I must confess I’m sort of waiting to see if Erickson can, indeed, put his trust in a God that may not have a lot of sympathy for him, or if the pressure will just cause his assorted limbs to pop off and bounce around the room like balloons. Remember, Erickson, from evidence on the ground, has been tasked with keeping the herd from running away from a Republican Party that seems to have gone mad, led by a pathological narcissist who appears to have either suffered unrevealed strokes, or has dementia.
And those very attributes are driving Erickson himself around the bend.
This is Donald Trump’s race to lose and there are times I wonder if he wants to. This weekend was one of those times. He spent more time attacking Brian Kemp and Georgia Republicans than he did Kamala Harris.
If Donald Trump loses in November and your first thought is that it was stolen, ask yourself why it was a good idea to re-nominate a man who had it stolen from him even while he was the sitting President in charge of the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security and FBI with Republican Governors in Arizona and Georgia. Now, in 2024, Joe Biden is in charge at the federal level, Democrats control Arizona, and Brian Kemp and Brad Raffensperger are still in charge in Georgia. Really, a genius plan.
Poor guy. He’s tied in knots over poor logic OR his faith, so he can’t switch parties or even drop out. But there’s a hidden hand grenade here:
The whispers are already there, folks. Some Republicans see this behavior and think the party would be better off with Trump losing and pushing out those tied to him because of the loss. It’s foolish thinking, but it is growing. People are tired of being bullied with all the demands for unity and loyalty flowing in one direction — that’s more bowel movement than political movement. And it’s not just Trump, but his diehard supporters who wear people out who are willing to vote for Trump, but don’t want to hump his leg.
The grenade is that the Republicans don’t really have anyone, anyone at all that exudes that gravitas suggesting they are both destined and worthy of the Oval Office. No one. Closest might be Kemp, who worked well under pressure during the 2020 election, refusing to be pushed into committing illegalities that might tarnish his reputation further, showed an admirable independence, and never collapsed. Other candidates such as Haley and DeSantis were inferior in this respect.
But I’m unconvinced that any of them would work well as President. They might exceed Trump, it’s true, as Trump mostly coasted on the momentum he received from President Obama, and when faced with difficult governing challenges he did poorly. But that is not equivalent to being an adequate President.
Therefore, when Erickson claims it’s foolish to keep Trump out of office, he’s very short-sighted. Do we really need to go through all of Trump’s debacles, from dropping taxes without adjustments to spending to a high likelihood that Trump kept all those papers at Mar-a-Lago for reasons having little to do with the government’s interests, and all about his.
And the odd thing is that Erickson just about agrees.
Part of his problem is that he surrounds himself with the trolls of social media who, like Laura Loomer, whisper crazy in his ears and he regurgitates it after it has festered in his brain. In fact, it wouldn’t be surprising if Bill White chatted with Trump before his tirade. White, a New York transplant to Georgia and friend of Trump, had a falling out with the Republican leaders in Georgia over his plans to make the northern part of Atlanta its own City of Buckhead. White got so angry, he packed up and moved to Palm Beach (and joined Mar-a-Lago), but probably whispered his vinegar in Trump’s ears before the Atlanta rally. White blames Kemp and has kept an “enemies list” with Kemp at the top. Here is White’s statement attacking Kemp over the Atlanta rally and his anger that Kemp did not show up at the rally. Note, again, Kemp was not invited to the rally. Last night, White came after me on social media and attacked Kemp’s wife.
These are many of the people who are in charge of Republican affairs. They are the leadership. And it’s foolish not to put them in charge of the nation?
It’s screwed up thinking like this, along with the mistake of thinking propaganda is somehow truth …
And, today, between the markets, a looming recession, and a war spreading in the Middle East while we have a dementia addled patient in charge, Trump needs to remind people he can lead, not just complain about the past. Otherwise, the Democrats will cast Kamala Harris in the role of leader and work overtime to make her look calm as Trump, yet again, relitigates 2020.
… no, there’s no sign of recession, and markets, which had gotten ahead of themselves, as they so often do, are simply correcting. War? Could be. Would have come faster with Trump in charge. Biden keeps on being successful, and Erickson shamefully charges him with dementia. All without addressing Trump’s own addlepated behavior as disqualifying.
The madness is Trump’s. Biden’s just tired but wanted to finish the job. And then the idea that this was Trump’s race to lose … no. Republicans, over the last couple of decades or so, have suffered from chronic overconfidence. You’d think they would have learned from 2018, 2020, and 2022, but I suspect they haven’t.
