What happens to the Republican Party now? (6 Viewers)

MT15 said:

I’m sure most Rs would not support this, but it never seems to dawn on them that what they are saying and doing sure seems to attract these idiots. They’ve come out of the woodwork to support the R party since Trump.

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The issue is too many are not speaking out against sheet like that. It's the same reason I quit the party. They refuse to hold Trump accountable for his actions. The GOP leadership has never spoken out against Trump and continues to tolerate him as a general election candidate. It's within the party's ability to bar him from their primaries and force Trump to run as an independent. He's been found guilty of sexual assault, and has been indicted and likely will be guilty of at least some of the charges he's facing.

There's no rule that prevents the party leadership from disqualifying him from the primaries. But, they're too chicken sheet to do it.

DaveXA said:

The issue is too many are not speaking out against sheet like that. It's the same reason I quit the party. They refuse to hold Trump accountable for his actions. The GOP leadership has never spoken out against Trump and continues to tolerate him as a general election candidate. It's within the party's ability to bar him from their primaries and force Trump to run as an independent. He's been found guilty of sexual assault, and has been indicted and likely will be guilty of at least some of the charges he's facing.

There's no rule that prevents the party leadership from disqualifying him from the primaries. But, they're too chicken sheet to do it.

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I think it's because they're desperately circling the wagons.

After doing all they could to game the census count and redistricting to get the maximum advantage they could in elections, the Republican party didn't gain much ground in the 2022 elections and historically speaking, they lost a lot of ground.

Some of that was because the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade. Some of it was because of Trump. Most of it is just the demographic shift that's been taking place in the country. The Republican party will continue to lose more control at the state and federal level. It's a natural human reaction to be hesitant and anxious to change.

It's easy for self-serving and ruthless jackholes to prey on people's angst to get them to lash out in anger and hatred. Once you give any of those jackholes uncontested power within your party, you give them control over your own party. All but two of the people running against Trump are terrified to speak out against Trump and attack him for his conviction, indictments and investigations.

That shows just how much Trump has seized control of the Republican party. All but two of the people running against him are afraid to actually run against him. Trump poses a serious threat to our political survival regardless of if he wins or loses in 2024. If he loses, he's going to do everything he can to whip his ardent followers into a violent frenzy and then unleash them on us.

Trump is the type of guy that vindictively tries to blow everything up when he doesn't get his way. I'm expecting more intense and prolonged violence if he loses the primary or the general election, and I expect a full on political insurrection from his ardent supporters in Congress.

On CNN Dana Bash was interviewing Jim Jordan

Is it me or does he always look like he’s 30 seconds away from completely losing his shirt?

Looks a bit disheveled, like he’s at the very end of a very long day and if one more god darn thing goes wrong he’s going to go off in spectacular fashion

I just saw this clip from that. Talk about crazy doubletalk, does he really think anyone would fall for this garbage. Trump said he could have declassified it but now he can’t; he said this is secret and he shouldn’t be showing it. Why would he say any of that if he had declassified the document. It makes zero sense and it’s another case of the Rs playing their constituents for fools.

In the fiery theater of modern politics, few phenomena are as bewildering — and electrifying — as the ironclad loyalty of Donald Trump's followers.

Despite numerous political, legal and personal controversies, Trump is almost as popular as ever. On Thursday, he was hit with a 37-count indictment, which follows a Manhattan indictment, a federal indictment and a court branding him liable for sexual abuse. Looming still are the results of yet another federal investigation and separate Fulton County, Ga., probe.

And yet, Trump’s faithful fan base does not waver.

So, the psychological puzzle is, why hasn’t any of this hurt him? Not only has his popularity not been diminished, it seems that these events may have even strengthened his support.

Remember this classic Trump quote from 2016? “I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn't lose voters,” the then-presidential candidate said. Chillingly, this bold proclamation seems to be truer than not, and that should disturb all of us, because that kind of blind loyalty poses a real threat to our democratic values and signals a trend toward authoritarianism.

To get to the heart of this enigma, let's put on our Sherlock Holmes hat and step into the world of psychology and neuroscience. A popular theory from social psychology known as terror management theory will shed some light on this puzzling human behavior.

Terror management theory is more relevant than ever because it provides an explanation for tribalism, which is really at the core of this mystery. The theory suggests that existential terror — which can be triggered by anything that is perceived to pose a threat to one’s existence — is the reason we adopt cultural worldviews, such as our religions, national identities or political ideologies. In an attempt to mitigate our fears, we latch onto philosophies that give our lives meaning and direction in a chaotic world.

But how does this explain tribalism, exactly?

When we're fearful or threatened, we rally around those who share our worldviews. We become aggressive toward those who don't. More alarmingly, perceived threats or existential fear — immigrants, transgender persons, gun grabbing, government conspiracies, humiliation at the hands of "liberal elites" — can stir up nationalism and sway voting habits toward presidential candidates with authoritarian personalities.

