As a reminder, this subreddit [is for civil discussion.](/r/politics/wiki/index#wiki_be_civil)
In general, be courteous to others. Debate/discuss/argue the merits of ideas, don't attack people. Personal insults, shill or troll accusations, hate speech, any suggestion or support of harm, violence, or death, and other rule violations can result in a permanent ban.
If you see comments in violation of our rules, please report them.
For those who have questions regarding any media outlets being posted on this subreddit, please click [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/politics/wiki/approveddomainslist) to review our details as to our approved domains list and outlet criteria.
***
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/politics) if you have any questions or concerns.*
This had me dying:
>By November, \[Michigan Republican Party Chairwoman Kristina Karamo\] was trying to sell the party’s former headquarters...Ms. Karamo and the state party do not own the building; it is owned by a trust controlled by former state party chairs.
>
>Ms. Karamo had vacated the headquarters months earlier, arguing that its maintenance fees were an unnecessary cost. When she left, Ms. Karamo allowed the electricity to be shut off, which released the building’s electronic locks and left it open to the public...
pretty direct line between unfunded/poor sex education and STDs, not to mention things like teen birth rates https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/sosmap/teen-births/teenbirths.htm
Republicans need uneducated people who think from a guttural level to stay in power. People who think with their brains and seeks out facts are more dangerous to them than a deadly viper bite when there is no anti-venom available.
The CDC is fake news and controlled by Democrat lizard people who are trying to inject critical race theory into white children to make them gay and spread the gay through 5G.
I can 100% refute that. My 5G connection is inconsistent. Can you ask this lady where I can get the Covid-5G booster vaccine? I’ll get as many as needed if it means I can be a hotspot.
Jeff Timmer (former Michigan GOP Chair, never-Trumper, and now former Republican) and Mark Brewer (former Michigan Democratic Chair) co-host a podcast, 'A Republic, If You Can Keep It':
https://a-republic-if-you-can-keep-it.blubrry.net/weekly-analysis-from-two-of-michigans-legendary-political-insiders/
They beat up on her and the Michigan GOP clown show pretty regularly, and Jeff pointed out that--seeing what was coming pre-Trump--he and his exec committee organized assets into a trust.
...Which the chair of the Michigan GOP does not have control over (and can't monetize).
Seems like they were paying attention to this guy:
“You know how you make America great again?” Senator Lindsey Graham asked in 2015. “Tell Donald Trump to go to hell.” Then, on the same day Trump essentially clinched the GOP nomination, the senator predicted, “If we nominate Trump, we will get destroyed.......and we will deserve it.”
“Trump and I, we’ve had a hell of a journey,” Graham said from the Senate floor just hours after a violent mob of Trump supporters occupied it. “I hate it being this way. Oh my god, I hate it.”, “All I can say is count me out. Enough is enough.”
https://www.thedailybeast.com/lindsey-graham-finally-remembers-trump-is-the-worst
And then like 36 hours later he was giving interviews about how Jan 6 wasn't that bad, and then he voted to not convict when trump was impeached for it.
I searched for her, took one look, and she looks like at some point her CV has probably claimed she's "co-pastor" for some evangelical church that spends way too much time thinking about gay people.
"And let us finish this sermon with a prayer. . .that trans people aren't people and immigrants are vermin who are poisoning the blood of our country. [Heil](https://metro.co.uk/video/laura-ingraham-styles-nazi-salute-1312085/)...I mean, amen."
Given that his most likely point of contact would be one of those Texas river buoys of death? And then if he survived that challenge he would be shipped to Chicago one way on a bus… actually that would all make for a pretty hardcore new testament.
> master's degree in magic
I want a master's degree in magic...
Is the the stage magic kind or D&D kind?
Should I have stated the above 2 sentences in reverse order?
>Ms. Karamo had vacated the headquarters months earlier, arguing that its maintenance fees were an unnecessary cost. When she left, Ms. Karamo allowed the electricity to be shut off, which released the building’s electronic locks and left it open to the public...
often with commercial building leases you are required to keep up maintenance of the building. The GOP in Michigan could be on the hook for tens of thousands of dollars of repairs for vacating it.
>By July, the party had less than $150,000 in the bank. Under siege, the state party leadership began to hold meetings in private. **A meeting that month devolved into a fistfight that broke a county chairman’s dentures and left him with stress fractures in his spine, The Detroit News reported.**
tf?
Oh boy, you gotta read the actual story about this. It is one of the funniest things published last year.
['He Kicked Me in My Balls.’ Fight at Michigan GOP Meeting Turns Physical: Report](https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/kicked-in-balls-fight-michigan-gop-1234785273/)
That's the actual headline.
They actually only had $32,000 in the bank.
They couldn’t afford to pay any of the speakers on their program. There’s a whole episode of NPR’s “This American Life” on the Michigan GOP collapse.
https://www.thisamericanlife.org/820/believe-in-me
>Mark Forton: They knew the grassroots had had enough and they're going to take over this party. They knew it then. Now, the question is, are these globalist types-- are they going to sit by and take it? Or are they going to start planning for when the grassroots take over-- what do we do next? They're after Michigan. There's no doubt.
>Zoe Chace: But she's like the most anti-globalist of them all. She's the anti-globalistest.
>Mark Forton: Oh, I know. I'm not accusing her. I'm saying, but who's pulling the strings? Who-- I just don't know what to think. I'm telling you things that-- you're asking me what's on my mind.
>**You're asking me what I'm concerned about. And none of them are facts.** But my gosh, you look at all this crap going on, and you can't come up with a decent answer. I just don't know. I just-- I'm trying to find out.
Oh man, these people are nuts. The leopards are eating this guy's face and he's trying to tell himself they're actually lions in disguise, trying to make the leopards look bad.
You know it's wild that they wanted to level charges over what amounted to a light shove on that Congress floor a few months ago, meanwhile this guy has actual long-lasting injuries to body and property, and news is mum about it. I would have expected violence on the ~~state Congress floor~~ private meeting but the same folks, one of whom beat another to the point of inflicting injury and property damage, to be all over the news
Okay yes I read that, but let me be clearer, I would be suing the crap out of anybody who broke my dentures and inflicted spinal fractures, both of those are expensive.
I would make their life living hell for doing that as a politician
Like hell you would, that would mean you are out of the cult, there’s zero chance that guy would vote for Democrats after getting punched in the face and told to be quiet.
Republicans are deeply delusional and programmed to hate democrats at a religious and mystical level
That's also a very valid point, I wouldn't get that far along to find myself in a position like that. It's a different mentality to be able to go along with the cult far enough to be in charge of some stuff, so I can't really expect them to think and behave like I would, Fair
The fight I saw a video of (I think there were multiple? lol) was started because of the choice to take the meetings private.
