FUCK
JOE
BIDEN
Peppermint Paddy
https://www.alternet.org/2021/01/trump-has-been-a-total-disaster-for-the-gop-conservative/
''-'The ultimate loser': Conservative breaks down all the ways Trump has been a total âdisasterâ for the GOP''
Alex Henderson January 20, 2021
Donald Trump's presidency will come to an end on Wednesday, January 20, when former Vice President Joe Biden is sworn in as president of the United States and former Sen. Kamala Harris of California is sworn in as vice president. Trump, even after the January 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol Building, still has countless apologists on the right. But Quin Hillyer, in a blistering op-ed published by the conservative Washington Examiner the day before Biden's inauguration, stresses that Trump will go down in history as a total "disaster" for the Republican Party and the conservative movement.
"Donald Trump has been a disaster for conservatives, for Republicans, and for the country," Hillyer declares. "Even if his replacement is far from ideal, the United States will benefit from Trump's exit from the White House. Trump has been a disaster politically. He has been problematic on policy. And he has been worse than disastrous for the culture."
Hillyer goes on to note that during Trump's presidency, Republicans lost both branches of Congress as well as the White House. After Biden is inaugurated, Democrats will control the federal government's executive branch, the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate.
"Sure, Trump energized White workers and slightly improved the GOP percentage of the non-White vote, but he turned off suburbanites and professionals in droves and hyperenergized millions and millions against him," Hillyer explains. "The arithmetic was awful."
Trump, Hillyer adds, has left a huge stain on the GOP.
"Trump has not only cost Republicans all three elective parts of the federal government, but also, has left them in big trouble for the future, with millions and millions of voters now disgusted with the GOP while Trump's 'working' base is demoralized and full of Trump's lies that the rest of the party disdains them," Hillyer argues. "Plus, young voters, who soon will become a plurality of the whole electorate, are now overwhelmingly Democratic â or, worse, 'progressive' â with anti-Republican feelings far more virulent than they would have been if Trump hadn't so terribly offended them."
Hillyer continues, "For those who believe in limited government, in a strong defense, in traditional values, and in American exceptionalism, this is a potential electoral disaster going forward. And it's almost all the fault of Trump, the ultimate loser."
Trump, according to Hillyer, has "has repeatedly made excuses for radical racists, used lies to undermine voters' faith in their election system, abandoned the symbolically crucial in-person transfer of presidential power, and helped incite an assault on the U.S. Capitol that he then spent hours refusing to do anything substantive or verbal to stop."
"Unlike William F. Buckley's eviction of the John Birch Society's leadership from the conservative movement," Hillyer writes, "Trump has welcomed and encouraged the loony, malicious conspiracies of QAnon. Every single day, it seems, he has trashed those strains of conservatism and national culture identified as lodestars by Edmund Burke, Alexis de Tocqueville, Russell Kirk and others. He has subverted the optimism and inclusiveness of Reagan-Kemp conservatism."
Hillyer concludes his op-ed by emphasizing that Trump's record is indefensible.
"Trump has been the worst human being to occupy the Oval Office in our lifetimes and a major detriment to American society and world harmony," Hillyer laments. "His presence in power was a blight, and his leaving power is a blessing. It would be better still if he would leave public consciousness altogether."
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columnists/trump-leaves-a-lasting-legacy-of-horrific-havoc
OPINION
''Trump leaves a lasting legacy of horrific havoc''
by Quin Hillyer, Commentary Writer | | January 19, 2021 05:18 PM
Donald Trump has been a disaster for conservatives, for Republicans, and for the country. Even if his replacement is far from ideal, the United States will benefit from Trumpâs exit from the White House.
Trump has been a disaster politically. He has been problematic on policy. And he has been worse than disastrous for the culture.
Politically, Trump is a big loser. At the beginning of 2015, Republicans had majorities in both the House and the Senate. The House majority was protected by favorable gerrymandering. The Senate majority was bolstered by the fact that, in terms of population, it overrepresents rural states that trend conservative.
Meanwhile, the expected, and eventual, Democratic presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton, was arguably the most emotionally unattractive major-party nominee in our lifetimes. Almost any decent Republican candidate with skilled campaign strategists could have rebuilt the Reagan coalition of blue-collar workers and suburban professionals in order to keep her from the Oval Office. Perhaps 11 or 12 of the 17 candidates for the Republican presidential nomination could have defeated her, a few of them rather easily.
Now, after a full cycle of House, Senate, and presidential elections, Republicans have lost all three. Sure, Trump energized white workers and slightly improved the GOP percentage of the nonwhite vote, but he turned off suburbanites and professionals in droves and hyperenergized millions and millions against him. The arithmetic was awful.
Consider black voters. Yes, Trump improved from 10% to 13% of the black vote between 2016 and 2020. But the raw number of black voters increased from shy of 14 million to more than 20 million. In very rough figures, that means the margin of Trumpâs loss among blacks increased from about 11 million to about 15 million. Thatâs four million extra votes for Democrats â votes of people who werenât accustomed to voting before now but who now have cast their lots, and their rooting interests, against Republicans.
