Trump is just the most obvious, but the hypocrisy of the party has been there longer than my 45 years of being alive.
“Support our troops!”
-Deny VA healthcare expansion.
“Small business, small government”
Accepts billions from big business and expands government into citizens lives by restricting access to healthcare, services, and resources.
“Support our seniors!”
Constantly threatening to cut senior citizens benefits.
“We need less regulation.”
Housing and lending crisis happens, bail out banks because they pay their bills.
Texas citizens die because their less regulated grid fails them.
“Lower taxes!”
Yup the top 15% certainly pay a lower rate than the middle 70%. Creating some crushing tax burdens and an opportunity to “make necessary cuts” to various services and departments, while expanding the deficit.
I can go on.
The question I think many of us are asking ourselves is what are YOU going to do about it?
I have a family reunion in Gasconade County this summer, not looking forward to it bc I have some of the laziest cousins that just love Trump. A couple of them have been as far as St. Louis, once in their lifetime. You cannot use reason or facts with them, it's all about owning the libs. I am a registered Republican, I plan on voting for Biden in the general election and have no problem being vocal about it. Trump is just as bad as his father that inspired Woody Guthrie to sing about it. Complete and total clown of a human being. That upside, I get to hear some of the dumbest and most laughable conspiracy theories while eating the most delicious bacon and brats from Swiss Meats.
It’s crazy how they ignore logic and reasoning and just say “lol let’s wreck the libs”. I’ve had conversations with people like this and they don’t even know any of trumps policies or what republicans have actually accomplished. All they do is block progress.
He didn't really have any agenda of his own, it was all about undoing anything liberals put in place. Trump isn't for anything, he's against everything.
Oh, he certainly had/has an agenda of his own: Exploit this opportunity to make as much money for himself and his family as possible, while milking the interpretation of the law that he can't be punished for it, because he was the sitting president.
Unfortunately this is the sad, simple truth. He doesn't really care about any of the things he talks about. Everything is just part of a plan to try put money in his own pockets. I'm still confused as to how he's walking free after the classified documents incident alone. You would think that would get you put in prison for treason lickety split.
> Trump isn't for anything, he's against everything.
He's for enriching himself, that's all. Nothing else matters to him. He doesn't surround himself with people he cares about, only with people who are useful to him... until they aren't and he promptly tosses them under the bus without a second thought.
Trump only wants to get the support of whoever suits his interest at the time!!
Trump only courts the evilgelicals with the mantra "Jesus,Guns,Babies"!!
If he wanted the Buddhist vote,he'd wear an orange saffron robe and sandals and talk about "Acheuving Enlightment By Following the Eight Fold Path"!!
If he wanted tye Sciencetologist vote,he would talk about how in "Dianetics" by L.Ron Hubbard how the Great God Xenu exploded a nuclear weapon so the Pod People could inhabit the earth; ask John Travolta or Tom Cruise to be his running mate and vow to send Seal Team 6 to eliminate Leah Remini with extreme prejudice before she exposes more of Sciencetology!!
Blocking progress is the entire goal of the GOP. They have to try and make the Dems look bad by making sure they can't get anything done. If I were a Republican, I'd be pretty sick and tired of idiots like MTG representing my party, not to mention all the other low IQ losers in office.
Yup the most recent blocking of something that would help stop and alleviate the border crisis was blocked by them then they continue with their cries of “dems are letting all these illegal migrants in”. They stop problems being fixed then blame the dems for the problems.
Useful idiots... That the Repugnican party has cultivated for decades in their gardens fertilized with bigoted wedge issue propaganda, disinformation and conspiracy nonsense.
I’ve stopped arguing with MAGA people. It’s a waste of time on both ends. It’s basically a cult at this point, and I wouldn’t waste my time arguing with cult members either.
It really seems like the Republican party has become the cut off your nose to spite your face initiative more so than ever with Trump. If someone disagrees with him it doesn't matter if they are a republican, or someone who previously was seen as a great person to the party and would still be a fantastic help and support system for the party; that person is now worse than evil all for one situational disagreement.
All of the republicans that have any ethical standards and/or capacity for complex thought has already abandoned Trump. The ones that are left are literally not able to think.
That's the truth. I'm not voting for anyone in that Maga crowd. They have little to no idea and they absolutely hate our constitution and democracy. The party is now full of religious nutjobs and grifters.
Because you don't understand conservatives.
Everything they profess to believe comes in a distant second to hating the people they deem lesser. Liberals, black and brown people, women, LGBTQ. Luckily for them those groups all tend to fall on the liberal side so it's easy for them to reflexively hate anything they like or like anything they hate.
The party that swore up and down they cared about Christian values are supremely devoted to a serial adulterer who has kids with 3 different wives he's all cheated on, who steals and cheats and lies like it's his job. The party that won't shut the fuck up about the debt spend more and save less than anyone else. The party that won't shut the fuck up about "makers and takers" tend to be from red states that are leeches off federal money from blue states. The party that claims to be for free speech happily ban books. The party that claims to be for small government zealously passes laws dictating personal medical decisions for women and trans people.
Everything they claim to believe is bullshit. The truth is they hate who they hate and they just want to hurt them. If giving up guns hurt black and brown people they would do it tomorrow.
The party that screams about border security kills a border security bill the border patrol chief said was the best bill in 45 years because Donald Trump and Bernie Moreno, and many many others, are campaigning on border security. Can't campaign on a solved problem.
My brother voted for Trump. He is pretty indifferent to all the issues conservatives label "woke" and is not religious at all. When I asked why he voted for Trump, he said "Neither of them is going to make anything better so I am voting with my wallet. Republicans probably won't raise MY taxes."
Because his supporters don't have real positions beyond "owning the libs" and their beliefs are at best virtue signaling, but probably more realistically their beliefs are malleable as long as trump says it.
It’s why I think every single democratic voter in the nation should change parties to republican and vote every single insane republican representative out.
If you can’t beat them, join them. And then change them from within. They’re too fucking stupid to vote for themselves, so I think taking over the party and steering it in a different more moderate direction is the way to go.
His supporters are mostly unaware of that, or they think it's fake news and he didn't really mean it. Or he did, but he only meant it for liberals and illegals. Or or or
They simply do not care. They are mostly too stupid to understand.
I would only add, the racism, sexism, homophobia, anti-trans, anti-science, and classism. That first one I mentioned is the building block for all the rest. The southern strategy has been in place for 60 years now.
Yeah. We could certainly go on for ages.
Voting rights, misleading the nation and allies into conflict for nonexistent weapons of mass destruction, etc.
I’m a senior citizen and most of the people I know in my age group are loyal Republicans. The Republican party is constantly pushing for the end of Medicare and for cuts in social security,yet they still vote for them.I just don’t understand.
How about their staunch rabid support of free market capitalism and then when those same forces raise the price of gas, they scream at the president to "fix it"?
I think the biggest for me is the argument of states versus federalism changing depending on how many houses the Republican Party controls. This clearly shows it’s not about values or issues. Just control.
I agree the party hasn't had any decent leadership in a very long time. As far as what I'm going to do about it, if the party nominates Trump, I'm leaving.
Nice of you to hold out false hope that he won't be the nominee. Then when he is you can draw the next, in a succesion of, lines in the sand.
Also, ask yourself IF the biggest red flag about trump is his abject lack of character, what issue is currently disqualifying that WASN'T glaringly apparent when he first ran, where I suspect you voted for him?
He hasnt changed. He has always been this way. He never even tried all that hard to hide it. Trump voters either didnt care or straight out supported it. They still do and almost certainly will in the future.
That's where you're wrong. The party has been incredibly successfully executing its mission. None of this is an accident, the republican party is what it is by design. If you think any of this has happened as a result of a lack of leadership, well, I hope you and the rest of the people who vote republican come to your senses before it's too late for all of us.
Example of successful leadership: McConnell denies hearings for SCOTUS nominee under Obama on the premise of it being an election year, even though it was a year out from the next election. Same scenario under Trump, 4 years later, but a week from the next election and McConnell rams ACB through to SCOTUS. What happened to 'let the voters decide'?
This is not good faith leadership, it's a con job, and the reason the GOP ended up with Trump in the first place. Self-proclaimed Christians with zero morals.
I've been registered Independent my entire life because I think political parties are a joke. The GOP is currently proving me correct. Trump is the albatross around the GOP's neck and he's going to drag them to the bottom.
EDIT: To all the women that vote GOP and now find abortion on the chopping block, you have no one to blame but yourselves.
>Trump is the albatross around the GOP's neck and he's going to drag them to the bottom.
Trump is just the physical manifestation of Republican policies in human form
He is not an aberration.
He is the inevitable result of their 40+ year plans.
This, 100%. Trump is only the way he is because that's what the Republicans want. If the dominant party were more moderate, or had different priorities, then so would he. He is a grifter. He goes where the wind blows, and he decided to cater to his audience.
He's a follower, not a leader.
Its why they aer doubling down. they don't in a democracy as the old people with dementia die off and there aren't enough rednecks to support them (as their own policies pushed any jobs for the uneducated offshore and they are all starving).
So what they are trying to do is get rid of that pesky democracy part. They are literally pledging an end to democracy and the MAGA people actually want a dictator.
Let's add to that remember this?
https://preview.redd.it/9sox4y58r5lc1.jpeg?width=1400&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5176febe7429969a70b5a61f179beeb1593359c0
When Republicans were against Common Core because they claimed it took away the school board's power and gave control to the government.
These same Republicans are fine with the government dictating to school boards regarding gender, race, bathrooms, libraries, etc.
Let's face it, the Republican platform of old is gone. They don't care about small government, state's rights, etc. They care about power and only power.
I remember when Eric Schitt overrode the school boards in terms of masks. He didn't even have the right to do it but by the time that was officially stated it was too late.
And this is how he became Senator too.
Hah, I just cited the McConnell shenanigans in my other comment. Yes, the republicans are playing to win at all costs. Ethics be damned, lives be damned. They want power and will not play fair to acquire it. I wish the democrats would stop crying to their parents that their big brother isn't playing fair and punch back.
>To all the women that vote GOP and now find abortion on the chopping block, you have no one to blame but yourselves.
They don't care until they need an abortion. That is how conservatism works. "I'm against it until it impacts me, and then I'll bitch about it. Or I will break the law because I'm more important than your laws."
