David Evan McMullin–for those of you who have forgotten his brief emergence during the 2016 Presidential campaign– is the former Central Intelligence Agency operations officer and former Republican who ran for President as an independent that year. He is currently the Executive Director of Standup Republic.
In the wake of the shameful vote by Republican Senators in which they refused to call witnesses or demand documents, McMullin’s tweets have been short, not sweet and very much to the point.
Immediately following the vote, he tweeted:
Republican leaders in Congress believe—and privately say—that they fear the country is quickly changing in ways that may soon deprive them of power, and that they must use the power they have now to delay it as long as possible, even by harming the Republic if necessary.
That was followed by other, equally pointed observations.
For anti-Trump Republicans—a small but electorally significant segment—it’s been uncomfortably possible to oppose Trump but remain affiliated with the party, looking instead to more reasonable Republican senators for leadership. The witness vote may mark the end of that for many…
In a single bogus impeachment trial, Senate Republicans will have made Trump’s pursuit of foreign backing and obstruction of Congress unimpeachable. It’s hard to ignore the fact that they benefit from both, especially at a time when they’re facing increasing electoral headwinds….
We’re watching extreme Republican partisanship dismantle the separation of powers.
McMullin also retweeted an eerily apt quotation from Alice in Wonderland, from someone named Stuart Stephens.
Who are you?” said the Caterpillar. Alice replied, rather shyly, “I—I hardly know, Sir, just at present—at least I know who I was when I got up this morning, but I think I must have been changed several times since then.”
People tweeting responses to McMullin’s observations are primarily former Republicans who share his disgust and dismay, although there are a few comments from folks who clearly think the GOP hasn’t changed–that the party has merely stopped pretending to be something other than the disgraceful collection of sycophants and moral cowards who have made a joke of constitutional checks and balances.
America faces existential questions that won’t be answered until November–and only tentatively answered then.
How many other former Republicans will join the Evan McMullins, David Frums, Max Boots, George Conways and other “Never Trumpers” at the polls? How many genuine conservatives–i.e., those who are neither theocrats nor plutocrats– will join or contribute to the Lincoln Project?
We keep seeing polls that show Trump with solid Republican support; what we don’t see is how many Republicans remain, given the steady shrinkage of the percentage of voters who still identify with the party. (To belabor the obvious, eighty percent of twenty-two or twenty-four percent isn’t the same as eighty percent of 35 or 40 percent.)
How likely is it that the Democrats will disband their usual circular firing squad and “vote blue, no matter who” in recognition that the future of the nation depends upon ousting the criminal conspiracy that is raping and polluting our country?
And how likely is it that enough “blue no matter who” voters–whether Democrat or Republican or Libertarian or Independent or usually apathetic– will recognize the incredible importance of this election, and turn out in numbers sufficient to swamp the GOP’s predictable vote suppression tactics?
Because make no mistake: Evan McMullin is right when he says the remaining Republicans will use whatever means are at their disposal to cling to power–no matter the damage to America.
No one would think Trump would be President. His policies however are not all conservative, some are actually liberal and pro american jobs. What bothers most voters about Trump is too much deregulation and the national debt.
Most people in the CIA Republican or Democrat got their feathers ruffled and they’re responding that way. He’s too brash for sure.
I’m one of those “folks who clearly think the GOP hasn’t changed–that the party has merely stopped pretending to be something other than the disgraceful collection of sycophants and moral cowards who have made a joke of constitutional checks and balances.” Anyone who believes that Republican leadership since the ’50s at every level – local, state and national – has been remotely interested in advancing the principles undergirding participatory democracy, the rule of law, the general welfare or simple human decency has been sorely self-delusional. And even WITHOUT Trump, what does the GOP stand for? Truth? Human decency? Equality? The party is rotten from top to bottom, gutted of any pretense of principles other than the blind acquisition of personal wealth guaranteed by the blind acquisition of political power. If you think that’s merely political hyperbole, where does one hear at the local or state level any word of condemnation of the criminal enterprise in the White House? I hear only crickets from Republican mayors, council members and state representatives, let alone our congressional representatives. Don’t tell me about a time when Republican administrations in Indianapolis had integrity. They were whistling past the graveyard even then. They were complicit in what the Republican Party has become because it BENEFITTED THEM. It didn’t happen the day Trump walked into office.
