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Partering Glances

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Realizing Yourself, Leaving Others

It all started last Monday and I blame Charles Johnson. Who? Well, if you read me you probably don’t read him. He’s the guy who writes the incredibly successful right-wing political blog, Little Green Footballs. And he’s a parter.

What’s a “parter?” What? – You don’t know? A parter is someone so well-known for who they are that it seems incomprehensible that they would “part ways” with their current “affiliations.” Johnson did just that last Monday, in his post, “Why I Parted Ways With The Right.”

On his list of ten reasons why he parted ways with the Right, Johnson says, is their:

“2. Support for bigotry, hatred, and white supremacism (see: Pat Buchanan, Ann Coulter, Robert Stacy McCain, Lew Rockwell, etc.)”

and,

“5. Support for homophobic bigotry (see: Sarah Palin, Dobson, the entire religious right, etc.)”

and, quite possibly my favorite:

“10. Hatred for President Obama that goes far beyond simply criticizing his policies, into racism, hate speech, and bizarre conspiracy theories (see: witch doctor pictures, tea parties, Birthers, Michelle Malkin, Fox News, World Net Daily, Newsmax, and every other right wing source)”

(Shameless plug: Check out all the writing I’ve done about Michelle Malkin.)

Now, I confess I don’t read Little Green Footballs. (It’s OK; I’m sure Charles doesn’t read me either.) So I can’t tell you that he’s become a huge Socialist, or that he now supports a single-payer option, or really, anything. But I can tell you that the news of “parting ways” made the major media. Most importantly, I can tell you that it’s not he who has changed, so much as it is those around him.

The next day, Tuesday, another conservative blogger, and a man for whom I have great respect, the incredibly intelligent Andrew Sullivan, became a parter. In “Leaving the Right,” he says,

“…there has to come a point at which a movement or party so abandons core principles or degenerates into such a rhetorical septic system that you have to take a stand. It seems to me that now is a critical time for more people whose principles lie broadly on the center-right to do so – against the conservative degeneracy in front of us.”

Wow. Sullivan, who is gay and a strong supporter of marriage equality, has for a while now been embracing his inner Left. But this was a big, bold statement.

He goes on. In his own (unenumerated) list, Sullivan details his reasons, including,

“I cannot support a movement that regards gay people as threats to their own families.”

and offers,

“I cannot support a movement that does not accept evolution as a fact.

“I cannot support a movement that sees climate change as a hoax and offers domestic oil exploration as the core plank of an energy policy.”

and,

“I cannot support a movement that refuses to distance itself from a demagogue like Rush Limbaugh or a nutjob like Glenn Beck.”

And I must throw in this final gem:

“Does this make me a “radical leftist” as Michelle Malkin would say? Emphatically not. But it sure disqualifies me from the current American right.”

Bravo, Mr. Sullivan!

But wait – there’s more.

Just one day after Sullivan made his announcement came yet another parter: Meredith Baxter! She partered big time, by announcing on the Today Show, that she is a “lesbian.” (I’m putting it in quotes, out of respect – not like some conservatives put quotes around the term “gay marriage,” as if it weren’t “real marriage,” – but because it’s the word she used and a lot of lesbians were glad she used that word instead of “gay,” like Ellen did.)

Just one week after Johnson’s announcement, came news of another sort of partering. Yesterday, Al Diamon wrote about the partering of Larry Grard. Who is Larry Grard? Yeah, I didn’t know either. Turns out the Mr. Grard was, and I say was because he no longer is, a reporter for the Morning Sentinel, a Waterville, Maine newspaper. Grard was partered against his will, for emailing HRC and calling them “haters.” (I put “haters” in quotes, respectfully or not, because that’s the word he used. And it’s the word that got him partered.)

I’ll make no comment about Grard, except to say that if you’re going to say something, best be comfortable signing your name, or it’s probably not a good idea to say it. (Me, I sign everything I write.)

But, at least for (formerly Right-wing) bloggers, it’s not a one-way street. Sullivan calls attention to another parter.

In, “Leaving The Left,” Sullivan writes,

“A blogger explains why reading the liberal blogosphere’s routine attacks on Obama has led her to rethink where she stands.”

Here’s what said liberal blogger wrote, in “Why I’m Not a Liberal Anymore,”

‘”The stuff coming out of “progressive” mouths is all too often on a par with Glenn Beck’s abusive rants–both sides (right and left wingers) playing thousand-pound national football with the President as the ball…”

(And later, in, “Leaving The Left, ctd.,” Sullivan shares readers’ responses. I urge you spend the three minutes it will take you to read it.)