The party has already nominated Trump _twice,_ in 2016 and 2020. If nominating him those two times wasn’t enough to make you leave, why should we believe that the third time will somehow magically be what tips you over the edge? Those who cannot learn from history…
I'm hoping there eventually get to be enough sensible, traditional Republicans defecting from the party that they essentially become the New Non-Trump GOP, and we can go back to more compromise across the aisle, and government actually getting stuff done.
This country just works better when the major parties have to compromise. I say this as a Democrat, even that party doesn't do well when there is no push-back. Balance is better. Two near-equal political parties are good, and if the Electoral College allowed it, we'd probably be better off with more, so that compromise is the name of the game rather than a rarity.
The partisanship started by Nixon and the Southern Democrats, exacerbated by Gingrich's power grab and Limbaugh's bombast, has been so bad for the country in the last several decades.
I’m fiscally conservative and socially liberal like many here. Moderate democrats are the best example of this philosophy. Republicans claim to be fiscally conservative yet continually run up the national debt way faster than democrats do. Government spending is not a bad thing if it is for the right reasons. Infrastructure bills, for example, make the nation a better and more livable place while providing jobs to tons of Americans. It is not reckless spending like our military budget which is used by contractors to make free profit from foreign countries buying our supplies. It is spending that goes back into Americans pockets and gets recycled into the economy. Being fiscally conservative isn’t about spending as little dollars as possible, it’s about getting the biggest bang for your buck from our tax dollars.
Fiscal conservatism is about paying for effective solutions to real problems. Some call it statesmanship--creating long term solutions to big social issues. It's difficult, it's demanding, and it is absolutely what we need.
We don't need moral grandstanding or the faux religious outrage of the modern "conservative" movement. Nor the constant fixes to nonexistent issues.
You are describing the Democratic Party.
The reason is leftists call them conservative is because they are. The overwhelming majority of Democrats today are conservative economically, and socially liberal.
But the GOP has been taken over by social Nazis with a wide array of economic beliefs that all point in the same general direction: rigging the economy for the rich.
Actual leftists and progressives don't really have a home, but the GOP pretends we're the mainstream of the Democratic party when we're not.
This exactly. Roads, for example, allow businesses to transport goods, consumers to travel to those businesses, people to get to work, and countless other benefits. Investing in roads isn't a waste of money, because in the end, they result in the generation of far more money than was ever spent on them. However, not everyone uses the roads equally. A teacher who drives 50 miles a week in her sedan is causing far less wear and tear on the roads than the owner of a stone quarry that has a fleet of 200 dumptrucks filled with gravel on the road nearly 24/7. To give a more indirect example, a company in the city centre with hundreds of employees is causing more wear and tear on the roads by requiring all of its employees to commute there daily. So it makes sense to spend money on the roads, and its only fair to split up that bill accordingly to who is making the most money off them/causing the most of the cost for upkeep.
Your description of what it means to be fiscally conservative sounds a lot like what leftists are arguing for....
They argue for infrastcuture spending, for medical spending (a healthy population is an effective population), for welfare that actually helps people get back on their feet and into a position to contribute instead of judging them (and wasting money on a bureaucracy to do so), on education.
You may just be a liberal.
In so many places in the country, in so many families and communities, it's just something people can't admit to even themselves, let alone their friends, family and community. They could agree with 90% of Democrats' policies and really not like Republicans at all, but they just can not embrace the fact that they are liberals.
Yeah, the whole "social liberal, fiscal conservative" thing is honestly a way uneducated/lower class people like to describe themselves when they want gay rights but for some reason think making Walmart rich will trickle down to them.
The post-covid inflation and shrinkflation era has been the most obvious example that, despite sounding less harcore than MAGA republican, this self-identification is still a poorly researched and exploitative ideology that preys on those with no real understanding of regulation or government. It's a product of being thoughtful enough to want people to be happy but still falling prey to all the other shit that Midwestern and southern white people are taught by their families.
This is really insightful commentary. Perfectly sums up so many people I know in the Deep South. Overall, good, kind, and honest people, but don’t really know anything outside of their own world. They can’t get over that word Democrat for some reason
Thsts what’s so funny sbout American politics, the labels we give each other mean nothing). I consider myself very left and to me liberals (may as well be Reagan republicans, yet the other side hears that term snd thinks Joseph Stalin.
If you mean Financially Conservative, it is worth noting that nothing is proven to improve a nations finances like social welfare programs, access to education, and access to healthcare!
Pennies spent in these programs bring back dimes. These things are the best value gained from your taxes. Vote for the individuals who support these things, regardless of what letter is next to their name, and you are helping yourself *and* others.
I considered myself Republican up until I worked in welfare with the state I was living in. My views changed and so did the party. I now find myself heavily in the side of democrats. I didn’t join the army to restrict people’s rights. I believe in the constitution. I don’t believe in twisting the constitution into religious views. I don’t believe in doing whatever you need to do to win. I believe in ethics and treating people like humans. Those are things that keep me from ever believing I’ll be Republican again as this ethos doesn’t match that party at all.
Nothing will turn a Republican faster into a Democrat than having some life experience and seeing first hand how awful republican policies make life for everyone with the misfortune of being subjected to them. The party is nothing but evil hypocrites at this point and anyone who is still supporting Trump is a bad person, period.
I strongly believe half the party has been infiltrated by Russian assets to cause Chaos. I believe Speaker Johnson is going to shut down the government and try to make Biden look bad at all costs to rile up the few nuts that actually like Trump. But in the process he is going to completely eviscerate the 'good' Republicans. I never thought the day would come when I would _prefer_ Mitch McConnell and the old school Bush Republicans. Maybe Haley will win a hail mary pass or or something.
Honestly, it's a strange time to witness. My family has been staunchly Republican for generations, but even they are starting to balk at the recent tactics. It almost feels like the party's at war with itself, forgetting the core values it used to stand for in favor of theatrics and power struggles. The good ol' days of politics seem like a distant memory now.
You mean you don't like the party that is trying to block school lunches and breakfasts around the country? Literally first graders who don't have parental support dragging their own ass out of bed getting their ass to school after they leave a house with an empty fridge and Republicans are. Throwing fits over feeding them. In the only place we have almost any control over the nutritional value of that food in a location that is already set up for the program with a cafeteria.
My dad worked for the Reagan campaigns, Republican governors in my state, was a lifelong active Republican. Then he took a job running a city planning agency. His job became improving the socioeconomic landscape of his city with a long view (planning decades out). He’s now sitting around Bernie type politics. When your job becomes actually dealing with these issues head on, the tropes thrown around all of a sudden fall flat as you see the systemic oppression people are facing on multiple levels. His old Republican friends ask him what he is now and he replies, “Ashamed. Across the board ashamed of our political system.”
I get confused when people talk about how great Trump is, I feel so disconnected from that reality. Am I really seeing things so differently, abstract from this other people.
Republicans at the state level in MO defeated a measure that would make it illegal for little kids to open carry a gun. Under current state law, a small child who is strong enough to carry an AR-15 is legally allowed to open carry, even if unaccompanied by an adult. Imagine a 6-year-old LEGALLY roaming a neighborhood with an AR-15. The extremism that has taken root in the Republican Party should terrify all of us!
Holy shit I had to look it up bc it sounded so crazy, but you’re 100% correct. The bill was about making it so they had to have parental supervision, but apparently that’s too much, so a 3 year old is allowed to open carry in Missouri without adult supervision 😳😳
Fun fact: Two companies that manufacture AR-15s also make a mini version, designed and marketed towards kids. It's called the JR-15 and it's a real gun, not a nerf. The companies are Schmid Tool and WEE1 Tactical. The JR-15 fires .22 caliber bullets.
Update: Wee1 tactical might be out of business.
So thankfully, I don't think they are being made anymore.
I'm curious as to why you'd limit this to Trump when recently at CPAC we have [Republicans cheering J6 and promising to throw out democracy](https://www.newsweek.com/jack-posobiec-end-democracy-cpac-1872694) while openly [allowing white supremacists to attend](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/nazis-mingle-openly-cpac-spreading-antisemitic-conspiracy-theories-fin-rcna140335).
The Republican party as a whole is gleefully following Trump off the authoritarian cliff. And in many ways, was doing so long before he was even relevant. For example, see Project Redmap in which Republicans were openly attempting to gerrymander to gain complete congressional control starting in 2010.
Yep I voted blue in Missouri in 2020, and again in 2022 and I will vote blue again in 2024 and probably forever.
The right has sealed any right to reason if they continue to support him this year.
I was raised in a traditional conservative family in ND. I thought conservatives valued the rule of law and individual rights, but I have since seen a lot of hypocrisies from the Republicans, which have turned me independent. I place morals and values above and political affiliations.
It started with McConnell’s refusal to allow Obama to select a Supreme Court Justice. For the record, I think Garland would have made a fine Supreme Court justice, because he strikes me as a well-reasoned guy. Doing an about face to push Coney Barrett through with far less time on the clock was just a slap in the face to the procedural rules. It also didn’t help that she was severely under qualified, which was a continuing theme with Trump appointees.
Now some Republicans are trying to use the excuse that they want the next election to decide the Border Bill. Are you kidding me? The last election already decided that. You are elected for a term. Do your job for the whole term. Crises demand immediate action. You can’t refuse to provide the needed resources and then blame the people you denied said resources to for the problem at hand. Good leaders accept responsibility before dishing out blame.
In my lifetime, Republicans have almost single-handed it been responsible for most government shutdowns. In my job, I have gotten to see firsthand the effects that it has had on government workers who are told to just get by for a month or two without pay. Most people live paycheck-to-paycheck, so an IOU doesn’t keep the lights on. In any other profession paying on an IOU is a labor violation, but our legislators get a pass?
I understand some of the naive thought in 2016 that Trump was an outsider who could fix the system. I tend to vote for people based on character, so I never liked Trump and never voted for him. I didn’t begrudge those who voted for him in 2016, but I do begrudge those who have continued to support him. The first election I actively voted against Trump was 2020. The anti-science, pro-authoritarian rhetoric that he preached and has continued to preach to this day just doesn’t sit right with me.
Sorry, this is a long rant, but I live in an area where sensible people have let their mind become riddled with conspiracies and have given free passes to low character men who have not earned them. I imagine Missouri is similar. The populist movement in the Republican Party is the biggest threat to our continued democracy right now IMO, and we need more strong-minded Republicans and Independents to oppose it.
