What happens to the Republican Party now? (3 Viewers)

[MT15]

This election nonsense by Trump may end up splitting up the Republican Party. I just don’t see how the one third (?) who are principled conservatives can stay in the same party with Trump sycophants who are willing to sign onto the TX Supreme Court case.

We also saw the alt right types chanting “destroy the GOP” in Washington today because they didn’t keep Trump in power. I think the Q types will also hold the same ill will toward the traditional Republican Party. In fact its quite possible that all the voters who are really in a Trump personality cult will also blame the GOP for his loss. It’s only a matter of time IMO before Trump himself gets around to blaming the GOP.

There is some discussion of this on Twitter. What do you all think?

 

[MT15]

Why do democrat state legislators in Florida that voted to pass the bill that allowed DeSantis to bus illegals out of Florida get a pass? Almost all of them voted for the bill.
Page 25 of 28 at the bottom. This is what they voted for and passed it. None of them should get a pass if you're upset they passed a bill in Florida that allowed them to do this.

DeSantis didn’t follow the law though. I’m no fan of the law. It seems like a waste of money. But what DeSantis did was just really stupid, going to TX to pick up people who weren’t in the country illegally anyway and spending FL taxpayer money to do it. This is extremely stupid and he should be politically crucified for it.

 

[Optimus Prime]

In the first televised presidential debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden in 2020, the sitting president was asked why voters should re-elect him to the White House. He gave a relatively obscure answer – it was all about the judges, he said.

By the end of his first term in office, Trump bragged, he would have smashed all records for the number of his appointments to the federal bench. “I’ll have approximately 300 federal judges.”

Characteristically, Trump was lying. He ended his single tenure having placed 231 men and women on the federal bench, including three on the US supreme court, 54 on appeals circuits and 174 on district courts.

But, despite the hyperbole, Trump still had reason to be cheerful: in one four-year term he slammed through about 30% of the entire US federal judiciary. That’s more appointments than George W Bush (156) and almost as many as Barack Obama (315) – who both had eight years.

Last week, the significance of Trump’s hyper-aggressive remodeling of the federal bench lurched into view.

Aileen Cannon, who Trump nominated for the US district court for the southern district of Florida in May 2020, granted the former president his desire to have a “special master” handle thousands of documents seized by the FBI from the former president’s Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.

The ruling was greeted with astonishment by legal scholars who noted how convenient it was for Trump to give the special master control over highly classified materials.

Cannon effectively erected a roadblock in front of the justice department’s criminal investigation into how national security intelligence had been illegally hidden in Mar-a-Lago.

Even William Barr, himself a former Trump appointee as US attorney general, had only harsh words. “Deeply flawed”, he said about the ruling.

But Cannon’s maverick decision is just the thin end of the wedge. From the supreme court down, the impact of Trump’s recalibration of the federal judiciary is now starting to sting.

The consequences of Trump’s three appointments to the supreme court are now well understood by many Americans. The evisceration of the right to an abortion; blocking government action on the climate crisis; rolling back gun control laws are just a few of the seismic changes wrought by the court’s new 6-to-3 conservative supermajority……..

In the meantime, Trump’s judges continue to dish out eccentric and disconcerting rulings. Several of the most notable decisions are coming from southern courts, especially in Texas.

Take the federal court for the northern district of Texas, where Trump’s chosen warrior, Matthew Kacsmaryk, is already stirring up a storm.

Before he was confirmed in June 2019 he was vociferously opposed by civil rights groups who pointed out his record of deriding gay relationships as “disordered” and “contrary to natural law”.

True to form, in May Kacsmaryk ruled against the Biden administration, siding with extremist Texas Republicans who are challenging new anti-discrimination guidelines protecting transgender people in the workplace……

Special master ruling shows Trump’s takeover of courts has started to sting

Aileen Cannon, who Trump nominated in 2020, granted his wish over the Mar-a-Lago search – a maverick decision that is the thin end of the wedge

www.theguardian.com

 

[Optimus Prime]

Former President Donald Trump gave a rambling speech to an under-capacity crowd at the Covelli Centre in Youngstown, Ohio, on Saturday night, ostensibly in support of Republican Senate candidate JD Vance. At one point he compared the GOP nominee to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

In an earlier post on Truth Social, Mr Trump called the event a “sold out juggernaut” and claimed that without his rallies and endorsements, most candidates such as Vance would lose.

