The Future of the Republican Party

[matedog]

Is De Santis worse than Trump? Could De Santis be even worse than Trump?

Absolutely. He's smart and that makes him more dangerous than Trump.

Not sure. Does he have the phantom charisma that Trump has? Trump has a really weird, unique appeal that I don't think Desantis has.

That's a huge question for the movement (if it is, actually, a movement): does it work without Trump? Trump has a weird ability not to get rattled, instinctually turning every defeat and slip into a victory, conveying not the least bit of doubt. Few can pull that off, to be that shameless and thorough a liar.

He also has working class appeal. He has no reason to, but he absolutely does.

[Dr. Medulla]

Is De Santis worse than Trump? Could De Santis be even worse than Trump?

Absolutely. He's smart and that makes him more dangerous than Trump.

Not sure. Does he have the phantom charisma that Trump has? Trump has a really weird, unique appeal that I don't think Desantis has.

That's a huge question for the movement (if it is, actually, a movement): does it work without Trump? Trump has a weird ability not to get rattled, instinctually turning every defeat and slip into a victory, conveying not the least bit of doubt. Few can pull that off, to be that shameless and thorough a liar.

He also has working class appeal. He has no reason to, but he absolutely does.

His schtick that he hates elites plays into class resentment. The resentment has some legitimacy, but he's obviously grifting. But then he's been a successful grifter his entire life.

[Flex]

DeSantis probably would be less likely to rile up a Jan 6th style mob in an effort to execute his vice president so he can steal a federal election and anoint himself president for life or whatever, so in that sense trump is probably "worse" but DeSantis is more likely to use his shallow commitment to liberal democratic norms in the service of deeply reactionary, fascist state action while trump is genuinely too dumb to utilize the mob effectively. So, on balance, DeSantis seems worse.

The intrigue, as Doc points out, is what happens if trump loses the Republican primary. I literally can't conceive of a scenario where trump bows out gracefully and urges his supporters to back DeSantis. I think trump already hates the guy for showing him up on the deranged fascism front here and there, if DeSantis beat him in a primary trump would go nuclear, I'd think. The ideal would be a third party candidacy, that should be enough to keep trump and DeSantis out of the white house.

[Dr. Medulla]

One of those books on the post-election batshit putschery mentioned Trump telling the GOP executive that they could fuck right off because he was going to start his own party and destroy them for being insufficiently loyal. The executive told him that if he did that, he'd lose access to the party database (i.e., his ability to easily grift). That's what kept him attached to the party. If he loses to DeSantis in the primary, as Flex suggests, it's very conceivable that he does a third-party thing—how much of a boner does he get thinking about the Trump Party?—to keep up the ego rush, pluck his pigeons, and destroy the Republicans for rejecting him.

[Sparky]

Is De Santis worse than Trump? Could De Santis be even worse than Trump?

Absolutely. He's smart and that makes him more dangerous than Trump.

Not sure. Does he have the phantom charisma that Trump has? Trump has a really weird, unique appeal that I don't think Desantis has.

I don't know, tbh. I'm still scratching my head over Trump's appeal.

You and me both!

[revbob]

Is De Santis worse than Trump? Could De Santis be even worse than Trump?

Absolutely. He's smart and that makes him more dangerous than Trump.

Not sure. Does he have the phantom charisma that Trump has? Trump has a really weird, unique appeal that I don't think Desantis has.

I don't know, tbh. I'm still scratching my head over Trump's appeal.

You and me both!

He's what all his asshole followers wish to be.

[Sparky]

Poor Rudy, he could have been seriously injured.....NOT!
By the looks of the video of the back slapping incident, he's blowing this thing all out of proportion.

[Low Down Low]

Poor Rudy, he could have been seriously injured.....NOT!
By the looks of the video of the back slapping incident, he's blowing this thing all out of proportion.

Rudy will be furious his broken window policy isn't still in operation, that mindless thug would be sent down for 20.

[revbob]

Poor Rudy, he could have been seriously injured.....NOT!
By the looks of the video of the back slapping incident, he's blowing this thing all out of proportion.

My guess is the real injury came when he called him a dick, child molester, fascist pig or whatever while patting him on the back.

[Dr. Medulla]

It was happy hour somewhere, so he may well have been drunk and overreacted.

[Dr. Medulla]

Inch by inch, the armbands get put on: https://ohiohouse.gov/members/brigid-ke ... ill-109363

[JennyB]

Inch by inch, the armbands get put on: https://ohiohouse.gov/members/brigid-ke ... ill-109363

Yeah, won't anyone think of the poor, misunderstood Nazis?

[Sparky]

Inch by inch, the armbands get put on: https://ohiohouse.gov/members/brigid-ke ... ill-109363

Unbelievable, I think this line sums it up:

How do you teach both sides of the Holocaust? Of 9/11? Of slavery? Of Ukraine?

[Flex]

Inch by inch, the armbands get put on: https://ohiohouse.gov/members/brigid-ke ... ill-109363

I know none of this should be at all surprising, and yet...

I actually wonder if some of this is a result of the final twilight of the G.I. Generation. Say what you will about our so-called Greatest Generation, most of them didn't have time for Nazis. Since, you know, they remembered actually a fighting a war with them.

[Dr. Medulla]

Inch by inch, the armbands get put on: https://ohiohouse.gov/members/brigid-ke ... ill-109363

Unbelievable, I think this line sums it up:

How do you teach both sides of the Holocaust? Of 9/11? Of slavery? Of Ukraine?

Well, you do in specialized courses at the university level, but, no, in high school, that's all-but impossible. It's absurd to think teachers will possess the sensitivity and nuance to handle those topics properly. That's no knock on teachers—they just have to do way too much to also expect that degree of understanding. Teaching both sides inevitably means "both sides were kinda right."