Originally Posted by skews13

Almost two years ago, I wrote an article for Politico endorsing Donald Trump for president. It was a tongue-in-cheek effort—I “supported” Trump only because I thought he would lose to Hillary Clinton, disastrously, and that his defeat would cleanse the Republican Party of the extremism and nuttiness that drove me out of it. I had hoped that post-2016, what remained of the moderate wing of the GOP would reassert itself as it did after the Goldwater debacle in 1964, and exorcise the crazies.

Trump was a guaranteed loser, I thought. In the Virginia presidential primary, I even voted for him, hoping to hasten the party’s demise. In the weeks before the November election, I predicted a Clinton presidency would fix much of what ails our country. On November 8, I voted for Clinton and left the ballot booth reasonably sure she would win.

Needless to say, I was as dumbfounded by the election results as Max Bialystock was by the success of “Springtime for Hitler.” For two months after Trump won, I couldn’t read any news about the election, and considered abandoning political commentary permanently. It wasn’t just that Trump disgusted me; I was disgusted with myself for being so stupid. I no longer trusted my own powers of observation and analysis.

Almost everything that has happened since November 8 has been the inverse of what I’d imagined. Trump didn’t lose; he won. The Republican Party isn’t undergoing some sort of reckoning over what it believes; his branch of the Republican Party has taken control. Most troubling, perhaps, is that rather than reassert themselves, the moderate Republicans have almost all rolled over entirely.

Trump has turned out to be far, far worse than I imagined. He has instituted policies so right wing they make Ronald Reagan, for whom I worked, look like a liberal Democrat. He has appointed staff people far to the right of the Republican mainstream in many positions, and they are instituting policies that are frighteningly extreme. Environmental Protection Administration Administrator Scott Pruitt proudly denies the existence of climate change, and is doing his best to implement every item Big Oil has had on its wish list since the agency was established by Richard Nixon. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is actively hostile to the very concept of public education and is doing her best to abolish it. Every day, Attorney General Jeff Sessions institutes some new policy to take incarceration and law enforcement back to the Dark Ages. Trump’s proposed budget would eviscerate the social safety net for the sole purpose of giving huge tax cuts to the ultrawealthy.

And if those policies weren’t enough, conservatives—who, after all, believe in liberty and a system of checks and balances to restrain the government to its proper role—have plenty of reason to be upset by those actions Trump has taken that transcend our traditional right-left ideological divide. He’s voiced not only skepticism of NATO, but outright hostility to it. He’s pulled America back from its role as an international advocate for human rights. He’s attacked the notion of an independent judiciary. He personally intervened to request the FBI to ease up on its investigation of a former adviser of his, then fired FBI Director James Comey and freely admitted he did so to alleviate the pressure he felt from Comey’s investigation. For those conservatives who were tempted to embrace a “wait-and-see” approach to Trump, what they’ve seen, time and again, is almost unimaginable.

And yet as surprising as this all has been, it’s also the natural outgrowth of 30 years of Republican pandering to the lowest common denominator in American politics. Trump is what happens when a political party abandons ideas, demonizes intellectuals, degrades politics and simply pursues power for the sake of power.

continue reading...

?Trump Is What Happens When a Political Party Abandons Ideas? - POLITICO Magazine

Originally Posted by caconservative

Don't bother. Someday for you...has already gone.

Originally Posted by Clara007

Honestly--between you and R to L--what a bunch a twaddle. The Democrats LOST an election. For the love of Mike. People act/talk like it's the first time in the history of the world! The Democratic Party isn't dead or dying or on life support. IT LOST. An election. AND here's a news flash: America has another election in 4 years---and another 4 years after that, etc. etc. etc.

Half the pop didn't vote, folks. Trump got about 1/4 of the people in this nation to vote for him. 25-26%. Do you get that?? That's the GOP squeaking by--NOT the Dems dying.

Donald Trump did not win the election so much as Hillary Clinton lost it. In 2012, President Obama won with almost 66 million votes; Clinton’s total was just over 62 million. Does that sound like a party ready to call 911??

If the voters show up (which they didn't) voting records are stable. White voters supported the Republican candidate in the past four presidential elections (2004-2016). Similarly, here’s the share of African American voters who backed the Democratic candidate: 88, 95, 93, 88.

Now pay attention, boys. Try to recall Barry Goldwater’s crushing defeat in 1964. After Watergate, Republicans seemed doomed but then came a rally--Ronald Reagan’s two successful terms, followed by the election of George H.W. Bush in 1988. THE GOP on top.
In each case, something (Vietnam, double-digit inflation, recession) altered the calculus and confirmed the long-standing roots of U.S. politics: When Americans are unhappy, they throw out the party in the White House.

THAT's what happened. Now move on and stop spinning this strudel in your noodle. Political parties don't DIE that easily.

Originally Posted by username

Honestly, that is the most scripted piece of writing I have ever seen. I actually feel like I should check to see if its plagiarism. Here is what you need to know.

https://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/...d-33-governors

Now, that is from Daily Kos, whom I believe is very leftist. The only thing I disagree with in that paragraph is the blame of gerrymandering. The reason I disagree is very simple. You can not gerrymander a Gubernatorial election.

Originally Posted by senor boogie woogie

One thing that stands out with me is that in my opinion, Trump knows nothing about governance or legislative politics whatsoever. He has never had the experience. He was a businessman, a celebrity. Also, has never served in the military which even for lowly enlisted teaches a lot about delegation of authority and personal politics.

Sort of goes back to business people who get into politics and say "I will run the government like a business." It doesn't work that way. Government and business are two different distinct things. Sounds good, doesn't work. I think Trump thought he could run stuff like a dictator or CEO and anything he says gets done. Does'nt work like that.

My worry now is that other people with absolutely no governance experience jumping in. For instance, "The Rock" a former wrestler turned actor is interested. I doubt it but probably Tom Hanks too. Tom Hanks could get elected because he is so popular.

Originally Posted by webguy4

I love the the liberal meltdown.

Originally Posted by guy39

Sounds like you want to keep an elite class in charge and make sure the peasants no their place huh masta

Originally Posted by iolo

Whereas you believe in that revolutionary Son of Toil, the starveling Fartman! Jesus wept!

Originally Posted by iolo

Duw, there's deep. Like the cess-pool you live in, I suppose!