The Cult of Donald Trump

[Albany Rifles]

They are the Party of Reek.

[InExile]

several weeks ago, a lot of media commentators were going on and on about how there was gonna be this impending civil war within the GOP led by Lynne Cheney against the Trumpists.

here's the state of play on that:

- Arizona, Pennsylvania, Oregon, Wyoming, Michigan, Minnesota, Wyoming, Hawaii state GOP have essentially sworn undying loyalty to Trump, placing even more Trump loyalists within positions of power in their party and attempting to oust anyone who voted for impeachment or talked about moving on from Trump
- Texas GOP literally uses a QAnon slogan ("we are the storm") as their own, while talking about secession
- House minority leader McCarthy went from condemning the attempted coup and dressing down Trump...to dressing down Lynne Cheney, and then flying down to Mar a Lago to beg Trump's forgiveness
- Impeachment conviction went from "looks like McConnell might come along and bring a few senators with him!" to 5 Senators, not including McConnell
- Matt Gaetz is now leading the House GOP effort to eliminate Cheney and actively campaigning against her in her own state
- Adam Kinzinger, who talked a brave game about rallying the GOP to fight against Trumpism, is now giving sad interviews to WaPo with quotes like "The only hope you have is to accept the fact that you're already dead."

in short, the rioters might not have succeeded in undoing the Presidential election, but they made damn sure the GOP remains completely in thrall to Trump.

Yes, the 'civil war' for the soul of GOP is over. Well, atleast it lasted a couple of weeks perhaps.....

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opini...n/?arc404=true

[InExile]

It looks like the Republicans have learnt their lesson from 2020. Next time they have to steal the election better!

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/pol...s-out-n1256097

[Bigfella]

It looks like the Republicans have learnt their lesson from 2020. Next time they have to steal the election better!

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/pol...s-out-n1256097

Watch for repeates of this and a dozen other ways to steal an election to be rolled out in red states over the next 2 years. The GOP wants to make sure it doesn't have to fear the will of the electorate.

[InExile]

Watch for repeates of this and a dozen other ways to steal an election to be rolled out in red states over the next 2 years. The GOP wants to make sure it doesn't have to fear the will of the electorate.

Yes, I have been told that I am underestimating the strength of American institutions, but I am sure that the next time the Trumpists try to steal an election they will be far better prepared. Governors who might reject a slate of Democratic electors, legislators who appoint an alternate slate, election officials at all levels causing mischief; maybe even a vice President who refuses to certify an election. Perhaps even a few well placed judges deciding crucial cases in favor of the Trumpists.

I still don't think the Trumpists will overthrow the system or the Republic, but I do think they could cause a full blown constitutional crisis on par with 1876.

[JRT]

We should be careful about generalizations, as the Trump nutters are not necessarily all sharing the same interests.


There are the red-hatted nutters...



And there are the nutter insurrectionists...



There are some nutters who admire and imitate Trump's exotic hair styling...



And now some of the nutters have begun to hate Trump, resenting that he gave up and vacated the White House...

[TopHatter]

And now some of the nutters have begun to hate Trump, resenting that he gave up and vacated the White House...

Sure does suck when you finally realize you've been an easy mark for a con man all along.

[JRT]

Sure does suck when you finally realize you've been an easy mark for a con man all along.

Some who embraced Trump continue to do so...

[TopHatter]

Some who embraced Trump continue to do so...

After all the vile shit Trump said about Cruz and his family...Ted Cruz lapped it all up and begged for more. The perfect Trump follower.

[Albany Rifles]

Not sure where to put this....which is a common statement these days.....but one of the more conservative members of the Senate is being censured by his state party for not bowing to Trump.


https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/04/polit...ure/index.html

Sasse's message to Nebraska GOP as he faces censure: 'Politics isn't about the weird worship of one dude'

By Caroline Kelly, CNN



Updated 6:32 AM ET, Fri February 5, 2021

(CNN)Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska stood firm against leaders of his state's Republican Party on Thursday after they advanced a censure resolution against him for decrying efforts to overturn the election results and then-President Donald Trump's involvement in the US Capitol riot.

In a video addressing members of the Nebraska GOP State Central Committee, Sasse urged the party to accept critics of the former President and remain true to conservatism as the party's future.


"Let's be clear: The anger in this state party has never been about me violating principle or abandoning conservative policy -- I'm one of the most conservative voters in the Senate -- the anger's always been simply about me not bending the knee to one guy," Sasse said.

Sasse's comments come as the Republican Party at large grapples with warring factions at odds over whether to continue the party in Trump's likeness or forge a new path veering from the former President's legacy."January 6th is going to leave a scar," Sasse said, referencing the date of the violent insurrection at the US Capitol, where rioters encouraged by Trump sought to overturn the results of the election. "For 220 years, one of the most beautiful things about America has been our peaceful transfer of power. But what Americans saw three weeks ago was ugly, shameful mob violence to disrupt a constitutionally mandated meeting of Congress to affirm that peaceful transfer of power."

CNN has reached out to the Nebraska GOP for comment.

