Tuesday, September 12, 2017

Seven Lifelong Hard Core Republicans Who Consistently Bash Trump (Unpleasant but informative)

Chicago Now ^ | September 11, 2017 | Paul M. Banks 

Right now, the fate of the country lies in the hands of "classic" or "throwback" Republicans. The Grand Old Party currently controls all three branches of government, but its "big tent" happens to include a lunatic fringe of "low information voters" and bigots that delivered the presidency to Donald Trump.

It's now up to the sane Republicans to try and wrestle power away from this subset, before the drive the entire country, and perhaps the world over the cliff.
You already know how low Trump's approval numbers are, and you have heard him ripped to shreds already by the left, far-left and the center. That's not especially novel or news-worthy, but when the criticism comes from the right of center, we must take notice.
Unfortunately, the resistance comes almost always from republican pundits and former lawmakers, not from current lawmakers. until that changes, don't expect much to change or for anything to get done
Ana Navarro
One of the original and most vocal "never Trump" conservatives, Navarro consistently hits out at Trump day in and day out, both on television and on social media. She was in town this summer, a featured speaker at the AHAA: The Voice of Hispanic Marketing conference.
Her session, entitled “Multiculturalism and Today’s Media: The 2016 Election and What It All Means,” was by far the best of the entire program. Navarro pointed out how unfortunate it is now that actual hate has been given a platform and mainstreamed. The 2016 election drive that point home.
"I think racism has been legitimated," she said.
"You used to lose your job, when you were revealed as a racist. You would lose your friends. It used to be embarrassing, it used to be shameful. Now it's not. That's how folks feel, they came out from under their rocks, and now they feel empowered."
"Now they are harassing our people and people who look different than them, or sound different than them, and that is now ok, because they see that a guy who campaigned on this is now sitting in the Oval Office, so then (they think) 'it is ok for me' to do it."
https://soundcloud.com/p-m-banks/ana-navarro-anne-vazquez-juan-lopez-at-2017-ahaa
At another point in the session, Navarro targeted the party in general, and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan in particular.
“We’re behaving in the most hypocritical ways. I was at the Romney retreat in Utah this weekend, and Paul Ryan a good friend of mine, was there, I love him, and I told him you are breaking my heart, because you were the last Republican hope for me, the guy I thought could bridge the gap, who spoke about poverty and compassionate conservatism and you’re no longer that.”
“Your brand is suffering tremendously, because you are unfairly tasked with having to work with Trump, and you’re giving him a pass,” Navarro articulated.
“He’ll probably get funding for a half a mile of wall made of legos, and he’s going to stand in front of it, and make a big deal about it, and his base will be very happy and say ‘look we’re going to have a wall.”
Steve Schmidt
Schmidt was the senior campaign strategist and advisor to Senator John McCain 's 2008 Presidential campaign. He is currently a political analyst for MSNBC and public relations worker for the U.S. Republican Party. While commentating for the network on inauguration day, Schmidt declared that Washington D.C. had just become "a three party town."
Given all the dysfunction we've seen between the three branches of government, this analysis was prescient.
David Frum
The former George W. Bush speechwriter and neoconservative editor at The Atlantic gave the best advice possible for those who might be losing their minds during this administration.
Follow the money and see where it goes- focus on Russia and the tax returns; nothing else. Don't get caught up chasing the shiny objects of insane tweets and childish bickering. Frum is the perfect embodiment of the adult-in-the-room that Republicans need.
William Kristol
The editor and publisher of the Weekly Standard consistently delivers all his attacks on Trump in an above board, family-friendly manner, even when the issues raised by Trump are NSFW.
With a President who's not even professional, let alone presidential, it can be difficult to embrace the Michelle Obama mantra "when they go low, we go high," but Kristol truly does.
Charles Krauthammer
Wow! A dissenting voice among the regularly featured guests on the state's news channel?
How is that possible?! Seriously, though at FOX News Channel, Krauthammer is as close as you'll find to a dissident. It took him awhile to get there, but he's definitely differentiated himself from the politburo style propagandists (think Tucker Carlson) on the network that specializes in "white grievance."
John Kasich
The #MAGA crowd consider him a sellout to the party, but the Ohio Governor is the classic example of how traditional Republicans act, think and behave. I know plenty of lifelong Democrats and progressives who crossed parties in their state's primaries to vote for Kasich. The motivation being of course to try and stop Trump at all costs.
Although it obviously wasn't enough, the plan was still solid.
Lindsey Graham
Many Republicans have indeed fallen prey to the Donald Trump cult, as they really seem to believe the President can do no wrong, but Graham has remained an individual.
He seems to have found the sweet spot, even more than McCain. Maybe Graham is the Republicans true "maverick" in the U.S. Senate?
Who did we leave out? Include Republicans that we missed in the comment section below-

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