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Post by jdredd on May 30, 2019 10:11:31 GMT -5
www.nytimes.com/2019/05/30/us/census-citizenship-question-hofeller.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage"WASHINGTON — Thomas B. Hofeller achieved near-mythic status in the Republican Party as the Michelangelo of gerrymandering, the architect of partisan political maps that cemented the party’s dominance across the country.But after he died last summer, his estranged daughter discovered hard drives in her father’s home that revealed something else: Mr. Hofeller had played a crucial role in the Trump administration’s decision to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census. Files on those drives showed that he wrote a study in 2015 concluding that adding a citizenship question to the census would allow Republicans to draft even more extreme gerrymandered maps to stymie Democrats. And months after urging President Trump’s transition team to tack the question onto the census, he wrote the key portion of a draft Justice Department letter claiming the question was needed to enforce the 1965 Voting Rights Act — the rationale the administration later used to justify its decision." My opinion: If the GOP is clever enough to pull this sh&t off, they deserve to rule. As the Mexican saying goes, if you don't cheat you don't get ahead.
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Post by jdredd on Jun 4, 2019 1:13:33 GMT -5
www.nytimes.com/2019/06/03/opinion/republicans-generation-gap.html?fallback=0&recId=1MAUUfCmFsdHIF4L2slMtpdJMVC&locked=0&geoContinent=NA&geoRegion=CA&recAlloc=top_conversion&geoCountry=US&blockId=most-popular&imp_id=617521029&action=click&module=Most%20Popular&pgtype=Homepage"The most burning question for conservatives should be: What do we have to say to young adults and about the diverse world they are living in? Instead, conservative intellectuals seem hellbent on taking their 12 percent share among the young and turning it to 3. There is a conservative way to embrace pluralism and diversity. It’s to point out that there is a deep strain of pessimism in progressive multiculturalism: blacks and whites will never really understand each other; racism is endemic; the American project is fatally flawed; American structures are so oppressive, the only option is to burn them down. A better multiculturalism would be optimistic: We can communicate across difference; the American creed is the right recipe for a thick and respectful pluralism; American structures are basically sound and can be realistically reformed. So far that’s not visible. My mentor William F. Buckley vowed to stand athwart history yelling “Stop!” Today’s Republicans don’t even seem to see the train that is running them over." The most surprising thing for me was that Mr. Brooks counts Bill Buckley as mentor. I guess I should have known. As for the "deep strain of pessimism in progressive multiculturalism", sounds more like realism to me. What's his solution? The "American creed"? Who decides what THAT is? And if "American structures are basically sound", why do we have an ignoramus and a bully as President? Is he even sane?
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Post by jdredd on Jul 9, 2019 19:34:27 GMT -5
www.nytimes.com/2019/07/09/us/politics/amy-mcgrath-2020-senate.html?action=click&module=Latest&pgtype=Homepage"WASHINGTON — Amy McGrath, a retired Marine lieutenant colonel and combat pilot whose star power in the Democratic Party in 2018 failed to capture her a House seat in Kentucky, announced Tuesday that she would seek to challenge Senator Mitch McConnell, the Republican majority leader, in 2020. Ms. McGrath, 44, made her intentions known with a dark video denouncing Mr. McConnell, 77, who was first elected to the Senate in 1984 and has served as the central ballast for President Trump in Washington. “Everything that’s wrong in Washington had to start someplace,” Ms. McGrath said in the video. “It started with this man who was elected a lifetime ago, and who has, bit by bit, year by year, turned Washington into something we all despise.” Wouldn't it be awesome to see Mitch McConnell retired by Kentucky?
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Post by jdredd on Jul 14, 2019 21:59:46 GMT -5
www.nytimes.com/2019/07/14/us/politics/trump-twitter-race.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage"WASHINGTON — President Trump woke up on Sunday morning, gazed out at the nation he leads, saw the dry kindling of race relations and decided to throw a match on it. It was not the first time, nor is it likely to be the last. He has a pretty large carton of matches and a ready supply of kerosene. His Twitter harangue goading Democratic congresswomen of color to “go back” to the country they came from, even though most of them were actually born in the United States, shocked many. But it should have surprised few who have watched the way he has governed a multicultural, multiracial country the last two and a half years. When it comes to race, Mr. Trump plays with fire like no other president in a century. While others who occupied the White House at times skirted close to or even over the line, finding ways to appeal to the resentments of white Americans with subtle and not-so-subtle appeals, none of them in modern times fanned the flames as overtly, relentlessly and even eagerly as Mr. Trump." Sounds to me like the price of the Republican's bargain with the Devil might be coming due.
