Is Donald Trump the final blow to the GOP? Yes I know that Trump is leading in many of the political polls, so before some of his political Brown Shirts show up to tell me this, let me get it out of the way.
It is the very fact that Trump leads, in any polling, for the Republican primary, which causes me to ask the question, will a Trump presidential candidacy be the final blow to the GOP, having any relevance in the American political landscape?
Since 2010 the GOP has been on a downward slide to the radicalized right. One might even say that the GOP has been trending towards becoming the Taliban of political parties. It seems since the inception of the TEA movement, the Republican Party has been hijacked by libertarians at first, but as of late, it seems that there is almost a fascist element to the people who would support Donald Trump.
Oh, they will tell you, it is his willingness to speak his mind, that they are tired of politicians and want an outsider, a fresh perspective. Or is it, that they are drawn to the hateful aspect of the Trump campaign?
Trump has taken the slogan of, “Make America Great Again”, which on the surface sounds like a positive message. But considering the things he says, and the ideas he has put forth, one has to be a little bit off their keel to think his campaign is heading in a positive direction.
His rhetoric is nothing but nationalist tripe. He constantly uses words like, “great” and “tremendous” to describe what his policies, but offers little, or no idea of what they will actually be.
He builds his support upon people’s fears, and hatred of others. In the early days of his so-called campaign, he used illegal immigrants as his stalking horse, in order to draw attention away from the fact that he is uniquely unqualified to be president. And please all of you Trump sycophants, don’t tell me what a great businessman he is and this makes him qualified to be president. He is nothing more than Barrack Obama, with more money.
To be president requires not only intelligence, which I am not sure he possesses, but it also require a certain amount of statesmanship, in order to be able to find that common ground with not only our allies, but also our adversaries.
Trump is showing no skill at this, instead he seems only capable of playing to the most base of the electorate. He talks of barring people from entering the United States of America based on race, and now on religious belief.
In his latest demonstration of fascism, he has stated, without correction, that if elected he would immediately close immigration to “ALL” Muslims. I am not sure who, if anyone, is advising trump on his campaign, but it would seem as though they are using Mein Kampf as their playbook.
Trump is attempting to use the Muslims and the fear of terrorist attacks, in the same way Hitler used “the Jewish peril”. Trump, like Hitler, is trading on the people’s fears.
But does trump have the widespread appeal that he would need to actually win the presidency? I don’t believe so, I see his appeal as being quite narrow. He appeals to a faction of people who may be of lower education, lower-income and who feel they have no control of their own lives. His appeal, is that he echoes the ideas which many of these people convince themselves of, in order to explain their lack of success, and to make themselves feel safe. “If only there weren’t so many illegal immigrants, I could get a better job”. “If only we would not allow Muslims to enter the country, we would be safe from terrorist attacks.”
No, I refuse to believe that a majority of American voters would ever vote Donald “Adolf” Trump into office. The trouble is, the GOP has been pulled to the right since 2010, though the TEA movement has seen its high-water mark in my view, another more dangerous faction has surfaced. One might ask, has this more radicalized version of GOP voters given rise to a Donald Trump type candidate, or has Trump given rise to this radicalized Republican? In the end it will matter not at all, because if Trump wins the primary, it may well be the beginning of the end, for the GOP.
I have said, since the beginning of Trump’s campaign, I didn’t believe he would be in the race come April of 2016, granted this was a lot of wishful thinking, along with my political view. However, even I will admit he has sustained his lead longer than I thought. I seem to have given to much credit to Republican voters. I thought common sense would win out, I miscalculated the amount of fear and loathing which resides within the current make-up of the Republican Party. Republicans once were the party of the future, the “Shining City on the Hill”. But now, if Trump becomes the nominee, we will be the party of hatred and fear.
I am truly troubled by the prospect of trump being the Republican nominee, considering his attitude towards women, minorities, immigrant and people of religious faith. And while I still hold out hope that reasonable republicans will win out on primary day, I take but little solace in knowing that he will lose the general election, while taking down the Grand Old Party.
Maybe he’ll pick Christine O’Donnell as his running mate
“though the TEA movement has seen its high-water mark in my view, another more dangerous faction has surfaced.”
Yeah, these ladies.
The people of our country have a funny way of deciding who they want for President; regardless of what the pundits say. You can criticizes Trump, but the fact is, he is resinating with a fair number of people. Just remember, but for the total failure of the current administration on all policy matters and the same old – same old pablum from the legacy politicians – from both parties ; there would be no Trump. It is the failure of the current system that very well may elect Trump. Blame the incumbent politicians – from both parties, not the Donald.