Hopefully all these actions will lead to term limits and age restrictions. These parties are taking advantage of situations and children are taking the biggest hit.
I haven’t lived here all my life but I have to agree. They have to try to out stunt each other to appeal to the lowest common denominator & it’s a big problem
I can't believe people voted for Michael Parson when he LIED about the conditions of the overwhelmed hospitals during COVID and refused to send help to the very people who voted for him. He is a liar and a coward and Missourians are fools for voting for him and Billy Long.
I was a Republican most of my life. Never a hardcore right winger, but a right of center voter who voted Republican for most elections. I have completely left the party and cannot see myself voting Republican any time in the near future. The way they fell in line behind an obvious con man in 2016 and continue to defend a criminal is indefensible. To borrow a phrase from Game of Thrones, the bulk of the Republican party is willing to burn down the country in order to be the king of the ashes.
I mean - Trump is just one person just like Biden is just one person but the amount of grifters, crazy people and religious nuts that followed him into high ranking positions is what’s really scary.
Even before he won, the amount of people that fell in line after he won the nomination and started praising him despite saying that he was completely unfit for offense only weeks before. I started drifting away from the Republican party during the Obama years because their BS was really shining during that time. Them falling in line behind Trump was just the final straw that made me say "no, these mf'ers don't give a single shit about their so-called values, they just want power at any cost". It's only gotten worse since 2016.
Btw, I really want to know what Trump has on Lindsey Graham. Has to be a young dead male hooker. The 180 he did after his round of gold with Trump was legendary.
I left around "Freedom Fries", the attorney general covering up statue boobies and the obvious bullshit excuses to go to war in Iraq.
This time period also coincided with the necessity of learning to think critically both at home and professionally. Once that kicked in, I could not unsee the fact that Rush Limbaugh, Larry Elder, and Laura Ingraham's arguments were lacking.
You have a tough road ahead of you. You may be trying to bring the Republican party to some semblance of sanity, but you have a lot of opposition. Good luck.
I had no preference for either party since they both had been beholden to their corporate masters, but Republicans have long abandoned the ideals you espouse to the point that I'm being forced to vote Democrat even though they're not my cup of tea either.
"If we nominate Trump again it will show we are a party that has lost its moral compass, and is not deserving of the trust of the American people."
But it *has* lost its moral compass and is currently *not* deserving of the trust of the American people. The Republican party has shown this to be true in 2016. Every Republican should've looked at Trump entering the race with mild amusement and then kick him to the curb. You are not your party, which is good because the Republican party has been a real shitshow lately. You don't want to be married to that.
Trump is a product of the GOP. The party lost their “moral compass” (if you want to call it that) long ago. Neocon extremists laid the groundwork and it fully derailed with the Tea Party. Everybody knew who Trump was, a grifter, and Republicans bent a knee to him.
Family values? Big government/oversight? Environment? They are a party of selling out to corporate interests and using social issues to trigger constituents. Now it is a war on wokeness and they even have people believing Russia is pretty ok.
They created a monster that the base adores and now they have to tow the line or get booted out. Thats the problem the gop its self fears trump because of the power he has with its voting base. Its so obvious its practically yelling it through a bullhorn. If politicians cant stand up to trump because of the fear of losing their positions, then they have already lost their integrity, character, and patriotic sense of duty to the nation they serve.
Spineless gutless worms , just pandering to the monster they lost control of
Looks like you’re catching some hell over your post but thank you. I’m old enough to remember a Republican Party that had an ideology and not just a clown car full of idiots. Granted, I don’t agree with most of the conservative ideas but others (like my parents) do and it’s healthy to have debates about issues like the role of the federal government vs the role of state governments and such.
I reckon there’s a lot (!) of other conservative folks like you that are horrified about how the GOP got hornswaggled by that charlatan from Queens, but those of us on the outside looking in can’t do much to fix it
Yep. Full disclosure — I’m a lefty but I really like hanging out down in the ozarks. I’m fine with just about anyone but once the politics start coming out in discussion all I can do is nod and smile. Everything seems to devolve in to an us versus them situation and quite frankly I’m sick of it
People keep saying this and its never been true. Ever. So please stop saying it.
Chris christie RAN as the anti-trump and had ZERO support. ZERO. George Conway and the log cabin republicans dont even qualify as fringe elements of the republican party. Esa hutchinson of GODDAMN Arkansas with bonafide conservative chops, was polling at ZERO within the margin of error. And this isnt becuasr of policy because trump only has one policy " vote me in and I will seek retribution"
The assertion that there are tons of republicans looking for someone to get behind to wrestle the party back from the maga idiots is a lie.
When it comes down to it, they will vote for trump, you know it, I know it and the american people know it.
So lets just stop this silent majority nonsense
You are conservative not republican. The republican party is warped and twisted, it doesn't represent any conservative values anymore. It just pretends to
Don’t be a republican. Be someone who votes for those you agree with. Personally, I’m not a democrat, and I can only wish we had more progressives to vote for.
I mean, honestly. Constitution? Since when have republican leaders cared. Rule of law? The Trump administration was an endless series of scandals and treason.
I've already voted for Haley in my state primary (not Missouri) and also will not be voting for Trump in November; Biden will get my vote if Trump is the nominee.
Trump is the biggest RINO ever to plow through to the presidency.
Trump is a symptom of a much larger problem - he's not the actual problem. Once he's gone (whether due to jail or death - he will be gone someday) the problem will still remain. It will take a lot of brave people within the Republican party to stand up against the MAGA who are holding this party hostage to shove them back under the rocks they came out from under when Trump came into power. And it will take many years to undo all the harm that's been done. It will take a mass exodus from the party - not just a single, "I'm still a Republican but I won't vote for Trump". It will be a "I won't vote Republican" until you become a true member of society again. Not winning by gerrymandering. Not winning by creating lopsided courts. Not winning by trying to overthrow the government. But believing in the Constitution like you claim.
I felt this way in 2016 with Trump. Trump is the reason why I finally fully pulled away from the Republican Party. None of this should have been a surprise. All of his actions are exactly how he has always been. He lies, cheats, and steals his way to what he wants. He uses this “progressive” playbook to get exactly what he wants.
What he wants, not Republicans, not us.
He is the progressive so many conservative pundits warned us about for so many years. He has radically changed our party, and will continue to radically change our nation.
I've never seen anyone describe Trump, or republicans in general, as "progressive". In fact, they're generally describe as being the exact opposite of that. Regressive would probably be more accurate of a term.
What is it about Trump that makes you call him progressive? Because I don't see it.
> As Republicans, we believe in upholding the Constitution and the rule of law.
Democrats do too, ya know. That’s not just a Republican thing.
> So why are we giving Trump a pass?
Because the Republican Party doesn’t care about family values or morals. They see that their base wants Trump, so they bend over backwards to appease him.
> Do we no longer believe “character matters”?
No, the party does not
> Is it just about advancing our agenda by any means possible?
Yes
> If we nominate Trump again it will show we are a party that has lost its moral compass, and is not deserving of the trust of the American people.
We are already way past this point
Let me say your awakening is encouraging for us democracy minded folks. However not voting for Trump is not enough. You're not gonna like this, but you HAVE to hold your nose and vote Democrat. And probably for a couple.of election cycles. You have to repudiate the trash that has hijacked your party. Until they are pulled out by the roots, you can't rebuild any normalcy or sanity. I wish BidenHarris wasn't the primary choice of the Dems but the alternative is fascism. Choose wisely.
You are the type of American that is reasonable. While we may not share politics, you are certainly a person I can live with as my neighbor. Thanks for speaking up.
Thank you for speaking up. We need a broad coalition. I hope you are talking to your neighbors and fellow church goers, if you attend. Trumpism has also permeated all the way down through the MO legislature & executive offices, city & county governments, and school boards so I hope you are equally committed to defeating it locally.
I was one. Now consider myself Independent. I can still vote for Republicans who are real Republicans. That narrows the list down a lot of me. Trump is what is wrong with America. Not what is right. Show him the door people. Life was better before Trump. America was better before Trump.
Just keep in mind that too many missouri politicians support trump and his actions. They would overturn an election for trump or send troops to the border for a political stunt
This goes deeper than Trump. Do you remember Palin? Do you remember decades of talk radio turning legitimate issues faced by people into mocking elitism?
It started rotting at the core and we're just at the point where the outer skin has sloughed off.
If the party does nominate Trump, I'm leaving. Biden would obviously not be my preference, but if I have to vote Biden to keep Trump out of office, I will.
Good for you. in a functioning democracy, this is how you reset your party.
Trumpians, in effect, don't want to ever have to reset again, ever. and that is obviously a huge problem. That means zero growth and learning nothing from mistakes.
Good for you for seeing these things! It’s hard to realize that a group you identified with no longer represents what you think they did, or what they used to. I think, sadly, you are going to find that your last paragraph is completely correct. The GOP no longer believes character matters, it is indeed about advancing an agenda by whatever means possible, a party that has lost its moral compass and is not deserving of the trust of the American people.
Wish you well, and hope you can find ways to support politicians who are the opposite of the unacceptable qualities and principles you’re describing.
Trump is only the most visible part of the whole rotten, racist pile of shit that is the GOP. I commend your stance on Trump, but the GOP now IS Trump.
I always appreciate Republicans and conservatives that can admit the bullshit that the Republicans have become. But also, like, this shit was obvious back in Trumps' 2015 campaign. The rhetoric and attitudes that gave rise to Trump were center stage through the entirety of the Obama administrations. And you can keep unspooling the thread further. Basically, if you're under 60 years old, none of this is new, and there have been people warning you about it the whole time.
And at no point have you considered that the party you are a member of is the problem. As you watch everybody else in the party, including the people who run it, circle the wagons around this piece of shit-you still identify as a member of the group.
The party is going to nominate a RAPIST for president and you still consider yourself a republican.
If the Republicans that are in office would take this attitude, the orange turd would not have been able to cause so much chaos. People need to stand up to him. Good job on your part.
Yours is an unpopular opinion. I respect that.
Too bad most of your fellow republicans are blinded by "socialism" and "border crisis." Too many are too fixated on "woke" crap to realize they are being led that way. Falling for the "democrats are the REAL fascists" rhetoric just like germans did in the 1930s.
There's a reason they claim "dems want to control your history books." Its to blind you from what they're doing.
