GOP is in full-blown civil war... What will this lead to?

[davidn3600]

This is my opinion on the whole mess...
What's playing out right now is something that has been brewing within the Republican party for more than a decade. The party is now in full-blown civil war. And no, it's not Donald Trump that started it. This issue goes far deeper than one crazy candidate. This is a war between the establishment class of the GOP and the grassroots conservative voter. The gloves are off now. They are now openly disclosing their hate and disgust for each other. The party is coming undone. But this had its start many years ago...

We saw the cracks of this forming in 2008. John McCain was the more establishment candidate. And he picked Sarah Palin as a running mate who was supposed to unite the more fringe conservative base who wasn't all that enthusiastic with McCain. McCain of course lost the election. And the grassroots became angry when the establishment blamed Palin for the loss. This helped give rise to the Tea Party whose primary goal was to knock out establishment candidates in primaries. And it was somewhat successful. Many in the establishment were thrown out (remember Eric Cantor?). This further opened the cracks. In 2012, those cracks re-appeared during the GOP convention as the establishment openly declared war on Ron Paul delegates threatening to lock them out. Now in 2016, Trump has blown those cracks wide open. The voters have rebelled against the establishment. It is now a full-blown war that could literally tear the party apart as the factions fight for control.

Members of the traditional GOP establishment are distancing themselves and withdrawing support for Trump because of this video. To tell you the truth, this is complete nonsense. The video is vulgar and not something a leader running for president should be saying. It's misogynistic and disrespectful to women. But it really is nothing we haven't heard before. What Trump is saying truly is "locker room banter." If you go into any men's locker room in any college in the nation, the same type of things will be said by some of the guys in there. I HAVE HEARD SUCH TALK MYSELF! It's typical jock behavior. These type of guys don't have much respect for women and think they can get any woman in the world. They like to broadcast that to every other guy they come in contact with because it makes them feel more macho and "alpha." I wouldnt be surprised if male congressmen have the same discussions about women in the men's rooms of the Capitol. You probably don't want to hear what they talk about in there.

But heck, turn on any rap music and those lyrics refer to women as "bitches and hoes" all the time. Do women mind those lyrics? Apparently not since if you go into any dance club you'll find women dancing to those lyrics. Nor do I see Democrats all that upset at such music.
So there is a lot of fake outrage here driven by politics on all sides. Any one who gets on TV and they suddenly act like they've never heard such vulgarity before is a complete idiot and a liar. I mean, give me a break. You can't be that sheltered.

But back to the GOP... the Republicans in the establishment are the ones withdrawing support and endorsements. The Trump supporters that have been favoring him since day one haven't budged. As a result, the establishment is now getting booed by their voters. Paul Ryan was booed yesterday. Senate candidate Joe Heck in Nevada was also booed for withdrawing support. Matt Drudge yesterday had a picture of Paul Ryan with the caption under it "Pussy whipped."

It doesn't end there. If you go to the right wing blogs and right wing sites....the knives are now out. Most seem to be saying that the outrage of the Trump comments is fake and a ploy by the #NeverTrump crowd. They accuse that the establishment would rather scuttle the party and give the election to Hillary and make deals with her than allow the grassroots to take control of the party. That's what many conservatives are starting to believe. And they are literally ready to eat their own. Go look at Breitbart or FreeRepublic if you don't believe me on this.

What does this mean? Democrats will benefit, at least in the short-term. But I would refrain from gloating about this. Because the Democrats have similar cracks forming between the grassroots and the establishment. That was clearly evident during the primaries and at the convention. It may tear open in this party by 2024 as well. Especially because if the GOP were to fall apart, many moderate Republicans will be suddenly becoming Democrats to be more viable. That will keep the party at the center. And that won't play well with the left. We also have enthusiasm problems and a youth that is increasingly becoming disenchanted with politics all together.
Remember, political parties are not static entities. They are always changing and evolving. Alliances change. Issues change. Platforms change. We could be witnessing the start of a political transformation right now.

Where this ultimately ends up is anyone's guess.... When the Whig Party disintegrated in the 1850s it didn't lead to one-party rule. It didn't lead to peace and harmony. The Republican party was born and the country fell into Civil War. The chips don't always fall the way you think they should.

[underpants]

1. Look out below

[underthematrix]

2. Hopefully a BLUE CONGRESS

[Rex]

3. I'm loving it!

MORE MORE!

[socialist_n_TN]

4. I thought and said for several years now that there is a realignment.........

going on in American politics which will result, at least for a while, into four distinct "parties". The two that you mentioned for the Republicans and the two that you mentioned for the Democrats. I believe that eventually, the establishment politicians of both parties will unite into a "centrist" party and you'll have three, an actual left party, an actual right party, and the centrists.

And I've also said that the Dems won't split unless the Republican do first. Trump might be the sign of the Republicans splitting, so I figure in a few years (I don't think it will take as long as 8 years actually) the Dems will split too.

[Major Nikon]

5. This is your captain speaking...

[cagefreesoylentgreen]

6. I'm nervous

While part of me is looking on the GOP's dissolution with glee, I also know Trump has really whipped up the crazies. The kind of people who, at the word go, would happily kill, maim, and destroy a.k.a. terrorism, in the name of their orange god. As someone who is not white, I'd be one of those high on their hit list.

Like their orange god, the deplorables have nothing else to lose, and that makes them dangerous to the very principles of democracy.

