Vanity Fair: Opinion- S.E. Cupp: ‘The Conservative Coma’

Source:Vanity Fair– Taking America back to the 1950s?

Source:The New Democrat

When I think of the Grand Ole Party ( and saying that with a straight face anymore is getting very difficult ) I think of a Conservative Republican Party that was hawkish when it came to not just Communists and communism, but authoritarians and authoritarianism in general. That actually believed deficits matter. ( Which night sound crazy in the Trumpian Republican Party today ) That actually believed not only in entitlement reform, but that it was necessary. That if Republicans as a party are going to believe in and support programs like Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid that they should all be on sound fiscal footing and not blow up the deficit.

It was a party that believed that race, ethnicity, and gender didn’t matter. Which why it supported the civil rights laws of the 1960s while opposing affirmative action in the 1970s, because the GOP believed that people shouldn’t be promoted, demoted, empowered or denied simply because of their race, ethnicity or religion. A party that not only believed in immigration, but that anyone regardless of what country or region of the world, regardless of their race or ethnicity should be allowed to come to America legally if they work hard and contribute to America and obey our laws.

A party that was strong on defense, but didn’t believe America shouldn’t try to police the world and try force our values on other countries and tell them this is how they should govern themselves. For the most part this Republican value is still in place with the Neoconservatives thanks to the Iraq War losing almost all influence on Republican foreign and national security policy. A party that still believed in limited government even with the Christian-Right becoming a force in the party, but that still believed in that Barry Goldwater line that said he didn’t want big government in our wallets, bedrooms, boardrooms, or classrooms.

That was the Republican Party that I grew up. I come from a Democratic family, but that’s what the Republican Party use to be and what the Republican Party was when I grew up. And expect for the national debt and deficits, President Ronald Reagan believed in most if not all of those values. He did have his own big government issues with the national debt, deficits, and his expansion of the War on Drugs in the 1980s, but basically he represented and lead what was the Grand Ole Party very well in the 1980s. This is not the Republican Party today and I when I think of RINOS, ( Republicans in name only ) I believe in so-called Republicans who don’t even really believe in the concept of a republic and instead want to create a fundamentalist Christian society where their religious values are not only dominant, but become official government policy.

The GOP is not dead. You still have the S.E. Cupp’s of the world, as well as Republicans like Margaret Hoover, Amanda Carpenter, Tara Setmeyer, Bill Kristol, and a few others at CNN. They’re still some GOP Republicans in Congress like outgoing Senator’s Jeff Flake, Bob Corker, outgoing Speaker Paul Ryan, incoming Senator Mitt Romney once he takes his Senate seat in the next Congress. But the Republican Party today is now the Donald Trump Nationalist Party. That puts groups of Americans against each other and no longer preaches about America being the city on a shining hill. And instead preaches that, “you’re either with us or against us.” Meaning you either support President Donald Trump, or you’re Un-American and a RINO.

The Republican or Nationalist or RINO Party ( depending on how you want to label the modern Republican Party ) is now the party that represents the 1950s that was reborn in this century, but come from the 1950s culturally and ideologically. Where women’s place in the world is at home, African-Americans and other non-Anglo-Saxons are second-class citizens if citizens at all. Gays are either locked in the closet, or locked in prison or some mental institution.

Today’s so-called Republican party is really now an anti-conservative party, because they now believe character and morality doesn’t matter just as long as you either serve, back, or defend President Donald Trump and the people who support the President. And that instead of defending and supporting the status quo and and conserving our individual rights which is what Conservatives are supposed to support, they now want to blow up the system and establishment and create a society and establishment that supports them and what they being the Trump Nationalist movement supports and believes in.

If you read Joshua Green’s The Devil’s Bargain, he reports and argues that the Republican Party Leadership and base got in bed with Donald Trump in 2015-16, because even though they were aware of all of Donald Trump’s faults when it came to his lack of character and civility, that if he became President with a Republican Congress and Judiciary that they would get from a President Trump the things that they’ve been fighting for and wanted ever since Barack Obama became President. Things like deregulation, tax cuts, judicial appointments, a larger defense budget, etc. And that every time President Trump would do something that’s unconventional ( to be kind ) or irresponsible, reckless, anti-conservative like appeasing dictators, they would just chalk it up to Donald Trump not being a conventional politician and new to Washington. Which is exactly what’ we’ve seen the last two years with Donald Trump as President.

