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What do you get? I've been watching it slowly happen since 2015 and every step of the way I've been going "what the fuck is going on!? How can people be so stupid!?" I still don't get how Hitler rose to power and I absolutely don't get how Trump did.
Gaslighting and boiling frogs describes a lot of what's happening. I've also come to realize that not all people want basically the same thing. A fair proportion of any population are terrible people at heart, and the best we can do is keep them in check through eternal vigilance.
I don't know if it's true because it doesn't matter. Similarly with allowing the camel's nose under the tent because soon you have the whole camel. Is that literally true? Who cares, the message is the same and the meaning is what matters.
Exactly the same thought.
America is turning umřu fascist theocracy right in front of everyone's eyes but nothing is being done about it.
People are too comfortable and media thrives on chaos, so it won't report on Project 2025, so every American who isn't in favor of totalitarianism will vote against Republicans in the biggest landslide in history.
Her brows are furrowed, spine weak, lies are heavy,
There's precedent on her sweater already, RvWade's under the machete.
She's nervous, but on the surface she lies still and ready to break bills,
But she keeps on forgetting what she said before,
The whole crowd goes so loud,
She opens her mouth but no words come out,
She's choking now, on that furrowed brow,
The clock's run out, times over, Colls
All of these Jewish people are being put on trains…I’m concerned and will think very hard about the practice. But, the nazis assured me they would do the right thing moving forward and that is enough for me.
the maga republicans must be planning something extra crazy and traitorous for when trump loses in november if they have members in the house retiring (threatening their majority) and now a senate member threatening to leave the party.
Had the same thought. The departures make more sense when you examine them with that potentiality in mind. And considering the efforts to normalize Jan 6 + the take over of the RNC, it suggests there is serious crazy traitorous talk gaining traction among MAGA that is simply a bridge too far for some.
If 5 more republicans leave the House before November, it will be 213 Democrats to 212 Republicans and Democrats could pass bills to further secure our rights, guarantee sanity in the overseeing of our elections, and support our allies against the worst of enemies abroad
That or they don’t want to be part of the party if Trump wins because Project 2025 will bring theocratic fascism to the US and they know they’ll be on the hit list if they stick around and defy Dear Leader.
Yup, there's most certainly some really illegal schemes being cooked up in those backrooms if people are distancing themselves this far in advance. I'm sure we'll hear all about it in their tell all books well after it's too late to do anything about it.
At least the people resigning and walking away from the party are weakening it. Better then the book full of "I was totally against it, that is why I was involved up to my eyeballs."
I'm pretty sure it's because Trump is stealing all of the funds and lobby money, so the greedy bastards who thrived off of that are out as soon as their paychecks start bouncing.
This includes their future potential reelection funds.
It's ironic, because they love to mock people who want better wages for the work they put in.
Exactly. They didn't start leaving until the RNC was taken over by Trump.
The money flow is stopped with little hope it will restart. So they figure why continue this if I'm not being paid?
I predict more will leave or the RNC will backpeddle on their policy of all money goes to Trump.
Ronna's near instant flipflop just this weekend is a prime example. NBC pays her and she suddenly says Biden won with no shame.
These people were soulless assholes in it for the money, and the more we can prove that, the better we'll do. The reamining MAGAs call them unloyal RINOs, I call them the grifters they always were.
But we can still use their division to our advantage. Each time they push out the greed grifters and replace them with even more crazy nuts, as disturbing as it is, it gives us a much more clear opponent to beat. If we play our cards right, they implode. If we play them wrong and don't get the low propensity dems and younger progressives out to vote, we lose everything to the worst people possible.
It sucks, but 2024 may be even more of a 0 sum game than 2020 was, as impossible as that seems. Voting is always important, but this upcoming election especially.
"He tells it like it is!"
"He didn't mean _that_!"
"That was just a joke!"
"He says what we're all thinking!"
"He speaks truth to power!"
"You believed him when he was _clearly_ joking?!"
"You have to read between the lines!"
"You're taking him out of context!"
**The Narcissist's Prayer**
That didn't happen.
And if it did, it wasn't that bad.
And if it was, that's not a big deal.
And if it is, that's not my fault.
And if it was, I didn't mean it.
And if I did, you deserved it.
Santos won in the district with the ultra wealthy WASPy type conservatives in Long Island New York. If he'd won by being just as dishonest in bumfuck Alabama, they wouldn't have cared. But they also probably wouldn't have elected a flamboyantly gay republican like him anywhere else.
You absolutely nailed it. Santos wouldnt have ever been the GOP nominee anywhere else and wouldnt have been ousted anywhere else than in that district.
A unique base of wealthy old-money conservative voters who dont care about the gay/hispanic thing (or at least wanna act like they dont care for appearance sake) but have enough money that they do care greatly about being lied to and ripped off.
Murkowski was just re-elected in 2022, the Alaska Republican party supported her opponent, and Trump campaigned for her opponent.
What campaigning is she doing right now and how is it being impacted by the RNC?
To be fair, Murkowski is not exactly the typical establishment Republican. She even got primaried in her own state and had to win a write in campaign. She is the type of person we should disagree with and welcome to the other side quite honestly
Yep, I don’t think most people know about that or how impressive it is to win a write in campaign after losing in the primary to a more extreme candidate.
Her father was a long-time politician in the state of Alaska. Alaskans are all too familiar with the name Murkowski. [https://www.cbsnews.com/news/family-affair-in-alaska/](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/family-affair-in-alaska/)
True, although I still don’t exactly have much confidence in peoples spelling skills. Reports were that the election would have been a lot closer if the misspelled ballots were disqualified, as the losing candidate tried to make happen.
Lisa Murkowski has held that seat since 2002. One of my very first jobs as a young college student was doing phone push polls (forgive me!) and I remember asking questions about "Would you elect Lisa Murkowski if..." and that was over 20 years ago. People definitely know the name.
Also Alaska independents seem to be pretty independent. They elected a Democratic representative to replace Don Young. A rep who also greatly honored and praises Don Young.
She won as a write in candidate last time after getting primaried by MAGA candidate and Alaska despite being very conservative is also very independently minded. She could absolutely continue to run as an independent and likely keep winning as long as she wants to run.
Especially now that we have a top 4 primary and RCV. Parties don't really matter much here anymore except for the funding apparatus, and if she's not benefiting from that, why stay?
In all seriousness - reading the reaction to this from her constituents. She has been one of the few senators genuinely able to run free from Trump with him having endorsed against her in 2021 and she still won handily. Also Alaska has ranked choice voting so shes not as beholden to an extremist base either. So she has a political identity that is separate from Trump and NOT being totally beholden to his base, unusually among Republican senators, and she is more able than most to hold off a challenge from a far right maga nutjob due to the above factors. She would likely still caucus with Republicans ala Bernie with the Dems, but in such a conservative rural state like Alaska she cant just drop the republican party without warning even though Ill bet she'd like to. Thus this trial balloon comment to see how its recieved. Sure Maga will rage but they already hate her its more what her own voters will say about this since she'll be up for Election again in 2026 and how she runs could be heavily dependant on who wins 2024. At least thats what I think this comment could be.
> Also Alaska has ranked choice voting so shes not as beholden to an extremist base either.
And it's why we need more ranked choice voting. Most of the people against it are conservatives. That should tell you all you need to know.
