Data from the NBC News poll shows that the composition of the two major parties is changing, and one massive shift is coming in employment: the kinds of jobs Democrats and Republicans hold. There are signs across racial and ethnic demographic groups that Republicans are becoming the party of blue-collar Americans and the change is happening quickly.

If the movement continues it could have a large impact on the future of the GOP. //

NBC admits that the GOP had better economic messaging than Democrats, but warns that the majority of this growth took place during the Trump era and if the GOP continues to use the same tactics Trump did to attract blue-collar workers, then it would further tie the party to him. //

Economic policies can be practiced without belonging to a specific man. If it works, it works. For the blue-collar voters in America, it definitely worked.

You can watch the rest of the interview, but I’ll save you the time; he never answers the Florida vs. California question. Not because he doesn’t know the answer but because answering it would undercut the ruthless aggrandizement of power at the expense of American citizens now underway under the cover of the “pandemic.” //

If we had a press worthy of the name, every public health necromancer that appears on any program would be forced to answer the very simple question of why data do not show any benefit to mask mandates lockdowns.

David Harsanyi
@davidharsanyi
You can be pro or anti Trump, but the notion that he suddenly changed is silly. //

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it many more times between now and the next presidential election. Haley is way, way too focus-grouped to be the 2024 nominee in my opinion. She’s just so quintessentially beltway, even though her major experience is as a governor. That doesn’t mean I’d wholly reject her if she made it through the primary (though a lot of Trump voters would), but it does mean the GOP should be aiming higher than someone who mirrors Jeb Bush more than Ron DeSantis.

Trump isn’t really on trial here, everyone who voted for him is. Democrats are arguing guilt by association, and they’re not stopping with Trump.

I like the vigor, but anyone would be left wondering where this was when McConnell actually had the power to force these votes as Senate Majority Leader? Why, only when the GOP has lost power, does the party finally decide to project a backbone?

Thus is the issue that has plagued Republicans for a very long time. They love being in the minority. They are never more enthused and focused than when they no longer hold the power to actually exact any real change. The protest votes and putting Democrats in uncomfortable positions are nice, but they are hardly the pinnacle of governance for voters that put these people in Washington to actually accomplish things.

It makes for more gridlock, not less. It also opens the door for more corruption, because many “coalition parties” are just fine with settling into a losing position (this is something the GOP is often accused of). //

2.Unanimity in ideology helps keep the Executive Branch in check. In America our system provides for an executive election every four years and a legislative election every two years. That means that Americans are given the unique opportunity to elect a leader from one party, but may opt to keep him in check by electing the opposing party to Congress. In a multi-party system, coalitions fighting amongst each other for “favored loser” status and reenacting a political version of Survivor can prevent the legislative body from focusing on the Executive Branch when necessary. //

3.A two-party system offers just as many choices as a multi-party system, but those choices happen at lower levels. (primary elections) //

4. It simplifies federal governance and allows a President to represent America on an international stage with a people-powered mandate. //

Despite how powerful the President seems to other nations, he is only that powerful if he has a concerted mandate and full-throated support of the majority of his electorate. The people make the President. A two-party system allows voters to consolidate their votes where it counts when it comes to how a President represents us on a national stage.

The future of the Lincoln Project is really a big question mark. With the Never Trump purpose having largely expired now, there are no longer reasons for Democrat donors to give money to the Project, and there aren’t reasons to produce campaign ads at wildly inflated costs to be paid with suckers’ money.

But the free media exposure over the past 6 months seems to have given the Lincoln Project a new possible form of existence as a “media company,” with various members branching out into podcasting and television production on political-themed shows.

The problem they are likely to encounter, however, is finding a target audience for their continued work. The central focus for their formation is gone, and there is no coherent reason for Democrats to pay attention to them in place of Democrat messaging forces — unless the founders intend to reinvent themselves now as progressives and socialists.

They have no home in the Post-Trump Republican Party. The policy agenda that drove the MAGA constituency is not being put back in the bottle. The post-Reagan agenda pursued by the Bush-Cheney-McCain GOP is dead, and it has no meaningful constituency in the post-Trump GOP.

The title of a Saturday report from Bloomberg says it succinctly:

‘Dark Money’ Helped Pave Joe Biden’s Path to the White House.

More specifically, Biden’s campaign reeled in more “dark money” than any campaign in history, dwarfing Trump’s special interest contributions by multiples:

$145 million to $28.4 million. //

disintelligentsia
36 minutes ago
Now let's add in all the foreign money donated through prepaid cards because Dems choose not to use the basic security checks on their site while Republicans refuse to do anything about it. Same crap Obama did and yet the GOP did nothing about it when they held all branches. //

rmcgee
an hour ago
Really, that's peanuts alongside the in-kind contributions from Facebook, Twitter, Google, and the media which were probably to the tune of multiple billions of dollars.

Lindsey Graham made choices with regard to how he wanted to ACTUALLY investigate the Russia Hoax. He made a lot of noise, but his choices reflect a real motive to just get past the issue while looking good for the cameras and maintaining his standing with the MAGA base.

