The Future of the Republican Party

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Dr. Medulla
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Re: The Future of the Republican Party

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Rat Patrol wrote:
26 Sep 2018, 12:14am
Rat Patrol wrote:
25 Sep 2018, 11:33pm


Emotionally functioning humans typically don't do things like this in public.
...and that feeling you get when you realize it's Ted Cruz who's been sitting in front of you making quiet but disconcerting nasal piggy noises for the entire transcontinental flight:

Image
"Dude, did that guy in front of us ask the stewardess if the snack cart had live mice?"
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Re: The Future of the Republican Party

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Play fortune teller, have a guess on whether Kavanagh gets crammed onto the court. I'm guessing yeah? Cos the Republicans play dirty and are desperate. The obvious play from the start for them was to choose some extremely right wing lady, but now there's too many people who won't be able to be seen to be defeated.
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Dr. Medulla
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Re: The Future of the Republican Party

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Silent Majority wrote:
26 Sep 2018, 11:55am
Play fortune teller, have a guess on whether Kavanagh gets crammed onto the court. I'm guessing yeah? Cos the Republicans play dirty and are desperate. The obvious play from the start for them was to choose some extremely right wing lady, but now there's too many people who won't be able to be seen to be defeated.
The part that gives me pause is that forcing Kavanaugh thru doubtless weakens the GOP electorally, something that their internal polling must confirm, unless they really believe Kavanaugh will be some kind of pep pill that excites the base more than it does the opposition. If Congressional Republicans are true zealots, I guess they see it as a fair trade, but these weasels are also massive egotists who don't want to lose their next election. So, I dunno. Or maybe Flake or Corker go out in a blazing middle finger to Trump (much less likely). I lean to forcing him thru, but my faith in them being craven egotists scared of voters leaves some room.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

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Re: The Future of the Republican Party

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"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

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Re: The Future of the Republican Party

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Now that the FBI's investigating, I would think that the thing that's going to sink Kavanaugh—assuming he gets sunk—is lying about his drinking. The several accusations of sexual assault might be too difficult to prove, but him being a blackout drunk seems easy enough to find ample witnesses to refute. And given that he testified that he was a moderate drinker who was in no ways a stumbling, pass-out boozehound in high school and college, that's a straight-forward lie before the judicial committee. Assuming that the so-called fence sitters really are on the fence, that's a massive refutation that he's a stand-up, honest guy. On the face of it all, that should sink him. Another case of "not the crime but the cover-up." Or it'll force Republicans to flat out admit that they don't fucking care about a guy lying before them as long as it's their guy.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

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Re: The Future of the Republican Party

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Flake and Corker may hate Trump but that might make them only slightly less horrible than their colleagues but still awful human beings.

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Re: The Future of the Republican Party

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He testified that he drank legally as an 18 year old, but the drinking age had already been raised to 21 when he was 17 so he straight up lied under oath about that. FBI should have that one squared away in all of 5 seconds if they want.
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Re: The Future of the Republican Party

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Flex wrote:
29 Sep 2018, 1:14pm
He testified that he drank legally as an 18 year old, but the drinking age had already been raised to 21 when he was 17 so he straight up lied under oath about that. FBI should have that one squared away in all of 5 seconds if they want.
Yeah but the right has been playing up the whole line of crap that the FBI are agents of Hillary so they can dismiss anything negative that comes up.