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Post by jdredd on Jul 29, 2019 2:41:53 GMT -5
www.nytimes.com/2019/07/28/us/politics/trump-elijah-cummings-baltimore.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage"WASHINGTON — President Trump escalated his attack on an African-American congressman on Sunday by accusing the lawmaker and his allies of being the racist ones as an acrimonious debate with Democrats in Congress hit a new and increasingly divisive stage. Mr. Trump, who on Saturday disparaged the congressman, Elijah E. Cummings, a Maryland Democrat, for not doing more to fix his “disgusting, rat and rodent infested” district, said Democrats who called him racist as a result were themselves playing “the Race Card,” as he put it on Twitter. The president later specifically referred to Mr. Cummings as a racist without explaining why. “If racist Elijah Cummings would focus more of his energy on helping the good people of his district, and Baltimore itself, perhaps progress could be made in fixing the mess that he has helped to create over many years of incompetent leadership,” Mr. Trump wrote. “His radical ‘oversight’ is a joke!” See comment above.
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Post by jdredd on Aug 13, 2019 14:01:31 GMT -5
www.nytimes.com/2019/08/13/opinion/vichy-republican-trump.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage"It was, no doubt, this idea of collaboration that the filmmaker Ken Burns had in mind when, in 2016, he coined the term “Vichy Republican.” With the phrase, Mr. Burns pointed an accusing finger at those politicians who, during their party’s presidential primaries, decided to work with rather than condemn then-candidate Donald Trump. Three years later, Mr. Burns’s phrase seems prescient. With few exceptions, Republican lawmakers have accepted, if not always applauded, the gamut of morally disastrous and legally dubious acts pursued by their president. Even following the mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton, Ohio, Republicans have mostly refused to denounce or distance themselves from the president’s racist utterances and tweets." "Vichy Republicans". I like it.
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Post by jdredd on Aug 28, 2019 12:10:53 GMT -5
www.nytimes.com/2019/08/28/opinion/trump-white-voters.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage"In less than a decade, from 2010 to 2018, whites without a college degree grew from 50 to 59 percent of all the Republican Party’s voters, while whites with college degrees fell from 40 to 29 percent of the party’s voters. The biggest shift took place from 2016 to 2018, when Trump became the dominant figure in American politics." I remember well how for decades the Republicans called themselves the "smart" party. They aren't looking so smart anymore.
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Post by jdredd on Sept 4, 2019 15:08:11 GMT -5
www.nytimes.com/2019/09/04/us/politics/bill-flores-texas.htmlRepresentative Bill Flores of Texas said he would not seek re-election in 2020, joining a long list of Republicans retiring in a state that has become increasingly competitive. “When I originally announced that I was running for Congress in 2009, I was firm in my commitment that I would run for six or fewer terms,” Mr. Flores, who is serving a fifth term, said in a statement on Wednesday. “After much prayer over the past few days and following conversations with my wife, Gina, during that time, I have decided that my current term will be my last.” With his announcement, Mr. Flores became the fifth Republican in the state to bow out of the next election cycle, rather than face challengers. Representative Will Hurd, the only black Republican in the House, and Representatives Michael Conaway, Pete Olson and Kenny Marchant also recently announced they did not plan to run again. Texas Republicans, who have enjoyed a generation of dominance, are facing resistance as the population diversifies and because of their connection to President Trump and his incendiary brand of nationalist politics, including from suburban voters, a once dependable base." Five Republicans retiring in Texas alone! Maybe there are more Republicans with integrity than I thought.
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Post by jdredd on Oct 14, 2019 16:24:42 GMT -5
Ha-ha! Trump's withdrawal from Syria has all the symptoms of an Obama-style fiasco. I think the Republicans are getting more than they bargained for.
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Post by jdredd on Nov 4, 2019 2:19:41 GMT -5
www.nationalreview.com/2019/11/trump-reelection-campaign-white-working-class-democratic-nominee/ "White voters without college degrees are the reserve army of the GOP. They are a falling percentage of the U.S. population but a rising percentage of the Republican party. Recently the Wall Street Journal observed that the same number of voters identify as Republican today as in 2012. It is the composition of the party that has changed. In 2010, half of Republicans were white voters without bachelor’s degrees. Today 59 percent are. In 2010, 40 percent of Republicans were white voters with bachelors. That number has fallen to under 30 percent. The movement of whites without college degrees into the GOP is decades old. But the trend accelerated during the Obama years. Why? During his presidency, especially his second term, the regional, religious, and cultural differences between whites of varying educational attainment became more acute. The Republican party of 2019 is more rural, more un-credentialed, and more supportive of government intervention in the economy than it was before. And it backs President Trump. His approval among Republicans in the Journal/NBC News poll is 84 percent. None of his erstwhile primary challengers earn more than 2 percent support." As I noted before, they used to call the Democrats the "stupid" party.
