Departing Republicans confess: They have been part of a ‘cult’

Amused

Elite Member
Apr 14, 2001
55,826
13,873
146
I've been saying for a few years now the GOP has become a mindless cult removed from reality and fact. Unfortunately, no matter how much you expose this reality, people still in the cult can never see that they're in a cult.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blog...e-been-part-of-a-cult/?utm_term=.f41c7513ae67


rustrated by his Republican colleagues’ refusal to vote on his amendment to roll back President Trump’s tariffs, Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) fessed up on Wednesday: “We’re in a strange place. It’s becoming a cultish thing, isn’t it? It’s not a good place for any party to have a cult-like situation as it relates to a President that happens to be purportedly of the same party.” It’s even worse when the cult leader is dishonest, irrational and erratic; those who follow him quickly appear dishonest, irrational and erratic.

Corker continued: “To have an administration that wakes up every day on an ad hoc basis just making stuff up as they go along with no coherency to it — I think us having to weigh in on that would actually cause them to have to think about what they’re doing versus, ‘Well, I’m upset with X today so I’ll do this.’ ”

There is something refreshing about having the Republican Party’s cowardice out in the open, acknowledged by its own members. The pretense that they were upholding their oaths and/or their constituents was too much to bear.

Rep. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.), who lost in a GOP primary on Tuesday, told my colleague Karen Tumulty that his fellow Republicans “don’t want the tweet that I got last night.” He added, “There’s no motivation like self-motivation.” He was referring to Trump’s taunting tweet three hours before the polls closed, complaining that “Mark Sanford has been very unhelpful to me in my campaign to MAGA. He is MIA and nothing but trouble.” Now, we do not know if that tweet really turned the tide, but the perception surely is that Republicans will lose if they break with Trump.

Sanford, a principled conservative, said after his defeat that he didn’t regret his actions. (“It may have cost me an election, in this case, but I stand by every one of those decisions to disagree with the president.”) Not every Republican — certainly not House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) — is willing to take that risk by crossing Trump. In that respect, they are every bit as unprincipled as the president.

In a stunning upset, first-term state lawmaker Katie Arrington unseated incumbent Rep. Mark Sanford, following President Trump's eleventh hour tweet.(Joyce Koh /The Washington Post)

The Republican National Committee chairman Ronna Romney McDaniel added a creepy, totalitarian note. “Complacency is our enemy. Anyone that does not embrace the @realDonaldTrump agenda of making America great again will be making a mistake,” she tweeted. Pyongyang or Moscow or Beijing propagandists would be proud. You must embrace our leader, or else!

The result of Republicans’ boot-licking , naturally, is to encourage Trump’s lying, erratic behavior and delusional thinking. Trump critic Rick Wilson, directing his barbs to Trump, writes, “Nothing you do matters to this Congress. No matter what damage you inflict on our economy, our alliances, trade, our stature in the world, our role as an exemplar of democratic values, our ability to serve as an honest broker in the international community, and our security, Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell will lay supine before you.” As, the GOP Congress becomes more reticent, Trump becomes more dangerous.

Several aspects of the GOP cult are noteworthy.

First, sticking by Trump is no guarantee of success either. After all, candidates backed by Trump (i.e., Luther Strange, Roy Moore, Rick Saccone, Ed Gillespie) also lost. Republicans are obsessed with the instances in which a Trump heretic lost, but they don’t consider whether those candidates lost for reasons unrelated to Trump.

Second, many faithful Republicans running in competitive seats in either purple and blue states will get wiped out if they cling to Trump and defend his policies — including an unpopular tax plan, cruel immigration policies, etc. That’s why you see so many races in the “Toss Up” or “Lean Democrat” column for November’s midterm elections. In many places other than deep red America, an “R” after one’s name is a badge of shame, not of honor.

Third, the dichotomy between what Republicans want and what the country at large wants is becoming so vast that it’s difficult for Republicans to run toward Trump in the primary and then away from him in the general election. They wind up looking like Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) — unprincipled and insincere.

