PELOSI: "The country needs a strong Republican Party, not one that has been hijacked as a cult."

[kpete]

What happened: Speaker Nancy Pelosi implored young Republicans to "take back your party" during a wide-ranging conversation with former Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) on Monday evening in Berkeley, Calif.

"Take back your party. The country needs a strong Republican Party, not one that has been hijacked as a cult. We really need that."

— Speaker Nancy Pelosi

Her other takeaway: Without naming him, she acknowledged former President Donald Trump's "very authoritarian" approach has been partially effective: "They’ve had some level of success of undermining the collective conscience of our country that we all agree certain things are right."


https://www.politico.com/minutes/congress/04-19-2022/pelosis-words-to-gop/

[Autumn]

1. We would do just fine if that Republican party were put in a rubber raft and set out in the middle

of the ocean. That party will never be "taken back" They have done nothing but harm for the country, people and the world.

[leftstreet]

16. +1

I don't think she realizes how revealing her statement is

[vercetti2021]

2. Sorry I disagree

The Republican party needs to be drowned in a bathtub, and then shot in the head to prevent it from reanimating.

[Amishman]

6. careful what you wish for, its replacement could easily be worse

and there absolutely would be a replacement.

Removing the party does not cap the wellspring of rightwing votes that sustains it. Those voters who simply don't like what we are offering will find someone else to support in opposition of us.

We want to believe the party is the real bad guy, that those who vote for them are mislead and most of them would be much better if not for that bad influence. As someone who lives in a very red area, I do not believe that to be the case.

To borrow something I posted a little while ago:

You have two visions of the future of this country; one multicultural, urban-centric, diverse, and vibrant. The other a suburban and rural focused Christian conservative monoculture. They are not compatible with each other.

[JohnSJ]

3. It is too late for that, and according to current polls, we are going to get slaughtered in the

midterms

[maxsolomon]

27. Good morning to you too.

It doesn't mean there isn't a point in calling for sanity and moderation out loud.

My district will be returning Pramila Jayapal to lead the Progressive Caucus and my state will return Patty Murray to the Senate. I can't vote much more than that.

[JohnSJ]

36. I am in California, Bay Area, so I am doing the same as you plus donating here and there when I can

[Blues Heron]

4. Oy

we do not. We need them fucking gone.

[Omnipresent]

5. Take back their party?

It’s stuck in 1940’s fascist nazi Germany!

They will need a time machine to fix this!

[BeyondGeography]

7. She understands democracy and believes in it

So do Democrats.

Notice you never hear the same or similar thoughts from Republicans at her level (or most any level). That’s because they understand their voters, which should tell you how they feel about democracy.

[mcar]

8. She is correct

[aocommunalpunch]

9. Stop supporting Republicans.

We need a strong Democratic party. How fucking hard is this? Read the room.

[area51]

17. +1 n/t

[Towlie]

10. They're not a cult, they're an organized crime syndicate!

 
←

[kentuck]

11. To paraphrase Donald Rumsfeld:

You don't go to war with the Party you would hope for. You go to war with the Party that you have.

[Vogon_Glory]

12. Nice thought, Madam Speaker, BUT

(Speaking as a onetime Republican), Club Pachyderm is too far gone. It needs to go the way of the Whig Party.

[dalton99a]

13. It is naive to pretend Republicans are decent or honorable people

The good Republicans are all resting comfortably in cemeteries.

[dawg]

14. Like it or not, our Constitution leads to a two-party dynamic.

It's an unintended consequence of our form of government.

Therefore, it's of paramount importance that both parties remain sane and committed to democracy and the common good of the people.

We've entered into somewhat uncharted territory with today's Republican Party. There is a real sickness in white American culture. Otherwise, a party like that would struggle to find 20% support and would collapse like the Whigs.

