The premise is simple: if the Republican never-Trumpers were actually serious about stopping Trump, they would’ve started an alternative conservative political party. That they didn’t pretty much means they are just grifting off of the grift of Trump.
It’s understandable why people like Rick Wilson (a) wouldn’t start a political party and (b) would be all in on the grift, right? Rick Wilson, the political pollutant, made the ads that brought down war hero Max Cleland and now he runs around liberal media squawking about how terrible the MAGA and Trump take over of the Republican Party is.
Stuart “I’ve got a book to sell” Stevens appears on all of the TVs claiming to have seen the error of Republican ways.
All of the other blathering bombastic bastards who roam the halls of cable news shows, podcasts, and national radio are out there lamenting what Trump and MAGA have become and how we must now stop them.
Fuck them. They made Trump and MAGA. They can quit trying to milk the liberal base for their grift, reach down their pants, find their balls, and get in the fucking trenches to fight this out. Those are political trenches and fighting with votes to all who need that clarified.
They could have declared Trump a bridge too far in 2016, started a nascent conservative political party, and done the fucking hard work of grassroots organizing that would eventually create a legitimate viable national conservative party, but they didn’t. They wrote books, posted anti-Trump videos to social media, and vomit their same vile poison from the media outlets as they did when they were in the belly of the beast creating the intestinal bloat that eventually spewed Trump and MAGA forth.
Fuck those guys. America needed them, and the went on with their grift just a smaller branch of the same goddamn river that the Republican Party has been on since 1965.
What do you think? I’d love to hear about it in the comments.
The Psy of Life 
Good question
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Thanks. Too bad there’s not a good answer other than everyone likes the one we have.
Jack
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It seems many of those so called RINOS are turning back to Trump now like McConnell, Romney…
I don’t trust anyone with the title of Republicans.
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Howdy Usfman!
Trump is just the flash-bang of their assault on democracy. They’re hoping that once Trump fades from the scene, they’re left in office with none of the safeguards left in place and none of the confidence in our institutions remaining, so they can rig elections and continue vacuuming up money from the middle class. It has never been anything other than that. I say never, since Reagan.
What we’ve been witnessing since 1965 and the Great Society has been revenge of the millionaire class and its sequel, revenge of the billionaire class. They’re hoping the third installment in the franchinse won’t be revenge of the trillionaire class, but the triumph of the trillionaire class.
Huzzah!
Jack
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Check out this article, Jack.
https://sethabramson.substack.com/p/maga-radicals-got-a-major-disinformation?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=262336&post_id=145698845&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=false&r=by46&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email
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I think that’s a good question. Many of us, who are basically on the left, more liberal side of things, are quite conservative in many areas, especially as we age. A new conservative movement, which would take in leftist attitudes about inclusion but leave out much of the left’s own authoritarianism & thought- & word-policing while conserving what we all want to keep from the world in which we grew up, or recreate that world in a new form.
People I know, online & in person, left & right, democrat & republican (or independent, as more & more people are becoming) are disgusted with the state of politics in America; the way the media reports it; the way absolutely nothing of value is being done for the American people or the world. Most of us feel powerless to do anything about this; exhortations to VOTE VOTE VOTE aside & to write letters to the people (representing) us & to sound off in blogs.
If a new political party could actually be formed & find real political power, things could actually change. I know it seems impossible but remember that the Republican party was once a new political party. It replaced the Whigs. Remember them?
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Howdy Silver!
“…the world in which we grew up…” that phrase really caught my eye. I’ve been talking with a bunch of olds on Ye Olde Blogge the idea that we were better from about 1955 – 1980 has come up numerous times. All things seemed possible in that time period. Now, everything seems impossible. What has changed? The rise of the oligarchy-seeking Republican Party and the demagoguery of white nationalism.
We have allowed the GOP to convince us that all politicians are corrupt and venial, all taxes are bad, and government is inept. Now, they’re turning the same technique to felony offenses committed while in office. By accusing the DoJ of politicizing the prosecution of Trump and then stating that they have no choice but to investigate the Bidens, they are creating the impression that all prosecutions of politicians are politicized.
The only power we have is to vote. Look to the ones who are trying to limit ballot access, and vote for their opponents.
The Whigs went out because they had two devastating election losses in a row. They were no longer electorally viable. The only way another party rises up to challenge the GOP is if they have huge electoral losses. History has to repeat itself.
Huzzah!
Jack
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The GOP started their “felonizing” of the Dems back with Bill Clinton, which didn’t work but I have to say that it’s the same dynamic with Trump. I never thought that Clinton did anything wrong (lying about sex isn’t a crime & the whole thing was a setup anyway) but the GOP has been gungho on finding criminality with the Dems, any Dem, since then. I have other issues with Clinton … how he ruined Welfare. I have the same issues with Obama … how he could have given this country a really good healthcare system & he gave us the Heritage Foundation’s shit show one. If the people of this country are turning away from the Dems, it’s because of things like that & things like Judge Jackson saying she couldn’t define a woman, when the correct answer is “an adult human female”. WTF already.
