Capitol Hill Blue Forums Political Issues Campaign 2016 The Old Guard’s Last Stand

So I am thoroughly enjoying the panic that manifested on the GOP’s leadership. They are in a tizzy, proclaiming that they will not support the Donald if (when?) he wins enough delegates to earn the nomination. Everyday there is a new, ominous prediction of what will happen to America of he wins. The latest comes from 70+ “former” Republican foreign policy professionals predicting:

1) A collapse of our foreign policy. To which I ask, what foreign policy? It is more of a foreign whim, or maybe a foreign failure than a policy. And then again, they are all formers, and they did such a bang-up job they failed in Iraq, they failed in Afghanistan and their policy allowing Afghanistan to continue cultivating poppies has come home to roost in overdoses.

2) A lack of respect from our enemies?.?.? How could our enemies have less respect for our leadership than they have today? This administration allowed leaders who have supported the US for decades to be sacrificed in the name of, hell Obama never gave it a name, he just abandoned them. He ignored the protests in Iran, yet supported the Muslim extremists in every other country. Almost as if he was sympathetic to their cause. He allowed one our Ambassadors to be murdered by a rampaging terrorist gang, and arrested an American, threw him in jail and used him as a scapegoat for his own failure.

3) Immigration! There really isn’t a whole lot to say here. A large majority wants a wall. A large majority wants immigration shut down until we can get a handle on how to manage it. A larger majority want to stop the unopposed invasion that is taking place on out Southern border. Not only do they ignore their constituents in this matter, they support the criminals who cross the border and pay only lip service to fixing the problem.

I am not a very touchy-feely person. I try to follow the law, I do not rape people, sell drugs or break into people’s houses on our southern border. The people who are entering the US today have no respect for the laws of the United States, they add nothing to the US overall, add nothing to the communities who take them in and are treated differently from US citizens.

Is it any wonder that the Establishment is feeling the heat? For years they have ignored their constituents wishes. Even today, after watching Trump roll through the South, they accuse him of not reflecting US attitudes. Who the hell are they kidding? Has beens and never was’ are the rolled out on a daily basis to try and plug the gaping hole in their argument. Today it was Romney, followed quickly by John McCain. Who’s next? What other looser can they find to oppose the candidate with the most populist message in the race?

As I have said, I am not a Trump fan, although he does kind of follow my political philosophy. Socially moderate, fiscally aggressive and take no sh#t from our enemies, but I do like much of his message, even if a lot of it is naïve and uninformed. I do not buy the argument that America can’t afford an “learn on the job” Presidency. Why not? We survived (maybe) Obama, and there is no way that Trump could be any worse. But the panic that has set in is priceless. The establishment politicians are seeing the gravy train dry up, all because they paid no attention to the rank and file. So, we have Train Trump on the same track as Train Hillary. Trump is more of a in your face, while Hillary would rather stab you in the back. Ant guesses how many cars derail when they meet up in the middle?

Tim

What enemies are you talking of? terrorists? .... they have no respect for anyone ever in any way .... NK? how have they changed? .... Iran? they have changed as they just ratified a nuclear pact with several countries .... so be clear who and what

Should America interfere in foreign countries politics? on the one hand you would say yes, and on the other hand you would say no .... which is it? How does America rationally characterize itself as a beacon of democracy and freedom if it supports dictators? What you really believe is, it is far more convenient to support dictators, who abuse their own citizens, than deal with the world in a real manner

What the administration did was to support democracy over dictatorship .... would you support a dictator in America????

What policy should the president have followed regarding the protests in Iran? Should he have invaded Iran? He sided with protesters of dictatorships in every country while I have to conclude you support dictatorships in those countries except Iran.

The president supported democracy. What did you support?

How did the president or anyone allow the attack on Benghazi? Nakoula was arrested for parole violations. There was one real suspect, Khatallah, detained and charged, and he is awaiting trial.

Basically, your whole comment is a thinly veiled belief by you the president is a Muslim. Are you trying to rationalize your beliefs by arguing what he has done only makes sense if he is a Muslim? My rebuttal and refutation of your beliefs with the facts and common sense should defuse your bigotry .... but gee .... Trump

I miss your posts, Ma R. Disagreement allows for so much discussion. I'll just note that I disagreed with all three points (except for the note that you're not a "touchy-feely person"), but there is no surprise there. I rarely agree with anything on FOX. Maybe more on that later

It surprises me, though, that someone who professes to be a Republican delights in the disintegration of his own party. That others do is no surprise, of course, as this has been a long time coming, and so well deserved. I don't think it really spells the end of the GOP, as cancer is hard to cure, although perhaps it will go into remission for some time.