The GOP is not dead, but they’re not unfortunately now a small faction of the Republican Party. The never-trumpers are what left of the Grand Ole Party. They’re the Republicans ( not RINOS ) who believe that deficits and the national debt actually do matter, expect for perhaps Bill Kristol who is a Neoconservative. They don’t just support entitlement reform, but believe it’s necessary. They support legal immigration and believe it benefits the country and aren’t worried about America losing it’s European culture because they don’t believe one race or ethnicity is superior to any other. They by enlarge don’t want big government in our economic or personal affairs. I’ve argued for a while now that the Republican Party is no longer a conservative party, but party with a conservative faction and the Donald Trump experiment and his movement make that argument for me perfectly.

Source:CNN: State of The Union- S.E. Cupp: Conservative Movement is in a Coma– CNN political analyst S.E. Cupp 

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Foreign Policy Magazine: Opinion- Jeremy Shapird: ‘Donald Trump Is Coming Off As Vladimir Putin’s Poodle, But That Actually Undermines Russia’s Ultimate Goal: Vladimir Took His Poodle Donald Out For a Walk

Source: Foreign Policy Magazine– Vladimir Putin, “I got my doggy Donald, right where I want him.” Or perhaps something else in Russian.

Source: The New Democrat Plus

I don’t like talking about the President of the United States like this, simply because it makes America my country look bad and I actually respect the office of the presidency regardless of who serves in it and because a lot of very good men have served in that office in our history, but I don’t respect President Donald Trump for several reasons.

Source: Foreign Policy Magazine– President Donald Trump, meeting President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki

As much as Donald Trump likes to talk about “make America great again”, as if America is not already great which is an insult to a lot of Americans is not most Americans and an insult to America as a country and helpful to our adversaries around the world and to the Far-Left in America who doesn’t see America as a great country and see us as the real evil empire in the world and as much as his base who live in 1950s American emotionally and personally, even though physically they’re unfortunately living in modern America that the rest of us have to put up with, it’s not so such America that they love away, but there part and people in America that they love.

Source: CNN– The Daily Mirror, on the Trump-Putin Summit

And as much as Trump voters want to chant USA at the Trump reality show political rallies, Donald Trump is not an American Patriot. A New England Patriot perhaps, because of his relationship between Bob Kraft and Tom Brady, but he’s not an American Patriot. He’s a Trump narcissist and money lover who would sell America down the Hudson River if he thought he, his company, and family would profit from it. And this staged press conference which was really just an ( pardon my American ) an ass kissing contest, where it was the only time where President Trump came out on top of President Putin, by kissing Putin’s ass more during the summit. The so-called summit with President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation on Monday, are just more examples of that.

We now have an American President, who at least publicly takes the word for a former Communist and now right-wing Nationalist ex-Russian KGB officer, over his own intelligence community which just happens to be the best most well-funded intelligence community in the world. Imagine if George McGovern, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, or any other major national Democrat especially Far-Left Democrat who ran for President, had said that about the American intelligence community. What would be the Republican reaction to that?

If Vlad tells Don, that he and his government didn’t interfere with the 2016 American elections and aren’t interfering now, than Don takes the word of his daddy Vlad, because Vlad promised Don that he would given him a treat after he takes him for a walk later if Don is a good boy. And in this case that means not accepting the word and intelligence of his own Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, who is an American military veteran, who severed in Congress both House and Senate for 24 years including serving on the intelligence committees in Congress. As well as taking Vlad’s word over the rest of the American intelligence community that says Russia, interfered with the 2016 elections and are still interfering with our elections.

You can make the case that President Trump and his administration, have been tough on Russia with the new sanctions and kicking Russian diplomats and intelligence officers out of the country. There are a few problems with that. President Trump, was essentially forced to do those things by Congress when they passed their sanctions bill that didn’t include a waiver in it allowing the President to waive the sanctions unilaterally at any point. They just didn’t pass those sanctions, but passed them overwhelmingly in spite of what the Trump Administration wanted and didn’t work with them on the sanctions. Just told them they were going to pass this legislation that passed with over 400 votes in the House and 98 in the Senate. Had the President vetoed that bill, he would’ve looked like a bigger schmuck or dog for President Putin, than he already is, ( if that’s possible ) because Congress would’ve overwhelming overridden his veto with a bipartisan vote.

Again, I don’t like talking this way about the American President, but unlike those 65 million or so Trump voters, I’m not one of his puppies or puppets, or a member of the Trump Cult. Or work for Fox News, which means I have the freedom to speak for myself and actually look at evidence and facts. And all of the objective evidence and facts is that Vladimir Putin could have something horrible on Donald Trump, that Don doesn’t want to get out. Which would explain why President Trump who is supposed to the President of the United States, is so nice at least in public to President Putin and looks like a tool or Poodle for President Putin and the Russian Federation.