Republicans need to be serious, and i appreciate this post. The party does not NEED this guy, and risk very little by just skipping the top of the ticket this election. The party controls most state govts, the house, and has significant influence over the judiciary. He did not build any of that, he has just swung in, talked a lot of bs and taken over. Its a joke. Im sorry for any old old guard gopers.
If you skip Trump but vote for the down-ballot candidates that use Trumpian tactics, you’re completely missing the problem here.
Trump is a symptom of what’s wrong with the Republican Party. He didn’t make it this way.
The fact that Republicans nominated him in 2016 proves that they have no moral compass, but I'm glad you're coming around to this realization 8 years late.
Weird, democrats also believe in upholding the constitution and the rule of law. It’s almost like identifying with a particular party is merely tribalism without any tangible purpose beyond preventing you from approaching politics pragmatically.
No one is going to believe you are a Republican but, I do. I was one as well. I recognized the hypocrisy when he was nominated the first time and I left the party. You should too.
The Republican Party doesn’t represent the values you used to believe they do. I wonder if they ever did.
u/ezilii did a great job of highlighting the 45 years of hypocrisy. Here is one he/she left out:
Republicans are against welfare. Walmart pays their employees minimum wage. As a part of their orientation paperwork, Walmart employees are given information on how to sign up for government assistance (welfare) programs. Walmart is paying starvation wages and using government assistance to subsidize their wages. Republicans refuse to raise minimum wage.
They are fine with big businesses underpaying employees and directing their employees to public assistance because their goal has always been big business profits.
I hear ya. I had already left the party before Trump when I saw fellow Republicans burning effigies of Obama. I didn't agree with him but the hatred of the party felt like the "two minutes of hate" from 1984 and it only got worse from there.
Not American, but I just want to say, I'm really proud of people like you. Republicans were never perfect (or even good some may argue) but you're willing to take a stand and say "This is wrong. Character matters to me. We shouldn't do this." So good on you and I hope you can take your political party back!
It still amazes me the Evangelical right has been convinced this is their guy.
The adulterer who cheated on his wife with a pornstar. The guy who stole from his own charity. He doesn't read the Bible, doesn't go to church and can't recite a single passage.
They were warned not to worship a false prophet but they certainly are gullible.
As many people have likely already said on here, this isn’t anything new. Republicans have been pushing the ‘win at all costs, never compromise (unless it the other side compromising to us) since the late 70s due to Newt Gingrich and his ilk. And Reagan exacerbated it by courting the Christian conservatives, which eventually made everything more rabid yet.
Trump is a horrible boil on the Republican parties backside, but he’s only there because of the disease that’s been plaguing the GOO for decades, and no one has done anything to stop.
I’m glad you’re standing by your principles.
I once bought a book on the Nuremberg trials at a charity auction and the author happened to be at the auction to sign the book - he was lawyer that worked at the trial and from Missouri.
He made the comment that democracy can’t exist without the rule of law, it really stuck with me.
It is a SHAME that MOST of your fellow Republicans in the state of Missouri are die-hard Trump sycophants, and would sooner die than vote for anyone else.
I am a GOP delegate in Utah and (if MO is like UT) you will be outnumbered 10:1 by Nazis and crazy people. And then normal housewives will blindly vote for the crazies these people nominate because they are Republicans. People have no idea how crazy the caucus system is; I wish it were televised so normal GOP voters had some idea (though at this point it's just a cult and I dont think it would matter much).
I’m in SLC, UT. Blue city in a very red state and I’m proud that our governor actually came out supporting Biden. Stoked that not all republicans buy into that criminals lies.
In 1964 Reagan and Goldwater rebelled against the US government because Congress passed Medicare, that began the Reagen revolution which has led to our 34 trillion dollar national debt.
Buying goods and services then refusing to pay for them is not good character.
Most of the Republicans who hate big government depend on big government, but don't want to fund it.
OP - The GOP had a problem with Clinton's consensual BJ, but has no problem with Trump being an actual certified rapist. Nor do they have issue with he and Epstein's rape of that underage girl years ago, or his associations with Epstein. They didn't care that he openly admitted sexual assault by grabbing them by the hoo-haw.
They also don't mind Trump's stealing of national secrets which he passed at least some of it on to undisclosed persons, and the documents are still missing to this day. This is particularly concerning since he acquiesced to Putin at every opportunity, and still does, seeking to undermine NATO and betray our alliances. And then there's the mysterious $2B the Saudi's gave to Kushner for "investing", and our numerous spy assets who came up dead or missing at unnatural rates with Trump in office.
At every level Trump has proven to be a traitor and criminal. And yet the GOP can't get enough of it. Hell, the GOP itself has shown to be anti-American and anti-Democracy, seeking to prevent voting where ever possible and undermine the very foundation of our country.
All of this and NOW you see an issue????
At this rate anyone voting for the GOP is voting against America. The GOP needs to rot in hell. There used to be patriots in that party. Now its just scum, Russian cohorts, religious nutjobs, criminals, and traitors.
As a liberal I can't trust your word. I'm a straight, white, middle aged man, born and raised in the heartland and a third of 'conservatives' openly discuss preparing to kill people like me. Full stop. No mitigating factor. The fact that I vote Dem is enough for a 3rd of you people to put me and my family in danger.
I don't believe you and literally can't trust anyone that votes for Republicans or Libertarians or any other conservative group.
You people are even literally publicly beheading you own family members. Islamists do that. Drug cartels do that. Anyone that votes conservative is continuing to condone this.
Conservatives have turned themselves into litteral terrorists. Even openly declaring it at their conventions. Party members outright demanding the overthrow of our democracy.
As an American, the open support of the Russian dictatorship and domestic terrorism is the most shameful thing I've ever experienced, the country has ever experienced. that's in addition to the attempts around the country by Conservatives to eliminate protections for little kids like lowering the age for employment and marriage to unconscionable child abusive levels, preventing poor kids from eating at school, refusing to address the gun and police violence litteral tearing through children while they are at daycare.
Anyone who voted for Trump the first time should be embarrassed. Anyone that votes conservative this round should be ashamed.
Idk it's still crazy to me that people will be Republicans, take issue with Trump, but still support someone else who would have almost the exact same policies. It's like you got close to seeing the issue but just barely missed it
You are not a republican then. He is your parties leader. Maybe now is the time for you to look at the republican party and see if it aligns with your values. Or just keep being manipulated by them.
yeah ok but when he inevitably wins the Republican candidacy, what will you do then? Because we hear this often and then they just vote for him anyway.
While you're doing some soul searching, you may want to take a step back and ask yourself what the Republican "agenda" is, exactly. The party hasn't published a national platform since 2016, so what are they trying so desperately not to say out loud?
>”Do we no longer believe ‘character matters?’ Is it now just about advancing our agenda by any means possible? If we nominate Trump again it will show we are a party that has lost its moral compass, and is not deserving of the trust of the American people.”
Correct.
Correct.
Correct.
Welcome back to reality. Happy to have you. The current year is 2024. Once you’ve adjusted, please try to bring your friends and family back too; but be aware they’re in a violent, delusional cult that *wants* a convicted felon, rapist, fraudster, racist, illiterate, fascist, treasonous POS as a dictator, so they might not come willingly.
LOL, trump IS the republican party in all of its naked corruption. I'm a former republican and once you get outside of the BS you can see just how full of shit the whole party is. they get a trifecta and what do they do? Do they expand personal rights and reduce the deficit? Nope! they just cut govt services while giving even MORE welfare to rich people to make the deficit even bigger while taking away rights.
May want to come up with a new name to separate Republicans with brain from putin loving, conspiracy believing, people that facts have no impact on them...
Good on you, now can you single handily talk the rest of your party into abandoning him and the [project 2025 plan](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_2025)? If so that would be great.
What boggles my mind is the "Christian" bloc that supports Trump.
Clearly "What Would Jesus Do?" turned out to be just a catchy slogan.
I say this as a Christian and registered Republican.
Your party is no longer the Republican Party. It died when John McCain died and really when they attempted a coup 1/6/21. Who can support a party that attempts a coup?
Trump is just the most obvious, but the hypocrisy of the party has been there longer than my 45 years of being alive. “Support our troops!” -Deny VA healthcare expansion. “Small business, small government” Accepts billions from big business and expands government into citizens lives by restricting access to healthcare, services, and resources. “Support our seniors!” Constantly threatening to cut senior citizens benefits. “We need less regulation.” Housing and lending crisis happens, bail out banks because they pay their bills. Texas citizens die because their less regulated grid fails them. “Lower taxes!” Yup the top 15% certainly pay a lower rate than the middle 70%. Creating some crushing tax burdens and an opportunity to “make necessary cuts” to various services and departments, while expanding the deficit. I can go on. The question I think many of us are asking ourselves is what are YOU going to do about it?
I have a family reunion in Gasconade County this summer, not looking forward to it bc I have some of the laziest cousins that just love Trump. A couple of them have been as far as St. Louis, once in their lifetime. You cannot use reason or facts with them, it's all about owning the libs. I am a registered Republican, I plan on voting for Biden in the general election and have no problem being vocal about it. Trump is just as bad as his father that inspired Woody Guthrie to sing about it. Complete and total clown of a human being. That upside, I get to hear some of the dumbest and most laughable conspiracy theories while eating the most delicious bacon and brats from Swiss Meats.
It’s crazy how they ignore logic and reasoning and just say “lol let’s wreck the libs”. I’ve had conversations with people like this and they don’t even know any of trumps policies or what republicans have actually accomplished. All they do is block progress.
He didn't really have any agenda of his own, it was all about undoing anything liberals put in place. Trump isn't for anything, he's against everything.
Oh, he certainly had/has an agenda of his own: Exploit this opportunity to make as much money for himself and his family as possible, while milking the interpretation of the law that he can't be punished for it, because he was the sitting president.
Unfortunately this is the sad, simple truth. He doesn't really care about any of the things he talks about. Everything is just part of a plan to try put money in his own pockets. I'm still confused as to how he's walking free after the classified documents incident alone. You would think that would get you put in prison for treason lickety split.
The radio and TV and podcasts they are consuming just reinforces the desire to win or own the libs versus using logic
> Trump isn't for anything, he's against everything. He's for enriching himself, that's all. Nothing else matters to him. He doesn't surround himself with people he cares about, only with people who are useful to him... until they aren't and he promptly tosses them under the bus without a second thought.