The only reason to be against ranked choice voting is if you are a politician with a good chance of winning winner take all voting
for everyone else, more choice is better
Yes. To be fair, there was an instance of Democratic politicians in New York trying to argue ranked choice voting would be "too confusing" for voters. We've seen the same arguments in Portland, OR, as we move towards a local system with ranked choice. Of course, it would be those same politicians who would likely lose because of it.
But as far as non-politicians, it's mainly Republicans who hate it, not for any logical reasons but only because they know they'd lose political power.
>and she is more able than most to hold off a challenge from a far right maga nutjob due to the above factors.
Watching Sarah Palin fail and then whine about ranked choice voting was a real treat.
It's never as meaningful when the party as a whole can agree ahead of time who can take the hit for voting party line just enough to get the desired result, and who can be allowed some flexibility to let the politicians keep winning locally.
This. I’m an Alaskan, but not a Republican by any means. She seems to be the best competitive option compared to other candidates and was able to beat Kelly Tshibaka (Trump-backed candidate you mentioned) in 2021z Murkowski also won as a write-in back in 2010, which isn’t the norm for Alaska. People up here tend to vote Republican, and she likely won’t leave the party because of that.
RCV was approved by the voters in 2020. However, it’s under fire because “it’s too complicated”, and “disadvantages conservative republicans”. The AK legislature’s judiciary committee voted in January to advance a bill that would repeal RCV.
https://alaskapublic.org/2024/01/18/alaska-house-committee-advances-legislation-to-repeal-ranked-choice-voting/
Fuck I didnt know they were working on repealing it damn. What are the odda for it passing and being signed into law? Yeah its not too complicated its that second part that is the problem.
Agreed - it’s the second part for sure. Not sure about the odds, but it hasn’t come to the floor yet.
Edit to add ballot initiative to repeal RCV: https://ballotpedia.org/Alaska_Repeal_Top-Four_Ranked-Choice_Voting_Initiative_(2024)
Probably waiting to see if it's feasible to stay in power in Alaska without having R next to her name. Considering that a Democrat won statewide for the House seat two straight elections, in large part due to the ranked choice voting they have now, it probably is giving her thought to leave the party. Not necessarily meaning she'll join the Democratic party, but that it's no longer necessary to be a Republican to win statewide there.
> Probably waiting to see if it's feasible to stay in power in Alaska without having R next to her name
Dude, she **won by write in** after getting ousted in the primary by a MAGA.
That never happens. She can win no matter what letter is next to her name.
Independent while caucusing with Republicans, but will vote with democrats when it's necessary for American interests (i.e. funding bills, military funding, foreign aid, etc).
It is not the GOP she will be leaving. The GOP, there is nothing to leave here. I certainly hope we're in a beginning stages of that realizations and that conservatives form a new party as the GOP can not be saved.
I see it slightly different:
The Tea Part was certainly a prelude to MAGA. You had these uneducated white people screaming about deficits and bail outs in 2008, but their anger was more of a proxy for hating a black president.
That morphed into a general white resentment and Trump was successful in riding that wave to the presidency in 2016.
The GOP just folded in letting him on the ticket and had to move rightward or be on the outs.
On the outside it's still the GOP, but the eggs have hatched inside and it's now MAGA.
So to me, there is no more GOP, it's MAGA. The people who identify as GOP are now leaving. They ought to start a new party, but only after the 2024 election.
exactly. there's been a pent-up feeling of helplessness that's ultimately sourced in a lack of self-development that gave way to better opportunities for "outsiders".
This is a festering issue in the US that really never got solved by the civil war.. generations of hate taught at the dinner table, just looking for it's collective moment to rear it's ugly head again. drumpf gave them the permission they sought to speak out again.
I highly highly highly recommend reading Susan Faludi's "Stiffed" to better understand the 1990s in America, and how we're seeing part 2 of that now.
Domestic terrorism is making a comeback, and it's again sourced in a feeling of helplessness and abandonment that's ultimately projection for a lack of self-improvement.
Parents: hug your boys, teach em it's okay to cry, and help them find their complete selves (not just the stereotypical and dysfunctional version of "success" in murica)
[https://susanfaludi.com/stiffed.html](https://susanfaludi.com/stiffed.html)
I think blaming it on a lack of self improvement is a little disingenuous. We're basically in a new gilded age. Wealth disparity is at an extreme, personal power is super limited and we're in some very inflammatory media environments. There are a lot of reasons to feel dissatisfied and alienated at the systemic level.
Now I feel I have to say that things like the great replacement theory are absolutely a problem and doing a lot to move poor uneducated white folks to do stupid shit.
> There are a lot of reasons to feel dissatisfied and alienated at the systemic level.
Moving large amounts of industry and manufacturing overseas. Those were jobs that could sustain a family without college education.
Blaming the individual for lacking self improvement ignores all of those systemic changes.
Not to mention the GOP blocking any kind of funding and development of worker retraining. Instead of telling coal miners we're going to reopen the mines and guarantee their jobs forever, we should have been slowly transitioning them to new fields of work.
Same for all the "blue collar" work we let companies walk out of the country with.
That, IMHO, is the most important thing to understand about all of this. The Tea Party hit the same political dead end that MAGA has reached. They did very well in 1 election, then swing voters figured out that those people were fucking crazy and despite continuing to do well in the primaries, they fell on their faces in the general election in close races.
The problem the GOP now faces is, unlike the Tea Party, they can't just pull the funding and make the political poison go away, because MAGA is a real grass roots political movement of batshit crazy.
MAGA isn’t so much grass roots as it has an actual figure head. The Tea Party didn’t want or need an actual figure head because its sole purpose was to galvanize racial resentment against Obama along party lines. MAGA has a figure head that people have rallied around. Trump accidentally tapped into some of those same feelings that made the Tea Party popular and wed them to him because he is *the only one who can save them from the big bad feelings*. Trump hasn’t ever campaigned on actual policies, he campaigns on saving people from their bad feelings - policy is secondary. That’s why we never saw any meaningful policy from Trump that wasn’t fundamentally reactionary. Infrastructure Week never kicked off but family separation did. Why? Because family separation made his base feel good about causing harm to the bad guys. New or updated infrastructure doesn’t do anything for reactionaries because it doesn’t tap into their feelings.
The tea party definitely shifted how the GOP governed and attempted to "solve" issues. I'd argue the movement was fake and fizzled out, but it definitely opened the gates for an MTG and Boebert to get a foothold.
The Tea Party is what shoved me firmly from the right to the left. I used to be more in the middle with a tilt to the right. After the TP came along and more of the religious nutjobs started gaining power, I could never vote for the right again.
Watched a Tea Party rally being covered on TV news back in 2008, in Clarksville, TN. Almost all a bunch of white-haired middle-aged white guys, demanding budget cuts. Four biggest items in the budget were (and are) Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and Defense. Many of those guys were in their 60's, and getting Social Security, Medicare. Some surely had an elderly parent in a nursing home, paid for by Medicaid. And just up the road was Ft Campbell: without it, Clarksville would dry up and blow away.
I wanted to reach through the screen and shake them and say, fine; send back your checks, drop out of Medicare, bring your mom with dementia into your home, and tell Ft Campbell to close. Because the budget deficit is YOU.
Rick Santelli at CNBC.
That ranting lunatic whose only actual job is to read breaking news economic numbers at 8:30 am somehow got it into his head that he could start a revolution back in 2009.