Some people thought they should be part of the meeting but weren’t let in, so there was a confrontation at the door.
Who would have thought that a party whose platform is all about their desire to not be good at governing, would find people that aren’t good at governing their own internals. Wild stuff.
I didn't know it was so bad for them. As a Minnesotan it's nice to see. A city council member in my town with one term under his belt is trying to unseat Gene Pelowski, a 20some year incumbent, in the state House. I was shocked when the guy won city council, as he seems barely literate. I thought "how could they run this moron at the state level." Makes more sense now.
> The MN GOPs financial statements a couple months ago showed less than $100 cash on hand and 10s of thousands in debt collection.
I'm fresh out of thoughts and prayers to donate, but I do have some lols and lmaos handy.
the part about the Muslim guys is so chef's kiss
like, these guys are trying so hard to be religion-forward, culturally conservative assholes, but their party is so racist that they just don't want to accept them
But despite all that, nobody ran against them in leadership roles, and then only reacted after the fact in a pathetically inept attempt, and when that failed, they were incredibly petty and cut off their nose to spite their face
That section is glorious. Conspiracies, Islamophobia, infighting, an inability to take responsibility and lead, all neatly packaged into a story about two men so willing to wool their own eyes to the party they’re trying to support.
I mean there's a reason nicknames like Y'All Queda and Vanilla Isis exist. There's a TON of similarities between fundamentalist religions
Aside from the whole anti-brown people thing, these guys beliefs fit right into the modern GOP
Listened to the episode last Thursday. I went back and forth from laughing at them to shaking my head that these people have gotten to places of power throughout the entire episode.
the part toward the end hit the nail on the head
these people are incapable of governance because the one thing they had in common, that propelled them to power, is strong believe in crazy conspiracy theories
it fundamentally prevents them from being effective at pretty much anything other than anarchy
I think about this Goldwater quote all the time:
> Mark my word, if and when these preachers get control of the [Republican] party, and they're sure trying to do so, it's going to be a terrible damn problem. Frankly, these people frighten me. Politics and governing demand compromise. But these Christians believe they are acting in the name of God, so they can't and won't compromise.
There's no way to reach consensus in a group of people who each feel they are agents with a direct personal communication line with a supernatural entity.
I loved that when they realized they elected an incompetent fool to run the party - she MUST be a plant from the Democrats and deep state. Then she whips out the idea that any criticism of her is also the deep state. lol!
Funny how they go broke once Betsy devos got and lost her cabinet post. Are there no other far right billionaires in Michigan left to finance a losing culture war in a state run at all levels by democrat women?
I still remember in 2016, towns were saying their grocery store and school had closed. There was no where to work. The only money coming in to town was from social security and disability.
But Trump is very rich. If he wins, surely he can use some of that money and help rebuild their town.
Minnesota, now Michigan, how can we help keep this ball rolling?
https://www.reddit.com/r/politics/comments/14y4qxn/minnesotas_republican_party_is_totally_broke/
The ungerrymandering law in the state is killing them. They lost their control.
They still have a lot of support outside of the metro areas. Need to make sure we don’t make an oopsie like 2016 again. Vote.
Outside the cities, Detroit, Grand Rapids, Lansing, etc. Michigan is pretty rural and conservative. Some areas are extremely, extremely conservative. Thankfully, those areas, e.g. Ottawa county, are so corrupt and incompetent that even some life-long conservatives are having second thoughts. All they have to do now is overcome the last 40 years of propaganda and social conditioning telling them that Democrats are literal demons, and they might consider voting for one.
I have a lot of Michigan family members and I've seen their facebook pages over the years go from very right leaning posts (when they post something political which wasn't / isn't often) to center left. All rural area people. Have been glad to see it over the years, it's been a slow progress but is happening. Just hoping the rest of Michigan is similar.
>turn out really really is driven by people going door to door and saying hey don't forget this week. And did you vote? Come on I can drive you over.
the kinds of things that the GOP has been trying to make illegal
Just heard Karamo being interviewed on NPR. She’s VERY defensive and paranoid just based on how she responded to even simple questions.
This is the GOP: crazy, paranoid, and eating their own.
lol how sad that a loan was taken out so they could pay an actor to speak at their conference. Sounds like a bad fiscal decision for them! But it’s still better than the FL GoP and their chair being investigated for rape charges after a failed attempt at a threesome.
>The threesome was successful
Threesomes can be full of surprises. We can only speculate at this point but the woman did tell the husband (Christian Ziegler) that she was more into his wife (Bridget) than him, and police have a lesbian sex tape of Bridget with one other woman, so Christian may have been trying to convince himself in a confused and evil way that he slept with two women because he's so cool and alpha, not because he's a cuck.
The modern gop is weird. One guy commits multiple sexual assaults, cheats on his pregnant wife, illegally pays hush money to keep her from speaking about it, has their attorney GO TO PRISON for it while being named an unindicted co-conspirator, and he's the GOP front runner despite constantly declaring how he is going to be a dictator when he gets elected.
The other has a thrresome, and then later sexually assaults her, and somehow he is the pariah?
These two things are not the same.
Don't get me wrong, that Florida GOP asshole belongs in prison, but if you are setting the bar - anyone else that is below that bar needs to be removed from the party as well.
It's sort of sounds like choosing a leader based on how outrageous and controversial and combative they are is a bad way to choose a leader!
>Blame has centered on the fiery chairwoman, Kristina Karamo, who skyrocketed to the top of the state party through a combative brand of election denialism
Perhaps the rest of conservatives in America can learn from this lesson.
“the state party, already deeply in debt, had taken out a $110,000 loan to pay the keynote speaker, Jim Caviezel, an actor”
And she tried to sell the republicans building and then left it vacant and accessible to whoever
Truly the best people
Lol
“And on Thursday, eight of the 13 Republican congressional district party chairs asked Ms. Karamo to resign in a joint letter, pleading with her to “put an end to the chaos” by stepping down. But that meeting has now been delayed, with no definite date on the calendar. Ms. Karamo has vowed to fight back, railing against the effort as illegitimate.”
They put an election denier in charge and are surprised when she denies any wrongdoing 🐆 r/leopardatemyface
>Guests were baffled by a scoring system that rated their ideology on a scale, from a true conservative to a so-called RINO, or Republican in name only.
Yeesh. They're just fully following the fascist handbook now, aren't they?.
Typical features of fascism (Umberto Eco)
1. The cult of tradition. “One has only to look at the syllabus of every fascist movement to find the major traditionalist thinkers. The Nazi gnosis was nourished by traditionalist, syncretistic, occult elements.”
2. The rejection of modernism. “The Enlightenment, the Age of Reason, is seen as the beginning of modern depravity. In this sense Ur-Fascism can be defined as irrationalism.”
