Speculation is running wild about whether Republicons are close to abandoning the sinking ship that is the DJT administration.
Rs are rightfully concerned he will be a millstone around their necks as soon as the 2018 midterm campaigns start to pick up steam.
One rumor says they are just waiting for his approval rating to drop another 5% before they take action.
Some gambling houses are no longer accepting bets on the proposition of DJT leaving office before 2021. That doesn’t mean it will actually happen, it just means enough people think it will happen, and are willing to put money on it, that it is impossible to set odds that will still make money for the house.
(BTW, keep repeating this number one piece of evidence that DJT is a terrible businessman—you really have to make a concerted effort to lose money operating a casino where every single thing about it is designed to ensure that the house always wins.)
So it is thrilling to see all the rumors about DJT possibly leaving the presidency ahead of schedule, voluntarily or by force.
But then reality sinks back in and it looks like Rs will hold on to him until the last dog dies.
Fortunately that helps us.
This is just too tasty a situation for Republicons. They have been waiting a long time for the political position they are in now. Majorities in the House and Senate and a president stupid enough willing to sign whatever bills they pass no matter how extreme. Suh-weet.
Republicon leadership for years has seen the presidency as purely transactional. The only job requirement is someone who can hold a pen long enough to sign their self-serving legislation. No one was more surprised than they were by the election results last November. Everyone with three functioning brain cells knew his win was a disaster, but Rs decided to make the best of it and put up with an empty suit like DJT in exchange for having someone who could finally fast-track their legislative wish list.
As bad as things look for DJT in terms of his low approval rating, low approval ratings are not enough to remove you from office so long as party leadership is standing behind you.
His hardcore supporters and Congressional leadership are no different from one another in that respect. DJT could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue, or shoot someone in the face on a hunting trip, and they would not abandon him.
But now that he has hit the 30s (and in his first hundred days, which has never happened in the generations that Gallup has been doing this polling) and his approval rating is heading down toward truly Nixonian levels, Rs are getting more and more antsy about whether sticking with DJT could hurt them in 2018 and beyond.
Every day R leadership wakes up considering the very real possibility he could do something so awful they would be forced to take action against him. They are torn between getting what they want right now and ruining the R brand for the next generation or even longer.
Instead of having four luxurious years, or even two, to enjoy control of the House, Senate and Presidency, Paul Ryan is stuck between a rock and a hard place, rushing to get the vile legislation of his granny-starving dreams signed before the bottom falls out of the DJT presidency or the 2018 midterms are irreparably damaged.
We all know what the big ticket items are on the Republicon wishlist:
- Obamacare repeal (including slashing funding for Medicaid and Medicare in order to fund tax reductions for higher income folks at the expense of care for children, the elderly, and the disabled)
- enormous tax cuts for the 1% of the 1% by shifting the costs of good government from the comfortable to the struggling
- filling the stolen Supreme Court seat with someone whose margin of Senate approval will be in the low single digits—that’s Clarence (may I live to see him impeached) Thomas territory
- a few personhood bills to appease the forced birth faction while they are creating the right case to reach their Supreme Court for the overturn of Roe v Wade (and maybe even Griswold v Connecticut)
- walking back the progress made on LGBTQI rights while they are creating the right case to reach their Supreme Court for the overturn of Obergefell v. Hodges (and maybe even Lawrence v Texas)
- accelerating climate change, minimizing pollution laws, and reversing environmental impact requirements to put money directly in the pockets of big donors in the fossil fuel industries
- voter suppression and state-level gerrymandering to strengthen their tenuous hold on Congressional majorities before demographics catch up to them (and promoting a system of injustice that goes hand in hand with building for profit-prisons, further reducing the voting population in vulnerable demographics)
- snipping a few holes in other parts of the safety net, such as raising the eligibility age for Social Security, just because they can
- dilution of workers’ rights, information privacy rights, immigrant rights, and protection for the rights of minority races/religions
Am I missing anything? Maybe an extra military conflict to boost the warfare economy? Anything else? Bueller?