Source: CNN: CNN Tonight- Don Lemon: ‘Trump Went From Alpha Dog To Lap Dog’– CNN, once again nailing Donald Trump

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Vanity Fair: Nick Bolton Interviewing Amanda Carpenter- The Conservative Case Against Donald Trump

Source: Vanity Fair– President Donald Trump, 45th POTUS

Source: The New Democrat

The conservative case against Donald Trump is pretty clear I believe as a non-Conservative, but the conservative case against Donald Trump might not be the Republican case against him or even a Republican case against him. As Amanda Carpenter ( CNN conservative political analyst ) would agree with me here, Conservative and Republican aren’t the same things. What Republican Party was at least pre-Trump was, was a vehicle to promote conservative values and policies.

Source: Harper Collins– Amanda Carpenter’s, conservative case against Donald Trump

But not all Republicans are Conservatives ( Donald Trump for example ) and believe in the same things. And as Amanda Carpenter would also agree she’s a Conservative first and a Republican second. Just like I’m a Liberal first and at best now an Independent-Democrat second. I’m not a big fan of the Democratic Party right now, which is the subject for perhaps a future blog article.

A Conservative to me at least in the political sense, is someone who believes in the U.S. Constitution and bases their politics around that and sees it as their job to conserve the Constitution and our individual rights and freedom. And not just some of them and try to pretend others don’t exist or are not important.

A Conservative is someone who believes in a strong national defense but is conservative in how to use it and bases their national security policy on what’s best for America and our allies. Not looking to invade countries simply because they have a bad authoritarian government and are bad to their people. ( Like the 2003 Iraq War ) Who believes in economic freedom, property rights, low taxation and regulation, fiscal responsibility, federalism which is a way of saying that government closest to home is the best government once you move out of national security and foreign affairs.

Donald Trump is pretty much the opposite of all of those things. He wants a large national defense and for us to spend a lot of money on it as a country, but isn’t very clear in when we should use it when we’re not under attack. Ran as a Nationalist in 2016 but hit the Syrian Assad Regime with missile strikes last year and again this year, when they gassed their own people. Sure, he believes in lower taxes and regulations, but so does the furthest Left Republican in the entire country believes in low taxation and regulation across the board as well.

What Donald Trump represents and what goes against American conservatism, is this Joe McCarthy/George Wallace faction in American politics that claims to be the real Americans and everyone else are just foreigners or traitors, or the Un-Americans, not deserving of the same rights and respect as their tribe. He represents nationalist-tribalism in America and in some cases racism and racists, as well as ethnic bigots and bigotry. He at the very least represents the people who hold racist and other bigoted views towards certain ethnic groups in America like Jewish-American. Whether he’s personally a racist or bigot himself, is the topic of a different debate. But those are the people he represents.

What Donald Trump is, is the anti-Conservative Republican President of the United States. Who sees his job as to protect himself and and his political interests. Even if it means doing things that aren’t conservative. Like attacking the American intelligence community and our law enforcement. Or attacking military veterans and their families simply because they don’t support him. Pardoning people who’ve already have admitted to committing the crimes that they were charged with, which is the latest examples with his pardons yesterday.

If President Trump thinks it will benefit him politically and personally, he’ll do it whether it’s conservative, progressive, nationalist, authoritarian, or anything else. He’s not just a political opportunist, but the most successful political opportunist that we’ve ever seen in this country which makes him very dangerous. A man without a core and center, is a man that can always be exposed, because he has nothing protecting and guiding him other than his short-term political and personal interests. Which is what you get with President Donald Trump.

Source: Albur Tube: CNN Tonight- Don Lemon Interviewing Amanda Carpenter: Gaslighting– Amanda Carpenter, on The Conservative Case against Donald Trump

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CNN: U.S. Senator Rand Paul- The Right to be Left Alone is The Most Precious

Source: This piece was originally posted at The New Democrat Plus

First of all, the Patriot Act is going to expire at midnight in less than two hours from the time this piece is posted, because of Senate Leader Mitch McConnell and his Neoconservatives in his caucus. They could’ve spent the last two weeks on either the USA Freedom Act. That was passed by the House with 388 votes. A huge bipartisan majority of Conservative Republicans and Liberal Democrats in the House.