Thus, Trump has not only cost Republicans all three elective parts of the federal government, but also has left them in big trouble for the future, with millions and millions of voters now disgusted with the GOP while Trumpâs âworkingâ base is demoralized and full of Trumpâs lies that the rest of the party disdains them. Plus, young voters, who soon will become a plurality of the whole electorate, are now overwhelmingly Democratic (or, worse, âprogressiveâ), with anti-Republican feelings far more virulent than they would have been if Trump hadnât so terribly offended them.
For those who believe in limited government, in a strong defense, in traditional values, and in American exceptionalism, this is a potential electoral disaster going forward. And itâs almost all the fault of Trump, the ultimate loser.
Now we move to considerations of policy. Trump gets far too much credit for the policy âwinsâ for conservatives during his term in office and far too little blame for legislative failures and, worse, for terrible moves in the other direction.
First, consider the failures. Trump has a pathetic record of actually shepherding legislation through Congress. In fact, the only major piece of legislation conservatives can really celebrate during Trumpâs term was the tax cut that Paul Ryan had spent years developing and lining up Republican support for. The minute any Republican president had Republican majorities in both branches of Congress, along with the chance to use the budget âreconciliation â process to avoid a filibuster , the tax cut would have passed. Trump had to do no heavy lifting, unless he considers an ink pen to be heavy.
Other than that, Trump struck out again and again in Congress, even when Republicans ran both chambers. The worst was when Trump fumbled the attempt to repeal and replace Obamacare. Doing so was never going to be easy, but it was definitely achievable. Trump repeatedly got in the way of his own âteamâ as the legislation was being crafted, then failed to rein in the right-wing Freedom Caucus when it torpedoed a version that was plenty good enough for that stage in the process, and then he himself further torpedoed the belatedly House-passed bill as âmean, mean, mean,â thus making Republican senators skittish that he wouldnât have their backs as they tried to pass it in their chamber.
Overall, Trumpâs legislative attempts were inept at best, ham-handed often, and utterly counterproductive at other times.
Meanwhile, apart from Ryanâs tax cuts, almost all of Trumpâs achievements were via executive action that any Republican would have taken and that incoming President Biden can rather easily reverse. Of course, Trumpâs team deregulated considerably and reinterpreted plenty of other regulations, but thatâs because the Obama administration itself did so much policymaking via executive action that was available to undo. Again, if Rick Perry, Scott Walker, Bobby Jindal, or Rick Santorum had been president, each of them would have done the same. And the first two, especially, probably would have defeated Clinton more decisively in the first place, thus accruing more political capital to use for conservative ends.
Likewise, on judges, most of Trumpâs Republican adversaries in 2016 would have moved just as aggressively to fill the courts as Trump did, as all would have enjoyed the same conservative legal infrastructure. Also, all would have benefited from Majority Leader Mitch McConnellâs focus on the task, aided by the new, anti-filibuster rules catalyzed by former Democratic Leader Harry Reidâs use of the ânuclear optionâ on nominations.
Trumpâs other policy âachievementsâ were dubious. On trade with Mexico and Canada, he basically just rearranged the same furniture . His other trade initiatives quite arguably hurt the economy more than helped. He actually secured lower appropriations to build the âwallâ on the Mexican border than Democrats themselves originally offered. And even in the triumph of the peace deals between Israel and several Arab/Muslim nations, Trump did far less than he claimed. Those nations and Israel had enjoyed de facto rapprochements for nearly a decade already, and all they really needed was an American administration to get out of the way.
Worse, Trump pushed policy horribly askew in other ways, especially in diplomacy . His loud bumbling with regard to North Korea and Venezuela badly hurt American prestige. He handed Russia a major foothold in Syria and repeatedly gave the evil Vladimir Putin verbal cover. He repeatedly antagonized allies and undermined the unity of NATO, and he has left our mission in Afghanistan a muddle.
Domestically, Trump oversaw by far the biggest-spending, largest debt-infused federal government in U.S. peacetime history , even before the pandemic arrived. Trump didnât just get dragged into the spending maw; he eagerly led the way. This wasnât a mere failure. It was a deliberate betrayal of the most basic, long-standing tenet of conservatism. Trumpâs destruction of the ideal of limited government has done lasting damage to the conservative cause.
Then, of course, there was the grossly unethical behavior that twice earned â and I do mean âearned â â two separate impeachments for Trump, and plenty of other instances of less-than-impeachable misbehavior in both official and unofficial duties. This consistent betrayal of ethical standards, too, is an important matter of policy as it undermines both the constitutional order and people's faith in the constitutional system.
All of which leads to the worst, most lasting effects that Trump will leave behind â namely his massive destructiveness to essentials of the American culture.
