Paul Ryan to speak tonight to Republicans: move away from the "populist appeal of one personality"

[Pommer]

Actually both the GOP and DNC seem to be more protectionist and nationalist than decades ago. It seems to me that the entire world is moving more toward populism and away from globalism, which is in a way terrifying because that is the kind of thing that leads to world war. My country is better than your country, and us first, you last, etc. We are not even sharing vaccines in all sincerity.

Yes, populism “needs an enemy” to combat.
The Champion has already been selected: now bring on the ENTIRE left as the “I Alone” President and his loyal followers PWN the Libs!
YMMV

 

[FireDragon76]

Actually both the GOP and DNC seem to be more protectionist and nationalist than decades ago. It seems to me that the entire world is moving more toward populism and away from globalism, which is in a way terrifying because that is the kind of thing that leads to world war. My country is better than your country, and us first, you last, etc. We are not even sharing vaccines in all sincerity.

Ever since George W. Bush, the US has been moving away from a rules-based international order, and Obama did not really change that. I think it's being driven from below.

 

[Ana the Ist]

The DNC is in no way comparable to the GOP.

Agreed.

It just isn’t. The GOP is the party that supports the violent overthrow of the US government.

CHAZ anyone?

 

[essentialsaltes]

CHAZ anyone?

Anarchists do not belong to political parties.

 

[Oneiric1975]

Anarchists do not belong to political parties.

...and the President of the United States did not incite them to attack the government or police for the sole purpose of stopping the election of the President of the United States like a tin-pot dictator in a banana republic.

 

[TLK Valentine]

...and the President of the United States did not incite them to attack the government or police for the sole purpose of stopping the election of the President of the United States like a tin-pot dictator in a banana republic.

Donald's defenders will claim he didn't do it this time either -- meaning his followers came up with the Big Lie all by themselves. How clever of them.

 

[ThatRobGuy]

It's amazing how a few years changes the perceptions of people...

George HW Bush was heavily criticized by the left for being "far right" back in the day, when he said he was voting for Hillary because Trump was a "Blow-hard", they like him all of the sudden.

George W Bush was "the devil" in the eyes of many democrats a few years back (some even suggesting that he was a hateful warmonger who was responsible for 9/11), now he's getting invited on left-leaning talk shows and praised for his artistic endeavors

Mitt Romney was the "aristocrat who hated poor people because of his 47% comment", now he's "one of the few good ones"

Looks like Paul Ryan is getting added to that list...


Perhaps this is a good learning experience for both sides...

Republicans, Stop wrapping your entire identity up in a guy just because it gives you joy to see how much he agitates the other side, that's not a very good reason to, basically, worship someone. I still see people putting up Trump signs in their yard... your guy lost, time to get over it. When you literally backing a guy who's disingenuously pretending that he doesn't know who David Duke is (just so he doesn't have to acknowledge it and potentially alienate some of his support base), you took a wrong turn somewhere.

Democrats, Stop trying to portray every republican candidate as "far right extremism", and then maybe more people will take it more seriously when you voice that concern about someone who actually may be engaging in some of that (like Trump was). When people heard all of the same talking points being made about George W Bush years prior, and then see people from that same camp now being cordial about him when they see pics likes this

...and then bashing John McCain when he was running against Obama, only to turn around and take a friendly attitude toward him just because he opposed Trump...

It ruins the credibility of your criticism and gives the impression that it's a "The boy who cried wolf" type of scenario.

The "hatemonger" accusation doesn't hold much weight when it's been made against every republican candidate for the last 20 years (many of whom, they end up being somewhat friendly to after they leave office)...that's just fueling the fire and encouraging the GOP to gravitate toward more and more extreme candidates as time goes on.

 

[98cwitr]

I wonder if ideology has a genetic component. According to Jim Webb, Senator from VA, in his book Born Fighting, the Scots-Irish historically have been a pro-populism sort of people.

 

[TLK Valentine]

I wonder if ideology has a genetic component. According to Jim Webb, Senator from VA, in his book Born Fighting, the Scots-Irish historically have been a pro-populism sort of people.

I wonder if stories like this will cause the right to embrace the identity politics they've pretended to criticize.

 

[98cwitr]

I wonder if stories like this will cause the right to embrace the identity politics they've pretended to criticize.

Very well may...but would that be a good thing or a bad thing?

It does seem like a regression to colonial times...where ethnic identity was not only at the forefront of policy decisions, but embraced by American society. If the 1960s through the 1990s failed to teach anything, it was that these divisions are harmful. In fact, 2020s culture wants Americans to embrace, once again, these divisions and champion them to the point we all distrust anyone outside of our own ethnic group. And not just racially but incorporating class, religion, and social ideologies as well; to completely define or redefine an ethnic group. Webb more than suggests in his book that the Ulster Scot immigrants had a tendency to assimilate, to take the best of the different cultures around them and incorporate those practices into their own lives, yet maintained key identifying characteristics; among them radical individualism (coupled with tendency toward isolationism), populism (as mentioned), distrust of government, and Reformed theological roots.