Lamar Alexander’s rambling comments, including no knowledge of regret from Trump (that of course will never be heard), added to other Republicans who admit publicly he is guilty of Abuse of Power and Obstruction of Congress, are not tied to a black-or-white decision. They do not want to remove him from office so; as with the Clinton impeachment, he can be found guilty but left in office to complete the last 11 months of this term. There is no perfect solution to the quandary this country is now facing; there is only a possible workable temporary solution at hand. I am among the 75% who want him OUT; but I am only one member of the citizenry of this country. They can then rein him in using the Legislative controls as written into Article I of the Constitution. In other words; the Senate majority and House Republicans could simply DO THE JOB THEY SWORE TWO OATS OF OFFICE TO UPHOLD.
“Because make no mistake: Evan McMullin is right when he says the remaining Republicans will use whatever means are at their disposal to cling to power–no matter the damage to America.”
The current Republican party, in all three branches of government, have failed miserably to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States”. To complete their borderline treasonous acts by acquitting Trump of the charges against the Constitution will turn this country into a dictatorship.
What John Street says. This part is something I’ve come to realize since the disgraceful idiocy of Ronald Reagan/Donald Regan shucked the sheep’s clothing: “…folks who clearly think the GOP hasn’t changed–that the party has merely stopped pretending to be something other than the disgraceful collection of sycophants and moral cowards who have made a joke of constitutional checks and balances.”
As Jane Mayer’s stunning expose shows us, it’s the money that buys the power with Republicans. They’ve been that way since Lincoln was shot. That segment of our society will NEVER change as long as we have runaway capitalism directing our economy. Republicans are the levers of the power they can grab to revisit the Lords v. Serfs society of the Dark Ages.
Marx got it right. Capitalism WILL destroy itself if not properly regulated. Republicans missed that memo. Corporatists and investment bankers missed that memo. And the media isn’t telling the whole story. News is not the entire component of our media, social, print or electronic.
John Street, JoAnn Green and Vernon Turner, you all got it right. I can add nothing to your great comments.
The “vote blue no matter who” squad is urinating into a stiff wind, so we know what will happen to those folks.
The GOP and the DNC have participated in the destruction of the American Experiment as whores to capitalist greed. One version stinks more than the other.
As we’ve already learned, lots of people showed up to vote in 2016, but our Electoral College and gerrymandered districts elect our public officials. How else does a state like Indiana end up with two solid Republican Senators?
When we had a Democratic Senator, he was nothing but a DINO, causing his eventual loss.
The parties take turns writing legislation to make drug costs more affordable, and then the other party shoots it down. Look at how Big Pharma spreads its campaign contributions among both parties, and you’ll see why the parties play the games.
Big Pharma joins Big Health Insurance in underwriting attack ads against Universal Healthcare at the same time they write checks to both political parties with prepared speeches for your favorite entertainment channel.
The reason for our demise is simple…our elected officials lack the political will to make the necessary changes, and it’s been that way for a very long time.
Since neither political party will address SCOTUS’s Citizens United ruling, which makes politicians and the entertainment business very happy and profitable, the only public officials with the will to serve the people have sworn off corporate contributions — progressives and democratic socialists.
One of the corporate-owned DNC’s strategic objectives is to prevent progressives from entering Washington or the state capitols. The DNC is paid very well to obstruct change even though the people are demanding it.
The propaganda floating around on entertainment channels varies by target market, but it’s still propaganda to keep the country divided. The political spectrum is nothing more than a chart for gullibility ranging from extremely gullible to slightly gullible. 😉
I feel certain that the GOP has shrunken dramatically. I know too many former Republicans who now refer to themselves as independent.
I like to recommend changes whenever I criticize a policy. That said, Todd, what do you propose we do to save our Constitutional, semi-democratic, republic? If you have a better proposal than vote blue, please let us hear it.
To sum it all up, I’m reminded of the old saying from the ’30s: “LIKE SHEEP TO SLAUGHTER!”
What else is there to say? Tom said it all yesterday.
“I skate to where the puck is gonna be, not where it has been.”
~Wayne Gretzky, National Hockey League great
Using a deep understanding of Wayne Gretzky, I would recommend Mordechai Anielewicz (Little Angel) as a model leader for all of us to emulate, in the months to come. He was the leader of the Jewish Fighting Organization (ZOB) which led the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, the largest insurrection during World War II, which inspired further rebellions in both ghettos and extermination camps. [ See Wikipedia for more info].
However, for those who know me, they know I’m not advocating violence, just having the”guts” to do the right thing.