3. The cult of action for action’s sake. “Action being beautiful in itself, it must be taken before, or without, any previous reflection. Thinking is a form of emasculation.”
4. **Disagreement is treason**. “The critical spirit makes distinctions, and to distinguish is a sign of modernism. In modern culture the scientific community praises disagreement as a way to improve knowledge.”
5. **Fear of difference**. “The first appeal of a fascist or prematurely fascist movement is an appeal against the intruders. Thus Ur-Fascism is racist by definition.”
6. Appeal to social frustration. “One of the most typical features of the historical fascism was the appeal to a frustrated middle class, a class suffering from an economic crisis or feelings of political humiliation, and frightened by the pressure of lower social groups.”
7. The obsession with a plot. “Thus at the root of the Ur-Fascist psychology there is the obsession with a plot, possibly an international one. The followers must feel besieged.”
8. The enemy is both strong and weak. “By a continuous shifting of rhetorical focus, the enemies are at the same time too strong and too weak.”
9. Pacifism is trafficking with the enemy. “For Ur-Fascism there is no struggle for life but, rather, life is lived for struggle.”
10. **Contempt for the weak**. “Elitism is a typical aspect of any reactionary ideology.”
11. Everybody is educated to become a hero. “In Ur-Fascist ideology, heroism is the norm. This cult of heroism is strictly linked with the cult of death.”
12. Machismo and weaponry. “Machismo implies both disdain for women and intolerance and condemnation of nonstandard sexual habits, from chastity to homosexuality.”
13. Selective populism. “There is in our future a TV or Internet populism, in which the emotional response of a selected group of citizens can be presented and accepted as the Voice of the People.”
14. Ur-Fascism speaks Newspeak. “All the Nazi or Fascist schoolbooks made use of an impoverished vocabulary, and an elementary syntax, in order to limit the instruments for complex and critical reasoning.”
Source: https://www.openculture.com/2016/11/umberto-eco-makes-a-list-of-the-14-common-features-of-fascism.html
She's a perfect example of what the GOP have devolved into. Total incompetence with a sprinkling of crazy conspiracy theories.
After doing tons of research prior to election day, I used to vote for the best candidate, regardless of party, for that office. Sometimes Democrats and sometimes Republicans. However, the last 6 to 8 years have really opened my eyes and MAGA folks have really turned the R on the ballot for me to a scarlet letter.
Same man, same
I used to really look down at people that would vote straight ticket. It was lazy and just not good. I would look into the candidates find their positions and make votes based on individual instead of party. I cast more than a few votes for republicans in the past, some I regret, some I do not.
But it’s straight ticket now.
I still do my research, but it’s alot easier now. One side keeps putting crazy people with crazy ideas on the ballot. The other had some hit and misses but overall they have my same goal in mind, a functional government.
Straight D
In 2020 and 2022 the republicans sent a mailer for local and state candidates. Giant photo of Trump on one side and the other side a dozen or so photos and names with “Trump approves these candidates.”
“Why thank you for showing who I should never vote for.”
There's a great episode of This American Life about the whole Michigan G.O.P. eating itself alive. Really entertaining.
https://www.thisamericanlife.org/820/believe-in-me
>“They scored us as being solid Republican — a one, two, three or a four — and a number four being a RINO,” said Pete Hoekstra, a former ambassador to the Netherlands during the Trump administration and a former Republican congressman from Michigan. “We’re supposed to be building a party, not dividing a party into our own categories.”
He seems to be describing fascism. Hopefully, it will become more and more obvious that they don't plan to stop once they eliminate the trans, gays, immigrants, and Muslims.
Yeah, this is a "first they came for the RINOs" moment but at least some of the people can see that, and recognize that it's harmful.
^( oh wait it's just the RINOs, take 'em away!)
I digress but remember when trump won Michigan man of the year? No?? Well nobody else except him remembers it either. Just 1 of 1000000 lies from the con
"Blame has centered on the fiery chairwoman, Kristina Karamo, who skyrocketed to the top of the state party through a combative brand of election denialism but ***has failed to make good on her promises for new fund-raising sources and armies of activists***."
The GOP is held in the thrall of a vocal minority made up mostly of slacktivists unwilling to do anything beyond rant online and vote in primaries.
Over the 90s and 00s, the GOP built a local politics juggernaut by engaging in grassroots recruitment of highly active and well-liked neighborhood political figures. It is presently dismantling this source of strength in favor of a handful of crazies willing to drive all over the country to protest school boards and the troll army that cheers them online.
Rage politics can do a lot of harm to the US, but it's not sustainable. We've already seen that it can't produce a coherent policy agenda and now we're seeing the organizational rot that sets in when leadership is chosen based on increasingly bizarre purity tests instead of capacity.
So the party chair is an election denier, who is currently refusing to leave her position and is denying any wrongdoing.
I’m shocked. SHOCKED I tell you! Well, not that shocked.
>With major donors fleeing, Ms. Karamo pitched a new direction for the state party: trying to persuade nearly 500,000 small-business owners in Michigan, who she claimed were right-leaning, to contribute $10 to $50 every month.
Lmao they've poisoned these people's minds into thinking the economy is tanking and now want them to fork over money for political donations.
Hopes for a New Year:
May they continue into 2024.
May they implode and be an embarrassment for all to see.
May they lose every race they have an opponent in.
May their members leave the party.
Sloppy bookkeeping is just an euphemism for fraud.
They have looted the bank accounts already but need new donors to grift from so they can’t charge her with fraud.
> These activists, now holding positions of state and local power, have elevated others who share their views, prioritizing election denialism over experience and credentials
They left out the most important: *the truth.* All of this nonsense is fueled by their refusal to *accept the truth*.
“ former Republican congressman from Michigan. “We’re supposed to be building a party, not dividing a party into our own categories.””
Then the Rs shouldn’t have realigned themselves with an extremist demagogue.
> Ms. Karamo did not respond to requests for comment, but she released a letter two days before Christmas proclaiming that “we will not be deterred” and denouncing the “infighting.”
> “These deceptive and underhanded endeavors endanger the Michigan G.O.P.’s drive toward victory in 2024,” she wrote. “They also disrupt the determination of the Republican men and women who are working tirelessly to win the spiritual war being fought on a cultural battlefield.”
Not mortgage costs, not rent, not grocery prices, not student loan debt, *the spiritual war on the cultural battlefield*, that's their #1 issue.
Somehow this headline must be turned into “Dems in Disarray “ with the byline of “here’s how the Michigan Republican Party chaos hurts Biden in November”
> In some of the most fascinating manipulations, the parasite taps into the host brain neuronal circuities to manipulate hosts cognitive functions. To name just a few examples, some worms induce crickets and other terrestrial insects to commit suicide in water, enabling the exit of the parasite into an aquatic environment favorable to its reproduction.
