The Republicans will go the way of the Whigs and Federalists without Texas 40 electoral votes.
The Whigs jettisoned their conservative wing and converted to a hard-in-the-paint Abolitionist / Free-Land Party under Lincoln, then went on to dominate US politics for a good 20 years.
I strongly doubt that most Texans want to secede.
Texans want to be in charge. You get this noise about secession every time a Democrat is in the Presidency. Then a Republican wins and they’ve all got their flags out screaming about how America is the Freest, Bestest, Strongest Country and if you don’t agree we’ll kick your ass.
Brexit was a fucking crackpot scheme without broad support. Then Russian money started flowing into changing all that, just like it is doing right now in the US, and has been for a pretty damn long time now.
I think the statistics show that “in favor of secession” is in the lower single digit percent, so from that point of view I agree.
Then again, that was the case for Brexit as well. Let’s say pro-secession lies around 4%. Do you find that in all media space combined, talk about secession makes up for more or less than 4% of the media output?
I’d say it’s a major topic overall right now, yet, it’s based on the screaming of a fringe group. Those screams can get amplified easily, if one were so inclined. It’s exactly what happened in Britain, and it’s what happened in Germany. And now it’s happening again with you.
Media controls the message. Who controls the media.
They are not the majority, but they are vastly overrepresented in state government.
Also the state police and in the heads of major industries.
If we had a Texit referendum—which we never will
The vote would be shamelessly rigged, with counties that polled against the decision getting voting machines that didn’t work and lots of “election fraud” prevention that inhibited any kind of serious tally. But that would only happen if the governor and his ahem confederates seriously wanted to secede and didn’t just want to ignore federal laws they found inconvenient in the moment.
Abbott has no interest in being the rump head of a rump state. He wants to command with the full might of the national government behind him. These power plays simply serve to consolidate power under his locale, so that when he does assume higher office he can call on his Texas thug patrols as loyalists in crack downs aimed at dissidents in Houston, Dallas, and Austin.
It remains to be seen whether anyone but Trump can really bring all the morons to the yard.
Bush managed it in 2000. Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley, and Dan Crenshaw have certainly demonstrated a following willing to wave guns at a rally in support of their candidate.
I have a hard time envisioning any of the current GOP bench—including Abbott—succeeding on a national stage, post-Trump.
Trump is sucking up all the oxygen in the room. The political winds are to support Trump first and foremost, then cultivate their factions from there.
They’re all such pathetic toadies.
They’re well organized. They’re well financed. They’re militant. And they’ve got the police on their side. Toadies, absolutely. But they’re far from pathetic.
Trump didn’t win in '16, either. Nevertheless, they both became President.
Nonetheless, Republicans are facing increasing demographic challenges
Demographics only matters when the populations are fully enfranchised. And the consistent focus of conservative municipal and state governments has been to disenfranchise as many members of the political opposition as possible. Turns out, you can win a lot of elections if you reduce your local voting population to a meager half of the eligible overall population.
Oklahoma, Arkansas, West Virginia, ,Tennessee, Mississippi, and Texas have done a masterful job of caging and corralling their voters such that you really only need 33% of the overall electorate to win in what amounts to a landslide.
Trump was never a Republican
He was always a right-wing crank with an open wallet. What liberals don’t like to realize is how much pull that gets you in both parties. Never even fucking mind all the Epstein / Mafia / Russia shit. The guy was a media darling because he knew whose palms to grease, whether that was Rudy Guiliani or Chuck Schumer. And the fact that he’d had the stink of fascism on him since the mid-80s did nothing to keep politicians from lining up.
That doesn’t make him unique, though. If anything, Trump is a consequence of the burgeoning fascist movement within the Republican Party that lacked an outlet among mealy mouthed centrists like McCain/Graham and empty suits like Romney/Christi. Now that he’s blazed a trail, we’re seeing plenty of politicians follow in his footsteps. Greg Abbot is only the most obvious. Governors and Senators all over the country are getting in on the act.
Hell, NY’s Mayor Adams has been happy enough to play up immigrant hysteria and take swipes at Joe Biden for being soft on crime.
