We are watching history in the making: the GOP is breaking apart.

We are looking at the break up of a long standing US political party.
The tectonic plates are shifting right in front of us.

The GOP has been taken over by MAGA and international political forces.
They have become a crime syndicate, not a political party.

The GOP has broken into two pieces:

1. Those who are fine with being criminals to obtain power and wealth and aligning with sinister foreign powers.

2. Those who cannot swallow that direction. In a recent comment BumRush called this group "the deer in the headlights" group, they are paralyzed and don't know what to do.

But we see signs that this deer in the headlight GOP group is waking up, up and joining forces with the Dem party. We see many former GOP strategists and operatives speaking out against Trump and the Magas. And in Bum Rush's OP, we see the GOP aligning with Dems to support a Dem candidate.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=3241728

Edit to add this quote from BumRush (with her permission) which is an excellent summary of how the GOP got to this point: "The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a catalyst that spawned a revolutionary ideology change among many southern Democrats dubbed "Dixiecrats", coupled with the rise of Goldwater and a nascent Republican party who welcomed them, the election of the first black President of the U.S. in 2008 became a further catalyst for the Republican party to begin a self-destruct sequence as a functioning party, making it nothing more than the landing place for bigoted nativist extremists. That then made it ripe for embracing fascism as a means to remain in power."

What is political leadership?

The ability to lead and guide a group.

What is good leadership?

Leading people in a way that moves people and the country in a beneficial and positive direction. This means appealing to higher angels.

A good leader should have integrity, self-awareness, courage, respect, compassion, and resilience. They should be able to communicate their the vision, and collaborate with others.

Good leaders exhibit honesty, integrity, trustworthiness, and ethics.
And a desire to promote the well being of the organization and people.

Can we think of examples of good leadership?

I would vote for some of my favorite leaders of all time:

George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, FDR, Churchill, Eisenhower.
They exhibited true genius and leadership, with visions that moved
the world forward.


What is bad leadership?

A bad leader creates a toxic environment, blocks growth, and hinders progress.

Their agenda is personal, their decisions are about obtaining what they want for themselves.

They appeal to the dark underbelly of human nature to further their own ends.

They lack transparency, ethics, morality, honesty.

The welfare of a country or people is not important to them. They enjoy division, conflict, violence for its own sake and to further their own personal goals. Usually those goals are about obtaining money and power.

Examples of bad leadership: Hitler, Stalin, Putin, Trump, GOP leaders. World billionaires who desire more wealth and power.

Feel free to list additional traits of good and bad leadership and examples of good and bad leaders.

GOP politicians legislate morality for the rest of us, but show up for Trump's trial.

They lecture us and wag their fingers. They insist we are evil.
They intrude into our bedrooms and private lives.

They target various groups for restrictions and punishment.
Punishments which results in jail or death by forbidding medical treatment
to groups the GOP deems evil.

We are bullied, harassed, threatened because we don't measure up to the
standards set by the GOP.

Yes these are the very same people who show up for Trump's trial.

A trial which has proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Trump slept with
a porn star and Playboy bunny while a married man. Committed a number
of crimes to cover it up. Also got the National Enquirer to lie and cheat
by pulling his salacious stories and printing damaging stories about opponents.

Other trials have shown that Trump is a rapist, cheats bigly on his taxes, commits
perjury, constantly lies and cheats.

We also know that Trump is a traitor, insurrectionist, tried to overthrow the US
government. He stole classified documents and harmed our national security.

How many commandments does Trump break on a daily basis?
Trump breaks laws like other people breathe.

So while the GOP vilifies good decent American citizens, they adore and support
one of the most heinous and ruthless criminals in the US.

What's up with Nikki Haley?

1. She can get votes. Will Trump choose her as his VP?

2. Or is she hoping to run for president in the event Trump is unable to run?

3. Or solidifying her base for a run in four years?

4. Given Trump's current problems, will Haley's rumored affairs hurt her?

Is Marge TG auditioning for Trump's VP?

Has she fallen into the same cesspool as Sen Katie Britt and Gov Kristi Noem?
Willing to debase and humiliate herself to get Trump's attention and impress him?

Yes these women were already on the dark side, but in their attempt to get on Trump's VP
short list, they have gone so far as to become national laughing stocks and joke punch lines.

