Good article Steve, bad header. Sorry for being critical, but simply reducing this to Mitch's problem minimizes just how terrible it is. Sadly, the bigger picture is how awful it is for the country at large. We need two responsible parties with their own ideologies and platforms. We need statesmen willing to lead and compromise for the good of the country.
We could not be further from that place than we are right now. I was delighted following the election, not because Biden won, but because trump lost. That simply meant America won. Democracy prevailed over craziness and the idea chaos somehow made sense as we spiraled out of control.
It was refreshing to see the big political news of the day was Bernie's mittens. Politics isn't about ratings, it is about getting things done that benefit the country. January 6 was one of America's darkest days and the idea any number of republican's stood up and said they had had enough was encouraging.
And now, we find this nonsense; trump still holds these pathetic excuses for politicians hostage. They are simply incapable of standing up for what is right and they are still letting trump's massive ego dictate their every move. There is no logical or legitimate excuse for allowing the orange guy to escape holding him accountable.
This isn't a Mitch problem, this is a plague personified as trump lays waste to our country and our political process that we all believe in. He is a pathetic excuse of a human being and those unwilling to cut him loose are no better. It will never end will it?
It harms the long term health of our nation as well. This strikes me as a craven and nihilistic attempt to maintain power, and that the GOP has abandoned any principle of accountability and responsibility. This is not surprising, considering the move from generating ideas/solutions to instead relying on grievance. It looks like the next moves are to move away from democracy in general.
At this point, the best we can expect is that the principled conservatives leave the GOP and become either Independents or form their own party.
We need a conservative party that works in good faith with Democrats to find solutions that work for America: those solutions will likely make people on both sides unhappy at times, or lean more heavily one way or the other. Without these voices, we are left with only one party generating any ideas/policies and the other just trolling.
At some point a political party becomes the ideas for which it stands. To continue to undermine the process of impeachment simply because of political expediency is to quite literally become the party representing sedition, insurrection, and anti-constitutional positions. This eventually leaves you in the position of supporting irreconcilable differences between a conspiracy theory motivated and radicalized whacked-out base, and what amounted to those who believed in Republicanism. Since McConnell and the majority of republicans have opted for the former rather than the latter, no winning coalition can be created going forward which would result in republicans consistently winning elections. Either McConnell hasn't thought this through or he has completely succumbed to the idea that the future of the Republican party isn't worth saving.
One thought: maintain the party in the short-term, try to take-over again in 2022, and meanwhile push for voting system changes in the States controlled by the GOP that result in Dems being even more disadvantaged than otherwise.
I'm all for reform, but let's make it make good sense regardless of which party benefits. That's one of the frustrating things: policy that makes good sense is often rejected by the GOP because "It will only benefit the Dems! We'll never win again!". Before anyone brings up voter ID being rejected by Dems: there's little/no in-person voter fraud that voter ID actually alleviates, and verifying absentee/mailed ballots can be done much better (see below) with ID being verified in registration.
If we're going to have absentee/mail-in ballots, then put a unique PIN on the envelope instead of a signature verification ('cause signatures change). Drop-boxes really shouldn't be controversial: it's still a mailed ballot, and if the PIN is confirmed as matching the envelope then the ballot on the inside is just as valid. Let's go ahead and count the early/mailed ballots in advance and not release the results until polls close on Election Day. Let's move Election Day to a Sunday or make it a Federal holiday.
I suppose that is intended as a slur. Have you looked at the democrat legislative agenda? If you can articulate how any of it will improve our life and our economic well being, you can continue to throw a few insults my way. Otherwise I will assume that hating and punishing Mr. Trump are the most important things you have to write about.
Let’s all be civil. Speaking for myself, I don’t hate Trump. He is who he is. But what he did was wrong and deserves correction i.e. punishment. Leaving it unpunished harms the nation though some will rejoice in it because they actually do hate Trump.
Punishment will not happen. There is less of a case for that than for illegal votes in Pennsylvania. By the way, did you read about the votes declared illegal in Virginia?
I can make the arguments for how those legislative priorities can be positive, but I don't think there's much point: from what I can tell, you're not amenable to those arguments. I have a policy: don't argue politics with someone who can't answer "Yes" to the questions "Is there anything a candidate from an opposing party could do to earn your vote?" or "Is there anything a candidate from your preferred party can do to lose your support?".