The fact you call him” the Donald” tells me all I need to know. But you have simply articulated another similarity between Trump and Hitler. Hitler too came to power because of the frustration of the people with the Weimar Republic, he also blamed Socialist Democrats and Marxist. Sound familiar?
What’s really scary is the millions of people who have no sense of moral or intellectual shame who support him
“What’s really scary is the millions of people who have no sense of moral or intellectual shame who support him”
Sort of like the people who support a Nobel Peace Prize recipient who from the get go systematically carried out drone strike assassinations with the type of collateral damage that incited more terrorism exponentially.
I saw William Kristol on Morning Joe today. He is appallingly tone deaf. Like Jeb, he just doesn’t get it. The majority of Republicans are sick-and-tired of the policy of “moderate GOP appeasement. There simply is no middle ground with the radical, socialist left, i.e. the Democrats. There is no middle ground between capitalism/individualism and socialism/collectivism. It is a battle to the end.
There was even some talk of resurrecting Romney. For real? The GOP “establishment” still doesn’t understand that Romney lost a winnable election because he failed to carry the base. So,, let’s make the same mistake again. Unreal.
As to Trump’s proposed restriction on Muslim immigration, I believe that the plan is obviously unconstitutional. However, there is another way to accomplish the same end. The Immigration Acts of 1921 and 1924 promoted immigration from Northern Europe and restricted immigration from elsewhere. This was the law of the land until the Immigration Act of 1965, when preference were given to those from Africa, Asia and Latin America- European immigration was- and is- restricted. It is the law of the land today.
So, the precedent and legality of immigration restrictions based upon nations or regions is well established. And I believe this is direction Trump should move. It would be a de facto restriction on Muslim immigration without the potentially unconstitutional religious specificity.
Frandora, who do you prefer- Sanders or Hillary?
Rick, iff a bedrock tenant of conservatism is exercising the right to vote, are you suggesting that “the base” came out and voted for Obama? Or are you saying that “the base” didn’t care enough and just handed it to Obama? Or are you saying that the “base” is so stupid that they believe that rhetoric is more important than actually governing?
Since there is no “middle ground” with the radical socialist left, where is the “middle ground” for the radical, rabid right? Is this the same “majority of republicans” who voted Christopher out of office? If the Donald’s muslim solution is obviously unconstitutional, why didn’t he, as a person running for an office that will require him to uphold and defend the constitution, propose a solution that didn’t offend the constitution (as you did)?
Rick says, ” It would be a de facto restriction on Muslim immigration without the potentially unconstitutional religious specificity.”
Rick, you do understand that there are millions of Muslims around the world, not just in the Middle East.
Also, Trump when asked how he would enforce a ban on Muslims said, “when they attempt to come into the country, they will be asked, are you a Muslim, and if they say yes, they won’t be allowed in”.
Holy cow, why didn’t we think of this before? And we don’t have to ban all Muslims, we just ask them if they are terrorist and if they intend to do us harm? And if they answer yes, we just don’t let them in. Problem solved Donald!
The people who support this dangerous man should be ashamed of themselves.
For the sake of “the deal” Trump could be interjecting a strong position on the issues pre-negotiation. Maybe it’s his way of starting with an upper hand.
Trump hasn’t actually done anything yet, except use his constitutional right to free speech, but in his mind, he could already be working “the deal”. All this talk about morals and the Constitution is premature I believe.
Say that you rent out a property for example, and your tenants are continually late with rent, and generally screwing up. Maybe you go over and say hey, you guys have to go. This gets their attention, and you work something out in the end….. I think this is what Trump is all about.
are you saying that “the base” didn’t care enough and just handed it to Obama?
I’m saying that the base- me included- sat out the ’12 election. And if you look inside the numbers, vis-a-vis Bush ’04 and Romney, it’s obvious.
But it wasn’t because the base “didn’t care.” It was because the base saw that the establishment did everything in their power to align with big media to destroy the conservatives in the race (as they did to Reagan in ’76 and ’80), saddling the party with an unelectible Massachusetts liberal.
As I had stated here and on the radio at the time, it was too bad that the party leadership fears the conservative base more than they do the Socialist-Democrats- but it’s true. And while it was frustrating to endure four more years of a dedicated socialist The White House, there were benefits; so far during Obama’s tenure, the GOP has picked-up over a thousand state and federal legislative seats. Obviously, the people get what the Rove/Boehner/McConnell types don’t get. That the Socialist-Democrats are the enemy, not conservatives; and that in presidential elections, GOP conservatives win and moderates lose.