Fourth, if many of those endangered Republicans lose, the Trump party left behind will be more radical, nativist, protectionist and irrational (because they blindly follow an irrational president). Thanks to Trump’s the-base-is-everything strategy, the GOP will become even less racially and geographically diverse. At that point, candidates in the general election who can appeal to the other 60 percent to 65 percent of the electorate would be in good shape.

Fifth, with some exceptions, Democratic primary voters haven’t gone far left and, therefore, have preserved (they hope) the chance to win in mixed districts. Conversely, if they fail in November, the forces behind Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) will go nuts and insist the Democratic Party’s 2020 presidential nominee come from the far left.

Finally, as we see hyperpolarization play out, it may be that polarization will get worse. At some point, though, the double- and triple-down, pro-Trump Republicans will lose governing majorities and will not be able to get enough electoral votes at the presidential level to secure the White House. It’s precisely for this reason that many despondent Republicans want their party blown out in November. It’s not until they lose and lose big, these anti-Trump Republicans figure, that Trump’s grip on their party will end. Unfortunately for them, by the time you get to that point, it may have made itself so distasteful to so many voters that redemption won’t come for many election cycles.
 

Phokus

Lifer
Nov 20, 1999
22,995
776
126
Just look at this reddit post. Outside of worshipping guns, liking the exact opposite of what democrats like and hating gay people, Republicans don't actually have any actual consistent values. Bomb Syria? Democrats hated the idea no matter if it was Obama or Trump doing it while Republicans hated the idea under Obama but loved it under Trump. Remember when Republicans worshipped Bush for invading Iraq but Trump trashed the Iraq invasion during his campaign? All of a sudden, Republicans became 'woke' on the issue and begrudgingly nodded their heads that it was a bad idea. Then there's Republicans hating the idea of Obama meeting with NK, and sucking Trump's dick for meeting with NK and giving up everything without having KJI give up anything in return (and Trump ass kissing KJI even though he's an authoritarian human rights abuser).

Reddit post in question:

https://www.reddit.com/r/politics/c...=user&utm_source=reddit&utm_name=u_Phokus1983

Republicans used to just be anti-whatever the democrats propose, regardless of its merits. Now they're Trump cultists.
 

realibrad

Lifer
Oct 18, 2013
12,337
898
126
I've been saying for a few years now the GOP has become a mindless cult removed from reality and fact. Unfortunately, no matter how much you expose this reality, people still in the cult can never see that they're in a cult.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blog...e-been-part-of-a-cult/?utm_term=.f41c7513ae67


--->Frustrated by his Republican colleagues’ refusal to vote on his amendment to roll back President Trump’s tariffs, Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) fessed up on Wednesday: “We’re in a strange place. It’s becoming a cultish thing, isn’t it? It’s not a good place for any party to have a cult-like situation as it relates to a President that happens to be purportedly of the same party.” It’s even worse when the cult leader is dishonest, irrational and erratic; those who follow him quickly appear dishonest, irrational and erratic.

Corker continued: “To have an administration that wakes up every day on an ad hoc basis just making stuff up as they go along with no coherency to it — I think us having to weigh in on that would actually cause them to have to think about what they’re doing versus, ‘Well, I’m upset with X today so I’ll do this.’ ”

There is something refreshing about having the Republican Party’s cowardice out in the open, acknowledged by its own members. The pretense that they were upholding their oaths and/or their constituents was too much to bear.

Rep. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.), who lost in a GOP primary on Tuesday, told my colleague Karen Tumulty that his fellow Republicans “don’t want the tweet that I got last night.” He added, “There’s no motivation like self-motivation.” He was referring to Trump’s taunting tweet three hours before the polls closed, complaining that “Mark Sanford has been very unhelpful to me in my campaign to MAGA. He is MIA and nothing but trouble.” Now, we do not know if that tweet really turned the tide, but the perception surely is that Republicans will lose if they break with Trump.

Sanford, a principled conservative, said after his defeat that he didn’t regret his actions. (“It may have cost me an election, in this case, but I stand by every one of those decisions to disagree with the president.”) Not every Republican — certainly not House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) — is willing to take that risk by crossing Trump. In that respect, they are every bit as unprincipled as the president.