So I'll leave it at "elections have consequences". Fortunately, policy is inherently reversible: make your arguments, convince voters, and elect those that agree with your policy preferences.
Slur, no. There is no principle in "They want X, so I'm against it!".
Exceptional response SGman. It is fascinating to have a discussion with parties who simply see the other side as bad. I fully understand the reason some republicans supported trump; judges, tax cuts and rollbacks on regulations. Once those were done, you were left with a miscreant for president. Not trying to sound unkind, but there was virtually nothing substantive within him as a human being.
Biden's been in office a week and the moans of how he is ruining the country are amazing and laughable. You may not like his policies, but the normalcy that comes from someone accomplished enough to hire and or promote smart people to key positions is refreshing to say the least.
If nothing else his prompt actions regarding the pandemic are reason enough to be happy with his election. trump virtually ignored the 400,000 dead and exploding covid19 infection rates so he could promote his lies...oh yeah and bilk the suckers and rubes out of their money.
And one has to smile as our friend curtis addresses us all as "democrat socialists." All one can do is smile at the absurdity of it all.
Really? Seems to me you attach the label of socialist to anyone with a D in front of their name.
As long as we are chatting Curtis, how repulsed were you by the events of January 6? Did it sicken you to see those good "patriots" as they beat a cop to death? Pissed and crapped all over the floors of the Capital? Do you think the presidents lies help fuel the flames of anarchy or was it all just in good fun? How about the gallows they brought along, creative or sick?
I have occasionally voted democrat but not for any of the current office holders. It would be a tough sell but I would be really interested in how anyone could put a positive spin on the democrat socialist agenda. You might want to check out today's White House press conference.
Listen to the arguments being made for X policy (of which you've not provided any specific items with which you disagree or why). You may not agree: reasonably some not-insignificant (or even majority) portion of the public does.
Good article Steve, bad header. Sorry for being critical, but simply reducing this to Mitch's problem minimizes just how terrible it is. Sadly, the bigger picture is how awful it is for the country at large. We need two responsible parties with their own ideologies and platforms. We need statesmen willing to lead and compromise for the good of the country.
We could not be further from that place than we are right now. I was delighted following the election, not because Biden won, but because trump lost. That simply meant America won. Democracy prevailed over craziness and the idea chaos somehow made sense as we spiraled out of control.
It was refreshing to see the big political news of the day was Bernie's mittens. Politics isn't about ratings, it is about getting things done that benefit the country. January 6 was one of America's darkest days and the idea any number of republican's stood up and said they had had enough was encouraging.
And now, we find this nonsense; trump still holds these pathetic excuses for politicians hostage. They are simply incapable of standing up for what is right and they are still letting trump's massive ego dictate their every move. There is no logical or legitimate excuse for allowing the orange guy to escape holding him accountable.
This isn't a Mitch problem, this is a plague personified as trump lays waste to our country and our political process that we all believe in. He is a pathetic excuse of a human being and those unwilling to cut him loose are no better. It will never end will it?
Freaking Shameful.
I almost made the headline “There will be no accountability” but changed it.
It harms the long term health of our nation as well. This strikes me as a craven and nihilistic attempt to maintain power, and that the GOP has abandoned any principle of accountability and responsibility. This is not surprising, considering the move from generating ideas/solutions to instead relying on grievance. It looks like the next moves are to move away from democracy in general.
At this point, the best we can expect is that the principled conservatives leave the GOP and become either Independents or form their own party.
We need a conservative
That got cut off...
We need a conservative party that works in good faith with Democrats to find solutions that work for America: those solutions will likely make people on both sides unhappy at times, or lean more heavily one way or the other. Without these voices, we are left with only one party generating any ideas/policies and the other just trolling.
At some point a political party becomes the ideas for which it stands. To continue to undermine the process of impeachment simply because of political expediency is to quite literally become the party representing sedition, insurrection, and anti-constitutional positions. This eventually leaves you in the position of supporting irreconcilable differences between a conspiracy theory motivated and radicalized whacked-out base, and what amounted to those who believed in Republicanism. Since McConnell and the majority of republicans have opted for the former rather than the latter, no winning coalition can be created going forward which would result in republicans consistently winning elections. Either McConnell hasn't thought this through or he has completely succumbed to the idea that the future of the Republican party isn't worth saving.
