Did not see that one coming.
âsanest thing in the GOP raceâ == âStill crazier than independent presidential candidate John McAfee halfway through a month-long bath salt bingeâ
I would say that he is not actually crazy at all, he is just very very far to the right. Crazy is highly correlated with extreme politics but it isnât the same thing.
I was was basing a lot of my assessment of craziness here on the republican fieldâs general position on climate change, which is about on a par with believing that the earth is flat, the CIA is beaming mind-control rays into your house, and your milk is curdled because your neighbor is a witch.
I just googled it, however, and it turns out that Linsey Graham actually doesnât hew to the party line on that one. Chris Christie, despite being an unapologetic thug and a fascist, is also not crazy, so Iâm going to have to back down from my previous hyperbole, and say that only 12 out of the current 14 republican presidential candidates are crazier than John McAfee after heâs spent all day shoving bath salts up his butt.
Must be tough being Lindsey⌠GrahamâŚ
I liked the fact that he seemed genuinely angry at the stupidity.
I didnât like the fact that he still frame sit all as a question of âelectability.â Whatâs wrong with the forced deportation of American citizens? It will lose us an election!
But I do have to say. . . I was impressed by his sanity.
I suppose he bought into David Brookâs âpink rugâ narrative, and heâs hoping to be seen as the âelectableâ guy the Republican voters actually vote for when they admit to themselves that Trump just isnât going to work in the real world. (Not that I necessarily buy that argument.) Iâm kind of surprised itâs Graham, as he seemed like he was perfectly happy to go along with the usual crazy Republican nonsense, but I guess that really just shows how much more extreme the presidential race has skewed than even the normal Republican extremist rhetoric.
He doesnât want to piss off the voters who whole-heartedly believe all that fascist stuff sounds great - he doesnât want to actually reject those ideas, he just wants to paint himself as the opportunistic candidate who can actually get elected, I think. Itâs less an angry denunciation of Tea Party values, but of strategy.
I have actually read about prominent Republicans who are retired from public life saying, in effect, their own party has become completely immoral. I suppose theyâll be the first ones up against the wall.
Def:
/'krÄzÄ/
- mentally deranged, especially as manifested in a wild or aggressive way.
- Extremely enthusiastic.
I'd say it's both pretty close & easily understood why that word would be used to describe the republicant presidential contenders.
They take Trump seriously. So using that word on their base is understandable - and actually appropriate in that use case.
What gets me is, up until recently the presidential candidate was supposed to be the best of the best. Regan proved that if you could act the part, people would believe it. Bush proved that anyone can do it and not even act the part, but it was the involvement of that nutball from Alaska that seemed to change it to something your âAverage Joeâ could/should do.
With âCitizens Unitedâ I donât see how it will ever change back. If you make too much sense, youâll be unelectable. Crazy is the new norm.
Welcome to the Hyperpolarized World. The centerisms donât have traction anymore.
Itâs 1968, but for the GOP.
Is it having a girlâs name that makes him so mad?
Is that because the true centre (but not the Overton Window centre) is to the left of most of the Democrat politicians?
I do wonder what the candidates would say if they did not have to say crazy things to get the support of the base. (I wonder the same about Iranian politicians too). If only there really was some truth drug that could be administered via the air con. Of course what follows has no relation to reality, itâs just my biased imagination.
Carson: âIâm a retired neurosurgeon, of course I believe in evolution. People like Darwin went to make my discipline possible. And when youâve seen what Iâve seen in my career, youâll stop believing in Satan and start believing in bad development.â
Bush: âMy family are oil billionaires. Whose interests do you think I support?â
If more republicans talked like this I might actually take them seriously. Things like this make me want to actually find out where Graham stands on issues, not just dismiss him out of hand as a wing nut. First though the republicans would have to take him seriously. I wonât waste my time till then.
Could you even imagine a presidential debate between McAfee and Trump?
And even if it were a genuine grasp at a moral position. . . too little, too late!
If not they had spoken up sooner!
