Scarborough: Republicans on the Hill were panicked behind the scenes by Trump's performance today.

[highplainsdem]

Link to tweet

FWIW, Republicans on the Hill were panicked behind the scenes by Trump's performance today.

Then they're not quite as stupid as they usually seem to be.

Time for them to do something about this disaster they've enabled.

[still_one]

1. They are stupid if they don't act

[SummerSnow]

7. and they won't act. All they do is whisper behind the scenes. Party loyalty

[still_one]

21. Sorry to have to agree with you on that

[dalton99a]

60. Yep. They will not do a damn thing.

[Eyeball_Kid]

71. Their complacency is the glue that holds Trumpy's House of Cards together.

[renate]

78. very well put

[SharonAnn]

11. And yet Trump is buoyed by the result. Thinks he did really well.

[IphengeniaBlumgarten]

24. I think they are afraid of their constituents

Right now there is still a sizable chunk of the electorate that doesn't pay much attention (or watches Fox exclusively) and still thinks Trump is just fine. Some of these folks seem to admire him to the point of violence, even. And they would be very angry with any of their elected reps who try to curtail him and certainly not vote for them the next time around.

If it was clear that Trumps popular support was eroding rapidly, Republican reps would suddenly find the courage to act. I'm sure they would much rather have Pence. And at this point, I would too.

[LisaM]

50. I bet the Secret Service would, too.

I just read the WaPo article about how much this peripatetic family is costing the taxpayers and stressing the Secret Service.

[onlyadream]

51. Many people are taking notice

On FB, I'm seeing posts like "I don't usually pay attention to politics, but..."
This is great. Even seeing "resistance" parties popping up (by these people).
My republican congressman is taking a beating on FB. A few months ago, all his posts were pats on the back, but not anymore. He's definitely being called out.

[tinrobot]

35. They want to eviscerate the social safety net first...

I think their plan is to rip it to shreds, impeach the idiot, then point the finger at the idiot when it all hits the fan.

[dhol82]

70. Totally agree!

They want to squeeze the lemon dry before they let it go.
Bunch a humps!

[highplainsdem]

2. Kasie Hunt just replied to Joe, just tweeted "yep."

Link to tweet

[Stuart G]

3. They are watching him,,,they will act, yes but who knows when.

and yes, they will impeach him...but unfortunately ...that will not be soon enough..

[homegirl]

85. They will not impeach

they will utilize Article 4 of the 25th Amendment. Trump will develop an illness, probably a heart condition. Pence, McConnell and Ryan will set the wheels in motion. Pence becomes Pres., names Ryan as VP.

A rubber room is installed in Mar a Lago and Trump makes his last ride in Air Force One to permanent confinement in his golden palace.

[hatrack]

4. "FWIW" - Hint, Dead-Intern Joe: It's not worth shit . . .

Kind of like your show.

[Angry Dragon]

8. Joe is still a killer

[oasis]

9. +1

[tavalon]

74. Thank you for never letting go of the obvious fact that Joey Scar

murdered that intern.

[spanone]

5. and well they should. he's out of his fucking mind.

[Stuart G]

10. They are watching him very closely...why?

to determine, if and when to take the correct action. And we all know that action is... impeachment..or,,,maybe the family can get him to resign, but that is indeed a long shot....like a hole in one from 400 yards..

[etherealtruth]

6. I don't think most of the GOPer's on the Hill are stupid ... I think it is much more nefarious

... they know he is an unhinged narcissistic imbecile, but they will allow this shit show to go on so they can maintain their power grip and pass their dystopian agenda

[Txbluedog]

12. This

They have been in DC long before Trump got there and plan on being there long AFTER Trump leaves, they just want him to be the fall guy for them. They are even smart enough to realize that implementing their agenda will have disastrous consequences for the country; they are salivating at the prospect of blaming everything on Trump and then being the "saviors" who will get rid of him

[etherealtruth]

16. Exactly!

I will guarantee that most of them find him to be boorish, buffoonish, and stupid

[tinrobot]

36. Yes, that is the plan. Rip it to shreds, the put the blame on him.

[LisaM]

49. The regular ones. But now there is the tea party.

They are afraid of the tea party, too. They're all afraid of being primaried. Well, this is what years of nasty right-wing news sites does.

