#The GOP

[tomorrowusa]

« A better kind of Republicanism is not possible as long as most of the party genuflects to Trump. This means the victory of the odd moderate conservative here or there will not change things. A little hardball in pursuit of the power needed to defeat Trumpism is not hypocrisy. It’s a necessity. »

— E.J. Dionne, Jr. on the Democratic strategy of encouraging the nomination of unelectable MAGA extremist Republicans to make it easier for moderate Democrats to defeat them in the general election. At the Washington Post.

The Republican Party of old is dead. This ain't your grandmother's GOP but instead is a totalitarian cult centered on a blathering con man. It is more interested in conducting an eternal culture war than in effective governance.

Every GOP office holder is a pillar holding up Trump. Many of them won't even admit that Trump lost because to do so would defy the cult. They have willingly relinquished the power of rational thought. A party like that has no business in a democracy.

[scretladyspider]

“The suit centers on Lorie Smith, a website designer who does not want to provide her services for gay weddings because of her religious objections.

In 2016, she says, a gay man named Stewart requested her services for help with his upcoming wedding. “We are getting married early next year and would love some design work done for our invites, placenames etc. We might also stretch to a website,” reads a message he apparently sent her through her website. In court filings, her lawyers produced a copy of the inquiry.

Web designer’s US supreme court case could trample LGBTQ+ rights, advocates say

But Stewart, who requested his last name be withheld for privacy, said in an interview with the Guardian that he never sent the message, even though it correctly lists his email address and telephone number. He has also been happily married to a woman for the last 15 years, he said. The news was first reported by the New Republic.

In fact, until he received a call this week from a reporter from the magazine, Stewart said he had no idea he was somehow tied up in a case that had made it to the supreme court.

“I can confirm I did not contact 303 Creative about a website,” he said. “It’s fraudulent insomuch as someone is pretending to be me and looking to marry someone called Mike. That’s not me.

“What’s most concerning to me is that this is kind of like the one main piece of evidence that’s been part of this case for the last six-plus years and it’s false,” he added. “Nobody’s checked it. Anybody can pick up the phone, write an email, send a text, to verify whether that was correct information.”

Key document may be fake in LGBTQ+ rights case before US Supreme Court, The Guardian, by Sam Levine

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

There is nothing in the record of the past two years when both Houses of Congress have been controlled by the Republican Party which can lead any person to believe that those promises will be fulfilled in the future. They follow the Hitler line – no matter how big the lie, repeat it often enough and the masses will regard it as truth. If anything stands out in the history of the Grand Old Party during the past two years it is that its majority in Congress has waged perpetual, unending war on all fronts against the rights and the aspirations of American workers. I was there... I speak from what I have seen. The Republican members of Congress have been vicious in the passage of laws which restrict and deny fundamental rights to all those in America who have to work for a living. But meantime profits for the bosses have steadily increased. The bosses, I might add, are the members of the National Association of Manufacturers and other selfish employers who provide the treasure chest by which the candidates of the Grand Old Party seek to have you vote for them.

—John F Kennedy, Remarks before the Fitton Council of the Knights of Columbus, East Boston, May 18, 1947

[Robert B. Hubbell]

[thecovenhouseco]

If conservatives ever complain about Drag or Trans people, ask how many times they laughed at Big Mamma’s House, Mrs Doubtfire, Madea or White Chicks. Orrrrr Ask them why they supported Trump even after this

Or maybe ask them why they supported The Man who said “Transgenderism” needs to be eradicated even after this

Or maybe ask them about this

They’re a bunch of lying hypocrites who simply want control. Fuck the GOP.

[burnitalldownism]

George Washington wore powdered wigs, makeup, leggings, and heels.

The GOP would cancel George Washington in a second. Ditto for all the “founding” fathers.

[loweffortartist]

Help is on the way

[faironeforest]

I grew up in the Lutheran church. Which is not really known for conservative politics. But it’s there. It’s always been there.