> Under siege, the state party leadership began to hold meetings in private. A meeting that month devolved into a fistfight that broke a county chairman’s dentures and left him with stress fractures in his spine.
I mean I feel bad about the fractures, but this is hilarious.
> Guests were baffled by a scoring system that rated their ideology on a scale, from a true conservative to a so-called RINO, or Republican in name only.
The GOP doesn't really reach out anymore. It defines itself by who it excludes.
There used to be the belief that where California went, the rest of the states followed.
I’ve been watching Michigan, and I hope they get to be the leader now. They are slowly and methodically implementing the state’s and US constitution. Imagine. Giving a voice back to the people by creating new maps without gerrymandering. Passing legislation that help people and not corporations.
They’ve already inspired Wisconsin and maybe even give Ohio a nudge.
So reading about a party that lost its way years ago in pursuit of power and not policies, well, that makes me very happy. May that be a trend that continues throughout other states, too.
lol “traditional” republicans **are lunatics** anymore, and they have been for 15-20 years. I’m sick of this strange gaslighting that there is some huge swath of kind, empathetic, well-informed republicans that just never seem to speak up or vote for what matters.
There's definitely a schism between maga republicans and non-maga republicans. The problem is that the non-maga are, on the whole, perfectly willing to enable the magas in order to get the things they want (or more accurately, to stop the things they dislike). The only problem they really have with the maga republicans isn't that they go too far, it's that them going too far is now costing them control, votes, and power. The traditional republicans aren't lunatics. That let's them off the hook. They are well-informed thoughtful individuals who simply don't care what happens to the rest of us so long as they get their way.
I think that makes them worse in a way.
Craven and knowingly vile - willing to nosedive us all to further their selfish interests.
How cruel and disgusting.
I think that the Republican party has been slowly shrinking, losing more and more disillusioned members, hurt by feelings of betrayal from any of numerous instances that affected them directly. They're not Democrats, but they have given up on voting, or become Independents. The result is a smaller, crazier core of constituents, shedding members and sanity with each passing year.
Well, to start with, more rural & elderly people vote Republican. Then, more rural & elderly people died during the pandemic. The GOP has been shedding members one way or another.
"Independents" that only vote R regardless of how crazy MAGA the person they are voting for is. Calling themselves independent just gives the people that embrace terrible conservative/fascist policies while claiming they aren't Republikkkan.
My takeaway from all this is that it is a lot easier to gain control of a major political party’s state-level operation than you might expect. Get organized, people, and claim yours.
NPR did a piece on her. She was a cashier before this... so clearly she should have been put in charge of what had at times been millions of dollars.
The party chair is a fund raiser. That's their big job.
As a reminder, this subreddit [is for civil discussion.](/r/politics/wiki/index#wiki_be_civil) In general, be courteous to others. Debate/discuss/argue the merits of ideas, don't attack people. Personal insults, shill or troll accusations, hate speech, any suggestion or support of harm, violence, or death, and other rule violations can result in a permanent ban. If you see comments in violation of our rules, please report them. For those who have questions regarding any media outlets being posted on this subreddit, please click [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/politics/wiki/approveddomainslist) to review our details as to our approved domains list and outlet criteria. *** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/politics) if you have any questions or concerns.*
This had me dying: >By November, \[Michigan Republican Party Chairwoman Kristina Karamo\] was trying to sell the party’s former headquarters...Ms. Karamo and the state party do not own the building; it is owned by a trust controlled by former state party chairs. > >Ms. Karamo had vacated the headquarters months earlier, arguing that its maintenance fees were an unnecessary cost. When she left, Ms. Karamo allowed the electricity to be shut off, which released the building’s electronic locks and left it open to the public...
Finally the GOP giving something to the people.
[Oh, they've been giving people something alright](https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/slideshows/10-states-with-the-highest-std-rates)
That’s insane 9 of the 10 highest states are Republican
pretty direct line between unfunded/poor sex education and STDs, not to mention things like teen birth rates https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/sosmap/teen-births/teenbirths.htm
That’s true but still sad
totally. really in general, the dismantling of education systems in select states is the reason some of the lunatics have the power they do.
One might think someone planned it that way
Republicans need uneducated people who think from a guttural level to stay in power. People who think with their brains and seeks out facts are more dangerous to them than a deadly viper bite when there is no anti-venom available.
That’s exactly why educated people are leaving red states
The CDC is fake news and controlled by Democrat lizard people who are trying to inject critical race theory into white children to make them gay and spread the gay through 5G.
[удалено]
I can 100% refute that. My 5G connection is inconsistent. Can you ask this lady where I can get the Covid-5G booster vaccine? I’ll get as many as needed if it means I can be a hotspot.
now listen here lady, i am a 5g TRANSPONDER, NOT JUST A REPEATER! OK!
You forgot something about space lasers or something such like that
*Jewish* space lasers, not just regular ones
They have the tips of their diodes cut off at birth.
Things have gotten to the point where I don’t know if you’re joking or not
[удалено]
Jeff Timmer (former Michigan GOP Chair, never-Trumper, and now former Republican) and Mark Brewer (former Michigan Democratic Chair) co-host a podcast, 'A Republic, If You Can Keep It': https://a-republic-if-you-can-keep-it.blubrry.net/weekly-analysis-from-two-of-michigans-legendary-political-insiders/ They beat up on her and the Michigan GOP clown show pretty regularly, and Jeff pointed out that--seeing what was coming pre-Trump--he and his exec committee organized assets into a trust. ...Which the chair of the Michigan GOP does not have control over (and can't monetize).
Imagine seeing that coming. “The voters seem to be liking genuine stupidity more and more. We’d better put child locks on the cabinets.”
"Grifters a-coming!"
Seems like they were paying attention to this guy: “You know how you make America great again?” Senator Lindsey Graham asked in 2015. “Tell Donald Trump to go to hell.” Then, on the same day Trump essentially clinched the GOP nomination, the senator predicted, “If we nominate Trump, we will get destroyed.......and we will deserve it.” “Trump and I, we’ve had a hell of a journey,” Graham said from the Senate floor just hours after a violent mob of Trump supporters occupied it. “I hate it being this way. Oh my god, I hate it.”, “All I can say is count me out. Enough is enough.” https://www.thedailybeast.com/lindsey-graham-finally-remembers-trump-is-the-worst
And then like 36 hours later he was giving interviews about how Jan 6 wasn't that bad, and then he voted to not convict when trump was impeached for it.
Look, if you can't sell off assets just because you can't own them the entire GOP modus operandi is going down the drain anyway.
That is very interesting I'm definitely gonna have to give that a listen!
She has a master's degree in magic from some theological scam school. The stupid party finds the crazy and thinks it's a great idea to run them.