It is their plan to hold on to DJT until all those things are passed and signed.
Then MAYBE they will let him go, knowing that whenever they decide to impeach him they can do so easily.
Why are Rs so good at avoiding reality? Accusing others of doing what they themselves are doing? Why are they always hypocritically deflecting attention to the actions of other candidates and presidents rather than offering honest investigation into the way this one was elected?
Rs are desperate to avoid reality, and have become very good at it, because deep down they are ashamed of what they stand for.
They would never in a million years be honest about the nine bullet points above as being their true agenda. Their politicians paper it over with GOPropaganda, and their spokesbots misdirect people’s attention like good magician’s assistants to make sure no one catches on to the trick.
R leadership thinks they are in control of the situation because they plan can use DJT until they don’t need him, and then set him aside to prevent any midterm backlash from the majority of voters who already can’t stand him.
But he is not the problem with the party!
It is far easier for Republicons to pretend that the problems within their party right now center on DJT, than look themselves full in the mirror and acknowledge the real problem is with their agenda, not the standard bearer.
True, the bad feeling about DJT deserves to transfer to the Republicon Party as a whole, because as a party they were and are willing to tolerate a man like him in the Oval Office. And they made this deal with the devil just to give money to the most valued members of their donor base, and not for any higher purpose that would benefit the country or the world as a whole.
But those nine bullet points above are a problematic agenda regardless of who their candidate is.
Those nine bullet points describe exactly who they are!
Hypocritical fake Christians who reserve their tenderest compassion and most concentrated political attention for the plight of someone in the top one percent of the top one percent going to bed without a tax cut, but can spare no thought of mercy for a child in the bottom 90% going to bed on an empty stomach because there was no money to pay for both food and heat this month and the supplemental school lunch program was eliminated; or the factory worker tossing and turning all night with insomnia from undiagnosed cancer because she can’t afford the reproductive health screenings she used to get for free at Planned Parenthood; or an elderly disabled vet quietly crying himself to sleep because his bedsores are pressing against the hard plastic mattress at his bare-bones nursing home facility where no wealthy person would even want to board a dog.
The Republicon Party made their bones on not caring about these people.
They try very hard to pretend these people don’t exist.
But the rest of us know them. They are our mothers and fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers, brothers and sisters, children and friends. Some of us are in this position ourselves. We are real, we are not fake news, we are not going away.
Right now we don’t have the House, the Senate or the White House.
So what can we do?
True, we may not have the votes right now to stop the worst of what they will try to do.
Our only power at this point is to not let them get away with doing it under cover of darkness.
Put your lights on. Leave your lights on.
Draw attention to what they are doing. Don’t give them any cover to hide behind. Push back against their lies. Call them out and keep calling them out. Shine the light on the worst of what they are up to.
The value of demonstrating, and demonstrating in disruptive ways that touch the lives of even the most insular and apathetic, is making previously uninvolved people aware of what is going on.
We can pull the black velvet off the magician’s table so the children will notice the wriggling bunny hanging in a secret cloth pouch. We can be Toto with the green tassel attached to his collar, letting everyone see the man behind the curtain. We can pull the cloth off the picture of Dorian Gray.
Rcons work HARD to misdirect the attention of the public from their true agenda.
They put more effort into misdirection than the actual work of governing!
Just drawing people’s attention to what they are actually doing, as opposed to what they want people to think they are doing, will eventually have an effect. That is what Rachel Maddow is doing with growing support. She is not covering their “message of the day” or looking at the shiny object where Rs point, but unraveling the tangled yarn of political and financial relationships that explain what they DO and who they are.
Even people who up until now were not paying close attention are finally beginning to get the idea that the Rs lied about a lot of things and have been covering up a lot of things. They are seeing that DJT has not drained the swamp, he has only replaced one set of alligators with another. They are watching him and his children using the White House to put money in their pockets in a more blatant way than has ever been done before. Folks are feeling betrayed by the possibility of TrumpCare and suddenly realize that those 60 “repeal” votes were mere theatre and the Rs have no clue and no replacement plan. Strange bedfellows and new allies in red areas are putting pressure on their congresscritters in a way we have never seen before. Without saying “We told you so” persuadables are beginning to realize we told them so.