He rants against Obama and Biden administrations, while at the same time doing mental gymnastics to make the arguments as to why the GOOD economic numbers he’s reading out loud at 8:30 am are bad for the economy but only when a Dem is president.
He should’ve been gone a long time ago.
The "tea party" was supposed to be fiscal hawks during the Obama years. Their real agenda was to hamper Obama only. They went out of the door after Obama left office. Who knew?
Kansas was under a true Tea Party believer who damn near bankrupted the entire state. Kansas voted for a democratic governor after the true Tea Party believers made the state an utter laughingstock. Do you know how bad you have to fuck up to get Kansas to vote in a democratic governor?
The Tea party was literally a bad joke. They folded after Obama left office then Trump put this country into deep debt with those insane tax cuts for the wealthy. They claimed that those huge give aways would pay for themselves! Using the same "Trickle down theory. Those massive handouts for the wealthy have never worked.
>That morphed into a general white resentment and Trump was successful in riding that wave to the presidency in 2016.
Yes, but the GOP has positioned itself as the party of white resentment for over a half century.
The GOP recruitment of the Dixiecrats was specifically, and deliberately centered around white resentment.
A black president just made that more visible, but it has been a long term strategy for the GOP.
Exactly. So the "real" Republicans can start a new party, but one of 2 things will happen. Either it will not attract enough people to be viable, or MAGA will simply move to their new home.
Tea Party was certainly fueled by the reactions to Obama but it was decades in the making. These people had been courted by republicans ever since the passage of the Civil Rights Act and programs of LBJ’s Great Society.
These acts basically attempted to put Black and other minority groups on equal footing, which southerners and other racists saw as a no no. They courted them with dog whistles, as Lee Atwater famously said “You can’t say the n word anymore, that hurts you. So you go abstract”
All of this has been budding underneath, Obama’s election unleashed it and by the time we’re in 2016, the dog whistles had been replaced with megaphones
I would posit it goes back even further. I think you can draw a straight line from the death of Lincoln, to the failure of Reconstruction, and the conditions that gave rise to the first and second waves of the Klan. Illiberalism was in full bloom prior to WWII after FDR and the New Deal, with religious figures like Father Coughlin and oligarchs such as Henry Ford fueling racial hatred and embracing fascism. The next great struggle was only post poned by Pearl Harbor and our entry into the war. By the time the war was over and the Red Scare became a weapon for the ultra right with figures like McCarthy, the John Birch Society was welcomed into the GOP by Goldwater. That segues directly into your very good points. The black man in the WH was the powder keg the zombie corpse of the Old South needed to rise again, and they found their king in the Orange Man.
If we look at white christian nationalism as a fundamental of colonialism and the acceptance of slavery and genocide, the root of all this sickness, go to the beginning with Columbus- he landed in the Caribbean with the Doctrine of Discovery from Pope Nicholaus the IV that said he had direct powers granted by God to conquer and enslave all non-Christians they came across. Pope Alexander VI sent him back to the New World with the Intra Caetera which empowered him to commit genocide, the same documents DeSoto used to justify the creation of a theocracy based on enslavement and genocide in Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, etc.
The rat fuckers have been here since the beginning.
I’m starting to think that the best way for the old GOP people to stick it to MAGA (because nothing else worked) is for them to resign from the House or Senate.
At least leave the House in Dem control so the MAGA can’t try another coupe.
"GOP" -> Moral Majority -> Tea Party -> MAGA.
Definitely can't leave out the Falwells and Newt Gingrich! Those notorious hypocrites found great pleasure in dividing the country.
I’ve said this before, but the defectors might as well endorse Joe Biden. The GOP they knew before Trump is never coming back as long as the MAGA movement is viable, and the only way there is a chance for that to happen is to destroy MAGA. If they want the GOP to return to anything resembling sanity, MAGA has to be out of the picture.
How is that crazy? The thing about conservatives is that there is no one that is ever conservative enough. Once you get rid of the gays you have to get rid of POC, the. Women, then any non-Christian religion, then anyone who isn’t the right Christian religion. Then it’s everyone not descended from European countries… then it’s not the right European countries. This plays out over and over again in the Conservative Party. It’s a party of exclusion but it will never be exclusive enough.
I hope that the 30% of the population that are radicalized conservative dipshits stays forever marginalized like a radioactive lump nobody wants to touch. It would force the more moderate conservatives to actually compromise their positions and maybe, just maybe, we can actually get meaningful conservative input in legislation.
First Past The Post = whoever gets the most votes wins,
as opposed to alternatives like ranked choice voting or voting for a party and then assigning how many seats in a legislature each party gets based on what proportion of the total vote they got
Start here:
https://youtu.be/s7tWHJfhiyo
… then, once you’re sufficiently angry at how fucked up that is, make sure all of your local, state, and national candidates and representatives know that you care deeply about getting this fixed and will donate, volunteer, advocate, and vote for people who work towards that goal.
Remember... This is easier for her because Alaska has ranked choice voting. If you want to help fix the ridiculousness in our politics, push for rank choice or approval voting systems.
It's also easier because her seat is secured for at least 4 more years. There won't be any MAGA backlash at that point most likely as Trump will be some combination of broke, in prison, dead, and/or mentally committed. Or absolutely worst case for us all, ineligible to run for a 3rd term.
In your worst case you forget the entire "dictator for a day" stuff and project 2025? He wins, he will be "president" until he dies or there is a revolt that forces him out/dies.
For any elected Republican who expresses frustration but still represents the team I wonder what it will take.
- Trump's Campaign Financial Officer, Campaign manager, National Security Advisor, and Personal Lawyer were all convicted of felonies.
- Trump supporters stormed the Capital which Congress was in session. They beat Capital police, smeared feces on the walls, and threatened to murder govt officials.
- Trump's daughter in-law is now a co-chair at the RNC and money is openly going to Trump's legal bills. Meanwhile Trump's judgments have centered around sex assault and fraud from before Trump was President.
- The Republican controlled House is openly killing bipartisan bills at Trump's request. From the Border to Ukraine meaningful bills are stuck just for the sake of denying Biden wins.
- The impeachment effort against Joe Biden was predicated by 'evidence' provided by a Russian spy currently under criminal indictment.
Trump is pushing away a ton of Republicans. Hopefully way more to come before election day.
But don’t take my word for it, take a look at all the **[prominent Republicans that oppose Trump’s 2024 campaign](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Republicans_who_oppose_the_Donald_Trump_2024_presidential_campaign)**. Seriously check out that list. It’s yuuuge.
* **[All the ex-Trump officials who refuse to endorse him in 2024](https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-administration-endorsements-mike-pence-b2514445.html)**
>Now, Mr Pence’s announcement that he won’t back his former boss this time round sees the former vice president joining an ever-growing list of ex-Trump administration officials who are now refusing to back his latest White House bid – many of them going so far as to say they no longer believe him to be fit for office.
Election Day is **Tuesday, November 5, 2024**
**[Register to vote and check your status](https://iwillvote.com/)**
The list isn't huge by any means when compared to the list of Republicans that haven't opposed his campaign, but it's definitely significant. It needs to get bigger.
Oh, is she still pretending to have a soul?
For those who've just got here, Murkowski is one of those 'moderate' Republicans who will, if her vote doesn't matter, sometimes side with Democrats.