I left the church when I was 15 because I couldn’t handle the dissonance between what the pastor preached on Sundays, the behaviors Wednesday Bible study encouraged, with what I was watching the members of my church doing the rest of the week. They would all nod their heads, and agree Yes, it’s good to treat people the way you would want to be treated. Yes, we should be like Jesus and turn the other cheek. Forgive those who trespass against us.

Their actions spoke louder than their words. And I couldn’t be a part of it any more.

And no matter where I went, which churches I attended, the same thing kept happening. Over and over again. I realized it wasn’t a one-off incident, an outlier. It was deeply ingrained into the entire culture. No one was listening to the message. No one internalized Christ’s teachings.

I lost my faith in Christians long before I lost my faith in God.

i remember adults telling me, as a kid, to listen to doctors and get my flu vaccine and any shots i could because they remembered Before.

then they started fighting Covid precautions.

i remember adults telling me, as a kid, that the ozone was disappearing and the earth was dying and we needed to recycle and save the planet.

now my parents think climate change is a myth.

i remember adults telling me, as a kid, that racism was a plague, that we had to love and accept everyone, that we should never judge before walking a mile in their shoes.

then they told me that protesting for my Black siblings was wrong.

i remember adults telling me, as a kid, that we needed to give to the poor. working at soup kitchens. making quilts. collecting food and money and supplies. building houses. because it was the christian and just plain right thing to do.

now they look at me, on food stamps with their grandchildren, and lament the "welfare state".

i remember adults telling me, as a kid, that it was easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven and that any rich man, especially an immoral one, should never run our country.

you can guess who they voted for.

i remember adults telling me, as a kid, so very much.

when did they forget?

[sotomato06]

As of Jan 21st, 2025, a full copy of the constitution is no longer available on whitehouse.gov. I feel like this is a good time to remind everyone that the biggest threat to authoritarianism and facism is a well educated and informed population. Inform yourself and fight.

a copy of the document can still be found on the archives website. I think now is probably a good time to read it if you haven't and download it, incase it is erased from here as well.

https://constitutioncenter.org/media/files/constitution.pdf

[tomorrowusa]

Republicans don't want voters to know what anti-abortion fanatics they are. J.D. Vance has been busy scrubbing his site and social media of his more virulent comments against reproductive freedom.

Sen. JD Vance, Donald Trump’s vice presidential pick, is an anti-abortion extremist, but like the rest of the GOP, he’s doing his damnedest to cover that fact up. First, he scrapped the anti-abortion screed from the website for his Senate campaign, then he falsely insisted Democrats and the media were twisting his words on abortion. 

Just because he's hiding his extreme views doesn't mean he's changed them.

This was on the mobile version of his site before he removed it this month.

He tries to paint his views in glowing terms. But he shows no sympathy for 13-year-olds forced to travel hundreds of miles to blue states to end unwanted pregnancies. He is in sympathy with Texas laws which would rather have women die than end pregnancies which have caused life-threatening complications.

Society shouldn’t view those pregnancies as inconvenient, he said in a 2021 interview, explaining his support for a federal ban on abortion without exceptions for rape and incest.  “I think two wrongs don’t make a right,” he said. “It’s not whether a woman should be forced to bring a child to term. It’s whether a child should be allowed to live.” 

It's not J.D. who is forced to spend 18 years raising the child of a rapist.

You hardly heard the word abortion mentioned at the Republican National Convention. But that doesn't mean that patriarchal Christian fundamentalists weren't salivating at the prospect of a Trump-Vance régime.

No Republican at the convention wanted to talk about abortion and the extreme position they have embraced. But don’t be fooled by the cover-up that Trump, Vance, or the Heritage Foundation are attempting. 

Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) released a fact sheet on Project 2025 (the Trump blueprint for a second term) and reproductive freedom. It's a PDF which can be printed out and posted.

Blue Illustrated Medical Center Flyer - Repro-Project-2025-Fact-Sheet

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

[mike luckovich]

* * * *

The demise of the GOP.

September 22, 2023

ROBERT B. HUBBELL

          The media is in rapture over the resignation of Rupert Murdoch, but the most significant story of the day was Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s inability to bring a defense spending bill to the floor of the House on Thursday—the third such failure in two weeks. See Politico, House GOP erupts as McCarthy fails to move Pentagon bill.