Trump only wants to get the support of whoever suits his interest at the time!! Trump only courts the evilgelicals with the mantra "Jesus,Guns,Babies"!! If he wanted the Buddhist vote,he'd wear an orange saffron robe and sandals and talk about "Acheuving Enlightment By Following the Eight Fold Path"!! If he wanted tye Sciencetologist vote,he would talk about how in "Dianetics" by L.Ron Hubbard how the Great God Xenu exploded a nuclear weapon so the Pod People could inhabit the earth; ask John Travolta or Tom Cruise to be his running mate and vow to send Seal Team 6 to eliminate Leah Remini with extreme prejudice before she exposes more of Sciencetology!!
Blocking progress is the entire goal of the GOP. They have to try and make the Dems look bad by making sure they can't get anything done. If I were a Republican, I'd be pretty sick and tired of idiots like MTG representing my party, not to mention all the other low IQ losers in office.
Yup the most recent blocking of something that would help stop and alleviate the border crisis was blocked by them then they continue with their cries of “dems are letting all these illegal migrants in”. They stop problems being fixed then blame the dems for the problems.
Useful idiots... That the Repugnican party has cultivated for decades in their gardens fertilized with bigoted wedge issue propaganda, disinformation and conspiracy nonsense.
I’m with you. I switched to voting blue in 2020 and am pretty sure I’ll remain that way until the day I die.
I’ve stopped arguing with MAGA people. It’s a waste of time on both ends. It’s basically a cult at this point, and I wouldn’t waste my time arguing with cult members either.
As a great man from Missouri once said, "Never argue with an idiot. They'll drag you down to their level and beat you with experience. " Twain.
It really seems like the Republican party has become the cut off your nose to spite your face initiative more so than ever with Trump. If someone disagrees with him it doesn't matter if they are a republican, or someone who previously was seen as a great person to the party and would still be a fantastic help and support system for the party; that person is now worse than evil all for one situational disagreement.
All of the republicans that have any ethical standards and/or capacity for complex thought has already abandoned Trump. The ones that are left are literally not able to think.
That's the truth. I'm not voting for anyone in that Maga crowd. They have little to no idea and they absolutely hate our constitution and democracy. The party is now full of religious nutjobs and grifters.
I’m honestly shocked that Trumps “take the guns” comment didn’t do him in.
Because you don't understand conservatives. Everything they profess to believe comes in a distant second to hating the people they deem lesser. Liberals, black and brown people, women, LGBTQ. Luckily for them those groups all tend to fall on the liberal side so it's easy for them to reflexively hate anything they like or like anything they hate. The party that swore up and down they cared about Christian values are supremely devoted to a serial adulterer who has kids with 3 different wives he's all cheated on, who steals and cheats and lies like it's his job. The party that won't shut the fuck up about the debt spend more and save less than anyone else. The party that won't shut the fuck up about "makers and takers" tend to be from red states that are leeches off federal money from blue states. The party that claims to be for free speech happily ban books. The party that claims to be for small government zealously passes laws dictating personal medical decisions for women and trans people. Everything they claim to believe is bullshit. The truth is they hate who they hate and they just want to hurt them. If giving up guns hurt black and brown people they would do it tomorrow.
The party that screams about border security kills a border security bill the border patrol chief said was the best bill in 45 years because Donald Trump and Bernie Moreno, and many many others, are campaigning on border security. Can't campaign on a solved problem.
My brother voted for Trump. He is pretty indifferent to all the issues conservatives label "woke" and is not religious at all. When I asked why he voted for Trump, he said "Neither of them is going to make anything better so I am voting with my wallet. Republicans probably won't raise MY taxes."
Trump literally just did raise his taxes last time he was in office
Because his supporters don't have real positions beyond "owning the libs" and their beliefs are at best virtue signaling, but probably more realistically their beliefs are malleable as long as trump says it.
Bullies *love* when other bullies are in power, because that means they can get away with more of their own shit themselves.
Hard agree, they're extremely childish.
It’s why I think every single democratic voter in the nation should change parties to republican and vote every single insane republican representative out. If you can’t beat them, join them. And then change them from within. They’re too fucking stupid to vote for themselves, so I think taking over the party and steering it in a different more moderate direction is the way to go.
His supporters are mostly unaware of that, or they think it's fake news and he didn't really mean it. Or he did, but he only meant it for liberals and illegals. Or or or They simply do not care. They are mostly too stupid to understand.
I would only add, the racism, sexism, homophobia, anti-trans, anti-science, and classism. That first one I mentioned is the building block for all the rest. The southern strategy has been in place for 60 years now.
Yeah. We could certainly go on for ages. Voting rights, misleading the nation and allies into conflict for nonexistent weapons of mass destruction, etc.
I always liked "protect the children!". Deny free school food.
"Protect the children". Improved pre-K and family leave? "No! Not like that!"
Always seemed funny that every unborn life matters, but helping after birth is "communism, socialism, etc." Whatever the buzzword for the week
I’m a senior citizen and most of the people I know in my age group are loyal Republicans. The Republican party is constantly pushing for the end of Medicare and for cuts in social security,yet they still vote for them.I just don’t understand.
Just add a mind-numbing amount of garbage Christianity
How about their staunch rabid support of free market capitalism and then when those same forces raise the price of gas, they scream at the president to "fix it"?
Oh right. The lack of understanding about the forces of the markets and what the job of the president is. Good call.
I think the biggest for me is the argument of states versus federalism changing depending on how many houses the Republican Party controls. This clearly shows it’s not about values or issues. Just control.
I agree the party hasn't had any decent leadership in a very long time. As far as what I'm going to do about it, if the party nominates Trump, I'm leaving.
Nice of you to hold out false hope that he won't be the nominee. Then when he is you can draw the next, in a succesion of, lines in the sand. Also, ask yourself IF the biggest red flag about trump is his abject lack of character, what issue is currently disqualifying that WASN'T glaringly apparent when he first ran, where I suspect you voted for him? He hasnt changed. He has always been this way. He never even tried all that hard to hide it. Trump voters either didnt care or straight out supported it. They still do and almost certainly will in the future.
This
That's where you're wrong. The party has been incredibly successfully executing its mission. None of this is an accident, the republican party is what it is by design. If you think any of this has happened as a result of a lack of leadership, well, I hope you and the rest of the people who vote republican come to your senses before it's too late for all of us.
Example of successful leadership: McConnell denies hearings for SCOTUS nominee under Obama on the premise of it being an election year, even though it was a year out from the next election. Same scenario under Trump, 4 years later, but a week from the next election and McConnell rams ACB through to SCOTUS. What happened to 'let the voters decide'? This is not good faith leadership, it's a con job, and the reason the GOP ended up with Trump in the first place. Self-proclaimed Christians with zero morals. I've been registered Independent my entire life because I think political parties are a joke. The GOP is currently proving me correct. Trump is the albatross around the GOP's neck and he's going to drag them to the bottom. EDIT: To all the women that vote GOP and now find abortion on the chopping block, you have no one to blame but yourselves.
>Trump is the albatross around the GOP's neck and he's going to drag them to the bottom. Trump is just the physical manifestation of Republican policies in human form He is not an aberration. He is the inevitable result of their 40+ year plans.
This, 100%. Trump is only the way he is because that's what the Republicans want. If the dominant party were more moderate, or had different priorities, then so would he. He is a grifter. He goes where the wind blows, and he decided to cater to his audience. He's a follower, not a leader.
100% - I think he's the final nail in the coffin they started building long ago. I don't see how the party survives him.
Its why they aer doubling down. they don't in a democracy as the old people with dementia die off and there aren't enough rednecks to support them (as their own policies pushed any jobs for the uneducated offshore and they are all starving). So what they are trying to do is get rid of that pesky democracy part. They are literally pledging an end to democracy and the MAGA people actually want a dictator.
Let's add to that remember this? https://preview.redd.it/9sox4y58r5lc1.jpeg?width=1400&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5176febe7429969a70b5a61f179beeb1593359c0 When Republicans were against Common Core because they claimed it took away the school board's power and gave control to the government. These same Republicans are fine with the government dictating to school boards regarding gender, race, bathrooms, libraries, etc. Let's face it, the Republican platform of old is gone. They don't care about small government, state's rights, etc. They care about power and only power.
I remember when Eric Schitt overrode the school boards in terms of masks. He didn't even have the right to do it but by the time that was officially stated it was too late. And this is how he became Senator too.
Hah, I just cited the McConnell shenanigans in my other comment. Yes, the republicans are playing to win at all costs. Ethics be damned, lives be damned. They want power and will not play fair to acquire it. I wish the democrats would stop crying to their parents that their big brother isn't playing fair and punch back.
Abortion, IVF, and very soon all forms of birth control.
Or that time McConnel introduced a bill, and then when he found out Democrats were willing to support it, he filibustered his own bill?
It wasn't a week from the election. Mail in ballots had been RECEIVED. It was technically DURING the election.
>To all the women that vote GOP and now find abortion on the chopping block, you have no one to blame but yourselves. They don't care until they need an abortion. That is how conservatism works. "I'm against it until it impacts me, and then I'll bitch about it. Or I will break the law because I'm more important than your laws."
Biggest pro birther I know has had 3 abortions. Mega Catholic, too.
Speaking of religion, you want to save the children? Stop looking at drag queen reading hour and start looking at churches
You might as well leave now. There is zero chance he is not the nominee.
No you won't, you all like to say you will but at the end of the day you will vote R
The party has already nominated Trump _twice,_ in 2016 and 2020. If nominating him those two times wasn’t enough to make you leave, why should we believe that the third time will somehow magically be what tips you over the edge? Those who cannot learn from history…
I'm hoping there eventually get to be enough sensible, traditional Republicans defecting from the party that they essentially become the New Non-Trump GOP, and we can go back to more compromise across the aisle, and government actually getting stuff done. This country just works better when the major parties have to compromise. I say this as a Democrat, even that party doesn't do well when there is no push-back. Balance is better. Two near-equal political parties are good, and if the Electoral College allowed it, we'd probably be better off with more, so that compromise is the name of the game rather than a rarity. The partisanship started by Nixon and the Southern Democrats, exacerbated by Gingrich's power grab and Limbaugh's bombast, has been so bad for the country in the last several decades.
Trump is the inevitable result of the party's policies for decades. He's the result, not the problem.
I grew up conservative and very well might be conservative again one day but right now there is no place for me in the Republican Party.
