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The Biggest Losers?
Calls for unity among our bribed, corrupt, political class have indeed got them together. This insider love fest fails to address any of our underlying issues and potentially wastes the last chance in our lifetime for conservative legislation.
- Every member of the GOP needs to scream at the camera every day that this Russia garbage and the witch hunt need to stop. We are witnessing a potential coup and it will end very poorly for the conspirators as well as those who just watched. The American political class has never been so despised in modern times and if the GOP fails to prevent the coup or actively takes part I shudder to think what comes next.
- The GOP needs to ram home as much legislation as possible as fast as possible. The clock is ticking. They will never have another opportunity like this.
The GOP need to quit being scared little girls about the media. Their pocketbooks are not more important than their duty to our country.- Ryan and McConnell need to be men and if they can’t be we might as well make them use the ladies bathroom. They are now rich because of their time in DC and have gone soft. Their test is now and they either grow a pair or they don’t. Nobody gives a darn about their faux unity in this polarized country.
- We won this election and they either step up and lead or they need to be swept away like mice for they are certainly not men. Many of their insider friends want them to stand down as the coup happens. If they cannot lead this country then they surely are the biggest losers.
Amen, Amen, and AMEN .
In my quest for continued popularity here, I’ll note that one of the attractions of the President-elect was that he would not suffer the Fools on the Hill lightly and would lead, lead, lead to get his own legislation passed. How’s that working out so far?
The carrot hasn’t worked. Time for the stick.
A coup? That will get Mike Pence to be President? How very clever of him. I say boo to your coup theory and language.
But I say yay to your call for Republicans to legislate.
Sadly the Republicans don’t know what they want and it isn’t clear they have even organized a means of figuring out what they want. Trump himself doesn’t really know what he wants either for the most part other than that he wants it to be “great” and have his name on it. Maybe he could figure it out but he is busy obsessing over his own personal issues, and trying to find a way to make them worse.
We have elected a herd of cats. To be lead by someone not used to herding anything.
All of this is further compounded by the fact that under Obama the Congress basically got out of the habit of passing budgets their primary job. They literally don’t know what to do with themselves.
Eh, so so. My expectations of the man were not that high.
The 24/7 attack machine was coming anyway but clearly some of his words and actions have added fuel. I am not a MAGA sycophant who thinks he craps flowers and gold. He is however being assaulted and it’s lessening our chances of passing legislation as is the plan of the dems.
Ryan and McConnell need to bring stuff to the man’s desk. They need to stop the soft coup and pass some bills. If they cannot then they are the biggest losers.
That is why those two men need to lead or pass the baton to someone who can. Yes our narcissist wants to be great. Pass some legislation and let the peacock take a victory lap, it’s good for him. Allowing the 24/7 attack to go on without major push back will bring out the worst in the president. If he is taken down is it not a coup? The American population will view it as such and our divide will become unbridgeable.
There’s still a reason that the Tax Reform Act of 1986 is called the Reagan tax cuts.
We have all 3 power sources. This will not happen again for decades. I don’t care if Trump does nothing other than sign it and sticks his name on as if he did everything. We need action. The coup crap is in the way. Our pitiful leaders are in the way, all of them, including the president’s ego. The chances will fade quicker than we realize.
I’m afraid Rush had it right today when he said the GOP is most happy when they are in the minority because they don’t know how to lead. I think Pence has to be the leader here because Trump isn’t a politician and needs guidance in this area. @docjay, your OP is spot on!
President Mike Pence will accomplish nothing. He will do nothing. There will be no legislation with him. We might as well have a smiling cardboard cut out.
As VP , Mr Pence can lead. He can scream at the camera every day too. He can help whip up legislation, as much as humanly possible.
See comment #9
See edit of comment #10 ;-)
Sure but Vice President Mike Pence can do stuff. Remember when it mattered Obama sent Biden to the Senate to work on legislation. Senators liked Biden much more than they did Obama.
VP Pence should be spending a lot of time with Congressional leaders publicly pushing them to do something, anything. Health care, taxes, spending, immigration, reforming the VA. Get legislation passed, just move the ball forward.
I think we are all on the same page here. ??
