The GOP: Not What It Used to Be

[GreyhoundFan]

To quote George Takei, "oh myyyyyyyyyy"

 

[Ozlsn]

On 7/16/2023 at 2:54 AM, GreyhoundFan said:

These people are insane:

Pretty sure neither voting nor machines to do so are mentioned anywhere in the Bible.

Frankly I'm in favour of returning to pen and paper based options, with no machines of any sort - just to get Cruz out.

[GreyhoundFan]

She's pitiful.

 

[GreyhoundFan]

"Republicans are stuck in three yesterdays"

Quote

Republicans are warring over the relative virtues of three political eras. Unfortunately for those who want the party to prosper, all of them are in the past.

The weight of the old hung over the GOP last week in the booking of Donald Trump on Thursday at the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta and in the Trumpless presidential debate the night before.

Both events underscored that differences in the party are defined in large part by competing loyalties to three political yesterdays: First is the one associated with Trump. The second is the tea party rebellion during the Obama years. And the third — glowing in a sacred conservative stratosphere — is the tradition of Ronald Reagan.

If Bill Clinton’s 1992 campaign song was “Don’t Stop (Thinking About Tomorrow),” the GOP’s 2024 anthem might as well be, “These Are the Good Old Days.”

Of course, there is some mixing and matching of the eras. Former vice president Mike Pence, the mixologist in chief, offers a lot of Reagan, a few dashes of tea party and an inevitable bow to the good things he ascribes to the “Trump-Pence” administration. Former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley is the hardest to place, which is why she did well in last week’s debate: She had some feel of the future about her.

Debate effects can be ephemeral, of course, but the GOP’s wistful longing for a lost age is an ongoing and serious condition. Dispatching Trump and the era he represents is important not only to his GOP rivals but also to the country as a whole. He is a threat to the constitutional order and democracy itself. Former New Jersey governor Chris Christie and former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson are invaluable voices in a contest they cannot win because they are willing to say so.

But all of the former president’s rivals are struggling to dethrone him because they still have not come to terms with the other side of Trump, which was innovative. He moved past Reaganism. He co-opted the tea party, drawing its supporters in by echoing their nativism on immigration and backing tax cuts, without embracing its anti-government message in full.

Unlike most Republicans, Trump speaks the language of frustration experienced by downscale Republicans who no longer believe the promises of global capitalism and (never mind Trump’s own corruption) don’t trust the cozy relationships between lobbyists and GOP leaders in Congress.

A man who had no business being president secured the GOP nomination in 2016 precisely because he understood, as his opponents didn’t, that many in the rank and file did not want to hear about cuts to Social Security or Medicare, hated NAFTA and other trade agreements, were skeptical about the Iraq War, and longed for an economy in which those who did not attend college could count on a decent living.

Trump’s “again” in his MAGA slogan thus does a lot of work. It certainly speaks to a nostalgia in his largely White constituency for old racial and cultural arrangements. Trump offers racist texts and subtexts, bows to religious traditionalism and tosses in some old-fashioned red-baiting. Channeling his legal hero Roy Cohn, Joe McCarthy’s henchman, he has taken to attacking his opponents as “communists.” Now that’s throwback politics for you.

But “again” also captures a craving in the battered regions of the country for the economic stability associated with the three decades after World War II. Trump has no coherent plan for restoration other than the blunderbuss of higher tariffs, but his supporters cheer him for acknowledging what they yearn for.

Trump’s Republican opponents are handcuffed not only by their reluctance to risk alienating his loyalists by taking him on but also by their ideological fealty to Reagan’s market faith and tea party thinking. What Trump knows instinctively that his internal party foes don’t is that GOP voters are looking for more than just the old stuff.

A cadre of GOP politicians (Sens. Josh Hawley of Missouri and Marco Rubio of Florida among them) have begun to challenge market purity, but they are a small minority — and do not want to take Trump on.

Successful parties find a way to honor their traditions while absorbing new realities. Dwight Eisenhower broke the Democrats’ 20-year hold on power in 1952 by broadly accepting the reforms of the New Deal. It’s often forgotten that in 2000, George W. Bush adjusted to Clintonism, ran on “compassion” and spoke of reforming education and immigration.

