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That's a very good speech. At this point can the Republican party be saved, though? He made the comparison to Krystallnacht, which is a stretch (and feels very
by liminal 6y ago
That's a very good speech. At this point can the Republican party be saved, though? He made the comparison to Krystallnacht, which is a stretch (and feels very wrong), but is relevant in that in both cases the authorities stood by and watched. That seems to be problem: the party, its beliefs and those within it are still held in esteem. Calling some unnamed people "spineless" isn't the full-throated denunciation of the ideology and all those affiliated that seems needed. All those Republican congresspeople voting against certifying the election indicates this anti-democratic ideology has taken strong root within the party -- has become the ideology of the party. The Republican party itself has become a threat to democracy. If they won both houses in the next election, would you trust them to certify the election of a Democrat president? I'm sure there are many reasonable Republicans on here, but can you still trust the party to represent those reasonable beliefs? I'm not suggesting all those people should suddenly become Democrats, just pointing out that I don't know that this is a problem that can be fixed without much more drastic changes.
- kevin_thibedeau 6y agoThis is exactly how the brown shirts got started so it isn't much of a stretch. Captain orange is going to keep this game up for the next few years until the dementia takes him out. He can still do more damage.
- benjohnson 6y agoThe Democrats survived being the party of slavery, the Republicans will survive Trump.
- liminal 6y agoYou're probably right, but it seems like a shame. I think there's enough difference between the far right, center-right, center-left and far left for more than two parties. This seems like a wonderful moment to fully repudiate the awful aspects of far-right Republicanism.
- voisin 6y agoDepends on whether they take Trump as a lesson and learn that lesson, or if they double down (for example, electing Cruz as their next candidate).
- krapp 6y agoUnfortunately, none of Trump's political views are in any way outside of the mainstream for the Republican Party. Even most of the conspiracy theories he believes in are boilerplate Fox News/right-wing talk radio fare. If Trump had handled COVID better and not gone insane seeing leftist boogeymen everywhere, he might have won. The Republicans will distance themselves from Trump because it's the most politically expedient thing to do, but if they've learned anything, its how potent Trumpism can be, and that they just need a more competent demagogue to harness it next time.