The Republicans Off The Sinking Ship Thread

With the Electoral College confirming President-Elect Biden's victory, some Republicans are going to double-down and deny Biden won. There's the scant few who raised issues with how Trump and co. have been conducting themselves. And then there are those who are going to be like, "Oh I supported President-Elect Biden all along" with a shamelessness that will make George Orwell do grave gymnastics.

Who fits in which camp?

Here's a retiring Republican representative who's switching his party to Independent out of disgust with things.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/14/politics/paul-mitchell-quits-gop/index.html

And Bill Barr is resigning(?)/fired now?

https://www.npr.org/2020/12/14/811276917/william-barr-to-steps-down-as-attorney-general

I'm thinking any Republican who doesn't want to get primaried out of existence is going to deny Trump lost the election.

Such is the state of the GOP. It's Trump's party now.

With a resignation letter that was absolutely written by him!

I honestly wonder if the United States will survive the Trump administration.

Right before retiring. What a hero.

Probably allowed to resign if he wrote that obsequious letter.

Raul are you referring specifically to Republican politicians or Republicans in general?

I'll be "nice" and take the moral high road on your average Republican voter. But, without fail, every Republican politician I've known at the State and Federal level have varied somewhere between sleazy and utterly reprehensible.

The Republican party has controlled Alabama for nearly 40 years. The Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, the majorities and thus the leadership of the State Senate and State House of Representatives, all NINE seats of the Alabama State Supreme Court, every seat on the State Board of Education, and every elected seat on every elected board are held by Republicans. What do we have to show for it? We're 46th in Health Care (despite having world class research and teaching facilities in Birmingham), 50th in Education (despite ranking 20th in per pupil spending), 45th in GDP, and 45th in Crime.

What, exactly, has "conservative" Republican leadership gotten us? As a State, we're actually worse off than we were in 1984!

Well ya see the Black Belt and the Mexicans... All those foreigners...

(But not BAE, Airbus, Austal USA, ThyssenKrupp, Mercedes-Benz, Honda, Hyundai, Toyota, VW [yes I’m including Chattanooga b/c it ain’t a coincidence they are a few miles up 59, the majority of their Tier 2 and 3 suppliers are in AL] the other kind of foreigners... the bad ones...)

Went over some interesting figures at work today. The owners asked me to crunch the numbers and give a report of where we are month to date and year to date compared to last year. We're already, as of the 14th, at 115% of December '19. We're down 22% on the year, but that can be squarely laid at the feet of COVID.

In the six weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas, the Jewelry Industry in the United States will make 50% of its annual sales. So, where do we stand compared to that same period in years past? We're at 18% of December 1988. 12% of December 1984. We're still making money, but only a tiny fraction of what we used to make. Why? Well, I wondered that in the five minutes I had to deliberate on it. I think it was because, back then, we were a prosperous, growing region in the State. Now we're not, and the people that are left don't have the money that our parents and grandparents had to spend on luxury items like fine jewelry.

Speaking of which, it’s been 15 years since I was interning for the State Port Authority/working on a degree in Int. Poli-Econ but at one point we were by far number one in the US for Manufacturing Direct Foreign Investment on a per capita basis.

Those plants have now been open a lot of years.

Lotta money moved in and out of the state.

Not sure we got a lot to show for it.

We are still here. The thing that will die is the view of the US as the best in the world, if that was still a view outside of the right.

The internet has shined a light on all the dark places in the world. In reality the US was always a sucky place to be black or an immigrant. Large portions of the US never saw that because they simply lived in a bubble that kept those people out. By the time groups like Italians and Irish became part of the white bubble there was money and status in those communities. They tried to knock those communities down, but some of their people were able to slip by as white until they could not be denied.

Even white does not always cover it as we can see from works of Bruce Springstein and other artists who sing about the problems of poor white america. More people began to be seen through radio, mass music distribution, and then TV. Now we have the internet where you can see how a poor person lives on social media. There were always those people, but we just did not see them before if we did not live or go into poor places.

