved by shifting it in a conservative or right-wing direction. So, even progressives and Democrats that criticize Republicans for removing Cheney must implicitly agree that policy is not right-wing enough in the Trump Era.

  8. Gravatar of BC BC
    14. May 2021 at 21:27

    If you follow Scott’s link to Sahil Kapur’s twitter account, you can find a link to his article that gives a perfect example of what I mean:

    https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/stefanik-s-win-shows-old-gop-conservative-purity-tests-replaced-n1267434

    Stefanik beat out Chip Roy, “who has aced the conservative purity tests”. Before 2016, “Stefanik’s voting record might have been enough to drum up insurmountable conservative opposition.” Now, “Democrats called the news of Stefanik’s election proof that the GOP had become a cult of one man.” So, even Democrats think that the GOP doesn’t adhere closely enough now to conservative ideological purity tests.

  9. Gravatar of Michael Rulle Michael Rulle
    15. May 2021 at 05:59

    Scott thinks I am a moron because he pretends to believe that I was comparing the merits of Omar and Stefanick. Omar loves to wear costumes and looks good in them. Scott too is a moron, but that’s the role one has many opportunities to play on this site. Just as he thought it was funny that Club of Growth ranked Omar ahead of Stefanik, I thought it was funny he was unaware virtually all Democrats are ranked behind all republicans. Which is why Omar’s ranking —-second highest democrat—-really is pretty good—which is what I said.

    I met a guy last night who lives about a mile from me. His wife is from Croatia and Denmark——perfectly NJ fluent in English as well as Croatian and Dutch. My Cuban wife and her are now instant buddies. We were attending the wedding of a young Paraguayan couple. He was born here, and she was born in Paraguay—-they met on Facebook 7 years ago. ——The groom’s aunt (he has 12 aunts and uncles—just from his mother’s side and about—-35-40 cousins—-an amazing family) ——lives in a very nice two bedroom apartment—-built attached to my house.

    She and her Ecuadorian husband have lived there for 29 years. Their son (25) is my godson and defacto brother of my 4 adult kids (29 and older). He hates Trump. We love to argue—-it’s fun. So I know all these kids from literally when they were born——it was wonderful seeing them. Our house was the fun house—-especially the pool in summertime. They retain their culture but are also clearly American—-even two gay couples —-male and female! That would not happen in Paraguay. They all live within 1-10 miles of Trump’s Bedminster club—-A bit Ironic.

    The guy I met was invited because he is a good client of the father of my Godson.

    So, like all guys who supported Trump, we are wary of bringing him up——afraid the other guy might be as insanely paranoid as Scott and the majority of the writers on this site. We both supported someone else until Trump got the nomination.

    So it is Trump supporters who fear being outed——like anti Nazis in Germany. We discussed the invisible government we have now and don’t really get it. What I realized talking with him is how Trump haters are willing to believe anything about him——and we find it insane. We both like De Santis——who I guarantee will become the next most hated man in America—-after all —-a captain of Yale’s baseball team, a magna cum laude history grad, a Harvard lawyer and a volunteer JAG in Iraq —-is clearly a hateful type. Because he likes Trump

    So to paraphrase Pacino in the parody Godfather 3——“just when I am trying to get out they drag me back in” —To talk about Trump.

  10. Gravatar of Michael Rulle Michael Rulle
    15. May 2021 at 06:38

    Speaking of stupid morons, why are we lessening the mask wearing requirements? We still are killing (but it is the Democrats doing the killing now) 700+ people a day—-or at a still remarkable rate of 250k a year. Isn’t “Biden” jumping the gun. We have seen positive trends before. It guarantees nothing. Scott is a big pro mask guy isn’t he? Where’s the outrage?

    What about “science”? Or whatever we believe in and bow down to. Scott was against lockdowns —-unless I misinterpreted him—but still pro mask. Deaths are increasing worldwide. This is not close to ending. Again, where is the outrage?

    Scott would rather talk about Stefanick who was supported because of her gender——that is how it works today——-a good solid identity politics choice.

    We are all identitarians now—not in the one party European way but in the uniquely weird American way.

  11. Gravatar of Anonymous Anonymous
    15. May 2021 at 08:30

    Deaths are going down worldwide. Deaths/day on a rolling 7-day average are well below 700 in the U.S.

    The bottom line is that anyone who wants to be protected can easily get vaccinated. So restrictions no longer make any sense.