Or, McConnell could’ve brought the version of the Patriot Act that he expires to the Senate floor. Opened it up to amendments from both sides. Including from Senator Rand Paul and Senator Ron Wyden and several other civil liberty minded Senators from both parties. Mike Lee, Pat Leahy, Jon Tester, Ron Johnson, Mark Heinrich and many others. What the Leader did instead, was to bring the Patriot Act up, knowing that he didn’t have sixty votes for it. And when that became reality, he decided to bring up an extension of the Patriot Act. To buy more time for the Senate to finally pass the bill. Translation, so he could lean on his own members to vote for a long-term bill. To keep the Patriot Act in place indefinitely.

McConnell, knows that if he opens up this debate to amendments, several of them will pass with bipartisan support. Civil liberties, is now a bipartisan issue in Congress. As we saw with the passage of the USA Freedom Act in the House and now with Senate Democrats and Republicans refusing to vote on the old Patriot Act. Because it doesn’t have those civil liberty protections when it comes to warrants. Under the Patriot Act, the government doesn’t need warrants to search people they see as suspicious. They don’t even need evidence, or at least share that evidence with a third-party. Senator Paul, Conservative Libertarian Republican and Senate Wyden, Liberal Democrat, both want the government to have to get warrants before they can search suspects. Which is really what the Fourth Amendment is all about. The protection from unreasonable searches and seizures.

The USA Freedom Act, certainly not perfect, but certainly an improvement over the original Patriot Act. And the Senate, could’ve spent the past two weeks debating the bill and voting on amendments and improving it. So the U.S. Government could protect both our liberty and our security. So the innocent are protected from unreasonable searches and seizures. And government could investigate and prosecute real criminals and terrorists. Under the U.S. Constitution for one and the USA Freedom Act. But no! Thats not good enough for Leader Mitch McConnell. Give him a two-week extension of the old Patriot Act, that the House Republican Leadership has already said they won’t pass. Or give him the original Patriot Act without the new civil liberties protections. Which won’t pass the House, or Senate either.

CNN: U.S. Senator Rand Paul- The Right To Be Left Alone is The Most Precious

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My Vintage The Capital Gang- March 27, 1993: Foreign Policy and The Clinton Budget

Source: This piece was originally posted at The New Democrat Plus

President Boris Yeltsin who certainly has his issues as President of Russia, looks like a good guy if not a saint, at least compared with Vladimir Putin today. It would’ve been nice had Russia been able to transition away from President Yeltsin and to someone like him. And continued with the economic and political reforms in Russia. And not of moved in a neoconservative if not Far-Right direction. That they’ve been on ever since Putin became President of the Russian Federation in the late 1990s.

As far as the Clinton 1993 budget, I agree with then Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole. Who then was not only highest ranking Republican in Congress, but in the U.S. Government at least, when he said that President Clinton shouldn’t get that much credit for getting his budget plan through. Because he had an overwhelming Democratic Congress back then. Of something like 257 seats in the House and 57 in the Senate. And where the Senate Minority can’t block the budget and require sixty votes to pass it. Leaders shouldn’t get extra credit for simply doing what they are able to do and should do.

My Vintage Video: The Capital Gang March 27th, 1993

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My Vintage Video: The Capital Gang, February 20, 1993: The Clinton Deficit Reduction Plan

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This post was originally posted at The New Democrat on WordPress

This whole show was about the 1993 Deficit Reduction Act. That was offered by President Bill Clinton, which was his first major economic bill as President. That was passed by a Democratic Congress by a total of two votes. One vote majority in the House and a one vote majority in the Senate. With only Congressional Democrats voting for the DRA. With not a single House or Senate Republican voting for it. You can make a case that the DRA cost Democrats Congress in 1994. But the plan worked with the budget almost balanced by 1996. With most of the new revenue to the Federal budget coming from the new revenue and tax hikes from the 1993 plan. Which was a combination of spending cuts both in defense and non-defense and a tax hike on the wealthy. And reversing some of the tax cuts from the Reagan Administration from the 1980s. The plan was costly politically, but it worked.

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Grizzly Battle: Video: CNN: President Barack Obama’s Post Mid-Terms Press Conference

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This post was originally posted at The New Democrat on Blogger

I believe President Obama did what he needed to do in this conference. Which was to graduate incoming Senate Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Republicans for winning back the Senate for the first time since 2004. And House Speaker John Boehner and House Republicans for adding to their majority. As well to layout where he will be willing and believes he can work with Congressional Republicans in the next Congress that will have a Republican House and a Republican Senate.

I’m not one of these doom and gloom utopian the perfect and compromise is the enemy of the good Democrats. I live in the real world and know that President will have to work with Congressional Republicans as well as Congressional Democrats especially in the Senate if he wants to get anything that is substantial done in the next Congress. So I’m not expecting the President to cave on any of his or the Democratic Party’s key agenda items in the next Congress. He said he won’t do anything that weakens the Affordable Care Act and I believe him.