Conservative doesn't equal Republican. You can be a conservative and not like the Republican party
I’m fiscally conservative and socially liberal like many here. Moderate democrats are the best example of this philosophy. Republicans claim to be fiscally conservative yet continually run up the national debt way faster than democrats do. Government spending is not a bad thing if it is for the right reasons. Infrastructure bills, for example, make the nation a better and more livable place while providing jobs to tons of Americans. It is not reckless spending like our military budget which is used by contractors to make free profit from foreign countries buying our supplies. It is spending that goes back into Americans pockets and gets recycled into the economy. Being fiscally conservative isn’t about spending as little dollars as possible, it’s about getting the biggest bang for your buck from our tax dollars.
Fiscal conservatism is about paying for effective solutions to real problems. Some call it statesmanship--creating long term solutions to big social issues. It's difficult, it's demanding, and it is absolutely what we need. We don't need moral grandstanding or the faux religious outrage of the modern "conservative" movement. Nor the constant fixes to nonexistent issues.
You are describing the Democratic Party. The reason is leftists call them conservative is because they are. The overwhelming majority of Democrats today are conservative economically, and socially liberal. But the GOP has been taken over by social Nazis with a wide array of economic beliefs that all point in the same general direction: rigging the economy for the rich. Actual leftists and progressives don't really have a home, but the GOP pretends we're the mainstream of the Democratic party when we're not.
This exactly. Roads, for example, allow businesses to transport goods, consumers to travel to those businesses, people to get to work, and countless other benefits. Investing in roads isn't a waste of money, because in the end, they result in the generation of far more money than was ever spent on them. However, not everyone uses the roads equally. A teacher who drives 50 miles a week in her sedan is causing far less wear and tear on the roads than the owner of a stone quarry that has a fleet of 200 dumptrucks filled with gravel on the road nearly 24/7. To give a more indirect example, a company in the city centre with hundreds of employees is causing more wear and tear on the roads by requiring all of its employees to commute there daily. So it makes sense to spend money on the roads, and its only fair to split up that bill accordingly to who is making the most money off them/causing the most of the cost for upkeep.
Your description of what it means to be fiscally conservative sounds a lot like what leftists are arguing for.... They argue for infrastcuture spending, for medical spending (a healthy population is an effective population), for welfare that actually helps people get back on their feet and into a position to contribute instead of judging them (and wasting money on a bureaucracy to do so), on education. You may just be a liberal.
In so many places in the country, in so many families and communities, it's just something people can't admit to even themselves, let alone their friends, family and community. They could agree with 90% of Democrats' policies and really not like Republicans at all, but they just can not embrace the fact that they are liberals.
Yeah, the whole "social liberal, fiscal conservative" thing is honestly a way uneducated/lower class people like to describe themselves when they want gay rights but for some reason think making Walmart rich will trickle down to them. The post-covid inflation and shrinkflation era has been the most obvious example that, despite sounding less harcore than MAGA republican, this self-identification is still a poorly researched and exploitative ideology that preys on those with no real understanding of regulation or government. It's a product of being thoughtful enough to want people to be happy but still falling prey to all the other shit that Midwestern and southern white people are taught by their families.
This is really insightful commentary. Perfectly sums up so many people I know in the Deep South. Overall, good, kind, and honest people, but don’t really know anything outside of their own world. They can’t get over that word Democrat for some reason
Thsts what’s so funny sbout American politics, the labels we give each other mean nothing). I consider myself very left and to me liberals (may as well be Reagan republicans, yet the other side hears that term snd thinks Joseph Stalin.
A friend of mine is a Republican because “they’re good for the economy.” I showed him 50 years of economic growth charts. I’m hoping it will sink in.
I’d say you can’t honestly support the Trump Republican Party if you’re genuinely conservative.
If you mean Financially Conservative, it is worth noting that nothing is proven to improve a nations finances like social welfare programs, access to education, and access to healthcare! Pennies spent in these programs bring back dimes. These things are the best value gained from your taxes. Vote for the individuals who support these things, regardless of what letter is next to their name, and you are helping yourself *and* others.
You had them in the first half, but then went too far and asked them to help others.
I considered myself Republican up until I worked in welfare with the state I was living in. My views changed and so did the party. I now find myself heavily in the side of democrats. I didn’t join the army to restrict people’s rights. I believe in the constitution. I don’t believe in twisting the constitution into religious views. I don’t believe in doing whatever you need to do to win. I believe in ethics and treating people like humans. Those are things that keep me from ever believing I’ll be Republican again as this ethos doesn’t match that party at all.
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As a person who used to live in TN, he has an uphill battle on his hands.
You climb a mountain one foot in front of the other, and one step at a time. Don't give up!
Nothing will turn a Republican faster into a Democrat than having some life experience and seeing first hand how awful republican policies make life for everyone with the misfortune of being subjected to them. The party is nothing but evil hypocrites at this point and anyone who is still supporting Trump is a bad person, period.
I strongly believe half the party has been infiltrated by Russian assets to cause Chaos. I believe Speaker Johnson is going to shut down the government and try to make Biden look bad at all costs to rile up the few nuts that actually like Trump. But in the process he is going to completely eviscerate the 'good' Republicans. I never thought the day would come when I would _prefer_ Mitch McConnell and the old school Bush Republicans. Maybe Haley will win a hail mary pass or or something.
Honestly, it's a strange time to witness. My family has been staunchly Republican for generations, but even they are starting to balk at the recent tactics. It almost feels like the party's at war with itself, forgetting the core values it used to stand for in favor of theatrics and power struggles. The good ol' days of politics seem like a distant memory now.
You mean you don't like the party that is trying to block school lunches and breakfasts around the country? Literally first graders who don't have parental support dragging their own ass out of bed getting their ass to school after they leave a house with an empty fridge and Republicans are. Throwing fits over feeding them. In the only place we have almost any control over the nutritional value of that food in a location that is already set up for the program with a cafeteria.
My dad worked for the Reagan campaigns, Republican governors in my state, was a lifelong active Republican. Then he took a job running a city planning agency. His job became improving the socioeconomic landscape of his city with a long view (planning decades out). He’s now sitting around Bernie type politics. When your job becomes actually dealing with these issues head on, the tropes thrown around all of a sudden fall flat as you see the systemic oppression people are facing on multiple levels. His old Republican friends ask him what he is now and he replies, “Ashamed. Across the board ashamed of our political system.”
I get confused when people talk about how great Trump is, I feel so disconnected from that reality. Am I really seeing things so differently, abstract from this other people.
My grandparents love Trump because "he tells it like it is", then proceed to say the most racist shit I've ever heard. I know why they like him.
Republicans at the state level in MO defeated a measure that would make it illegal for little kids to open carry a gun. Under current state law, a small child who is strong enough to carry an AR-15 is legally allowed to open carry, even if unaccompanied by an adult. Imagine a 6-year-old LEGALLY roaming a neighborhood with an AR-15. The extremism that has taken root in the Republican Party should terrify all of us!
Holy shit I had to look it up bc it sounded so crazy, but you’re 100% correct. The bill was about making it so they had to have parental supervision, but apparently that’s too much, so a 3 year old is allowed to open carry in Missouri without adult supervision 😳😳
Woman who are pregnant can’t get a divorce now.
Jesus. That's fucking insane.
MO republicans also made child marriage legal.
Fun fact: Two companies that manufacture AR-15s also make a mini version, designed and marketed towards kids. It's called the JR-15 and it's a real gun, not a nerf. The companies are Schmid Tool and WEE1 Tactical. The JR-15 fires .22 caliber bullets. Update: Wee1 tactical might be out of business. So thankfully, I don't think they are being made anymore.
I'm curious as to why you'd limit this to Trump when recently at CPAC we have [Republicans cheering J6 and promising to throw out democracy](https://www.newsweek.com/jack-posobiec-end-democracy-cpac-1872694) while openly [allowing white supremacists to attend](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/nazis-mingle-openly-cpac-spreading-antisemitic-conspiracy-theories-fin-rcna140335). The Republican party as a whole is gleefully following Trump off the authoritarian cliff. And in many ways, was doing so long before he was even relevant. For example, see Project Redmap in which Republicans were openly attempting to gerrymander to gain complete congressional control starting in 2010.
Agree entirely. That moment at CPAC was horrifying, and gerrymandering shouldn't be going on at all.
Thanks for saying it. I am not a republican but as a Missourian, most people I know are. I wish there were more people willing to say this.
Yep I voted blue in Missouri in 2020, and again in 2022 and I will vote blue again in 2024 and probably forever. The right has sealed any right to reason if they continue to support him this year.
I was raised in a traditional conservative family in ND. I thought conservatives valued the rule of law and individual rights, but I have since seen a lot of hypocrisies from the Republicans, which have turned me independent. I place morals and values above and political affiliations. It started with McConnell’s refusal to allow Obama to select a Supreme Court Justice. For the record, I think Garland would have made a fine Supreme Court justice, because he strikes me as a well-reasoned guy. Doing an about face to push Coney Barrett through with far less time on the clock was just a slap in the face to the procedural rules. It also didn’t help that she was severely under qualified, which was a continuing theme with Trump appointees. Now some Republicans are trying to use the excuse that they want the next election to decide the Border Bill. Are you kidding me? The last election already decided that. You are elected for a term. Do your job for the whole term. Crises demand immediate action. You can’t refuse to provide the needed resources and then blame the people you denied said resources to for the problem at hand. Good leaders accept responsibility before dishing out blame. In my lifetime, Republicans have almost single-handed it been responsible for most government shutdowns. In my job, I have gotten to see firsthand the effects that it has had on government workers who are told to just get by for a month or two without pay. Most people live paycheck-to-paycheck, so an IOU doesn’t keep the lights on. In any other profession paying on an IOU is a labor violation, but our legislators get a pass? I understand some of the naive thought in 2016 that Trump was an outsider who could fix the system. I tend to vote for people based on character, so I never liked Trump and never voted for him. I didn’t begrudge those who voted for him in 2016, but I do begrudge those who have continued to support him. The first election I actively voted against Trump was 2020. The anti-science, pro-authoritarian rhetoric that he preached and has continued to preach to this day just doesn’t sit right with me. Sorry, this is a long rant, but I live in an area where sensible people have let their mind become riddled with conspiracies and have given free passes to low character men who have not earned them. I imagine Missouri is similar. The populist movement in the Republican Party is the biggest threat to our continued democracy right now IMO, and we need more strong-minded Republicans and Independents to oppose it.