  12. Gravatar of ssumner ssumner
    15. May 2021 at 08:46

    Sean, Why are you even talking about Cheney? You missed the entire point of the post. Read it again, and again, until you understand.

    Kissing Trump’s ring means supporting his corruption, Trump could care less what you think of his political causes–he doesn’t even care about those causes.

    Your second comment comparing a potential civil war to the summer riots is so silly I won’t even respond.

    Gene, What’s wrong with you idiots! I warned you I’d call you a moron of you discussed Cheney or Stefanik, and you go right ahead. Are people unable to read?

    Michael, You know nothing about my views on masks, so why even talk about it. Just stop making a fool of yourself.

    Anonymous, Finally, a voice of reason.

  13. Gravatar of Gene Frenkle Gene Frenkle
    15. May 2021 at 09:47

    Sumner, I definitely mentioned them but I was discussing the tribal Republican voters who are the real problem.

  14. Gravatar of Michael Rulle Michael Rulle
    16. May 2021 at 06:58

    Scott resorts to lying forgetting he has a search function—-which I always use. Re: Masks

    “Masks Not Lockdowns”
    “Remind me which Party does not wear Masks”

    So when I make a parody comment on his stated beliefs he says I don’t know his views—-true—but I know what he has written.

    Oh yes, it is all different now. Except it isn’t.

  15. Gravatar of Michael Rulle Michael Rulle
    16. May 2021 at 07:35

    So Anonymous (jeez) and Scott think Deaths are declining worldwide and that is the “voice of reason” . A week ago that could not be said. 12500 a day are still dying off. What happens when we need to re-up on the vaccine? When is herd immunity going to kick in. When only 1/300th of the world has had it (oh, the numbers are wrong—-but only those numbers) it seems like that isn’t going to happen anytime soon. The current 16 month death rate is 80% higher than the last 16 months—-so I am glad everything is hunky dory. (I keep forgetting, the numbers are really wrong)

    I think the numbers have always been hard to determine—-and it is not getting any better—-but for those who think they know what they do not—-they choose what to believe and think it’s the truth.

    If it is clear it’s getting better than it’s clear this never was a big problem except for 2 or 3 areas of the world for 2 or 3 months.

    Excess deaths are the real number—-and for sure we have no clue what they are—-only that in America about 25-30% are not Covid linked (oh, those are wrong too).

    All numbers are wrong except the ones we believe in . We have no idea what the numbers are. Although if I could bet, I would bet they have been overstated——-but that is a guess.

  16. Gravatar of ssumner ssumner
    16. May 2021 at 15:19

    Michael, So if I say “Masks” that means I support a mask mandate? You are even more clueless than I had assumed.

  17. Gravatar of postkey postkey
    17. May 2021 at 00:09

    “Kissing Trump’s ring means supporting his corruption, Trump could care less what you think of his political causes–he doesn’t even care about those causes.”

    Once again.

    “Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens
    Martin Gilens and Benjamin I. Page
    Each of four theoretical traditions in the study of American politics—which can be characterized as theories of Majoritarian Electoral Democracy, Economic-Elite Domination, and two types of interest-group pluralism, Majoritarian Pluralism and Biased Pluralism—offers different predictions about which sets of actors have how much influence over public policy: average citizens; economic elites; and organized interest groups, mass-based or business-oriented. A great deal of empirical research speaks to the policy influence of one or another set of actors, but until recently it has not been possible to test these contrasting theoretical predictions against each other within a single statistical model. We report on an effort to do so, using a unique data set that includes measures of the key variables for 1,779 policy issues. Multivariate analysis indicates that economic elites and organized groups representing business interests have substantial independent impacts on U.S. government policy, while average citizens and mass-based interest groups have little or no independent influence. The results provide substantial support for theories of Economic-Elite Domination and for theories of Biased Pluralism, but not for theories of Majoritarian Electoral Democracy or Majoritarian Pluralism. “
    https://scholar.princeton.edu/sites/default/files/mgilens/files/gilens_and_page_2014_-testing_theories_of_american_politics.doc.pdf

    The whole of the macro political U.S. system is ‘corrupt’. Not just Trump?

  18. Gravatar of postkey postkey
    17. May 2021 at 00:10

    https://noahpinion.substack.com/p/yes-lockdowns-were-good?r=nm2q&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email&utm_source=copy

  19. Gravatar of steve steve
    17. May 2021 at 14:58

    This is why some of us sometimes call it a cult.

    Steve

Leave a Reply