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Gingrich Rising. Awesome.

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The GOP’s electoral strategy requires Ron Popeil, not Abraham Lincoln. Now that I think about it, the GOP may have found exactly the man they are looking for.

 

From the very earliest stages of the race, Herman Cain showed no partiuclar aptitude for campaigning, nor any real mastery of the issues. In fact, in true “we don’t need no fancy book-learnin” GOP style, his breezy and arrogant incompetance was part of his appeal as a candidate. You see, only left-wing liberal elites know things. Real leadership is from the gut. Or something.

It wasn’t Herman Cain’s total lack of policy understanding that lead to the implosion of his candidacy. The blame for the Great Cain Collapse belongs to a torrent of embarrassing scandals involving a handful of borderline criminal sexual assualts and a 13-year extramarital affair.

Remember, this was at its core a vanity candidacy. An elaborite publicity stunt. It was never supposed to go this well. I don’t believe that Herman Cain ever really thought he’d be the nominee. Remember, Hermain Cain knew he had these skeletons in his closet. They weren’t even very well hidden skeletons. He just never thought he’d be successful enough for anyone to bother with trying to find them.

Cain simply underestimated the hatred many in the Republican Party have for Mitt Romney. With Rick Perry’s political acumen being awful to the point of self satire, someone had to fill the role of the Anti-Romney. Really, it was a timing thing. Hermain Cain had put in a few better than expected performances at the debates, and his absurd 999 thing was just catchy enough to make him seem plausable. After that things sort of spiraled out of control.

But that’s all over now.

Those too conservative to support Romney have abandoned Cain, and have instead placed their hopes in a new hero. This is the age of Newt, who has enthusiastically claimed the mantle of the Anti-Romney.

Gingrich Rising. Awesome.

This is where my head starts to hurt. I mean, I understand that intellectual consistency isn’t exactly highly valued within the GOP, but throwing your support behind Newt Gingrich because Herman Cain has a problem with fidelity is especially perplexing.

 

Far from protecting marriage, Newt Gingrich is a serial offender. Marriage should get a restraining order against Newt Gingrich. That Newt has spent even ten seconds at the top of the national polls demonstrates that the GOP has no interest in actually protecting marriage. They just want someone who can talk a good game.

 

Despite the fact that Newt Gingrich claims the well worn story about him serving his wife with divorce papers after her cancer surgery is largely untrue, Newt Gingrich is still a world class philanderer. He admits this himself.

There’s no question at times of my life, partially driven by how passionately I felt about this country, that I worked far too hard and things happened in my life that were not appropriate.”

Newt Gingrich was only making sweet, sweet love to America.

I might be ill. Let’s move on.

Newt said this back in March. This isn’t recent news. Newt Gingrich sexing up the American Flag is a long established fact. Republican voters are fully aware of this, and obviously do not care. Why then is it OK for Newt Gingrich to cheat on countless wives with scores of nubile young Reaganites, while at the same time rejecting Herman Cain for exactly the same sort of behavior? And how can either of these men be taken seriously as advocates for the sort of strict moral absolutism used to deny LGBT people their civil rights?

Because it doesn’t matter. None of this bogus “Family Values” crusading has any substance, and the fickle candidate shopping going on in the Republican primary battle proves it. Republican voters only seem interested in strict adherence to the Christian ethic when it can be used as a bludgeon with which to attack their enemies. When it comes to evaluating their own candidates, rampant infidelity and sexual indiscretion fit snugly into a blind spot just large enough to shield themselves from judgement. The only time they appear to care about these issues is when you happen to be gay, or are a Democrat, or are a Republican currently involved in some embarrassing scandal too big to spin.

I have always believed that the true measure of a person, or a movement, is to observe their actions rather than their words. Republicans can say whatever they want, but their views regarding the “sanctity of marriage” are only as relevant as the degree to which they apply those standards to themselves.