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Post by jdredd on Nov 11, 2019 13:38:33 GMT -5
www.nytimes.com/2019/11/11/us/politics/peter-king-retire.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage"WASHINGTON — Representative Peter T. King, the longest-serving Republican in New York’s congressional delegation, said on Monday that he would retire, joining a growing exodus of Republicans from Congress ahead of the 2020 elections. Mr. King, who is currently serving his 14th term in the House, said in a statement that his decision was primarily motivated by the desire to end the weekly commute to Washington after nearly three decades and have “more flexibility” to spend time with his children and grandchildren. But in an interview, Mr. King conceded that the toxic political environment in Washington and the uncertainties of a coming impeachment proceeding against President Trump had underscored his sense that it was time to leave." Ha-ha! Another Republican congressman throws in the towel! Thank you Trump.
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Post by jdredd on Dec 14, 2019 18:29:15 GMT -5
www.nytimes.com/2019/12/14/us/politics/jeff-van-drew-democrat-republican.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage"WASHINGTON — Representative Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey, a moderate Democrat who is among his party’s staunchest opponents of impeaching President Trump, told aides on Saturday that he is planning to switch parties and declare himself a Republican as soon as next week, just as the House is casting its historic votes on articles of impeachment. At a White House meeting on Friday, Mr. Van Drew sought Mr. Trump’s blessing for the move, which could be critical to his ability to avoid a primary challenge next year, and the president urged him to make the jump, according to two Democrats and one Republican who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the talks were intended to be private. Mr. Van Drew has spoken with senior advisers to Mr. Trump about announcing his switch at an event at the White House either immediately before or just after the House votes on two articles of impeachment, which is expected to happen on Wednesday, according to Republicans and Democrats." Here's a New Jersey DINO dirtbag switching parties. Good riddance.
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Post by jdredd on Dec 31, 2019 17:01:12 GMT -5
www.nytimes.com/2019/12/31/opinion/republican-party-women.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage"Mr. Trump’s misogyny and the party’s far-right stance on issues such as abortion and L.G.B.T.Q. rights, guns and immigration have driven away many female voters. Women favor the Democratic Party over the Republican Party by a 19-point margin, according to the Pew Research Center. Seventy-three percent of women under the age of 30 disapprove of the president’s performance, according to the Harvard Institute of Politics Youth Poll. Suburban and college-educated white women, once reliable Republican voters, have fled the party in droves since Mr. Trump’s election. According to the Brookings Institution, white college educated women increased their vote for Democrats by 13 points between 2016 and 2018. Among women, only white evangelicals remain firmly committed to the G.O.P. and Mr. Trump." Must be only businessMEN who worship Trump.
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Post by jdredd on May 12, 2020 13:24:21 GMT -5
www.nytimes.com/2020/05/07/climate/coronavirus-republicans-climate-change.html?action=click&module=Well&pgtype=Homepage§ion=Climate%20and%20Environment"WASHINGTON — The coronavirus and the struggle to contain it has tanked the economy, shuttered thousands of businesses and thrown more than 30 million people out of work. As President Trump struggles for a political response, Republicans and their allies have seized on an answer: attacking climate change policies. “If You Like the Pandemic Lockdown, You’re Going to Love the Green New Deal,” the conservative Washington Examiner said in the headline of a recent editorial. Elizabeth Harrington, spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee, wrote in an opinion article in The Hill that Democrats “think a pandemic is the perfect opportunity to kill millions more jobs” with carbon-cutting plans. "And last week Mercedes Schlapp, a senior campaign adviser to President Trump, said on Fox Business that Joseph R. Biden Jr., the presumptive Democratic presidential candidate, supports “rainbow and unicorn deals like the Green New Deal” that would raise energy prices and harm an already-ailing economy." "Critics said the Republican line of attack smacked of some desperation. Recent national polling shows Mr. Biden’s lead over Mr. Trump expanding as even some Republicans lose faith in the president’s leadership. Eager to avoid talking about Mr. Trump’s response to the pandemic, Republicans have blamed China for the rising U.S. death toll, accused Speaker Nancy Pelosi of failing businesses, and now are warning that the Green New Deal is coming." I don't know, the Reps might win this argument.
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Post by jdredd on May 26, 2020 16:24:53 GMT -5
www.nationalreview.com/2020/05/trumps-grotesque-tweets/"No one goes to Donald Trump’s Twitter feed to be edified, but Trump’s series of tweets the last two weeks about MSNBC host Joe Scarborough has been grotesque even by his standards. Trump didn’t leave it at boasting about how he supposedly used Scarborough in 2016 (when the host gave him kid-glove treatment), or at mocking Scarborough’s ratings, or calling him “nuts,” all of which would have been routine unpresidential conduct, but insinuated that Scarborough is guilty of murdering a young woman who died in one of his Florida district offices in 2001 when he was a congressman." This is the conservative National Review learning what happens when you make a deal with the Devil. As for me, I made no deal with Trump but I also don't care if he is reelected as long as he gets us out of Afghanistan. I don't trust Biden.
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