In 2023, our economic challenges call for reinvention. Like it or not, “Bidenomics” accepts that it’s not the 1980s or 1990s anymore. The GOP’s policy imagination is still stuck in the era of Lee Greenwood, the venerable country singer the party reveres.

The first Republican president had a plan for this. “The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present,” Abraham Lincoln said in 1862. “We must disenthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country.”

Republicans who understand the urgency of preventing a catastrophic Trump second term have a lot of disenthralling to do.

 

 

[47of74]

Just saw this on Palmer Report about the various countries asking their citizens "Do you really want to travel to the United States?"

Quote

A nation’s travel advisories aim to alert its citizens to the potential perils of visiting other places. Taking advisories seriously can ensure you enjoy a safe trip or even make you cross a certain destination off your list. If you were to read advisories for travel to your own country, you may be embarrassed, if not surprised, to learn that other nations are urging caution.

Indeed, a look at other nations’ current travel advisories to the United States reveals a concern over situations that are the direct result of a combination of flawed Republican action in certain areas and stubborn, heartless inaction in others. This is further proof that GOP policies and shenanigans are adversely affecting the United States’ image around the world while posing a threat to tourism.

Canada, New Zealand, Mexico, and a number of other countries have told their citizens that it's not a good idea to visit.  I don't blame them at all.  Until our government moves to deal with this gun bullshit no matter how much GQP gun fetish fuckers or their main$tream media enablers whine I think yeah maybe people shouldn't visit.

On 8/19/2023 at 3:52 PM, GreyhoundFan said:

To quote George Takei, "oh myyyyyyyyyy"

 

I'd make a comment about a certain kind of pole but it would probably get me locked in a prayer closet.

[Ozlsn]

6 hours ago, 47of74 said:

Canada, New Zealand, Mexico, and a number of other countries have told their citizens that it's not a good idea to visit. 

Technically they've advised caution and (in some cases) reading up on what you should do in case of an active shooter. All seem to have said tourists are usually not targeted (although depending on where you are that could be incorrect). 

I did like that NZ advised additional caution for LBGI+ people, and that Germany pointed out that nudity in public is a lot more frowned on in the USA.

I used to read World's Most Dangerous Places for fun, and they always included the USA as a separate entry due to the gun laws. Australia popped up mostly in driving fatalities (long distances and fatigue, also left side of the road) and dangerous animal sections.

Edited September 1, 2023 by Ozlsn

[47of74]

I was kind of surprised to see Dubuque's Branch Trumpvidian "newspaper" print this pro-labor article.  (Ordinary they'd send pro-labor stuff to their circular file and make up bullshit why they did.  Which I would point out if they still had comments).

Quote

For over a century, Wisconsin served as a model of the achievements of labor and progressive movements, setting the standard for what it means to put pro-worker and democratic values into practice. Our state’s once held national reputation as a stronghold of workers’ rights is owed in large part to our unions, who uniquely pursued not only direct action in the workplace but also aligned with pro-labor legislators and took their fights to the state capitol — and saw results.

In 1911, Wisconsin was the first state to pass a worker’s compensation law, providing workers laboring in dangerous conditions with crucial protections and holding employers accountable for negligence. Just over two decades later, Wisconsin passed the nation’s first unemployment compensation law after years of unions pushing for change; and in 1937, the Wisconsin Employment Relations Act enshrined workers’ right to organize into state law. Cooperation between legislators and unions, for so long, uplifted the lives of working Wisconsinites and set Wisconsin on a path of building an economy that works for everyone.

Then came the election of former Gov. Scott Walker and a unified Republican trifecta in 2010, galvanized by the extreme ideas of the Tea Party Movement, who quickly began their anti-labor assault on Wisconsin’s prized institutions.

 

[Ozlsn]

19 minutes ago, 47of74 said:

For over a century, Wisconsin served as a model of the achievements of labor and progressive movements, setting the standard for what it means to put pro-worker and democratic values into practice

I don't know if you've listened to the "Behind the Insurrections" podcast but the episode about the 1930s plot to overthrow the government and install a puppet was in part foiled by the strong pro-labor states including Wisconsin - the hosts were a bit "how did that all change?!" 

