Tagged: GOP establishment

Nostalgia as Politics

So much of the ruin of modern civilization, with its once-noble attempt to realize practical liberty, may be traced to the gradual calcification of democratic political institutions into freedom-stifling tunnels of partisan loyalty. This hardened devotion to a group or tribe eventually entails little or no demand that one’s party exhibit any of the characteristics or impulses that originally attracted one to it;...

The Funniest Thing

For a generation or more, Republicans have built a substantial and ardent, albeit frustrated, grassroots voter base largely on the mantra, implied or directly stated, that the Democrats are trying to shift America toward despotism. The entire array of opinion sources that are generally collected under the term “conservative media” have built their considerable audience on the more explicit form of that mantra....

NeverTrumpers for Biden, AlwaysTrumpers for Trump

The Republican tribal media and their sheep were pretending to be up in arms this past week over reports that some so-called “NeverTrumpers” were floating the idea of supporting Joe Biden, whom they perceive as the most moderate or least volatile of the Democratic presidential candidates, as a means of thwarting a second Trump term. The tribe’s leaders and followers were (of course)...

Pretzel News Update

Donald Trump would not be President of the United States right now if not for the quiet but substantial support, Iago-like acquiescence, and arm-twisting prowess of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. The Trump-McConnell mutual admiration society, and the obvious “hands-off” agreement between these two men famous for publicly destroying anyone who would thwart their intentions in any way, would have presented a serious...

Poor Rick Santorum

Rick Santorum — how many remember that he was Ted Cruz’s predecessor as the GOP’s second-place finisher and last surviving grassroots candidate, destroyed by a united GOP establishment in the final stages of the previous Republican presidential primary process (2012)? — occasionally makes the news these days as a guest commentator on television. On most of these occasions, he is saying something reasonable...

Republicans Stay Right On Target

The Republicans in the House of Representatives have elected their Minority Leader for the new congress. They have chosen current House Majority Leader, John Boehner’s underling Kevin McCarthy of California. He is not a conservative. He is not articulate. He is not a leader. He is not a statesman. He is not principled.  In other words, the Republicans have chosen to stay the...

On Being an Idiot

A few days ago, I posted an article here as well as at American Thinker about London’s mayor calling for a travel ban against Donald Trump. As a matter of conscience, I began my piece by noting that I am not a Trump fan, to which one AT reader commented, “Yeah, we all know you are an idiot.” Another commenter replied to the first: “My question? (sic)...

Trump’s GOP Boldly Renames ObamaCare!

My first blush reactions to the Republican Party’s newly unveiled “Repeal and Replace” solution on healthcare, presented in the order in which they occur to me: 1. Gee, what a shock — they were lying all these years! Who could have guessed? 2. Republicans who say, with mock resignation, “You can’t roll back an entitlement,” simply never tried to roll one back, wouldn’t...