Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsRep. Massie: Republican voters don't want policies, just the 'craziest son of a bitch in the race'
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/5/7/1762635/-Rep-Massie-Republican-voters-don-t-want-policies-just-the-craziest-son-of-a-bitch-in-the-raceRep. Massie: Republican voters don't want policies, just the 'craziest son of a bitch in the race'
Hunter
Daily Kos Staff
Monday May 07, 2018 · 2:41 PM EDT
Kentucky Republican Rep. Tom Massie, who like Ron Paul has a would-be libertarian streak that appears to manifest itself, shall we say, sporadically, has had an epiphany as to what Republican voters have been looking for all this time. It turns out Republican voters are not voting for small government, or for freedomz, or any of those other things. They just want someone who will come in and break things.
"I went to Iowa twice and came back with [Ron Paul]. I was with him at every event for the last three days in Iowa," Massie said. "From what I observed, not just in Iowa but also in Kentucky, up close with individuals, was that the people that voted for me in Kentucky, and the people who had voted for Rand Paul in Iowa several years before, were now voting for Trump. In fact, the people that voted for Rand in a primary in Kentucky were preferring Trump."
"All this time," Massie explained, "I thought they were voting for libertarian Republicans. But after some soul searching I realized when they voted for Rand and Ron and me in these primaries, they weren't voting for libertarian ideas they were voting for the craziest son of a bitch in the race. And Donald Trump won best in class, as we had up until he came along."
"All this time," Massie explained, "I thought they were voting for libertarian Republicans. But after some soul searching I realized when they voted for Rand and Ron and me in these primaries, they weren't voting for libertarian ideas they were voting for the craziest son of a bitch in the race. And Donald Trump won best in class, as we had up until he came along."
Imagine the soul-searching that must have taken place before coming to that conclusion. But the man is right: you can't claim a Republican who votes for both Rand Paul and Donald Trump has any particular policy goals in mind. They just know that whatever everyone else is for, they're against it.
There are other links, of course. Rand Paul owes his career and his mailing lists to his father, who built a nutty "libertarian" empire premised on, among other things, casual on-the-sly racism, but of a much narrower sort than Trump's frothing xenophobia. So you could make the case that the "craziest son of a bitch" is just the guy willing to entertain the most racist conspiracy theories.
Or the guy most willing to punch reporters. Or the man whose supporters patiently explain that in their state or in their Bibles, child molestation isn't frowned upon like it is in your fancy-pants states and religions. Or the man whose disregard for worker safety literally kills his company's miners, goes to prison for it and emerges, still-wealthy, to decide he's going to join the government and get rid of these damn safety requirements once and for all.
Come to think of it, you can be anything in the modern Republican Party. There really aren't any standards at all, so long as you can sell yourself as the biggest lunatic in the room. But this doesn't mean you should go out and shank a toddler, Rep. Massie. There's probably still a line drawn somewherewe just haven't found where it is yet.
InfoView thread info, including edit history
TrashPut this thread in your Trash Can (My DU » Trash Can)
BookmarkAdd this thread to your Bookmarks (My DU » Bookmarks)
2 replies, 783 views
ShareGet links to this post and/or share on social media
AlertAlert this post for a rule violation
PowersThere are no powers you can use on this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
ReplyReply to this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
Rec (12)
ReplyReply to this post
2 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Rep. Massie: Republican voters don't want policies, just the 'craziest son of a bitch in the race' (Original Post)
babylonsister
May 2018
OP
betsuni
(25,486 posts)1. Saw a news story about Republicans running as pro-Trump
drain-the-swamp anti-government candidates when their own party IS the government. Still works.
MyOwnPeace
(16,926 posts)2. Seems to be working........
because they sure do have a bunch of crazies in there!
The next interesting one to watch is W.Va and Blankenship - the mine owner responsible for the death of 29 miners (I believe that number is correct) and now he wants to be a Senator from West Virginia!
Really?
WHY, oh WHY would ANYBODY from West Virginia vote for someone responsible for the deaths of their own family, friends, or neighbors?