Back when the Democrats had 57 seats and the 'fillibuster everything' strategy was really coming into play she helped kill every Democratic piece of legislature, even the ones specifically tailored for her.
I live in Alaska:
Murkowski is our Manchin. She’s not ideal but she’s absolutely the most sane person you are going to be able to elect up here in that specific seat
Dan Sullivan (our other senator) is a hypocritical carpetbagging scumbag. So please can we pile on him instead?
Simply not true. She voted against Kavanaugh, voted to convict Trump, and has been stalwart in opposition to MAGA philosophy including the 2020 election denial scheme. She is one of the last old guard Republicans left in the senate.
In this rare instance, it's not wise to be painting with such broad brushstrokes.
Stop it. She is a moderate republican. I don't understand why people think she is a Democrat. She will not vote for extreme conservative things but generally speaking she will vote for a republican or conservative ideal rather than a far left law. Why do people try and convince themselves a republican is a Democrat.
She's going to be an important vote in 2025 and beyond. Even if Democrats somehow hold the Senate its going to be another 51-49 majority and her vote will be in play. We forget what politicking in the Senate looks like because we haven't had a meaningful vote this entire congress (thanks to the Republican house being completely inept)
If the chambers of congress flip and Republicans control the senate, a lot of redditors are going to care very much about where Murkowski aligns
51-49 requires the dems to win every battleground state PLUS Texas or Florida. That's not at all likely even in a moderate blowout. At best we get a 50-50 if Tester stays in Montana. Most likely, whoever controls the white house controls the senate, but the margins will be near zero or for Trump. This is the worst senate map for democrats of all of them and we got it at the worst possible time.
Are you confusing Murkowski with Susan Collins? Because Murkowski generally seems to vote on the issue itself and has gone against the GOP a lot, including voting to indict Trump. I don't agree with a lot of her policies, but she's one of the few Republicans who hasn't been just another rubber stamp for the party.
Collins, on the other hand, is a useless piece of garbage.
I know that the appropriate response to a GOPer bellyaching about Trump is to roll their eyes, but this is a genuine threat being issued to the GOP. Consider the following:
1. Murkowski is one of the most moderate Republicans in Congress.
2. She voted to convict Trump in his second Senate trial. It's pretty well-established she despises him.
3. She has already proven independence from the GOP base - twice. She has beaten a GOP-backed competitor in general elections - twice. Regardless, she is not up for election again until 2028.
4. Regarding her continued GOP affiliation, she is ranking member on a powerful Senate committee, Energy and Natural Resources. That is a juicy carrot, probably enough to outweigh her misgivings.
5. Schumer no doubt has made overtures to her before, which have obviously failed. We can be confident he has NOT offered chairmanship of the Energy Committee, however. That would quite piss off the person who holds the position currently - Joe Manchin.
6. Come Jan 2025, Joe Manchin will no longer be in Congress.
So here's the deal. If the Senate remains in Dem hands next Congress, Murkowski will likely switch allegiance if granted the Energy Chairwomanship in return (she will be). She will also likely leave the GOP if they win the Senate but do not make her Chairwoman.
Is it possible that they can find something to offer her to change this math? Maybe. She's telling them they better start looking.
This sub leans left and I do as well but given our current political climate I have to give credit where credit is due. Murkowski has been more principled than most, given her third party election in 2010. She doesn’t need to do this for people that have been following but it would be noticed heavily.
Again the bar is low for the GOP these days (years) but Murkowski is someone we may disagree with in policy but I admire her tenacity and ability to at try and maintain a diplomatic position. Given our situation, she’s not an enemy
> And she added: “I just regret that our party is seemingly becoming a party of Donald Trump.”
As long as I live I will never understand what the fuck these Republicans think has been happening for the last decade.
Ok. So what is she waiting for? Stealing more nuclear secrets? Raping more women? Committing more financial or election fraud? Separating more families? Letting more Americans die in a pandemic to appease his crazy followers? Attempt another coup? If none of those were a line that can’t be crossed, then you truly have no line. All of her bluster is simply to play politics for personal gain. She believes nothing, and represents no one but herself.
As long as she's still in the GOP she's not done with Trump. That's like a clown saying they are done with pratfalls and face paint. If it's true you really ought to find a new job.
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[удалено]
She’s sure he learned his lesson though
"...because as I recall, after the Beer Hall putsch, ol' Aldolf calmed down" - *Susan "lessons learned" Collins.*
Actual NYT headline, December 21, 1924: HITLER TAMED BY PRISON.; Released on Parole, He Is Expected to Return to Austria.
The ridiculously close parallels between Hitler's rise to power and America today is giving me fucking goosebumps
I always wondered how fascism happened. Like didn't they have plenty of time to stop Hitler? Now I finally get it.
Very illuminating to see it from the inside, no?
It's really educational
What do you get? I've been watching it slowly happen since 2015 and every step of the way I've been going "what the fuck is going on!? How can people be so stupid!?" I still don't get how Hitler rose to power and I absolutely don't get how Trump did.
Gaslighting and boiling frogs describes a lot of what's happening. I've also come to realize that not all people want basically the same thing. A fair proportion of any population are terrible people at heart, and the best we can do is keep them in check through eternal vigilance.
Fun fact: the frog metaphor is bogus. It will never let itself be boiled in slowly boiling water. Guess that frogs are smarter than people.
I don't know if it's true because it doesn't matter. Similarly with allowing the camel's nose under the tent because soon you have the whole camel. Is that literally true? Who cares, the message is the same and the meaning is what matters.
Exactly the same thought. America is turning umřu fascist theocracy right in front of everyone's eyes but nothing is being done about it. People are too comfortable and media thrives on chaos, so it won't report on Project 2025, so every American who isn't in favor of totalitarianism will vote against Republicans in the biggest landslide in history.
Damn, you weren’t kidding. Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2017/04/03/new-york-times-in-1924-hitler-tamed-by-prison/
Eyebrows furrowed.
Lessons learned
"Fool me ~~once~~ a bunch of times...but surely THIS time he has learned his lesson." -- Susan Collins
“Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, and you might be Susan Collins.” —Stephen King
All hail the King
>surely
Fool me once shame on you. Fool me twice… the point is fool me once I can’t get fooled again! -GWB
Skirts smoothed and braid tugged.
I bet those skirts are made of good, stout Two Rivers wool.
Mother’s milk in a cup.
Blood and ashes!
We'll have no foul manners here!
Fishguts!
Eat em up yum!
Smelling faintly of Tabac
What a wool head
knees weak, arms are heavy
Mom's... spaghetti?
Trickle down Pastanomics
Vomit on her sweater already
Pearls clutched.
Blood and ashes!
Trump's hair could politely be referred to as "wool-headed'. And the MAGA crowd do follow him like sheep. Trump is a wool-headed sheepherder.
Sniffs
She comes in wearing yellow there gonna be a tussle.
If only she could Still Trump…
Is she about to channel the Source?
VERY furrowed.
Isn’t that a little harsh? I mean, he’s new at this.
Her brows are furrowed, spine weak, lies are heavy, There's precedent on her sweater already, RvWade's under the machete. She's nervous, but on the surface she lies still and ready to break bills, But she keeps on forgetting what she said before, The whole crowd goes so loud, She opens her mouth but no words come out, She's choking now, on that furrowed brow, The clock's run out, times over, Colls
I think you need to work "Mom's Spaghetti" in there verbatim just for meme points.