Christ still calls us to unity under Him though (Galatians 3:28)...I hope we don't forget Him in all of this.

 

[TLK Valentine]

Very well may...but would that be a good thing or a bad thing?

It would hardly be a surprising thing.

They criticized the terrorists for their barbarism, then embraced a president who promised to do worse to the terrorists... and their families as well.

They whine incessantly against "cancel culture" both before and after their own failed attempt to cancel an entire national election... and the people of their own parties who tell them to let it go.

They act shocked to hear "the race card" being played, but make so much as a peep of criticism regarding the Israeli government and they'll slap an "anti-Semite" label on you before you know it.

The list goes on. Now it'll be "identity politics."

If they stay true to their pattern, they'll continue to publicly decry it, try it themselves, fail due to 1. Inexperience, 2. Insincerity, 3. Half-heartedness, or 4. All of the above, and go right back to criticism as if nothing happened.

Lather, Rinse, Repeat.

 

[98cwitr]

It would hardly be a surprising thing.

They criticized the terrorists for their barbarism, then embraced a president who promised to do worse to the terrorists... and their families as well.

They whine incessantly against "cancel culture" both before and after their own failed attempt to cancel an entire national election... and the people of their own parties who tell them to let it go.

They act shocked to hear "the race card" being played, but make so much as a peep of criticism regarding the Israeli government and they'll slap an "anti-Semite" label on you before you know it.

The list goes on. Now it'll be "identity politics."

If they stay true to their pattern, they'll continue to publicly decry it, try it themselves, fail due to 1. Inexperience, 2. Insincerity, 3. Half-heartedness, or 4. All of the above, and go right back to criticism as if nothing happened.

Lather, Rinse, Repeat.

When will conservatives learn that "holding the line" has never worked, has nearly a 100% failure rate, and that when they finally let go of that line, they're shocked the rope actually moves....and fast?

Maybe it's just high time that conservatives stop trying to "hold the line."

 

[TLK Valentine]

When will conservatives learn that "holding the line" has never worked, has nearly a 100% failure rate, and that when they finally let go of that line, they're shocked the rope actually moves....and fast?

Maybe it's just high time that conservatives stop trying to "hold the line."

It's worse than "holding the line"; you said a couple of posts ago, It's a regression.

They're always in regression, even when they're "holding the line" -- all motion is relative, after all -- now that they really are moving backwards, they're going to grind their gears struggling to catch up.

 

[98cwitr]

It's worse than "holding the line"; you said a couple of posts ago, It's a regression.

They're always in regression, even when they're "holding the line" -- all motion is relative, after all -- now that they really are moving backwards, they're going to grind their gears struggling to catch up.

History is cyclical. Humans are tribal. We're all in a regression. Some to colonial times, others to ancient Greece. How far back you wanna go? Populism can trace its roots to the first calls for democracy in the 13th century, the formation of the Magna Carta, and the rebirth of the calls in the Reformation.

I'm a populist to the extent of realizing that even the elites have inalienable rights, same as the rest of us. No need to covet them, their power or wealth. If I don't like what they do, the only way they get a dollar from me is if my government forces it from me into their hands.

 

[Oneiric1975]

I'm a populist to the extent of realizing that even the elites have inalienable rights, same as the rest of us. No need to covet them, their power or wealth. If I don't like what they do, the only way they get a dollar from me is if my government forces it from me into their hands.

Not necessarily. Power and wealth provide, well, power and wealth, meaning they can dominate the marketplace and eliminate competition meaning that you have no choice and it is unrelated to the government.

If anything the government has a vested interest on our behalf to ensure that power and wealth's influence are moderated. Which is the nation we had until the last few decades. We fought our way out of the Gilded Age when power and wealth were used against the majority and we created a better, more equitable country for a relatively brief time through the use of governmental control.

 

[Pommer]

History is cyclical. Humans are tribal. We're all in a regression. Some to colonial times, others to ancient Greece. How far back you wanna go? Populism can trace its roots to the first calls for democracy in the 13th century, the formation of the Magna Carta, and the rebirth of the calls in the Reformation.

I'm a populist to the extent of realizing that even the elites have inalienable rights, same as the rest of us. No need to covet them, their power or wealth. If I don't like what they do, the only way they get a dollar from me is if my government forces it from me into their hands.

Money is a tool, not a goal to “be achieved”.
Every once in a while the people who have taken the latter view have to be reminded of this fact by the rest of us.

 

[98cwitr]

Money is a tool, not a goal to “be achieved”.
Every once in a while the people who have taken the latter view have to be reminded of this fact by the rest of us.

I agree, and don't preach to the choir, but tell it to every school board and admin that thinks throwing money at this is magically going to resolve the damage of nonchalant parenting.

Smells of greed when all I see are failing children.