GOP a 'grotesque caricature' of what it was before, says former Sen. John Danforth

[Arkansas Granny]

John Danforth, a former Republican senator, garnered attention last month when he denounced Sen. Josh Hawley's role in the Capitol attacks and expressed regret over his previous support for the Missouri lawmaker. He joins Judy Woodruff to discuss his views on the modern-day Republican Party, former President Trump's impeachment, and the impact of questioning the legitimacy of the election.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/gop-a-grotesque-caricature-of-what-it-was-before-says-former-sen-john-danforth

The full transcript can be read at link.

[NRaleighLiberal]

1. that interview was pretty remarkable to watch.

[Arkansas Granny]

2. Yes, it was. Danforth says, and I agree, that we need a conservative party, but

today's Republican party is not really conservative.

It's important to look at a problem from all angles before deciding the best course of action and compromise is not a bad word. Everyone has a voice and in the give and take, progress is made.

[PatrickforO]

13. Well said. In a representative democracy, we cannot always expect to get

our way, just because our set-up requires plenty of debate and compromise. That's fine.

I definitely agree the Republican party today is not conservative at all. It is now a party of domestic terror and radical white nationalist fascism.

[Me.]

3. Has He Ever Apologized For Clarence Thomas?

not a very good judge of character

[Arkansas Granny]

4. TBH, I don't know a lot about Danforth. I just happened to see this interview

and found it to be interesting.

[Me.]

5. There's No Doubt He Has His Moments

but I think he works from an old paradigm

[Blue Owl]

6. K&R

[Alpeduez21]

7. I think the conservatives in this country has always been this way.

Now they just have the temerity to flaunt their disgusting ideology to the public. When was the modern republican party not a bunch of partisan, war mongering, civil rights violating, misogynistic hack organization. When it pardoned and forgave Nixon or when it forgave his prolonging of the Vietnam war to further the republican political agenda? When it castigated Carter at every turn. When it let Reagan declare homosexuals didn't have to be covered by insurance companies. When Reagan made deals with Americas enemies to further the republican agenda? When they caused people to lose their savings so corporations could reap millions? When an illegal war was started in Iraq? During Trump's administration? Fuck repukes. I will them credit for so openly championing their horrible ideology.

[Arkansas Granny]

8. My dad was a Republican, but he was an Eisenhower Republican. He was disappointed in Nixon and he

died before Reagan took office. He would not recognize Republicans today and would probably be voting for Democrats.

[Wounded Bear]

9. Repubs have been culling their ranks for decades...

about all they have left now are the crazies.

[bigtree]

10. Danforth traded his holdout vote to override Bush 5th veto of the extension of the Voting Rights Act

in exchange for a vote advancing Clarence Thomas (his friend) to the Supreme Court.

from the book, 'Resurrection' :

Senator "Jack" Danforth is one of the most respected men in the U.S. Senate. When Clarence Thomas was nominated to the Supreme Court in 1991, Danforth gladly pledged himself to be Thomas's guide and sponsor through the customary rounds of informal interviews with key senators. A three-term senator from Missouri, Danforth believed that despite the political opposition, Thomas's hardwon rise from poverty, his integrity, and his personal record would win the Senate's confirmation. After days of arduous politicking and probing testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Danforth was sure he had the votes and that the Senate would confirm Thomas by a close but safe margin. Then, when the committee's deliberations were shattered by Anita Hill's explosive charges of sexual harassment, Thomas felt - correctly - that his enemies' goals were now not just to defeat him but to destroy him. Danforth's hopeful confidence turned to bitterness as he watched his fellow senators back off their earlier support of Thomas's nomination and their stated admiration of his character. In Resurrection, Danforth, an ordained minister, tells this story of inspiration and spiritual regeneration. It is a cautionary tale and an example of how one man and his loyal friends persevered when the world was against them and all seemed lost. But it is also the ultimate insider's own confession: Senator John C. Danforth's deeply personal revelation of how, in a good cause - that of winning a seat on the Court for his friend Clarence Thomas - he himself came very close to losing his own soul, in his anger and rage at Thomas's enemies and his willingness to do whatever it took to get Thomas confirmed.

https://books.google.com/books/about/Resurrection.html

Clarence Thomas: Sen. Danforth is 'the reason why I'm here ...
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/may/5/clarence-thomas-sen-danforth-is-the-reason-why-im-/

Danforth is a good example of how far to the wrong republicans have gone. He's also a good example of how disingenuous they always were, and how cravenly they pursued their anti-American agenda to preserve and perpetuate the worst of us.

[Arkansas Granny]

11. Thanks for the info. I didn't know that about Danforth.

[bigtree]

12. just remember watching him manuever around the CRA extension vetoes

...and the oh-so-pious speeches from the former minister in favor of Thomas. (and I made a mistake: It was the Civil Rights Act extension Bush vetoed, not the VRA)

Btw, the CRA that advanced in 1991 provided "the right to trial by jury on discrimination claims (fixing a SC ruling limiting those rights) and introduced the possibility of emotional distress damages and limited the amount that a jury could award. It added provisions to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protections expanding the rights of women to sue and collect compensatory and punitive damages for sexual discrimination or harassment."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Rights_Act_of_1991