General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forumstwo articles explain how fucked Republicans are
GOP establishment capitulates to Donald Trumphttps://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2016/01/22/the-gop-establishment-capitulates-to-donald-trump/
This article (WaPo) talks about how GOP leaders are trying to cozy up to the fascist shithole because they think he's gonna get nominated anyway and they can appease him somehow. The second they offer him a few handshakes, he ramps up the the immigrant bashing again and spins out the lie that Cruz is for legalization of undocumented immigrants (all Cruz did was shy away from supporting Trump's gestapo-like round up of hard working families). Make no mistake: Trump's a fascist and the Republicans, apparently, are bracing themselves to play the Neville Chamberlain role.
Why GOP Elites Prefer Trump to Cruz
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2016/01/gop_elites_prefer_donald_trump_to_ted_cruz.single.html
This opinion/analysis piece at Salon compares how GOP top brass think they can cut deals with Trump, but see Cruz as leading an insurgent faction of extreme rightees who want to replace them as the Republican leadership. If Trump is the fascist in this analogy, then Cruz is Stalin, a smarmy dysfunctional bully who no one likes but who has a more clearly defined ideology to govern by. They're certain Cruz will lose. They think Trump has a path to the White House. Trump is a pretty sly fox. He probably does have decent chance of winning.
====
Given the increasingly likelihood that Trump will win the nomination, I guess that leaves the Democrats to play the Churchill role. But now I've overstretched the analogy. I'll end it with this: Trump is a fascist and a double-dealer, make no doubt, but he's no Hitler. He's a Mussolini, but not a Hitler.
Anyway, my main point is, given the choice between a jackass and a fascist, the Republicans are going with the fascist. Why? Because they're party bosses and they think he can be negotiated with. He make a fetish out of cutting deals, after all, right? But they're fools. He won't be controlled, and frankly a Donald Trump with power is a dangerous prospect. You and I and absolutely they should be very afraid of that prospect.
So why aren't they? Because they're party bosses. They want to win. They think he can do it (and it will blow your mind next fall when you see how deftly Trump pivots and starts appealing to moderates to win the election). But as an American first and only as a Democrat second, I really want to see the Republicans nominate someone else; anyone else. Cruz is reprehensible, but at the end of the day, the Republic will survive 4, even 8, years of President Ted Cruz.
There'll be a mess to clean up, certainly, tho we're still cleaning up Bush & Cheney's in the financial sector and the MidEast. But there'll also be a Constitution and the rule of law at our disposal to start to address whatever problems a Cruz or Rubio or Christie or Kasich White House creates. I'm not quite so confident that a Trump presidency would end with bona fide elections. I can't see what's at the other end of that tunnel.
I started writing this post thinking about how fucked Republicans are, meaning fucked both as screwed and fucked in the head. The more I think about where this sort of thing goes, the more it seems that the whole country's in a pretty fucked situation.
randys1
(16,286 posts)Trump personally DESPISES the people supporting him.
Bucky
(54,013 posts)All too often, the abuse victims would return to their abusers because something unhealthy in them felt like they deserved to be hated. That experience has given me a lot of insight into Trump supporters.
Gregorian
(23,867 posts)I'm optimistic. If things went wrong somehow, it would be ugly. But I tend to look for problems, and honestly this seems like the one time when so much potential for good is out there, I'm gleeful. Plus, it's fun to watch the Republican masters in a weak position.
I've learned a lot of ugly things in this election cycle.
Person 2713
(3,263 posts)laundry_queen
(8,646 posts)I've never thought the whole Trump thing would just fade away or implode. I knew he was going to be popular. And I also think you are right about how he will appeal to moderates with relative ease. I don't even know which Democrat currently in the running would be best to counteract that. ugh.