I never said it was a one-sided failure but the GOP has moved more and more rightwards until it has boxed itself in, away from effective policies. Its answer to everything seems to be tax-cuts and reduced government at a time when voters—yes, even Republican voters—are looking for a more active and interventionist federal government. Trump has succeeded because he wants the federal government to build The Wall, raise tariffs, deport illegal immigrants, tighten immigration restrictions and bully American companies into bringing manufacturing jobs back to America.
You've got a lot packed into this and I have to make dinner yet. I'll start with the first paragraph.
Much of what Trump has pitched/promised runs counter to decades of GOP rhetoric. Tariffs, trade restrictions, undoing trade deals—these are not a rightward drift, this is a drunkard's walk. The immigrant bashing has also been denounced by some of the more-traditional Republican leaders, including both surviving former presidents. The other primary candidates were afraid to call him on this because they didn't want to alienate his supporters—fresh blood coming into the party was what everybody said they wanted. Seems to me that's a crowd they could do without, but their base is aging out. There aren't enough old white bible-thumpers out there to carry them anymore.
There are people in the GOP who aren't stuck in the 1950s but the party has treated them about as well as the Democrats treated Sanders. It's their show and I absolutely get that they want to remain true to their ideals, incoherent and contradictory as they are. I'm fine with them going down with the ship but Trump hijacked that ship. The old guard wanted nothing to do with him. If you don't believe me check how many of them found something more important to do than attend the convention this year.
Sorry, the rest will have to wait. Got fresh broccoli from the garden to turn into dinner.
Edit: and the rest will be in the Hillary thread, 'cuz this one is for bashing Trump.
You really need to relax and accept the facts. I have. You should be jumping for joy.
I'd argue that we fix what we can. Can we fix who's gonna be President? Doubt it.
Can we make local changes including who's in Congress? More likely.
Can we all sit around holding our breath in between bouts of insulting each other, never being able to fix the ills of the nation because no one can compromise or talk like an adult? Oh, I have no doubt. Precedent is on my side with that one.
And how much are you charging the donald for renting space in your head ?
Help us out here, kurtster: does Trumpers believe that Obama is the founder of ISIS? Or was Trump being sarcastic? Or did he forget to take his Aricept?
Trump's doing a better job of destroying his own election chances than the Democratic party could dream of doing. He stands a great chance of making the GOP lose its control of the Senate. He has become an object lesson of the ugliest aspects of America.
We ain't gonna take you Never did and never will We forsake you Gonna rape you Let's forget you better still
Have a good weekend, kurtster.
You sure are spending a lot of time worrying about someone who doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell of winning. While I may support him, I have no illusion of him winning. It's Hillary's to lose. She'll kill him in the debates. Oops, I meant to say she will beat him. Damn, what I mean to say is that she will humiliate Trump in the debates. She has all the facts on her side and a resume a mile long. She's unbeat, oops there I go again, she's unstoppable. 4 more years of Obama, here we come ! And you just know that she will appoint Obama to the SCOTUS first chance she gets. Its his reward for keeping the DOJ off her back.
You really need to relax and accept the facts. I have. You should be jumping for joy.
And how much are you charging the donald for renting space in your head ?
Help us out here, kurtster: does Trumpers believe that Obama is the founder of ISIS? Or was Trump being sarcastic? Or did he forget to take his Aricept?
Trump's doing a better job of destroying his own election chances than the Democratic party could dream of doing. He stands a great chance of making the GOP lose its control of the Senate. He has become an object lesson of the ugliest aspects of America.
When you want to talk about how much blame the public bears for the "intellectual and moral bankruptcy" of our parties, the main thrust of any worthwhile and relevant discussion has to focus on Trump.
Your side doesn't get a pass here. This isn't a one-sided failure.
I never said it was a one-sided failure but the GOP has moved more and more rightwards until it has boxed itself in, away from effective policies. Its answer to everything seems to be tax-cuts and reduced government at a time when voters—yes, even Republican voters—are looking for a more active and interventionist federal government. Trump has succeeded because he wants the federal government to build The Wall, raise tariffs, deport illegal immigrants, tighten immigration restrictions and bully American companies into bringing manufacturing jobs back to America.
The GOP has no practical solutions to our most pressing problems. It can't even acknowledge the reality of global warming. It relies on wedge issues like gun control, gay rights, voting fraud and the use of freedom of religion to discriminate against individuals who somehow don't conform to a code of behavior. Trump succeeded so much because his opponents didn't have practical alternatives to his simplistic "solutions"—and because voters weren't too bothered with basing their opinions of Trump's idea in reality.
So yes, I'd say that the GOP is intellectually bankrupt and morally bankrupt for pretending that it intends to help the vast majority of Americans.
You can't say that Hillary is vague on proposed programs and policies. She's published a numbing amount of detail about her ideas. Obama's administration has tried to get a lot done over eight years; pulling the economy out of a near-total collapse and getting the ACA passed were HUGE achievements. I wouldn't say that the Democrats are intellectually bankrupt.
