Why Republicans Must Pay for Trump - by Joy-Ann Reid

[DonViejo]

Donald Trump is already the legitimate leader of just one half of one-third of the country. It’s time for the rest of us to act in concert and do what we need to do.

JOY-ANN REID
08.25.17 12:00 AM ET

Being away from New York and the news cycle for a few days gives you tremendous perspective and a bit of a mental health break, but the facts of our present situation become no less clear with distance from the cable news set. Donald Trump is no less a disaster this week than he was last week. And he will be no less a disaster next week than he is today.

Indeed Trump, lashing out at the media and whipping his audiences into a frenzy of xenophobia and Confederacy nostalgia, is in a sense not the president of the United States. True, he remains installed in office until by the grace of Bob Mueller he is compelled to resign or 2020 brings forward the better angels of American voters’ nature. But he no more leads this nation than a garden gnome grows your hydrangeas. He is an empty figurehead, mentally unraveling on live television and swinging wildly at the ghosts of his accidental victory and certain condemnation by history. To the extent he leads anyone, it’s little more than the same ragged cult of dead enders who’ve always been among us—who’ve swung back and forth between the parties for more than a century and who can’t bring themselves to regard the naked emperor in their midst or face the true meaning of their vote for him.

According to the latest Quinnipiac poll, Trump earns a lopsided disapproval rating of 59 percent, with just 35 percent of Americans applauding the job he is doing. At this stage it makes little sense to wonder what that 35 percent are thinking. Suffice it to say it may be down to pure tribal loyalty. Per Quinnipiac: “[e]very party, gender, education, age and racial group disapproves” of Trump’s performance, “except Republicans, who approve 77-14 percent; white voters with no college, approving 52-40 percent, and white men, who approve by a narrow 50-46 percent.” In other words, Trump is the leader of approximately one half of one third of the adult population of the United States.

I’m often asked as I move around the country, what can be done to stop the nightmare that Trump represents to the other two-thirds of Americans. I think the answer is fairly simple. As you march for the resistance or just watch the Trump dumpster fire burn, begin preparing to kick out the pillar propping him up: namely, the Republican Congress that serves as his sword and shield. These men and a few women have perfected the art of complaining to reporters on background, yet they have made clear that they will do nothing to bring the Trump Hindenburg to the ground before it incinerates itself and everyone in it. Their love of tax cuts and gutting health care is too great, and their fear of the small, hardened core of Trump enthusiasts in their states and districts is too strong.

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http://www.thedailybeast.com/why-the-republicans-must-pay-for-trump

[FM123]

1. Great article - Joy never disappoints. On tv or in print.

[dalton99a]

2. Kick.

[Achilleaze]

3. republicans must pay pay pay for what they have done

Lock all lying, grifting republican TreasonWeasels up in the Federal Pen to protect America from further damage.

[ATL Ebony]

28. LOL, cute

Well, it is a white house (of sorts) but the living will not be quite as easy. Hoping he gets to visit soon.

[oberliner]

4. According to the poll she cites, Trump's approval has gone up 6 points since Aug 2

Up to 39 from 32 in just two weeks. There was a similar swing in June (from 34 to 40). Also, he has a net +5 approval with white men.

Congress on the other hand has only a 10 percent approval rating.

[radius777]

25. yes, and 'disapproval' could also mean 'not alt-right enough'

Many of the deplorables thought that the minute Trump got in, the wall would go up instantly, mass deportations would rid the country of most latinos, all muslims would be banned, etc, etc.

The fact that Trump is largely an ineffective clown has doused some cold water on their fascist dreams.

[JimGinPA]

5. I Love Her!

She's brutal.

[vi5]

6. They won't. The minute he's gone, it will all go down the memory hole....

Republicans will pretend he never existed, and the media will happily enable them in that effort.

[oasis]

7. "Trump Hindenburg".

Apt description.

[joeybee12]

8. Rec for the title alone. Knr

[bdamomma]

9. K&R

very good Joy Reid.

[TNNurse]

10. I respect and love this woman more every day.

She absolutely speaks for this white, southern woman.

[SethH]

11. a truly great line

"But he no more leads this nation than a garden gnome grows your hydrangeas."

[Tanuki]

14. +1000

[libtodeath]

12. We all pay the price for this nightmare.

[DK504]

13. "True, he remains installed in office until by the grace of Bob Mueller"

And Robert Mueller needs to moves faster to flip Flynn faster along with Manafort to get this guy dragged out of the WH in chains.

[ewagner]

15. "Give us Congress and we'll take care of Trump"...

Simple

Direct

Marching orders for 2018. Hope we don't forget those words.

[bucolic_frolic]

16. She has a remarkable sense for the political winds

Dislodging the Pretender will be a daunting task

[Cosmocat]

17. 1,000,000 percent correct

People need to get on board with tying Trump around the Republcan party's neck, because the only way this POS got the air to be POTUS was the groundwork they laid for decades separating their weak minded base from reality.

[Wounded Bear]

18. K & R ......great read! nt

[mjvpi]

19. Call your Republican Senators and Representatives. THE ORANGE WON'T WASH OFF BY 2018!

I have been calling mine every week and letting them know that for practical and historical purposes THEY ARE TRUMP. With what was apparent to a majority of Americans on Election Day, coupled with what has been uncovered since the election, added to what anyone who is paying attention can see on the horizon it should be an obvious state of affairs. By siding with Trump to hold on to power they are Trump.

[BigmanPigman]

22. The GOP won't impeach him as long as he will pass their agenda even if Mueller finds himself crimes.

I keep calling the senators (I am calling on them now to release the transcripts from the Steele Dossier). His base won't budge much since they voted for him due to his personality which won't change. We have to work on getting 2018 elections (volunteer to make calls, knock on doors, donate $, etc) as well as getting the GOP on record saying he isn't fit to serve and is dangerous and unstable. Also, we must resist like we did with the ACA repeal, only much bigger. We have to pressure the GOP contantly.

[calimary]

24. Welcome to DU, mjvpi!

We have to laminate them together - figuratively speaking, of course.

I find that my heart is hardening against trump supporters, too. I look at him, knowing how vile, vulgar, and utterly out-of-his-mind he is, and then I look at them and think - "so you're okay with this, 'eh?" That question is immediately followed by another question: "so what does that say about YOU, then?" And the answer to that one is - "NOTHING very good. NOTHING very good, at ALL."

[Justice]

20. Well said!

[SergeStorms]

21. Trump has fallen below....

that magical '80% of Republicans' number, where he was considered a safe bet for the GOP not to abandon him. I see nothing in the future that could possibly reverse those numbers. Abandon away, GOP. Bury that mother-fucker. FINALLY! Do the job YOU were elected to do. Wrest the reins of control for our country out of the hands of a simpleton/madman. NOW!

[calimary]

23. You tell it, girlfriend!

I love Joy Reid. Wish they'd use her more, and better, and more prominently.

[Mike Nelson]

26. Excellent advice...

... Joy is a treasure!

[spooky3]

27. I'm not following her arithmetic.

I don't see how she gets from 35% approval to "one half of one third..."