Even tactically it would be the smart move for the Republicans.
Republicans have painted themselves into a corner on this issue by refusing to reject the fascism that has taken over the GOP. Fascism requires “others” to blame. You see it over and over. “This is all the fault of foreigners from X.” “This is because of Y minority group.” And of course, one of the “others” is always whatever the rival political party is. In this case, the Democrats.
For a fascist, it’s unthinkable to work with one of the “others”. It would be like Hitler partnering with Jewish people.
Republicans are already blaming Democrats bizarrely for not voting for McCarthy, at a time when McCarthy and all of the Republicans were blaming Democrats for everything, and vowing never to work with them again.
What we really need is a small group of Republicans to say the situation plainly. “The GOP is letting fascists take over and is becoming unamerican. I will not be able to support GOP leadership until they publicly reject fascism and eject extremists like Trump, Gaetz, and Greene from the party. I will still vote for my constituency’s conservative values, but I cannot let fascists control American politics, and so for House leadership, I am forced to vote for my conscience and support Hakeem Jeffries.”
Some Republican House member requested two things from Jim Jordan:
Ukrainian Aid
A public statement saying that Trump lost the 2020 election.
Jim Jordan responded by doxing him and letting the far-right MAGA Twitter hatemob harass him over this weekend. And Jim Jordan still wonders why this guy hasn’t flipped over to support him… Mind you: the other Republicans are more than happy to chastise the “defectors” and try to apply more pressure on them.
I don’t know what needs to happen for people to realize that this won’t work. But the political winds are very far against what you think they are right now. A giant speaker battle and public embarrassment over the new state of the Republican Party might be one of the better things to happen for this to blow over.
The actual play, if Democrats wish to engage, is to provide more power to acting speaker Patrick McHenry in exchange for various concessions.
The current plan being discussed is a Ukrainian/Israeli/Tawain aid bill, and probably another “kick the continuing resolution forward” another month or two.
No Republican Speaker wants to be seen as beholden to the Democrats, not with the politics as they are right now. But the acting-speaker has no such qualms, as its “temporary”.
What we really need is a small group of Republicans to say the situation plainly. “The GOP is letting fascists take over and is becoming unamerican.
This is literally why Romney is quitting the senate after this term[0]. It’s a long, but pretty sad read. The problem is these articles get no traction so people don’t see it. And then maga keeps getting more powerful
There’s a whole thing about one of the fundamentals of fascism is that there must be outgroups that the law binds but does not protect, and ingroups that the law protects, but does not bind. That’s basically the operating principle of the modern Republican party.
If I were a House Republican, I might say that in my speech. “I am a patriot who would give my life for my country. And as a patriot, I would obviously rather risk losing my seat than risk losing my entire country to fascism. I only pray that some of my colleagues also demonstrate that bravery.”
Of course, this isn’t going to happen. Patriotic Republicans had the opportunity to demonstrate their patriotism when Liz Cheney did, and we’ve already seen how many of the GOP had even the smallest amount of patriotism.
Republicans have painted themselves into a corner on this issue by refusing to reject the fascism that has taken over the GOP. Fascism requires “others” to blame. You see it over and over. “This is all the fault of foreigners from X.” “This is because of Y minority group.” And of course, one of the “others” is always whatever the rival political party is. In this case, the Democrats.
For a fascist, it’s unthinkable to work with one of the “others”. It would be like Hitler partnering with Jewish people.
Republicans are already blaming Democrats bizarrely for not voting for McCarthy, at a time when McCarthy and all of the Republicans were blaming Democrats for everything, and vowing never to work with them again.
What we really need is a small group of Republicans to say the situation plainly. “The GOP is letting fascists take over and is becoming unamerican. I will not be able to support GOP leadership until they publicly reject fascism and eject extremists like Trump, Gaetz, and Greene from the party. I will still vote for my constituency’s conservative values, but I cannot let fascists control American politics, and so for House leadership, I am forced to vote for my conscience and support Hakeem Jeffries.”
Some Republican House member requested two things from Jim Jordan:
Jim Jordan responded by doxing him and letting the far-right MAGA Twitter hatemob harass him over this weekend. And Jim Jordan still wonders why this guy hasn’t flipped over to support him… Mind you: the other Republicans are more than happy to chastise the “defectors” and try to apply more pressure on them.
I don’t know what needs to happen for people to realize that this won’t work. But the political winds are very far against what you think they are right now. A giant speaker battle and public embarrassment over the new state of the Republican Party might be one of the better things to happen for this to blow over.
At this point, spite should be a good enough reason for that House member to vote for Jeffries.
The actual play, if Democrats wish to engage, is to provide more power to acting speaker Patrick McHenry in exchange for various concessions.
The current plan being discussed is a Ukrainian/Israeli/Tawain aid bill, and probably another “kick the continuing resolution forward” another month or two.
No Republican Speaker wants to be seen as beholden to the Democrats, not with the politics as they are right now. But the acting-speaker has no such qualms, as its “temporary”.
Aside from that gigantic bowtie. I’m pretty sure if anyone gets too close to it, he can squeeze a little pump and squirt some water in their face.
We had that already. They were all voted out of office or had to not rerun because they wouldn’t get voted back.
This is literally why Romney is quitting the senate after this term[0]. It’s a long, but pretty sad read. The problem is these articles get no traction so people don’t see it. And then maga keeps getting more powerful
[0] https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2023/11/mitt-romney-retiring-senate-trump-mcconnell/675306/#
Fascism is really the core of conservative values, ultimately.
Say more about this please.
There’s a whole thing about one of the fundamentals of fascism is that there must be outgroups that the law binds but does not protect, and ingroups that the law protects, but does not bind. That’s basically the operating principle of the modern Republican party.
That’s not really fascism though, that’s just power.
And then they likely lose their primary to a trump candidate.
If I were a House Republican, I might say that in my speech. “I am a patriot who would give my life for my country. And as a patriot, I would obviously rather risk losing my seat than risk losing my entire country to fascism. I only pray that some of my colleagues also demonstrate that bravery.”
Of course, this isn’t going to happen. Patriotic Republicans had the opportunity to demonstrate their patriotism when Liz Cheney did, and we’ve already seen how many of the GOP had even the smallest amount of patriotism.
Liz Cheney had the biggest balls of them all.
Yeah, but she was still a fascist sympathiser who’s actions enabled the current bunch of wingnuts