One need look no further than Rep. Hurd to understand the true nature of all who describe themselves

[Atticus]

as "Republican".

He is often described by progressives as "one of the reasonable Republicans". He is an obviously intelligent man who has frequently criticized Trump. He is not seeking re-election because his party has become so extremely Trumpian that he knows he would not survive the primary.

Yet, this afternoon, as the impeachment investigation hearings drew to a close, he genuflected at the Altar of Trump and recited the mantra that is no doubt tattooed on the inside of his eyelids: "Trump did nothing impeachable. Nothing to see here. Move along!"

That is the price of being a Republican today: one's very soul.

[handmade34]

1. I was one of those

and I am very disappointed that we now have NO reasonable Republicans

[olegramps]

15. Honest Republican is the ultimate oxymoron.

[olegramps]

20. Judging from Hurd's ethnicity I would classifiy him as highly questionable.

His ancestry of having an African-American father and his embrace of those who openly discriminate against those of his heritage solely based on race is more the puzzling. Just how does a person support those who openly discriminate against blacks to the extent of the passage of laws to prevent his fellow minorities the constitutional right to vote and pledge his allegiance to a party that pursues these bigoted practices. I can only conclude that he is a crass opportunist whose major attraction and acceptance by a party of racists is that he is willing to close his eyes to evilness to advance his own self interests. It should not be a surprise that he is failing to hold a man who is without morals accountable. Personally, I have no respect for this type of trash.

[oasis]

2. Squishy on principles. That should land him a nice job in the private sector.

[happy feet]

14. Exactly!

[gibraltar72]

3. Congressman Turd has proven to be just another cult member.

[Blue_true]

4. He is looking toward his next set of paychecks. nt

[erronis]

8. Hey, buddy. How about a nice non-traceable bank deposit? Oh, you want cash? Fine.

[madinmaryland]

5. Republicans always put party before country.

[Rebl2]

6. So true

I used to think he was moderate, but no longer.

[mountain grammy]

7. No republican is moderate.

[erronis]

9. I used to think that there were moderates in that party. But maybe my memory has failed.

Maybe those that acted like they wanted to do bi-partisan bills were just pulling the wool over our eyes.

Maybe this is the "long game" infiltration of russian/etc. subversives into our democracy.

Maybe "they" are winning.

[mountain grammy]

10. There used to be moderates..

I'm thinking of Everett Dirksen, Margaret Chase Smith.. I'm sure there were a few more.

[tblue37]

27. Dwight Eisenhower, Jon Anderson, many others. Also, moderate Republicans helped pass the 1964

Civil Rights Act. There did use to be moderate Republicans, but over the past 50-60 years, the two parties have sorted themselves into polar opposites, and the GOP has become progressively more extreme, and they have moved the Overton Window ever rightward.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

12. Yes there is no moderation left in republicans

That's why stuff like bipartisanship
Scares me,it just excuses abuse of power and it smacks of denial of how crazy, depraved and corrupt republicans really are.

They are narcissitic sociopathic monsters abusing this country and thinking they'll get away with it.
Like the asshole husband that beats his wife depends on her denial and kindness and forgiveness just to beat her yet again.

[tblue37]

11. Big K&R. nt

[world wide wally]

13. Never, ever, ever ever, EVER trust a Republican

[Stonepounder]

16. The so-called 'Republican Party' no longer exists.

The Republican Party is actually a Mafia Party made up of a group of individuals who don't give a hoot about the Constitution, our Democratic form of government, our Republic, or anything other than their desire for Oligarchy. They are perfectly willing to pay their dues to Trump if that moves them into the top 1% of wealth and power. They don't give a damn about saving the planet or anything else, they just want money and power. They are willing to lie, cheat, steal, run criminal enterprise and anything else just so they can be part of the global mafia.

Humanity is at its end point, while many of us recognize that global warming is going to pretty much wipe out humanity, along with most other forms of advanced life, the oligarchs don't care about anything but themselves. They don't even care about their descendents, only that they get theirs.

We had a good run while it lasted. Ike was the last principled Republican President and there are no principled Republicans left in Congress. It took Trump and the GOP less than three years to destroy the USA as we knew it and I don't think we will be able to recover.

Just feeling hopeless these days.

[True Blue American]

26. I truly wish I could disagree with you.

We used to be able to trust the Supreme Court. That died under this decision.

[tblue37]

28. I believe that both the US and civilization itself are like a rabbit shot on the run. It keeps going

for awhile in the same direction, but in reality it is already dead. (The rabbit image is from The Floating Opera, by John Barth.)

[Karadeniz]

17. Hurd showed his values.

[PCIntern]

18. They showed him his photos from

The Notell Motel

[lame54]

19. He is either a liar or an idiot - his choice

[Lonestarblue]

21. I genuinely cannot understand the loyalty to Trump.

Not every Republican can be on Russia’s payroll, and not every Republican has done things inviting blackmail. Why are Republicans who are retiring and likely will not run for election again so averse to recognizing overwhelming evidence of Trump’s bribery scheme, which is actually just one of his many criminal actions? Hurd is young, and he may not want to burn his bridges with the Republican Party leaders, but even those who are at the end of their careers are refusing to recognize the danger of the precedent Trump is setting for future presidents.

The only reason I can think of is that Republicans are so confident of their ability to manipulate our elections, with Russia’s help, that they will never have to deal with a Democratic president and the investigations that might come about.

[ecstatic]

22. Your last paragraph expresses my fear as well. Nt

[Kid Berwyn]

23. Will Hurd got money from Lev Parnas.

When exposed, he sent it to the Treasury.

https://www.rollcall.com/news/campaigns/republicans-scramble-dispose-campaign-cash-giuliani-associates

[Buzz cook]

24. Congress members need to look for cushy jobs after they retire

They are much more likely to get wingnut welfare if they toe the Trump line.

[Rstrstx]

25. He's been a real disappointment

One of the most moderate Repubs, he's an ex-CIA guy who has to know what kind of slime is going on in this administration and he's acting as just another Yes man. Bigtime letdown from a guy who was one of the few Repubs I used to somewhat respect, he even did a cross-state road trip with Beto a few years ago and was one of the few Repub "no" votes on the early Obamacare repeal efforts in 2017.

The 2018 race must have been a wake-up call, one poll had him up by about 25 points and he won only after tiny but blood-red Medina County corrected their vote tallies and gave him about 1200 votes and he eked out about a 900 vote win (don't think it was foul play, most Hill Country counties are incredibly red and their totals looked right). On the bright side he was probably the only Republican that could have won TX-23, so this will be almost a sure Dem pickup in 2020, especially if the Repubs nominate anyone to the right of Hurd (spoiler alert: they're ALL to the right of Hurd).

But sadly apparently every Republican has their price.