Politics The Elephant in the room...The GOP today

I was a light smoker off (mostly) and on for years. I do not understand how our US government, or any government any where, allows the sale of tobacco products. With the exception of the large amounts of money changing hands.

 

Same thing with alcohol. Imagine if alcohol did not exist and Coke said they were coming out with a new line of products. Tastes great, but some of you will get addicted. Consuming more than a liter at a time will probably kill you. It leads to cancer and cirrhosis of the liver. It will modify your dna. You cannot safely operate a motor vehicle after consuming it because it will lead to 12,000 motor vehicle deaths a year. You will make bad decisions under it's influence. It will be involved in 40% of violent crimes. It will tear apart families and it's expensive. So drink up and enjoy this wonderful new product. People would be rightfully outraged. But because it has been around for centuries, it is considered acceptable. Common doesn't mean correct.

 

I feel so very sorry for those poor Republicans.

Choosing between upholding our Constitution and democracy by refusing to participate in the proposed ploys on Jan 06.
And thereby providing fodder for charges of being disloyal Republicans.
And pissing off Trump's base.

Or participate in the ploys, and risk providing ammunition to the Democrats...and Republicans.

I feel so very sorry for those poor Republicans.

 

It will certainly be more of a spectacle than occurred in Jan 2017 when the joint session of Congress convened to confirm the certifications of the state electoral results for Trump.

As Biden, who was presiding, worked through the states, 11 times a House Democratic rose up to oppose the certification of a state and Biden had to gavel them down for being out of order, given that no Democratic Senators joined the objection..



11 times VP Biden was interrupted during Trump’s electoral vote certification

Vice President Joe Biden presided over a joint session of Congress Friday, where members officially tallied electoral votes from the 2016 presidential election. President-elect Donald Trump’s 304 electoral votes weren’t counted without incident, however. During the course of the certification, House Democrats tried to object to electoral votes from multiples states, with Biden gaveling them down for failure to follow the rules.

Objections to the votes needed to be in writing and signed by both a member of the House and a member of the Senate. Every House member who rose to object did so without a senator’s signature...more.​

The difference this time is the one Senator who will also object along with possibly dozens of House members, meeting the necessary criteria of having at least one member of both the House and Senate objecting.

When Pence works through the states and objections by both a member of House and Senate object, the joint session is adjourned and the House and Senate meet separately to vote on the objection.

Since BOTH the House and the Senate must agree to object to any state electoral results, it is dead on arrival given the Democratic House majority. It is still not clear how many states may face an objection. It could be as few as one or as many as six.

In some respects, the process might be good for Democrats by requiring Republicans to go on the record and vote to either uphold the Constitution and the duly certified results submitted by the states or ignore the Constitution and support Trump, making their vote an issue in 2022.

 

I'm really running thin on entertaining hyperbole regarding current politics.....

I took to wearing a chin strap just to keep my jaw dropping every time I look out the window at the GOP and related cultists, malitias, conspiracy believers "men's drinking clubs" etc.

Back when I first voted, Reagan vs Carter, my gut said the GOP wasn't who I'd want to stand with. Then AIDS came along and I saw how dismissive Reagan was and how he pandered to the christian base. At that point I knew I couldn't stand with these folks.
Like, if you stop thinking politics but think of it as gigantic back yard bbq partys...
Who would you want.to hang with ? Who's party is more fun ? Who's got better food, drugs and music ? Which party is more likely to get violent / mean/ angry ? Who's party has the most interesting conversations ?
If you -anyone- was at a party and overhead conversation like things Gavin McGinnis talks ? I mean dang I'd be like, hey bro I am outta here this just isn't my scene.

To me, the GOP is now too much in bed with christianity and really, the worst aspects of christianity so it's all a total loss.

 

To add, Mom was republican and I own all her Ayn Rand newsletters and a few books, first prints !
She saw what I'm talking about here, and more or less not pleased with it. She stopped (lutheran) church after college when it didn't jibe with science.

 

Ted Cruz is:

The kid who begs to be Hall Monitor, then totally blows it with misguided overzealousness.

The kid in high school who is so desperate to join he drives away potentional invitations to join.

The junior assistant night manager who acts as though he owns the fast food restaurant.

 

I would love a good analysis of why this is.
All I can think of is that these folks are educated at decent schools and most have law degrees, law is all about logical argument and thinking.
How can they possibly live with the internal cognitive dissonance of their life on and on ?

I feel like it goes back to religion, if your willing to accept inconsistent realities...I guess anything goes that you can spin it to your satisfaction and those under you. But even that isn't a very satisfying answer.

 

Ted is barny fife ? Hmm, if barny fife and eddy haskell had a baby, yeah.

--- Double Post Merged, Jan 5, 2021, Original Post Date: Jan 5, 2021 ---

This is not encouraging.

--- Double Post Merged, Jan 5, 2021 ---

Ted knows without doubt Trump will shit all over him again at drop of a hat, they all do, so why defend ? Blackmail ? What is is ?

 

Cruz is playing to Trump's strong base in Texas. This could backfire. Cruz had a tough race with Beto O'Rourke (if Beto had had an actual platform instead of vague feel-good generalities...). Our Republican senators were reelected but they mostly separated themselves from Trump.