The more we tear the cover off the true motivations of the Red Team, the better chance that previously resistant and brainwashed people may finally look at the Blue Team and see what we have to offer. More and more are choosing to go past the Fakes News/hateradio stereotypes they have been fed. As they get disgusted with Rcons, our candidates become an alternative they will consider. They don't need to know me they don't like you. That more than anything else sets up the kind of wave election in 2018 that could give us the House and change the balance of power in a way DJT will hate enough that he might resign. He can barely handle Capitol Hill politics when his party is in control of everything. He would step down before he would deal with the frustration of an opposition party in the House.
Persist. Resist. Tweet. Call. March.
Share information with your friends. Connect with like minded people. Keep speaking out and speaking up.
Rs will sputter and laugh and claim it doesn’t matter what we say because we don’t have the votes.
Keep fighting even when (especially when) Rcons try to persuade you it is useless.
If it really were useless, they’d still be ignoring us and laughing at us.
But we have moved after only 72 days to the “then they fight you” stage.
And you know what happens after that.
Then we win.
cause there’s a monster living under my bed, whispering in my ear
PREVIOUS TRUE BLUE REPORT diaries
Apr 1: Blue Ribbons for 4/1/17—Dick Cheney, Richard Burr, Rick Wilson
MARCH
Mar 31: The possible reasons Flynn was refused immunity are all good for the Blue Team
Mar 30: Special Assistant Ivanka—every word she says from now on is a DJT advertising ploy
Mar 29: “It’s just that valuable” — do you know the MAIN reasons Ryan wants to pass the AHCA?
Mar 28: Nipping at their heels
Mar 27: In cheering Republicon failures, think like a surgeon
Mar 26: TBR SUNDAY—Dare we hope the tide is turning? Or is that unrealistically optimistic?
Mar 25: Sheldon Whitehouse, Al Franken, Bobby Brooks, Betsy Anderson, ACA phone callers
Mar 24: HaHaHa-Ha-Ha You’re gonna need Congressional approval and you don’t have the votes
Mar 23: Rcons hate Obamacare for selfish, greedy, racist reasons, but not enough to fix it.
Mar 22: Neil Gorsuch’s attempt to seem wide-eyed and innocent makes him look even worse
Mar 21: Using Trump as a bad example—no Trump Sleep, Trump Food or other Trump habits
Mar 20: Is DJT a compulsive liar, or out of touch with reality? Five scenarios...
Mar 19: TBR SUNDAY—A budget is a moral document—a statement of public compassion
Mar 18: Ribbons: CBO scorers, Senate Intelligence Committee, Judge Derrick Watson
Mar 17: They know DJT is lying. Here’s one sad reason they follow him anyway.
Mar 16: Mick Mulvaney's ignorant, callous, evil, Republicon definition of compassion
Mar 15: Message Discipline 101—Pushback against Rcon talking points re DJT 2005 tax return
Mar 14: Message Discipline 101—Pushback against Rcon talking points about Obamacare repeal
Mar 13: Culture, Civilization, Rural America, Working Families—the missing word is a “tell”
Mar 12: TBR SUNDAY—The Rcon definition of Christians is as wrong as the Rcon definition of Democrats.
Mar 11: Ribbons: A Day Without a Woman, Native Nations Rise, Voting Rights Act still lives
Mar 10: How to talk to people who have trouble understanding actions have consequences
Mar 9: Where’s the fire? The real reason Rs are trying to rush TrumpCare through Congress
Mar 8: Message Discipline 101: TrumpCare, RyanCare, GOPCare, DonTCare—what’s in a name?
Mar 7: How very hard it is for a woman to go a day without paid (or unpaid) work
Mar 6: Can DJT really be stumbling into the exact investigation we want?
Mar 5: TBR SUNDAY—How is it even possible that deplorables see a man of faith when they look at DJT?