I’d stipulate that regardless of popular support, they remain morally and intellectually pathetic.
Say it to their faces. I certainly didn’t feel safe at the last political rally I passed through. Not when the cops seemed as eager for a pound of flesh as any of the flag waving chuds.
The Whigs jettisoned their conservative wing and converted to a hard-in-the-paint Abolitionist / Free-Land Party under Lincoln, then went on to dominate US politics for a good 20 years.
Texans want to be in charge. You get this noise about secession every time a Democrat is in the Presidency. Then a Republican wins and they’ve all got their flags out screaming about how America is the Freest, Bestest, Strongest Country and if you don’t agree we’ll kick your ass.
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Brexit was a fucking crackpot scheme without broad support. Then Russian money started flowing into changing all that, just like it is doing right now in the US, and has been for a pretty damn long time now.
deleted by creator
I think the statistics show that “in favor of secession” is in the lower single digit percent, so from that point of view I agree.
Then again, that was the case for Brexit as well. Let’s say pro-secession lies around 4%. Do you find that in all media space combined, talk about secession makes up for more or less than 4% of the media output?
I’d say it’s a major topic overall right now, yet, it’s based on the screaming of a fringe group. Those screams can get amplified easily, if one were so inclined. It’s exactly what happened in Britain, and it’s what happened in Germany. And now it’s happening again with you.
Media controls the message. Who controls the media.
Also the state police and in the heads of major industries.
The vote would be shamelessly rigged, with counties that polled against the decision getting voting machines that didn’t work and lots of “election fraud” prevention that inhibited any kind of serious tally. But that would only happen if the governor and his ahem confederates seriously wanted to secede and didn’t just want to ignore federal laws they found inconvenient in the moment.
Abbott has no interest in being the rump head of a rump state. He wants to command with the full might of the national government behind him. These power plays simply serve to consolidate power under his locale, so that when he does assume higher office he can call on his Texas thug patrols as loyalists in crack downs aimed at dissidents in Houston, Dallas, and Austin.
deleted by creator
Bush managed it in 2000. Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley, and Dan Crenshaw have certainly demonstrated a following willing to wave guns at a rally in support of their candidate.
Trump is sucking up all the oxygen in the room. The political winds are to support Trump first and foremost, then cultivate their factions from there.
They’re well organized. They’re well financed. They’re militant. And they’ve got the police on their side. Toadies, absolutely. But they’re far from pathetic.
deleted by creator
Trump didn’t win in '16, either. Nevertheless, they both became President.
Demographics only matters when the populations are fully enfranchised. And the consistent focus of conservative municipal and state governments has been to disenfranchise as many members of the political opposition as possible. Turns out, you can win a lot of elections if you reduce your local voting population to a meager half of the eligible overall population.
Oklahoma, Arkansas, West Virginia, ,Tennessee, Mississippi, and Texas have done a masterful job of caging and corralling their voters such that you really only need 33% of the overall electorate to win in what amounts to a landslide.
He was always a right-wing crank with an open wallet. What liberals don’t like to realize is how much pull that gets you in both parties. Never even fucking mind all the Epstein / Mafia / Russia shit. The guy was a media darling because he knew whose palms to grease, whether that was Rudy Guiliani or Chuck Schumer. And the fact that he’d had the stink of fascism on him since the mid-80s did nothing to keep politicians from lining up.
That doesn’t make him unique, though. If anything, Trump is a consequence of the burgeoning fascist movement within the Republican Party that lacked an outlet among mealy mouthed centrists like McCain/Graham and empty suits like Romney/Christi. Now that he’s blazed a trail, we’re seeing plenty of politicians follow in his footsteps. Greg Abbot is only the most obvious. Governors and Senators all over the country are getting in on the act.
Hell, NY’s Mayor Adams has been happy enough to play up immigrant hysteria and take swipes at Joe Biden for being soft on crime.
Say it to their faces. I certainly didn’t feel safe at the last political rally I passed through. Not when the cops seemed as eager for a pound of flesh as any of the flag waving chuds.