Yes, you see, I didn’t write until we knew the results of yesterday’s runoff vote in Georgia. And now I take pen to hand.
Oh, I know many of you will not like what you are about to read. I am ready for the assault.
Donald Trump is to blame for our loss in Georgia; not partially, mind you. Totally. His egomaniacal narcissism buried us. His refusal to mobilize the base for the good of our country, and insistence on making everything, (and I mean everything) about himself-and the incessant claims of election fraud- are the reasons we lost these two Senate seats.
Enough already with blaming Dominion and write-in ballots! Enough already with blaming Republicans in Name Only. Enough already with blaming Mitch McConnell, Tom Cotton, or whomever is your evil spirit of the day. None of those targets are legitimate. None! If you are continuing to hide behind these bogeymen (or, per new House rules, bogeywomen) you are deluding yourself.
We have lost our way. Many of us think the art of compromise is something to be disparaged. Many of us have tacitly approved of the politics of division and derision. What hath we wrought? I’ll tell you what. Defeat. And it is our fault. Too many Republicans are like their children; blaming everyone and everything for this election disaster. Sorry, folks, just as you must tell your children to be accountable for their own actions and mistakes, so too must you look in the mirror and accept the fact that Donald Trump and Donald Trump alone has put us in this position. The November 2020 election was ours to lose. Thanks to “The Donald”, we did just that. Yesterday’s Georgia debacle is just more of the same.
In the next two years, we are going to witness proposed legislation that will, if passed and signed into law, fundamentally change these United States. One can only hope that certain centrist Democrats will have enough spine to prevent the onslaught of self-serving, anti-capitalist, anti-entrepreneurial, anti-private sector, pro Big Brother initiatives that will inevitably pass through the House of Representatives and find their way to the Senate floor. One can only hope and pray there remains an iota of common sense amongst a select few Democrats serving in the Senate. I am not holding my breath.
Lest you think my rant about Donald Trump is over, I am sorry to disappoint you. He needs to go away. He needs to go pursue any number of self-aggrandizing, self-promoting ventures off of which he seems to feed. Leave us alone. Leave the country alone. Let us restore the GOP to the party of hope and dreams for hard working Americans who view their government as their protector, not their paycheck.
If the Democrats do what they say they are going to do, I believe the stage will be set for a GOP house cleaning party in the 2022 mid-term elections. There are only two things that will prevent this from happening:
- The Democrats actually rule with broad-minded aplomb-that will not happen.
- Donald Trump continues to dominate the discourse in the GOP. That could happen, and if it does, it will be a disaster.
Time will tell. In the meantime, for the love of country and God, please stop blaming everything and everyone for our losses. We need look no further than Le Grande Orange. Time to move on!
More to Follow
Thanks Jim for the message of accountability and leadership. We have to have to try to bring this message back. Appreciate you!
Thanks Dylan….Much appreciated
Jimbo. I’ve never opined but your comments are spot on. its time for our narcissistic, name calling president to do the country a big favor and concede the election and ride off into the sunset. yes i appreciate the many accomplishments he has procured for our great country. but move on. God Help us all. wjc
Thanks Billy- Needless to say, the events of this afternoon more than validate the points made in my article….this is a sad day…
I am in complete agreement! The Grand Old Party needs to right itself and articulate to the hard working Americans a clear vision of what the future can be – not the circus sideshow we’ve been living with. The Donald is fully responsible for what has happened and he needs to go away. Fingers crossed that the Democrats will rule from the center and not let fringe players impact decision making. Thank you Jim – your thoughts, like others, along these lines should have been written and spoken about sooner. Just maybe we could have dodged full control of our government by the Democrats had we pinned all that is wrong on Le Grande Orange and him alone. Oh, there’s so much more to say….
Yes, there is! Thanks for writing Alex..
Amen.
Thank you brother, ITB
Brevity from a preacher! Thanks, Brother…
Jim-this is so correct (and so well articulated). Hope your thoughts and “recommendation”for capitalists goes viral. Really well based and well said.
glb
Thank you my friend. I miss our times together. We must ensure to see each other once this virus is a thing of the past.