But here’s where I believe they can work together. The Keystone Pipeline will be one of the first big items that House Republicans will pass in the next Congress. Perhaps within the first month and that will pass with a bipartisan majority. And will be sent to the Republican Senate where it will have bipartisan support and I don’t expect Senate Democrats doing much to try to block the bill. As long as they are involved in it and are allowed votes on their amendments.

As far as infrastructure and other energy policies and issues like immigration and tax reform. If anything is done on those issues, it will have to come from Congress first and probably starting in the Senate. Where traditionally it is much easier to get bipartisan bills passed over there than the House. Trade agreements I believe will be big in the next Congress and where President Obama will have bipartisan support in both the House and Senate.

Whatever happens in the next Congress will probably happen in the first seven months or so because the August recess. As far as major legislation and after that Congress will be back in town, except presidential candidates in Congress. And then Washington politics will switch to presidential politics and the major presidential candidates will drive what happens or doesn’t happen in Washington. So how productive the next Congress will be will depend on House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Leader Mitch McConnell and what they want to get passed out of Congress and signed by President Obama.

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CNN: Video: State of the Union: This Election Isn’t Over

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This post was originally posted at The New Democrat on Blogger

The victory for Democrats in 2014 might be at the state level in the governor’s and state legislature races. Where they are not only in position to win back governorships, but win them in big states. Florida, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and perhaps Ohio which might be out of reach. But they are polling well in Wisconsin as well. And in Massachusetts and Colorado where they may lose, they currently hold the state legislature’s in both states. And in Massachusetts case, they won’t lose both the governorship and legislature.

As I blogged last night, the U.S. Senate is still not out of the question, because of Georgia and Kansas where Senate Democrats are favored to pick up, at least according to the polls. Strong Democratic leaning candidates in Michelle Nunn who is a Democrat in Georgia and liberal leaning Independent Greg Orman in Kansas. But for that to mean anything, they have to hold onto North Carolina and New Hampshire where they are currently leading. And perhaps pull out Louisiana where Mary Landrieu is in a dead heat with Republican Representative Bill Cassidy.

On Tuesday night, House Republicans will not only hold their majority, but perhaps add ten seats and even have a bigger majority that they had in 2011-12 after they won back the House. But the question is who will control the Senate in the next Congress with a Republican House that has a solid majority. And perhaps no one will really control the Senate as far as getting anything done with a 50-50 or 51-49 majority. And the 114th Congress is essentially divided as well like the current Congress.

Next Governor of Florida?

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The Daily Conversation: President Obama at the 2014 White House Correspondents Dinner

This piece was originally posted at The New Democrat

I’m glad that President Obama can laugh at the year that he had in 2013 and perhaps the White House Correspondents Dinner might be the only platform where he can. Because it was really one of the worst years at least in my memory (all thirty-eight years) that a second-term president has had in his first year as a second-term president. I mean you have to go back to 2005 with President George W. Bush or even before I was born in 1973 with President Richard Nixon who was dealing with Watergate.

I like President Obama’s line about CNN where he said “that now I have to go to Malaysia to get attention from CNN”. Because CNN is too busy covering airplane crashes and missing passengers who probably drowned in the ocean. To actually cover real news. Like I don’t know millions of Americans who didn’t have health insurance now have it. Or the situation in Ukraine or the economy with the new jobs figures. “Wait we can’t report those things because those issues are real news and Americans are only interested in what is not important but what is sexy”.

The President also had a good line about MSNBC. “Glad to see MSNBC here which is probably seeing the biggest audience that they’ve ever had”. MSNBC another so-called news network that doesn’t have the resources to cover real news even though they are owned by NBC News one of the largest news divisions in the world. Which is why their ratings are south of the toilet because they do not report on things that a large percentage of the country is actually interested in and that is important.

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Mox News: Video: CNN’s Piers Morgan Tonight: RT’s Abby Martin Standing up Against Russian Invasion of Ukraine

Kire Schneider on Google+

The New Democrat on Facebook

The New Democrat on Twitter

This post was originally posted at The New Democrat on Blogger

Someone is finally stepping up to the fascist neoconservative Putin in and saying he is wrong to invade Ukraine. As far as Abby Martin taking on corporate media, guess what Russia Today is.  It is owned by the Russian Government, which could at any time pull people for disagreeing with them or, in Russia, arrest them for disagreeing with them.  Very little independent media in the Russian Federation!

 

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