This has been a career-long pattern by Graham. He’s not a “leader” on the Trump agenda. He is a GOP politician who wants to sound like he’s a supporter, but he is actually interested only in co-opting it for his own benefit.

Lindsey Graham can’t move to the head of the MAGA pack — not that I think he will — because he can’t be trusted once he gets there.

America has believed itself to be a two-party system diametrically opposed to one another, but as Greenwald said, there is definitely a ruling establishment that has become overtly comfortable in positions of power after having been in Washington for so long. Donors who fund the party of limited government may also fund the party of big government strictly to help themselves, and both parties will do what they can to further the donor’s interests.

RBe
@RBPundit
So... they just impeached Trump for something he didn’t do.

The Spectator Index
@spectatorindex
JUST IN: CNN reports that Federal investigators have indications US Capitol riot may have been pre-planned. //

Yes, our great and hopelessly anti-Trump FBI finally came in promptly to drop this development after the Democrats had set this "remove Trump" train into motion. And of all outlets, CNN was the one to report on it:

Evidence uncovered so far, including weapons and tactics seen on surveillance video, suggests a level of planning that has led investigators to believe the attack on the US Capitol was not just a protest that spiraled out of control, a federal law enforcement official says.

Among the evidence the FBI is examining are indications that some participants at the Trump rally at the Ellipse, outside the White House, left the event early, perhaps to retrieve items to be used in the assault on the Capitol.

A team of investigators and prosecutors are also focused on the command and control aspect of the attack, looking at travel and communications records to determine if they can build a case that is similar to a counterterrorism investigation, the official said.

What we are witnessing in Washington DC this week is a concerted effort — by the establishments of both parties — to remove Donald Trump from the map of politics in the United States, to delegitimize everything done by the Trump Administration over four years as justification for a rollback, to validate all the claims made against him by his opponents in both parties, and to brand his supporters as undemocratic and anti-American in order to fracture the non-traditional coalition of interests he brought together.

This is an effort — by the establishments of both parties — to render Trump and his coalition ineffective as a political movement by making it radioactive to any conservative politician who might try to harness it in pursuing a similar policy agenda in the future. //

Setting aside all claims of fraud — which the Trump campaign has never demonstrated with substantive evidence in a proper forum — the combination of obvious and not-so-obvious efforts by the party establishments to prevent a second Trump term cannot be erased. It will continue to animate the coalition that Trump assembled, and it will continue to give support to the policy issues he pushed to the front of the debate.

That is what both Establishments now fear. Their hegemony over the national political discourse was disrupted by Donald Trump’s Presidency and calls into doubt their ability to maintain themselves as the drivers of the debate, with the issues framed by their interests. //

The issues that animated that coalition are not going away. Hence the need to stigmatize the coalition itself.

If tech feudal lords and oligarchs can decide which sovereign has a voice and platform, then sovereignty is meaningless. Europeans must take note.
By Sumantra Maitra
Whatever the result of the massive Twitter purge, it made one thing clear to the world. Carl Schmitt’s most important and controversial aphorism, “sovereign is he who decides the exception” is still timeless.

In the American republic, the sovereign is not the state, which has hollowed out. The sovereign now is the group of neo-feudal oligarchs, Amazon, Google, Twitter, and Facebook, who now decide and control who can speak, see, learn, and buy, and what and when. Give them an army of their own like the East India Company, and the American state is over. //

The hypocrisy here is the establishment of a new hierarchy and power structure. Twitter is doing what it can, not what it cannot. Tech companies can go against Western conservatives because they are not afraid of Western conservatives. They have realized that, due to their ideology and free-market dogma, modern conservatives are impotent about using the state or power.

Twitter cannot do that with China or Antifa, because there will be real consequences in terms of their revenue or street violence. In other words, tech companies are afraid of state power in some countries (China, Russia) and not in others (the free-market United States). The principle of power remains the same. As Phillippe Lemoine said, “Twitter banned Trump because it could and that’s all there is to it. At least the Athenians were honest with the Melians before they destroyed them.” //

No wonder China, Russia, the European Union, and India are trying to control their internet. Their sovereignty is in question if tech oligarchs decide who can speak and who cannot. And the Chinese are happy to rub it in that at least in China, the state remains supreme to a bunch of feudal lords arbitrarily deciding rules. //

The tech-lash censoring of the president and a bunch of conservatives is similar to the king realizing during Magna Carta that it’s the feudal lords who hold real power, not him. It is the duty of historians to add that conservatives have only themselves to blame if they lose the war with the tech neo-feudalists.

They had years to break up monopolies. They didn’t. Vae Victis. The coming consequences will be severe.

“Our pretensions to civilization have become very thin,” begins Hayward. “Political violence was legitimized last year and is spreading wildly now. “Might makes right” is clearly the only “principle” behind freedom of speech. That’s why Chinese Communists will never be censored by Big Tech.”

“When every “principle” becomes nothing but a ruthless exercise of power, it’s not surprising that a growing number of people conclude they must demonstrate some sort of power in order to be taken seriously,” he continued. “Violence is the crudest exercise of power.” //

John Hayward
@Doc_0
·
Jan 11, 2021

A well-run civilization makes it clear universally that violence is absolutely unacceptable. Giving free passes for irresponsible rhetoric and destruction to groups favored by the dominant political ideology of the State undermines that message.