In his remarks, he also levelled new, outlandish accusations at the Biden administration by claiming that federal authorities are now threatening his supporters with decades in prison unless they agree to say negative things about him.

Speaking about the Maga movement he said: “The thugs and tyrants attacking our movement … have no idea of the sleeping giant that they have awoken.”……..

Trump under fire for QAnon display at Ohio rally - live

Donald Trump news today - live

www.independent.co.uk

 

[Eeyore]

Why hasn't Ron DeSantis spent $240,000.00 for me to take a vacation to Martha's Vineyard?

Is it because I'm white?

Why does he hate white people?

Also: https://www.justice.gov/archives/jm/criminal-resource-manual-1907-title-8-usc-1324a-offenses

Why has he not been charged?

 

[MT15]

Hmmmm

 

[Optimus Prime]

Get ready

November is going to be an interesting month
======================

A dozen Republican candidates in competitive races for governor and Senate have declined to say whether they would accept the results of their contests, raising the prospect of fresh post-election chaos two years after Donald Trump refused to concede the presidency.


In a survey by The Washington Post of 19 of the most closely watched statewide races in the country, the contrast between Republican and Democratic candidates was stark.

While seven GOP nominees committed to accepting the outcomes in their contests, 12 either refused to commit or declined to respond.

On the Democratic side, 18 said they would accept the outcome and one did not respond to The Post’s survey.


The reluctance of many GOP candidates to embrace a long-standing tenet of American democracy shows how Trump’s assault on the integrity of U.S. elections has spread far beyond the 2020 presidential race.

This year, multiple losing candidates could refuse to accept their defeats……..

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/09/18/republicans-refuse-accept-results/

 

[Optimus Prime]

The vast collections of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington contain two brown wooden chairs. Their backs have labels explaining that they were used by John F Kennedy and Richard Nixon in “the first face-to-face discussion between presidential candidates” at the CBS television studio in Chicago in 1960.

In short, the first televised presidential debate. And where America led, the rest of the world followed, copying the model of gladiatorial political combat as the ultimate format to help voters make up their minds.

But heading into the US midterm elections, the debate appears to be in decline, a casualty of fragmented digital media, a deeply polarised political culture and a democracy losing its sense of cohesion.

For many Republicans, ducking debates is a way to express disdain for a national media that former president Donald Trump has derided as “fake news” and “the enemy of the people”. Some Democrats have a different motive, refusing to share a platform with Republican election deniers peddling baseless conspiracy theories.

In Arizona, for example, Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Katie Hobbs has declined a debate with Republican Kari Lake, a telegenic Trump supporter who has pushed his “big lie” that the 2020 presidential election was stolen.

But Republicans are the main objectors. In Nebraska, gubernatorial candidate Jim Pillen has refused to debate Democrat Carol Blood. Pillen’s campaign manager, Kenny Zoeller, told the Nebraska Examiner that “he doesn’t do political theater”.

In the Pennsylvania’s governor’s race, Republican extremist Doug Mastriano has rejected a televised debate with an independent moderator. Instead he has reserved a hotel ballroom on 22 October and selected a partisan to referee: Mercedes Schlapp, who was strategic communications director in the Trump White House. Democratic rival Josh Shapiro has little incentive to accept.

In North Carolina, Ted Budd, who sat out four Republican primary debates in his Senate race, has said he will not accept an invitation from the North Carolina Association of Broadcasters to debate Democrat Cheri Beasley. Budd said he had accepted a cable debate invitation, but there is no agreement with Beasley about that appearance.

