Bill Kristol said it isn't worth it.

[Ilsa]

They were talking on morning Joe about DOTUS's comments about 1) how he says it is so hard for HIM to have to call the Gold Star families, and 2) the other presidents, especially Obama, never called or wrote the families.

Bill Kristol, et al said the disgrace upon the presidency by these comments will be hard to recover from, and then he commented that no tax cut or SCOTUS justice is worth this.

[Cary]

1. Did he apologize for his own neocon role in creating this?

[BumRushDaShow]

2. THIS

His decades of bullshit (along with Krauthammer's & Safire's) helped to eventually enable the astro-turf teabaggers, which has lead to the downfall of the GOP and the Office of the Presidency.

[tblue37]

6. And George Will and David Brooks. They all built this because they wanted thoise tax cuts

and judges so badly.

Oh, and Joe Scarborough, too, of course!

[BumRushDaShow]

12. Yes

Forgot about George Will. Scarborough & Brooks are the "younger" of that set. The others have been at this for a long time.

[Cary]

24. Go back and look at what the tax cuts represent

The original "thinking" was that their real agenda is unpopular and in particular they can't compete against Social Security. Their "Two Santa Claus" theory is instructive. They use tax cuts as their lever. When they are in office they blow the top off the debt, because they know that (as Cheney said) debt doesn't really matter. Then they squeal like stuck pigs about debt when they're out of office.

Their real sine qua non is their hatred of "liberal." In fact "conservatives" are not homogeneous. There are some that really care about the debt, although their "logic" sucks. I mean what you might get from debt is inflation, and when was the last time that was a real issue? The government issues bonds because there is a demand for U.S. bonds. The Treasury could just as easily mint two coins, worth $10 trillion each, and then use them to pay the debt. Money isn't the tangible thing that we are often led to believe. But I digress.

If you look at the old BBC classic, "The Power of Nightmares," they make the excellent point that hatred of "liberal" is their only commonality. It's the glue that keeps them together and hate is a nasty thing. No good can come from an ideology built on hate, and what you see now is indeed people like George Will, David Brooks, and Bill Kristol reaping what they have sown. In particular they have eschewed facts and reason in favor of emotions. Hate is an emotion.

This is why I disfavor the radical left as well. I talk about policy until I'm blue in the face and they respond with their own version of personality and hate.

[Rene]

20. can't stand that evil, constant grin on kristol

[DownriverDem]

3. A little late

repubs like kristol watched in horror over the last few years and failed to speak up when they knew what was going on was very bad. As long as the repubs won elections they ignored what was moving their way. They quietly let the nut jobs gain more leverage for fear of losing votes. Now they want the nut jobs to go away, but their nut jobs are their base! I've seen where the repubs never recovered from the tea party folks in their party. Maybe so. I don't really care what the reason was. I do care that left learners learn the lesson. Division prior to winning control won't get it. Get the Dems wins. They need big wins. Not just a few votes majority. Then work like hell for the changes you want. I am a member of the Michigan 12th Congressional District Democratic Party (Debbie Dingell is my rep). I go to the monthly meetings. We now have a growing number of young folks too. They are adding a lot to our discussions and plans. Bottom line for now is: We have a two party system. Russia aside, voting 3rd party helped to give the repubs a win. This is the lesson that I hope left learners will understand. We lean left, but there is a spectrum that varies a lot. But for the major issues the Dems are the way to go. If you disagree, join your local Dem Party and fight like hell for the changes you want.

[ancianita]

8. Thanks for your post. Passive enabling of this situation comes from "admiring the problem."

If this party does not meet to present a grand solution and vision for this country, the current Koch-Buchanan agenda of capitalist revolution will continue, just with other participants.

This learner has seen how the current Big Money doesn't care who the rulers are. Big Money wants to remake the rules.

One group, the Koch-Buchanan cadre, are driving the vanguard of this "revolution" that makes democracy and the Constitution irrelevant. They are filling judicial levels with supporters for what ALEC does at legislative levels. Which includes the plan for permanent government capture by austerity capitalists, fronting that reality with a shell of a government.

Changes brought by Citizens United get people pretty fuzzy about what the Democratic vision of a constitutional democracy will be. To most people, money shapes the major issues of both parties, something they saw when the 'big disappoint' happened with President Barack Obama. The Democratic vision's last vestige is the ACA.