Fascinating episode, unfortunate they didn't crack down on that one.

[GreyhoundFan]

The party of “family values”…

 

[fraurosena]

Remarkable how these scandals always seem to involve Republicans. Rick Johnson is the former Michigan House Speaker.

Sex worker bribery claim emerges in Rick Johnson marijuana corruption scandal

Quote

Businessmen repeatedly hired a sex worker for former Michigan House Speaker Rick Johnson in order to secure licenses to grow and sell marijuana in Michigan and referred to the powerful Republican politician by the code name “Batman,” a revelation that emerged Thursday as the first person convicted in a bribery scandal was sent to prison.

Prosecutors made the revelation while telling U.S. District Judge Jane Beckering to send Johnson, the former chairman of Michigan's medical marijuana licensing board, to federal prison for 71 months, or almost six years, for his role in the largest public corruption scandal in Michigan’s capital in 30 years.

In addition to receiving at least $110,000 in bribes and private flights, Johnson received “thousands of dollars’ worth of commercial sex with a woman in the adult entertainment industry,” Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christopher O’Connor and Clay Stiffler wrote in a sentencing memo.

“In return, Johnson provided an unfair advantage to bribe payers in the form of his favorable vote on license applications, his help and support throughout the licensing process, and confidential inside information pertaining to the Board’s work and other applicants," the prosecutors added.

Prosecutors linked lobbyist Brian Pierce to the sex worker, saying in one instance, and at Johnson's request, Pierce paid $2,000 to the sex worker, prosecutors wrote.

Investigators have obtained text messages from 2016 that reference the power Johnson wielded as chairman of the Medical Marihuana Licensing Board.

“In one message about Johnson's power, Brown stated: ‘That’s why happy batman is a great batman,’” prosecutors wrote about lobbyist Vince Brown. “’Batman’ was a code name for Johnson used by Pierce, Brown, their clients, and the commercial sex worker.”

Johnson's lawyer, Nicholas Voss Dondzila, did not respond immediately Thursday to a message seeking comment. Pierce's lawyer, Ben Gonek, declined comment. Brown's attorney, Mark Kriger, declined comment too.

The allegations surfaced minutes after Beckering sentenced Oakland County businessman John Dawood Dalaly to 28 months in prison Thursday for providing $68,200 in bribes to Johnson.

Dalaly, 71, of Oakland County, who pleaded guilty to bribery in April, became the first person to be sentenced in a wide-ranging and ongoing probe into corruption at the birth of Michigan's legalized marijuana industry. The investigation has centered on the actions of Johnson, a former Michigan House speaker, whom then-Gov. Rick Snyder appointed in 2017 to lead the panel that licensed medical marijuana businesses.

Court filing provides new details

The court filing Thursday provides new details about what prosecutors called a “well-orchestrated organized crime operation."

Johnson used one burner phone registered to a limited liability company, while bribes were laundered through multiple LLCs controlled by Johnson, prosecutors alleged. Johnson and others concocted cover stories involving his wife, Janice, if anyone discovered or asked about the bribes, according to the court filing.

“Johnson’s repeated use of a prostitute who was paid to have sex with him on multiple occasions by businessmen seeking his help and licenses from the state is abhorrent behavior,” the prosecutors wrote.

The government memo Thursday also provided greater details about the quid pro quo between Johnson and the lobbyists who paid bribes.

The then marijuana board chairman received at least 38 cash bribes over 21 months between June 2017 and February 2019, prosecutors said.

"Some of his bribe payers were careful to refer to him as 'Batman,' a Bat emoji, or 'our friend' when referring to him," the prosecutors wrote.

The benefits included private flights to Canada to meet with one marijuana company's investors, free meals and tickets to sporting events.

"In return, Johnson provided an unfair advantage to bribe payers in the form of his favorable vote on license applications, his help and support throughout the licensing process, and confidential inside information pertaining to the board’s work and other applicants," prosecutors wrote.

During Thursday's two-hour hearing in federal court in Grand Rapids, Dalaly's lawyer, Raymond Cassar, prosecutors and Judge Jane Beckering discussed shell companies that were used to quietly move money to Johnson, allegations of someone providing a "sex worker" for Johnson and Johnson sharing secret information about the internal workings of his board.

