Crazy VS Lunatic VS Unbalanced leader
They should accomplish a lot
All while blaming Democrats, with the full support of a compliant MSM
I think those survivalist dudes should switch their advertising from Faux to MSNBC.
That’s where the scared people will be watching
This feels like just more mealy mouthed weakness from the left, hoping against hope that the GOP will self destruct. Not going to happen; these people want to kill us and re-make the USA and the world to match their delusions. We, the left, continue to be sniveling and weak and scared while pretending to be smart. Our press and our pundits let us down, Bernie let us down, the alt left who spewed fake news about HRC let us down and yadda yadda — yes, all true, none of it matters. Where is that courageous voice of leadership on the left? I haven’t heard it in decades.
TPM: Please, please, please stop saying that that Ryan and his gang of Safety Net Slashers want to “overhaul” Medicare, Social Security, Medicaid. “Overhaul” implies that the GOP slashers want to improve Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. Ryan’s intention is to slash and kill Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security Period. Ryan has laid out a number of steps that will ease the way toward killing these programs. Killing Obamacare includes removing hundreds of billions of taxes on the very wealthy that have been going to Medicare, the removal of which makes Medicare easier to kill. Promising ongoing Social Security and Medicare benefits to those already retired or nearing retirement age while cutting future benefits for younger workers destroys the intergenerational compact on which ongoing funding of SSA and Medicare have relied, making both programs easier to kill in the future. The slashes that the Safety Net Slashers want to apply to Social Security, Medicare and so on are not intended to fix or “overhaul” these programs but are intended to kill them. Please don’t help Ryan and his gang kill these programs by asserting that their efforts are an “overhaul”, TPM. .
They run everything, fight like hell but give them the rope they need for their own Autoerotic Asphyxiation. People have forgotten what this scum is capable of … let them be reminded.
GOP messaging will hardly change. Blame Obama. Also, in a kleptocracy such as Russia, the government suggests bills to the lower house Duma, and usually the upper house Federation Council just rubber stamps it. Since lobbyists no longer have to work though their congresspeople as earlier, they will probably clear it through Trump’s guys first, the House and Senate will grudginly pass it. A lot of legislation is written by outsiders anyway, so the pathway to enacted legislation stays the same, but the entry point differs.
Well, there may be some areas where Democrats could improve the messaging. For example, the GOP harps on Democrat obsessions with political correctness, but as Slavoj Zizek notes:
Political correctness stems from the understanding that racism and inequality exist, and that in lieu of fixing those problems, prettier language will do the trick—as if by using inoffensive words and avoiding crass jokes we are to paint over the filth of reality. Politically correct expressions, to Žižek, become patronizing because they actually highlight inequalities. As the philosopher notes, “one needs to be very precise not to fight racism in a way which ultimately reproduces, if not racism itself, at least the conditions of racism.”
Democrat’s idea of “courage” is to blather on about how outraged they are in rather a weak-kneed way. They need to calmly and reasonably filibuster every single thing. Not with outrage, but with just plain talk about what the proposed legislation would do. They should be willing to get into some details. It has to be focussed, but details are important and we far too often neglect them.
Roll those grenades into the big, inclusive GOP tent, boyz! Frag away!
Hopefully there will be differences. Hopefully there will be just enough sanity left in the Senate to slow the apocalypse down just a little bit.
But please – if this is the “real fight,” does that mean the Dems have already taken their seats on the sidelines so they can devote their energies to hoping the change won’t be all that bad?
The “real fight” better be every Democrat every minute everywhere against all of these assholes.
I like the term “dismantle,” Like…Republican plans to dismantle Medicare… as an example.
It describes what they are doing very accurately. Taking it apart piece,by piece over time,and
makes people aware of their ultimate goal.
So basically the GOP is now faced with the reality that it hasn’t been united on anything in decades and is in fact a dysfunctional clusterfuck. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see another Tea Party-esque offshoot formed before the next election considering the kinds of extremists the Reps are forced to recruit in order to have a chance at winning anything.
Shorter version of this article: the GOP agenda: so much harm to do and so little time.
Let the House and Senate Repubs engage in a muddy, bitch fight ala "Dynasty!!"
Enough of the “may be,” “could be,” etc. I’m not saying don’t report train wrecks until they’ve made contact if the trains are clearly on the same track headed for one another, but most speculation was that Trump was going to lose this thing. There are so many important stories at the moment, that this is just needless distraction. I need to be deliberately more selective about what I click on.
Interesting article, but FFS, doesn’t anyone even read before publishing these days?
…the next two years are going to harmonious…
…a scenario where 60 votes was required to do most anything. [This is slang - the word is “almost”]
…and the under the gun…
…Republican senators have already shown themselves to more careful…
And that’s just within the first three paragraphs. Oy.
So, if the left is as weak and useless as you say, isn’t this kind of punching down?
Don’t look to any GOP senator for hope or moderation. They are animals bent on destruction.
Don’t be fooled.
The problem with Dem messaging is that it is no match for Trumpian propaganda. Fact based messaging versus lies that don’t matter. It is hard to win that game.
We got a Xmas card and letter from a almost 50ish niece living in Texas who proudly voted for Trump. Their family has been struggling financially for quite a while now. She took an extra side job but was let go because she asked for some unpaid vacation time off. Her boss told her that according to Texas law, she isn’t entitled to paid or unpaid vacation time. Our niece was not happy about that but there is no way that she would understand Dem talking points about legislation that is anti-worker and pro-employer or pro-investor. My niece doesn’t post a whole lot on Facebook, but she did circulate a few election things, one of which said that the Democrat platform was not “biblical” and therefore, people should vote GOP, and another screed about tough times requiring God to use an unlikely means (Trump) to accomplish his goals. The best messaging in the world is not going to get through to her.
Anybody here who’s so disgusted with this supposed Democratic weakness in the face of Republican outrages that he or she couldn’t be bothered to vote for those lily-livered Democrats—well, try to guess what I’m thinking about you right now.