Again, I don't think Clinton's prevarications/lies even approach Trump's prevarications/lies. If you'd like to detail why you think that Clinton is a moral bankrupt whom the nation shouldn't trust, have at it. I read a lot of sweeping generalizations about Clinton the Demon and Clinton the Unindicted Felon but a lot of the complaints seem focused on the $&*#! email server which has never really amounted to anything. Clinton AFAIK hasn't tried to circumvent the Constitution (FDR), had leaders of foreign nations overthrown or assassinated (Eisenhower and JFK), lied to get us into a war (LBJ and Bush II), allowed his underlings to commit crimes and then tried to cover it up (Nixon), lied to Americans about his knowledge of the Iran-Contra scandal and the actual nature of the Contras (Reagan and Bush I) or tried to hide an affair from a Special Prosecutor investigation (Bill Clinton).
Do both parties control the primary process to the point that fringe or minor candidates typically have no real shot? Perhaps, but I wouldn't call that moral bankruptcy. Both parties gave extreme candidates strong chances of winning during this election cycle—and one of them won.
It must really suck to be a surrogate/enabler/bootlicker like Chris Christie these days.
Donald J. Trump tried to quash the latest controversy engulfing his campaign on Friday by claiming that he was not serious when he insisted several times this week that President Obama and Hillary Clinton were the “founders” of the Islamic State terrorist group.
...
After making the suggestion at a rally on Wednesday night, Mr. Trump doubled down on the assertion on Thursday, insisting in interviews that he really did intend to say that the president and Mrs. Clinton had created ISIS. But in an early-morning Twitter post on Friday, Mr. Trump said that he was just being sarcastic.
...
The post was a reversal from just a day ago, when Mr. Trump said in a number of interviews that he was indeed serious about the charge. When the conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt tried to help Mr. Trump soften the remark by reminding him that Mr. Obama wants to destroy ISIS, the Republican presidential nominee would not have it.
“No, I meant he’s the founder of ISIS. I do,” Mr. Trump said. “He was the most valuable player. I give him the most valuable player award. I give her, too, by the way, Hillary Clinton.”
Well if you want to lump all GOP leaning and DEM leaning voters together in assigning blame for the current political malady(ies) of our nation, what rhetorical trick are you relying on to exclude independents/libertarian leaning voters and so on from this finger pointing exercise?
Tribal behavior, whether political or religious or what have you, is not limited to the big tribes.
All I can do is write 'em. Can't make anybody read 'em.
When you want to talk about how much blame the public bears for the "intellectual and moral bankruptcy" of our parties, the main thrust of any worthwhile and relevant discussion has to focus on Trump.
Your side doesn't get a pass here. This isn't a one-sided failure.
Well if you want to lump all GOP leaning and DEM leaning voters together in assigning blame for the current political malady(ies) of our nation, what rhetorical trick are you relying on to exclude independents/libertarian leaning voters and so on from this finger pointing exercise?
Tribal behavior, whether political or religious or what have you, is not limited to the big tribes.
When you want to talk about how much blame the public bears for the "intellectual and moral bankruptcy" of our parties, the main thrust of any worthwhile and relevant discussion has to focus on Trump.
Your side doesn't get a pass here. This isn't a one-sided failure.
When the one side spawns a candidate like Trump the focus naturally goes there. As it should.
In the end the real question becomes who is more fit for the position? Trump is not. But it seems like the Trump supporters (faced with his overwhelming incompetence) are no longer trying to support him on his merits now... probably impossible to do at this point. They have pivoted to an acknowledgement that Trump is bad while trying to claim that Clinton is equally as bad (or close to as bad). That's not going to fly with most people. Clinton is certainly not without her own problems, shortcomings and misdeeds and those should be acknowledged. However; stack those against Trump's and the two "piles" aren't even close at this point.
I'm going to hold my nose when I enter the polling booth this year but it's clear which of the two is creating the most stank.
When you want to talk about how much blame the public bears for the "intellectual and moral bankruptcy" of our parties, the main thrust of any worthwhile and relevant discussion has to focus on Trump.
Your side doesn't get a pass here. This isn't a one-sided failure.
Link should work now. It had two hyphens in it which the RP grinder turns into a — dash. I clicked the "share via email" link and copied the short link it used there...
Ok, now I've seen it all.
Now that I know what the "mentally unbalanced" think... I wonder what's on the minds of: arsonists, rapists, pedophiles & insurance cheats?
Link should work now. It had two hyphens in it which the RP grinder turns into a — dash. I clicked the "share via email" link and copied the short link it used there...
Link should work now. It had two hyphens in it which the RP grinder turns into a — dash. I clicked the "share via email" link and copied the short link it used there...
IKR? I want nothing more than to go all Rambo on somebody's vehicle. (PS not exactly a hillary supporter but jeezus fucking christ, trump?)
Also, like the bleeding heart liberal douchebag that I am, I believe in the rule of law, and decency. Unlike several filmed Trump supporters. Chew on that.
Yea, this argument is like the one which says that Trump is down in the polls because his supporters, who have no compunction about being filmed assaulting other humans at campaign events, are too askeered to answer truthfully when asked by an anonymous pollster who they'll never meet about their voting preferences.