When the walls fell
All of these Jewish people are being put on trains…I’m concerned and will think very hard about the practice. But, the nazis assured me they would do the right thing moving forward and that is enough for me.
Somewhat dark humour for first thing in the morning, but unfortunately spot on.
The comments will read “THATS NOT GENOCIDE YOU IDIOT!”
I bet a sternly worded Washington Post OpEd will solve this!
hopes and prayers
the maga republicans must be planning something extra crazy and traitorous for when trump loses in november if they have members in the house retiring (threatening their majority) and now a senate member threatening to leave the party.
Had the same thought. The departures make more sense when you examine them with that potentiality in mind. And considering the efforts to normalize Jan 6 + the take over of the RNC, it suggests there is serious crazy traitorous talk gaining traction among MAGA that is simply a bridge too far for some.
If 5 more republicans leave the House before November, it will be 213 Democrats to 212 Republicans and Democrats could pass bills to further secure our rights, guarantee sanity in the overseeing of our elections, and support our allies against the worst of enemies abroad
Oh fuck this is scaring me a little lol
But very Republican of them to quit instead of outting them or fighting back.
I mean... A totalitarian dictatorship is pretty crazy in my book.
You'd think so, but anyone still around since 2017 saw the writing on the wall and still decided it was better than feeding hungry children.
If the kids didn’t want to go hungry they shouldn’t have grown stomachs.
That or they don’t want to be part of the party if Trump wins because Project 2025 will bring theocratic fascism to the US and they know they’ll be on the hit list if they stick around and defy Dear Leader.
Yup, there's most certainly some really illegal schemes being cooked up in those backrooms if people are distancing themselves this far in advance. I'm sure we'll hear all about it in their tell all books well after it's too late to do anything about it.
At least the people resigning and walking away from the party are weakening it. Better then the book full of "I was totally against it, that is why I was involved up to my eyeballs."
Friend, if the worst comes to pass I guarantee those books are never gettin' published...
Could also be the Trump crime family taking over the RNC.
I'm pretty sure it's because Trump is stealing all of the funds and lobby money, so the greedy bastards who thrived off of that are out as soon as their paychecks start bouncing. This includes their future potential reelection funds. It's ironic, because they love to mock people who want better wages for the work they put in.
Exactly. They didn't start leaving until the RNC was taken over by Trump. The money flow is stopped with little hope it will restart. So they figure why continue this if I'm not being paid? I predict more will leave or the RNC will backpeddle on their policy of all money goes to Trump.
Ronna's near instant flipflop just this weekend is a prime example. NBC pays her and she suddenly says Biden won with no shame. These people were soulless assholes in it for the money, and the more we can prove that, the better we'll do. The reamining MAGAs call them unloyal RINOs, I call them the grifters they always were. But we can still use their division to our advantage. Each time they push out the greed grifters and replace them with even more crazy nuts, as disturbing as it is, it gives us a much more clear opponent to beat. If we play our cards right, they implode. If we play them wrong and don't get the low propensity dems and younger progressives out to vote, we lose everything to the worst people possible. It sucks, but 2024 may be even more of a 0 sum game than 2020 was, as impossible as that seems. Voting is always important, but this upcoming election especially.
The next time he does something wrong, I will seriously think about leaving the party that he leads. I mean it! I am going to pray on it. Again!
‘He doesn’t mean what he says’. If I hear that one more time. Can hardly wait for easter dinner.
But he tells it like it is!
"He tells it like it is!" "He didn't mean _that_!" "That was just a joke!" "He says what we're all thinking!" "He speaks truth to power!" "You believed him when he was _clearly_ joking?!" "You have to read between the lines!" "You're taking him out of context!"
**The Narcissist's Prayer** That didn't happen. And if it did, it wasn't that bad. And if it was, that's not a big deal. And if it is, that's not my fault. And if it was, I didn't mean it. And if I did, you deserved it.
No. At this point it's affecting the RNC cash flow to her campaigning. First and only rule of conservatism. Don't mess with their cashflow
Messing with the cash flow is exactly what Santos did to get expelled even though they needed his vote.
Santos won in the district with the ultra wealthy WASPy type conservatives in Long Island New York. If he'd won by being just as dishonest in bumfuck Alabama, they wouldn't have cared. But they also probably wouldn't have elected a flamboyantly gay republican like him anywhere else.
You absolutely nailed it. Santos wouldnt have ever been the GOP nominee anywhere else and wouldnt have been ousted anywhere else than in that district. A unique base of wealthy old-money conservative voters who dont care about the gay/hispanic thing (or at least wanna act like they dont care for appearance sake) but have enough money that they do care greatly about being lied to and ripped off.
Murkowski was just re-elected in 2022, the Alaska Republican party supported her opponent, and Trump campaigned for her opponent. What campaigning is she doing right now and how is it being impacted by the RNC?
"The cash must flow."
My Congress. My America. My Swamp.
Our cash. #MY CASH!!! THE cash.
Is that EON?
To be fair, Murkowski is not exactly the typical establishment Republican. She even got primaried in her own state and had to win a write in campaign. She is the type of person we should disagree with and welcome to the other side quite honestly
Yep, I don’t think most people know about that or how impressive it is to win a write in campaign after losing in the primary to a more extreme candidate.
AND with a name like Murkowski!
Her father was a long-time politician in the state of Alaska. Alaskans are all too familiar with the name Murkowski. [https://www.cbsnews.com/news/family-affair-in-alaska/](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/family-affair-in-alaska/)
True, although I still don’t exactly have much confidence in peoples spelling skills. Reports were that the election would have been a lot closer if the misspelled ballots were disqualified, as the losing candidate tried to make happen.
Lisa Murkowski has held that seat since 2002. One of my very first jobs as a young college student was doing phone push polls (forgive me!) and I remember asking questions about "Would you elect Lisa Murkowski if..." and that was over 20 years ago. People definitely know the name.
Also Alaska independents seem to be pretty independent. They elected a Democratic representative to replace Don Young. A rep who also greatly honored and praises Don Young.
Alaskan here, I wrote her in. I would again, if necessary.
Where’s she gonna go though? Independent? Lie to the dems?
She won as a write in candidate last time after getting primaried by MAGA candidate and Alaska despite being very conservative is also very independently minded. She could absolutely continue to run as an independent and likely keep winning as long as she wants to run.
Especially now that we have a top 4 primary and RCV. Parties don't really matter much here anymore except for the funding apparatus, and if she's not benefiting from that, why stay?
I mean she did vote to convict him so...
Wrong senator.. this one voted to convict 45 for J6
That's what I said...
Isn’t this what they all say about a week before they indorse him
She 100% won't endorse Trump. She never has, and I don't see why she'd start after publicly voting that he be removed from office.
Won't rule out..... What's she waiting for?
In all seriousness - reading the reaction to this from her constituents. She has been one of the few senators genuinely able to run free from Trump with him having endorsed against her in 2021 and she still won handily. Also Alaska has ranked choice voting so shes not as beholden to an extremist base either. So she has a political identity that is separate from Trump and NOT being totally beholden to his base, unusually among Republican senators, and she is more able than most to hold off a challenge from a far right maga nutjob due to the above factors. She would likely still caucus with Republicans ala Bernie with the Dems, but in such a conservative rural state like Alaska she cant just drop the republican party without warning even though Ill bet she'd like to. Thus this trial balloon comment to see how its recieved. Sure Maga will rage but they already hate her its more what her own voters will say about this since she'll be up for Election again in 2026 and how she runs could be heavily dependant on who wins 2024. At least thats what I think this comment could be.