For example, a study found that when primed to think about their death, American students who self-identified as conservatives showed increased support for drastic military interventions that could lead to mass civilian casualties overseas. Another study found that after the 9/11 terror attack, support for then-President George W. Bush spiked, ultimately resulting in his re-election.

In 2016, an experiment was carried out specifically to see whether existential fear was fueling support for Donald Trump, and that’s precisely what was found............

The San Francisco lawyer Harmeet Dhillon is a fixture on Fox News who has garnered support from the likes of Matt Gaetz, Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham; she also helms a non-profit that appears to have directed more than $1m into her law firm, Dhillon Law Group.

Dhillon most recently made headlines when she signed on to represent Carlson in a gender discrimination lawsuit he and Fox News face from former producer Abby Grossberg. She also acted as an attorney for Donald Trump and former Project Veritas head James O’Keefe, who in 2021 sued Twitter for banning him.

Last November, Dhillon was able to mount a serious challenge to Ronna McDaniel for chair of the Republican National Committee (RNC). Archived snapshots of her campaign’s official website touted endorsements from elected officials such as Gaetz and conservative media figures such as Carlson, Ingraham and Jack Posobiec…..

The Guardian has found that at least $1.32m has been transferred from the CAL to her law firm, Dhillon Law Group, in a move one charity expert described as “problematic”. Additionally, state and federal filings show Dhillon takes a $120,000 salary from CAL for a two-hour work week.……

Another idiotic R trying to defend the indefensible: this time it’s the Speaker, which is really horrifying because he makes no sense.

MT15 said:

Another idiotic R trying to defend the indefensible: this time it’s the Speaker, which is really horrifying because he makes no sense.

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McCarthy is a moron. That is all. How the hell is he speaker? Geez.

How long has Cassidy been in Washington? I find it hard to believe he didn’t know that the gift shop doesn’t have anything to do with the actual Administration. Seems like he saw an opportunity to smear the opposing party and he took it, facts be damned.

MT15 said:

How long has Cassidy been in Washington? I find it hard to believe he didn’t know that the gift shop doesn’t have anything to do with the actual Administration. Seems like he saw an opportunity to smear the opposing party and he took it, facts be damned.

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You'd think that one of the champions of privatizing everything the government does would be aware that the White House gift shop is a private endeavor, not a government one.

MT15 said:

How long has Cassidy been in Washington? I find it hard to believe he didn’t know that the gift shop doesn’t have anything to do with the actual Administration. Seems like he saw an opportunity to smear the opposing party and he took it, facts be damned.

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Another one of LA's Finest.

That being said, would have expected this from Kennedy, not him. I guess Kennedy is rubbing off on Cassidy.

MT15 said:

How long has Cassidy been in Washington? I find it hard to believe he didn’t know that the gift shop doesn’t have anything to do with the actual Administration. Seems like he saw an opportunity to smear the opposing party and he took it, facts be damned.

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He absolutely knows this. He's just full of sheet.

I think I missed something. When did Cassidy say that it was the Biden administration who was responsible? All I heard him say was that it was the WH gift shop that was putting out the coin.

Mixed feelings about this.

On the one hand, it is obviously highly inappropriate to want to celebrate the indictment. Even if you think Trump is guilty as sin, it's not a good day for democracy when a former president and current presidential election front runner is indicted.

On the other hand, I'd sure buy a couple.

They're taking pre-orders. Here's what it looks like on there web page:



If I had just seen that cold while searching on the site, I would have thought they must have been hacked, because they wouldn't do something like that. Especially with no picture, that makes it not seem real.

I'm sure Trump did not authorize them, but I don't doubt he'd order some for his friends if they look decent when they come out.

If he didn't mean The Biden Admin, he would have mentioned something to that effect. He wants people to think its the Biden Admin. I now you aren't that blind.

Why would he need to make a disclaimer about it not being the Biden administration? Anyone paying attention already knew the "white house gift shop" isn't actually part of the White House. This already came up with that stupid COVID coin a few years ago.

Snarky Sack said:

Why would he need to make a disclaimer about it not being the Biden administration? Anyone paying attention already knew the "white house gift shop" isn't actually part of the White House. This already came up with that stupid COVID coin a few years ago.

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i can guarantee 99% of the people would assume the gift shop is ran by the White House. And he knows that.

Snarky Sack said:

Why would he need to make a disclaimer about it not being the Biden administration? Anyone paying attention already knew the "white house gift shop" isn't actually part of the White House. This already came up with that stupid COVID coin a few years ago.

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It’s the implication and he has to know that. Many people don’t know or remember it isn’t official; they will hear “White House gift shop” and make an assumption about intent and who is behind this.

Or looked at another way, Trump’s legal problems are a highly charged issue for an already bitterly divided people. It’s not too much to expect a sitting senator to refrain from carelessly stoking tensions. Is this really something he needed to bring attention to?

Possible Cassidy is ignorant on this but then he should clarify.

Bigdaddysaints said:

i can guarantee 99% of the people would assume the gift shop is ran by the White House. And he knows that.

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I don't know how you are able to know what 99% of the people assume and what Cassidy knows.