The saddest thing about this is that I bet there's not a true believer among them. They've sold their souls to a two-bit conman because they think it's the only way to secure their political futures. The lack of character and selfishness of these supposed public servants is disgusting. .
There is no Republican Party. It's now the MAGA Party. And if Ronald Reagan was alive he'd be getting denounced as a "RINO." There needs to be a new Trump-free center/right party, so that GOP/MAGA can go the way of the Whigs.
I must admit Ronnie would no doubt be appalled by his former party's embrace of Putin and Russia. But ol' Ron himself wasn't above corruption and 138 of his administration appointees were investigated, indicted or convicted for illegal actions--a highwater mark until Trump came along.
Reagan's staff and appointees in various departments managed to create 8 major scandals, including Iran-Contra; the HUD scandal (grant rigging in favor of Republican donors to Reagan's campaigns); a lobbying scandal (working as a lobbyist before legally allowed post administration employment); the EPA scandal--actually there were several under James Watt--mostly involving EPA officials being influenced by lobbyists from regulated industries. The stinkiest was the targeted release of Superfund grants to enhance the election prospects of Republican officials which involved Anne Gorsuch Burford, Reagan's second term (and most controversial) head of the EPA--and also, BTW, Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch's mother) for refusing to turn over the Superfund records to a Congressional committee investigation of the favoritism charges. She was charged with Contempt of Congress and resigned.
And the the scandals continue: The Savings and Loan Crisis in which, due to Reagan's removal of loopholes in the tax code included removal of "passive loss" provisions under which was subsidized rental housing which--together with some other "deregulation" policies in turn caused 747 Savings and Loan banking institutions to fail thus triggering the FDIC to step in and cover the debts and losses with taxpayer money. The ultimate cost of the crisis has been estimated at about $150 BILLION of which $125 billion was directly subsidized by the government. It was the biggest scandal involving public financial malfeasance in the history of the U.S., making the Teapot Dome scandal seem minor.
Two more scandals involving bribery and the Defense Department, Ill Wind and the Wedtech Scandal and finally, listed last here, but the first of Reagan's shady shenanigans was "Debategate". In the run up to the 1980 election, Reagan's team somehow acquired Jimmy Carter's briefing papers, thus were able to script Reagan's famous so-called "spontaneous" quip, "there you go again" (because Reagan knew when Carter was going to comment on that certain subject). It has never been resolved who and how Reagan's campaign team got their hands on Carter's papers. James Baker swore under oath that he received the papers from William Casey, but Casey vehemently denied that. Both the FBI and a Congressional subcommittee failed to determine how those papers ended up in Reagan's hands, but I think that that incident could rightfully be called CHEATING.
So Reagan might actually--aside from the current party's Russophilia--have felt right at home amongst the MAGA's and all the other thieves, grifters, traitors and attention whores.
It sounded like the mic you have set up wasn't connected and your vocals were picked up by the computer/camera mic. And yeah, it was pretty bad. Thanks for the video.
I spilled water on my keyboard this AM and had to do a sound check on another site to see if it was my keyboard or your mic!. It was really bad on your side.
Just vote. Defeat Donald J Trump, and as many Trumpists as possible. They are a clear and present danger to our democracy. Nothing other than crushing defeat will free us from this Groundhog Day of wearisome, worrisome news about Trump.
Odd, scary, unbelievable - pick a word. Also, interesting that this is taking place when Biden happens to be out of the country (planned I'm sure - I'm being sarcastic)!
Deja vu 1933-1945. Many Germans despised Hitler and the Nazi party writ large, but they joined the party in order to keep their jobs. Of course, some joined to protect their families and to buy an “insurance policy” to stay out of labor camps. Same thing can be said for these kowtowing Congresspeople: they are fawning over Trump in order to protect their political careers, and, possibly, to not be rounded up and shipped off to a gulag as may be the fate of Romney, Collins, Murkowski, Liz Cheney, and Adam Kinzinger. McConnell may find himself in the gulag, too, because he once had the audacity to be disloyal.
How sad is it that we have elected hundreds of morally deficient, weak-minded, subservient, power crazed sycophants into our nations leadership positions? Shame on us.
What a lame comment and what a lame excuse for sticking your head in the sand and not seeing the completely obvious things in front of you!
We’re not the ones that act like cult members in their bowing adulation. We’re not the ones that disgrace the American flag by putting a person’s name or image on it (ever read the US Flag Code and what you should NEVER do to our flag?). We’re not the ones that say the justice system is “rigged” when 12 peers are presented enough evidence to hold over for indictment, and when another group of 12 citizens (selected with Trump’s capable defense team rejecting whomever they didn’t want, and likely had 2 Trump voters on it) spent 6 weeks deliberating and found him guilty of 34 felonies. We’re not the ones saying that the justice system is “two-tiered” or “rigged” when a Trump-appointed former US Attorney is given Special Prosecutor status, brings a case against the sitting President’s son that NO ONE is ever charged with (find ONE case!), and finds him guilty. We’re not the ones that a jury is afraid of dozing them and threatening physical violence against them.
