President Trump - the GOP's red-headed stepchild?

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MaxE
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26 Feb 2017, 11:14 am

I could go on at length about this, but will try to be brief and hope to be understood. Too bad about the forthcoming flamewar.

So basically, the GOP created the Tea Party shortly after Barack Obama's election as President. Essentially, the Tea Party embodied a grass-roots version of the sort of ideologically pure conservatism begun by a group of conservatives whose political thinking had been inspired by Ronald Reagan's presidency during their formative years, and an intellectual rebellion against their Baby Boomer/New Left predecessors. The problem was that their message was too strongly geared towards true believers, elitist, and most favorable to the wealthiest members of society. So instead, they crafted a new message based primarily on animosity toward Obama (for various reasons) and the fact that a lot of people were desperate and angry during the depths of the Great Recession. This was wildly successful. In the next election after Obama, the entire incumbent County Council of a county neighboring mine was replaced by avowed Tea Partiers, and the US Congress switched to majority GOP from majority Democrat.

What the GOP didn't anticipate (or maybe they did, but that's a different and more paranoid interpretation of recent events) was Donald Trump. Trump, so far as I can tell, basically just wanted to be President (granted he may have honorable reasons for this) and mounted a successful campaign. The thing is, his campaign succeeded largely because of how well his base had been energized over the previous two administrations, by the Tea Party. However, what he promised as a candidate was what rank-and-file Tea Party adherents actually want - not the elitist society hoped for by the Tea Party's originators.

Now I see "traditional" Republicans openly express lack of support for Trump. What made me think of this today was the news that Darrell Issa doesn't want Jeff Sessions responsible for the investigation of alleged ties of the Trump campaign to Russia. Given that such an investigation could jeopardize Trump's legitimacy as President, this is a telling development (or one small part of a larger long-term plan, but paranoia).

I can't help think that the GOP may wish it had done some things a bit differently over the last several years. Or at least I hope it's that simple.


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LoveNotHate
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26 Feb 2017, 12:59 pm

Tea party wants tax cuts.

Trump promises tax cuts.

Trump is about to become a hero to the working people.

Ask anyone, would you rather send money to government or keep it?



MaxE
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26 Feb 2017, 1:17 pm

LoveNotHate wrote:
Tea party wants tax cuts.

Trump promises tax cuts.

Trump is about to become a hero to the working people.

Ask anyone, would you rather send money to government or keep it?
However Darrell Issa, who I would consider a Tea Partier, wants to appoint a special investigator to "look into possible contacts between Donald Trump's associates and the Russians during last year's election" (some of this wording is derived from here).

In the past, Republicans have appointed special investigators to investigate folks like Bill Clinton. It's not exactly a show of support. This is my point.


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Kraichgauer
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26 Feb 2017, 3:46 pm

LoveNotHate wrote:
Tea party wants tax cuts.

Trump promises tax cuts.

Trump is about to become a hero to the working people.

Ask anyone, would you rather send money to government or keep it?


Realistically, how is the country supposed to run without the collection of revenue? Taxation is the price we pay for living in a civilized society.


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ASPartOfMe
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27 Feb 2017, 3:05 am

Tea Party at first was reaction against the bailouts supported by both parties and Obamacare. It quickly hijacked by the Republican party


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Kraichgauer
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27 Feb 2017, 5:29 am

ASPartOfMe wrote:
Tea Party at first was reaction against the bailouts supported by both parties and Obamacare. It quickly hijacked by the Republican party


And from there, it quickly became an astroturf movement, sponsored by right wing plutocrats like the Kochs and Sheldon Adelson.


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LoveNotHate
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27 Feb 2017, 5:46 am

Kraichgauer wrote:
LoveNotHate wrote:
Tea party wants tax cuts.

Trump promises tax cuts.

Trump is about to become a hero to the working people.

Ask anyone, would you rather send money to government or keep it?


Realistically, how is the country supposed to run without the collection of revenue? Taxation is the price we pay for living in a civilized society.

You seem to have a dim view of humanity.

You think people can't act civilized without a government official around?



Kraichgauer
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27 Feb 2017, 6:10 am

LoveNotHate wrote:
Kraichgauer wrote:
LoveNotHate wrote:
Tea party wants tax cuts.

Trump promises tax cuts.

Trump is about to become a hero to the working people.

Ask anyone, would you rather send money to government or keep it?


Realistically, how is the country supposed to run without the collection of revenue? Taxation is the price we pay for living in a civilized society.

You seem to have a dim view of humanity.

You think people can't act civilized without a government official around?


Human beings have devised some kind of government or another since time immemorial for their mutual benefit, whether that government is a simple village headman in the African bush, or is the President of the United States. We're social creatures; living without government organization is almost certainly against our very programing, especially since the lone individual is impotent and subject to early death.


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MaxE
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27 Feb 2017, 7:16 am

Kraichgauer wrote:
ASPartOfMe wrote:
Tea Party at first was reaction against the bailouts supported by both parties and Obamacare. It quickly hijacked by the Republican party


And from there, it quickly became an astroturf movement, sponsored by right wing plutocrats like the Kochs and Sheldon Adelson.
Yes, but was the election of Trump the ultimate goal? Wouldn't they have preferred somebody like Scott Walker in the WH? Or was Trump's election just one step towards a goal that has yet to be achieved?


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Kraichgauer
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27 Feb 2017, 7:22 am

MaxE wrote:
Kraichgauer wrote:
ASPartOfMe wrote:
Tea Party at first was reaction against the bailouts supported by both parties and Obamacare. It quickly hijacked by the Republican party


And from there, it quickly became an astroturf movement, sponsored by right wing plutocrats like the Kochs and Sheldon Adelson.
Yes, but was the election of Trump the ultimate goal? Wouldn't they have preferred somebody like Scott Walker in the WH? Or was Trump's election just one step towards a goal that has yet to be achieved?


As Trumps nomination and election had so unexpectedly blindsided everyone, I find it hard to believe it was pre-planned by anyone, with the possible exception for Alt Right white nationalists.


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27 Feb 2017, 8:04 am

I've heard people say that the "Koch Brothers" control elections, basically. In addition to many other theories pertaining to people "behind the scenes" who control the Presidency and even other branches of government.

Trump's election belies these theories, I feel.

I just feel people were dissatisfied with the status-quo--yet didn't think things through, didn't think about the possible implications of Trumpism.

I might change my mind----if we can get the manufacturing jobs back, and we can maintain prestige internationally by doing good works to offset the nasty bad works of isolationism.



Tim_Tex
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27 Feb 2017, 6:13 pm

The irony is that the Kochs despise Trump, as well as white nationalism, and religious extremism.


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Kraichgauer
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27 Feb 2017, 6:23 pm

Tim_Tex wrote:
The irony is that the Kochs despise Trump, as well as white nationalism, and religious extremism.


But they've been known to have shared common causes with religious extremists.


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