Trump has horrendously coarsened public discourse, immensely exacerbated the level of vitriol, used extraordinarily violent language as a matter of course, extravagantly and repeatedly labeled even his temporary adversaries âtraitors,â âenemies of the people,â and âhuman scum," paid off a pornography star and a nude model, spread vile conspiracy theories, and slandered opponents as virtual child molesters and assassination abettors. He has repeatedly made excuses for radical racists, used lies to undermine votersâ faith in their election system, abandoned the symbolically crucial in-person transfer of presidential power, and helped incite an assault on the U.S. Capitol that he then spent hours refusing to do anything substantive or verbal to stop.
And thatâs just a partial list of a far, far longer record of debasements of important norms, standards, and basic human decency. Unlike William F. Buckleyâs eviction of the John Birch Societyâs leadership from the conservative movement, Trump has welcomed and encouraged the loony, malicious conspiracies of QAnon . Every single day, it seems, he has trashed those strains of conservatism and national culture identified as lodestars by Edmund Burke , Alexis de Tocqueville , Russell Kirk , and others. He has subverted the optimism and inclusiveness of Reagan-Kemp conservatism. And he has repeatedly dishonored heroes who embody American courage and character, while pardoning some of the worst denizens imaginable of the national political swamp .
In sum, Trump has been the worst human being to occupy the Oval Office in our lifetimes and a major detriment to American society and world harmony. His presence in power was a blight, and his leaving power is a blessing. It would be better still if he would leave public consciousness altogether.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columnists/trump-leaves-a-lasting-legacy-of-horrific-havoc
Quin Hillyer is a senior commentary writer and editor for the Washington Examiner. He is also a contributing editor for National Review Online and is a former executive editor for the American Spectator. He has served in senior roles for the Washington Times, the Mobile Register, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, and Gambit New Orleans Weekly and has been published in almost every major newspaper in the nation. A New Orleans native and cum laude graduate of Georgetown University, he is the author of the Mad Jones trilogy of satirical novels. He lives in Mobile, Alabama.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/biden-is-awful-but-still-cut-it-out-with-the-public-f-bombs-and-respect-the-presidency
OPINION
Biden is awful, but still cut it out with the public F-bombs and respect the presidency
by Quin Hillyer, Commentary Writer | | October 07, 2021 02:31 PM
It may be futile to stand athwart cultural degradation yelling, âStop,â but civilization is worth some apparently quixotic endeavors.
Such is the nature of my strong objections to people at public events across the country chanting or holding up signs saying âF*** Joe Biden .â The trend is horrible.
The assessment has nothing to do with support for Biden or how he is performing as president . Biden is already well on his way to being the worst president in a lifetime. Thereâs nothing wrong in general with voicing public displeasure about any presidentâs performance and certainly nothing wrong with doing so against this particular president.
The problem is twofold. First, public vulgarity itself should be seen as unacceptable. Second, the vulgarity particularly directed at the president is a sledgehammer blow to a worthwhile tradition of respect for the constitutional office of the presidency.
The first point is, of course, a continuation of the lament by former U.S. senator and scholar Daniel Patrick Moynihan in a famous 1993 essay that âwe have been re-defining deviancy so as to exempt much conduct previously stigmatized.â The result, Moynihan observed, is that âwe are getting used to a lot of behavior that is not good for us.â Each step of once-forbidden public behavior that becomes ânormalizedâ brings another, worse deviancy into more widespread reach.
Free-flowing discourse in the public square is a good thing, of course. But to keep from devolving into dangerous levels of contempt or even violence, self-policed norms of conduct are essential. The âseven words you can never say on television â were once verboten for good reason: When even bare-minimum standards are abandoned, chaos ensues.
The common culture once understood that âthe F-wordâ could be all the more useful in select private exclamations, specifically because it was so off-limits in the public square. The culture now has trampled traditionalists on that front, as evinced this week when the smart, mainstream-conservative TV host Megyn Kelly on her streaming broadcast referred to Chinese officials as âthese f***ers.â She then defended herself (from my gentle complaint) on Twitter by saying, âEvery once in a while one needs to drop an F-bomb , Quin. Itâs quite cathartic.â
The error is in erupting in such catharsis on public airwaves rather than just in private, among friends.
Even if traditionalists have lost that battle, though, surely we should draw the line at the presidency. Even those of us who prefer a less powerful executive branch (and a comparatively more powerful Congress) should recognize that by virtue of the office itself, the president, in a ceremonial sense, helps symbolize the nation. When I worked on Capitol Hill, as much as our conservative office staff detested then-President Bill Clinton for his lies and corruption, our boss insisted that respect be shown toward the office. Further, he said, sometimes calumny hurled at the current officeholder, even though intended to be aimed only at the person rather than the office, would necessarily be heard in ways in which that important distinction would be lost.
Decency and patriotism, then, both demanded that the calumny be reined in.
In a better world, no public crowd would ever chant the F-word at anybody. To do so toward the president of the United States, though, is a deviancy too far â one athwart which we should stand. Just stop it, please, and stop it now.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/biden-is-awful-but-still-cut-it-out-with-the-public-f-bombs-and-respect-the-presidency
''Fuck Joe Biden''