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How much of our political divide is to blame Mitch McConnell? (1 Viewer)

bosoxs45

Footballguy
He’s been in the senate since the days of Reagan. He tried getting blocking Obama’s pick for a seat on the court. This is all because of the revenge towards Ted Kennedy in 1988. How can Americans be so blinded and held hostage by the Republican Party? Christians do not represent the large majority of American voters anymore,

 
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He is all about the benjamains and self enrichment.

But he is also an absolute lightweight next to his wife Elaine Chao. She is a Kingpin at political self enrichment and has been with both Bush/Cheney and now Trumps admins and previously fellow-shipped with Reagan. And the working public has been worse for her involvement, while elite have run amok.

 
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Mitch McConnell is the proverbial turd in a punch bowl; he benefits America, like not at all. ... And not a single person can counter my opinion.

 
What’s so ironic about this is that a lot of the Trump fans (the alt-right Breitbart crowd) hate McConnell with a passion. He’s the ultimate establishment RINO to them. 

 
Up there with Limbaugh and Murdoch.
Yep.  I’d add Reagan.  His “gov’t IS the problem” brainwashing of Republican masses led to a generation of Republicans who simply don’t believe that societal cooperation can be a net benefit.  Even as they send children to public schools, eat FDA inspected meat, fly on airplanes operating safely due to the FAA, etc.  

 
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Yep.  I’d add Reagan.  His “gov’t IS the problem” brainwashing of Republican masses led to a generation of Republicans who simply don’t believe that societal cooperation can be a net benefit.  Even as they send children to public schools, eat FDA inspected meat, fly on airplanes operating safely due to the FAA, etc.  
As always I disagree with you about Reagan. Reagan didn’t create “government is the problem”; he famously said it but it was an idea that had been popular for years among conservatives. 

Ronald Reagan ran for President as a positive , optimistic conservative in the same way that Barack Obama ran for office as a positive, optimistic liberal. Both men governed as very reasonable centrists; Reagan was more effective than Obama only because Obama faced unbending political opposition. 

 
Yep.  I’d add Reagan.  His “gov’t IS the problem” brainwashing of Republican masses led to a generation of Republicans who simply don’t believe that societal cooperation can be a net benefit.  Even as they send children to public schools, eat FDA inspected meat, fly on airplanes operating safely due to the FAA, etc.  
Oh for hell's sake.  Reagan attracted a large amount of support from Democrats and actually managed to get stuff done with a strongly-Democratic House.  This one's on you.

 
As always I disagree with you about Reagan. Reagan didn’t create “government is the problem”; he famously said it but it was an idea that had been popular for years among conservatives. 

Ronald Reagan ran for President as a positive , optimistic conservative in the same way that Barack Obama ran for office as a positive, optimistic liberal. Both men governed as very reasonable centrists; Reagan was more effective than Obama only because Obama faced unbending political opposition. 
Yeah, but remember when Reagan said "The era of big government is over" and then the US became a Somalia-like hellscape run by hardened warlords?  

 
 Just so hard to come up with a liberal that has contributed to the divide for them. 
Liberals have certainly contributed to the divide, but honestly it’s hard for me to come up with a liberal equivalent for Rush Limbaugh (even more than McConnell, the man I hold the most responsible. I mean let’s face it, talk radio is almost entirely dominated by right wingers and he basically pioneered it. Rush championed the single most important meme that has resulted in our current situation: conservative distrust of the mainstream media. 

 
He’s obviously polarizing, but only one person in a cast of characters to blame.  How far are we going back?

 
Liberals have certainly contributed to the divide, but honestly it’s hard for me to come up with a liberal equivalent for Rush Limbaugh (even more than McConnell, the man I hold the most responsible. I mean let’s face it, talk radio is almost entirely dominated by right wingers and he basically pioneered it. Rush championed the single most important meme that has resulted in our current situation: conservative distrust of the mainstream media. 
:rolleyes:

 
Liberals have certainly contributed to the divide, but honestly it’s hard for me to come up with a liberal equivalent for Rush Limbaugh (even more than McConnell, the man I hold the most responsible. I mean let’s face it, talk radio is almost entirely dominated by right wingers and he basically pioneered it. Rush championed the single most important meme that has resulted in our current situation: conservative distrust of the mainstream media. 
Nice try. OK...Rush is powerful in his influence. But you know damn well Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi are every bit at fault for this divide as McConnel. 

 
Liberals have certainly contributed to the divide, but honestly it’s hard for me to come up with a liberal equivalent for Rush Limbaugh (even more than McConnell, the man I hold the most responsible. I mean let’s face it, talk radio is almost entirely dominated by right wingers and he basically pioneered it. Rush championed the single most important meme that has resulted in our current situation: conservative distrust of the mainstream media. 
And conservatives have every reason to distrust the MSM.

 
He’s obviously polarizing, but only one person in a cast of characters to blame.  How far are we going back?
True. He is more just the king of obstruction at this point.