The resolution, posted by News Channel Nebraska Central, finds that Sasse "warrants and shall incur the penalty of CENSURE" to be imposed by the party on February 13. The state party censured Sasse in 2016 for not sufficiently supporting Trump, according to the senator's office.

Taylor Sliva, Sasse campaign spokesman, said Thursday night that the committee hadn't shared the resolution with them but that they had seen it in News Channel Nebraska Central.
"You are welcome to censure me again, but let's be clear about why this is happening: It's because I still believe -- as you used to -- that politics isn't about the weird worship of one dude," Sasse said in the video. "The party could purge Trump skeptics, but I'd like to convince you that not only is this 'civic cancer' for the nation, it's also terrible for our party."
Sasse has been a vocal critic of the former President's claims casting doubt on the election results' veracity. In December, Sasse wrote on Facebook that he had been urging his Republican colleagues to "reject" objecting to the certification process of the Electoral College and then-President-elect Joe Biden's victory, adding that talk of objecting to the process is a "dangerous ploy."
"The president and his allies are playing with fire. They have been asking -- first the courts, then state legislatures, now the Congress -- to overturn the results of a presidential election," Sasse said at the time. "They have unsuccessfully called on judges and are now calling on federal officeholders to invalidate millions and millions of votes. If you make big claims, you had better have the evidence. But the president doesn't and neither do the institutional arsonist members of Congress who will object to the Electoral College vote."Sasse's intra-state clash comes as the national Republican Party faces its own internal conflicts. On Wednesday, Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, a lifelong ideological conservative, fought off a challenge to her leadership post from members of her own party after she voted to impeach Trump.

At the same time, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, a conspiracy theorist who thinks the GOP's problem is that it lost the presidential election too gracefully, got a pass from Republican colleagues despite earlier promoting a slew of violent views and conspiracy theories. The full Democratic-led House voted to strip Greene of her committee assignments Thursday.

[TopHatter]

Not sure where to put this....which is a common statement these days.....but one of the more conservative members of the Senate is being censured by his state party for not bowing to Trump.


https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/04/polit...ure/index.html

You never, ever, fail to bow down before the cult leader.

For the rest of us living in reality:

“Never let yourself be persuaded that any one Great Man, any one leader, is necessary to the salvation of America. When America consists of one leader and 158 million followers, it will no longer be America.”
― Dwight D. Eisenhower

[Bigfella]

You never, ever, fail to bow down before the cult leader.

For the rest of us living in reality:

“Never let yourself be persuaded that any one Great Man, any one leader, is necessary to the salvation of America. When America consists of one leader and 158 million followers, it will no longer be America.”
― Dwight D. Eisenhower

Sure, but for the moment there are only 74 million followers, so that's good....right?

[DOR]

Sure, but for the moment there are only 74 million followers, so that's good....right?

32 straight years without winning the popular vote, so yeah, that's good-ish.

[TopHatter]

32 straight years without winning the popular vote, so yeah, that's good-ish.

Well, they did win once during those 32 years. So they've got that going for them....which is nice.

[TopHatter]

Diehard QAnon followers think Trump is secretly still president and carrying out executions at White House

Some of the most zealous followers of QAnon conspiracy theories now believe that Donald Trump is still president and is carrying out executions at the White House.

Believers in the unhinged theory that Mr Trump is Q — a leader sent to save America from a Satanic cabal of cannibals involved in a child abuse ring — were left stunned in January after he departed the White House.

Following the inauguration of Joe Biden as president, many followers have admitted to having been caught up in the fanaticism of the conspiracy, and have spoken of how they now feel they were deceived.

However, some refuse to let go and continue to grasp at wild new theories.

Ben Collins of NBC News highlighted one currently circulating amongst Facebook’s QAnon community members — that Mr Trump never actually left office, is secretly still president, and is carrying out public hangings of his “Deep State” enemies in front of the White House.

The alleged “evidence” for this theory is a doctored image that merges together photos of the security fencing around the executive mansion, what appears to be stands built for the inauguration parade, and an image that shows public executions in Kuwait in 2013.

The post refers to “10 Days of Darkness” thought by believers to indicate the executions have been ongoing for ten days.

Comments under the post are a mixture of confusion, disbelief, and bloodlust.

“Love it, love it, love it!!!” writes one person.

“Saw the gallows picture last week… but 3 hung in daylight! Wow,” says another.

“I hope these are NOT test dummies hanging there,” says a third.

The outrageous conspiracy theories and baseless allegations spread by QAnon followers were drawn into sharp focus when Marjorie Taylor Greene was elected to Congress as a representative for Georgia.

An early believer in QAnon, Ms Greene’s social media accounts showed she had called for the executions of prominent Democrats, and questioned the events of 9/11 and whether the Sandy Hook and Parkland school shootings had occurred.

In a House vote on Thursday she was removed from committee assignments. She has since attempted to distance herself from such beliefs, claiming that is not who she is now.

How the party has dealt with Ms Green shows a growing schism forming amongst Republicans between traditional conservatives and proponents of wild conspiracy theories, or those who do not disavow them outright.

Mr Trump ceased to be president and midday on 20 January. He currently resides at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida.
_____________

Remember, these people are only a "fringe" of the Right.