I had been contemplating what differences there were between Mitt Romney and Donald Trump when I came across this article that pretty much sums it up: Mitt Romney's Trump speech an ugly mirror of GOP hypocrisy. The criticisms about Trump from the right-wing of the party pretty much mirror the criticisms of Romney last go around. Trump is more brazen in his contempt, perhaps, but Romney ran a pretty contemptuous campaign. Really, what's the diff?

What we are witnessing is a disintegration of American politics. On the right we have 3 flawed candidates and the one “sane” candidate seems content to stand there and try to look pretty. On the left we have a socialist who advocates turning the US economy into the economy of Greece and a moderate Dem who may be, and probably should be indicted before the general election. I can hear the groans from here, but she signed the clearance papers and agreed to the proscribed security and penalties for not conducting business in a secure manner.

I enjoy seeing the worthless leadership squirming. I am a Republican because I agree with their philosophy more than I do the Dems, that doesn’t mean I am not as angry as everybody else in America. Leadership has forgotten the rank and file, ignored our wishes and they are now paying the price for that arrogance.

The political system will survive, two party governance isn’t going anywhere. I still think that it will be Trump vs Hillary in the fall, unless she gets indicted, and what a spectacle it is going to be. I don’t know anybody who actually likes Trump, but I know many people who are going to vote for him because he fills the void left by traditional politics. I do not know anybody who really like Hillary either, she is just the heir apparent to the Dem throne. This will be a “who do we dislike less” election. Trump is at least entertaining.

I don’t know what would be worse, a Trump Presidency or a Hillary presidency where she is indicted or refused a security clearance. I went through the whole clearance process, as you probably did. I lived with the consequences of having a clearance, it wasn’t really unpleasant, just inconvenient. Hillary failed to live up to her responsibilities, she may have gotten more people than those in Benghazi killed because of here lack of responsibility. There is a real possibility that she could be in trouble in the fall. I still don’t think Trump can maintain through Nov., he is too erratic, but his message is very populist and he has linked into the very anger that all of America has professed to be feeling.

The coming train wreck will be worth twice the cost of admission. Two very flawed candidates, two egos the size of Montana and one really sh#tty job that only an egotist would want. What could go wrong?

Tim

You hold these people up like they should be role models. They are scum and should be thrown out on the asses. Hypocrisy? Look at the Dems lip service to the "special classes" of American citizen that they created. They only really care when it is election season, and then barely.

They all suck! Every last one of them, Dem, Rep, Socialist, black, white, orange, yellow, green blue or violet. All of them are corrupt. Please stop with hero worship. They don't deserve it.

Tim

Where's the Hero worship? There are two QUALIFIED candidates, Kasich and Clinton. Clinton should be elected handily. There is plenty of smoke around Clinton (most of it insubstantial, like all smoke is) and personally I don't like her all that much, but she is competent and moderate. As with all complaints from the right, there is simply no "there" there. No security breaches, no law violations, just lots and lots of uncontrolled partisanship (from ONE party).

Trump would be genuinely dangerous. Clinton would not, which is obvious to anyone who pays attention. As regards the "anger", I think you misperceive its source. Yes, the majority are angry at the status quo, but that is directed at one party. Again, the incompetent one -the GOP. The ills, including those you try to lay at the feet of Obama, are of the GOP's making. All of them. I'll list chapter and verse, if you like, but we know where that leads.

Tim .... you are either extraordinarily naive or you are delusional

of course the people running for the presidency have egos the size of Donald's hands (that would be hyperbolic exaggeration) .... otherwise they would be sitting at home like me

no president I know of has ever said the presidency was such a great job .... perhaps you want no one to run for president

so yes .... only people with monster sized egos need apply regardless of the contents of their portfolio

those classes were created because conservatives can not read the Constitution

the Founders meant all people to be equal in the eyes of the law, regardless if you dislike them or if your religion says to stone them

the Oregon bakers selectively discriminated against gay people because the Constitution does not specifically say they should respect their rights

this is the reason someone has to "create" those classes i.e. to ensure they can enjoy the same rights you do

Tim, please specify the "special classes" to which your refer. As a gay man I( have the uncomfortable feeling you think I fit that category.