Why does Donald Trump hold such power over the Republican Party?

[anna.]

But no matter what he says or does, his blind followers will respond as if they're on his leash.

All the while pretending to be experts on "mass formation psychosis." I actually had a right-winger trying to claim that "the left" had fallen victim to "mass formation psychosis." The irony was, and still is, astounding.

Just What Is Mass Formation Psychosis?

One doctor is pushing controversial theory on how the public is being coerced into getting vaxxed

www.medpagetoday.com

 

[anna.]

Republican politicians believe that they must have the support of the idiot base that the republican party has been pandering to for decades. So they continue to pander to them. But now so are their republican rivals, so they are all trying to 'out-pander' the other guy. Which is why they are becoming more and more and more absurd as time goes in. Trump became the mascot and hero for all these idiots that the republican party has been pandering to for so long, and he used that to win an election no one thought he could win. And then to take over the republican party by using that idiot base lie a weapon against any other republican that didn't bow to his every whim. And so they bowed, and bowed, and bowed, and bowed. And they are still bowing to this idiot base and it's idiot leader, Donald Trump. Because they are all afraid they will lose their elections if they don't pander to that idiot base. And by "idiot base", I mean that collection of people that are not particularly beholding to reality, and instead prefer fanciful lies and false promises and ego-stroking and magical thinking, righteous outrage and all that sort of internalized self-serving nonsense.

It goes beyond that. There were GOP legislators afraid to vote for impeachment because they feared for the safety of their families.

Romney: GOP members feared far-right violence ahead of key votes

According to Mitt Romney, some Republicans wanted to hold Donald Trump accountable, but they feared violence. That raises some uncomfortable questions.

www.msnbc.com

 

[metis]

It goes beyond that. There were GOP legislators afraid to vote for impeachment because they feared for the safety of their families.

View attachment 83993

Romney: GOP members feared far-right violence ahead of key votes

According to Mitt Romney, some Republicans wanted to hold Donald Trump accountable, but they feared violence. That raises some uncomfortable questions.

www.msnbc.com

And some reporters have stated that many of the Pubs in Congress well know Trump lost the 2020 election but won't publicly admit it because of their fear of getting "primaried".

John Kennedy wrote the book "Profiles in Courage", so another book should be written called "Profiles in Cowardice" about them.

 

[Maninthemiddle]

There are campaign finance laws that require disclosures. George Santos is an example of a person who did not think he would get caught committing fraud as discovered in his disclosures. One thing the USA election system needs is more transparency on donations, including money to political action committees. there is a lot of dark money that seems to being coming from very wealthy people seeking to influence government and judicial officials. To my mind this liberal interpretation of freedom of speech by conservative justices in Citizens United is a huge disservice to democracy. It seems to be a form of bribery to allow so much dark money to influence elected officials. They are elected to manage the communities, states, and federal governments for the sake of all citizens, not just the wealthy. The USA needs serious refom in the election cycle. Way too much money, and way too long. Streamlining the process will help reduce the need to raise money and beg for wealthy donors, and the sharing of campaign money will help candidates state their views and what they offer. It also needs to be easier to vote as more will participate.


The head of the FBI, a Trump appointee, said it was a secure election. Bill Barr, Trump's former AG said it was secure and fair. All election officials of all 50 states said there was very little fraud, and what there was was not significant. Trump and dozens of other people have been indicted for election fraud that failed, and these people are in the process of legal accountability, so the fraud failed.

So what is it you have questions about? The biggest case of fraud failed, and that was to help Trump who lost.

How is anything you have to offer as to "how that could happen" mean a damn thing? Do we take your assessment and views seriously when you refer to government as evil?

This whole notion of "government being evil" is a direct offshoot of Reagan's "government IS the problem" comment. Let's note he contributed to government being a "problem" with his tax cuts and excessive spending. Gingrich became speaker of the House in the mid 90's and he futher pushed the idea of government bein g a problem by not cooperating with democrats, and imveaching Clinton over rather non-government reasons. This trend of republican anti-government rhetoric evolved to the tea party, and then to MAGA. MAGA led to the Jan 6 attack on the Capitol. Was that the high water mark, or is Trump's base going to organize and attack America again as he faces more legal jeopardy and accountability? Trump and his people are a domestic threat. And he still holds influence over republicans. That means only democrats can be trusted to defend democracy in 2024, like it or not.

So I wouldn't say government is evil, rather that many public servants are expoiting the voter attitudes to divide them as a way to be poiltical. This has been largely republicans who have enjoyed creating enemies of the state to whip up fervor and devotion. This is much the same way salesmen make sales using emotional strategies. Doing this in policitics has led to conservative voters being more manipulated emotionally, and less informed via the internet and far right media. The left has been guilty of similar tactics, but if we compare both parties side by side the republicans are less tolerant and more restrictive, like being anti-LGTBQ, and less access to voting.

I was not referring to transparency in terms of finances, I was talking about the cover up of Bidens mental state.
He is totally incapable of doing the job and if it was not kept from people he would not be President.

 

[Bthoth]

Donald is the key to the door, that opens up to a new dawn of right wing authoritarianism and deregulation. The way forward in dismantling the republic itself. He would be the means by which the far right can enact their hateful agendas and racist progroms, with state sanction. He's a populist, and populists are tools.

He's not a populist, he is a crook that hates rules that can put him in check. That's why he is upset at going to court and having to admit being wrong.

 

[metis]

I was not referring to transparency in terms of finances, I was talking about the cover up of Bidens mental state.
He is totally incapable of doing the job and if it was not kept from people he would not be President.