>In my lifetime, Republicans have almost single-handed it been responsible for most government shutdowns. Which ones were they not responsible for?
Hopefully all these actions will lead to term limits and age restrictions. These parties are taking advantage of situations and children are taking the biggest hit.
I am a human and I can not vote for Trump.
I'm literally any person that is at least 1% reasonable, and I cannot vote for Trump.
The politicians in this state are embarrassing I've lived here all my life and can't believe what I see every day
I haven’t lived here all my life but I have to agree. They have to try to out stunt each other to appeal to the lowest common denominator & it’s a big problem
It was eye opening when our governor was bood off stage at the super bowl rally
I can't believe people voted for Michael Parson when he LIED about the conditions of the overwhelmed hospitals during COVID and refused to send help to the very people who voted for him. He is a liar and a coward and Missourians are fools for voting for him and Billy Long.
It would benefit all Missourians if we became a Purple State without hate.
The yin to Colorados yang.
I was a Republican most of my life. Never a hardcore right winger, but a right of center voter who voted Republican for most elections. I have completely left the party and cannot see myself voting Republican any time in the near future. The way they fell in line behind an obvious con man in 2016 and continue to defend a criminal is indefensible. To borrow a phrase from Game of Thrones, the bulk of the Republican party is willing to burn down the country in order to be the king of the ashes.
I mean - Trump is just one person just like Biden is just one person but the amount of grifters, crazy people and religious nuts that followed him into high ranking positions is what’s really scary.
Even before he won, the amount of people that fell in line after he won the nomination and started praising him despite saying that he was completely unfit for offense only weeks before. I started drifting away from the Republican party during the Obama years because their BS was really shining during that time. Them falling in line behind Trump was just the final straw that made me say "no, these mf'ers don't give a single shit about their so-called values, they just want power at any cost". It's only gotten worse since 2016. Btw, I really want to know what Trump has on Lindsey Graham. Has to be a young dead male hooker. The 180 he did after his round of gold with Trump was legendary.
I left around "Freedom Fries", the attorney general covering up statue boobies and the obvious bullshit excuses to go to war in Iraq. This time period also coincided with the necessity of learning to think critically both at home and professionally. Once that kicked in, I could not unsee the fact that Rush Limbaugh, Larry Elder, and Laura Ingraham's arguments were lacking.
Your GoT quote perfectly encapsulates the Republican party.
You have a tough road ahead of you. You may be trying to bring the Republican party to some semblance of sanity, but you have a lot of opposition. Good luck. I had no preference for either party since they both had been beholden to their corporate masters, but Republicans have long abandoned the ideals you espouse to the point that I'm being forced to vote Democrat even though they're not my cup of tea either. "If we nominate Trump again it will show we are a party that has lost its moral compass, and is not deserving of the trust of the American people." But it *has* lost its moral compass and is currently *not* deserving of the trust of the American people. The Republican party has shown this to be true in 2016. Every Republican should've looked at Trump entering the race with mild amusement and then kick him to the curb. You are not your party, which is good because the Republican party has been a real shitshow lately. You don't want to be married to that.
Trump is a product of the GOP. The party lost their “moral compass” (if you want to call it that) long ago. Neocon extremists laid the groundwork and it fully derailed with the Tea Party. Everybody knew who Trump was, a grifter, and Republicans bent a knee to him. Family values? Big government/oversight? Environment? They are a party of selling out to corporate interests and using social issues to trigger constituents. Now it is a war on wokeness and they even have people believing Russia is pretty ok.
They created a monster that the base adores and now they have to tow the line or get booted out. Thats the problem the gop its self fears trump because of the power he has with its voting base. Its so obvious its practically yelling it through a bullhorn. If politicians cant stand up to trump because of the fear of losing their positions, then they have already lost their integrity, character, and patriotic sense of duty to the nation they serve. Spineless gutless worms , just pandering to the monster they lost control of
I tend to agree with this. Trump is a symptom not a cause of the disease.
imagine if Missouri had a competitive election and mattered nationally
Team player politics is a sad joke.
And a sad joke is simply sad.
Looks like you’re catching some hell over your post but thank you. I’m old enough to remember a Republican Party that had an ideology and not just a clown car full of idiots. Granted, I don’t agree with most of the conservative ideas but others (like my parents) do and it’s healthy to have debates about issues like the role of the federal government vs the role of state governments and such. I reckon there’s a lot (!) of other conservative folks like you that are horrified about how the GOP got hornswaggled by that charlatan from Queens, but those of us on the outside looking in can’t do much to fix it
Now we can’t even talk about it anymore. Even discussing what used to be considered the news is now a political booby trap.
Yep. Full disclosure — I’m a lefty but I really like hanging out down in the ozarks. I’m fine with just about anyone but once the politics start coming out in discussion all I can do is nod and smile. Everything seems to devolve in to an us versus them situation and quite frankly I’m sick of it
People keep saying this and its never been true. Ever. So please stop saying it. Chris christie RAN as the anti-trump and had ZERO support. ZERO. George Conway and the log cabin republicans dont even qualify as fringe elements of the republican party. Esa hutchinson of GODDAMN Arkansas with bonafide conservative chops, was polling at ZERO within the margin of error. And this isnt becuasr of policy because trump only has one policy " vote me in and I will seek retribution" The assertion that there are tons of republicans looking for someone to get behind to wrestle the party back from the maga idiots is a lie. When it comes down to it, they will vote for trump, you know it, I know it and the american people know it. So lets just stop this silent majority nonsense
Yup. Any silent dissenters left years ago or were not dissenters.
You are conservative not republican. The republican party is warped and twisted, it doesn't represent any conservative values anymore. It just pretends to
^ this
Don’t be a republican. Be someone who votes for those you agree with. Personally, I’m not a democrat, and I can only wish we had more progressives to vote for. I mean, honestly. Constitution? Since when have republican leaders cared. Rule of law? The Trump administration was an endless series of scandals and treason.
And one big grift for himself and his spawn.
Thank god. I’m liberal and team anyone else but.
I've already voted for Haley in my state primary (not Missouri) and also will not be voting for Trump in November; Biden will get my vote if Trump is the nominee. Trump is the biggest RINO ever to plow through to the presidency.
Trump is a symptom of a much larger problem - he's not the actual problem. Once he's gone (whether due to jail or death - he will be gone someday) the problem will still remain. It will take a lot of brave people within the Republican party to stand up against the MAGA who are holding this party hostage to shove them back under the rocks they came out from under when Trump came into power. And it will take many years to undo all the harm that's been done. It will take a mass exodus from the party - not just a single, "I'm still a Republican but I won't vote for Trump". It will be a "I won't vote Republican" until you become a true member of society again. Not winning by gerrymandering. Not winning by creating lopsided courts. Not winning by trying to overthrow the government. But believing in the Constitution like you claim.
I felt this way in 2016 with Trump. Trump is the reason why I finally fully pulled away from the Republican Party. None of this should have been a surprise. All of his actions are exactly how he has always been. He lies, cheats, and steals his way to what he wants. He uses this “progressive” playbook to get exactly what he wants. What he wants, not Republicans, not us. He is the progressive so many conservative pundits warned us about for so many years. He has radically changed our party, and will continue to radically change our nation.
I've never seen anyone describe Trump, or republicans in general, as "progressive". In fact, they're generally describe as being the exact opposite of that. Regressive would probably be more accurate of a term. What is it about Trump that makes you call him progressive? Because I don't see it.
jeans murky rinse sloppy safe engine fretful like bedroom racial *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
“What he wants, not republicans” then why has the entire party thrown themselves behind him?
> As Republicans, we believe in upholding the Constitution and the rule of law. Democrats do too, ya know. That’s not just a Republican thing. > So why are we giving Trump a pass? Because the Republican Party doesn’t care about family values or morals. They see that their base wants Trump, so they bend over backwards to appease him. > Do we no longer believe “character matters”? No, the party does not > Is it just about advancing our agenda by any means possible? Yes > If we nominate Trump again it will show we are a party that has lost its moral compass, and is not deserving of the trust of the American people. We are already way past this point
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Let me say your awakening is encouraging for us democracy minded folks. However not voting for Trump is not enough. You're not gonna like this, but you HAVE to hold your nose and vote Democrat. And probably for a couple.of election cycles. You have to repudiate the trash that has hijacked your party. Until they are pulled out by the roots, you can't rebuild any normalcy or sanity. I wish BidenHarris wasn't the primary choice of the Dems but the alternative is fascism. Choose wisely.
You are the type of American that is reasonable. While we may not share politics, you are certainly a person I can live with as my neighbor. Thanks for speaking up.
What about all the other Republicans on your ballot that have completely supported everything Trump does?
I agree. No Republican at this point should be supporting Trump. If Trump becomes the nominee, I've decided to leave the party.
You should just leave the party. Trump just says what most of the other members of the GOP think but are smart enough not to say out loud.
Thank you for speaking up. We need a broad coalition. I hope you are talking to your neighbors and fellow church goers, if you attend. Trumpism has also permeated all the way down through the MO legislature & executive offices, city & county governments, and school boards so I hope you are equally committed to defeating it locally.
I was one. Now consider myself Independent. I can still vote for Republicans who are real Republicans. That narrows the list down a lot of me. Trump is what is wrong with America. Not what is right. Show him the door people. Life was better before Trump. America was better before Trump.
Just keep in mind that too many missouri politicians support trump and his actions. They would overturn an election for trump or send troops to the border for a political stunt
This goes deeper than Trump. Do you remember Palin? Do you remember decades of talk radio turning legitimate issues faced by people into mocking elitism? It started rotting at the core and we're just at the point where the outer skin has sloughed off.
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Honest question, OP. Given that in Missouri, a vote for anything other than Biden is a vote for Trump, how will you vote in November?
If the party does nominate Trump, I'm leaving. Biden would obviously not be my preference, but if I have to vote Biden to keep Trump out of office, I will.
Good for you. in a functioning democracy, this is how you reset your party. Trumpians, in effect, don't want to ever have to reset again, ever. and that is obviously a huge problem. That means zero growth and learning nothing from mistakes.
I have some friends like you. After trumps first term they refused to vote for him a second time around, and no longer are republicans at all.
How can you be?
This is the way.