Would be interesting to see who, as speaker, has held up more bills than him and then the whole SC thing.

 
As always I disagree with you about Reagan. Reagan didn’t create “government is the problem”; he famously said it but it was an idea that had been popular for years among conservatives. 

Ronald Reagan ran for President as a positive , optimistic conservative in the same way that Barack Obama ran for office as a positive, optimistic liberal. Both men governed as very reasonable centrists; Reagan was more effective than Obama only because Obama faced unbending political opposition. 
Reagan mainstreamed it and turned that conservative garbage into one of the two pillars (tax cuts = always good) of the current Republican Party.  Trump isn’t “creating” much of anything himself either, he’s simply carrying out ideas that have been popular amongst conservatives on talk radio for years.  

 
Inheritor of the Gingrich mantle.

Newt & the Heritage folks set about to galvanize the Republican party with their brand of politics, legitimize it electorally & legislatively as Reagan had in the executive branch and finally remove the "fringe" label from Goldwater conservatism. And that all was based in the word "no". They and the NRA and Grover Norquist used pledges to lock in their base so they wouldnt have to do a defector count on each bill, cloture to make sure they could blockade anything and riders to pollute every necessary bill in some way to their advantage. As highlighted by McConnell's Garland blockade & Kavanaugh ramrod - the most shameful arc of governance i've ever seen - they did their jobs well. Too well.

 
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Yeah, but remember when Reagan said "The era of big government is over" and then the US became a Somalia-like hellscape run by hardened warlords?  
Of course that’s not what I said, but you have to exaggerate my point to make it fit your narrative.  I think you’re being naive if you believe Trump is an out of nowhere figure holding the current Republican Party hostage.  IMO, he’s the result of 30 years of Reagan-esque dogma being fed to conservatives, and those 20 and 30 year olds from the 80s are now in their 50s and 60s and voting based on his “govt is the problem” philosophy.  In fairness to Reagan, I doubt he had any idea that generations of Republicans would have his brand of conservatism drilled into their psyches via Rush and future Republican leaders to the extent that it actually happened.  

 
Yeah, you missed the point entirely.  That wasn't a Reagan quote, but it could have been.  
Believe me, I'm well aware of Clinton's courting of conservative voters in the 90s.  That doesn't refute my point, that Reagan's demonization of gov't in the 80s and the subsequent worship of Reagan's demonization from Rush and the Republican Party the last couple decades are primary reasons for today's populist Trump Republican Party. 

 
This thread is about the creation of a political divide.  Reagan's philosophy was so popular across the aisle that Democrats picked it up.  That's the opposite of creating a divide.
This thread is about today's political divide, not what was popular amongst moderate Republicans in 1996.  And in context, that Clinton quote is not nearly the licensing of Reagan-esque demagoguery that you're suggesting it is. 

You don't think there's a straight line from Reagan to Trump, despite Reagan being by far the most influential and popular Republican of the last 40 years?  

 
You don't think there's a straight line from Reagan to Trump, despite Reagan being by far the most influential and popular Republican of the last 40 years?  
Nope.  I think Reagan is probably rolling over in his grave right now at what the GOP has become.

Reagan was a small government ideologue.  Trump is just a crony capitalist.

Reagan was pro-immigration.  Trump wants to build the wall.  (Reagan didn't like walls).

Reagan mostly supported free trade (with Japan as weird exception).  Trump actively courts trade wars.

Reagan fought Russian influence wherever it reared its head.  Trump, well, you know.

More generally, Reagan was a sunny guy who had good personal relationships with many of his political opponents.  Trump delivered a speech entitled "American Carnage."

 
Nope.  I think Reagan is probably rolling over in his grave right now at what the GOP has become.

Reagan was a small government ideologue.  Trump is just a crony capitalist.

Reagan was pro-immigration.  Trump wants to build the wall.  (Reagan didn't like walls).

Reagan mostly supported free trade (with Japan as weird exception).  Trump actively courts trade wars.

Reagan fought Russian influence wherever it reared its head.  Trump, well, you know.

More generally, Reagan was a sunny guy who had good personal relationships with many of his political opponents.  Trump delivered a speech entitled "American Carnage."
Yet here we are, after 30 years of Republicans worshipping Ronaldus Magnus as their leader and amplifying his anti-gov't and anti-tax messages.  I agree that Reagan would likely be disappointed in many aspects of the current GOP, but that doesn't absolve him of his vast contribution to the rise of Trump Conservatism.  

Do you deny that Reagan is the most influential Republican of the last 40 years?  If you agree that he is,  isn't it counterintuitive to suggest he doesn't bear any responsibility for the dumpster fire that the 2019 GOP is? 

 
Yet here we are, after 30 years of Republicans worshipping Ronaldus Magnus as their leader and amplifying his anti-gov't and anti-tax messages.  I agree that Reagan would likely be disappointed in many aspects of the current GOP, but that doesn't absolve him of his vast contribution to the rise of Trump Conservatism.  