I can only hope that all 100% (and not 99.9%, because .1% is still too many) will stay too chickenshit to do anything.

[Major Nikon]

9. Cause and effect

Trump wasn't the cause of the crazies getting stirred up, he's the effect. With any GOP loss, no matter how it happens, you can count on some of them going off the reservation just as they have for the past several decades. The problem with that tactic is it's just going to cause more people to disassociate with their beloved ideology.

[roamer65]

16. There are whites who will fight for your rights as an American.

We are all Americans, each and every one of us.

[NNadir]

7. I'm an old man, have lived a long time, having been in locker rooms in the 1960's.

I have never heard a man indicate that he could or would sexually assault a woman and get away with it, much less indicate that he had done so.

The appropriate thing would be to have such a person arrested for sexual assault, which is a crime.

I am certainly glad I have never been in the kind of locker rooms that you indicate you've been in:

But it really is nothing we haven't heard before. What Trump is saying truly is "locker room banter." If you go into any men's locker room in any college in the nation, the same type of things will be said by some of the guys in there. I HAVE HEARD SUCH TALK MYSELF! It's typical jock behavior. These type of guys don't have much respect for women and think they can get any woman in the world.

It's not "normal;" it's not "ordinary;" it's not legal.

[davidn3600]

12. But what do you think our leaders are talking about in the mens room or on the golf course?

Somehow, I seriously doubt they are talking about how make healthcare more affordable for you and I.

But yeah, I've heard guys make lewd comments about women. I heard it in high school, college, and even in jobs.

Look how many women will tell you how they've been catcalled, touched, or groped. If men are doing that while in the presence of women, do you truly think they get respectful of women in the presence of men?

Im sorry to break your bubble...but Trump is NOT the only male to do this. Maybe you got lucky and didnt have to hear any of this. But it is not uncommon.

[NNadir]

14. Um...well...um...it depends on what "bubble" you choose to live in.

You apparently hang out around with a different class of men that I have for most of my life.

To repeat: I have never, not once, ever, heard of a man who announces that he assaults women to my face. I'm not claiming that I haven't heard sexist remarks; hell they're on TV; but I have never heard a man tell me proudly that he physically gropes women.

In fact I haven't heard a man tell me with either pride or shame that he has groped women.

If you have, well, I'm sorry that you live in that kind of world. I guess I'm lucky I don't. I'm sure you don't want my advice, but I would suggest you really ought to change your environment.

[kentuck]

8. Yep. The latest video is like the shots fired upon Fort Sumter...

It is not up to us to tell the GOP (Grab Our PeePees) how to vote or how to run their Party.

But, they are the ones that created Trump and his followers.

They surrendered their principles to those, like the Tea Party, that believed in angry and harmful ideas about what America should stand for?

If they don't dissolve into a civil war, it is going to be very difficult for them to put Humpty Dumpty back together again, in my opinion.

[Initech]

10. Donald Trump is what we get when we devalue education, a staple of the modern GOP.

A properly educated populace would not embrace a leader who belongs on the Jerry Springer show.

[EL34x4]

11. Good article. Thanks for taking the time to post.

Glad I'm not the only one who has found much of the outrage towards Trump's comments to be insincere and manufactured. I'll admit to rolling my eyes when grown men claimed to be "sick to their stomach" over what Trump said.

As to what will this lead to? Well, those millions of mostly white men who will vote for Donald Trump next month aren't going anywhere. They will still remain our neighbors, coworkers, family members, --and possibly friends (even if we didn't know it).

They've been emboldened. And they're really, really pissed off.

Assuming Trump loses (and I'm not popping the cork yet), their first target of anger will be against the GOP establishment --Ryan, McCain, Lee, etc. who they feel betrayed them.

After this, who knows? It's going to be interesting though. And the people here who believe that the death of the GOP will be something to celebrate might want to temper their glee. The GOP may be dead but the millions who voted for Trump will remain very much alive.

[Cresent City Kid]

13. A party designed to benefit the few needing the votes of many was always unsustainable.

They thought they had it made in the 80's with landslide victories in presidential elections. The New Deal dominance of the Dems seemed to be over and they set the economic way back machine to 1890. To achieve electoral majorities, a small part of the sales pitch was to suggest that easing taxes on the wealthy would pump money into the economy. The main thrust was to tap into those who were unsettled by the social changes of the 60's and 70's. They had to do this to get the numbers, they couldn't just run on "We're in it to help the rich and that's all."

In the 90's the game changed. They had a formidable opponent in Bill Clinton who had the charisma that previous Democrats lacked plus he made persuasive arguments backed by a deep knowledge of policy. For the republicans, it was no longer enough to sell what they were selling, they had to bring Democrats down as well, especially Clinton, giving birth to the permanent campaign of Rush, Fox News et al. They worked the masses into a froth over Bill and Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, Barak Obama, and general Dem policies like helping people and peace.

They got what they wanted in a mob that will never consider a Democratic president as legitimate, but a mob is a mob, results may vary. What cracked the door open for what we have now is the ridiculously large field of 17 candidates letting the mob coalesce around one guy, the one the party least wanted.

[roamer65]

15. 3 parties will form.

An ultra right wing, white nationalist party.
A centrist party of old moderate Repubs and right leaning Dems.
A left wing democratic socialist party of FDR Dems.

If the country actually stays together...

[dembotoz]

17. Could see this