Dalaly gets prison time

Beckering labeled Dalaly's crime a serious offense and called bribing a public official a cancer on the health of democracy.

"It must be known to the public that bribing a public official is unacceptable in the United States of America," Beckering said at one point.

Dalaly was facing up to 10 years in federal prison. Because it was his first criminal offense, he accepted responsibility for his crime and he cooperated with federal investigators, Beckering sentenced him to 28 months in prison, two years of supervised release and a $25,000 fine.

"There is not a day that goes by that I do not regret my action," Dalaly said in court Thursday.

Cassar had unsuccessfully asked Beckering to impose a term of home confinement.

But Clay Stiffler, an assistant U.S. attorney, emphasized that Dalaly had provided 25 bribes to Johnson, including using a "cover story" that he had hired Johnson's wife, Jan Johnson, as a consultant. Dalaly also got information from Johnson that was supposed to be secret, like what license applicants were going to be denied by the board.

The relationship gave Dalaly an advantage and early foothold in a $2 billion industry, federal prosecutors said.

The judge needed to send "a message to Lansing and others" "that this type of conduct will not be tolerated," Stiffler said.

Prosecutors have previously said Dalaly gave investigators a first-hand account of the $68,200 in bribes paid to Johnson, who was chairman of the licensing board from May 2017 through April 2019. Starting in 2018, Dalaly bribed Johnson to obtain state licenses for a medical marijuana startup business and for help launching a digital payments business for marijuana transactions.

Cassar previously told reporters Dalaly was working on behalf of the company Pharmaco and had hired Jan Johnson to help him fill out application forms. That paperwork would eventually go before the Medical Marihuana Licensing Board that Rick Johnson chaired.

Dalaly was a "facilitator" for the cannabis company Pharmaco, Cassar said. In October 2018, the licensing board voted to "pre-qualify" Pharmaco for licensing, an initial step in the state's licensing process.

Then, in February and April 2019, the licensing board voted in favor of giving Pharmaco five provisioning center licenses, according to minutes from the meetings. Three of the licenses came at the April 25, 2019, meeting, which was the final session before the board disbanded.

During Thursday's proceedings, Cassar referenced someone else allegedly providing a "sex worker" for Johnson. Beckering seemed aware of the claim, saying it was someone from the east side of the state.

"That was not Mr. Dalaly," Cassar told reporters later. "I want to make it clear to the media. Mr. Dalaly had nothing to do with having a sex worker involved with Mr. Johnson."

In April, Johnson pleaded guilty to accepting at least $110,200 in cash payments and other benefits from businesses seeking medical marijuana licenses and lobbyists who represented them. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 28.

Two marijuana lobbyists, Brown of Royal Oak and Pierce of Midland, have also pleaded guilty in the bribery probe and are scheduled to be sentenced in October.

 

[Xan]

The Noem/Lewandowski affair has popped up before now.  I think you have to look at see who benefits the most from this recent exposure.  People were talking about how Noem might be a good choice for Trump. Whoever leaked this would probably be someone looking for the VP slot on the Trump ticket.  The obvious choice is MTG but I don't think she's clever enough.  My bet would be Ramaswamy.  He has the money and connections to make sure this was publicized and he's certainly hungry enough.

[fraurosena]

1 minute ago, Xan said:

The obvious choice is MTG but I don't think she's clever enough.

Somehow I don't think being clever would be a prerequisite for any office in Trump's administration. I actually think she could be in with a good shot. She's popular among the MAGA's, she's a woman (as Biden has a female VP, you can bet Trump now wants one too) and she's a slimy loudmouth who sucks up to Trump with nauseating fervor.
 

[Xan]

40 minutes ago, fraurosena said:

Somehow I don't think being clever would be a prerequisite for any office in Trump's administration. I actually think she could be in with a good shot. She's popular among the MAGA's, she's a woman (as Biden has a female VP, you can bet Trump now wants one too) and she's a slimy loudmouth who sucks up to Trump with nauseating fervor.
 