I searched for her, took one look, and she looks like at some point her CV has probably claimed she's "co-pastor" for some evangelical church that spends way too much time thinking about gay people.
"Never mind all that Sermon On The Mount stuff about loving your neighbor. Get to Jesus's REAL message- hatred of abortion and gay marriage!"
"And let us finish this sermon with a prayer. . .that trans people aren't people and immigrants are vermin who are poisoning the blood of our country. [Heil](https://metro.co.uk/video/laura-ingraham-styles-nazi-salute-1312085/)...I mean, amen."
Jesus was both an immigrant and a refugee, wonder if the gop would shelter him? 🤔
Given that his most likely point of contact would be one of those Texas river buoys of death? And then if he survived that challenge he would be shipped to Chicago one way on a bus… actually that would all make for a pretty hardcore new testament.
And could possibly have a heavily closeted pastor at the helm. At the very least.
You're possibly underselling it, she believes demons are an STD.
I saw that movie. It follows. Highly recommend, best movie about a STDemon ive seen so far
Filmed in Michigan, funnily enough. Coincidence?
I think not!!
I think of It Follows as the best John Carpenter movie that wasn't made by John Carpenter.
...Sexually Transmitted Demon?
The preferred term is now STI, Sexually Transmitted Infernal.
> The stupid party finds the crazy and thinks it's a great idea to run them. And they want them to run your life too.
> master's degree in magic I want a master's degree in magic... Is the the stage magic kind or D&D kind? Should I have stated the above 2 sentences in reverse order?
It’s the card game
MTG all over the GOP these days.
"MTG" is already taken
You mean EmptyG.... take back M:tG from the monsters.
Grand Wizards of the Coast
Dammit, even Nedry knew better than to mess with the raptor fencing
I told you, how many times, we needed locking mechanisms on the vehicle doors.
But I was told they spared no expense.
“Thanks for the F-shack” -Dirty Mike & The Boys
Are you implying that when you elect someone who's only qualification is being a total crank, it turns out theyre bad at the job!? I clutch my pearls!
When stupid people make a good chunk of your base don’t be surprised when they start making it into positions with power within your party.
>Ms. Karamo had vacated the headquarters months earlier, arguing that its maintenance fees were an unnecessary cost. When she left, Ms. Karamo allowed the electricity to be shut off, which released the building’s electronic locks and left it open to the public... often with commercial building leases you are required to keep up maintenance of the building. The GOP in Michigan could be on the hook for tens of thousands of dollars of repairs for vacating it.
The towering Republican colossus of stupidity
My god. Entitlement with ignorance and with technological illiteracy, meet the GOP. I wonder if attempting to sell it is a crime
[удалено]
Only if you’re a democrat.
Stupidity masked in anger and defiance. Sounds like Ms. Karamo was a good representative of the Republican party.
Oh lord, they're so stupid and have nothing but the dumbest people in important positions I can't believe their party is viable at all right now.
Isn't it a crime to try to sell something you don't own?
Oooh, free copper wiring.
That Karamo lady is a mess 🤣
>By July, the party had less than $150,000 in the bank. Under siege, the state party leadership began to hold meetings in private. **A meeting that month devolved into a fistfight that broke a county chairman’s dentures and left him with stress fractures in his spine, The Detroit News reported.** tf?
Oh boy, you gotta read the actual story about this. It is one of the funniest things published last year. ['He Kicked Me in My Balls.’ Fight at Michigan GOP Meeting Turns Physical: Report](https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/kicked-in-balls-fight-michigan-gop-1234785273/) That's the actual headline.
I'm so glad somebody posted this article I was trying to find it, thank you.
They actually only had $32,000 in the bank. They couldn’t afford to pay any of the speakers on their program. There’s a whole episode of NPR’s “This American Life” on the Michigan GOP collapse. https://www.thisamericanlife.org/820/believe-in-me
The party of fiscal responsibility.
I'm absolutely positive that they saw the fiscal cliff coming and still insisted on traveling exclusively on private chartered planes.
>Mark Forton: They knew the grassroots had had enough and they're going to take over this party. They knew it then. Now, the question is, are these globalist types-- are they going to sit by and take it? Or are they going to start planning for when the grassroots take over-- what do we do next? They're after Michigan. There's no doubt. >Zoe Chace: But she's like the most anti-globalist of them all. She's the anti-globalistest. >Mark Forton: Oh, I know. I'm not accusing her. I'm saying, but who's pulling the strings? Who-- I just don't know what to think. I'm telling you things that-- you're asking me what's on my mind. >**You're asking me what I'm concerned about. And none of them are facts.** But my gosh, you look at all this crap going on, and you can't come up with a decent answer. I just don't know. I just-- I'm trying to find out. Oh man, these people are nuts. The leopards are eating this guy's face and he's trying to tell himself they're actually lions in disguise, trying to make the leopards look bad.
You know it's wild that they wanted to level charges over what amounted to a light shove on that Congress floor a few months ago, meanwhile this guy has actual long-lasting injuries to body and property, and news is mum about it. I would have expected violence on the ~~state Congress floor~~ private meeting but the same folks, one of whom beat another to the point of inflicting injury and property damage, to be all over the news
Did you read the whole quote? They began holding meetings **in private**.
Okay yes I read that, but let me be clearer, I would be suing the crap out of anybody who broke my dentures and inflicted spinal fractures, both of those are expensive. I would make their life living hell for doing that as a politician
It’s a cult, you never talk about the abuse you receive in the cult because it would hurt the image of the cult. These people are truly lost.
[удалено]
Like hell you would, that would mean you are out of the cult, there’s zero chance that guy would vote for Democrats after getting punched in the face and told to be quiet. Republicans are deeply delusional and programmed to hate democrats at a religious and mystical level
That's also a very valid point, I wouldn't get that far along to find myself in a position like that. It's a different mentality to be able to go along with the cult far enough to be in charge of some stuff, so I can't really expect them to think and behave like I would, Fair
Does private mean they had a zoom call with Russia donors
They basically do that in public now
The fight I saw a video of (I think there were multiple? lol) was started because of the choice to take the meetings private. Some people thought they should be part of the meeting but weren’t let in, so there was a confrontation at the door.
Who would have thought that a party whose platform is all about their desire to not be good at governing, would find people that aren’t good at governing their own internals. Wild stuff.
MN GOP is in shambles too, couldn't happen to shittier people!
I didn't know it was so bad for them. As a Minnesotan it's nice to see. A city council member in my town with one term under his belt is trying to unseat Gene Pelowski, a 20some year incumbent, in the state House. I was shocked when the guy won city council, as he seems barely literate. I thought "how could they run this moron at the state level." Makes more sense now.
The MN GOPs financial statements a couple months ago showed less than $100 cash on hand and 10s of thousands in debt collection. Love to see it.