Republicans are fully aware of Newt Gingrich and his propensity for screwing his staffers. If any of them cared to open the Bibles that they are so fond of using to beat down LBGT people, then they would know where the source of their moral superiority stands on the issue of adultery. There is an entire commandment explicitly addressing it. (Hint: God appears to be decidedly opposed.) Far from protecting marriage, Newt Gingrich is a serial offender. Marriage should get a restraining order against Newt Gingrich. That Newt has spent even ten seconds at the top of the national polls demonstrates that the GOP has no interest in actually protecting marriage. They just want someone who can talk a good game. All they require is an vaguely appealing spokesperson who can competently recite the established Conservative talking points without choking on their own bile, or setting their podiums on fire in the process. What they want is someone who can fit in well with their brand marketing. No substance required.

The Republicans have crafted a platform designed to target specific segments of easy to manipulate voters. Moral Crusaders. Anti-Abortion activists. Foreign Policy Absolutists. The Bigoted. The Xenophobes. The Tax Zealots. The Paranoid.

Say the right things to these people, and they will vote for you. No questions asked. It’s not even very hard to do. Want to capture the Xenophobe vote? Talk about immigration. Need the Moral Crusaders on your side? Hate on the gays for awhile. Do this in the right combinations, and you can get enough votes to win an election. Simple. This is what the world is made of in the Fox News era. Play the right song, and all the snakes will follow you right out of town.

That sort of electoral strategy requires Ron Popeil, not Abraham Lincoln. They need not a leader, but a salesmen. With that sort of job description you really can’t do better than Newt Gingrich. Now that I think about it, the GOP may have found exactly the man they are looking for.

(Image, top, by  boris.rasin)


Benjamin Phillips is a Humor Writer, Web Developer, Civics Nerd, and all around crank that spends entirely too much time shouting with deep exasperation at the television, especially whenever cable news is on. He lives in St. Louis, MO and spends most of his time staring at various LCD screens, occasionally taking walks in the park whenever his boyfriend becomes sufficiently convinced that Benjamin is becoming a reclusive hermit person. He is available for children’s parties, provided that those children are entertained by hearing a complete windbag talk for two hours about the importance of science education, or worse yet, poorly researched anecdotes PROVING that James Buchanan was totally gay. If civilization were to collapse due to zombie hoards or nuclear holocaust, Benjamin would be among the first to die as he has no useful skills of any kind. The post-apocalyptic hellscape has no real need for homosexual computer programmers who can name all the presidents in order, as well as the actors who have played all eleven incarnations of Doctor Who.

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Why Dick Cheney Will Be Voting for Kamala Harris, According to Liz Cheney

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September 6, 2024

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Republican former Vice President Dick Cheney will cast his ballot in November for the current Democratic Vice President, Kamala Harris, according to his daughter, Republican former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney.

Dick Cheney, now 83, is also a former U.S. Secretary of Defense, U.S. Congressman, White House Chief of Staff, and the first-ever White House Deputy Chief of Staff. (To put that in perspective, that was exactly 50 years ago. There are currently now three Deputy Chiefs of Staff.) He is from a generation ago and possibly not well-known to many Americans. A hard-core Republican, during his time in the public eye and behind the scenes in the White House as President George W. Bush’s Vice President, Cheney was reviled by many Democrats, especially for his role in what the Bush administration would come to call “the Global War on Terrorism.”

But Friday, at the annual Texas Tribune Festival, The Atlantic’s Mark Lebovitz interviewed the former Vice President’s daughter (full video), who also served as Vice Chair for the U.S. House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack.

“Dick Cheney, your father, a beloved figure among Democrats for many, many years,” Lebovitz said, joking (video below). “Do you, if you know, who he will be supporting or who will be voting for? Do you care to share with us who he will be voting for?”

READ MORE: ‘Traitor’ Trump Trashed for Response to DOJ Kremlin Cash and Russia Disinfo Indictments

“Dick Cheney will be voting for Kamala Harris,” Liz Cheney replied, to howls and cheers from the audience. She had endorsed Harris for President earlier this week, and became one of hundreds of prominent Republicans who publicly have said they will not just not vote for  Donald Trump, but will vote for Harris for President.