What a bizarre assessment the above is. Intellectually, he's head & shoulders over Trump, the latter of which some close to him have said he's losing it.

 

[Revoltingest]

That is not the only reason. I also mentioned the early trauma study.

I'll add religion to the problem.
It's a strong correlation, ie, the more
Christian fundie the more Trumpie.

 

[Revoltingest]

Cool, so you openly and knowingly choose to support evil. And then you probably wonder why things are **** haha

I don't support evil.
But given a choice between 2 evils, I'll cast a vote for the lesser.
This was a very very difficult concept to get across to liberals
in 2016, when I judged Trump to be less evil than Hillary.
(And I had a low confidence, given Trump's lack of record
in public office. I described him as a "loose cannon".)
Many liberals cried "Trump supporter!
I tried an analogy of the sort....
You're forced to choose between having your arm or your
leg amputated. No other choice is viable. I'd choose losing
my leg. Does this mean I support involuntary leg amputation?
No!

 

[anna.]

And some reporters have stated that many of the Pubs in Congress well know Trump lost the 2020 election but won't publicly admit it because of their fear of getting "primaried".

John Kennedy wrote the book "Profiles in Courage", so another book should be written called "Profiles in Cowardice" about them.

The cowardice is something that's mystified me since 2015. How did they grow so many cowards? Liz Cheney, like her or loathe her, has more courage that all her GOP colleagues put together.

 

[anna.]

I don't support evil.
But given a choice between 2 evils, I'll cast a vote for the lesser.
This was a very very difficult concept to get across to liberals
in 2016, when I judged Trump to be less evil than Hillary.
(And I had a low confidence, given Trump's lack of record
in public office. I described him as a "loose cannon".)
Many liberals cried "Trump supporter!
I tried an analogy of the sort....
You're forced to choose between having your arm or your
leg amputated. No other choice is viable. I'd choose losing
my leg. Does this mean I support involuntary leg amputation?
No!

You voted for Trump in 2016?

 

[Revoltingest]

You voted for Trump in 2016?

Weren't you around then?
We had big nasty arguments about it.
I explained in detail why Hillary appeared
to be the greater evil. That was a close
election, so I didn't vote 3rd party.

Note that in 2020, Trump had attained a
record in public office. New data showed
him to clearly be the greater evil than Biden.
But in MI, Biden was clearly ahead, so
I had the luxury of voting for the Libertarian,
with no risk of Trump winning here.

 

[anna.]

Weren't you around then?

No. All you have to do is hover over or tap my avatar and you can see when I joined.

We had big nasty arguments about it.
I explained in detail why Hillary appeared
to be the greater evil. That was a close
election, so I didn't vote 3rd party.

Note that in 2020, Trump had attained a
record in public office. New data showed
him to be the greater evil than Biden.
But in MI, Biden was clearly ahead, so
I had the luxury of voting for the Libertarian,
with no risk of Trump winning here.

Not gonna resurrect old arguments, but color me surprised.

 

[Revoltingest]

No. All you have to do is hover over or tap my avatar and you can see when I joined.

I'm lazy.
I can barely muster energy to post here.

Not gonna resurrect old arguments, but color me surprised.

Why?

 

[anna.]

I'm lazy.
I can barely muster energy to post here.

Why?

Because there was plenty of data in 2016. Never Trumpers were actively trying to prevent his nomination in 2016.

In hindsight, do you still think Trump was the lesser evil? Knowing what you know now, would you have voted differently in 2016?

 

[Revoltingest]

Because there was plenty of data in 2016.

He'd never held public office, so there was no
way to know if what he said reflected what he'd
do in office. Hillary had a record of oppressive
government & wanting war.

Never Trumpers were actively trying to prevent his nomination in 2016.

That's just opinions of others, not data.

In hindsight, do you still think Trump was the lesser evil? Knowing what you know now, would you have voted differently in 2016?

It seems that Hillary would be less evil.
Trump's behavior in the White House from
2017 to 2021 yielded much data, eh.

 

[Little Dragon]

He's not a populist, he is a crook that hates rules that can put him in check. That's why he is upset at going to court and having to admit being wrong.

No, he's definitely a populist, and a crook.

 

[1137]

What a crock of crap...the left had nothing to do with Maga insurrectionism or any of that other drivel you projected.

You are claiming the left is free of grift, greed, powers not granted by the Constitution, loyalty over Constitution, election rigging, criminality, bigotry, ignorance, crony capitalism, sexual assault, felonious scheming, insurrections...?? With a straight face?? Even remove the last one and try...

 

[1137]

Strawman much? We're talking about political candidates, not "the left." And if you can't tell which political candidate is willing to do all of the above to maintain his power, than you can't be helped. Just outvoted.

We are talking about both.

Speak for yourself. Not every voter is an ignorant voter.

EVERY individual who upholds the current system and hopes it will magically change is ignorant.

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. - Albert Einstein

 

[1137]

That's "false equivalency", and it's a disingenuous tactic to cover up one's own bias so as to defend that which should be morally indefensible. If you can't tell the difference between Trump and Biden, the Pubs and the Dems on the basis of honesty versus dishonesty, well I don't have to even finish this sentence.

BTW, I used to be a Pub.

Please tell me the dif between the parties (not the candidates)?

 

[1137]

Then you are complicit.

Yes, by not supporting our evil and broken system I am responsible for it! Genius! You keep on knowingly and proudly supporting evil.