I don’t think anyone who’s serious about politics thinks Biden is a criminal. His son is a drug addict & he does the dumbass things that addicts do but if that’s a crime, that’s only because of the stupid drug laws our country has … not because he’s a criminal. There’s a difference.
The GOP does real crimes. The Dems get caught harassing women sexually & doing drugs. Those are problems, not really crimes. Sexual harassment isn’t a crime (although they’ve tried to make into one). I know, I’ve been raped & I’ve been sexually harassed & I know the difference. Sexual harassment is annoying; rape is assault.
I get tired of being told to vote like I’m some child who needs to be told to do her homework. Just thought I’d throw that in there.
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Howdy Silver!
I don’t know who’s telling you to vote, but all the things I see urging me to vote are meant for the general public and not me personally.
I’ve long said that the attack on Clinton didn’t work because 90% of America heard that he lied about having an affair and responded with, “Meh, I’d’ve lied, too.” The other metric to evaluate the criminal enterprise that the GOP was and still is is the number of investigations, indictments, and convictions that each administration had of their personnel. I think Obama’s numbered in the one or two. Biden hasn’t had any, I don’t think. Clinton had a few. Carter had two. The Republicans since Reagan have numbered everywhere from the dozens to hundreds. It isn’t even close. With Trump, they’ve pulled the band-aide off and aren’t even trying to hide their criminality or the assault on democracy.
I will always maintain that the something we’ve got, no matter how imperfect, is better than what the Republicans would have us have.
Huzzah!
Jack
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Dude, you always lie. If you’re caught in bed, in the very act of the kinkiest sex known to man, you lie & say you weren’t doing it at all. That’s what you do. The fact that the GOP made such a big deal out of that was really stupid.
I was married to a man who couldn’t tell the truth if he was paid to do so with double time on Sundays but I wouldn’t blame him for lying about THAT. & he did … over & over & over again. Needless to say, I left him. Now he wants me back! No thank you!
Clinton was one sexy dude & if I had been one of the interns in that office, it would had been ME & there wouldn’t have been a scandal because I know how to keep my mouth shut. When you’re having an affair with a married man, you can’t talk about it to ANYONE. That was Monica’s big mistake & Clinton paid for that.
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Lying about having an affair made Clinton seem relatable. The GOP never recovered. They are not relatable in the least.
Jack
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I think the system is heavily biased against third (and later) parties. There is a lot of work involved in getting a new party on the ballot – work that would have to be done in 50 states, each with their own rules, as well as federal jobs. It is unclear there are enough Never Trump conservative politicians to make a party viable on a national scale.
Additionally, I suspect a lot of Never Trumpers are still in denial as to how thoroughly the party has been made over in Trump’s image. They think the fever will break, Trump will die or go away, and then the Trump will be memory holed just as George W. Bush was. I think they are confused – Trump will be memory holed as Bush was, but the Trumpist movement will continue to be in charge, just as though Bush was gone the policies of his sponsors and patrons remained.
As a consequence of my second point, I think many never Trumpers think it will be easier to take the Republican party back than to build a new nationwide party, especially if the Republican party continues to exist. And the most likely outcome of a successful third party is to split the Conservative vote everywhere, resulting in more wins by the Democrats. Any third party that aspires to replace one of the big two should be all in on ranked choice voting, which will reduce the number of spoiler scenarios such as I mentioned.
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Howdy Larry!
You’re right. Our system is designed for two parties. Anytime a party begins to grow in popularity, Ross Perot in the mid-90’s, for example, the other two parties co-opt whatever popular positions they have. However, as we saw in the 1940’s with the Whigs — at least I think it was the 1840’s — one party can implode and lose elections by devastating margins. When that happens, another party rises up and takes their place.
It is hard work and costs lots of money. That’s why third party challengers are so rare. However, if its going to be done, it will start at the community level and build up, like the Greens and Libertarians keep trying to do. There are enough conservative billionaires out there fund an effort put together by centrist Republicans to do just that.
The people who want to take the Republican Party back are the people who were driving when it hit the tree. They’re just waiting for the car to be repaired enough so they can drive it to the bar and hit another tree with it, only this time, they think they’ll make it home. The Republican Party consists of types: (1) People who support Trump because they see him as a vehicle for their own ambitions. (2) People who support Trump because they’re willing to be useful idiots. (3) People who don’t do anything to stop Trump but don’t do anything to help him, either.
They all want the same goal, oligarchy. They just disagree on how to get there. It’s been that way since about 1980 or so. If there were any conservatives out there who really supported democracy, conservative fiscal policy, and conservative social policy, they would be organizing a true conservative party no matter how much work and money it would take. Those people simply don’t exist in America right now. All we got are the grifters that have risen to the top since Reagan.