I understand that health care was a major campaign issue, but it’s complicated and controversial enough that you’re not going to “build momentum” by starting out with the plan that was proposed (and failed). Tax cuts (both personal and corporate) are a core conservative issue that the party should be able to build some consensus around. Trump outlined a plan about seven weeks ago. Sorry to say, but I think this “Russian investigation” BS has become a major distraction.
The stick Hodgkinson wielded, MLR? Surely not…
We should stop thinking of the congressional GOP as one united faction. I know that right wing pundits make it seem like it should be that way, but each of those people represents different constituencies with different priorities. What is popular in Nevada is not necessarily popular in Wisconsin or California.
What is needed is someone with a national constituency and a bully pulpit to lead them towards a goal. Who do we think that is?
So much has happened over the time of his Presidency that it’s easy to forget that Trump happily followed the House Leadership on the Healthcare bill.
There was wishful thinking about Trump shaking things up, but let’s not forget that later in the primary cycle when dismayed anti-Trump commentators reported that “establishment Republicans” thought Trump would be pliable and open to being guided by the Congress and thus was better than throwing in with Cruz. This was disparaged as a pipe dream because of the fear that Trump would not be willing to be a figurehead.
We now have the worst case scenario. Trump is a controversy magnet, but both the outsider president and the establishment congress were not ready to take the reins. To Docjay’s point the greater failure appears to the average person (myself included) to lie with the Congress. Everyone knew Trump wouldn’t know how to be President, but aren’t GOP congressmen supposed to know how to craft legislation?
Gee, I never thought I’d long for the days of Hastert/Frist.
I think the fact that many are gun shy to defend the president publicly is understandable given the way those that have done so have been undercut by the man himself.
I think the best way forward for everyone is to treat the Mueller investigation for what it is – a ridiculous distraction. “Thank you for your question, but I’d rather talk about tax reform.” Change the subject and move on to things of substance.
Ryan, McConnell, Pence,Trump, and Ricochet.
Only if they want to. And they don’t wanna.
There are different sized sticks. I anticipate more of the awful kind, from both sides of the extremist crowd, if we can’t stop this madness.
Ryan and McConnell are expert cat herders – just look at how McConnell held the line on the Supreme Court. They are not the best visionaries or leaders. That has to be Trump – he has the force of personality and the position to pull it off. I just fear he lacks the vision and the conservative instincts to do so.
So far I’ve been proven wrong – lets hope I continue to be. The Mueller investigation is almost tailor made to distract a man of Trump’s particular personality and instincts – I fear he will get lost in it instead of rising above it.
I agree with much of what you state here except they didn’t run as a herd of cats. They always run as Conservatives but rarely (ever?) govern that way. Did anyone hear of “The Tuesday Group” before the health care debate? I’d really like to read a narrative from a GOP congressman (there will probably be a few unemployed in 2018) regarding Obama Care repeal – were they lying as a party? Were the opposing camps within the caucus well known among themselves or with leadership? I’m still gobsmacked that it seems that the caucus didn’t have a better feel where they stood as a group. Ryan, McCarthy – the Leadership appear particularly weak and clueless.
Of course not. Trump needs to use the metaphorical stick he has available to him as chief executive.
I guess it all depends on how he goes down? If by the end most people are convinced Trump abused his power and proved unstable as he grappled with the weight of investigation and accusations it might not be that 50/50.
I do agree that having him focus on anything else would only be positive for all involved, and I think it is clear that Congressional leadership is not stellar. But who is there to lead them? Who is better than Paul Ryan (he was the compromise candidate when the last speaker fell), and while McConnell is slow he does seem to have a plan. The problem McConnell has is his plan is to keep the majority and get reelected, and all his guts tell him the best way to do that is to do nothing (which may be true). This is why having a competent president would have been nice. Instead we need a party leader that can herd the congressional cats and keep the executive gorilla distracted and placated.
Before the election I was told by those who chose to bet on Trump that he would be guided by those around him. Trump though won’t be led and can’t be guided. Not even by his own defense lawyers.
I fear the only thing that may snap everyone out of their self-indulgence and paralysis is a real emergency, but God forbid that we should be tested in such away because honestly I think we might fail to pass.
What is the old saying ” Buyer be ware”. I think the answer is the simple one. No one expected Trump to win so no one thought they would have to live up to what they said. They literally are the dog who caught the car. Its sad really. Again though if our executive branch had its business together that might help to clarify things. But no one seems to be in charge.