          The power of the Speaker lies mainly in their ability to control the progress of legislation through the House. Absent that power, the Speaker’s office is ornamental—a fascinator on the head of Congress. Kevin McCarthy is all feather and no hat.

          The collapse of the Republican Party in the House mirrors the collapse of the GOP as a national party, no longer capable of winning the popular vote in presidential elections. The GOP has not won the popular vote in a presidential election in two decades—and has won the popular vote only once in the last three decades (George Bush in 2004).

          The GOP is a failed party at the national level, especially in the House. It is no longer a political party. It is a loose federation of fiefdoms, each run by a petty tyrant who maintains power by transactional graft, shifting alliances, and animal cunning.

          None of this means that we can assume victory or relent in our efforts to defeat every Republican in every election henceforth. But it is worth a moment of reflection and introspection on our part. I hear from readers every day who are concerned about the supposed dysfunction and weak messaging of the Democratic Party. I believe that misperception is based on the asymmetry inherent in a two-party system in which one party is dedicated to the truth while the other views deceit as its business model. It is easier to create a soundbite if you are not constrained by the truth.

          That asymmetry is inherent in a two-party system in which one party seeks to achieve consensus for the common good while the other inflames grievance to secure votes in gerrymandered districts.

          That asymmetry is inherent in a two-party system in which one seeks to preserve the rule of law while the other views it as an impediment to power.

          That asymmetry is inherent in a two-party system in which one party recognizes that lasting progress is the incremental product of thoughtful planning and careful execution while the other measures success in soundbites-per-minute on Fox News.

          When McCarthy’s third attempt to bring the defense bill to the floor collapsed, he declared a recess and sent members of his party home for the weekend—five business days before the government would shut down in the absence of a budget. McCarthy appears to have surrendered to the chaos of his warring federation of tribes.

If there is a way out of the mess caused by the demise of the GOP as a governing political party, it will involve a bipartisan solution in which a handful of Republicans cross party lines to protect millions of Americans from the devastating effects of a government shutdown.

          The demise of the GOP is no cause for joy; it calls us to create a stronger Democratic Party that can rise above the chaos of the failed Republican Party. That challenge—and much more—is on the ballot in 2024.

[rosaofthorns]

Yes, you saw what you saw.

Yes, you saw what you saw. Yes, he did what you thought he did. Yes, they aired that with their whole chest.

The next thing they will do is deny that it happened. (you saw wrong, it wasn't what you thought it was, etc) After that they will try to downplay it (it was a joke, he didn't mean it like that, it's a "roman salute," etc) They will try to claim it was the work of AI. (its a deep fake, it's a smear campaign, it's hate speech, etc) They will do everything they can to sweep it aside. Then they will try to bury it. Then they will distract you with meaningless bullshit.

Do not fall for it. Do not believe it. Do not be gaslit.

You saw what you saw. He did what he did. And we need to make sure that we do not forget.

[fromkenari]

Gerrymandering is not just a GOP problem. It's a political problem because it's also happening in staunch blue states. Just look at the history of IL-13 if you don't believe me. Gerrymandering is the only reason it is currently blue, and it's not even the wildest carving of a district in the state, but it's not as a distant second to IL-17 as it used to be. Also, have you seen a Congressional map of California? Because there is something afoot there as well. We should be trying to stop it from happening everywhere. The only difference from Texas is that the lack of gerrymandering in Illinois would not flip Illinois red. Still, the Democrats are not free from cheating and corruption either because that is their given middle name in my state. If you have to win by cheating, then it's all bad. I don't care who is doing it.

[burnitalldownism]

Real curious to hear the MAGA crowd’s thoughts on y’know…child labour being totally awesome, & something the people that they vote for, support.

[josephinekhawaja]

Literally thought this at Kendrick Lamar dropping "Not Like Us" in an election year, but the Democrats will never bring that energy. Never so immediately screamed though at somebody boarding my train of thought.

[animentality]