From the Hopi Elder’s prayer: “There is a river flowing now very fast. It is so great and swift that there are those who will be afraid. They will try to hold on to the shore. They will feel they are torn apart and will suffer greatly. ” The Trumpers cannot bear the changes that are swiftly occurring during the present era. Sooner or later, they will have to let go. Let’s hope the damage they do before they let go will be something we can repair.
Kathy M,
Thanks Kathy. We have to change our mindset. We have to, at least, understand those with a “warrior” mindset. We can’t just talk our way out of this mess. It’s way too late for that.
The physical dimension is extremely important. Both JFK and Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes understood that. I remember Justice Holmes, who fought in the Civil War, commenting in his autobiography something to the effect that “roughness overcomes adversity.”
That’s the secret of my successes in the past. Yesterday, two of my old political partners from my days in Dallas were honored before the Super Bowl game started, as NFL greats.
We’re in a new era. It’s much more like WAR than DEMOCRACY. Trump is ruling by intimidation. He is his own “Secret Police.” It has to stop. NOW!
I would agree with this statement from Shelia’s post >> who clearly think the GOP hasn’t changed–that the party has merely stopped pretending to be something other than the disgraceful collection of sycophants and moral cowards who have made a joke of constitutional checks and balances.<<
Since Reagan the GOP has set a course to the hard Reactionary Right. Trickle down, Low taxes, Militant Patriotism, De-Regulation, gerrymandering, voter suppression, social and cultural issues, capped off by a "Heavenly Blessing" from the Evangelical Theocracy. Bush the Elder and Bush the Younger managed to maintain a "Superficial Respectability".
The Right Wing-Reactionary-Evangelical base of the GOP demanded more. McCain and Romney still had "Superficial Respectability". The willfully ignorant Sarah Palin became the "North Star" for the GOP to a set a course for, she encapsulated everything the GOP stood for. She had one deficiency -Sarah Palin was a woman.
The Trumpet has it all, loud mouth, with no checks or balances on personal attacks on his opponents, willfully ignorant, Macho-Male Authoritarian figure and a con man who could harvest the Evangelicals along with Pastor Pence.
The GOP Senators know the Trumpet runs the party. The GOP base will not tolerate any deviation from it's strong leader.
Monotonous,
Thanks. Our political history in about three hundred words or less. No need to read anything more. It would just be a waste of time.
Peggy; a big thank you! And to all of you who are against the Democratic party as an option to the current mafia in residence in the White House and find “Vote Blue No Matter Who” to be a ridiculous voting option; none of you have come up with a solution to ridding this government of the current pandemic level infected Republican party leading this country into oblivion and a dictatorship. The “Puck” is in Democratic party territory at this time; this is where we are, where we have to work from and who we have to work with. I have not seen Wayne Gretzky or Mordechai Anielewicz in the Democratic presidential lineup; they certainly are not in Iowa today, nor are they in the U.S. Senate in whose hands Trump’s verdict and the fate of this country is held. As Stephen King says; “The situation is what the situation is.” I hope “the situation is” as John Trimble commented, that the GOP has shrunken dramatically; but we won’t know what that situation is until November of this year.
Come November, VOTE BLUE NO MATTER WHO and pray.
Vote blue no matter who is not a perfect solution. In fact I think that people who say it and live it should be careful to qualify that it’s never been any kind of solution before this year and I hope it never will be again.
It is however this year the only way to end the siege that now or never authoritarianism chose to impose on us. It’s as desperate an attempt to restore the Constitution as the Revolution was to create the republic and the Civil War was to maintain it.
We who love freedom are called to do now.
The Democratic Party is the only viable BY-PARTISAN political option. I’m an Independent. But I’m sure I’ll vote for a Democrat if Donald Trump is the Republican candidate. Fortunately, that is not the only POLITICAL OPTION. If the Democratic Party is our only political option, then we’re dead in the water.
I don’t remember Martin Luther King running for any political office. Or am I mistaken? Senator Joseph McCarthy wasn’t defeated by a political opponent. Or am I mistaken again?
We’re affected by many things political, just not elections. A good example would be the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) which was led by Morris Dees for 40 years, until early last year when Dees was forced to resign under disgrace. Its been the #1 source for intelligence for pro-democracy forces for forty years. And do we still wonder what happened to us?
I’ll tell you what happened. Dees “threw” the intelligence game in order to build up his political war chest of close to a billion dollars. It’s that simple.