[get the red out]

83. YES!

RW media has destroyed rational thinking in a lot of people.

[longship]

13. Maybe, but then the hind side may be considerably worse.

And with Drumpf's performance today, that hind side may be considerably worse than getting their agenda through, even from their perspective.

This is not a zero sum game.

[etherealtruth]

17. The problem is that 45 brings a lot of "fans" with him that will accept harm to self ...

... to achieve the crazy racist, xenophobic, bigoted garbage 45 rails about

They are out in force defending him. The truly scary part is that they believe him and are supporting him with passion (I am talking about tRump voters ... not the paid shills that could be paid to defend Chas. Manson's sanity)

[longship]

26. Meanwhile, the rest of the entire country/world is against him.

Here:

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: a waste of desert sand;
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Wind shadows of the indignant desert birds.

The darkness drops again but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

Yeats was correct. I see nothing to celebrate here.

[etherealtruth]

28. There is nothing to celebrate. I fear the end of the republic

I am not necessarily engaging in hyperbole r/t "the end of the Republic"

[longship]

37. That's why I posted Yeats' "The Second Coming"

My best to you.

[Hortensis]

76. The imagery and sense of foreboding are incredibly apt.

Probably something like 80% of America's right share in this destructive Spiritus Mundi, and in our nation at least The Rough Beast they are all part of has the face of 45.

[longship]

80. Indeed!

Best wishes to you. (And us.)

[Hortensis]

82. Indeed.

[Angry Dragon]

15. They will still have Pence ............ I think he is still dangerous

[etherealtruth]

20. I wasn't arguing that 45 wasn't dangerous ....

My point of view is that the GOPers know it and don't give a sh*t.

They have Pence ... but Pence has no support or appeal on a national level

[Angry Dragon]

23. Pence steps in after Trump quits or is impeached

a rubber stamp for the repubs

[etherealtruth]

27. Of course ... but Pence doesn't bring a following and brings no chance for 8 years

I do think (as more and more of tRump voters catch on to the fact that he is batshit crazy) the GOPers will turn on him ... but not until then.

[manicraven]

66. I was just going to say that I don't think Trump is going to bring 8 years either. He might even

hurt them in 2018 if they keep sticking by the fool. I also think that more and more of Trump's base are growing concerned as his poll numbers are still sliding and there seems to be less enthusiasm. It's a one-way street down because Trump appears to be buckling under the pressure and his administration are bungling and not cohesive. Maybe Trump will eventually be happy to be forced out? Then he can hang out at "the winter White House" and whine about how everyone was so mean to him.

(edited for typo)

[etherealtruth]

67. I am not defending the repubs at all ... my contention is that they all know he is bat shit crazy...

... and stupid. 45s followers (for whatever reason do not seem to notice the unhinged behavior for what it is) ... but the GOP res on the hill KNOW he is bat shit carzy and stupid.

I have guessed about why the haven't moved yet or what they are thinking ... but I will guarantee they know ... except Gohmert ... Gohmert does not have a clue

[highplainsdem]

33. I'm sure many think they're masterminds exploiting Trump. They're stupid to think they can control

this situation.

[etherealtruth]

38. I "pray" with every fiber of my being that he destroys the party

[pangaia]

56. Agreed.....

[SoCalDem]

63. The problem is this

PENCE would do the same for them...and more

Pence steps in, and names a rightwing hispanic woman as his veep.. (they would find one somewhere)..

Then he actually gets a Trojan horse of an immigration bill passed, that can be talked up as acceptable to many , rebrands Obamacare (watered down) and appoints some black people to his cabinet, and they will rule everything for the next three cycles..

[etherealtruth]

65. I still don't think the GOPers are stupid

.... In the sense that I do beleive they (almost) all know he is unhinged and stupid.

45 has some bizarre fan base ... they will wait until they have to get rid of the narcissist buffoon (most likely when his fan base turns against him).