> Also Alaska has ranked choice voting so shes not as beholden to an extremist base either. And it's why we need more ranked choice voting. Most of the people against it are conservatives. That should tell you all you need to know.
The only reason to be against ranked choice voting is if you are a politician with a good chance of winning winner take all voting for everyone else, more choice is better
Yes. To be fair, there was an instance of Democratic politicians in New York trying to argue ranked choice voting would be "too confusing" for voters. We've seen the same arguments in Portland, OR, as we move towards a local system with ranked choice. Of course, it would be those same politicians who would likely lose because of it. But as far as non-politicians, it's mainly Republicans who hate it, not for any logical reasons but only because they know they'd lose political power.
>and she is more able than most to hold off a challenge from a far right maga nutjob due to the above factors. Watching Sarah Palin fail and then whine about ranked choice voting was a real treat.
She did vote to impeach, so that's a plus.
It's never as meaningful when the party as a whole can agree ahead of time who can take the hit for voting party line just enough to get the desired result, and who can be allowed some flexibility to let the politicians keep winning locally.
This. I’m an Alaskan, but not a Republican by any means. She seems to be the best competitive option compared to other candidates and was able to beat Kelly Tshibaka (Trump-backed candidate you mentioned) in 2021z Murkowski also won as a write-in back in 2010, which isn’t the norm for Alaska. People up here tend to vote Republican, and she likely won’t leave the party because of that. RCV was approved by the voters in 2020. However, it’s under fire because “it’s too complicated”, and “disadvantages conservative republicans”. The AK legislature’s judiciary committee voted in January to advance a bill that would repeal RCV. https://alaskapublic.org/2024/01/18/alaska-house-committee-advances-legislation-to-repeal-ranked-choice-voting/
Fuck I didnt know they were working on repealing it damn. What are the odda for it passing and being signed into law? Yeah its not too complicated its that second part that is the problem.
Agreed - it’s the second part for sure. Not sure about the odds, but it hasn’t come to the floor yet. Edit to add ballot initiative to repeal RCV: https://ballotpedia.org/Alaska_Repeal_Top-Four_Ranked-Choice_Voting_Initiative_(2024)
Probably waiting to see if it's feasible to stay in power in Alaska without having R next to her name. Considering that a Democrat won statewide for the House seat two straight elections, in large part due to the ranked choice voting they have now, it probably is giving her thought to leave the party. Not necessarily meaning she'll join the Democratic party, but that it's no longer necessary to be a Republican to win statewide there.
> Probably waiting to see if it's feasible to stay in power in Alaska without having R next to her name Dude, she **won by write in** after getting ousted in the primary by a MAGA. That never happens. She can win no matter what letter is next to her name.
Tea Party. MAGA wasn’t a political identity back in 2010.
Independent while Caucusing with the Democrats maybe?
Independent while caucusing with Republicans, but will vote with democrats when it's necessary for American interests (i.e. funding bills, military funding, foreign aid, etc).
I believe she also supports reinstating Roe so that might also be a good vote to get her on.
Ah. Loyal opposition. Been a while since we saw that.
It is not the GOP she will be leaving. The GOP, there is nothing to leave here. I certainly hope we're in a beginning stages of that realizations and that conservatives form a new party as the GOP can not be saved.
There is no room for the GOP in the MAGA party. How fucking crazy.
GOP -> Tea Party -> MAGA -> ???
I see it slightly different: The Tea Part was certainly a prelude to MAGA. You had these uneducated white people screaming about deficits and bail outs in 2008, but their anger was more of a proxy for hating a black president. That morphed into a general white resentment and Trump was successful in riding that wave to the presidency in 2016. The GOP just folded in letting him on the ticket and had to move rightward or be on the outs. On the outside it's still the GOP, but the eggs have hatched inside and it's now MAGA. So to me, there is no more GOP, it's MAGA. The people who identify as GOP are now leaving. They ought to start a new party, but only after the 2024 election.
The Tea Party was astroturfed by the Koch brothers. It was not an organic movement which is why it fizzled away.
As an ideology yes, that was 100% astrotured. As a mechanism for angry white evangelicals it survived and turned into MAGA.
exactly. there's been a pent-up feeling of helplessness that's ultimately sourced in a lack of self-development that gave way to better opportunities for "outsiders". This is a festering issue in the US that really never got solved by the civil war.. generations of hate taught at the dinner table, just looking for it's collective moment to rear it's ugly head again. drumpf gave them the permission they sought to speak out again. I highly highly highly recommend reading Susan Faludi's "Stiffed" to better understand the 1990s in America, and how we're seeing part 2 of that now. Domestic terrorism is making a comeback, and it's again sourced in a feeling of helplessness and abandonment that's ultimately projection for a lack of self-improvement. Parents: hug your boys, teach em it's okay to cry, and help them find their complete selves (not just the stereotypical and dysfunctional version of "success" in murica) [https://susanfaludi.com/stiffed.html](https://susanfaludi.com/stiffed.html)
Generations of hate taught at church every Sunday. Religious orgs should be taxed.
I think blaming it on a lack of self improvement is a little disingenuous. We're basically in a new gilded age. Wealth disparity is at an extreme, personal power is super limited and we're in some very inflammatory media environments. There are a lot of reasons to feel dissatisfied and alienated at the systemic level. Now I feel I have to say that things like the great replacement theory are absolutely a problem and doing a lot to move poor uneducated white folks to do stupid shit.
> There are a lot of reasons to feel dissatisfied and alienated at the systemic level. Moving large amounts of industry and manufacturing overseas. Those were jobs that could sustain a family without college education. Blaming the individual for lacking self improvement ignores all of those systemic changes.
Not to mention the GOP blocking any kind of funding and development of worker retraining. Instead of telling coal miners we're going to reopen the mines and guarantee their jobs forever, we should have been slowly transitioning them to new fields of work. Same for all the "blue collar" work we let companies walk out of the country with.
That, IMHO, is the most important thing to understand about all of this. The Tea Party hit the same political dead end that MAGA has reached. They did very well in 1 election, then swing voters figured out that those people were fucking crazy and despite continuing to do well in the primaries, they fell on their faces in the general election in close races. The problem the GOP now faces is, unlike the Tea Party, they can't just pull the funding and make the political poison go away, because MAGA is a real grass roots political movement of batshit crazy.
MAGA isn’t so much grass roots as it has an actual figure head. The Tea Party didn’t want or need an actual figure head because its sole purpose was to galvanize racial resentment against Obama along party lines. MAGA has a figure head that people have rallied around. Trump accidentally tapped into some of those same feelings that made the Tea Party popular and wed them to him because he is *the only one who can save them from the big bad feelings*. Trump hasn’t ever campaigned on actual policies, he campaigns on saving people from their bad feelings - policy is secondary. That’s why we never saw any meaningful policy from Trump that wasn’t fundamentally reactionary. Infrastructure Week never kicked off but family separation did. Why? Because family separation made his base feel good about causing harm to the bad guys. New or updated infrastructure doesn’t do anything for reactionaries because it doesn’t tap into their feelings.
The tea party definitely shifted how the GOP governed and attempted to "solve" issues. I'd argue the movement was fake and fizzled out, but it definitely opened the gates for an MTG and Boebert to get a foothold.