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Re: The Future of the Republican Party

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revbob wrote:
29 Sep 2018, 1:21pm
Flex wrote:
29 Sep 2018, 1:14pm
He testified that he drank legally as an 18 year old, but the drinking age had already been raised to 21 when he was 17 so he straight up lied under oath about that. FBI should have that one squared away in all of 5 seconds if they want.
Yeah but the right has been playing up the whole line of crap that the FBI are agents of Hillary so they can dismiss anything negative that comes up.
That's a whole other issue, tho, inasmuch as the crazies are going to be outraged if he isn't confirmed for any reason. But to the fair-minded person, him saying his drinking was legal when it wasn't is irrefutable. And if a dozen people all claim, yeah, he was a serious fucked-up drunk—better if they have diaries from the time that say as much—that also points to him lying before the committee. And that doesn't have anything to do with the multiple claims of him being a sexual predator. His alibi about character is the easiest to puncture and establishes him as a liar. Frankly, if the FBI doesn't pursue that angle along the way, that suggests something fishy because it's so dammed obvious.
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Re: The Future of the Republican Party

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It's the week delay that'll do him in. Already there's one more classmate stepping forward this morning claiming he was a blackout drunk. You've got the other witnesses who were denied time last week agitating for their own investigations/hearings. It's a week for women to crash the Congressional switchboard calling their reps, and to get the marches organized. And it's a week for endangered House incumbents and their donors to freak the fuck out to their Senate colleagues that this is killing them, so the money is going to speak loud and clear.

It's going to get so unmanageable that there'll be little bandwidth for McConnell to even get facetime with his swing votes. Merely SCHEDULING the vote will become more an ordeal than guaranteeing the outcome...and that's why they were in such a rush. Once it's got a life of its own--and it does now--chaos begatting more chaos ends up doing what organized opposition can't.

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Re: The Future of the Republican Party

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Rat Patrol wrote:
29 Sep 2018, 1:44pm
Once it's got a life of its own--and it does now--chaos begatting more chaos ends up doing what organized opposition can't.
Excellent point. These kinds of controversies can never be fully controlled by either side, but you put yourself in a disadvantageous position by being rigid and closed. And it's shown that the GOP's response at every stage has been crude and clumsy. They've butchered this so badly that even if they don't get their guy confirmed, they've still managed to motivate a lot of women—including conservative women—to vote and vote against them. A less authoritarian party would demand the heads of Grassly and McConnell for the complete shitshow, but they'll likely double down and see a need to hunker down further.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

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Re: The Future of the Republican Party

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WaPo reporting that the FBI has contacted his second accuser, so no limiting this to the scope of the single accusation. I don't want to make declaratives since we live in Hell World, but Brett should be pretty fucked.
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Re: The Future of the Republican Party

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Odds of him angrily withdrawing, citing a leftist—hell, far left—conspiracy and seeking to spare his family further trauma?
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

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Re: The Future of the Republican Party

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Dr. Medulla wrote:
29 Sep 2018, 2:03pm
Rat Patrol wrote:
29 Sep 2018, 1:44pm
Once it's got a life of its own--and it does now--chaos begatting more chaos ends up doing what organized opposition can't.
Excellent point. These kinds of controversies can never be fully controlled by either side, but you put yourself in a disadvantageous position by being rigid and closed. And it's shown that the GOP's response at every stage has been crude and clumsy. They've butchered this so badly that even if they don't get their guy confirmed, they've still managed to motivate a lot of women—including conservative women—to vote and vote against them. A less authoritarian party would demand the heads of Grassly and McConnell for the complete shitshow, but they'll likely double down and see a need to hunker down further.
I lost what little faith in humanity I had when Trump got elected. I do hope he goes down but and am under no illusion that a replacement would be a better human being. Not being a drunken rapist is a pretty fucking low bar as it is.

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Re: The Future of the Republican Party

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revbob wrote:
29 Sep 2018, 2:51pm
I lost what little faith in humanity I had when Trump got elected. I do hope he goes down but and am under no illusion that a replacement would be a better human being. Not being a drunken rapist is a pretty fucking low bar as it is.
The hope—and it's all a relative scale here—is that is the Democrats can retake the Senate, someone absurdly right-wing won't be pushed thru. I've also read that Kavanaugh was pushed on Trump by advisers who perhaps would lose influence by tying the pumpkin to a rapist and, more importantly, a failure. So does he then turn to someone more “moderate”? It'd be amusing if Garland ends up a compromise pick if it comes to that.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

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