Mar 4: Blue Ribbon Winners—Chris Hayes, Malcolm Nance, Cierra Fields
Mar 3: I’m glad Bannon, Conway, Carson, Sessions, Miller, et al. are in the DJT Administration
Mar 2: “In every major fire it always starts with smoke. And smoke is what kills you.”
Mar 1: Am I the only one whose skin crawled at the Carryn Owens BIRGing moment?
FEBRUARY
Feb 28: Spinspotting 101: Special Prosecutor for what? It’s so easy to answer that question
Feb 27: Spinspotting 101: I’ve seen no evidence because I haven’t looked for any evidence!
Feb 26: TBR SUNDAY—If Neil Gorsuch were a man of integrity, he would decline the S.Ct. appointment
Feb 25: True Blue Ribbons: Russia Flag trolling, Dixie Swastika grabbing, District Days demonstrating
Feb 24: There is no such thing as a compassionate conservative
Feb 23: Chief of Staff, Nat’l Security Advisor, GOP Head, President Bannon—too many hats!
Feb 22: DJT has a few questions for you—SMURF THIS POLL!
Feb 21: The end of “access journalism” means it’s time to #sendtheinterns
Feb 20: KAC lying low for now… can we banish her (and all her ilk) from the airwaves completely?
Feb 19: TBR SUNDAY—DeVos cartoon, Ruby Bridges, unearned unhappiness and childlike faith
Feb 18: Blue Ribbon Winners—Vice Adm. Harward, Melissa McCarthy, and intel whistleblowers
Feb 17: And Ain’t I an American?
Feb 16: Please tell your family and friends—If you regret your DJT vote, speak up NOW
Feb 15: R-supported forced childbirth laws deny the autonomy of women
Feb 14: What did the president know? Everything. When did he know it? From the beginning.
Feb 13: Coping with The Madness of King Donald by hoping political comedy will save us
Feb 12: TBR SUNDAY—The Poverty and Justice Bible
Feb 11: Blue Ribbon Winners—Swastika removers, Ninth Circuit Panel, and the Persisterhood!
Feb 10: The first three words of the Constitution are “We, the People” not “I, the President”
Feb 9: Who first inspired your political activism? Who inspires you now?
Feb 8: We cannot and will not be silenced—Here’s what to do if they try to silence you
Feb 7: Plain Talk Tuesday: Tell people the Affordable Care Act is the same as OBAMACARE
Feb 6: Interview Skills 101—Internalized oppression and what Ryan Lizza did right. BRAVO!
Feb 5: TBR SUNDAY—These protest signs with Bible cites will confuse and befuddle RWNJs
Feb 4: Blue Ribbon Winners—Temple B’Nai Israel, Judge Robart, CNN, Senate Phone Callers
Feb 3: Not rich, not smart, not a good businessman, not a winner—DJT is NOTHING he claims to be
Feb 2: Thursday action—Encouragement, thanks, and apologies (pick one or more)
Feb 1: July 7, 2009 to August 25, 2009 and September 25, 2009 to February 4, 2010
JANUARY
Jan 31: If you’re on overload that’s part of their plan—there’s more than one way to #resist
Jan 30: Interview Skills 101 for reporters attempting to interview KAC and other Rcons
Jan 29: TBR SUNDAY—Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness
Jan 28: Blue Ribbon Winners—Women's March participants and #NoMuslimBan demonstrators and...
Jan 27: I wish Steve Bannon would tell me to keep my mouth shut
Jan 26: Thursday Action—Have you ever written a letter to the editor? Here’s how to start
Jan 25: The Asch Conformity Study, inauguration crowds, and the importance of speaking out
Jan 24: #ResistTrumpTuesday—good news day or another paying dues day?
Jan 23: Spy the Lie 101: How to enjoy watching Rcon spokesbot interviews, even KAC!
Jan 22: TBR SUNDAY—Why I prayed for the President* today
Jan 21: The only silver lining in the midst of these clouds
Inaugural (!) diary: Stop expecting Republicons to make sense