I am not arguing whether it is "smart" or stupid to leave this nutjob in office ... I am arguing the point that I believe they (almost) all know he is unhinged, ignorant, incompetent and a narcissist.

[Hortensis]

79. Some, yes, but imo this vastly underestimates

the ignorance and capacity of many for self deception. Many are very pleased, extremely happy and excited even, and will be for some time. Remember, they tend to confine themselves to very different media. It took most over 6 years of W to finally admit they'd backed a loser, and in the very last days only his loyal followers finally dropped briefly into the teens.

[procon]

14. Actions speak louder than words... so far its crickets, lots and lots of crickets. nt

[theglammistress]

18. Meanwhile, NPR normalized it

Basically gave a glowing review at 5pm. Said Trump will get a lot of credit for doing the "wide ranging presser." Nearly wrecked my car.

[etherealtruth]

22. I listened to the "presser" on NPR while it aired

They didn't normalize or give it a glowing review.

[theglammistress]

41. Not during the presser

The 5 o'clock report. They absolutely did normalize it. I was floored.

[Cognitive_Resonance]

19. This is a 25th Amendment situation. The GOP needs to stop covering for this loon. Country first. nt

[malaise]

25. Joe Scum promoted and marketed the

blithering idiot, pathological LIAR and fucking lunatic.

Fuck Joe Scum

[progressoid]

43. Exactly. n/t

[0rganism]

29. maybe so, but they're gonna squeeze a budget and a SCOTUS judge out of him

after that, if he doesn't get his shit together, he's fair game

[LonePirate]

30. Some Repubs in Congress are indeed stupid (Gohmert, Inhofe, etc.). All of them are evil, though.

[liberal N proud]

31. I don't believe they are.

Until they act in the name of the country ant remove trump, Pence and the whole bunch and charge them all with treason and election fraud among other things, then they are complicit in the whole downfall of this country.

[steve2470]

32. About 60% of that presser was devoted to him slamming the media

Another 20% or more was devoted to the election or slamming Secretary Clinton. Just horrible presser, no matter how you slice it.

[SticksnStones]

34. They'll prop up trump as long as their base still supports him

They think they can get big things done: tax reform, gut healthcare, SC pick.

and as long as the base will stay with them through to the midterms what have they got to lose by saying yes Mr. Trump, that's a lovely new suit you're wearing.

[highplainsdem]

39. Video, Chuck Todd & Kasie Hunt discussing how Hill GOPers claim they missed presser:

Link to tweet

WATCH: That Trump newser? Crickets from Capitol Hill Republicans

[Pachamama]

58. "If we have more episodes like this...".... Do they mean episodes like a "show" or mental episodes?

I was quoting Kasie Hunt, who described this pressed and the behavior of the GOP who basically we're running around with their fingers in their ears singing lalalalalalala....I can't hear....

[CanonRay]

40. The clock is ticking on our democracy

there are ICE agents running around the country like free-agent Gestapo.

[NRaleighLiberal]

42. Party Before Sanity!

[neeksgeek]

44. Trump reminds me of students I've had ...

Who think that simply turning in a couple pages cut-and-pasted from Wikipedia is sufficient to get a grade of A, and act surprised when I do them a favor, and skip reporting them for plagiarism and instead just give them an F on the assignment.

I've got to admit, at times I've found the current occupant of the White House amusing, in a sad sort of way. Made me wish I was a political cartoonist. But it's not funny anymore.

If the Republicans are half as patriotic as they claim to be, they will step up and remove this menace from office.

I'm not going to hold my breath.

[ailsagirl]

45. Maybe they're not quite as far gone as they appear

Or maybe more?

[Bengus81]

46. Eh...as long as they get their upper bracket 6-10% tax cut they don't care nt

[sunonmars]

47. This was me watching this.....

[struggle4progress]

48. "Well, look: it's always going to be slightly awkward when your country is run by

conspiracy theorists, white nationalist kooks, and Russian stooges --- but let's not lose sight of what's really important here: we don't want Republicans to have to investigate Republicans"

[calimary]

52. Well that's just too damn bad.

They didn't have to vote for him, or push him forward as their standard-bearer.