“If you think about the moment we’re in, and you think about how serious this moment is, my dad believes — and he said publicly — there has never been an individual in our country who is as grave a threat to our democracy as Donald Trump is,” Cheney explained, as The Texas Tribune reported.

Two years ago Liz Cheney posted video of her father endorsing her bid for re-election, and denouncing Donald Trump.

She continued her remarks on Friday, explaining that, “obviously Vice President Harris and I have had and have policy disagreements on some issues, but I have been really impressed watching, for example, the Democratic Convention, listening to her speech at that convention, learning about her life story, learning about, you know, the story of her success, and the the extent to which it’s an American story and and I think we all have to walk ourselves back from this abyss that we’ve looked over in our politics and and work together to build a better future for this country.”

The former Congresswoman lost her seat over her opposition to Donald Trump and her participation and leadership on the January 6 Committee. On Friday she went even further in announcing her endorsements.

“One of the most important things we need to do as a country as we begin to rebuild our politics is we need to elect serious people,” Cheney continued. “Here in Texas, you guys do have a tremendous, serious candidate running for U.S. Senate.”

READ MORE: ‘Incoherent Gibberish’: Experts Trash Trump’s ‘Incomprehensible’ Answer to Policy Question

“It’s not Ted Cruz,” she said, announcing her support for Texas Democratic U.S. Rep. Colin Allred for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by the GOP Senator.

“Imagine telling yourself in the early oughts that Dick Cheney would one day endorse the Democratic candidate for president because the GOP’s 2024 nominee poses an existential threat to American democracy,” remarked Democratic strategist DJ Koessler. “The stakes in this election are truly historic.”

Political scientist David Darmofal commented, Kamala Harris’s “coalition now extends from AOC to Dick Cheney. She’s a uniter, not a divider.”

Watch Cheney’s remarks below or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Something’s in Play Here’ Says Ex-Trump NatSec Official on DOJ Russian Disinfo Indictment

Image via Shutterstock

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‘Traitor’ Trump Trashed for Response to DOJ Kremlin Cash and Russia Disinfo Indictments

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2 days ago

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September 6, 2024

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Donald Trump’s latest attack on American rule of law and the U.S. Dept. of Justice is facing condemnation. The GOP presidential nominee and convicted felon awaiting sentencing, while speaking at a courthouse press conference on his efforts to appeal a $5 million judgment in a New York sexual abuse and defamation civil case, called the DOJ’s bombshell indictments in the Kremlin cash and Russian disinformation case a “scam.”

“It’s always the same,” observed foreign policy, national security, and political affairs analyst and commentator David Rothkopf. “Defend Putin. Defend Russia. Defend corruption. Accuse those who are enforcing the law of being engaged in a scam. Why does he sound this way? Because he is a traitor and a criminal.”

Trump told reporters Friday, “This is a long and complicated web and story, but it all goes back to the DOJ and Kamala and sleepy Joe and all the rest of them.”

“We have a whole rigged election system,” he declared, as he often does, promoting his “Big Lie” that the 2020 election was stolen while appearing to be paving the ground for the same response should he lose in November.

READ MORE: ‘Incoherent Gibberish’: Experts Trash Trump’s ‘Incomprehensible’ Answer to Policy Question

“Nobody’s ever seen anything like what’s happening now. I understand yesterday, they’re bringing up Russia, Russia, Russia again, that they’ve done for years. Never found anything,” Trump falsely claimed. “But they should be looking at China, China, China, Iran, Iran, Iran, lots of other places.”

“I haven’t spoken to anybody from Russia in years. They know that, but it’s a scam,” he claimed. “But, it all goes back to the DOJ because we had a trial today. It’s an appeal of a ridiculous –.”

Trump was referring to this week’s indictments that reveal a U.S. media outlet that platformed several far-right pro-Trump influencers was funded with millions of dollars from Russia in a scheme to help Trump.

