What Happens To a Dead Elephant? 2

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What Happens To a Dead Elephant? 2

1margd
Mag 22, 2022, 4:18 am

PublicSquare @wesgeorgia951 | 7:50 PM · May 20, 2022
Entire MAGA elite is in Hungary taking notes on how to set up a right-wing authoritarian regime.
Am I kidding?
No.
No, I am not.
-----------------------------------------------------------

Viktor Orbán tells CPAC the path to power is to ‘have your own media’
Hungarian leader also tells Republicans at Budapest conference that shows like Tucker Carlson’s should be broadcast ‘24/7’
Flora Garamvolgyi | Fri 20 May 2022

The Hungarian leader, Viktor Orbán, ... recently elected to a fourth term, laid out a 12-point blueprint to achieving and consolidating power to a special meeting of the US Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), under the slogan of “God, Homeland, Family”, held in Budapest...

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/may/20/viktor-orban-cpac-republicans-hu...
__________________________________________

PM Orbán at CPAC: Here’s Hungary’s 12-point recipe for Christian conservative success
May 19, 2022 - Zoltán Kovács

1. play by our own rules
2. implement national conservatism in domestic policy
3. keep national interest at the center of foreign policy
4. keep the media because we can only show the insanity of the progressive Left if we have the media to help us
5. Expose your opponents’ true intentions.
6. only economic policies that benefit even those who did not vote for you should be pursued
7. don't get dragged to an extreme
(We must give to God what belongs to God, to the emperor what belongs to the emperor, and to science what belongs to science)
8. read every day
9. have faith... if someone does not believe in the Final Judgment, they think they can do whatever is within their power.
10. Make friends...Conservatives are capable of squabbling with each other over the smallest issue, and then we wonder how our opponents are able to surround us.
11. build communities...there is no conservative political success without well-functioning communities
12. build political institutions...while politicians come and go, institutions stay with us for generations... institutions can intellectually renew politics. We need new ideas, new thoughts, new people again and again

https://abouthungary.hu/blog/pm-orban-at-cpac-heres-hungarys-12-point-recipe-for...

2margd
Giu 11, 2022, 4:55 am

The Moral Desolation of the GOP
Peter Wehner | June 10, 2022

The sheer scale of Donald Trump’s depravity is unmatched in the history of the American presidency, and the Republican Party made it possible.

"It’s hard to imagine that there’s any ethical line this broken, embittered, vindictive man wouldn’t cross...".

"But the story of the Trump presidency isn’t only about the corruptions and delusions of one man; it’s also about the party he represents."

"Their dishonor is indelible."

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/06/january-6-committee-trump-repu...

3margd
Giu 20, 2022, 4:41 pm

stuart stevens (Lincoln Project) @stuartpstevens | 12:57 PM · Jun 18, 2022
The GOP is not a normal American political party. It has no governing construct. It’s official current platform is to support anything Donald Trump supports. It’s 85% white in a 57% white country & exists as a platform for white grievance.

Quote Tweet
Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum · Jun 18
"What does it mean that for most elected Republicans, none of what we’re learning is remotely disqualifying, either in a party leader or a 2024 presidential nominee?"
https://washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/06/17/trump-revelations-jan-6-hearings-...

4Limelite
Modificato: Giu 25, 2022, 5:34 pm

No Republican Party Exists, Just the Trump Brown Shirt Crime Family

Forget the elephant mascot. The new current mascot of the political right is White Jesus toting a semi-automatic military rifle, kneeling before a golden idol of Donald Trump. If the right has principles at all, they are only kneeling before and pleasing the Orange Shitegibbon and spreading the Gospel of the Big Lie at the point of a gun.

In fact, the TBSCF "Party" isn't really a political party at all. If pressed to identify what it is, it most closely resembles the Taliban, or even the more extremist Afghan terrorist group, Islamic State in Khorasan, aka, ISIS-K. Even so, the Taliban are factually more the parallel of America's TBSCF than any former Republican Party.

Neither wants nor is able to provide social services to its people. Republicans have a l o n g history of attempting -- and often succeeding -- in destroying the social safety net in this country, from Social Security to Obamacare.