[heaven05]

53. what do they expect

they and most of the MSM, outside the openly biased RW propaganda organ Foxnuze...created a frankenstein monster and now he has turned on its creators and will, metaphorically of course(wink, wink), kill them. It's such a hoot to watch these talking heads exploding, rationalizing and supporting the buy-potus frankenstein monster..man, bannon and miller are pretty sneaky and bear watching closely.

[50 Shades Of Blue]

54. Hey Joe - where you going with that hypocrisy in your hand!

[Enoki33]

55. Remember during the primaries when so many were saying Trump

would destroy the Republican Party? That predicted damage is just beginning. If McConnel and Ryan chooses Trump over country that will be a bridge too far - no matter how they try to spin lt.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

57. They are damned if they do & damned if they don't.

If they take tRump down, then Trump's base of 25-30%, especially the 15% truly deplorable will primary them in 2018 and 2020 and stay home in droves.

If they don't take tRump down, then the other half of the Republicans will either stay home in droves or vote third party or vote Democratic.

I have no sympathy for the Representatives, Senators, or Republiconned voters. They made their bargain early in 2016 and stuck to it through so many obvious warnings. What is happening now was predictable and was predicted.

[C_U_L8R]

59. Anyone with a lick of sense should be freaked out

but the GOP can get stuffed until they actually
do something about their orange nightmare.

[Mars and Minerva]

61. Why would anyone watch Morning Joe when CNN has Andrew Cuomo???

[Honeycombe8]

62. This gives me some hope. nt

[Freelancer]

64. Money can get them anything, and they have plenty of it.

As long as DT doesn't rattle those twin pillars, Republicans will do nothing. They are all dogs, and DT's butt smells amazing to them.

"Republicans get into politics because doing nothing to help the poor, the sick and the aged isn't enough. To them, others must be prevented from helping as well." — Great Aunt Vi

[madinmaryland]

68. Fuck you, Dead-Intern Joe Scab. tRump is all your fault. Fuck you.

[manicraven]

69. I predict the Repubs on the Hill turn vicious against trump the closer we get to 2018, barring

something unforeseen, such as his complete meltdown into a babbling lunatic... On second thought, they might turn on him soon!

[Tatiana]

72. Oh what's wrong? The Grand Ol' Party of Russia haz a sad?

We must contest every Congressional seat during the midterms. Even if we have to run dogcatchers, we have to nail the Republicans to Trump and help our base come out to start righting this disaster.

[ecstatic]

73. Trump is a very, very sick "man"

I put man in quotes because he acts like a child.

I don't care what the actual diagnosis is, I just know that he's suffering from something that makes him completely unfit to be in the position he's in. Like... this shit is dangerous as hell.

[CrispyQ]

75. Party before country. --nt

[Charles Bukowski]

77. The GOP wants to show the 63 million dipshits who voted

for this circus clown that they did everything in their power to avoid impeaching him. Only when a smoking gun is produced will they act.

[TrollBuster9090]

81. About his performance TODAY?!

How about his performance for the last year???

But their goal has always been obvious. They want him to rubber stamp their legislation as fast as they can, and appoint a wingnut SCOTUS justice as quickly as possible SO THEY CAN IMPEACH HIM, and put Pence in his place. They were just hoping he wouldn't do too much damage before they could do that. But, judging by the way things are going, they might have to move their impeachment plans up by a year or so.

[lindysalsagal]

84. Dumbasses. This is s.o.p. for drumph. What else did they expect?

I hope they're petrified. They made their voters into morons who will believe anything and expect everything for nothing.

So, they created this monster. You bring a dead hooker to the dance, you gotta dance with her.

[highplainsdem]

86. Good point about how they dumbed down their base with fake news and propaganda.

They'd have a very hard time convincing the deplorables that there's really any valid reason to try to stop Trump.

[NNadir]

87. However their contempt for the constitution is very much what it seems to be.

The first Republican President saved the Union and set America on a course to undo it's racist history.

The last Republican President, the product of decades of barely disguised racism, beginning with Nixon and ending here, will destroy the Union.