Like so many things Trump, it’s almost reached the point where they’re making a drinking game out of it. Whenever His Lowness says or does something stupid, insensitive, or politically damaging, the same question keeps ringing forth from the mountaintops of punditry land, How long can the GOP continue to keep chugging along on the Trump train before they pull the emergency brake?
Why? Why does this question keep coming up when we already know the answer. Actually, there are two answers, one for the House, and one for the Senate, but it’s the Senate that everybody’s thinking about, since the Democrats appear to have a solid hold on the House. Nevertheless, I’ll give you a twofer, and answer both questions.
On the House side, the answer is plain and simple, there is absolutely nothing that Trump can do that will cause that pack of rabid dogs to desert him. That’s because the Blue Tsunami of 2018 pretty much wiped out any remaining moderate Republicans who may have felt compelled to make a moral stand here or there. What was left over was largely ideological whack jobs in safely gerrymandered districts, so there is no reason for them to buck Trump. And the small number of remaining moderates that survived 2018 by the skin of their teeth, took one look at the thought of sharing a ticket with Trump in 2020, and retired instead. The GOP House will ride this on out all the way through the bunker scene.
In the Senate, the answer is exactly the same, there is absolutely nothing that Trump can say or do that will force GOP Senators, even vulnerable 2020 incumbents away from him. But in the Senate, the reasoning is markedly different. In the last few days, both CNN and MSNBC have reported that according to anonymous aides and advisors around various GOP Senators, they are basically trapped. The feeling is that they tolerated so much shit from Trump thus far, that any attempt to jettison him at this point would be seen by their constituents as an act of craven cowardice. Better at this point to just soft peddle Trump as much as possible, and hope to at least keep his supporters on board.
And actually, there is a pretty clear example of what these GOP Senators are thinking of. Going all the way back to the “Brewski” Brett Kavanaugh hearings, Maine Senator Susan Collins has tried to play the centrist card. She has been concerned, and alarmed, and disappointed by Trump so often it’s a wonder that she’s not getting therapy for her issues. And yet, at every moment that it was time to stand up and be counted, especially on the Kavanaugh issue, Collins folded like a pair of threes and backed Trump and McConnell. And as a result, Susan Collins is so far underwater right now that she has to wear scuba gear every time she gets off of the plane in Bangor.
Although unstated, the general feeling seems to be that the watershed moment for the GOP Senate and its vulnerable incumbents was the impeachment trial. There was no way that Trump was going to be convicted and removed from office, so any defections were for show only. But even though the vast majority of Americans wanted documents and witnesses at the trial, Moscow Mitch’s caucus held firm on the line to speed things up and avoid embarrassing Trump. And when the moment of final reckoning came, only Utah’s Mitt Romney had the spine to make a principled stand. What has to worry the wobbly incumbents is the thought that for their constituents, their shared responsibility for everything that has happened from that day forward, from the coronavirus response to the economic crash, to racial justice. The looming question is, and will be What if?
So, let’s just agree to call it quits, shall we? Let’s just take that question, When will the GOP abandon Trump and retire it out to pasture. Or better yet, take it out behind the barn and shoot it. At this late stage of the game, there is nothing that will make the GOP, especially the GOP Senate turn away from Trump. The sooner we realize and accept that, the sooner we stop setting ourselves up for disappointment over their moral bankruptcy.
To know the future, look to the past.before the insanity of the 2020 election, relive the insanity of the 2016 GOP primary campaign, and the general election, to see how we got to where we are. Copies of President Evil, and the sequel, President Evil II, A Clodwork Orange are available as e-books on Amazon, at the links above. Catch up before the upcoming release of the third book in the trilogy, President Evil III: All The Presidents Fen
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If as I hope a significant number of them lose, and since there will be only so many consulting gigs on Fox or at the RNC that can match the money and visibility & power they held while on Capitol Hill they will try the John Bolton gambit. They’ll release a too late to matter book detailing awful stuff they witnessed behind the scenes with Trump. Well, they might at least try. I’m not sure that there will be much of a market for such drivel if Trump goes down to defeat because all the shit will be coming out in the media as various minor players are scrambling to position themselves to be able to cut cooperation deals with prosecutors.
I have little doubt that many of them will try, but since, unlike Bolton their contact with Trump was mostly secondary and filtered through Moscow Mitch, I have y doubts about how gripping their narratives will be…
See WaPo’s review of Matt Whittaker’s book.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/matthew-whitakers-fawning-defense-of-president-trump/2020/06/11/8491fc1e-a5ab-11ea-b619-3f9133bbb482_story.html
Given their demonstrated ineptitude in everything so far, I doubt any of them can write well enough to fill out a book.
I do, however, foresee a big demand for skilled and imaginative ghostwriters.
Utah’s Mitt Romney found only a tad of spine, enough to take a semi-stand: there were 2 articles of impeachment, he voted to support only 1. Whoopdee fucking doo. Now he’s out marching with Black Lives Matter, as if he cares. Gimme a break. He’s no better (& maybe worse) than all the corrupt GOPers in Congress who’ve sold themselves to an ignorant bully in hopes of staying aboard the gravy train for another 4 years.
I’m thinking of turning my little old truck into a giant protest sign and leaving it parked near the door of the Walmart all day. Have my wife follow me to the store and then take me back in the evening. I am risking having my truck vandalized but if I do this I will talk to the manager of the Walmart first. The other thing is all the brainwashing of people. My neighbor across the street and my next door neighbor are black. I was talking to my next door neighbor and ultimately turned to politics. I said I despised Republicans and he responded with ‘I don’t hate them and there are bad Democrats, too.’ I am sure is exposed to Russian/Republican propaganda on Facefuck. He had no specific complaints with Democrats, just they have bad apples, too. So I am wondering why should I risk damage I wouldn’t be able to repair or bodily harm to me or my wife when even black people want to play the inane both-siderism.
SOME black people, Blue. From the sound of it, you managed to find an example of humans as rare as principled conservatives.
Yeah, Murf, they’re riding this train to the bottom of the cliff. The time to have gotten off has long passed.