The Taliban is unable to provide "law and order" to its citizens outside of Kabul and one or two other major cities. The once-Republicans have no desire to adhere to its "Lesser Lie" of being the party of law and order. Instead, lawlessness and chaos are the preferred values of the It's-OK-If-You're-A-Republican bunch. However, it must be acknowledged that both the Taliban and the TBSCF have similar ideas about what they term law enforcement. True, their means may differ, but the ends are the same. The Taliban prefer a sword; the TBSCF prefer mass-murdering military rifles, too often in the hands of teen-agers.

As for actual governing, both Taliban and TBSCF have miserable records. Under the Taliban, the poverty rate in Afghanistan is 97% and the economy has collapsed. And all this has been accomplished since the departure of the Americans a year ago. The TBSCF has only enriched the rich, made international trade agreements that hurt American industry and harmed relations with our allies, and allowed unemployment to soar to record levels as jobs were lost in greater numbers than under Hoover because it refused to aggressively battle COVID-19. Under the Taliban and the TBSCF, human rights, especially women's rights, have been trampled as each tyrannical political ruling force attempted to make females, people of any faith not approved by it, and those who participated in exhibitions of dissent and protest into criminals and worse -- non-persons. Both the Taliban and the TBSCF succeeded in weakening their countries.

As we see, the dead elephant party is now totally rotted and practically indistinguishable from those whom our country fought for 20 years, the longest war in this country's history; a war supposedly fought to bring an American-style democracy and freedom to the people of Afghanistan. The TBSCF is bent on a different goal entirely -- to establish a Taliban style of oppressive male-dominated society that persecutes people of any religion other than its own, any race other than white, and any gender and sexual orientation other than male heterosexual in the United States.

The stench of a corrupt and rotting corpse has permeated our land, thickening the atmosphere with a choking miasma that obscures sight, poisons minds, and turns all who willingly breathe it in into haters who embrace violence as a preferable substitute to political debate. That is all what was once a Republican political party has to offer our people now.

5Limelite
Giu 25, 2022, 5:37 pm

Answering the Titular Question

SCOTUS kicks it in the bum.

6margd
Modificato: Ago 8, 2022, 7:04 am

Tracing the Republican Party’s devolution to one man: Newt Gingrich
Review by Christopher Buckley | August 5, 2022

...Ronald Reagan’s farewell letter to the American people, which ends: “I now begin the journey that will lead me into the sunset of my life. I know that for America there will always be a bright dawn ahead.”

Reagan’s letter was dated Nov. 5, 1994. Three days later, Republicans won control of the House and the Senate, led by a pale rider named Newt Gingrich. And hell followed with him.

(In The Destructionists: The 25 Year Crack-Up of the Republican Party, Dana Milbank) traces the descent of the party once led by Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bob Dole and John McCain as it became the party of Gingrich and Mitch McConnell and, ultimately, the cult of Donald Trump. For those once fond of the GOP, it’s like switching the channel from “Father Knows Best” to “The Sopranos.”

...“The baton that Reagan passed to a new generation became a truncheon in Gingrich’s hands. For those scratching their heads and moaning, “How did this happen?” Milbank has the answer. It all began with the honorable gentleman from Georgia.”...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2022/08/05/tracing-republican-partys-devo...

7Molly3028
Modificato: Ago 8, 2022, 6:29 pm

https://www.mediaite.com/news/alex-jones-celebrates-after-sandy-hook-defamation-...
Alex Jones Celebrates After Sandy Hook Defamation Trial: ‘Now We Are the Republican Party’

“And I have really seen the Republican Party go from us with an insurrection. Not the one on January 6th, but the peaceful insurrection to take over the Republican Party five, six years ago to now we are the Republican Party and our populist movement is winning,” Jones added in a clip first flagged by journalist David Edwards.

***
Alex Jones is the face, heart, mind and soul of the modern-day GOP ~ from Lincoln down to Jones in around 160 years.

82wonderY
Ago 13, 2022, 8:03 am

Rick Scott - Right now, this bill actually ought to be called the war on seniors act. I mean, this is a war on Medicare. If you look at this. This is a $280 billion cut in Medicare.