It is a sorry state of affairs for a time-honored tradition that America exported around the world. Even Britain, after decades of resistance, followed suit in 2010 with three leaders’ debates between prime minister Gordon Brown, Conservative David Cameron and Liberal Democrat Nick Clegg……..

The end of the debate? Republicans draw the curtain on political theater

It’s a time-honored tradition, but as the US midterms loom, many Republican candidates are ducking out of televised debates

www.theguardian.com

 

[MT15]

Youngkin really bamboozled the people of VA.

 

[coldseat]

Youngkin really bamboozled the people of VA.

He didn't bamboozle them, it was clear what he was all along. They just voted for him and what he stood for.

 

[MT15]

He didn't bamboozle them, it was clear what he was all along. They just voted for him and what he stood for.

Sure, some of them. But there were lots of Biden-Youngkin voters who were fooled by his deliberately “moderate” tone and him distancing himself from Trump. Specifically suburban women I think. They shouldn’t have been fooled, but I think they were.

 

[bird]

Sure, some of them. But there were lots of Biden-Youngkin voters who were fooled by his deliberately “moderate” tone and him distancing himself from Trump. Specifically suburban women I think. They shouldn’t have been fooled, but I think they were.

See Bird’s Theorem.

 

[coldseat]

Sure, some of them. But there were lots of Biden-Youngkin voters who were fooled by his deliberately “moderate” tone and him distancing himself from Trump. Specifically suburban women I think. They shouldn’t have been fooled, but I think they were.

Moderates need to learn to tell the difference between somebody sincere and a snake oil salesmen like Youngskin. They seem to get fooled a lot, constantly going back to that same trough of "moderate Republican". It's not just in Virginia.

It's way past time people stop claiming they "got fooled" when all the evidence they need is right in front of them. Very little having to do with Republicans/Trump has surprised or fooled me in the last 6 years. Most of it (including Youngskin) could be seen coming far in advance if people just paid attention and saw what they were doing/saying publicly.

I'm not attacking you, hope it doesn't come off that way. I'm just tired of giving voters a pass by claiming they were fooled. I see it in the media all the time. No they weren't. That might have worked in 2016, but no longer.

 

[bird]

Moderates need to learn to tell the difference between somebody sincere and a snake oil salesmen like Youngskin. They seem to get fooled a lot, constantly going back to that same trough of "moderate Republican". It's not just in Virginia.

It's way past time people stop claiming they "got fooled" when all the evidence they need is right in front of them. Very little having to do with Republicans/Trump has surprised or fooled me in the last 6 years. Most of it (including Youngskin) could be seen coming far in advance if people just paid attention and saw what they were doing/saying publicly.

I'm not attacking you, hope it doesn't come off that way. I'm just tired of giving voters a pass by claiming they were fooled. I see it in the media all the time. No they weren't. That might have worked in 2016, but no longer.

OK.

A lot of this goes to a combination of things. In no particular order:

Ignoring that people have more than one interest. Economic interests are not arbitrarily primary.
Some voters disengaged.
Some voters arbitrarily voting either the way they always have or the way their family always has.
Cognitive dissonance.
Lack of willingness to research candidate positions.
Etc.

 

[Optimus Prime]

Moderates need to learn to tell the difference between somebody sincere and a snake oil salesmen like Youngskin. They seem to get fooled a lot, constantly going back to that same trough of "moderate Republican". It's not just in Virginia.

It's way past time people stop claiming they "got fooled" when all the evidence they need is right in front of them. Very little having to do with Republicans/Trump has surprised or fooled me in the last 6 years. Most of it (including Youngskin) could be seen coming far in advance if people just paid attention and saw what they were doing/saying publicly.

I'm not attacking you, hope it doesn't come off that way. I'm just tired of giving voters a pass by claiming they were fooled. I see it in the media all the time. No they weren't. That might have worked in 2016, but no longer.

and they are trying to fool people again now by pretending that they haven't been "die hard anti-abortion, no exceptions" their whole career

and now that the primaries are over, those in purple states where they can't win with just the MAGA votes are backtracking a bit from the 2020 election denials they were giving during the primaries

 

[Optimus Prime]

If you say you were there for 5 minutes but it was actually 15 that’s one thing, but saying you were there for 5 minutes but it was really 4 hours?!