So, there’s been a lot of change, a lot of partering, if you will, over the past week or so. I’m not sure quite yet what to make of it all. My friend Cody Daigle might chalk it up to, “Saturn Returns.”

In truth, all of these folks haven’t changed, so much as remained true to who they are, while they saw the world, their world, change. And they responded. Some, like Johnson and Sullivan, taking positive, productive stances. Some, like Grard, taking a negative and unproductive stance. Some, like Baxter, allowing her true being to be seen, and thus, remaining true to herself as well.

I’ll leave you to draw your own conclusions. And to chart your own course of action.

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News

Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Senate Run Just Became Much More Likely

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12 hours ago

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May 5, 2025

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U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, one of President Donald Trump’s most vocal and loyal allies, has for weeks been eyeing a Senate run aimed at unseating freshman Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff—one of the GOP’s top 2026 targets.

On Monday, that Senate run became far more viable for the Georgia GOP congresswoman, as the top potential Republican candidate, Governor Brian Kemp, reportedly has decided to not run.

The right-wing Daily Caller website had reported that Greene was “seriously considering a run for Senate in 2026,” and reportedly “believes she would ‘crush’ the GOP primary contest if the governor were to pass on the contest.”

Politico on Monday reported that Governor Kemp “will not run for Senate in 2026, according to three people familiar with his decision.”

And despite Greene being a “divisive” candidate, Politico noted that “Ossoff is still likely to face a difficult race in a historically conservative state that President Donald Trump carried last November.”

It appears Greene has wasted no time fundraising—and no time attacking Ossoff.

READ MORE: ‘Don’t Gaslight Families’: Backlash as GOP Defends ‘Shared Sacrifice’ of Christmas Shortages

In an email to supporters, Greene called the award-winning Senator Ossoff a “Radical Transgender Activist.” She has been attacking the transgender community for years.

She also attacked the “globalist billionaires.” As The Forward’s senior political reporter Jacob N. Kornbluh notes, Ossoff is Jewish.

Politico’s Meredith Lee Hill added that in addition to Greene, there are at least five other potential GOP candidates, including Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.

Earlier on Monday, Greene warned that Republicans are on track to “lose the midterms,” as Raw Story reported.

Punchbowl News’ Mica Soellner late Monday afternoon added that Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries appears to see Greene as the GOP’s candidate to run against Ossoff.

“Why is the Republican Party stuck with Marjorie Taylor Greene as their candidate for the United States Senate seat in Georgia? … because Donald Trump and House Republicans are on the run,” he reportedly said.

See the social media post above or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Maoist’ ‘Soviet’ ‘Communist’: As Trumpism 2.0 Takes Shape, Experts Endeavor to Define It

 

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News

‘Don’t Gaslight Families’: Backlash as GOP Defends ‘Shared Sacrifice’ of Christmas Shortages

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13 hours ago

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May 5, 2025

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Many Republican members of Congress are now backing President Donald Trump’s reversal of his 2024 campaign promise to lower consumer prices “on day one,” embracing instead a new era of “shared sacrifice” as his global tariff war drives up costs and threatens the availability—and affordability—of goods.

U.S. Rep. David Joyce (R-OH) is facing criticism for going all-in on promoting Trump’s tariffs and the administration’s claim that “shared sacrifice” is necessary to move the U.S. economy to one centered on manufacturing.

“The president who had promised in his inaugural address that ‘the Golden Age of America begins right now’ was all of a sudden suggesting that ‘there will be a little disturbance, but we’re OK with that,'” wrote Politico magazine‘s Jeff Greenfield last month. “Trump’s economic team also chimed in; his Treasury secretary said the economy might need a ‘detox’ period, while his billionaire Commerce secretary said a recession would be ‘worth it’ (and also that his mother-in-law would not mind missing her Social Security check).”

On Monday, Congressman Joyce told CNN (video below), “you know, look, anybody who’s ever chased the one of these dolls, the American Girl doll or the chubby ones that were a big one, in my —”

READ MORE: ‘Maoist’ ‘Soviet’ ‘Communist’: As Trumpism 2.0 Takes Shape, Experts Endeavor to Define It

“Cabbage Patch Kids,” Dana Bash offered.