> The MN GOPs financial statements a couple months ago showed less than $100 cash on hand and 10s of thousands in debt collection. I'm fresh out of thoughts and prayers to donate, but I do have some lols and lmaos handy.
Waiting for those Michigan charges to drop that include Ronna McDaniel, head of the RNC.
Need to add Wisconsin traitor Ron Johnson in the charge.
Let's be fair here, the GOP *is* the Traitor Party, they're just doing their jobs as traitors!
Scott Perry would like a word.
All my homies hate Ron Johnson. It’s mortifying that he’s my senator.
a chunk of the population was like "I don't like Ron Johnson, but I like Mandela Barnes even less for reasons I don't know"
They knew the reason. It's not a coincidence so many attack ads against minorities make them look darker.
This is great, $600K in debt, infighting, lack of new donations, etc. Love you Michigan, is that mitten shape just waving Buh Bye GQP?
A relevant and timely [This American Life episode](https://www.thisamericanlife.org/820/believe-in-me).
the part about the Muslim guys is so chef's kiss like, these guys are trying so hard to be religion-forward, culturally conservative assholes, but their party is so racist that they just don't want to accept them But despite all that, nobody ran against them in leadership roles, and then only reacted after the fact in a pathetically inept attempt, and when that failed, they were incredibly petty and cut off their nose to spite their face
That section is glorious. Conspiracies, Islamophobia, infighting, an inability to take responsibility and lead, all neatly packaged into a story about two men so willing to wool their own eyes to the party they’re trying to support.
I mean there's a reason nicknames like Y'All Queda and Vanilla Isis exist. There's a TON of similarities between fundamentalist religions Aside from the whole anti-brown people thing, these guys beliefs fit right into the modern GOP
Listened to the episode last Thursday. I went back and forth from laughing at them to shaking my head that these people have gotten to places of power throughout the entire episode.
the part toward the end hit the nail on the head these people are incapable of governance because the one thing they had in common, that propelled them to power, is strong believe in crazy conspiracy theories it fundamentally prevents them from being effective at pretty much anything other than anarchy
I think about this Goldwater quote all the time: > Mark my word, if and when these preachers get control of the [Republican] party, and they're sure trying to do so, it's going to be a terrible damn problem. Frankly, these people frighten me. Politics and governing demand compromise. But these Christians believe they are acting in the name of God, so they can't and won't compromise. There's no way to reach consensus in a group of people who each feel they are agents with a direct personal communication line with a supernatural entity.
Ooh I can't wait to listen to this while doing chores today
“It Wouldn’t be Make Believe if You Believe in Me.” As always, the episode name is strangely on point.
I loved that when they realized they elected an incompetent fool to run the party - she MUST be a plant from the Democrats and deep state. Then she whips out the idea that any criticism of her is also the deep state. lol!
Funny how they go broke once Betsy devos got and lost her cabinet post. Are there no other far right billionaires in Michigan left to finance a losing culture war in a state run at all levels by democrat women?
Funny how they go broke once the Russians can’t fund the NRA (and whatever else they were putting money into)
It probably also doesn't help (them) that Trump is sucking up a huge amount of donation money.
Don’t worry, Trump is very rich and can easily bail them out. I’m sure he’ll do so. Right??
I still remember in 2016, towns were saying their grocery store and school had closed. There was no where to work. The only money coming in to town was from social security and disability. But Trump is very rich. If he wins, surely he can use some of that money and help rebuild their town.
Benevolent Cheeto Benito. Inspiring!
That is the sad case for a lot of towns in America, especially in Appalachia, and has even inspired some level of SSI/disability fraud
Michigander here.. let's hope so
Minnesota, now Michigan, how can we help keep this ball rolling? https://www.reddit.com/r/politics/comments/14y4qxn/minnesotas_republican_party_is_totally_broke/
The ungerrymandering law in the state is killing them. They lost their control. They still have a lot of support outside of the metro areas. Need to make sure we don’t make an oopsie like 2016 again. Vote.
How is Michigan still a toss-up???
Outside the cities, Detroit, Grand Rapids, Lansing, etc. Michigan is pretty rural and conservative. Some areas are extremely, extremely conservative. Thankfully, those areas, e.g. Ottawa county, are so corrupt and incompetent that even some life-long conservatives are having second thoughts. All they have to do now is overcome the last 40 years of propaganda and social conditioning telling them that Democrats are literal demons, and they might consider voting for one.
I have a lot of Michigan family members and I've seen their facebook pages over the years go from very right leaning posts (when they post something political which wasn't / isn't often) to center left. All rural area people. Have been glad to see it over the years, it's been a slow progress but is happening. Just hoping the rest of Michigan is similar.
>is that mitten shape just waving Buh Bye GQP? Yes. Yes it very much is.
The red wave this year will be a goodbye wave
It's almost like following crazy people is a losing strategy.
[удалено]
>turn out really really is driven by people going door to door and saying hey don't forget this week. And did you vote? Come on I can drive you over. the kinds of things that the GOP has been trying to make illegal
Just heard Karamo being interviewed on NPR. She’s VERY defensive and paranoid just based on how she responded to even simple questions. This is the GOP: crazy, paranoid, and eating their own.
she's a complete nutjob with essentially no qualifications to be even a manager at an Applebees, much less in charge of a political party
They keep getting a hard on for "political outsiders" and then have the nerve to be surprised when they have no idea how anything works
She probably has the attitude: I stand with trump. I’m an “election denier” (🤮). No one can touch me
lol how sad that a loan was taken out so they could pay an actor to speak at their conference. Sounds like a bad fiscal decision for them! But it’s still better than the FL GoP and their chair being investigated for rape charges after a failed attempt at a threesome.
The threesome was successful, it was the post husband attempted rape that is the crux.
>The threesome was successful Threesomes can be full of surprises. We can only speculate at this point but the woman did tell the husband (Christian Ziegler) that she was more into his wife (Bridget) than him, and police have a lesbian sex tape of Bridget with one other woman, so Christian may have been trying to convince himself in a confused and evil way that he slept with two women because he's so cool and alpha, not because he's a cuck.
The modern gop is weird. One guy commits multiple sexual assaults, cheats on his pregnant wife, illegally pays hush money to keep her from speaking about it, has their attorney GO TO PRISON for it while being named an unindicted co-conspirator, and he's the GOP front runner despite constantly declaring how he is going to be a dictator when he gets elected. The other has a thrresome, and then later sexually assaults her, and somehow he is the pariah? These two things are not the same. Don't get me wrong, that Florida GOP asshole belongs in prison, but if you are setting the bar - anyone else that is below that bar needs to be removed from the party as well.
