"The Moral Collapse of the Republican Party"

[metis]

Here's a couple of excerpts from Paul D. Miller, who teaches public policy at The University of Texas at Austin. He is a research fellow at the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. He previously served on the National Security Council Staff from 2007 through 2009:

What is baffling is that the strategic calculus is so obvious, yet the entire party is getting it so massively wrong. That they are getting it so wrong is evidence that they are wholly driven by short-sighted, tactical partisan interests. They want the Republican Party to win and they want to be reelected. This isn’t a shocking insight; it is exactly what elected politicians do.

But what surprises me is that they want the Republican Party to win no matter what the party stands for, even if the party flirts with white supremacy and proto-fascism. I held out the hope—now, I see, hopelessly deluded and naïve—that politicians understood that there is a line you don’t cross; there comes a point at which principle really does come before party; that the good of the nation should come before partisanship; and that when your party starts to go off the deep end, you jump ship...

But fourth, consider what you’re trying to believe: either Trump was faking his bombast, xenophobia, and illiberalism during the primary, in which case you have to ask: Why would a candidate believe it is to his advantage to pretend to be an American Mussolini? Or the alternative: Trump was genuine then and faking it now, in which case you’re openly rooting for Trump to trick his way into the presidency by lying about his contempt for the norms of democracy...

The entire article can be found here: http://thefederalist.com/2016/07/05/the-moral-collapse-of-the-republican-party/

Comments?

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

We're faced with a case of lowest-common-denominator nativism succumbing to crude, opportunistic narcissism. We've seen much the same in Europe and Great Britain.

We've seen such coalescing before. Perhaps we're wise enough now to crush it early in its growth cycle.

 

[tytlyf]

I just find it funny that the republican establishment media outlets have created this monster. And now that led to the destruction of their own party. Huge karma.

I still predict Rush will get his walking papers after the election. Give him 2 or less years.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

I just find it funny that the republican establishment media outlets have created this monster.

Ignorance and angst created this monster

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Trump essentially proves why the Founding Fathers weren't supporters of Democracy.

 

[tytlyf]

Ignorance and angst created this monster

Someone teaches them to be angry, paranoid, fearful, afraid, ignorant and low information. RW media is the teacher. On the web, radio and tv. It's fun to watch. Listening to the RW propagandist conspiracy theorists on the radio 5 days a week for 8 hours straight will do a number on small minds.

Actually, I think it's 12 hours each day. Around 9am - 9pm. These are grifters taking advantage of people.

Glenn Beck
Rush Limbaugh
Sean Hannity
Mark Levin
Michael Savage ?

 

[Brickjectivity]

There's nothing superior about one party over the other. The Democratic party is scarcely any better. The only difference is that the Republicans got into bed with ministries, and they weren't able to handle the results.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

The Democratic party is scarcely any better.

So, for example,

defending Planned Parenthood is scarcely any better than defunding it, and defending Roe v Wade is scarcely any better than endangering it.
​

Got it.

 

[tytlyf]

There's nothing superior about one party over the other. The Democratic party is scarcely any better. The only difference is that the Republicans got into bed with ministries, and they weren't able to handle the results.

Democratic party = middle class policies
Republican party = corporate policies

It's that simple.

 

[tytlyf]

So, for example,

defending Planned Parenthood is scarcely any better than defunding it, and defending Roe v Wade is scarcely any better than endangering it.
​

Got it.

You'll notice republicans want to defund PP because they do abortions. Although they don't tell their audience it's illegal for tax dollars to pay for abortions.

 

[Brickjectivity]

Democratic party = middle class policies
Republican party = corporate policies

You're confusing Democrat with Bernie.

 

[Brickjectivity]

So, for example,

defending Planned Parenthood is scarcely any better than defunding it, and defending Roe v Wade is scarcely any better than endangering it.
​

Got it.

Pretending to support Planned Parenthood is scarcely better. Pretending to defend Roe v Wade is, too. What else can it be called but half hearted, and what effort has been made to win over the opposition? I've watched name calling, hate and pity. I remember all the heat toward bush and how he was howled out on his last day in office. The Democrats have nothing to be proud of but sheer luck.

 

[tytlyf]

Pretending to support Planned Parenthood is scarcely better. Pretending to defend Roe v Wade is, too. What else can it be called but half hearted, and what effort has been made to win over the opposition? I've watched name calling, hate and pity. I remember all the heat toward bush and how he was howled out on his last day in office. The Democrats have nothing to be proud of but sheer luck.

The constitution is a secular document. The PP movement is religious based. No one wants christian law in America.

 

[Mindmaster]

The purveyors of hate are always the deceivers. Whether they are Republicans or Democrats is no matter.

The Democrats "flirt" with totalitarianism and enforced banana republics, but you are hardly so incensed by these notions.

 

[tytlyf]

The purveyors of hate are always the deceivers. Whether they are Republicans or Democrats is no matter.

The Democrats "flirt" with totalitarianism and enforced banana republics, but you are hardly so incensed by these notions.

What's wrong with Banana republics? We need all the allies we can get. Concerning totalitarianism, democrats don't advocate that. Regulations are necessary when greed and corruption gets out of control.

For instance, republicans cry about regulations because they're lobbied by the fossil fuel industry. The fossil fuel industry doesn't like regulations because they hurt profits. It's much cheaper to pollute America than try to curb their pollution.

 

[Brickjectivity]

For instance, republicans cry about regulations because they're lobbied by the fossil fuel industry. The fossil fuel industry doesn't like regulations because they hurt profits. It's much cheaper to pollute America than try to curb their pollution.

I can't argue with that. Its true %100.

 

[Revoltingest]

If there's a moral collapse of the party, this raises the question....
When was it more moral than it is now?

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

If there's a moral collapse of the party, this raises the question....
When was it more moral than it is now?

The 19th to early 20th century?

 

[Mindmaster]

What's wrong with Banana republics? We need all the allies we can get. Concerning totalitarianism, democrats don't advocate that. Regulations are necessary when greed and corruption gets out of control.

For instance, republicans cry about regulations because they're lobbied by the fossil fuel industry. The fossil fuel industry doesn't like regulations because they hurt profits. It's much cheaper to pollute America than try to curb their pollution.

This is nearly irrelevant since the Keystone pipeline, expanded fracking, and more drilling in the Gulf are all Obama's babies. Logically, the party is behind them -- the environmental argument has absolutely zero credibility. A corrupt government cannot regulate an industry because it simply can be bought off, which is all that happens with the current regime, and any fictional good this does is just that. You have to suffer from cognitive dissonance to think the Democrats give a single **** about the environment.

Banana republics mean that poor and rich people play by different rules, but it also means that whoever pays the most to the incumbents is the one that wins regardless of the impact. Anyway, I'm a Libertarian so I neither suffer from the need to have the government enforce morality (Republicans) or the government to ruin our economy (Democrats). I am aware that both takes are completely miserable and destructive to personal and economic freedoms.

 

[Revoltingest]

The 19th to early 20th century?

Given the things which went on in Americastan during this period, their moral superiority would be a hard case to make.