Rick, you do understand that there are millions of Muslims around the world, not just in the Middle East
Duh, really? How many of the 911 or Paris Islamofacists were from Indonesia?
Restricting immigration by region is established law- the Immigration Acts of 1921, 1924 and 1965 (current law).
“.there were benefits; so far during Obama’s tenure, the GOP has picked-up over a thousand state and federal legislative seats.”
We won by losing? Getting Obama elected was “the base’s” plan all along? If that is representative of the “base’s” thinking the GOP is doomed.
We won by losing? Getting Obama elected was “the base’s” plan all along?
Of course it wasn’t the base’s “plan all along.” The plan was to nominate-and probably elect- a conservative. But the party elites who run the show- Rove, McConnell and so on, are subservient to the GOP money-men and Chamber of Commerce types who need cheap labor and tax exemptions. Make no mistake about it, the GOP establishment would much prefer Hillary over a conservative like Cruz. This is how detached from the electorate the party elites are. They just don’t understand that they are the problem. I mean, they’re starting to talk about Romney- Romney!
Why do you think a hapless “moderate” like Lindsey Graham is still in the race? Are you so naive as to believe that he is actually running for president? No, he isn’t. He’s using his “campaign” as a platform to attack the conservatives. That’s all. He is much closely aligned to Hillary than to Cruz. He has nothing but contempt for the conservative base. The very people any GOP presidential candidate must have to win.
If that is representative of the “base’s” thinking the GOP is doomed.
The base reacts. Already, the elites are talking about a “brokered convention,” here they can subvert the will of Republican voters. And they know what Trump’s reaction will be- he’ll run third-party and carry 20-30 percent and Hillary will be the next president.
But that’s okay. The GOP “establishment” would much rather serve under Clinton than to actually have to address the serious problems that they’ve kicked down the road for decades– the deficit, unemployment and Social Security, for example. They don’t want a conservative president who will make them actually face reality and act. The status quo is just so much easier.
Another nation nationalizes religion-
DAKAR, Senegal – Gambia’s president has declared the tiny West African country an Islamic republic, saying it is line with the country’s majority religion and is an effort to break from a colonial past….
Jammeh seized power in 1994. Rights groups accuse him of gross human rights abuses, including a clampdown on political opponents.
As a card-carrying member of the “religion of peace,” and dedicated follower of Sharia law, Jammeh has an open and enlightened view of the gay community. To wit:
On 15 May 2008, Jammeh announced that his government would introduce legislation that would set laws against homosexuals that would be “stricter than those in Iran”, and that he would “cut off the head” of any gay or lesbian person discovered in the country. News reports indicated his government intended to execute all homosexuals in the country. In the speech given in Tallinding, Jammeh gave a “final ultimatum” to any gays or lesbians in the Gambia to leave the country.
In a speech to the United Nations on 27 September 2013, Jammeh said that “[h]omosexuality in all its forms and manifestations which, though very evil, antihuman as well as anti-Allah, is being promoted as a human right by some powers,” and that those who do so “want to put an end to human existence.”
On 18 February 2014, Jammeh called homosexuals “vermins” by saying that “We will fight these vermins called homosexuals or gays the same way we are fighting malaria-causing mosquitoes, if not more aggressively,”. He also went on to disparage the LGBT by saying that “As far as I am concerned, LGBT can only stand for Leprosy, Gonorrhoea, Bacteria and Tuberculosis, all of which are detrimental to human existence”.
“We, the Delaware LGBT community, support Islam, the religion of peace…”
So Rick, considering your statement above, “But the party elites who run the show- Rove, McConnell and so on, are subservient to the GOP money-men and Chamber of Commerce types who need cheap labor and tax exemptions. Make no mistake about it, the GOP establishment would much prefer Hillary over a conservative like Cruz.”
How can either Trump or Cruz win the primary seeing as the elitist cabal determines the winner? According to you the elitist run the show, so much so that people like you simply throw up your hands and stay home, and give the win to the other side. Much like the Republicans here in Delaware did in the O’Donnell/ Coons race.
So you see rick, you are no better than those you condemn, seems you have that problem a lot. Maybe you should check yourself, before you wreck yourself.
How can either Trump or Cruz win the primary seeing as the elitist cabal determines the winner?
Exactly.
Frandora- where are the conservatives?
Rick, your last comment shows that you have no answer to the question. You create this conspiracy theory of an elitist cabal that runs the republican party, all the while talking about how the “BASE” will nominate either Cruz or Trump and then put them over the top in the general election.
So which is it Rick? It can’t be both.
Or will you come back with just another third grade name calling?
Elitist and Republican are mutually exclusive