No, we accept the Rule of Law, a fundamental tenet of American Democracy.
And you? You just repeat the pablum you’re fed by your lying media sources (don’t forget Fox has to pay a lawsuit for nearly $1 BILLION because they were caught knowingly lying to their viewers). So, low-information yokel, who’s deranged?
I hope you seek professional help after the election. There is zero chance the county elects an old tired man who has lost more than a few steps in the ole mental acuity game. It really is very easy to see. So sorry…..
Interesting. You pay money to subscribe to Chris so that you can troll those that comment? I’m not a mental health professional, but I’d say it’s somewhat obvious who’s got the “issues”.
If you don’t have *anything* to add to the conversation, why bother to speak at all? I would suggest you take Abraham Lincoln’s advice: “Better to be silent and thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.”
While I understand Chris’s interest in speaking to “all sides”, @dutchmaga trolling readers with the old “TDS” canard is hardly a “reasonable” approach. It’s just personally insulting and nothing more.
If you looked at his profile, you’ll note that this is the ONLY subscription he has and that he’s got “time on his hands”. I would suggest this means he’s retired and has only one interest: “owning the libs”.
Yes, this is the best they can come up with. Bigly sad.
My comment re: “be kind” was in jest, which I think you got. We don’t need this Substack to get inundated with MAGA trolls. I get as much out of the comments, if not more, as I do Chris’ post. MAGA trolls add nothing to the discussion and in fact would dilute the discussion.
I feel so sorry for him, you see him this weekend wandering off, that’s pathetic. I feel bad for you Biden supporters as well. There is no way he wins. None.
The saddest thing about this is that I bet there's not a true believer among them. They've sold their souls to a two-bit conman because they think it's the only way to secure their political futures. The lack of character and selfishness of these supposed public servants is disgusting. .
These GOP 'leaders' are literally the Omega fraternity in Animal House, "Thank you sir, may I have another".
(Sir alert....)
There is no Republican Party. It's now the MAGA Party. And if Ronald Reagan was alive he'd be getting denounced as a "RINO." There needs to be a new Trump-free center/right party, so that GOP/MAGA can go the way of the Whigs.
I must admit Ronnie would no doubt be appalled by his former party's embrace of Putin and Russia. But ol' Ron himself wasn't above corruption and 138 of his administration appointees were investigated, indicted or convicted for illegal actions--a highwater mark until Trump came along.
Reagan's staff and appointees in various departments managed to create 8 major scandals, including Iran-Contra; the HUD scandal (grant rigging in favor of Republican donors to Reagan's campaigns); a lobbying scandal (working as a lobbyist before legally allowed post administration employment); the EPA scandal--actually there were several under James Watt--mostly involving EPA officials being influenced by lobbyists from regulated industries. The stinkiest was the targeted release of Superfund grants to enhance the election prospects of Republican officials which involved Anne Gorsuch Burford, Reagan's second term (and most controversial) head of the EPA--and also, BTW, Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch's mother) for refusing to turn over the Superfund records to a Congressional committee investigation of the favoritism charges. She was charged with Contempt of Congress and resigned.
And the the scandals continue: The Savings and Loan Crisis in which, due to Reagan's removal of loopholes in the tax code included removal of "passive loss" provisions under which was subsidized rental housing which--together with some other "deregulation" policies in turn caused 747 Savings and Loan banking institutions to fail thus triggering the FDIC to step in and cover the debts and losses with taxpayer money. The ultimate cost of the crisis has been estimated at about $150 BILLION of which $125 billion was directly subsidized by the government. It was the biggest scandal involving public financial malfeasance in the history of the U.S., making the Teapot Dome scandal seem minor.
Two more scandals involving bribery and the Defense Department, Ill Wind and the Wedtech Scandal and finally, listed last here, but the first of Reagan's shady shenanigans was "Debategate". In the run up to the 1980 election, Reagan's team somehow acquired Jimmy Carter's briefing papers, thus were able to script Reagan's famous so-called "spontaneous" quip, "there you go again" (because Reagan knew when Carter was going to comment on that certain subject). It has never been resolved who and how Reagan's campaign team got their hands on Carter's papers. James Baker swore under oath that he received the papers from William Casey, but Casey vehemently denied that. Both the FBI and a Congressional subcommittee failed to determine how those papers ended up in Reagan's hands, but I think that that incident could rightfully be called CHEATING.
So Reagan might actually--aside from the current party's Russophilia--have felt right at home amongst the MAGA's and all the other thieves, grifters, traitors and attention whores.
The Party Formerly Known as Republican (PaFKnaR: Pahf-Kən-ahr) is the real RINO party.
I suggest everyone call them either the above, or:
1) MAGA RINO party
or just make it an acronym portmanteau: MAGARINO, you can turn the I from RINO into a long e sound, whatever you prefer.
2) Real RINO party. An alternate: RRINOs Where you just pronounce as one "r" or you do a double r sound like Rə-RINO.
Or another alternate that just occurred to me is a real rolling r like the Spanish digraph "rr", which sounds fun. The RrINOs!....
Personally, I do literally use the term magarinos often. I'm not a Republican, never have been, but I know that THIS is NOT the Republican Party.