Yes
Jim,
I agree to a certain extent, but how Georgians could elect a Rev Jeremiah Wright clone is due to more than DT.
Best,,
Nathan
Nathan, how Georgians could elect either of those wholly unqualified candidates is beyond me. Alas, that is a topic for another day!
You cannot blame Trump for this! The old Republican Party has sat on their hands, cowering in the corner, for several decades. Newt Gingrich and the Republicans accomplished something when Clinton was President. Since then the Rep Party has been a “status quo” party with its head in the sand. What did they accomplish with total majority in the WH, House, and Senate with P Ryan and M McConnell leading – nothing – they could agree on nothing!!! Where are these cowardly Republicans while our country is being stolen – why sit so quietly? These poor victims simply blame Trump to distract from their cowardliness. These Republicans emulate Nero who fiddled while Rome burned! Maybe they will wake up and realize they cannot keep taking it on the chin – with the age old, “we’ll get ’em next year!’ Well, NEXT YEAR HAS JUST ARRIVED!!!!
Timmy, I appreciate you taking the time to write. And I do not dispute the contention that the GOP has squandered many previous opportunities to lead. We will agree to disagree about Mr. Trump, but I hope you will always feel free to write!
Hi Jim
You have indeed waited, was wondering! Happy New Year, and may 2021 be healthy safe and hopefully prosperous.
No assault from here. You are absolutely correct. Who would have thought Coronavirus was just the thing to completely expose DJT as an unworthy President resulting in his loss. In November we saw the House lead shrink and could sense the GOP was ascending. Imagine if…
Then, when the control of Congress is at stake in Georgia, not one effective barn storming visit to drive votes. Instead, the whining and complaining. Real disappointing.
Gonna be a tough couple years.
Best wishes to you,
John
Thanks John- it is always good to hear from you. Chin up in 2021…As you say, “Gonna be a tough couple years”.
I am sorry to say he has become an embarrassment and is now harming your country. the loss in Georgia means that there are many others who feel the same.
Sir Ian, nice of you to write. I have heard from as many on your side of the pond as here in the States. I completely agree with you.
I am currently re-reading Christie Whitman’s book, “It’s My Party, Too.” I can’t believe how many observations and predictions she made in 2005 are almost precisely happening on the political scene. We’re even further in the weeds than we were then, so it may be even more difficult to extricate ourselves now. Certainly, the Republican party had better start to right the ship now, or sink further in 2022.
Keith, thanks. Yes, as you can surmise, I wholeheartedly agree. Deep breaths!
Amen!
Brevity is always a virtue!
Outstanding! Sorry anyone who disagrees with this is to blame. Trump bastardized the Republican Party. You who support him and any of his sycophants can only blame yourselves.
Keep hammering the message home Jim…we’ll said!
Thank you Patty!
Jim: You are right. We made a deal with the Devil, and now we have reaped the rewards. I am an optimist by nature. Surely we can learn from this and salvage the good things out of the past four years. Let the leftists overreach and be prepared to present an articulate center-right vision for the future. Gregg
Thanks Gregg…the events in DC this afternoon are the culmination of everything from which we need to distance ourselves!
Agree with all your points. How about you help get rid of YOUR boy Ted Cruz? People like him have ruined the Republican Party.
Cruz is smart, at least intellectually. He made a tactical blunder two weeks ago, and is taking the heat for it. Time will tell what long term consequences he will suffer. Thanks, Reg
Well said and spot on.
Thanks David.
Jim, a proverb says he that lies with dogs rises with fleas. I’ll bet Mitch McConnell wishes he had thought about that before selling his soul to Trump. Mitch wanted nothing more than to end his days as Senate Majority leader and now Trump has taken that from him. I had suspected that Trump was a Russian agent because of his praise of Putin and his efforts to undermine Democracy (watch TV this evening) but now we know he was an agent of the Democratic Party. There is no way Biden, Warnock or Ossoff could have won without Trump bending over backward to aid their victories. Maybe he was in the pay of George Soros. The next few years will be fascinating as the rats leave the Trump ship and write their memoirs and as suits by creditors and law enforcement proceed. Fasten your seat belts. David
Well, you and I dont agree on a few things, but that is ok, and I agree with the gist of your message, if not with all the details! Thanks for writing.