“Yes, yes, thank you, Cabbage Patch—when my kids were little—know what an important Christmas event that is,” Joyce explained. “But obviously, you know, this doesn’t stop and start overnight. And so the idea that the Christmas trade is already starting to slow down the progress, and there might be less around, I get it. I think American people will understand that, because American people understand shared sacrifice.”

“But what needs to be explained to them is that China has been eating our lunch.”

“If you ever go back and look after World War II, they’ve slowly but surely stolen all of our steel industry by undercutting us. Spring wire, everything they’ve done, they’ve stolen our technology that’s gone over.”

He described China as “the enemy.”

Critics are blasting Ohio Republican.

“Shared sacrifice?” asked investment banker Evaristus Odinikaeze. “Trump hoards luxury golf clubs while telling kids they don’t need dolls. This isn’t wartime rationing, it’s economic mismanagement and manufactured austerity dressed up as discipline. Don’t gaslight families struggling to afford basic joys. This is unconscionable!”

“WE AREN’T AT WAR!” declared veteran activist and podcaster Fred Wellman. “This is all self inflicted.”

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Entrepreneur and community activist Ann Yarko Orner wrote: “I was told for years that the government telling us what we could and could not have was tyranny by the Republican Party. One of the reasons, I joined the party. Now Republicans sound like Communists. Reagan would be appalled.”

Dawn Smart, CEO of Doré Designs, wrote: “When the bread lines start (Russia during 70’s and 80’s) they will be telling us it’s shared sacrifice again. Never let MAGA call the Dems communists again because what we have happening right now is communism. Unless we act soon, our lives will be very different.”

Watch the video below or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Absolutely No Clue’: Trump Roasted Over Unique Declaration of Independence Interpretation

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OPINION

‘Maoist’ ‘Soviet’ ‘Communist’: As Trumpism 2.0 Takes Shape, Experts Endeavor to Define It

Published

15 hours ago

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May 5, 2025

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In the 105 days since Donald Trump began his second term as President, political observers and experts have been working to define and explain what Trumpism 2.0 is—and what it is not.

For some, the “not” is obvious. Critics suggest the United States is no longer a fully functioning democracy, but a nation sliding toward authoritarianism. Under Trump, they say, this is not a country growing stronger—or moving toward a brighter future.

That may explain the increasingly stark language used by his critics. One likened his recent televised Cabinet meeting to “something that frankly I would’ve expected out of North Korea.” Another said, “I didn’t sign up to live in the f—— Soviet Union,” in response to Trump’s claim that “a beautiful baby girl that’s 11 years old” doesn’t need 30 dolls or 250 pencils. “They can have three dolls or four dolls… they can have five” pencils. Others argue that Trumpism is now “primarily about the acquisition of power—power for its own sake.”

Political observers, experts, scholars, and critics are increasingly focused on signs of Trumpism’s extremism, authoritarianism, fascistic demagoguery, and even its apparent support for movements some say verge on fascism itself.

The current Trump administration “is supportive of a German political party that is the direct successor to National Socialism”—Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Party—national security attorney Mark Zaid warned on Sunday. He appeared to be referring to Alternative for Germany (AfD), which German authorities have officially designated a “right-wing extremist endeavor.” Germany’s state media outlet, DW, recently published a video titled: “How much of a neo-Nazi party is the German AfD?”

READ MORE: ‘What Drunk on Power Looks Like’: Trump Goes on Attack in Wild Rants

The Atlantic’s James Surowiecki, author of “The Wisdom of Crowds,” on Monday pointed to a Wall Street Journal op-ed by Trump Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Surowiecki remarked: “Trump says he will set the prices for all imported goods. He tells us we’ll have 5 pencils and like it. Now we have the Treasury Secretary talking about preventing the ‘spiritual degradation of the working class.’ Trumpism is becoming perversely, farcically Maoist.”

Noah Smith, the former Bloomberg opinion columnist, made that “Soviet Union” remark, above, in response to Trump’s comments to NBC News “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker in an interview that aired on Sunday—the same comments that Surowiecki cited.

Those remarks—Trump defending his tariff war and the expected results, namely, higher prices and fewer available goods—appear to have hit a nerve.

Former U.S. Ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul, now a Professor of Political Science at Stanford, added: “This is just incredible — a billionaire telling working people they need to reduce their consumption. This is the opposite of the free market. Sounds a lot like communism to me. Soviet leaders also dictated to consumers their limited choices.”

He also noted: “Soviet communist leaders also dictated the consumption patterns of their citizens.”