In a stunning upset, first-term state lawmaker Katie Arrington unseated incumbent Rep. Mark Sanford, following President Trump's eleventh hour tweet.(Joyce Koh /The Washington Post)

The Republican National Committee chairman Ronna Romney McDaniel added a creepy, totalitarian note. “Complacency is our enemy. Anyone that does not embrace the @realDonaldTrump agenda of making America great again will be making a mistake,” she tweeted. Pyongyang or Moscow or Beijing propagandists would be proud. You must embrace our leader, or else!

The result of Republicans’ boot-licking , naturally, is to encourage Trump’s lying, erratic behavior and delusional thinking. Trump critic Rick Wilson, directing his barbs to Trump, writes, “Nothing you do matters to this Congress. No matter what damage you inflict on our economy, our alliances, trade, our stature in the world, our role as an exemplar of democratic values, our ability to serve as an honest broker in the international community, and our security, Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell will lay supine before you.” As, the GOP Congress becomes more reticent, Trump becomes more dangerous.

Several aspects of the GOP cult are noteworthy.

First, sticking by Trump is no guarantee of success either. After all, candidates backed by Trump (i.e., Luther Strange, Roy Moore, Rick Saccone, Ed Gillespie) also lost. Republicans are obsessed with the instances in which a Trump heretic lost, but they don’t consider whether those candidates lost for reasons unrelated to Trump.

Second, many faithful Republicans running in competitive seats in either purple and blue states will get wiped out if they cling to Trump and defend his policies — including an unpopular tax plan, cruel immigration policies, etc. That’s why you see so many races in the “Toss Up” or “Lean Democrat” column for November’s midterm elections. In many places other than deep red America, an “R” after one’s name is a badge of shame, not of honor.

Third, the dichotomy between what Republicans want and what the country at large wants is becoming so vast that it’s difficult for Republicans to run toward Trump in the primary and then away from him in the general election. They wind up looking like Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) — unprincipled and insincere.

Fourth, if many of those endangered Republicans lose, the Trump party left behind will be more radical, nativist, protectionist and irrational (because they blindly follow an irrational president). Thanks to Trump’s the-base-is-everything strategy, the GOP will become even less racially and geographically diverse. At that point, candidates in the general election who can appeal to the other 60 percent to 65 percent of the electorate would be in good shape.

Fifth, with some exceptions, Democratic primary voters haven’t gone far left and, therefore, have preserved (they hope) the chance to win in mixed districts. Conversely, if they fail in November, the forces behind Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) will go nuts and insist the Democratic Party’s 2020 presidential nominee come from the far left.

Finally, as we see hyperpolarization play out, it may be that polarization will get worse. At some point, though, the double- and triple-down, pro-Trump Republicans will lose governing majorities and will not be able to get enough electoral votes at the presidential level to secure the White House. It’s precisely for this reason that many despondent Republicans want their party blown out in November. It’s not until they lose and lose big, these anti-Trump Republicans figure, that Trump’s grip on their party will end. Unfortunately for them, by the time you get to that point, it may have made itself so distasteful to so many voters that redemption won’t come for many election cycles.

Your F got cut off.
 
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fskimospy

Elite Member
Mar 10, 2006
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Bob Corker voted with/for Trump bills 84.5% of the time. Mark Sanford voted with/for Trump bills 73.1% of the time. Both voted for the new tax cuts that'll hit America hard in the future. Even the dissenters are awful people.

And Corker (and Flake!) were both senators, ie: people in a chamber where Republicans had a razor thin margin. Had Corker truly been concerned about what Trump is doing he could have done something very, very simple. Corker's chair of the senate foreign relations committee, he could have said something to the effect of: 'President Trump your erratic behavior raises concerns to me that you have been compromised by a hostile foreign power. If you don't start behaving more normally I will subpoena your financial records and begin investigating them to see if that's the case.' I'm sure all of the democrats would have voted with him so there's nothing the Republicans could have done to stop him. He chose not to do this.

It's hard to take any of their complaints very seriously when they did not use their powers of office to meaningfully constrain him. If he's such a threat to the country then act like it.
 