Now what. Democrats have to unite behind a vision of democracy that others in this country, because of economic and political suppression, have not yet seen. What will it be.

I have not seen a consensus of vision on DU. Only a consensus of values and beliefs.

A vision, a picture to vote for is the better idea for getting a win. It can't simply be a candidate.

You can bet that the bought party we see right now has a vision, regardless of candidates fielded. That vision is one of order and calm, even if grounded in what MLK calls "unjust laws." It is Kansas, Indiana, the southern and western states, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania.

[cilla4progress]

10. What kind of national candidates do you feel

Can be successful in our party, given your very valid prescription?

[ancianita]

18. A Democrat like Bernie, with Bernie's vision. Only because his vision has stood out. I like

Al Franken very much. His book shows him to be in the solid national governance and leadership zone. Pair him with a Castro or a Warren and there could be a lot of passive voters getting off their butts to canvass and vote, with a lot of Big Money billionaires supporting a return to a more just, green economy and majority-run country in which the Constitution is relevant.

I personally want woman candidates at state levels; so far, I don't see any, save Warren, who enter the arena. They need a lot of backing and buffering to get a fair hearing.

[cilla4progress]

22. You are missing youth and POC!

Castro, yes. I thought he would be HRCs VP pick.

Th thing about Bernie was not only his vision, but his 40+ year absolute consistency and authenticity.

[ancianita]

23. Oh. Well, I'm assuming they'd come around to a good vision from good candidates who'd return to

civil and immigrant rights standards.

They need a forward thinking vision from Democrats more than anyone. They want some vision to vote for, and they can contribute the details of that vision. They need to be enfolded into the party based on a platform that enables that vision.

A campaign that provides a vision of a better America, over just being against the 'other guy,' is a winning campaign.

[PJMcK]

4. Kristol has chutzpah!

He was the one who introduced us to Sarah Palin, Trump's evil step-sister.

It's a little late for Kristol to complain about opening this fascist, totalitarian box of Pandora's evils.

[thesquanderer]

17. Yup. He laid down with the dogs and is now complaining about the fleas. (n/t)

[WinkyDink]

5. This man should be shunned. Utterly shunned.

[Orrex]

7. Bill Kristol isn't worth it

[VermontKevin]

9. He's the canary in the coalmine.

Something is very deeply wrong in the Republican Party.

[Orrex]

14. We keep hearing that, though

For literal decades we've been told that the GOP is on its last legs and is circling the drain. I suppose that it's finally come true, aside from their ironclad lock on all three branches of government, most state legislatures, most governorships, and nearly airtight control of the media.

Yeah, Republicans are definitely on the way out.

[VermontKevin]

15. Oh no, they are not on the way out and I didn't mean to suggest that.

They are deeply wrong and going no where.

[Orrex]

16. Well, they're definitely wrong and have been so since before Nixon

But they grow more toxic and destructive with each passing year.

[SleeplessinSoCal]

11. He needs to go on Fox News and say it. n/t

[spanone]

13. for most of the republicans it IS worth it. they don't care that he destroys their brand.

they want tax cuts.....period.

the party of non-stop greed

[inwiththenew]

19. This whole thing reminds me of that scene from the Batman movie with Bane

Where Bane is meeting with the guy who bankrolled him and helped get his plan up to that point and starts making demands and Bane basically tells him that's he's not in charge and doesn't have power over him.

This is funny parallel of what happened with the Republican party. Trump is a madman with an army (the base) who feels no particular alliance to anyone in the Republican party and now they've painted themselves into a corner because the base is way more fond of Trump than of the Republican party.

[Achilleaze]

21. He* is whining again. This time about how "hard" phone calls are.

Comrade Casino, the republican Draft-Dodger-in-Chief, is a massive, daily whiner. He's always whining about something. Why do republicans "go" for whiners?

[DK504]

25. Was it hard for him to tear down a Gold Star family that had the temerity

to call his ignorant ass out? Seemed pretty easy to me.

[LonePirate]

26. The Republicans in Congress would disagree with Kristol and they have power, unlike him.

They seem to think tax cuts and justices are worth it.

[CrispyQ]

27. They courted the racists, zealots & loons & now they've lost control & are unhappy about it.

Fucking complicit collaborators, every one.