To me Marv we are not looking to solve all that needs to be in Nov. That will come after and will involve everyone not Republican. What we can’t afford is to let lesser differences get in the way of what’s essential.
We have a system of primaries that’s not going to change this year. I personally am going to take the results that it comes up with.
By November I feel that the only path to start the necessary solution work is blue no matter who.
Pete,
“What we can’t afford is to let lesser differences get in the way of what’s essential.”
We’ve been batting this around for about four or five years. The main difference between us is that I’m worried about FREEDOM, which is essential to me. And you’re worried about winning an election, which is essential to you, even though by November FREEDOM will already be gone.
A lot of great insight, all of these never Trumpers were all in the same boat at one time with every other faction of the Republican Party. Where were they when some were trying to get their fellow citizens healthcare coverage? Where were they when the deficit was being run up by 75% in the past 2 years? Where were they when corporate welfare blew through the legislature? Where were all of these voices when the EPA was being ransacked by a bunch of punks infected by the stupid virus/bacteria/?. And we know where they will be, when they get around to cutting the social safety net. Because even if they had an epiphany, that they were doing the devils work, LOL, they effectively pulled old Satan out of his fiery inferno, as they visualize, and put them in the White House! And, as you’ve noticed, the orange in the White House is more of a burnt orange, snicker!
But seriously, what would cause so many to completely set aside any sort of scruples or morality to embrace a movement and its leader, that is so antithetical to democracy, it resembles the 1st, the 2nd, and the 3rd Reich!
The 1st Reich (Rome) destroyed the burgeoning Christian church in 325 A.D. at the Nicene counsel. Money and grift was enough to sway the church hierarchy, not every single one but most, into accepting dogma that was not put forth by Christ or his disciples, and embraced pagan worship practices and beliefs to make it more appealing to join. Thereby strengthening the declining Roman Empire and staving off its demise for a couple of more centuries. This is admitted by the Vatican, so there really is no question. It was represented by the Eagle standard and the Fasces.
The 2nd Reich was an offshoot of the 1st, including, the Eagle standard, and the Fasces. (Fascist symbol prominently displayed in our halls of Congress!) The 2nd Reich manifested itself in Germany, which was also the power base of the defunct 1st Reich/Roman Empire, the house of Habsburg. As it was known then, Imperial Germany, was not a democracy, it was authoritarian and resembled the old Roman empire. They were instrumental in starting the 1st world war.
Then of course the 3rd Reich which used every sort of occult practice and deity, every sort of pagan worship practice, invoked Satan for help, and also used the Eagle and the Fasces, which AGAIN sets in our halls of Congress. All we are witnessing now is the burgeoning 4th Reich, this is going to be the last Reich. (My own observation)
The evil on display, abandoning Middle Eastern allies to the slaughter, claiming to love Israel but setting the stage for massive conflict that will engulf Israel, taking a wrecking ball to stabilizing treaties and organizations, North American Treaty Organization and the United Nations, destroying the EPA, NOAA, the FDA, the CDC, the Department of the Interior, and rolling back healthcare and destroying the ACA, cutting Social Security and Medicare, is breathtaking, literally sucking the breath right out of every citizen!
It is setting the stage for a terrible string of events, Weather events, Astronomical events, invasive events like plagues, (illnesses long thought to be eradicated), and new ones like SARS and Coronavirus. And not to mention, when these illnesses come in contact with HIV, they create new illnesses that cannot be fought by antibiotics or any other sort of therapy. When the watchmen (the Senate) that have been put in place to protect the population fail in their jobs, and those watchmen allow the tribunes warning us about impending doom to basically be castrated, the tribunes are silent and the public is unaware. And of course destroying the 4th estate by uncontrolled capitalistic expansion of social media, and the demonization of it(Lugenpresse) by the head of the 4th Reich this pretty much seals the deal against recovery.
So, this conflagration of events, is by happenstance? I don’t think so, because this is unlike anything else in history, the conflict and degradation of human and civil rights is off the scales, 100 million to 200 million Muslims in India, millions of Muslims in China, the same in the Philippines, the same in Myanmar, and various South American countries, and let’s not forget the wholesale brutalization of Christians in Russia.