We must also [give] people peaceable means of expressing themselves and controlling their own lives, to relieve the pressures that can lead to violent outbursts and other forms of lawlessness. The less healthy discourse and freedom of action you have, the more pressure builds up. //

People begin getting the idea that violence gets results and that the law won’t really touch those who do get violent. As a result, we slide back into barbarism. //

“A great deal of our society today boils down to anarchy and barbarism arrogantly disguising itself with the trappings of civilization,” tweeted Hayward. “That’s the key to understanding cancel culture and crybullies: they sanctify their lust for power by loudly claiming to be helpless victims.”

TSquared
an hour ago edited

Agree totally with this article. And yes let's all condemn the violence as we crawl over each other to be the one t0 reach the highest pinnacle of the moral high ground. But let us also remember...

"That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. "

When/if the day comes that the governed attempt to revoke it's consent - in what form do you expect that to happen? What did it look like when the governed in this country revoked it from King George?

"And what country can preserve it’s liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is it’s natural manure. " - Thomas Jefferson

Everybody rightfully wants to avoid violence. I think most sane people would prefer to return to some normalcy in this country and get on with just living their lives. But, you can't escape the notion that the day may come when it becomes necessary to spread some manure.

Our elites are corrupt. The political establishment is not serving us well. These wounds will not be healed by sanctimonious Instagram posts, cable news monologues, egghead Twitter threads, or lofty speeches on the Senate floor, applauded by Beltway journalists who just pocketed $2,000 bonuses and rarely worry about feeding their families. //

As the Capitol devolved into chaos, I overheard a protester walking away from the scene, down the hill on the east side Union Station, mutter about the political establishment to his friend. “It’s like they’re playing a game,” he sighed, “and everyone has a role to play but us.”

jessOsVc
@JessOnPurpose03
What got @ReverendWarnock elected was that he kept stating what he is for and why. While Kelly couldn't tell me her why. She was not compelling. //

Now THAT is a tragic reality, because her story is very compelling. Shame she depended upon poorly contrived ads and focus groups, but didn’t have the balls to be who she was. If given the chance, that narrative would have built the enthusiasm to get Georgians out to vote.

This is really mis-guided. "Objecting" is a political act. It's provided for by statute. It leads to debate over the bases for the objection. It's not a courtroom -- it's on the floor of a legislative body performing Constitutional duty. //

To rule that procedure out of bounds in advance is itself undemocratic.

“Well-meaning people say Republicans and Democrats have the same fundamental goals but different ideas and strategies for achieving them. I’ve always regarded this as wishful thinking, but if it were ever true, it no longer is today.

“The two parties, as presently constituted, have distinctly different visions for America based on conflicting worldviews.

“Some will object that all Americans want everyone to be prosperous, safe, free, and to live in harmony, but I’m not sure that’s even true anymore, given the left’s anti-Americanism, its intolerance and authoritarianism, its romance with socialism…

“… its hysterical environmentalism, its preoccupation with identity politics, its radicalism on race and gender, its attempts to erase our borders, its culture of death, its devaluation of the Constitution, its hostility to Second Amendment rights, and much more.”

For those reasons and others, Limbaugh argues that despite feelings of dejection and pessimism, now is not the time for conservatives to give up hope. On the contrary, he suggests there are reasons for optimism among America’s conservatives — principal among them that Donald Trump broke the mold and proved it could be done.

President Trump showed that an outsider actually can win the presidency and advance a constructive agenda against nearly overwhelming resistance. He single-handedly transformed the Republican Party into a far more efficient and effective policy vehicle. His very presence smoked out the radicalism, authoritarianism, corruption, destructiveness, and utter meanness of the left. […]

Trump presented a template for how the Republican Party should and can expand its base, and how it should push its own agenda every bit as aggressively as the Democrats do theirs, without the cheating and lawlessness.

He inspired tens of millions of Americans with his unflagging patriotism, with his defense and promotion of this country and its interests. The enthusiasm at his rallies was no accident, and it will not diminish but rather surely increase.

What will become of ‘Trumpism’?

Limbaugh believes strongly that “Trumpism” will be alive and well in the Republican Party, long after Trump is gone.

“Our side is fired up like never before, and the Republican Party will likely remain the party of Trumpism, even when Trump ceases to lead it. There will not be another Trump — but there doesn’t need to be, as long as the next GOP president largely follows his policy agenda (apart from spending, which we desperately need to rein in), adopts his template for fiercely fighting for that agenda, and continues to expose and proactively fight against the tyranny of leftist media and social media.”

“What Donald Trump has done with pushing the America First agenda is never going to cease,” added Grenell. “Future presidents may try to couch it a little bit differently, or they may try to roll it back, but they are going to be unable to do that.” //

“Those days are over. The American people are much more engaged now because of Donald Trump, and they’re going to expect their government to put America first. I’m really proud of President Trump.