MARGARET BRENNAN: –reducing Medicare cost is not the same as benefits though, you- you know that.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/rick-scott-transcript-face-the-nation-08-07-2022/

9Molly3028
Modificato: Ago 13, 2022, 12:14 pm

The Grievances-on-Parade cult is no longer the law-and-order party the GOP has always claimed to be. In a year and a half, Trump has managed to turn its members against the cops working in the Capitol on 1/6 and the FBI members carrying out a necessary assignment this week. Trump has also managed to turn them into jubilant defenders of him ~ a lawless cult leader ~ at the very same time.

If the Repubs had had the guts to take Trump down during one of the impeachments, none of this would be happening. The USA is the laughingstock of the world, again.

102wonderY
Ago 13, 2022, 10:30 pm

Totally not guilty Rand Paul calls for repeal of the Espionage Act

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100217041201

11Molly3028
Modificato: Ago 14, 2022, 7:10 pm

https://www.mediaite.com/tv/were-at-the-circus-now-gop-strategist-says-mar-a-lag...
‘We’re at The Circus Now’: GOP Strategist Says Mar-a-Lago Raid Will End With Either a Trump Indictment or Merrick Garland Resignation

And
While sitting on a CNN panel, Jennings argued that “in the aftermath of the raid,” there is a “reflexiveness,” with Trump. The Republican strategist claimed that many Republicans are unsatisfied with this outcome because they “want to take him out,” and “don’t want to let them Democrats do it.”

***
It appears that Scott Jennings, among others, would like to go to war against reps like Jim Jordan and the modern-day GOP base. Sadly, I think the modern-day GOP base and reps like JJ are already winning the war. This situation reminds me of the green light reference at the end of The Great Gatsby:

“He had come a long way to this blue lawn, and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it. He did not know that it was already behind him...."

12Molly3028
Modificato: Ago 19, 2022, 8:43 am

"Thou shalt have no other gods before Me"

Ten Commandments/#1 ~ a commandment that many GOP Christians have relegated to the ash heap in 21st Century America.

13Molly3028
Modificato: Ago 19, 2022, 6:21 pm

https://dailycaller.com/2022/08/19/opinion-trump-has-vanquished-every-major-repu...

LEWANDOWSKI: Trump Has Vanquished Every Major Republican Political Dynasty In The Last 70 Years

***
This is also true of many GOP leaders living or dead (Reagan/McCain/the Bushes, etc.) between the Nixon era and the 2020s. This is a very sad ending for a party founded by Abe Lincoln. It doesn't appear to be standing the test of time.

142wonderY
Ago 26, 2022, 4:17 pm

Republican Rep. Jim Banks published this message yesterday:

“Student loan forgiveness undermines one of our military’s greatest recruitment tools at a time of dangerously low enlistments.”

15Molly3028
Set 2, 2022, 9:05 pm

https://www.mediaite.com/tv/charles-blow-defends-biden-attack-on-gop-voters-obam...
Charles Blow Defends Biden Attack on GOP Voters: ‘Obama Told the Truth When He Talked About People Clinging to Their Guns and Their Bibles’

***
Unfortunately, the words and actions of MAGA guys and gals have been validating the statements expressed by Obama, Clinton and Biden over the years. About a third of the GOP is MAGA ~ the tail has been wagging the dog for 6+ years.

16margd
Set 7, 2022, 6:28 pm

Omar Rivero @OmarRiverosays | 10:31 AM · Sep 7, 2022:
Founder of @OccupyDemocrats and @TribelSocial.

UNBELIEVABLE! The membership list of the white supremacist Oath Keepers just leaks — and it includes over 80 Republican politicians, 370 police officers and sheriffs, and over 100 active-duty members of the U.S. military. They must ALL be fired or impeached from duty IMMEDIATELY!

Here is the list and research of the Oath Keepers’ please membership list that was compiled by the Anti-Defamation League: https://adl.org/resources/press-release/new-adl-leaked-oath-keepers-membership-l....