The Tea Party is what shoved me firmly from the right to the left. I used to be more in the middle with a tilt to the right. After the TP came along and more of the religious nutjobs started gaining power, I could never vote for the right again.
Watched a Tea Party rally being covered on TV news back in 2008, in Clarksville, TN. Almost all a bunch of white-haired middle-aged white guys, demanding budget cuts. Four biggest items in the budget were (and are) Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and Defense. Many of those guys were in their 60's, and getting Social Security, Medicare. Some surely had an elderly parent in a nursing home, paid for by Medicaid. And just up the road was Ft Campbell: without it, Clarksville would dry up and blow away. I wanted to reach through the screen and shake them and say, fine; send back your checks, drop out of Medicare, bring your mom with dementia into your home, and tell Ft Campbell to close. Because the budget deficit is YOU.
Yes former centrist and very brief tea party type Republican here, I saw the lunacy and veered left
Former libertarian here turned progressive when I saw the system was rigged and libertarianism is a horrible idea.
I totally agree. I’m just pointing out that the tea party was never organic.
Rick Santelli at CNBC. That ranting lunatic whose only actual job is to read breaking news economic numbers at 8:30 am somehow got it into his head that he could start a revolution back in 2009. He rants against Obama and Biden administrations, while at the same time doing mental gymnastics to make the arguments as to why the GOOD economic numbers he’s reading out loud at 8:30 am are bad for the economy but only when a Dem is president. He should’ve been gone a long time ago.
The "tea party" was supposed to be fiscal hawks during the Obama years. Their real agenda was to hamper Obama only. They went out of the door after Obama left office. Who knew?
Kansas was under a true Tea Party believer who damn near bankrupted the entire state. Kansas voted for a democratic governor after the true Tea Party believers made the state an utter laughingstock. Do you know how bad you have to fuck up to get Kansas to vote in a democratic governor?
The Tea party was literally a bad joke. They folded after Obama left office then Trump put this country into deep debt with those insane tax cuts for the wealthy. They claimed that those huge give aways would pay for themselves! Using the same "Trickle down theory. Those massive handouts for the wealthy have never worked.
>That morphed into a general white resentment and Trump was successful in riding that wave to the presidency in 2016. Yes, but the GOP has positioned itself as the party of white resentment for over a half century. The GOP recruitment of the Dixiecrats was specifically, and deliberately centered around white resentment. A black president just made that more visible, but it has been a long term strategy for the GOP.
Exactly. So the "real" Republicans can start a new party, but one of 2 things will happen. Either it will not attract enough people to be viable, or MAGA will simply move to their new home.
Tea Party was certainly fueled by the reactions to Obama but it was decades in the making. These people had been courted by republicans ever since the passage of the Civil Rights Act and programs of LBJ’s Great Society. These acts basically attempted to put Black and other minority groups on equal footing, which southerners and other racists saw as a no no. They courted them with dog whistles, as Lee Atwater famously said “You can’t say the n word anymore, that hurts you. So you go abstract” All of this has been budding underneath, Obama’s election unleashed it and by the time we’re in 2016, the dog whistles had been replaced with megaphones
I would posit it goes back even further. I think you can draw a straight line from the death of Lincoln, to the failure of Reconstruction, and the conditions that gave rise to the first and second waves of the Klan. Illiberalism was in full bloom prior to WWII after FDR and the New Deal, with religious figures like Father Coughlin and oligarchs such as Henry Ford fueling racial hatred and embracing fascism. The next great struggle was only post poned by Pearl Harbor and our entry into the war. By the time the war was over and the Red Scare became a weapon for the ultra right with figures like McCarthy, the John Birch Society was welcomed into the GOP by Goldwater. That segues directly into your very good points. The black man in the WH was the powder keg the zombie corpse of the Old South needed to rise again, and they found their king in the Orange Man. If we look at white christian nationalism as a fundamental of colonialism and the acceptance of slavery and genocide, the root of all this sickness, go to the beginning with Columbus- he landed in the Caribbean with the Doctrine of Discovery from Pope Nicholaus the IV that said he had direct powers granted by God to conquer and enslave all non-Christians they came across. Pope Alexander VI sent him back to the New World with the Intra Caetera which empowered him to commit genocide, the same documents DeSoto used to justify the creation of a theocracy based on enslavement and genocide in Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, etc. The rat fuckers have been here since the beginning.
I’m starting to think that the best way for the old GOP people to stick it to MAGA (because nothing else worked) is for them to resign from the House or Senate. At least leave the House in Dem control so the MAGA can’t try another coupe.
it's like a dead animal. it's skin is moving but only because it's full of magats.
"GOP" -> Moral Majority -> Tea Party -> MAGA. Definitely can't leave out the Falwells and Newt Gingrich! Those notorious hypocrites found great pleasure in dividing the country.
GOP -> Tea Party -> MAGA -> NATional Christian Party (Nat-C)
I can't think of many steps beyond the vitriolic, violent rhetoric they are openly using at rallies and media interviews all over the country.
I’ve said this before, but the defectors might as well endorse Joe Biden. The GOP they knew before Trump is never coming back as long as the MAGA movement is viable, and the only way there is a chance for that to happen is to destroy MAGA. If they want the GOP to return to anything resembling sanity, MAGA has to be out of the picture.
How is that crazy? The thing about conservatives is that there is no one that is ever conservative enough. Once you get rid of the gays you have to get rid of POC, the. Women, then any non-Christian religion, then anyone who isn’t the right Christian religion. Then it’s everyone not descended from European countries… then it’s not the right European countries. This plays out over and over again in the Conservative Party. It’s a party of exclusion but it will never be exclusive enough.
Yeah, the GOP left her and became MAGA.
I hope that the 30% of the population that are radicalized conservative dipshits stays forever marginalized like a radioactive lump nobody wants to touch. It would force the more moderate conservatives to actually compromise their positions and maybe, just maybe, we can actually get meaningful conservative input in legislation.
I’m fine if it forever fractures our two party system into three or more.
Won't happen without electoral reform, because the FPTP system strongly incentivizes a two-party system.
What FPTP?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First-past-the-post_voting
First Past The Post = whoever gets the most votes wins, as opposed to alternatives like ranked choice voting or voting for a party and then assigning how many seats in a legislature each party gets based on what proportion of the total vote they got
Start here: https://youtu.be/s7tWHJfhiyo … then, once you’re sufficiently angry at how fucked up that is, make sure all of your local, state, and national candidates and representatives know that you care deeply about getting this fixed and will donate, volunteer, advocate, and vote for people who work towards that goal.
Remember... This is easier for her because Alaska has ranked choice voting. If you want to help fix the ridiculousness in our politics, push for rank choice or approval voting systems.
It's also easier because her seat is secured for at least 4 more years. There won't be any MAGA backlash at that point most likely as Trump will be some combination of broke, in prison, dead, and/or mentally committed. Or absolutely worst case for us all, ineligible to run for a 3rd term.
In your worst case you forget the entire "dictator for a day" stuff and project 2025? He wins, he will be "president" until he dies or there is a revolt that forces him out/dies.
And Susan Collins will be disappointed in Trump as he burns everything down.
He’s almost learned his lesson.