I could have, and did, told you years ago Trumpistas were all over and common. They were not Trump people yet, but they have always been here. The fight between urban, suburban, and rural has always been ongoing. Our government has always been this corrupt or even worse.

None of this is new, and we have not broken yet. However, if trump destroys america then america was doomed.

I will give some defense to AL. They would be a lot better off if Floriduh didn't have their coastline. States with large coastlines have increased income and connection with the world. That area around mobile just is not enough, and is almost another state.

Unfortunately while Alabama might be taking it worse than most it is the whole damn country.

Even before this latest crisis, Millennials were already set to be the first American generation that will die poorer than their parents. Z is following them.

https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/feds/files/2018080pap.pdf

The Boomers bent the curve down that much.

We are a nation in decline.

Is it mere coincidence that after Putin congratulated President-Elect Biden, Moscow Mitch could as well?

https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/15/politics/mitch-mcconnell-congratulates-joe-biden/index.html

I didn't really have any real parameters in mind. It would be nice if, at least, the average Republican conceded that there was nothing untoward or illegal with Biden's victory. But I'm not holding my breath.

In the meanwhile, I'd assume there are going to be more stories about prominent Republicans -- officeholders, donors, pundits, and the like -- who eventually may or may not abandon the idea that Trump won by a lot.

QFT (unfortunately)

https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/06/politics/stephanie-grisham-white-house-resign/index.html

I guess quitting jobs that have about two weeks left in them is something you can do....

I'd be burning sick leave too...

In this country? Who has 'sick leave'?!

Mick Mulvaney, former chief of staff, has resigned as special envoy to Northern Ireland, saying: "I can’t stay here, not after yesterday. You can’t look at that yesterday and say I want to be a part of that in any way, shape or form."

https://thehill.com/homenews/admini...ns-from-trump-administration-i-cant-stay-here

good point! Now let's factor in putting in your "two week" notice. It's all about the details/technicalities when it comes to your work history.

I get about 3 hours per two week pay period. Good to have if I ever have to quarantine for possible COVID exposure.

Elaine Chao has resigned as Transportation Secretary. One less cabinet member to invoke the 25th Amendment.

ETA: resignation effective Monday. Hmmm....

Of whose left, I wouldn't have a clue who would stand up to him.

Vice President - Mike Pence - January 20, 2017
Secretary of State - Mike Pompeo - April 26, 2018
Secretary of the Treasury - Steven Mnuchin - February 13, 2017
Secretary of Defense - Christopher Miller - November 9, 2020 Acting
Attorney General - Jeffrey A. Rosen - December 23, 2020 Acting
Secretary of the Interior - David Bernhardt - January 2, 2019(Bernhardt served as Acting Secretary from January 2, 2019 until April 11, 2019.)
Secretary of Agriculture - Sonny Perdue - April 25, 2017
Secretary of Commerce - Wilbur Ross - February 28, 2017
Secretary of Labor - Eugene Scalia - September 30, 2019
Secretary of Health and Human Services - Alex Azar - January 29, 2018
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development - Ben Carson - March 2, 2017
Secretary of Transportation - (VACANT) - Sec. Chao Resigned Jan 7, 2021[9]
Secretary of Energy - Dan Brouillette - December 2, 2019
Secretary of Education - Betsy DeVos - February 7, 2017
Secretary of Veterans Affairs - Robert Wilkie - July 30, 2018
Secretary of Homeland Security - Chad Wolf - November 13, 2019 Acting

Apparently, Pence has finally had enough. After 4 years of bootlicking, he reportedly was royally pissed off last night, saying things like "after I'll I've done for him..." Amazing that he somehow convinced himself that Trump wouldn't shit on him when the evidence is clear that once Trump thinks you've outlived your usefulness, he shits on you. That's what he does. Serves you right, you Bible thumping toady.

I won't come on the phone either.

It's a bugger to clean if you do.

Get a new smartphone, they're waterproof so you can just drop the whole thing into a sink.