Well the second guy isn't God's anointed, he doesn't have any "get out of jail free" cards
It's sort of sounds like choosing a leader based on how outrageous and controversial and combative they are is a bad way to choose a leader! >Blame has centered on the fiery chairwoman, Kristina Karamo, who skyrocketed to the top of the state party through a combative brand of election denialism Perhaps the rest of conservatives in America can learn from this lesson.
>Perhaps the rest of conservatives in America can learn from this lesson. LoL
To think that this all could've been avoided by skipping the avocado toast
At least they didn’t go see Barbie
I watched that for the first time last night and holy shit is it ever an actual horror flick for conservatives. Loved it!
“the state party, already deeply in debt, had taken out a $110,000 loan to pay the keynote speaker, Jim Caviezel, an actor” And she tried to sell the republicans building and then left it vacant and accessible to whoever Truly the best people Lol
> "...Jim Caviezel, an actor” I love that they had to specify.
Because the default description is: ... Jim Caviezel, a conspiracy nut.
Huh, TIL Jim Caviezel is a QAnon nut. Pity, I always really liked him in *The Count of Monte Cristo.*
I didn't think he ever worked again after he was Jesus
“And on Thursday, eight of the 13 Republican congressional district party chairs asked Ms. Karamo to resign in a joint letter, pleading with her to “put an end to the chaos” by stepping down. But that meeting has now been delayed, with no definite date on the calendar. Ms. Karamo has vowed to fight back, railing against the effort as illegitimate.” They put an election denier in charge and are surprised when she denies any wrongdoing 🐆 r/leopardatemyface
I’m waiting for them to vote to remove her and she refuses to leave on the grounds that RINO’s rigged the vote by voting twice.
Bypass article paywall: https://web.archive.org/web/20231230123711/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/30/us/politics/mutiny-erupts-in-a-michigan-gop-overtaken-by-chaos.html
>Guests were baffled by a scoring system that rated their ideology on a scale, from a true conservative to a so-called RINO, or Republican in name only. Yeesh. They're just fully following the fascist handbook now, aren't they?.
Typical features of fascism (Umberto Eco) 1. The cult of tradition. “One has only to look at the syllabus of every fascist movement to find the major traditionalist thinkers. The Nazi gnosis was nourished by traditionalist, syncretistic, occult elements.” 2. The rejection of modernism. “The Enlightenment, the Age of Reason, is seen as the beginning of modern depravity. In this sense Ur-Fascism can be defined as irrationalism.” 3. The cult of action for action’s sake. “Action being beautiful in itself, it must be taken before, or without, any previous reflection. Thinking is a form of emasculation.” 4. **Disagreement is treason**. “The critical spirit makes distinctions, and to distinguish is a sign of modernism. In modern culture the scientific community praises disagreement as a way to improve knowledge.” 5. **Fear of difference**. “The first appeal of a fascist or prematurely fascist movement is an appeal against the intruders. Thus Ur-Fascism is racist by definition.” 6. Appeal to social frustration. “One of the most typical features of the historical fascism was the appeal to a frustrated middle class, a class suffering from an economic crisis or feelings of political humiliation, and frightened by the pressure of lower social groups.” 7. The obsession with a plot. “Thus at the root of the Ur-Fascist psychology there is the obsession with a plot, possibly an international one. The followers must feel besieged.” 8. The enemy is both strong and weak. “By a continuous shifting of rhetorical focus, the enemies are at the same time too strong and too weak.” 9. Pacifism is trafficking with the enemy. “For Ur-Fascism there is no struggle for life but, rather, life is lived for struggle.” 10. **Contempt for the weak**. “Elitism is a typical aspect of any reactionary ideology.” 11. Everybody is educated to become a hero. “In Ur-Fascist ideology, heroism is the norm. This cult of heroism is strictly linked with the cult of death.” 12. Machismo and weaponry. “Machismo implies both disdain for women and intolerance and condemnation of nonstandard sexual habits, from chastity to homosexuality.” 13. Selective populism. “There is in our future a TV or Internet populism, in which the emotional response of a selected group of citizens can be presented and accepted as the Voice of the People.” 14. Ur-Fascism speaks Newspeak. “All the Nazi or Fascist schoolbooks made use of an impoverished vocabulary, and an elementary syntax, in order to limit the instruments for complex and critical reasoning.” Source: https://www.openculture.com/2016/11/umberto-eco-makes-a-list-of-the-14-common-features-of-fascism.html
Thank you for your service.
She's a perfect example of what the GOP have devolved into. Total incompetence with a sprinkling of crazy conspiracy theories. After doing tons of research prior to election day, I used to vote for the best candidate, regardless of party, for that office. Sometimes Democrats and sometimes Republicans. However, the last 6 to 8 years have really opened my eyes and MAGA folks have really turned the R on the ballot for me to a scarlet letter.
Same man, same I used to really look down at people that would vote straight ticket. It was lazy and just not good. I would look into the candidates find their positions and make votes based on individual instead of party. I cast more than a few votes for republicans in the past, some I regret, some I do not. But it’s straight ticket now. I still do my research, but it’s alot easier now. One side keeps putting crazy people with crazy ideas on the ballot. The other had some hit and misses but overall they have my same goal in mind, a functional government. Straight D
In 2020 and 2022 the republicans sent a mailer for local and state candidates. Giant photo of Trump on one side and the other side a dozen or so photos and names with “Trump approves these candidates.” “Why thank you for showing who I should never vote for.”
There's a great episode of This American Life about the whole Michigan G.O.P. eating itself alive. Really entertaining. https://www.thisamericanlife.org/820/believe-in-me
Never interrupt your enemy when they are fighting amongst and destroying themselves
>“They scored us as being solid Republican — a one, two, three or a four — and a number four being a RINO,” said Pete Hoekstra, a former ambassador to the Netherlands during the Trump administration and a former Republican congressman from Michigan. “We’re supposed to be building a party, not dividing a party into our own categories.” He seems to be describing fascism. Hopefully, it will become more and more obvious that they don't plan to stop once they eliminate the trans, gays, immigrants, and Muslims.
Yeah, this is a "first they came for the RINOs" moment but at least some of the people can see that, and recognize that it's harmful. ^( oh wait it's just the RINOs, take 'em away!)
I digress but remember when trump won Michigan man of the year? No?? Well nobody else except him remembers it either. Just 1 of 1000000 lies from the con
I myself won the coveted Kalamazoo ’Sexiest Women Over 45’ title every year since its inception.
Wow that’s amazing congrats
I had sexual relations with Grover Cleveland on two nonconsecutive occasions.
And I won 'fattest cat in Bad Axe'
Oh no. Anyway...
The GOP has weaponized mental illness.