17margd
Set 7, 2022, 6:36 pm

New from ADL: Leaked Oath Keepers’ Membership List Reveals Hundreds of Current & Former Law Enforcement Officers, Members of Military, and Elected Officials
Published: 09.06.2022

(over 80 Republican politicians, 370 police officers and sheriffs, and over 100 active-duty members of the U.S. military.)

ADL (Anti-Defamation League) also unveils interactive map displaying number of Oath Keepers members by state and position held (https://www.adl.org/resources/report/oath-keepers-data-leak-unmasking-extremism-public-life)...

https://www.adl.org/resources/press-release/new-adl-leaked-oath-keepers-membersh...

18margd
Ott 5, 2023, 8:54 am

Tom Nichols (The Atlantic) @RadioFreeTom | 8:24 PM · Oct 4, 2023:

And now @TaraSetmayer referring to Republicans not as conservatives but as “illiberal populists.”
Good. We need to say things accurately.

19Molly3028
Ott 5, 2023, 12:11 pm

Can the No Labels party come up with a duet next April that a majority of Americans can rally around late next year?????

20Molly3028
Modificato: Ott 5, 2023, 12:28 pm

https://www.mediaite.com/politics/same-stupid-clown-car-with-a-different-driver-...
‘Same Stupid Clown Car With a Different Driver!’ GOP Rep. Wants ‘Foundational Problems’ Fixed Before New Speaker Named

***
Trump and his cult followers ~ the GOP's base ~ love the chaos. That is their daily drug of choice. Governance has no place in their very sad lives.

21lriley
Ott 5, 2023, 12:51 pm

>18 margd: the idea of 'populism' cuts two ways but really it assumes that you have at least a plurality of the population with you which obviously the Republican Party or conservatives don't have so when they talk about being populist they're kind of like bullshitting as also in their us vs. them dichotomy which is inaccurate to begin with IMO as they are whether they'll admit it or not on the side of the wealthy and elites and that shows through in their voting for plutocrats or in their targeting of minorities and the poor who are part of the fabric of a larger voter dynamic than they have. Their populism continually falls short of what the will of the people is.

22lriley
Modificato: Ott 5, 2023, 1:01 pm

>19 Molly3028: No. There is no middle road between the republican and democratic parties right now that is not going to favor a republican right wing outcome. Kennedy Jr. or Manchin are just going to muddy the waters more.

In any case I don't get the outrage against Biden at least at the moment. Yeah he's an elderly guy who acts like an elderly guy but a lot of things that he's done (for instance student loan debt) or the democrats have got through have been good. Inflation is high---does anyone really think it wouldn't be high if Trump or another republican was in office? I don't. Trump's 4 years he was winging everything when he was at a golf course. Republicans in congress have been giving us all a primer in how not to govern---many more than will to shut everything down. As far as the rest of our economy it's been good. Jobs for instance have been the best they've been in a long while.

Keep in mind also that Kennedy or Manchin are anti-abortion.

23Molly3028
Ott 6, 2023, 1:36 pm

https://www.mediaite.com/tv/liz-cheney-says-if-jim-jordan-becomes-speaker-then-r...
Liz Cheney Says If Jim Jordan Becomes Speaker Then Republicans Cannot Be ‘Counted On To Defend The Constitution’

The former Wyoming representative blasted Jordan, claiming he knew what Trump had planned on January 6th.

“Jim Jordan knew more about what Donald Trump had planned for January 6th than any other member of the House of Representatives,” Cheney said during a speech at the University of Minnesota.

“If the Republicans decide that Jim Jordan should be the Speaker of the House…And I, by the way, I don’t think that’s going to happen. I think he’ll lose,” she added. “But if they were to decide that there would no longer be any possible way to argue that a group of elected Republicans could be counted on to defend the Constitution.”

24kiparsky
Ott 6, 2023, 2:53 pm

>19 Molly3028: Can the No Labels party come up with a duet next April that a majority of Americans can rally around late next year?????

If there were such a pair, why wouldn't they run with one of the parties that has a chance of winning?

