The Deep State at work!
Otherwise known as the rule of law.
"where anytime a conservative expresses concerns, they get branded a Never Trumper and are excommunicated "
Might be a clue you are backing the wrong horse then.
"Somewhere over the rainbowwwwâŚâ Unless and until Republican âleadershipâ steps up to their constitutional plate, nothing will change.
Will believe it when I see it, and just for the record a trend piece in the NYT is not evidence. Itâs been long noted by Jack Shafer and others that the Times is very liberal, shall we say, with evidence of whatâs a trend. Some staffer hears a bartender say âpeople arenât drinking vodka any more,â or someone elses notices something on the streetâtwo people in two days wearing polka dots, or whateverâand two weeks later itâs in the Style section with the official imprimatur of being a thing. Probably the best example of this was a piece years ago that claimed fashionable women on bicycles was a growing trend. Shafer pointed out the thin to nonexistent evidence for this trend, but stories like this sail through the editing process with little skepticism applied and no pushback from anyone but the occasional cranky media critic. Itâs not fake. Itâs just sloppy and complacent. So I guess weâll see, but Iâd say this doesnât mean much standing alone.
I donât believe it. People have been claiming to start a new âmoderateâ, âbipartisanâ, ânonpartisanâ, âpragmaticâ, etc. movement for years. Nobody has the political capital to make it happen. Itâs perfectly fine if some politicians want to have semi-monthly dinner parties but we shouldnât expect that anything will change.
'Zactly
More like wishful thinking
Anything at this juncture falls into the "Day Late Dollar Short " category
The irreparable damage has already been accomplished , and Mr Putin could not be more pleased
My sentiments precisely.
As for this:
âThere is a troubling dynamic happening where anytime a conservative expresses concerns, they get branded a Never Trumper and are excommunicated from the American right,â [said Ian Bassin].
As Bassin knows, these people donât stop at excommunication.
âNevertheless, as these groupsâ ranks swell and discussion ranges from the ideals of democracy to funding a centrist challenger to Trump in 2020, a new brand of bipartisanship flourishes just under the surface âŚâ
First, theyâre assuming the ranks will swell - thereâs no swelling going on and conservative Republicans have a lot of ice to throw on this.
Second, thereâs no flourishing under the surface - there might be some mild vibrating, but thereâs no flourishing.
But, if something good happens, thatâs good. And if not, it doesnât. Weâll see.
Impeachment?! ⌠Aw, you got my hopes up!
âThe way things used to beâ, is now a secretive cabal afraid to show its face because of the extreme tribalism in politics???
This sort of thing was normal, once upon a time. It can be again. All it takes if for both Left and Right to let up on the apocalyptic pronouncements of DOOM⌠but sanity and common decency doesnât sell these days.
Ahhhh! I can see their marketing campaign now:
"Do you remember a simpler time, when Democrats and Republicanâts fought on the margins, but united in the center to screw over everyone on behalf of their billionaire masters? Pepperidge Farms remembers⌠"
may have been choked to death by propaganda from ⌠well, let me count the ways
And sad and pathetic that Rs canât do it in public because it would show the BS their party has been doing.
People with real character would openly admit to the BS, hope by admitting and correcting theyâd survive, and if not accept it was the price they should pay.
Silly me to entertain the thought theyâd do this!
The GOP needs to go the way of the Whigs, in other words, go away.
Didnât they just change the date for the âAnti-Trump Sentiment Prompts Unusual Bipartisan Cooperationâ piece they wrote back in 2016 that got Hillary elected?
Wow. One sane bill got out of committee after it was announced that it would never see a vote. What bold bipartisan moves.
Baby stepsâŚ
Two things are simultaneously possible:
- There is an extraordinary (as in, literally extra-ordinary) amount of back-channel R-D cooperation right now
- Congressional Republicans, both rank-and-file and leadership, are doing nowhere near enough to actually stymie the worst corruptions and excesses of the Trump administration
The real story is:
- Just how noxious the Boehner-Ryan-McConnell troika allowed the Congressional atmosphere to become. They aspire to Judge Judy levels of collegiality in both chambers, nastiness and bad faith on a level not seen since the Civil War era
- Just how egregiously bad the behavior of the Trump administration is, and just how much it threatens the foundations of our republic, that even the current extraordinary measures are a drop in the bucket.
Wow! Whoda thunk it? The rightwing members of this group are either really good at hiding or need to do a hell of a lot more.
âThere is a troubling dynamic happening where anytime a conservative expresses concerns, they get branded a Never Trumper and are excommunicated from the American right,â he said
Ummmm⌠so what?
Patriots and Pragmatists
So Dems are the Patriots since their party is not currently involved in selling off the country to the trump gang. I guess that leaves the GOP for the Pragmatists? Thatâs for bloody-well sure. Iâm gonna guess that GOP members of this supposed group are from purple areas. Otherwise, they wouldnât be members.
Or maybe Iâm being too harsh in all of the above? Perhaps I should give them credit so I donât âscare them awayâ? (Not that any of them are reading TPM message boards, but you know what I mean).