"I mean, there's not that many people who are willing to end their career. So even though I know for a fact there are a whole bunch of Republicans who if it was a private secret vote, would vote against — en masse — many of these nominees that he's put up, they won't dare do it in a public setting under the gaze of Donald Trump. And there's actually something deeper that's happened in American politics that Trump has changed. A generation ago, if you were a member of Congress, you could kind of protect yourself and defend yourself by raising money and having coalitions and whatever. All of that has been obliterated by Donald Trump's monopoly on the attention landscape. And If you get in their cross hairs, it doesn't matter what kind of a war chest you have that will be squirted away in two days, you are finished, your career's done."
Said Jonathan Swan, on yesterday's episode of the NYT's "Daily" podcast,
"Trump 2.0 Arrives in Force."
ADDED: I figure he said "squirted away" because it's the NYT and "pissed away" is considered dirty, but "squirted away" sounds dirtier. I had to laugh.
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45 comments:
Kamala's billion dollar war chest... agrees.
Money and celebrity (+ gender & race hustling) are supposed to work like always.
Ah diddums. Did the big nasty orange man take away your toys and make you listen to the people who sent you to Washington, instead of those nice lobbyists?
Nothing has changed. It is just that Trump can not out fundraise them. As noted many times, all those techbros used to fund them. If only they would figure out why? Like delivering what you promised.
A generation ago, If you were a member of Congress, you could kind of protect yourself and defend yourself by raising money and having coalitions and whatever. All of that has been obliterated by Donald Trump's monopoly on the attention landscape.
Bullshit! We've figured out the grift, that's why they're walking lightly these days.
This is bizarre. In what other country is the opposition obviously sympathizing with their enemies, to the point that is the main reason the opposition is allowed to exist? "Autocracies" like Russia have healthier legislatures. You can be a communist, a nationalist, or even a Yabloko type. Just don't be an obvious CIA stooge like Navalny.
The most worrying thing about President Trump, for the left, is that his agenda will be much more enduring than Reagan's was. More, it will be impossible for any Republican to try dragging us back to the Bush era without risking a house on fire.
We elected Trump, because he promised to do things we felt were important for America. He appointed people he felt were best qualified to do that job. Many of those people are ex democrats.
The Senate is upset because they aren't being treated like gods- the are being treated like people who helped dig the hole we are now in, and they are upset. who cares? yes, end their political careers, and do it so everyone understands.
Both sides of the aisle created this nightmare Trump was elected to fix.
Like the New York Times understands anything at all about Republican internal politics! Hilarious.
I suppose this all goes along with the "it's the messaging" message about the election: it's not that a heavy plurality, if not an absolute majority (who can say?), of voters voted for a change candidate, it's just that the guy who somehow bought the election (with a coupon, maybe?) wants to be a dictator on Day 1, institute Project 2025 aka the Final Solution, put y'all back in chains, force women to get pregnant, literally kill LBGTQIA+ people...
I absolutely voted for Trump. It wasn't because I want to burn things down and I'm no fan of some of the rhetoric. It was because I believed, and believe, that in a Trump administration we will have a better shot at more transparency, more freedom of speech, and less performative nonsense (yes, I actually do believe there will be LESS performative nonsense! Or at least, there'll be less performative nonsense that we all have to pretend is Very Serious).
It’s medicine. The worse the taste the better it is for you. Come come now drink your medicine. Troco troco. I’ll make some coffee after.
Poor babies, having to vote the way their supporters want.
Troco Troco is the sound of unwanted swallows.
Expect to see more push for anonymous Senate voting.
All these whingers voted for Biden's nominees. It seems to me they are mad because their corruption and incompetence may be uncovered.
Wait didn't we fight a war to get away from the King?
Btw. Avoid swimming in the Potomac for at least 6 to 9 hours.
"I know for a fact" there are a bunch of Republicans who oppose Trump's nominees! Bullshit!
Squirted has a phallic vibe. Haw Haw
Amazing. Democrats vote lockstep. But republicans who do are skeerdy-cats. But one thing is true, I only need ONE excuse to primary John Cornyn. And the republicans who do not vote for these nominees are on the **** list for sure. Don’t forget it.
Opposing Trump’s nominees in private is like quantum superposition. If there wasn’t a microphone picking it up, did it really happen?
End of their career? No, it's not, but you'll probably have some splainin to do.
Jonathan Swan: "even though I know for a fact there are a whole bunch of Republicans who if it was a private secret vote, would vote against — en masse — many of these nominees…"
Meh. I do not trust JonathanSwan.
Is Swan at the NYT now? He was an Axios guy.
"I figure he said "squirted away" because it's the NYT and "pissed away" is considered dirty, but "squirted away" sounds dirtier."
It might be an Aussie-ism.
It's not Trump who has the power to destroy them. It is his voters. This is called democratic accountability.
Many of those people are ex democrats
since when is two (both nutcases) "many"?
So, Trump is succeeding gloriously in managing the Bully Pulpit, and that’s a negative? For who?