Lace - you need to get either Nigel or Sean in to reset the board and fix the audio....
Is it bad?
yeah, you flushed the mouse today
Seriously flushed that rodent.
I thought it was just me. Sounded a bit tinny...
UGH. I don't think it was running through the mic. Will fix tomorrow. Apologies!
Lace, c'mon. What are we doing here man? It's 6/17 and it's still the tin-can version.
It sounded like the mic you have set up wasn't connected and your vocals were picked up by the computer/camera mic. And yeah, it was pretty bad. Thanks for the video.
I spilled water on my keyboard this AM and had to do a sound check on another site to see if it was my keyboard or your mic!. It was really bad on your side.
Just vote. Defeat Donald J Trump, and as many Trumpists as possible. They are a clear and present danger to our democracy. Nothing other than crushing defeat will free us from this Groundhog Day of wearisome, worrisome news about Trump.
Perhaps one of the consequential aftermaths of the Trump presidency, the demise of a once great party.
The constant humiliation of the Republican Party…..stunning to see their eagerness for this treatment
One word: GROSS
Odd, scary, unbelievable - pick a word. Also, interesting that this is taking place when Biden happens to be out of the country (planned I'm sure - I'm being sarcastic)!
Deja vu 1933-1945. Many Germans despised Hitler and the Nazi party writ large, but they joined the party in order to keep their jobs. Of course, some joined to protect their families and to buy an “insurance policy” to stay out of labor camps. Same thing can be said for these kowtowing Congresspeople: they are fawning over Trump in order to protect their political careers, and, possibly, to not be rounded up and shipped off to a gulag as may be the fate of Romney, Collins, Murkowski, Liz Cheney, and Adam Kinzinger. McConnell may find himself in the gulag, too, because he once had the audacity to be disloyal.
How sad is it that we have elected hundreds of morally deficient, weak-minded, subservient, power crazed sycophants into our nations leadership positions? Shame on us.
Severe case of TDS!
Therapy for all when Trump wins
What a lame comment and what a lame excuse for sticking your head in the sand and not seeing the completely obvious things in front of you!
We’re not the ones that act like cult members in their bowing adulation. We’re not the ones that disgrace the American flag by putting a person’s name or image on it (ever read the US Flag Code and what you should NEVER do to our flag?). We’re not the ones that say the justice system is “rigged” when 12 peers are presented enough evidence to hold over for indictment, and when another group of 12 citizens (selected with Trump’s capable defense team rejecting whomever they didn’t want, and likely had 2 Trump voters on it) spent 6 weeks deliberating and found him guilty of 34 felonies. We’re not the ones saying that the justice system is “two-tiered” or “rigged” when a Trump-appointed former US Attorney is given Special Prosecutor status, brings a case against the sitting President’s son that NO ONE is ever charged with (find ONE case!), and finds him guilty. We’re not the ones that a jury is afraid of dozing them and threatening physical violence against them.
No, we accept the Rule of Law, a fundamental tenet of American Democracy.
And you? You just repeat the pablum you’re fed by your lying media sources (don’t forget Fox has to pay a lawsuit for nearly $1 BILLION because they were caught knowingly lying to their viewers). So, low-information yokel, who’s deranged?
I can easily see who is deranged! Wow!
I hope you seek professional help after the election. There is zero chance the county elects an old tired man who has lost more than a few steps in the ole mental acuity game. It really is very easy to see. So sorry…..
Interesting. You pay money to subscribe to Chris so that you can troll those that comment? I’m not a mental health professional, but I’d say it’s somewhat obvious who’s got the “issues”.
If you don’t have *anything* to add to the conversation, why bother to speak at all? I would suggest you take Abraham Lincoln’s advice: “Better to be silent and thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.”
Be kind. Cris had been hoping for a reasoned MAGA supporter to be a part of this conversation. This is what they got.
While I understand Chris’s interest in speaking to “all sides”, @dutchmaga trolling readers with the old “TDS” canard is hardly a “reasonable” approach. It’s just personally insulting and nothing more.
If you looked at his profile, you’ll note that this is the ONLY subscription he has and that he’s got “time on his hands”. I would suggest this means he’s retired and has only one interest: “owning the libs”.
Yes, this is the best they can come up with. Bigly sad.
My comment re: “be kind” was in jest, which I think you got. We don’t need this Substack to get inundated with MAGA trolls. I get as much out of the comments, if not more, as I do Chris’ post. MAGA trolls add nothing to the discussion and in fact would dilute the discussion.
And you think the Country will elect a CONVICTED FELON?
And you think the Country will elect a CONVICTED FELON?
The question such trouble the Dr. asked it double.
You posted twice Dr. Just an fyi.
Thanks! I just realized that I posted it twice.
Doesn't everyone know? TDS is what afflicts all Trump supporters.
It's the projection that ppl can't get past... tsk tsk tsk.
Violence again for the MAGA CULT members when Biden wins in November
I feel so sorry for him, you see him this weekend wandering off, that’s pathetic. I feel bad for you Biden supporters as well. There is no way he wins. None.