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K1052

Elite Member
Aug 21, 2003
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And Corker (and Flake!) were both senators, ie: people in a chamber where Republicans had a razor thin margin. Had Corker truly been concerned about what Trump is doing he could have done something very, very simple. Corker's chair of the senate foreign relations committee, he could have said something to the effect of: 'President Trump your erratic behavior raises concerns to me that you have been compromised by a hostile foreign power. If you don't start behaving more normally I will subpoena your financial records and begin investigating them to see if that's the case.' I'm sure all of the democrats would have voted with him so there's nothing the Republicans could have done to stop him. He chose not to do this.

It's hard to take any of their complaints very seriously when they did not use their powers of office to meaningfully constrain him. If he's such a threat to the country then act like it.

Corker's vote on the budget committee also let the GOP pass the debt fueled tax cut. I keep hearing about these principles he's got but actually locating them seems to be difficult. Flake and Rubio are also basically useless.
 
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zinfamous

No Lifer
Jul 12, 2006
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And Corker (and Flake!) were both senators, ie: people in a chamber where Republicans had a razor thin margin. Had Corker truly been concerned about what Trump is doing he could have done something very, very simple. Corker's chair of the senate foreign relations committee, he could have said something to the effect of: 'President Trump your erratic behavior raises concerns to me that you have been compromised by a hostile foreign power. If you don't start behaving more normally I will subpoena your financial records and begin investigating them to see if that's the case.' I'm sure all of the democrats would have voted with him so there's nothing the Republicans could have done to stop him. He chose not to do this.

It's hard to take any of their complaints very seriously when they did not use their powers of office to meaningfully constrain him. If he's such a threat to the country then act like it.

yup. These "reformed republicans" are really just guilty whiners, complaining that they can't be re-elected because broadly more insane Trumpists are lined up to primary their despicable asses.
 

nickqt

Diamond Member
Jan 15, 2015
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This is the exact same thing that libruuuls who’ve been paying attention have said for going on 40 years now.

In other news, sky still blue, water still wet.
 
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Jhhnn

IN MEMORIAM
Nov 11, 1999
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This is the exact same thing that libruuuls who’ve been paying attention have said for going on 40 years now.

In other news, sky still blue, water still wet.

Yep. Tried to tell 'em that crazifying their base was a dangerous & arrogant thing to do but they wouldn't listen so long as they were winning. They thought they could always control it but it got away from them. Trump & Bannon saw it for what it was, the makings of an irrational leader cult, people looking for some kind of savior. So they suckered 63M people into voting for the most preposterous charlatan to have ever run for president. And they made it look easy.
 
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sportage

Lifer
Feb 1, 2008
11,493
3,159
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No No No...
The world has not gone insane.
Nor has anyone joined some Trump cult.
Everything that is happening makes total sense and has but one goal.
And I've said this before...
For control of THE US SUPREME COURT. Period!
If the extreme religious far right can get this court in their hands using Donald Trump, then they have it made.
The high court, highest court in the land, is more powerful than any politician, more powerful than any institution of government, is more powerful than any president past or future.
Which side controls the US Supreme Court is the whole ballgame.
And remember... they don't seek a balanced court nor a fair court, they want it all.
The extreme far right religious fanatics want control of this high court sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo badly that they could care not about Donald Trump.
Care not what he may be, what he does, or how crooked or immoral Donald Trump is.
All the want from Donald Trump is the US Supreme Court. Period!

Even the most moral religious bible thumping Christians are willing to pay the price, whatever that price, no matter how much that price offends their own moral religious beliefs, to gain control of this court.
As with any religious battle, and they absolutely consider this a religious battle, for them the end justifies the means.

And this is exactly why we are witnessing so much insanity within our politics and within our society today.
It's really very simply.
And the people had better WAKE UP, and WAKE UP damn soon.
Because, while the far right extremist religious fundamentalist know EXACTLY what they are doing and know EXACTLY what winning this battle means for them, those still wondering what the hell is going on within America have not a clue of the dangers now poised to take place.
The absolute devastation of America freedoms, individuals rights, and civil rights as we know it should this US Supreme Court swing forever into the hands of the extremist.