“Enjoy MAGA Maoism,” remarked political writer and former congressional speechwriter Rotimi Adeoye, also commenting on Trump’s “dolls and pencils” utterance. And Adeoye pointed to his recent Washington Post piece:

“What we’re seeing is a kind of MAGA Maoism, remixed for the algorithm age. Like the Chinese Cultural Revolution, it glorifies physical labor as moral purification, only now the purification is from the supposed “wokeness” of desk work, filtered through TikTok, X and Twitch. It’s not about creating jobs. It’s about creating vibes: strong men doing hard things, reshared until they become ideology.”

Professor of Political Science Robert E. Kelly noted that “MAGA loves to call its opponents ‘communists,’ but this is literally a neo-Marxist critique of consumerism.”

“The Department of Central Planning and Child Rearing has figured out the optimal number of dolls and pencils each child should have to make beautiful Republic,” snarked Professor of Economics and Public Policy, Justin Wolfers.

And The Atlantic’s David Frum, quipped: “One serving per person, no second helpings, until we have won the great patriotic war against Chinese pencil exporters.”

Frum added: “Second-term Trump messages: ‘America’s over-indulged 11 year old girls own too many pencils.’ And also: ‘I’m not sure whether president needs to obey the Constitution.'”

READ MORE: ‘Absolutely No Clue’: Trump Roasted Over Unique Declaration of Independence Interpretation

CNN senior reporter Edward-Isaac Dovere on Sunday noted: “In the space of 48 hours, the President of the United States has tweeted an image of himself as the new pope, said he doesn’t know if he has to abide by the Constitution, cited multiple completely false statistics, and announced that he wants to reopen a prison closed in 1963.”

Trump’s comment about his duty to uphold the Constitution—”I don’t know“—drew tremendous anger.

“The thing is that he’s being honest here,” Surowiecki observed. “He doesn’t know, because he’s totally incurious, doesn’t care about policy other than tariffs, and doesn’t have any interest in or knowledge of American constitutional law.”

Then there is the latest theater of Trump’s tariff war: the film industry.

The President of the United States has decided that any film “produced” outside of the U.S. will also be subjected to his tariffs.

“The Movie Industry in America is DYING a very fast death,” Trump claimed. “Other Countries are offering all sorts of incentives to draw our filmmakers and studios away from the United States. Hollywood, and many other areas within the U.S.A., are being devastated. This is a concerted effort by other Nations and, therefore, a National Security threat. It is, in addition to everything else, messaging and propaganda! Therefore, I am authorizing the Department of Commerce, and the United States Trade Representative, to immediately begin the process of instituting a 100% Tariff on any and all Movies coming into our Country that are produced in Foreign Lands. WE WANT MOVIES MADE IN AMERICA, AGAIN!”

Professor Wolfers sounded the alarm.

“Given that this White House leaks about everything,” Wolfers, who is frequently seen on cable news, wrote, “and there was no chatter about movie tariffs, it seems likely that policy reshaping the lives of millions of Americans was made by an old man sitting alone in a room with a remote in his left hand, aided by no expert advice.”

“The party of small government would like you to watch fewer foreign films,” he also snarked.

And calling it “a very dangerous escalation,” Wolfers noted: “Tariffs have not traditionally been applied to services, and the United States is a massive net exporter of services. We would be extremely vulnerable to any service-based retaliation.”

Self-described “Tech policy wonk” Michael Nelson, formerly of Georgetown University, labeled Trump’s film tariffs “Deranged. #EconomicSuicide.”

Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Mark Warner (D-VA), who made the “North Korea” comparison above, has repeatedly warned about what he sees as corruption in the Trump administration.

“It seems like ages ago that Donald Trump turned the South Lawn into a car showroom to boost the profits of Elon Musk’s sputtering Tesla business. But it was just over a month ago. That’s the kind of daily, open corruption that’s just another day in this administration,” Senator Warner wrote on Friday.

Earlier last week, he summed up his thoughts on the Trump administration: “Corruption in plain sight and tanking the economy. This is what the Trump administration has been all about.”

Some, like The New York Times’ conservative opinion writer David Brooks, say simply that Trumpism is all about power.

Trumpism, Brooks wrote, “is primarily about the acquisition of power — power for its own sake. It is a multifront assault to make the earth a playground for ruthless men, so of course any institutions that might restrain power must be weakened or destroyed. Trumpism is about ego, appetite and acquisitiveness and is driven by a primal aversion to the higher elements of the human spirit — learning, compassion, scientific wonder, the pursuit of justice.”

Watch the videos above or at this link.

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