The apostle Paul warned the early Christian overseers that after his going away “oppressive wolves” would enter in among true Christians and would not treat the flock with tenderness but would try to draw away “the disciples” after themselves (not just making disciples for themselves but trying to draw away the disciples, Christ’s disciples). (Acts 20:29, 30) He wrote, at 1st Timothy 4:1-3: “However, the inspired utterance says definitely that in later periods of time some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to misleading inspired utterances and teachings of demons, by the hypocrisy of men who speak lies, marked in their conscience as with a branding iron (Feelingless, seared, so that they do not feel any twinges of conscience because of hypocritically speaking lies); forbidding to marry, commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be partaken of with thanksgiving.”
Paul later wrote to Timothy that “there will be a period of time when they will not put up with the healthful teaching, but, in accord with their own desires, they will accumulate teachers for themselves to have their ears tickled; and they will turn their ears away from the truth.” (2nd Timothy 4:3, 4).
And finally, 2nd Thessalonians 2:1-12 which reads; “However, brothers, concerning the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you 2 not to be quickly shaken from your reason nor to be alarmed either by an inspired statement or by a spoken message or by a letter appearing to be from us, to the effect that the day of Jehovah is here.
3 Let no one lead you astray in any way, because it will not come unless the apostasy comes first and the man of lawlessness gets revealed, the son of destruction. 4 He stands in opposition and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he sits down in the temple of God, publicly showing himself to be a god. 5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you, I used to tell you these things?
6 And now you know what is acting as a restraint, so that he will be revealed in his own due time. 7 True, the mystery of this lawlessness is already at work, but only until the one who is right now acting as a restraint is out of the way. 8 Then, indeed, the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will do away with by the spirit of his mouth and bring to nothing by the manifestation of his presence. 9 But the lawless one’s presence is by the operation of Satan with every powerful work and lying signs and wonders 10 and every unrighteous deception for those who are perishing, as a retribution because they did not accept the love of the truth in order that they might be saved. 11 That is why God lets a deluding influence mislead them so that they may come to believe the lie, 12 in order that they all may be judged because they did not believe the truth but took pleasure in unrighteousness.
Whether one believes in Scripture, whether it portends the here and now, is up to everyone for themselves. We are all free moral agents to make decisions as we see fit. Rmember the old saying!?, There are no atheists in a foxhole, well, we are all in a foxhole now, the shells are sailing overhead, and you hope one doesn’t land in your refuge. Personally, I believe in prophecy, because not only is there prophecy in Scripture, there’s also prophecy by, stock market prognosticators, political prognosticators, sporting event prognosticators, futuristic prognosticators, and conspiratorial prognosticators. The only prognostication that stands at 100%, is Scripture as far as I’ve seen over the past 40 years or so. The storm clouds are gathering to the west, maybe we all should pay attention.
John S.
No argument here, Preacher John. They’ve got America’s fascist-like structure and its non-linear system, sometimes referred to as a democracy, now fully protected. Consequently, even a jerk like Donald Trump can control it.
The net result of Mitch preventing an impeachment trial is that voters must now do what the Senate refused to.
Vote blue no matter who to restore the Constitution.
Thanks Marv,
I really take no credit for my posts, they actually seem to be inspired in a way. I really enjoy the study of scripture because it’s so disrespected in a lot of ways. I find though, it is extremely accurate as an archaeological transcript and a prophetic manual. Hey, it might even give you a run for your money concerning your publications, LOL!
But seriously though, I really do believe with all of my heart and soul, there is something else afoot, and I fear it’s not going to be gentle on anyone.
After all, was Dr. Frankenstein able to control his monster? It didn’t end well for the Doc.
Or possibly, the flawed thinking about reality inherent in religious dogma is one major source of the world’s problems?
Trump originally campaigned as if he was a supporter of blue collar workers, saying no companies would move to Mexico or off shore if he were elected. After he got elected, Indiana gave Carrier millions of tax dollars to remain in Indiana, and Carrier still moved considerable production and jobs to Mexico.
Trump said he would not cut Social security or Medicare, but he plans to cut both if re-elected.
He said Mexico would pay for the wall. They haven’t and won’t.
He said he’d balance the budget. Instead he’s added trillions of debt.
He said he’d put America First but he hasn’t moved to protect our elections nor distributed most disaster relief for the American territory of Puerto Rico (or even some California communities destroyed by fire) nor protected our national parks which he’s now designated for mining nor our rivers, streams and air which are being sacrificed on the altar of polluter profits. The list goes on and on.
Trump drove multiple businesses into bankruptcy. He’s on course to do the same to America.