Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

peggysue2

peggysue2's Journal
peggysue2's Journal
December 22, 2018

Dear Trump Enablers: Cry Me a River

Jennifer Rubin wrote a column the other day: “Dear Trump Enablers: Cry Me A River” from the perspective of Never-Trumpers, those Republicans who immediately saw Trumpski as a narcissistic grifter (as Democrats universally did) and now— according to Ms. Rubin—are owed apologies from their whining GOP colleagues, those who regret enabling an oaf.

Let me start by saying I appreciate that there were 'some' voices out there, conservative intellectuals warning what a disaster Trumpski would be and ultimately is. However, the collective ‘we’ cannot dismiss the false memes and propaganda promoted by Republicans for decades, all of which provided a clear glide path for the abomination known as Donald J. Trump.

Right-wing radio and Fox News has been shoveling pure horseshit for years, certainly since Gingrich's 'Contract with America.' Balanced budgets and austerity programs have been demanded when Democrats hold power, while wild spending sprees and tax give-aways for the rich are deemed perfectly acceptable when Republicans hold the reins.

Bush and Cheney nearly brought the country and the world to its economic knees with hollow ideology, unnecessary wars, deficit spending, corruption. And sheer neglect. Remember deficits-don’t-matter-Cheney? Or “we're an Empire now, we create our own reality?”

Where were Republican voices then?

Even Romney—considered a moderate in Republican circles and in Ms. Rubin’s Universe—felt compelled to reiterate the nonsense that ‘of course, corporations are people, my friend’ giving shelter to the corrosive funding abuses we’ve seen since Citizen’s United was upheld by SCOTUS.

Where were the jeers, the objections?

As we watched, it was left to Obama to pick up the pieces, pull the truck from the ditch and get us back on the road. What did he get for the Herculean effort? Accusals of being foreign born, a Muslim, the Other. Or on the ACA, providing Americans with healthcare insurance, an issue that should never have been partisan. What did we hear? Screams of death panels and communist takeovers for a plan that was hatched at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think-tank.

Where was the condemnation from rational Republicans?

The list goes on through congressional obstructionism; endless, pointless investigations; obscene gerrymandering and voter suppression/voter fraud gimmicks.

Voices. Outrage. Anyone?

Dems are certainly not saints. Far from it. But we as a community believe in the notions of government and governance which is something Republicans surrendered long ago.

Now look at the mess, the sheer lunacy we're witnessing.

I've offered up kudos for Ms. Rubin’s columns in the past. She and others did call Trumpski out, pointed unabashedly to the incompetence, corruption, the withering unfitness. But when it comes to demanding apologies, there are a lot of mea culpas owed. The Never-Trumpers will have to wait their turn.

Right now, the biggest share belongs to the Republic that's being trampled by an unfit lunatic squatting in the White House. Apologies are owed to our parents and grandparents and great-grandparents, etc., those who bled for this country and for all the sacrifices made to keep the idea of America alive, each generation pushing for a better future.

We’ve never been perfect. At best, as a society, as a Nation of laws and principles, we’re a work-in-progress. But hey, a work-in-progress is not a bad moniker.

All those lives, all the ideals and dreams as imperfect as they might be are now at the mercy of a conman, a grifter wiping his feet on the dead, the living, the yet to be born. Trumpski is urged on by the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, Tucker Carlson et al, radio and TV jocks whipping their audiences into a frenzy with . . . lies and innuendo.

So many apologies. Too many to count.

Donald Trump will be a thing of the past in due time, sooner rather than later I hope. Once that happens, once the dust settles, we’ll need to repair and heal. Many will swear they never saw the debacle coming. Yet the signs were all around. The cues were most profoundly obvious in the silence of Republicans who knew better, whispered among themselves but set aside principle for winning at all costs and those who acquiesced to the bullies screaming into the ether. All at the expense of the country for which they so loudly, so passionately proclaimed love.

There’s been treachery in our midst for decades.

Many apologies are owed. Take your ticket Ms. Rubin; it’s going to be a long wait.

While you’re waiting, we’ll have a Nation to rebuild, fences to mend, alliances to reestablish. Let’s hope we all remember the past as it was, not the sanitized version many in Republican circles would have us accept.

Because we either learn from the past. Or we don’t. If the latter is our fate, then this may be our last hurrah.

I sincerely hope that is not the case.


https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2018/12/21/cry-me-river-trump-enablers/?utm_term=.d7090e1fc645

December 13, 2018

Maria Butina, Red Sparrow extraordinaire!

I've included a thread reader link to a fascinating rundown on what Maria Butina's plea today means, how her confession(s) link in to the overall puzzle that is Trumpski/Russia/NRA/GOP.

The ship is going down to the bottom of the Deep Blue Sea. And it's taking all hands on deck with it.


https://twitter.com/threadreaderapp/status/1073273681416212480

Beautiful!!!

Profile Information

Name: Peg
Gender: Female
Hometown: New Jersey
Home country: USA
Current location: Wilmington, DE
Member since: Sat Feb 6, 2016, 08:31 PM
Number of posts: 10,828

About peggysue2

Retired writer/editor, avid reader, political junkie, Mom to grown kids and endlessly kid-like puppies and Nan to our sweet Cassandra.
Latest Discussions»peggysue2's Journal