Jim, I couldn’t agree more. But it’s hard to ignore the fact that words matter and the rhetoric from the other side over the last 4 years makes them complicit. What ever happened to civility and respect in our government and our society? DWW
David, it is nigh impossible to conclude the playing field is anywhere close to being level. The GOP is running uphill and it is now a marathon versus a short downwind sprint for the progressive left. It is going to take a lot of work to right the ship, and the media will continue to frame honest, well-meaning efforts to do so in vile, incomprehensible terms…
Glad to hear Republicans finally saying the Emperor has no clothes! What took so long? As a moderate Democrat, who has voted as a Republican at times (Bush I and Bush II) , I am horrified at rhetoric of extremism – Tea Party or Antifa – extremism is dangerous and has no place in this country. Everything DT has said and done was extreme. I get it, lower taxes are great, more money in your pocket is great, strong economy is wonderful – but we should always be aware at what cost? Hitler was revered because he put food on the table of Germans, who were suffering from the defeat of World War I, he made Germany Great Again (his exact words) but what was the cost? Pay attention to words – my first clue was “ Lock her up” You may have hated Hilary, but when is it ever ok to say that about a former First Lady, Senator and Secretary of State.? What was your first clue that DT was a dangerous man? Shame on all who voted for this horrible man! Jim, thank you for speaking up, better now than never. I hope the Republicans will get their act together., I believe in a two party system and I believe in our country. United we stand with rational discourse and truth., divided we will fall without it.
Thanks Laurie. Always good to hear from you. We can only hope his shadow does not cast a heavy pall over efforts to restore the GOP.
Writing from the swamp. I certainly do not condone all that happened yesterday. I know people that were downtown yesterday and reported that Antifa was among the crowd and largely responsible for the disorder and vandalism. Also, ask yourself who was taking the videos inside the Capitol? There was all kinds of orchestration by the left to make the protestors look like the villains. I find it interesting how little was said about about the protesting and rioting that occurred all summer long around the country, let alone the siege of the White House. We were told to sit down and shut up for the last four years and we have been compliant. Trump certainly is no angel, but he got the attention of 70M voters that are tired of business as usual with a do nothing government. As we used to say in the Navy, stand by to stand by because we are about to see change like we have never seen in our lifetime. In the words of our new President , “We will change Georgia and then the The United States”.
Thanks Russell. There is no doubt the left has set a new bar for hypocrisy. But that does not excuse the President for his part in inciting his base. It is not who we are as a people. We are better than that, and surely the GOP needs to be the party that maintains its standards. We know the left could care less for the standards we hold close to our hearts.
Jim
A lot has happened since the 6th. If the GOP was not split before the attac on Congress it must be now.
Just some curious questions from far away Oslo. What will happen ?
Will the party split into two parties ? Most likely not as that will ensure Democratic wins forever.
Will the crazies take over the party even with Trump gone ? Most likely as 40% of republicans seems to condone the attac on Congress and these will most likely determine the next primary cycle. What sort of people will that bring ?
What will happen to moderate republicans ? Will many of them go passive ? Some change to Democrats ? Some sit over elections of crazies ?
Regardless it seems that the GOP is long term wounded by these 4 last years and in particular the last few months.
What do you think ?
Best wishes for the new year from Norway where the number of Covid deaths is 24.000 after we have adjusted for difference in population with the US. We have a population who listen to our politicians and health experts, if they do not they can be quite heavily fined, and in a situatuion like this it is an advantage to have a national health system which can mobilize all resources.
Regards
Aage
Good to hear from you. I have kept the pen quiet since the nightmare in the Shining City on the Hill. I will be writing so stay tuned!