“The allegations,” NBC News reported on the indictments, “came as part of a wide-ranging move by the Departments of Justice, State and Treasury to target what the Biden administration says are Russian government-sponsored attempts to manipulate U.S. public opinion ahead of the November election.” In a separate report NBC News calls the influencers, “paid messengers for Russian propaganda.”

The Atlantic’s David Frum, a former White House speechwriter for Republican President George W. Bush, responded to Trump’s remarks, saying: “The only topic on which Trump never flip flops.”

READ MORE: ‘Something’s in Play Here’ Says Ex-Trump NatSec Official on DOJ Russian Disinfo Indictment

The liberal super PAC American Bridge responded to Trump’s comments by pointing to an Associated Press article and writing: “YESTERDAY Trump’s former senior campaign aide was charged for accepting $1 million to spew Kremlin talking points.”

Podcaster Fred Wellman remarked: “I’m a bit of a news hound and I didn’t see anyone saying that Trump had been talking to Russia yesterday. He is incapable of not blurting out confessions.”

Watch Trump’s remarks below or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Can’t Even Find a Complete Sentence’: Trump’s ‘Gobbldygook’ Childcare ‘Solution’ Slammed

 

 

 

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‘Incoherent Gibberish’: Experts Trash Trump’s ‘Incomprehensible’ Answer to Policy Question

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2 days ago

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September 6, 2024

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The fallout continues over Donald Trump’s remarks during what was billed as a “major economic speech” Thursday, now with business and economics experts blasting the ex-president’s “incoherent” answer when asked at The Economic Club of New York to explain what he would do to lower childcare costs for parents.

“Word Salad was served at the Economic Club of New York this afternoon. Despite the audience knowing it was a plate full of empty calories that may cause food poisoning… they ate it up,” MSNBC anchor Stephanie Ruhle remarked on social media. An NBC News senior business analyst, Ruhle worked in the finance industry for 14 years.

“Calling Trump’s remarks at the NY Economics Club incoherent gibberish is not a biased attack. It is a completely rational observation. He did not speak in coherent or complete sentences. And when he did, proposals like (tarriffs – childcare) do not make sense,” Ruhle added on X overnight.

RELATED: ‘Can’t Even Find a Complete Sentence’: Trump’s ‘Gobbldygook’ Childcare ‘Solution’ Slammed

“The 11th Hour,” the MSNBC show Ruhle hosts, called Trump’s remarks “economically illiterate.”

Ruhle was far from the only expert to blast Trump’s comments.

Reshma Saujani is the founder of the nonprofits Moms First and Girls Who Code. her bio says she “has spent more than a decade building movements to fight for women and girls’ economic empowerment, working to close the gender gap in the tech sector, and most recently advocating for policies to support moms impacted by the pandemic.”

Saujani is also the person on stage who asked Trump the childcare question.

“Incomprehensible at best,” is how she later characterized his response, “at worst, outrageously offensive to the millions of families drowning in costs.”

READ MORE: ‘Something’s in Play Here’ Says Ex-Trump NatSec Official on DOJ Russian Disinfo Indictment

Professor of economics and public policy Justin Wolfers, who often has appeared on MSNBC and CNN, posted a transcript of Trump’s remarks but deleted what policy issue he was actually discussing.

“With the context of his entire answer, can you guess what that issue is?” he asked.

Wolfers adds: “This policy analysis yields two substantive claims that relate to the topic:
1. “childcare is childcare” (fact check: true)
2. childcare is inexpensive relatively to his proposed tariffs (fact check: clearly false for many families with kids)”

New York Times financial columnist and CNBC anchor Andrew Ross Sorkin on MSNBC Friday said Trump’s remarks “seemed incoherent,” while warning that “the Republicans and the Trump machine have become really good at trying to bully people into submission, to some degree. To believe something that they don’t even believe because they’re seeing with their lying eyes and they’re unwilling to recognize what’s in front of them.”

Watch the video above or at this link.

RELATED: ‘Absolutely Bombing’: Trump Makes Pre-Inauguration Ukraine War Vow in Economic Club Speech

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