I was thinking more along the lines of MTG not being clever enough to plant the story and not claim credit for it.  I agree that she's exactly the sort of person that Trump would use to win.  I'm not sure she's "classy" enough for him, though.  He's used to Melania and other tall, beautiful, quiet women.  MTG might be too much of a loud-mouthed scene stealer for him to tolerate.  Noem would've worked but now she's toxic.

[fraurosena]

 

[CTRLZero]

Wow!  Makes me wonder how many more of these sealed warrants are being used.  Quite the statement that the court agrees evidence is likely being destroyed or tampered with.  

[GreyhoundFan]

These people are beyond disgusting:

 

[Becky]

48 minutes ago, GreyhoundFan said:

These people are beyond disgusting:

 

What the hell??  Is that supposed to be some sort of sick joke?  How does someone get to be so callous and cruel?  That is not normal.  What a sad excuse for a human being.  

[Ozlsn]

When you other someone the extent that you can joke about putting children in cages you might want to re-examine your actual beliefs, and definitely stop referring to yourself as "Christian".

It always vaguely amuses me though that these idiots get as far as "throw them all out!" but never quite make the cognitive leap to wondering who will pick crops and do the other low paid, dirty jobs that they rely on desperate people to do. And then complain because food prices have increased.

[GreyhoundFan]

How horrible:

[SassyPants]

12 hours ago, Ozlsn said:

When you other someone the extent that you can joke about putting children in cages you might want to re-examine your actual beliefs, and definitely stop referring to yourself as "Christian".

It always vaguely amuses me though that these idiots get as far as "throw them all out!" but never quite make the cognitive leap to wondering who will pick crops and do the other low paid, dirty jobs that they rely on desperate people to do. And then complain because food prices have increased.

Absolutely, 100% this. Uggg…You can be an asshole, but then don’t yourself a Christian. When you do that, you taint the tenets of Christianity, and people will call you out. And no, being called out for falsely calling yourself a Christian when your behaviors indicate otherwise, is not a form of “Christian persecution.” {Asshole persecution, maybe}

And yes, we could theoretically deport all of the undocumented day laborers, but then there is to be ZERO complaining about the cost of produce. It’s as if these folks have zero understanding of economics at all.

[Audrey2]

Putting on my fake MAGA hat, preparing to offer the worst dumb non-solution

"Well we can just kick out all of the illegals, cut social security and then have the pensioners who can't afford to live anymore work our fields. We could also have the homeless harvest the crops."

This is such a dumb and ridiculous non-solution I'm surprised Matt Gaetz hasn't said it out loud yet.

[Ozlsn]

It's stuff like this article ("Some WI lawmakers have changed their minds about letting the undocumented drive") that really annoy me.

If you are saying "we shouldn't reward them for coming illegally" on one hand but then relying on their labour and not having pathways to allow them to come legally and then penalise them additionally - I mean, at what point do you actually face the facts and acknowledge that they're here, the local economy needs them and coming up with a pathway to legal residency will benefit everyone in the long term? 

Or, if you're absolutely determined to stick with the "no reward" then when you fine them and discover they're undocumented, ask where they have been working and fine the landowners accordingly.

 

[fraurosena]

The whole system of entering the country legally should be revised. Why, when there is such a need for laborers, is it so difficult to enter the country legally in the first place? If you alter the system to accommodate this, then there wouldn't be such a problem with undocumented citizens and dreamers.

Edited October 2, 2023 by fraurosena
I can spell, really!

[GreyhoundFan]

4 hours ago, fraurosena said:

The whole system of entering the country legally should be revised. Why, when there is such a need for laborers, is it so difficult to enter the country legally in the first place? If you alter the system to accommodate this, then there wouldn't be such a problem with undocumented citizens and dreamers.

Because the cruelty is the point. And to the Rs, brown people are ebil, but “nice” white people like Trace Bates’ in-laws are fine. 

[Xan]

1 hour ago, GreyhoundFan said:

Because the cruelty is the point. And to the Rs, brown people are ebil, but “nice” white people like Trace Bates’ in-laws are fine. 

What they'd like to do is let them in the country but not give them any rights -- including getting minimum wages.  They'd love for them to do the hard jobs as long as they didn't send their kids to "our" schools, vote, or use "our" medical system.  So, yeah.  If they could have modified slavery, those brown people would be welcomed.