No, DeSantis isn't "winning" against Walt Disney World

I do not agree. Al Franken was run out of Congress by his own party for things that Trump brags about. Katie Hill resigned in light of the "revenge porn" and staffer relationship scandal, as Pelosi said her membership was "untenable." And if you're from Ohio, surely you remember Jim Traficant, who was almost unanimously expelled from Congress after being convicted of using campaign funds for his personal benefit. Meanwhile, George Santos is still in Congress, and the party continues to back a guy charged with dozens of felony indictments.

What history we have on the "reverse" conditions does not suggest similar outcomes.

One word:

Chappaquiddick

Cool, that was 50+ years ago. Literally no one, not even McConnell or Biden, were in office then.

Franken's accusers went public when the MeToo movement was hitting its stride in 2017 (on the heels of the Harvey Weinstein). He has since said publicly he regrets resigning and is considering running for office again.

Katie Hill was also MeToo movement casualty.

90 state lawmakers have been accused of sexual misconduct since 2017. Mix of Rs and Ds. Most have resigned.

https://apnews.com/article/...9963a7a223

5 Representatives of the US House have been expelled in its history. 2 since 1861. Most recent one was Trafficant in 2002 after he was convicted of 10 felonies. Other in the last 100+ years was also after a conviction. Historically absent voluntary resignation, no one is removed from the House until actually convicted. So being charged isn't enough.

https://history.house.gov/I...and/#expel

Bill Clinton was accused of sexual misconduct. Don't recall dems calling for his resignation. If he could run again, expect he would at least win the nomination if not a general election.

GoBucks89:

Bill Clinton was accused of sexual misconduct.

Hey, don’t forget the perjury, that’s a felony. The Democrats blocked that one.

And Kennedy got away with murder. Well, actually it clearly meets the definition of criminal vehicular homicide. He caused the death of a young woman because he was driving while impaired and didn’t report it until the next day, after her body was recovered. He only got his license suspended for a couple months, and still served in the US senate for 40 more years.

Don’t get me wrong, I hate all politicians - Republicans and Democrats. And Trump is the worst of the worst. In my 63 years, there have only been two politicians I have actually liked. Many of the rest are either incompetent or criminal.

Now everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but for me it would be:

homicide = sedition > perjury > RRR.

If the roles were reversed then yes, the likes of CNN and MSNBC could be counted on to defend or excuse away the actions to some extent. But it's hard to imagine anyone on the left maintaining such a devout following after the type of conduct we've seen from Trump, because the cult of personality surrounding him has captured many people in a profound way.

Let me tell you about a bridge I am looking to sell. And if you act quickly, I probably can throw in some swamp land to sweeten the deal.

RRR > constant sarcasm

Bakeman31092:

it's hard to imagine anyone on the left maintaining such a devout following

BernieSandersFans enters the chat.

Clinton got off easy, not question about it. But are you really going to compare the gross hookup with an intern to trying to overthrow the government and subvert an election? This is where y'all lose me on the "they're all the same" arguments.

Bobblehead DeSanis failed miserably in last nights debate. It was glorious. I think the whole "woke" scare is losing steam. I hope so, at least.

"They're all garbage" doesn't necessarily mean "they're all the same". Again, what I've essentially been saying all along.

I feel like I want #degreesofgarbage to start trending...

I hate falling back on "my feelings," as I have no data to support this, but the rabid devotion to Trump feels stronger and more unique than with any other politician I can think of. I know that people that like Bernie really like Bernie, but at least he is a sincere, serious person, from what I can tell. Trump is not any of these things. He is Eric Cartman, a child trapped in a man's body whose motivations can all be traced back to feeding his own ego. The fact that I've seen Trump yard signs and Trump flags in my corner of the country for 7 years solid, and continue to see Trump 2024 ads proudly displayed in spite of the seemingly obvious fact that he is perhaps the most morally bankrupt public figure to come along in my lifetime, says that Trump devotion >>>> Bernie devotion.

That's why I like Bernie so much. You can like his political ideas or not, but at least he's sincere, honest, and wants a government that is fair to the American people.

Trump, on the other hand, wants the balance of power to remain with the rich and powerful. He wants to keep himself and his rich buddies in control. The more power they have, the more power that can take. He'll use whatever cultlike practices to get others on board.

I heard something interesting last night that gives me some hope. Yes, Republicans seem to be standing behind Trump and largely digging their heels in. But, that really ignores what is happening with Independents...who are influencing local and national elections more and more. Even Republicans who believe Trump will be the nominee are growing more and more skeptical about him performing better in the General than he did last time around.

I believe that, similar to 2020, there are far more that will refuse to vote for Trump than polls indicate.

hambone:

the ovarian lottery

Saw an article in the Atlantic that made me think of this.

What the Best Places in America Have in Common

Punchline: Many of these counties are in the Upper Midwest: Minnesota, the Dakotas, Wisconsin, Nebraska, and Iowa.

The money (hah!) quote (emphasis added):

race is not as predictive [of disadvantage] as the level of inequality, the unemployment rate, or the degree of educational attainment. Furthermore, many places that are disproportionately white, in states such as Ohio, Maine, Illinois, Indiana, Montana, Michigan, and Idaho, do not rank even among the top half of advantaged places in America. What makes the communities that are most advantaged unique is their histories as places of broad-based wealth.

wahoo skipper:

Even Republicans who believe Trump will be the nominee are growing more and more skeptical about him performing better in the General than he did last time around.

For a very long time, the challenge for Democrats was "Try to be more disciplined on message." That was one of the things that the GOP had down more or less from Reagan right up to the Tea Party, and even for a while after that. This was nearly impossible for Dems given their coalition, which had a bunch of different and sometimes incompatible desires.

Now, the challenge for Democrats is "Try to be less batsh*t crazy." That is a lot simpler.

What a bar to meet. As someone said earlier, "Serious person," is a good starter. I don't know how the disconnect has grown to what it has between the cults of personality and the importance of the jobs of elected officials. Say what you will about any president of either party, other than Trump (and I guess Nixon) in my lifetime, and I would consider them serious people who had at least some shred of commitment to public service. They understood the responsibility of having weapons that could end civilization.

There's a much broader conversation (which I'm pretty sure we've had here before) about "expertise" and its (impending? completed?) cultural irrelevance.

https://theconversation.com...tise-76462

(I've had this book in my "read this" stack for years. Probably time to do it.)