We Lost the Battle for the Republican Party’s Soul Long Ago

[Shirley]

you’re an idiot

Speaking of "idiots", Psych must think you're one if he expects you, or anyone else with a brain to believe, it's the minority party's fault when a bill doesn't pass in the house.

Deep State lackeys are members of both parties. Someone with a brain should know that.

You mean "deep state" Republicans like Chip Roy, and Thomas Massie?

Large of you to out them.

[KUTradition]

seems the “Deep State” label has shifting crosshairs

it’s kinda like parsing which parts of trump’s rhetoric to believe, or which parts of christianity are worthwhile

[JKLivin]

Speaking of "idiots", Psych must think you're one if he expects you, or anyone else with a brain to believe, it's the minority party's fault when a bill doesn't pass in the house.

Deep State lackeys are members of both parties. Someone with a brain should know that.

You mean "deep state" Republicans like Chip Roy, and Thomas Massie?

Large of you to out them.

What is it they say about dead girls or live boys in the closet? Powerful motivators.

[KUTradition]

Deep State lackeys are members of both parties. Someone with a brain should know that.

You mean "deep state" Republicans like Chip Roy, and Thomas Massie?

Large of you to out them.

What is it they say about dead girls or live boys in the closet? Powerful motivators.

you making jokes about boys and closets is hilarious

[jfish26]

1. Break Government
2. Blame Government for Being Broken
3. Profit Through Rent-Seeking

They Like The Chaos. They Want The Chaos.

This week gave us a preview of the coming Trump presidency. It felt like a horrible rerun of the first.

https://www.thebulwark.com/p/they-like- ... y-want-the

In the past 24 hours, Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and many familiar characters from the 118th Congress effectively killed a continuing resolution that was needed to keep the government’s lights on for another three months. As a result, the government’s Friday funding deadline could very likely result in Trump’s second presidency opening with a government shutdown. The entire ordeal serves as a preview of what Americans should expect from their government for at least the next two years: A pathetic and ineffective legislature will limp along, waiting every moment for its next command from the president and his rich friends.

None of this should be shocking to anyone who reads this newsletter. The 118th Congress was chaotic enough thanks to infighting within the Republican House majority, but that dysfunction hardly registers in comparison with how things went during the first Trump presidency. Chaos was visited on anything unfortunate enough to elicit the interest of the administration. There were sudden changes, ego-driven showdowns, and more backstabbing than you’d see in a Real Housewives episode. There were also multiple government shutdowns, including the longest one in U.S. history.

And now, the decision by a re-empowered Trump to appoint Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to be his terminally online enforcers adds a completely new vector of chaos. Also, Vice President-elect JD Vance is there, too. Somewhere.

Back to the CR imbroglio. Wednesday started with typical Republican grumbling about the bill’s delayed introduction and how it is too many pages to read (at 1,500 pages, that’s slightly longer than the Lord of the Rings). But that grumbling started to turn into something more when Musk started posting on X about the bill. And he posted a lot. Just yesterday, the world’s richest and apparently least-busy man posted or reposted more than 100 times, mostly about the CR.

Musk’s posting got him into a state of agitation, and he ended up demanding that any Republican who votes for the CR be punished when they seek re-election in two years.



At the same time, his new fake government agency, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), was posting false information about the bill, including the claim that it included money for a football stadium in D.C. (In reality, it just transferred control of the land under Washington’s RFK stadium from the federal government back to the city so they could—maybe—build a new stadium on their own.)

All this posting didn’t move the needle enough to tank the bill outright, but it made Republicans nervous. After all, many GOP lawmakers refuse to take a position on anything deemed sensitive or controversial until they have heard from Trump himself. By late in the afternoon, word came down: Trump had confirmed his opposition to the CR in a conversation with his [x-out]staffing agency[/x-out] favorite television network, Fox News.



Having received their marching orders, the Republican rank-and-file began to move in lockstep, preparing a fusillade of posts targeting the CR, agreeing with Trump, and proclaiming their commitment to fiscal responsibility.

Because Trump needed to make his own words the topline, he restated Musk’s recommendation in a post on Truth Social calling for any and all Republicans who back a “clean” CR to be primaried.

If Republicans try to pass a clean Continuing Resolution without all of the Democrat “bells and whistles” that will be so destructive to our Country, all it will do, after January 20th, is bring the mess of the Debt Limit into the Trump Administration, rather than allowing it to take place in the Biden Administration. Any Republican that would be so stupid as to do this should, and will, be Primaried. Everything should be done, and fully negotiated, prior to my taking Office on January 20th, 2025.