What they want out of all of this is for every single high court decision going back decades, decisions they were highly opposed to and decisions they absolutely hated, for all of those decisions to be RE-VISITED. And many more....
Re-visited, and THEN.... to be decided and re-decided IN THEIR FAVOR.

For example....
They want all decisions granting equality within the LGBT community to be re-decided. To be over-turned.
Marriage equality, free speech, rights to teach, rights to work, rights to walk openly down the streets of America, all to be overturned then re-decided in their favor.
They do not only seek to legally force the LGBT community BACK into the closet, they seek to ban gays altogether. AND to ban anyone identifying with the LGBT community.
Hell.... they want the term LGBT to be banned altogether.
They want a Hitler-like hard line taken against all acts of homosexuality.
To put those people away and banish them from society FOREVER.
Banish from the media, the movies, the books, the schools, the restaurants, the workforce, the housing, BANNED FROM EVERYWHERE!

And this is only targeting LGBT rights....
Just imagine, should they succeed in controlling the US Supreme Court, what they would go after next????
Well for one, you can be certain by using the high court they will ban all abortion and completely destroy all women's reproductive rights.
What a woman chooses to do with her body when it comes to reproduction will be theirs to decide. And only theirs to decide by winning high court decisions and challenges. By winning them all!

So here we have only two from their list of endless reasons why they want so badly to control the US Supreme Court.
And they know Donald Trump can and most certainly will make that happen for THEM. Them, the extreme far right religious fanatics.
They don't care if Donald Trump is the devil, or immoral, or a crook, or a cheat, or an womanizer, or cheats on his wife and family, or is an Atheist, or even a communist for that matter.
THEY SIMPLY DO NOT CARE!!!!!!
This is ALL ABOUT the US Supreme Court.
Who controls it. Decisions made by it. And forever rewriting America law.
To re-create an America using an far right extremist religious fanatical packed high court to re-define America as they envision America should be.

All they need is one, and certainly two more justices appointed by Donald Trump.
Then, they have all of what they want.
And should current political environment remain the same, they will easily get their high court EASILY within Trump's term.

Why you ask has America become so totally insane?
Why you ask are republicans living within a cult?
Why you ask will no one do anything about this insanity?
Simply because, those that would typically provide the moral and ethical leadership for America have since sold out.
They have sold out, the Christians, the politicians, the institutions, they all have sold out to gain control of that highest of high courts.
The highest court in the land.

See? So now you know.....
The country has not gone crazy.
The country is actually under attack from the extreme far right religious fanatics. Under attack by nearly every sane republican.
Under attack by typically god fearing Christian mothers and fathers.
And all of the above having a stake in the outcome.
What their want out of their part of the pie.
Be that attacking equal rights, or attacking how government functions, or how we run our institutions, how we elect our officials, and who controls who.

Everyone wants something out of winning this battle.
And they know that only Donald Trump can give to them what they so dearly desire.
Give to them by way of controlling the US Supreme Court. And controlling it FOREVER.
Afraid? Better damn well be afraid.
 
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dank69

Lifer
Oct 6, 2009
35,204
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136
I see Gowdy, who supposedly saw the light, is spouting Hannity talking points about the IG report.
 

kage69

Lifer
Jul 17, 2003
26,968
35,584
136
I've been saying for a few years now the GOP has become a mindless cult removed from reality and fact. Unfortunately, no matter how much you expose this reality, people still in the cult can never see that they're in a cult.

Can't disagree with any of that.

"Sanford, a principled conservative, said after his defeat that he didn’t regret his actions. (“It may have cost me an election, in this case, but I stand by every one of those decisions to disagree with the president.”) Not every Republican — certainly not House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) — is willing to take that risk by crossing Trump. In that respect, they are every bit as unprincipled as the president."

Absolutely false. And it comes as no surprise to me that republican voters will hold him to task for 'betraying' Dump, but re-elect him after cheating on his wife. Sounds like cult like to me.