Let me translate from NYT's speak to English.
Publically many these Republican Senators had zero problem with voting to confirm Biden's far-Left Cabinet picks - Mayorkas, Garland, Buttergig, etc. Yet privately they would vote against almost all of Trump's picks. Why? Because *privately* they are fucking liberals!
Y'need to understand that in many of these "red states" you have to a Republican to get elected. So many liberal/moderates just get elected by mouthing conservative talking points on the campaign trail. They aren't conservative in real life, they just play one on TV.
And so, they are constantly playing this game of fooling their Republican base, or seeing how much they can get away with before they suffer politically.
Mitt Romney was the master of playing the conservative on the primary campaign trail and then turning liberal in office. And no one could surpass John McCain for fooling his Republican base or always going right up to the line in supporting liberal/left causes.
And then there's Mitch the bitch McConnell. This guy was a Democrat when he first entered politics but quickly realized that being a Kentucky Republican was the way to stay in office. He's run a master class in how to sabotage conservatives and Trump while still getting re-elected both as Senate leader and as Kentucky Senator.
For example, he called up AG Bill Barr right after the 2020 election and demanded he say there was no election fraud and for Trump to shut up. McConnell stated he couldn't do that. Publically. But AG Barr could. Mitch McConnell's fingerprints are all over the 2 impeachments, Russiagate, and the stopping of a border wall. But its not until Trump was defeated that he overplayed his hand.
If all these Republican Senators who said in 2021, "The POTUS gets to pick his own cabinet" actually believed that, they would just ram through all of Trump's picks. Or they would allow him to make recess appointments. Instead, they allow the Democrats to slow roll almost every pick, and make every Trump pick "Controversial" and struggle.
Mark Levin stated on his show that behind the scenes Tillis (R-NC) was doing everything possible to dig up dirt on Mr. Pete H. and sink his confirmation but when he came up empty had to vote fo him.
I don't know how things will ever change until Republican voters start getting smart.
Jonathan Swan is completely out of touch if he thinks that we give two shits about how a bunch of establishment Republican senators would vote in private.
Trump has allowed us to see what is possible. It seems that every president after Reagan was managing America's decline. Based on your political persuasion, feel free to say that your guys were better at slowing the decline, but nobody tried to reverse the erosion.
Of Trump's people, we've only really heard from Vance, Leavitt, Homan and Rubio. They are all smart, energetic and unashamed to fight for the best interests of Americans. It's refreshing.
Unprecedented action is what we want.
"I know for a fact" = a few people told me what I wanted to hear.
The three Republican senators who voted against Pete Hegseth all should be primaried out of office. Senate could do without neocon Graham too.
McConnell is a Chinese asset.
Fuck off, Swanee! Where were you hiding during the Biden administration? There’s not much interest in anything you - or your partners in mime - have to say about anything.
There's an old Little King cartoon where the King says, "The peasants have spoken. Damn them". Trump is acting like a bull in a china shop breaking one old norm after another. That's got Peggy Noonan weeping over the end of the old order. I expect Trump will run wild for several months, then something will happen that sort of puts the brakes on his future capers. But for the moment the peasants are liking what's happening, and the politicians in the Uniparty just have to sit there and take it.
And Barr, who has been a swamp thing since at least the Clinton days, was happy to do as requested. His filthy fingerprints are all over the Vince Foster coverup.
I just hope he's right.
Althouse said...
I figure he said "squirted away" because it's the NYT and "pissed away" is considered dirty, but "squirted away" sounds dirtier. I had to laugh.
"We got a squirter!
"Oh no! My supporter base is paying attention to what I do!"
Sunlight is the Great Disinfectant, STINKY. The voters want to know who's voting what and that's called Representative Democracy. By the way: He's '47', you know.
…there wasn’t really a process to oppose him on a primary. Who says only blue states are corrupt?
There are levels to this process. Patel, Bondi, and Hegseth are mission-critical. Gabbard is highly desirable, as it were. If RFKJr is voted down, though, Trump will make a lot of noise, but he won't really care. Kennedy has only been part of the Trump team for about five minutes, they already had to stifle him about vaccines at his hearing, and he's useless for bureaucratic infighting.
Senators would like all votes, except those praising Mom, to be anonymous. The job of a senator is to bullshit and avoid taking responsibility for anything. From both parties, they are a bunch who, out of true conviction, will go along to get along. Theirs is the conviction of the Herd. Pete Buttigieg should run - he will make a perfect senator, and will continue his lifelong project of bullshitting while doing nothing.
The Senate, collectively, is scared shitless of someone who comes along and upsets the comfortable arrangements that have allowed them to ignore national decline and create umpty-trillions of dollars of debt.
So Republicans are being held accountable by the voters and are no longer able to ignore them because they have big donors...and IMO that's great.
both nutcases
You aren't even fit to shine her combat boots, asshole.
Yeah! I agree. Who the fuck wants independent thinkers. Join the Trump Big Energy Train or die.
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