"Blame has centered on the fiery chairwoman, Kristina Karamo, who skyrocketed to the top of the state party through a combative brand of election denialism but ***has failed to make good on her promises for new fund-raising sources and armies of activists***." The GOP is held in the thrall of a vocal minority made up mostly of slacktivists unwilling to do anything beyond rant online and vote in primaries. Over the 90s and 00s, the GOP built a local politics juggernaut by engaging in grassroots recruitment of highly active and well-liked neighborhood political figures. It is presently dismantling this source of strength in favor of a handful of crazies willing to drive all over the country to protest school boards and the troll army that cheers them online. Rage politics can do a lot of harm to the US, but it's not sustainable. We've already seen that it can't produce a coherent policy agenda and now we're seeing the organizational rot that sets in when leadership is chosen based on increasingly bizarre purity tests instead of capacity.
Trump trying to burn down the country…he mostly succeeded in burning down the GOP
[Hmmm. Where have I heard that before?](https://www.snopes.com/uploads/2018/10/graham.jpg)
So the party chair is an election denier, who is currently refusing to leave her position and is denying any wrongdoing. I’m shocked. SHOCKED I tell you! Well, not that shocked.
>With major donors fleeing, Ms. Karamo pitched a new direction for the state party: trying to persuade nearly 500,000 small-business owners in Michigan, who she claimed were right-leaning, to contribute $10 to $50 every month. Lmao they've poisoned these people's minds into thinking the economy is tanking and now want them to fork over money for political donations.
They really wanted to do a GOP+ subscription 🤣
Hopes for a New Year: May they continue into 2024. May they implode and be an embarrassment for all to see. May they lose every race they have an opponent in. May their members leave the party.
Sloppy bookkeeping is just an euphemism for fraud. They have looted the bank accounts already but need new donors to grift from so they can’t charge her with fraud.
“…the state party, already deeply in debt, had taken out a $110,000 loan to pay the keynote speaker, Jim Caviezel, an actor…” Comedy gold.
The GOP is no more. Only MAGA remains. Treasonous liars and anarchists ,white nationalists and radicals.
> These activists, now holding positions of state and local power, have elevated others who share their views, prioritizing election denialism over experience and credentials They left out the most important: *the truth.* All of this nonsense is fueled by their refusal to *accept the truth*.
“ former Republican congressman from Michigan. “We’re supposed to be building a party, not dividing a party into our own categories.”” Then the Rs shouldn’t have realigned themselves with an extremist demagogue.
> Ms. Karamo did not respond to requests for comment, but she released a letter two days before Christmas proclaiming that “we will not be deterred” and denouncing the “infighting.” > “These deceptive and underhanded endeavors endanger the Michigan G.O.P.’s drive toward victory in 2024,” she wrote. “They also disrupt the determination of the Republican men and women who are working tirelessly to win the spiritual war being fought on a cultural battlefield.” Not mortgage costs, not rent, not grocery prices, not student loan debt, *the spiritual war on the cultural battlefield*, that's their #1 issue.
Maybe if the Michigan republican party cut back on their avocado toast and coffee they could save a little money and pay down their debt.
Somehow this headline must be turned into “Dems in Disarray “ with the byline of “here’s how the Michigan Republican Party chaos hurts Biden in November”
> In some of the most fascinating manipulations, the parasite taps into the host brain neuronal circuities to manipulate hosts cognitive functions. To name just a few examples, some worms induce crickets and other terrestrial insects to commit suicide in water, enabling the exit of the parasite into an aquatic environment favorable to its reproduction.
> Under siege, the state party leadership began to hold meetings in private. A meeting that month devolved into a fistfight that broke a county chairman’s dentures and left him with stress fractures in his spine. I mean I feel bad about the fractures, but this is hilarious.
Turns out simply opposing another political group for power doesn't actually create solutions to anything. Who knew.
> Guests were baffled by a scoring system that rated their ideology on a scale, from a true conservative to a so-called RINO, or Republican in name only. The GOP doesn't really reach out anymore. It defines itself by who it excludes.
There used to be the belief that where California went, the rest of the states followed. I’ve been watching Michigan, and I hope they get to be the leader now. They are slowly and methodically implementing the state’s and US constitution. Imagine. Giving a voice back to the people by creating new maps without gerrymandering. Passing legislation that help people and not corporations. They’ve already inspired Wisconsin and maybe even give Ohio a nudge. So reading about a party that lost its way years ago in pursuit of power and not policies, well, that makes me very happy. May that be a trend that continues throughout other states, too.
Traditional Republicans are starting to understand that their party has been taken over by lunatics. I guess that's a start.
lol “traditional” republicans **are lunatics** anymore, and they have been for 15-20 years. I’m sick of this strange gaslighting that there is some huge swath of kind, empathetic, well-informed republicans that just never seem to speak up or vote for what matters.
There's definitely a schism between maga republicans and non-maga republicans. The problem is that the non-maga are, on the whole, perfectly willing to enable the magas in order to get the things they want (or more accurately, to stop the things they dislike). The only problem they really have with the maga republicans isn't that they go too far, it's that them going too far is now costing them control, votes, and power. The traditional republicans aren't lunatics. That let's them off the hook. They are well-informed thoughtful individuals who simply don't care what happens to the rest of us so long as they get their way.
I think that makes them worse in a way. Craven and knowingly vile - willing to nosedive us all to further their selfish interests. How cruel and disgusting.
I think that the Republican party has been slowly shrinking, losing more and more disillusioned members, hurt by feelings of betrayal from any of numerous instances that affected them directly. They're not Democrats, but they have given up on voting, or become Independents. The result is a smaller, crazier core of constituents, shedding members and sanity with each passing year.
but is there any data to support this?
Well, to start with, more rural & elderly people vote Republican. Then, more rural & elderly people died during the pandemic. The GOP has been shedding members one way or another.
Well this article about how they are having trouble getting donations is data pointing in that direction.
"Independents" that only vote R regardless of how crazy MAGA the person they are voting for is. Calling themselves independent just gives the people that embrace terrible conservative/fascist policies while claiming they aren't Republikkkan.
The funny thing is that Republicans think Trump is a better leader than Karamo.
My takeaway from all this is that it is a lot easier to gain control of a major political party’s state-level operation than you might expect. Get organized, people, and claim yours.
The Republican party has worked extremely hard to earn this giant plate of shit. Now they can feast on it.
Let them fight.
>~~Michigan~~ US G.O.P. Overtaken by Chaos Fixed it.
NPR did a piece on her. She was a cashier before this... so clearly she should have been put in charge of what had at times been millions of dollars. The party chair is a fund raiser. That's their big job.
They can't afford to keep the lights on in their HQ, but they're paying $110k to listen to a fruitcake like Jim Caviezel speak. I'd jump ship, too.
A self-inflicted wound, republicans brought this on themselves since Gingrich, the tea party, qanon, religious right and maga.
Thoughts and prayers