This ugly reboot of Trump 1.0, with much of the same original cast, will have two immediate ramifications. First, a government shutdown, which increasingly seems unavoidable, would prevent many Americans from getting a paycheck until it’s resolved, leading to financial uncertainty right at Christmas; money also wouldn’t arrive for victims in need of additional disaster relief after a particularly rough hurricane season. Second, House Speaker Mike Johnson’s bad strategic miscalculation on the CR could put his gavel at serious risk when it comes time to elect the chamber’s leader on January 3. Already, Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.)—one of Johnson’s top deputies who previously vied for the job during the War of the Five Speakers—offered a dry “we will see what transpires” when asked if his support for Johnson remains firm. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is floating Musk for speaker, and other lawmakers appear to be intrigued by the idea.

Trump also offered a veiled threat to Johnson Thursday morning, telling Fox:

If the speaker acts decisively, and tough, and gets rid of all of the traps being set by the Democrats, which will economically and, in other ways, destroy our country, he will easily remain speaker.

The word “If” is hanging out there, ominously.

As the 47 train gains steam, you should expect a lot more of this sort of thing. If by some miracle, a different three-month CR or funding patch makes it through this time around, we’ll all have to watch the same fight play out again in March, halfway through the fiscal year. And if that goes well, the next fiscal year will likely feature similar tantrums.

The consequences for Republicans who step out of line with Trump are the same as they were during the first Trump era, but more focused—and, because of Musk’s money and megaphone, more drastic. The general understanding is that if you assert any amount of independence, your career in politics will come to an end.

The budget is one of the areas of government that Trump will not unilaterally control. Congress has to do its job or everything shuts down. Unfortunately, Americans are not sending their best.

Mark Cuban observed yesterday that what our memelords are going for here is a shutdown that causes widespread agitation, but reveals (in relief) those government programs that, when absent, don't result in immediately-perceived damage.

And that fact - the fact that stopping funding for certain things does not piss people off immediately - will essentially be used as justification for not funding those things at all anymore.

[Shirley]

When you have billionaire oligarchs like Musk and Zuckerberg whose social media empires rely on a business model dependent on fomenting passionate, never-ending, anger and opposition, best of luck now that they've managed to co-opt the presidency, and one of our two main political parties.

They learned from the best:

[twocoach]

Has there ever been a more incompetent group in Congress than the recent GOP House Majority? What a fucking clown show. Completely unable to govern or do their jobs in any way possible. Know-nothing morons trying to pretend they are able to do important work.

Stop electing idiots.

[jfish26]

Has there ever been a more incompetent group in Congress than the recent GOP House Majority? What a fucking clown show. Completely unable to govern or do their jobs in any way possible. Know-nothing morons trying to pretend they are able to do important work.

Stop electing idiots.

The (a?) logical endpoint (waypoint?) of the ever-increasing celebritization of politics.

"Capable of doing the job" is quite far down on the selection criteria.

[zsn]

Has there ever been a more incompetent group in Congress than the recent GOP House Majority? What a fucking clown show. Completely unable to govern or do their jobs in any way possible. Know-nothing morons trying to pretend they are able to do important work.

Stop electing idiots.

For the rubes this is a feature not a bug

[JKLivin]

Stop electing idiots.

That’s hilarious coming from the party that nominated Giggles to run for POTUS in 2024 and is talking about nominating The Waitress for 2028.

Lulz, indeed.

[japhy]

Some movies just get better with time.

[MICHHAWK]

you have more than ample time to plot your revenge. i expect you will have it more than right in 28.

it's not that far away if you think about it.

[KUTradition]

Stop electing idiots.

That’s hilarious coming from the party that nominated Giggles to run for POTUS in 2024 and is talking about nominating The Waitress for 2028.

Lulz, indeed.

she was a hell of a more effective legislator than just about anyone on the R side. the Biden presidency on the whole was incredibly effective historically, regardless of whether or not you agree with their policies

funny, she’s still so far in your head. wonder why?

you might consider walking down the hallway and seeking some collegial help

[jfish26]

[jhawks99]

What I am hearing you say is that he will run for Rubio's seat in the Senate.

[jfish26]

[Overlander]

That is awesome.

[Sparko]

I am about tired of Greenland looming like a hypersonic menace on American society. It is literally laughing at us. Daring us to expand into its melting fjords and greening meadows. We haven't expanded in a while. And our beltline is bulging.

[Overlander]

Trump helped Putin take Ukraine.
Surely Vlad is in line to help Trump take Greenland as a return favor.

[Sparko]

Greenland represents the Lebensraum we need in response to our self-created environmental disaster. God's will.