25kiparsky
Ott 6, 2023, 3:01 pm

Looking at the Republican Party's latest activity, I see that the pedophile Matt Gaetz has executed a hit on McCarthy apparently to make room for his fellow pedophile Jim Jordan, but it turns out Jordan has competition for that seat from the Grand Dragon Steve.
And the what is is that all of these people can agree on? Two things: that Russia should invade its neighbors and we should help, and that American women (and by extension, all Americans) are properly to be considered slaves of the state.

And these are the people who claim to represent "freedom" and "American values"! (and who wonder why they have not been able to gain a legitimate electoral majority in decades...)

26Molly3028
Modificato: Nov 8, 2023, 9:43 am

https://whowhatwhy.org/elections/rick-santorum-says-the-quiet-part-out-loud-abou...
Rick Santorum Says the Quiet Part Out Loud About the GOP and Democracy

NEWSMAX appearance on 11-7 / post-election results

And then Santorum got candid about the problem with democracy: It’s so tough to pass an unpopular agenda when people get to vote on issues directly.

“Thank goodness that most of the states in our country don’t allow you to put everything on the ballot because pure democracies are not the way to run a country,” he said.

***
The fact that this dude is a former U.S. senator is a blessing.

27Molly3028
Modificato: Nov 28, 2023, 7:17 pm

https://www.mediaite.com/tv/the-things-we-do-for-the-orange-jesus-cnn-shares-stu...
‘The Things We Do for the Orange Jesus’: CNN Shares Stunning Insider Excerpts from Liz Cheney’s New Book

CNN’s Jamie Gangel reported on some of the newsworthy tidbits in former Rep. Liz Cheney’s (R-WY) upcoming memoir, Oath and Honor, which is set to be published on Dec. 5th.

Gangel spoke with Jake Tapper and dished on some of Cheney’s insider accounts surrounding former President Donald Trump’s rehabilitation in the GOP after the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol.

“Cheney writes that McCarthy told her that he had just spoken to Trump and that McCarthy says, quote, ‘He knows it’s over. He just needs to go through all the stages of grief,’” Gangel began, adding:

Cheney then writes, it’s her wry sense of humor, that the stages of grief also apparently included tweeting in all cap letters. But, Jake, there’s also another sort of stunning anecdote about Kevin McCarthy. We all remember the photograph when just three weeks after January 6th, There it is. Kevin McCarthy goes running down to Mar-a-Lago. He’s afraid he can’t raise money.

“I’m sorry to interrupt, but this is this is a lifeline. Everyone thought that the Republican Party was going to rid itself of Donald Trump. Everybody had spoken negatively about him. But then McCarthy does this and it basically, you know, he’s like Phoenix from the ashes. Donald Trump is renewed,” Tapper interjected, setting the scene.

“Correct. And nobody knows this trip is happening. And Cheney writes, actually, when she saw that photo, she thought it was a fake,” Gangel continues, reading dialogue from the book:

CHENEY: Mar-a-Lago? What the hell, Kevin?

MCCARTHY: They’re really worried. Trump’s not eating, so they asked me to come see him.

CHENEY: What? You went to Mar-a-Lago because Trump’s not eating?

MCCARTHY: Yeah. He’s really depressed.

“She also reveals that, look, she was not the only one she talks about,” Gangel went on. “Other Republicans were, quote, angry and disgusted that McCarthy had gone running back to Trump. And there’s a text that’s going around and she writes that her Republican colleagues, quote, some mocked him, circulating that Trump McCarthy photo along with Get Ready, the clip from the movie Jerry Maguire, where Tom Cruise tells Renee Zellweger, “You complete me.” Gangel and Tapper then discuss Cheney’s take on current House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and his incessant efforts to push the “big lie” around Congress ahead of Jan. 6th.

After discussing Cheney’s take on her relationship with former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Gangel adds, “One story here about a Republican colleague that I think goes to the naming names. There’s an extraordinary scene on January 6th that she recounts where Republican members are sort of being asked to sign these sheets for electoral vote objections.”