Do you deny that Reagan is the most influential Republican of the last 40 years?  If you agree that he is,  isn't it counterintuitive to suggest he doesn't bear any responsibility for the dumpster fire that the 2019 GOP is? 
I do. I wish it were true. But the answer is Rush Limbaugh.

 
timschochet said:
I do. I wish it were true. But the answer is Rush Limbaugh.
Started way before Limbaugh tim.  I know it's hard to reflect and realize that everything wasn't as rosy as you remember it as a kid, but Roger Ailes was a Reagan political advisor.  Reagan's use of "welfare queens" wasn't that much difference than some of the demonization of minorities we see from Trump.  

 
Donald J. Trump✔@realDonaldTrump

 · May 23, 2019

The Democrats are getting nothing done in Congress. All of their effort is about a Re-Do of the Mueller Report, which didn’t turn out the way they wanted. It is not possible for them to investigate and legislate at the same time. Their heart is not into Infrastructure, lower.....

Donald J. Trump✔@realDonaldTrump

....drug prices, pre-existing conditions and our great Vets. All they are geared up to do, six committees, is squander time, day after day, trying to find anything which will be bad for me. A pure fishing expedition like this never happened before, & it should never happen again!
The House has passed bills to address most of the issues Trump mentioned in his tweet. They recently passed a bill to lower prescription drug prices, and another one to protect preexisting conditions. The House also passed nine bills on veterans issues this week alone.  On Thursday, Democrats tried to present Trump their infrastructure plan before he walked out of their meeting.

This is just recent stuff and doesn't include all the things we already knew about:

HR1 - Voting Bill
Several attempts to reopen the government
Border Security funding bills
Bill to fund $250 million for enhanced election security
Garland fiasco

This should tell you McConnell's hand in the goat rodeo that is our government at the moment.

 
Raise your hand if you did not see this coming:

Kyle Griffin‏Verified account @kylegriffin1

In a sharp reversal from 2016, Mitch McConnell has said that if a Supreme Court vacancy occurs during next year's presidential election, he would work to confirm a nominee appointed by Trump.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/28/politics/mitch-mcconnell-supreme-court-2020/index.html

Speaking at a Paducah Chamber of Commerce luncheon in Kentucky, McConnell was asked by an attendee, "Should a Supreme Court justice die next year, what will your position be on filling that spot?"

The leader took a long sip of what appeared to be iced tea before announcing with a smile, "Oh, we'd fill it," triggering loud laughter from the audience.

 
Raise your hand if you did not see this coming:

Kyle Griffin‏Verified account @kylegriffin1

In a sharp reversal from 2016, Mitch McConnell has said that if a Supreme Court vacancy occurs during next year's presidential election, he would work to confirm a nominee appointed by Trump.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/28/politics/mitch-mcconnell-supreme-court-2020/index.html

Speaking at a Paducah Chamber of Commerce luncheon in Kentucky, McConnell was asked by an attendee, "Should a Supreme Court justice die next year, what will your position be on filling that spot?"

The leader took a long sip of what appeared to be iced tea before announcing with a smile, "Oh, we'd fill it," triggering loud laughter from the audience.
Absolute scumbag. Most unamerican person in the country. 

 
Raise your hand if you did not see this coming:

Kyle Griffin‏Verified account @kylegriffin1

In a sharp reversal from 2016, Mitch McConnell has said that if a Supreme Court vacancy occurs during next year's presidential election, he would work to confirm a nominee appointed by Trump.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/28/politics/mitch-mcconnell-supreme-court-2020/index.html

Speaking at a Paducah Chamber of Commerce luncheon in Kentucky, McConnell was asked by an attendee, "Should a Supreme Court justice die next year, what will your position be on filling that spot?"

The leader took a long sip of what appeared to be iced tea before announcing with a smile, "Oh, we'd fill it," triggering loud laughter from the audience.
Shocked. 

 
It's really weird to see somebody change their mind on a process issue after their party comes into power.  I'm pretty sure that's never happened before.

 
It's really weird to see somebody change their mind on a process issue after their party comes into power.  I'm pretty sure that's never happened before.
In this case (allowing/not allowing the President to appoint a Supreme Court Justice during an election year based on whether or not he’s in your political party) its never happened before. 

 
In this case (allowing/not allowing the President to appoint a Supreme Court Justice during an election year based on whether or not he’s in your political party) its never happened before. 
Sure, but it's just the latest escalation in this area dating back to the Bork nomination.  

 
Sure, but it's just the latest escalation in this area dating back to the Bork nomination.  
It’s not really a straight road from then to now. And this strikes me as by far the biggest escalation, (except for McConnell’s successful move to block almost all of Obama’s lower court appointments and push through almost all of Trump’s- no one has ever done anything like this either.) 

 
It’s not really a straight road from then to now. And this strikes me as by far the biggest escalation, (except for McConnell’s successful move to block almost all of Obama’s lower court appointments and push through almost all of Trump’s- no one has ever done anything like this either.) 
You weren't paying attention during the Bush administration.

 

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