That’s something else (and I’m pretty sure that something else is lying)
===================================


On Jan. 7, 2021, a group of forensics experts working for lawyers allied with President Donald Trump spent eight hours at a county elections office in southern Georgia, copying sensitive software and data from its voting machines.


Under questioning last month for a civil lawsuit, a former Georgia Republican Party official named Cathy Latham said in sworn testimony that she briefly stopped by the office in Coffee County that afternoon.

She said she stayed in the foyer and spoke with a junior official about an unrelated matter at the front desk.
“I didn’t go into the office,” Latham said, according to a transcript of her deposition filed in court.

She said she had seen in passing a pro-Trump businessman who was working with the experts. She said they chatted for “five minutes at most” — she could not remember the topic — and she left soon after for an early dinner with her husband.

Surveillance video footage reviewed by The Washington Post shows that Latham visited the elections office twice that day, staying for more than four hours in total.

She greeted the businessman, Scott Hall, when he arrived and led him into a back area to meet the experts and local officials, the video shows. Over the course of the day, it shows, she moved in and out of an area where the experts from the data forensics firm, SullivanStrickler, were working, a part of that building that was not visible to the surveillance camera.


She took a selfie with one of the forensics experts before heading out at 6:19 p.m……

In response to questions from The Post, Latham’s lawyers said, “Failing to accurately remember the details of events from almost two years ago is not lying.” They have said she did not take part in the copying or in anything improper or illegal………

https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2022/09/20/coffee-county-georgia-cathy-latham/

 

[Optimus Prime]

Republicans will try to impeach Joe Biden every week if they retake the House in November, a rare anti-Trump Republican congressman predicted.

Remembering repeated attempts to defund the Affordable Care Act under Barack Obama, Adam Kinzinger of Illinois said: “That’s going to look like child’s play in terms of what Marjorie Taylor Greene is going to demand of Kevin McCarthy.

“They’re going to demand an impeachment vote on President Biden every week.”…….

Republicans will try to impeach Biden ‘every week’, Adam Kinzinger says

Anti-Trump January 6 committee member warns of likely aggressive tactics if GOP retakes House in midterms

www.theguardian.com

 

[Optimus Prime]

Moderates need to learn to tell the difference between somebody sincere and a snake oil salesmen like Youngskin. They seem to get fooled a lot, constantly going back to that same trough of "moderate Republican". It's not just in Virginia.

It's way past time people stop claiming they "got fooled" when all the evidence they need is right in front of them. Very little having to do with Republicans/Trump has surprised or fooled me in the last 6 years. Most of it (including Youngskin) could be seen coming far in advance if people just paid attention and saw what they were doing/saying publicly.

I'm not attacking you, hope it doesn't come off that way. I'm just tired of giving voters a pass by claiming they were fooled. I see it in the media all the time. No they weren't. That might have worked in 2016, but no longer.

On Monday, the Huffington Post reported that the move by Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA) to campaign for Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake has triggered negative reactions from anti-Trump Republican analysts — including people who had felt positive about him during his initial campaign for keeping the former president at arm's length.

“I feel a little duped myself in how I saw his candidacy,” said former Rep. David Jolly (R-FL) of Youngkin's move. “It may be we put too much stock in Youngkin the candidate instead of realizing his race was likely just an exercise in matching a message with where the constituency was for the Virginia general election.”

Former Rep. Joe Walsh (R-IL), however, had a different view: “He didn’t run as a ‘normal’ Republican. He ran as an enabler of the crazies. In today’s GOP, there are crazies and there are enablers of the crazies. His helping Kari Lake, a crazy, get elected, is not a surprise and reinforces his status as an enabler.”.........

'I feel duped': Republicans react as Glenn Youngkin campaigns for Arizona extremist

 

[Optimus Prime]

The comments are very positive. they loved this