“And she writes about Congressman Mark Green of Tennessee. Yeah. And he’s signing and she hears him and, quote, as he moved down the line signing his name to the pieces of paper. Greene said sheepishly to no one in particular, the things we do for ‘The Orange Jesus,’” Gangle concluded.

“They call him ‘The Orange Jesus. Yes, it’s not exactly a compliment,” Tapper replied.

28Molly3028
Gen 12, 12:57 pm

https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/summer-ebt-wic-funding-free-school-l...

These Republican governors chose to let some kids go hungry this summer

The GOP rejection of funding for the Summer EBT program will effect an estimated 8 million school-age children. Fifteen Republican governors chose not to sign up for the program.

29margd
Gen 14, 9:30 am

Texas guard prevented immigration officials from rescuing drowning woman and two children from Rio Grande (CBS)

Gov Abbott refused Chicago Mayor request to cease dropping off immigrants during howling freezing snowy weather.

Never mind Tx AG going to court to prevent woman from receiving medically necessary abortion.

302wonderY
Feb 6, 9:51 am

Goofy 'God's Army' convoy on Texas border shows Trump's MAGA movement is just one long con

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2024/02/05/take-back-border-con...

Quoting a local:
“We are constantly being told that we’re being invaded, and that never felt true until today, when the convoy came to town in anticipation of the governors’ event,” Jessie F. Fuentes told WOAI NBC News Channel 4. “This is political theater by outsiders. The reality is that it has brought dangerous, violent groups into our beautiful, peaceful city. Eagle Pass is safer than most cities in America if you look at crime statistics. This is just a fact. We don’t appreciate these staged events that dramatically misrepresent our reality on the border and that invite extremist groups that pose a real danger to people in our community.”

31margd
Mar 4, 6:25 am

Olivia of Troye @OliviaTroye | 8:32 AM · Mar 3, 2024:
Fmr WhiteHouse VP Pence Homeland Security & CT Advisor•Career #NatSec Intel🇺🇸Exec Director @97Percentorg {common ground on guns}

Is this who we are now as a country? MAGA lining people up in the middle of the room…Isolating them, bullying & intimidating our fellow Americans for caucusing in support of Nikki Haley? This is the ongoing hate & contempt that Trump inspires. It will only get worse.

Quote
Lynn Schmidt @SchmidtOpinions | 8:36 PM · Mar 2, 2024:
Columnist and editorial board member of @stltoday...

Caucused for @NikkiHaley in Missouri today. Made to feel intimated and scared for standing up for what's right. Haley supporters were told to line up 2 x 2 in the middle of the floor of the gym, while Trump's supporters, who are also our neighbors, booed at Nikki's candidacy.

32margd
Mar 12, 8:45 am

Bloodbath at RNC: Trump team slashes staff at committee
Dozens of staffers are expected to be let go.
Alex Isenstadt | 03/11/2024

...All told, the expectation is that more than 60 RNC staffers who work across the political, communications and data departments will be let go. Those being asked to resign include five members of the senior staff, though the names were not made public. Additionally, some vendor contracts are expected to be cut.

...Trump’s campaign took over operational control of the RNC on Monday. On Friday, former North Carolina GOP Chair Michael Whatley was elected the RNC’s new chair, and Trump daughter-in-law Lara Trump was elected as co-chair. Both had Trump’s endorsement. Additionally, Trump senior campaign adviser Chris LaCivita was named as the RNC’s new chief of staff.

...Under the new structure, the Trump campaign is looking to merge its operations with the RNC. Key departments, such as communications, data and fundraising, will effectively be one and the same.

https://www.politico.com/news/2024/03/11/bloodbath-at-rnc-trump-team-slashes-sta...

33Molly3028
Mar 19, 2:37 pm

https://www.mediaite.com/politics/donors-better-beware-liz-cheney-sounds-the-ala...
‘Donors Better Beware’: Liz Cheney Sounds the Alarm On Trump Taking Over the RNC Just as He’s ‘Desperate For Money’

Former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) warned Republican Party donors on Monday that former President Donald Trump’s takeover of the Republican National Committee coinciding with his inability to post a bond for the nearly half-billion dollars he owes in New York should be a red flag.