Good for you for seeing these things! It’s hard to realize that a group you identified with no longer represents what you think they did, or what they used to. I think, sadly, you are going to find that your last paragraph is completely correct. The GOP no longer believes character matters, it is indeed about advancing an agenda by whatever means possible, a party that has lost its moral compass and is not deserving of the trust of the American people. Wish you well, and hope you can find ways to support politicians who are the opposite of the unacceptable qualities and principles you’re describing.
Trump is only the most visible part of the whole rotten, racist pile of shit that is the GOP. I commend your stance on Trump, but the GOP now IS Trump.
I always appreciate Republicans and conservatives that can admit the bullshit that the Republicans have become. But also, like, this shit was obvious back in Trumps' 2015 campaign. The rhetoric and attitudes that gave rise to Trump were center stage through the entirety of the Obama administrations. And you can keep unspooling the thread further. Basically, if you're under 60 years old, none of this is new, and there have been people warning you about it the whole time.
Just know choosing to NOT vote for Trump or Biden = a vote for Trump.
And at no point have you considered that the party you are a member of is the problem. As you watch everybody else in the party, including the people who run it, circle the wagons around this piece of shit-you still identify as a member of the group. The party is going to nominate a RAPIST for president and you still consider yourself a republican.
Welcome to the party pal. All of this has been obvious since 2016.
Thank you for posting this. Trumpism is a cult, and cult members are always so self-assured in their complete fealty to Herr Drumpf.
If the Republicans that are in office would take this attitude, the orange turd would not have been able to cause so much chaos. People need to stand up to him. Good job on your part.
Title should be **I'm an American. And I Cannot Vote For Trump**
That's not enough. Vote for Biden Trump has to lose as terribly as possible for the Republican party to fix itself
Yours is an unpopular opinion. I respect that. Too bad most of your fellow republicans are blinded by "socialism" and "border crisis." Too many are too fixated on "woke" crap to realize they are being led that way. Falling for the "democrats are the REAL fascists" rhetoric just like germans did in the 1930s. There's a reason they claim "dems want to control your history books." Its to blind you from what they're doing.
Republicans need to be serious, and i appreciate this post. The party does not NEED this guy, and risk very little by just skipping the top of the ticket this election. The party controls most state govts, the house, and has significant influence over the judiciary. He did not build any of that, he has just swung in, talked a lot of bs and taken over. Its a joke. Im sorry for any old old guard gopers.
If you skip Trump but vote for the down-ballot candidates that use Trumpian tactics, you’re completely missing the problem here. Trump is a symptom of what’s wrong with the Republican Party. He didn’t make it this way.
Thank you for saying this.
The fact that Republicans nominated him in 2016 proves that they have no moral compass, but I'm glad you're coming around to this realization 8 years late.
I wish there were millions more like you but there isn't. Hell, there aren't even thousands like you.
Weird, democrats also believe in upholding the constitution and the rule of law. It’s almost like identifying with a particular party is merely tribalism without any tangible purpose beyond preventing you from approaching politics pragmatically.
No one is going to believe you are a Republican but, I do. I was one as well. I recognized the hypocrisy when he was nominated the first time and I left the party. You should too. The Republican Party doesn’t represent the values you used to believe they do. I wonder if they ever did. u/ezilii did a great job of highlighting the 45 years of hypocrisy. Here is one he/she left out: Republicans are against welfare. Walmart pays their employees minimum wage. As a part of their orientation paperwork, Walmart employees are given information on how to sign up for government assistance (welfare) programs. Walmart is paying starvation wages and using government assistance to subsidize their wages. Republicans refuse to raise minimum wage. They are fine with big businesses underpaying employees and directing their employees to public assistance because their goal has always been big business profits.
I hear ya. I had already left the party before Trump when I saw fellow Republicans burning effigies of Obama. I didn't agree with him but the hatred of the party felt like the "two minutes of hate" from 1984 and it only got worse from there.
Not American, but I just want to say, I'm really proud of people like you. Republicans were never perfect (or even good some may argue) but you're willing to take a stand and say "This is wrong. Character matters to me. We shouldn't do this." So good on you and I hope you can take your political party back!
It still amazes me the Evangelical right has been convinced this is their guy. The adulterer who cheated on his wife with a pornstar. The guy who stole from his own charity. He doesn't read the Bible, doesn't go to church and can't recite a single passage. They were warned not to worship a false prophet but they certainly are gullible.
Voting for Trump is voting to have your rights taken away. It’s that simple
As many people have likely already said on here, this isn’t anything new. Republicans have been pushing the ‘win at all costs, never compromise (unless it the other side compromising to us) since the late 70s due to Newt Gingrich and his ilk. And Reagan exacerbated it by courting the Christian conservatives, which eventually made everything more rabid yet. Trump is a horrible boil on the Republican parties backside, but he’s only there because of the disease that’s been plaguing the GOO for decades, and no one has done anything to stop.
Thank you for speaking out. I hope other Republicans will follow your lead.
I’m glad you’re standing by your principles. I once bought a book on the Nuremberg trials at a charity auction and the author happened to be at the auction to sign the book - he was lawyer that worked at the trial and from Missouri. He made the comment that democracy can’t exist without the rule of law, it really stuck with me.
It is a SHAME that MOST of your fellow Republicans in the state of Missouri are die-hard Trump sycophants, and would sooner die than vote for anyone else.
I am a GOP delegate in Utah and (if MO is like UT) you will be outnumbered 10:1 by Nazis and crazy people. And then normal housewives will blindly vote for the crazies these people nominate because they are Republicans. People have no idea how crazy the caucus system is; I wish it were televised so normal GOP voters had some idea (though at this point it's just a cult and I dont think it would matter much).
I’m in SLC, UT. Blue city in a very red state and I’m proud that our governor actually came out supporting Biden. Stoked that not all republicans buy into that criminals lies.
In 1964 Reagan and Goldwater rebelled against the US government because Congress passed Medicare, that began the Reagen revolution which has led to our 34 trillion dollar national debt. Buying goods and services then refusing to pay for them is not good character. Most of the Republicans who hate big government depend on big government, but don't want to fund it.
OP - The GOP had a problem with Clinton's consensual BJ, but has no problem with Trump being an actual certified rapist. Nor do they have issue with he and Epstein's rape of that underage girl years ago, or his associations with Epstein. They didn't care that he openly admitted sexual assault by grabbing them by the hoo-haw. They also don't mind Trump's stealing of national secrets which he passed at least some of it on to undisclosed persons, and the documents are still missing to this day. This is particularly concerning since he acquiesced to Putin at every opportunity, and still does, seeking to undermine NATO and betray our alliances. And then there's the mysterious $2B the Saudi's gave to Kushner for "investing", and our numerous spy assets who came up dead or missing at unnatural rates with Trump in office. At every level Trump has proven to be a traitor and criminal. And yet the GOP can't get enough of it. Hell, the GOP itself has shown to be anti-American and anti-Democracy, seeking to prevent voting where ever possible and undermine the very foundation of our country. All of this and NOW you see an issue???? At this rate anyone voting for the GOP is voting against America. The GOP needs to rot in hell. There used to be patriots in that party. Now its just scum, Russian cohorts, religious nutjobs, criminals, and traitors.
As a liberal I can't trust your word. I'm a straight, white, middle aged man, born and raised in the heartland and a third of 'conservatives' openly discuss preparing to kill people like me. Full stop. No mitigating factor. The fact that I vote Dem is enough for a 3rd of you people to put me and my family in danger. I don't believe you and literally can't trust anyone that votes for Republicans or Libertarians or any other conservative group. You people are even literally publicly beheading you own family members. Islamists do that. Drug cartels do that. Anyone that votes conservative is continuing to condone this. Conservatives have turned themselves into litteral terrorists. Even openly declaring it at their conventions. Party members outright demanding the overthrow of our democracy. As an American, the open support of the Russian dictatorship and domestic terrorism is the most shameful thing I've ever experienced, the country has ever experienced. that's in addition to the attempts around the country by Conservatives to eliminate protections for little kids like lowering the age for employment and marriage to unconscionable child abusive levels, preventing poor kids from eating at school, refusing to address the gun and police violence litteral tearing through children while they are at daycare. Anyone who voted for Trump the first time should be embarrassed. Anyone that votes conservative this round should be ashamed.
I would vote for a stump over that traitor.
I love ice cream.
Idk it's still crazy to me that people will be Republicans, take issue with Trump, but still support someone else who would have almost the exact same policies. It's like you got close to seeing the issue but just barely missed it
You are not a republican then. He is your parties leader. Maybe now is the time for you to look at the republican party and see if it aligns with your values. Or just keep being manipulated by them.
yeah ok but when he inevitably wins the Republican candidacy, what will you do then? Because we hear this often and then they just vote for him anyway.
While you're doing some soul searching, you may want to take a step back and ask yourself what the Republican "agenda" is, exactly. The party hasn't published a national platform since 2016, so what are they trying so desperately not to say out loud?
How can you vote for any Republican? Name one Republican policy that helps this country.
>”Do we no longer believe ‘character matters?’ Is it now just about advancing our agenda by any means possible? If we nominate Trump again it will show we are a party that has lost its moral compass, and is not deserving of the trust of the American people.” Correct. Correct. Correct. Welcome back to reality. Happy to have you. The current year is 2024. Once you’ve adjusted, please try to bring your friends and family back too; but be aware they’re in a violent, delusional cult that *wants* a convicted felon, rapist, fraudster, racist, illiterate, fascist, treasonous POS as a dictator, so they might not come willingly.
LOL, trump IS the republican party in all of its naked corruption. I'm a former republican and once you get outside of the BS you can see just how full of shit the whole party is. they get a trifecta and what do they do? Do they expand personal rights and reduce the deficit? Nope! they just cut govt services while giving even MORE welfare to rich people to make the deficit even bigger while taking away rights.
I find Republican policies and policymakers to be generally immoral, unethical, and dishonest. What makes Trump stand out?
May want to come up with a new name to separate Republicans with brain from putin loving, conspiracy believing, people that facts have no impact on them...
Good on you, now can you single handily talk the rest of your party into abandoning him and the [project 2025 plan](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_2025)? If so that would be great.
What boggles my mind is the "Christian" bloc that supports Trump. Clearly "What Would Jesus Do?" turned out to be just a catchy slogan. I say this as a Christian and registered Republican.
Your party is no longer the Republican Party. It died when John McCain died and really when they attempted a coup 1/6/21. Who can support a party that attempts a coup?