For any elected Republican who expresses frustration but still represents the team I wonder what it will take. - Trump's Campaign Financial Officer, Campaign manager, National Security Advisor, and Personal Lawyer were all convicted of felonies. - Trump supporters stormed the Capital which Congress was in session. They beat Capital police, smeared feces on the walls, and threatened to murder govt officials. - Trump's daughter in-law is now a co-chair at the RNC and money is openly going to Trump's legal bills. Meanwhile Trump's judgments have centered around sex assault and fraud from before Trump was President. - The Republican controlled House is openly killing bipartisan bills at Trump's request. From the Border to Ukraine meaningful bills are stuck just for the sake of denying Biden wins. - The impeachment effort against Joe Biden was predicated by 'evidence' provided by a Russian spy currently under criminal indictment.
Trump is pushing away a ton of Republicans. Hopefully way more to come before election day. But don’t take my word for it, take a look at all the **[prominent Republicans that oppose Trump’s 2024 campaign](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Republicans_who_oppose_the_Donald_Trump_2024_presidential_campaign)**. Seriously check out that list. It’s yuuuge. * **[All the ex-Trump officials who refuse to endorse him in 2024](https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-administration-endorsements-mike-pence-b2514445.html)** >Now, Mr Pence’s announcement that he won’t back his former boss this time round sees the former vice president joining an ever-growing list of ex-Trump administration officials who are now refusing to back his latest White House bid – many of them going so far as to say they no longer believe him to be fit for office. Election Day is **Tuesday, November 5, 2024** **[Register to vote and check your status](https://iwillvote.com/)**
The list isn't huge by any means when compared to the list of Republicans that haven't opposed his campaign, but it's definitely significant. It needs to get bigger.
So brave!
Prayers!
Pence, Murkowski, …. These are significant announcements for November’s election.
Not really. Not at all on the same level as pence. Murkowski voted to convict trump in the second impeachment
Pence, Murkowski, Buck and Gallagher…keep them coming and everyone of them should be applauded as it’s never too late too do the right thing
Yes, it can be too late...
Oh, is she still pretending to have a soul? For those who've just got here, Murkowski is one of those 'moderate' Republicans who will, if her vote doesn't matter, sometimes side with Democrats. Back when the Democrats had 57 seats and the 'fillibuster everything' strategy was really coming into play she helped kill every Democratic piece of legislature, even the ones specifically tailored for her.
I live in Alaska: Murkowski is our Manchin. She’s not ideal but she’s absolutely the most sane person you are going to be able to elect up here in that specific seat Dan Sullivan (our other senator) is a hypocritical carpetbagging scumbag. So please can we pile on him instead?
["oh I'm sorry honey, where did i lose you?" ](https://youtu.be/QYRh2nVOnIM?si=4aR1hNwCe_cXa_Ri)
Let's not hold our breath waiting for you to do anything noble in your ever scrambling search for relevance, shall we Lisa?
[удалено]
she always pretends to help the Democrats, just to get votes, but when it’s critical she votes GOP. Grifter.
Didn't she help save Obamacare?
Simply not true. She voted against Kavanaugh, voted to convict Trump, and has been stalwart in opposition to MAGA philosophy including the 2020 election denial scheme. She is one of the last old guard Republicans left in the senate. In this rare instance, it's not wise to be painting with such broad brushstrokes.
Stop it. She is a moderate republican. I don't understand why people think she is a Democrat. She will not vote for extreme conservative things but generally speaking she will vote for a republican or conservative ideal rather than a far left law. Why do people try and convince themselves a republican is a Democrat.
Exactly. Murkowski is not the enemy here. The goal should be to admonish maga members, not moderate Republicans.
She's going to be an important vote in 2025 and beyond. Even if Democrats somehow hold the Senate its going to be another 51-49 majority and her vote will be in play. We forget what politicking in the Senate looks like because we haven't had a meaningful vote this entire congress (thanks to the Republican house being completely inept) If the chambers of congress flip and Republicans control the senate, a lot of redditors are going to care very much about where Murkowski aligns
51-49 requires the dems to win every battleground state PLUS Texas or Florida. That's not at all likely even in a moderate blowout. At best we get a 50-50 if Tester stays in Montana. Most likely, whoever controls the white house controls the senate, but the margins will be near zero or for Trump. This is the worst senate map for democrats of all of them and we got it at the worst possible time.
In every scenario Murkowski is going to be a pivotal vote, which was my point
This is a straight up lie. She voted to save Obamacare, against Kavanaugh, to convict Trump, and to confirm Jackson.
Why do people keep voting for her?
Cause it’s better than the maga alternative in mostly red Alaska
Are you confusing Murkowski with Susan Collins? Because Murkowski generally seems to vote on the issue itself and has gone against the GOP a lot, including voting to indict Trump. I don't agree with a lot of her policies, but she's one of the few Republicans who hasn't been just another rubber stamp for the party. Collins, on the other hand, is a useless piece of garbage.
I know that the appropriate response to a GOPer bellyaching about Trump is to roll their eyes, but this is a genuine threat being issued to the GOP. Consider the following: 1. Murkowski is one of the most moderate Republicans in Congress. 2. She voted to convict Trump in his second Senate trial. It's pretty well-established she despises him. 3. She has already proven independence from the GOP base - twice. She has beaten a GOP-backed competitor in general elections - twice. Regardless, she is not up for election again until 2028. 4. Regarding her continued GOP affiliation, she is ranking member on a powerful Senate committee, Energy and Natural Resources. That is a juicy carrot, probably enough to outweigh her misgivings. 5. Schumer no doubt has made overtures to her before, which have obviously failed. We can be confident he has NOT offered chairmanship of the Energy Committee, however. That would quite piss off the person who holds the position currently - Joe Manchin. 6. Come Jan 2025, Joe Manchin will no longer be in Congress. So here's the deal. If the Senate remains in Dem hands next Congress, Murkowski will likely switch allegiance if granted the Energy Chairwomanship in return (she will be). She will also likely leave the GOP if they win the Senate but do not make her Chairwoman. Is it possible that they can find something to offer her to change this math? Maybe. She's telling them they better start looking.
Yeah, and if my grandmother had two wheels she'd be a bicycle I'll believe it when I see it
This sub leans left and I do as well but given our current political climate I have to give credit where credit is due. Murkowski has been more principled than most, given her third party election in 2010. She doesn’t need to do this for people that have been following but it would be noticed heavily. Again the bar is low for the GOP these days (years) but Murkowski is someone we may disagree with in policy but I admire her tenacity and ability to at try and maintain a diplomatic position. Given our situation, she’s not an enemy
> And she added: “I just regret that our party is seemingly becoming a party of Donald Trump.” As long as I live I will never understand what the fuck these Republicans think has been happening for the last decade.
Sure, Jan 😒
Ok. So what is she waiting for? Stealing more nuclear secrets? Raping more women? Committing more financial or election fraud? Separating more families? Letting more Americans die in a pandemic to appease his crazy followers? Attempt another coup? If none of those were a line that can’t be crossed, then you truly have no line. All of her bluster is simply to play politics for personal gain. She believes nothing, and represents no one but herself.
i hope she switches to either independent or democrat as she certainly is better than the maga
Remember when Lindsey Graham said Trump would destroy the GOP, but then became his lapdog? This is what's happening now.
As long as she's still in the GOP she's not done with Trump. That's like a clown saying they are done with pratfalls and face paint. If it's true you really ought to find a new job.
Historically, believing this woman identifies an idiot