Huzzah!
Jack
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That’s a very valid question and one I’d like to have the answer too as well. All you have to do is look at the congressional hearing with Dr. Fauci yesterday to see just how radical, extremist and even insane the GOP has become. So why aren’t the moderate Republicans jumping in to shut this crap down or realizing that the modern Republican party has become a lost cause and looking for an alternative part or starting their own?
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Howdy Grouchy!
The Republican Party consists of three types: (1) People who support Trump because they see him as a vehicle for their own ambitions. (2) People who support Trump because they’re willing to be useful idiots. (3) People who don’t do anything to stop Trump but don’t do anything to help him, either.
They all have the same goal, oligarchy. They just disagree on how to get there. It’s been that way since about 1980 or so. If there were any conservatives out there who really supported democracy, conservative fiscal policy, and conservative social policy, they would be organizing a true conservative party no matter how much work and money it would take. Their hero would be Eisenhower, not Reagan or Trump.
Those people simply don’t exist in America right now. All we got are the grifters that have risen to the top since Reagan.
Huzzah!
Jack
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We do it is called the Democratic Party. Great question chuq
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Damn, you beat me to that one! I was going to say the same thing. I’m 70 years old and vividly remember what the Republican party was like back in the 1970s. In a lot of ways modern Democrats are more conservative than the GOP was back then. People tend to forget that prominent GOP politicians like Nixon and others were pushing for “radical” ideas like universal national health insurance.
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Howdy Grouchy!
People forget that it wasn’t always like this. The conservative movement is largely responsible for our current state of dysfunction, starting with Regan who got rid of the Fairness Doctrine which indirectly has led to much of the bias in our news media today. He also railed against pork barrel spending which kept a continuum of political points-of-view in each party. Now we don’t have conservative Democrats or liberal Republicans. Consequently, we don’t have compromise, which is absolutely necessary in a democracy.
Had the never-Trumpers been serious political actors, they would’ve recognized the need to offer an alternative to MAGA for voters, whether it was successful or not. Instead, they danced with the one that brung them, and continued the grift just with a new target.
Huzzah!
Jack
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The 1956 GOP national platform was something even a lefty like me could support….for me it started down this road in 1980 and it has been getting worse. chuq
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Reagan was definitely an inflection point in the GOPs pursuit of oligarchy.
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Yessir and few people can see it or they are too young to remember those days. chuq
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Howdy Chuq!
While the Democrats are (a) far more conservative than I’d prefer them to be and (b) more conservative than the party of my youth, it doesn’t negate the need for a second viable party willing to participate in a democratic government, which the Republicans are not willing to do.
That we have a system built for two parties makes it difficult for any third party to rise to national prominence. It doesn’t mean it hasn’t happened. The Republican Party needs to go the way of the Whigs. We can help that along by testing the viability of a second conservative party, especially in some states.
I think the never-Trumpers are just grifting us for personal benefit and have no real interest in governance or helping the nation.
Huzzah!
Jack
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The GOP once stood for many amazing things and now all they have is abortion, immigrants and bathrooms…..it is sad and we do need another party or maybe two. Thanx for stopping by much appreciated. chuq
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The GOP is gone all in on oligarchy. The only way to achieve that is to divide us with social issues and their explosive diarrhea of propaganda. And, the only way they successfully diarrhea us into oligarchy is if they take the mentoring that Putin and Mother Russia is giving them and the money laundering that Trump’s Truth Social is doing for them.
Jack
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GOP is a POS….not much more we can say about them….chuq
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I’m reminded of the “Highlander” tv series and a couple of movies back around 1990, sword fighting tale among immortal warriors with the premise that “There can be only one.”. In American politics, the norm and universal understanding is “There can be only two.”. Even though third parties do pop up, they are generally seen as doomed, and often as individual ego projects. To have a real future in politics you have to wear either the “D” or the “R” brand, or in a few cases, the “I” one, but caucus with one or the other. The Libertarian Party is there, but it really is for the contrarian purists and young guys who read “Atlas Shrugged” and lost their critical thinking. The insanely rich Libertarians might toss them some money, but they know the real action is in the GOP and it’s think tanks. Much the same mind set explains why we don’t have a Labor Party. As has been observed, from a European political point of view, we have had for a long time two conservative parties, the Moderates (D) and the Very (R). What those never Trumpers are complaining about is their party being taken over by Theocratic Populists.
The two party system is so deeply embedded that even the management of our legislative processes is dependent on which of them happens to have the majority in that chamber after any given election, and voting on bills be primarily by party line. That pattern is hugely reinforced by the party primary election system.
We do need more parties. Then the maneuvering of coalition politics would be out in the open.
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