Why does Trump lie so damn much? How would he be treated in a normal workplace?

I found a good article written by a University of South Carolina professor,
Shannon Bowen, Ph.D.

3 types of liars — How to spot and deal with them before they ruin your team.
https://sc.edu/study/colleges_schools/cic/journalism_and_mass_communications/news/2018/pr_prose_types_of_liars.php

Dr. Bowen focuses on managing various types of liars in the work place.

It provides a good clinical description of various kinds of liars, and practical
management strategies to deal with them.

She discussed three types of liars in the workplace: pathetic, narcissist and sociopath.

Symptoms of sociopaths and narcissists.

Since Trump's mental illnesses are getting worse, here are symptom lists for
each of his personality disorders. I have posted them before, but insight into
Trump's mental status might be helpful given Trump's current trial behavior.
And perhaps may give some indication of how he will act as he continues to deteriorate.

ETA: Trump is crazy, but he does not meet the criteria for not guilty by reason of insanity.
And he is competent to stand trial. He knows right from wrong. He is not psychotic.
And his drug use excludes him from an insanity plea.

This is from the Mayo clinic website and it is obvious that Trump is a textbook case
of both disorders.

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/antisocial-personality-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20353928

Symptoms of antisocial personality disorder include repeatedly:

-Ignoring right and wrong.
-Telling lies to take advantage of others.
-Not being sensitive to or respectful of others.
-Using charm or wit to manipulate others for personal gain or pleasure.
-Having a sense of superiority and being extremely opinionated.
-Having problems with the law, including criminal behavior.
-Being hostile, aggressive, violent or threatening to others.
-Feeling no guilt about harming others.
-Doing dangerous things with no regard for the safety of self or others.
-Being irresponsible and failing to fulfill work or financial responsibilities.


https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/narcissistic-personality-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20366662

Symptoms of narcissistic personality disorder. People with the disorder can:

-Have an unreasonably high sense of self-importance and requires constant, excessive admiration.
-Feel that they deserve privileges and special treatment.
-Expect to be recognized as superior even without achievements.
-Make achievements and talents seem bigger than they are.
-Preoccupied with fantasies about success, power, brilliance, beauty or the perfect mate.
-Believe they are superior to others and can only spend time with or be understood by equally special people.
-Critical of and look down on people they feel are not important.
-Expect special favors and expect other people to do what they want without questioning them.
-Take advantage of others to get what they want.
-Have an inability or unwillingness to recognize the needs and feelings of others.
-Be envious of others and believe others envy them.
-Behave in an arrogant way, brag a lot and come across as conceited.
-Insist on having the best of everything — for instance, the best car or office.
-At the same time, people with narcissistic personality disorder have trouble handling anything they view as criticism.

They can:

-Become impatient or angry when they don't receive special recognition or treatment.
-Have major problems interacting with others and easily feel slighted.
-React with rage or contempt and try to belittle other people to make themselves appear superior.
-Have difficulty managing their emotions and behavior.
-Experience major problems dealing with stress and adapting to change.
-Withdraw from or avoid situations in which they might fail.
-Feel depressed and moody because they fall short of perfection.
-Have secret feelings of insecurity, shame, humiliation and fear of being exposed as a failure.

Trump jail time ideas:

1. The judge could order jail time but delay it until the trial is finished.
And make the total amount of time served dependent upon Trump's behavior
between now and the end of the trial. Let that hang over Trump's head.

2. Put Trump in jail now for just a few hours for each violation.
When Trump whines about spending two hours in jail he will look like a baby.
And antagonize his J6 cult criminals who are spending more time in jail.

A narcissistic sociopath wants the authority of a king, while having the accountability of a toddler.

What was David Pecker's motive for the catch and kill scheme?

I don't understand that part of it.

Pecker seems to say his motive is that he was friends with Trump.

But Pecker had no benefit from the scheme?

In fact Pecker lost money.

Pecker paid out large sums of cash to people for their salacious Trump stories.
Even when Trump did not reimburse him for some of this cash outlay, Pecker continues with the scheme.

Pecker could have made a great deal of money printing those stories to sell more papers.
So Pecker takes that loss too.

What was Becker's motive?
Was there some other quid pro quo?
Or perhaps cash from some other source to help Trump?
Or some sort of pressure?

Enquiring minds want to know.