[betsuni]

15. Correct. A strong Republican Party can be bipartisan, like during the FDR/LBJ years.

[leftstreet]

18. So she misses the Reagan and Bush years?

wow

[jalan48]

19. Would this be the Republican Party that stole the 2000 election or do we need to go further back?

[Budi]

21. Republicans were aided by 3rd Party anti-Democrats

The Party of Nadar did the exact same thing to Gore that RU asset Jill Stein's group did to Candidate Clinton in 2016.

They were also there in 2020 against Biden.
Republicans have had no better sabotuers for friends than that 3rd Party.

[jalan48]

22. LOL-ok.

[Budi]

26. Its in our political History. Whose laughing at the consequences of it today?

Has it burned all down enough for them yet?

I don't see what's lol worthy about the result of their actions.

[gab13by13]

28. Gore won,

I've noticed that there is a group of moderate Democrats here who are still fighting the 2016 primary.

[Budi]

33. Can't fight history! What was set in motion then is the history of why we're in this hellhole

It is in our history to be learned from.
You don't get to refuse to speak about how our Democracy arrived at this fragile moment simply because its a truth some would rather not be reminded of.

Lessons are learned by studying history.

[Budi]

35. Gore won what? Bush vs Gore

Gore should have won.
Stability of our Democracy.
Environmental action
Human rights

Yes. Gore should have won.

[JohnSJ]

37. +++

[Wild blueberry]

20. We need to organize and vote in the midterms

It's not a given that Dems will lose in November.
The party formerly known as RepubliQan is a death cult.

[RobertDevereaux]

23. It needs to crumble and go the way of the Whigs.

[gab13by13]

24. The Republican party has 2 members, Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger.

Putin puppet Donald Trump is the head of the Putin party and not one party member has denounced Donald Trump, so that makes them all members of the Putin Party.

The Republican party is dead.

[NNadir]

25. I agree. A sane opposition is an important element in a democracy.

The problem is that these neofascists hate democracy and are only interested in killing it.

[Budi]

30. I agree with Pelosi as well. She's speaking of the functioning Democracy before the TEA PARTY.

Republicans lost their Party with the rise of the Tea Party.
Koch funded, white supremacist Tea Party with a charasmatic Palin speaking all they longed to hear.
The Tea Party was simply a revival of the long hidden John Birch Society.
Propaganda & an attractive leader who spoke their language. You betcha!!

And here we are.

[Mr. Evil]

29. The republican party has run its course.

It has devolved into a litany of clowns all frothing at the mouth in a daily quest of a new enemy to denigrate and protect the masses from. What we need are less dog and pony shows and more people that excel at formulating real world solutions for real world problems.

If we feel we must have two parties how about we cut to the chase and call them the Human Party and the Lunatic Asshole Party.

[SmallFry]

31. Seems like the two thoughts are not independent of one and other.

Learning a lot about our fellow citizens.

[IronLionZion]

32. A lot of young Republicans are really bad

Many are just as looney as their representatives: Boebert, Greene, Cawthorn, etc. It's wishful thinking to hope their young folks will take back their party from the extremists.

[rkleinberger]

34. NO! We need a strong Democratic Party that actually fights these MAGAts.

She doesn't get it!

[Novara]

38. When Nancy says shit like that, I never take her at her word.

She is making a mockery of the GOP. She is making a sly joke, and in essence she is really saying that we need the cultists to go away. She truly doesn't believe in the "drown government in a bathtub" party. She definitely doesn't believe in any of the things they supposedly stand for: no taxes on the rich, a white, male, theocratic country, no rights for women, LGBT, minorities, immigrants, etc.

She is not to be taken literally when she says shit like this because she doesn't MEAN for you to take her literally. Read between her words, keeping in mind what SHE stands for, and I think you'll agree. This is Nancy being clever.

[FakeNoose]

39. Speaker Pelosi is a wise and wonderful person

I hope the "young republicans" are listening, but sadly I realize they probably aren't.

I wish she had addressed the fact that "undermining our collective conscience" isn't necessarily something to be attempted or achieved. Chump's authoritarian approach has done nothing but disrupt our society, our government, our economy, and our national psyche.