The GOP is still morally corrupt, even if Discourse breaks

[Timex]

What tweet are we talking about?

[vyshka]

Apparently there was a tweet (don’t know if it is gone now) where Trump says Biden is a pedo, because that is what you do in a presidential campaign.

[HumanTon]

Julian Sanchez (normative)

I’ve said before that when Reagan said things back in the 80s in the vein of “we’ll cut taxes … and that’ll balance the budget,” there was a wink in the second part that most people got. But the truest of the true believers took it completely literally, which is how we ended up with a GOP that genuinely believes tax cuts magically raise revenue.

That selection-of-the-stupidest is also how we ended up with a GOP dumb enough to think that “Democrat Voters Against Biden” is the perfect thing to call a ratfucking operation.

[Gordon_Cameron]

I mean this is the guy who was comparing dick sizes and accusing people’s dads of killing JFK the first time around. The idea that anyone can still pretend to be shocked is risible.

[Menzo]

@HumanTon

But the truest of the true believers took it completely literally, which is how we ended up with a GOP that genuinely believes tax cuts magically raise revenue.

I believe these “true believers” don’t actually care whether tax cuts raise revenue or lower it. Lower/zero taxes is the end goal in and of itself.

[Nesrie]

@HumanTon

But the truest of the true believers took it completely literally, which is how we ended up with a GOP that genuinely believes tax cuts magically raise revenue.

Well that and lobbyists and entire political machines have spent nothing but decades reinforcing the idea along with who to target when it inevitably fails to materialize.

[MikeOberly]

Of course they welcome her. She’s mainstream Trump party.

Manu Raju (mkraju)

[vyshka]

Today she tweeted George Soros is the enemy of the people.

[MikeOberly]

John Harwood (JohnJHarwood)

[HumanTon]

@Menzo

I believe these “true believers” don’t actually care whether tax cuts raise revenue or lower it. Lower/zero taxes is the end goal in and of itself.

No, those weren’t the true believers I’m talking about. The people who purely wanted a tax cut and just quietly rolled their eyes at the post-coital pep talk of how supply-side economics would magically make deficits disappear were the ones who were on the wink, as I put it.

And indeed, there are still some people in on the wink in the Republican Party today, like Mnunchin and some of the donors. (And Kelly-Ann Conway, who accepts the paycheck on the condition that she not have to subscribe to mere human concepts like “belief.”)

But, and this is the terrifying part, over the years the wink-aware have become a very small part of the Republican Party. The vast majority of the people actually running the GOP in 2020 are not in on the wink. They actually believe the shit they spew. All of it.

The average Republican candidate in 2020 actually, truly believes that Biden is a socialist, that anyone who refuses to say “All lives matter” is the real racist, that blue states are draining “real” America, that Hillary Clinton is much more corrupt than Donald Trump, etc. etc. etc.

It turns out that if you promote a movement based on lies and nonsense, after 40 years or so, your movement will largely consist of … people who want to believe in your lies and nonsense. Who could have guessed?

[MikeOberly]

Billy Barr has words.

Kyle Griffin (kylegriffin1)

[CraigM]

I have words for what I would like to happen to Barr. It involved hemp, ties, and a probable inclusion on a DoJ database.

[Gordon_Cameron]

You know what would also be an intrusion on my civil liberties? Dying from a pandemic.

[sillhouette]

Barrpocracy

Pwn All The Things (pwnallthethings)

[Gordon_Cameron]

I just saw the House Minority Leader on CNN speaking about how Democrats ‘wasted the moment’ to address Coronavirus because they were impeaching the President.

It’s 9:20 AM over here, and I need a drink.

[KevinC]

He’s not totally wrong… tell me one single thing that Joe Biden did in that time to halt the spread of the coronavirus? I’ll wait.

[sillhouette]

Vanita Gupta (vanitaguptaCR)

[KevinC]

They’d rather cover the narrow lead Biden holds in Wisconsin or talk to some undecided voters that haven’t voted for a Democrat in 20 years hanging out at a diner near @Timex’s place.

[KevinC]

Doesn’t quite fit the thread but I thought this piece would be relatable to some of the former Republicans we have on the forum.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/09/17/why-i-dropped-conservative-my-twitter-profile/

My Twitter blurb used to describe me as a “conservative opinion writer.” Now it reads: “NeverTrump, pro-democracy opinion writer.” Why the change?

Let’s be honest: There is no conservative movement or party today . There is a Republican Party thoroughly infused with racism and intellectually corrupted by right-wing nationalism. But there is no party that believes in less or small government (though expect the GOP to hypocritically resume singing that tune as soon as a Democrat steps into the Oval Office).

There is a healthy debate about whether Republicans were always racist frauds. My friend Stuart Stevens has a strong case to make that they were. Others claim Trump took that marginal element in the GOP and made it dominant. While I continue to believe that decent, honorable conservatives such as George H.W. Bush, John McCain and, yes, Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) were or are sincere patriots, I am forced to concede the racist, xenophobic and anti-intellectual element in the party was far more pronounced than I was willing to admit.

[Timex]

@KevinC

Let’s be honest: There is no conservative movement or party today . There is a Republican Party thoroughly infused with racism and intellectually corrupted by right-wing nationalism. But there is no party that believes in less or small government (though expect the GOP to hypocritically resume singing that tune as soon as a Democrat steps into the Oval Office).

Yes, this is the case.

I feel like it’s to the detriment of the country that there’s coherent voice speaking up for things like limited government, in a non-bullshit way.

But I guess this is just a phase we’re gonna have to go through.

@KevinC

While I continue to believe that decent, honorable conservatives such as George H.W. Bush, John McCain and, yes, Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) were or are sincere patriots, I am forced to concede the racist, xenophobic and anti-intellectual element in the party was far more pronounced than I was willing to admit.

This is also true.