Trump Re-truths QAnon Call To Arms, While GOP Hones Its Midterm Agenda Of ‘Pure Nihilistic Negation’ — To Quote Peter Thiel

Come to think of it, maybe that’s why most Republicans favor pure nihilistic negation.

After much hemming and hawing, McCarthy is reportedly planning to come out with an agenda next week. He’s expected to offer a “Commitment to America,” which is a knockoff of the GOP’s 1994 “Contract With America.” Yet early signs are that it will accentuate the negative, too. (One commitment: “put an end to ‘Build Back Better.’ ”)

McCarthy is virtually indistinguishable from Steve Bannon at this point. They both want to “tear it all down.” McCarthy is Paul Ryan, mutated from an H-bomb blast, like in the old ’50’s sci fi movies. He’s the monster version of Ryan. Remember Ryan’s unrelenting quest to end the “nightmare that is Obamacare” and then the best he could do was come up with Obamacare 2.0, and it went right on its ass? And that is exactly what took place in March of 2017. The GOP ran out of gas and even though they had a unified government at that point, they still could not govern. It has all gone downhill since then, to where now even GOP megadonors are wondering if the anti-government ranting, hasn’t gone too far.

And make no mistake, nihilistic negation on the part of the GOP is nothing new. The party has been splintering and rotting for some time. As Obama said, again with respect to medical care, “They don’t like my plan but they don’t have one of their own,” and they didn’t. Tearing down what is there, with nothing to replace it, let alone something better, has been the GOP modus operandi for quite some time. Kevin McCarthy is only carrying water for those who came before him. If you ask him what he would propose in place of Build Back Better you will hear crickets.

Trump is going to be the sideshow in this midterm election, not the main event. He’s gearing up for the role, as you see from the image atop this piece. The RNC didn’t want this, it did its best to forestall it, but it’s stuck with it. And Trump is going full P.T. Barnum, he has to, considering the number and severity of his legal problems.

And Trump is not the only problematic spin to the 2022 midterms.

Here’s an interesting poll which shows, alas, that basic values and ideas are being challenged. You’ll also see how the timing of the poll has produced the effect that it did among Democrats, who are understandably unhappy with Trump appointed judges (and by the way, this is going to be use as both siderism fodder, so be prepared.)

Axios.

What we’re watching: In this poll, significant minorities of Republicans and Democrats supported non-democratic norms in about equal percentages — and Democrats were more likely than Republicans to say presidents should be able to remove judges when their decisions go against the national interest.

• Many Americans also believe the government should follow the will of the majority even at the expense of ethnic and religious minority groups’ civil rights.

• And roughly a third said the federal government should be able to prosecute members of the news media who make offensive or unpatriotic statements.

• Respondents younger than 35 or with household incomes below $75,000 a year were more likely to favor strong unelected leaders and to support prosecuting the media or empowering presidents to remove judges.

The big picture: If you’re looking for good news in this poll, it is primarily that the people who embrace the anti-democratic views are still in the minority.

• But the findings are a reminder that for all of the attention and congressional hearings around the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, anti-democratic views take many forms.

What they’re saying: “There’s a lot of anti-democratic sentiment, a lot more than we might have expected,” said Justin Gest, an associate professor at George Mason University who studies the politics of demographic change and advises the project.

• The survey’s questions pose “hard tests” for society, Gest said — tradeoffs between “what’s expedient and best for the individual, and what actually sustains the integrity of our political institutions.”

• Values like minority rights, separation of church and state and freedom of the press are “key foundations” of democracy but “they’re far from being fully supported by Americans,” Gest said. “These are things you’d think would be universal.”

There you have it. The three values enumerated here, minority rights, separation of church and state and freedom of the press are on the ballot. We naively thought that those things were a given, because they’re written into our constitution, but our constitution was meant to be the owner’s manual for a democracy. If and when the tipping point to autocracy is reached, the constitution goes out the window.

Get Out the Vote. Vote like your life depended on it because it does.