One thought: maintain the party in the short-term, try to take-over again in 2022, and meanwhile push for voting system changes in the States controlled by the GOP that result in Dems being even more disadvantaged than otherwise.
I'm all for reform, but let's make it make good sense regardless of which party benefits. That's one of the frustrating things: policy that makes good sense is often rejected by the GOP because "It will only benefit the Dems! We'll never win again!". Before anyone brings up voter ID being rejected by Dems: there's little/no in-person voter fraud that voter ID actually alleviates, and verifying absentee/mailed ballots can be done much better (see below) with ID being verified in registration.
If we're going to have absentee/mail-in ballots, then put a unique PIN on the envelope instead of a signature verification ('cause signatures change). Drop-boxes really shouldn't be controversial: it's still a mailed ballot, and if the PIN is confirmed as matching the envelope then the ballot on the inside is just as valid. Let's go ahead and count the early/mailed ballots in advance and not release the results until polls close on Election Day. Let's move Election Day to a Sunday or make it a Federal holiday.
Whatever keeps the democrat socialists occupied that doesn't involve legislation.
How principled.
I suppose that is intended as a slur. Have you looked at the democrat legislative agenda? If you can articulate how any of it will improve our life and our economic well being, you can continue to throw a few insults my way. Otherwise I will assume that hating and punishing Mr. Trump are the most important things you have to write about.
Let’s all be civil. Speaking for myself, I don’t hate Trump. He is who he is. But what he did was wrong and deserves correction i.e. punishment. Leaving it unpunished harms the nation though some will rejoice in it because they actually do hate Trump.
My main point is when will you get around to holding Joe accountable?
When he does something with which I disagree, and it's on a relevant thread (because I'm not blogging).
Punishment will not happen. There is less of a case for that than for illegal votes in Pennsylvania. By the way, did you read about the votes declared illegal in Virginia?
I can make the arguments for how those legislative priorities can be positive, but I don't think there's much point: from what I can tell, you're not amenable to those arguments. I have a policy: don't argue politics with someone who can't answer "Yes" to the questions "Is there anything a candidate from an opposing party could do to earn your vote?" or "Is there anything a candidate from your preferred party can do to lose your support?".
So I'll leave it at "elections have consequences". Fortunately, policy is inherently reversible: make your arguments, convince voters, and elect those that agree with your policy preferences.
Slur, no. There is no principle in "They want X, so I'm against it!".
Exceptional response SGman. It is fascinating to have a discussion with parties who simply see the other side as bad. I fully understand the reason some republicans supported trump; judges, tax cuts and rollbacks on regulations. Once those were done, you were left with a miscreant for president. Not trying to sound unkind, but there was virtually nothing substantive within him as a human being.
Biden's been in office a week and the moans of how he is ruining the country are amazing and laughable. You may not like his policies, but the normalcy that comes from someone accomplished enough to hire and or promote smart people to key positions is refreshing to say the least.
If nothing else his prompt actions regarding the pandemic are reason enough to be happy with his election. trump virtually ignored the 400,000 dead and exploding covid19 infection rates so he could promote his lies...oh yeah and bilk the suckers and rubes out of their money.
And one has to smile as our friend curtis addresses us all as "democrat socialists." All one can do is smile at the absurdity of it all.
I believe the current democrat hierarchy to be socialists. If you think that was aimed at you, maybe the shoe fits.
Really? Seems to me you attach the label of socialist to anyone with a D in front of their name.
As long as we are chatting Curtis, how repulsed were you by the events of January 6? Did it sicken you to see those good "patriots" as they beat a cop to death? Pissed and crapped all over the floors of the Capital? Do you think the presidents lies help fuel the flames of anarchy or was it all just in good fun? How about the gallows they brought along, creative or sick?
You may also want to check out Joel's EO signing remarks today.
I have occasionally voted democrat but not for any of the current office holders. It would be a tough sell but I would be really interested in how anyone could put a positive spin on the democrat socialist agenda. You might want to check out today's White House press conference.
Listen to the arguments being made for X policy (of which you've not provided any specific items with which you disagree or why). You may not agree: reasonably some not-insignificant (or even majority) portion of the public does.
So your spin depends on what a few, or even a lot, of democrats think.