WaterCooler Saturday, 7/23/2016 - Open Thread - Balloons, Rs for Hillary, and Zombies
By earhartam | Jul 23, 2016 12:40 PM ET
Big Boy Donnie Trump Loves Balloons. Don't You Donnie?
In case of confusion, the adult is on the right. Reuters photo.
Republicans for Hillary
A growing tally of high-profile Republicans have resolved voting for Hillary Clinton is the only statistically probable channel available to prevent camp Trump from mucking up America.
Staying home, voting 3rd Party or a write-in candidate, these options fell off the table once Trump picked up the nomination, they argue.
Sample roster:
Richard Armitage, Foreign Policy Official for Reagan, H.W and W., 13th Deputy Secretary of State.
"[Trump] doesn't appear to be to be a Republican, he doesn't appear to want to learn about issues. So I'm going to vote for Mrs. Clinton." – Politico
Trump's comments in a New York Times interview "would seem to put him on the same page with Mr. Putin," Richard Armitage, who was deputy secretary of state in the George W. Bush administration, said in an interview with Reuters.
Doug Elmets, Former Reagan Spokesman.
"I could live with four years of Hillary Clinton before I could ever live with one day of Donald Trump as president." – Interview with CNN
"Listening to Trump's speech confirms that I made the right decision to support Hillary Clinton…" – Doug Elmets, Twitter
Peter Mansoor, Former Army Colonel, Executive Officer to General Petraeus.
"He'd (Trump) be a loose cannon who would shoot from the hip. He would endanger America's status in the world, he would dismay our allies and empower our adversaries," Mansoor said in an interview with The Hill. "Other than that it'd be a great idea to have him as president."
"It will be the first Democratic presidential candidate I've voted for in my adult life." – Washington Post
"RIP, GOP"
Lamentations Across the Political Spectrum
GOP, RIP?, E.J. Dionne, Jr., Washington Post
Nonetheless, Republicans who are not in the least progressive have reason to mourn what is likely to come to pass this week: the transformation of the Party of Lincoln and Dwight Eisenhower into the Party of Trump.
Some are bravely resisting this outcome to the end — and good luck to them. A fair number of leading Republicans have stated flatly that they will never vote for Trump. Their devotion to principle and integrity will be remembered.
Cleveland Is The End Of The GOP As We Know It, John Daniel Davidson, The Federalist
Make no mistake, the GOP as we know it is over. It will not survive Trump's nomination and his almost certain defeat in November.
The Future Does Not Belong to Trump
Republican leaders and principled conservatives now have a duty to break from the GOP, or at least this version of the GOP, and form a new party—or a new movement within the party, to take it back and transform it.
Everyone who proved they were more interested in power than principle should be exiled.
RIP GOP: Establishment Politicos Host 'Wake' for Republican Party, Brittany Bremer, NBC News
And so they have gathered tonight to mourn the "unnatural and premature passing of the Grand Old Party," as described in the Facebook invite. Cause of death: the nomination of Donald J. Trump.
The Dark Knight, David Brooks, The New York Times
But if Trump is detached from the country, and uninterested in anything but himself, he's also detached from his party. Trump is not really changing his party as much as dissolving it.
This is less a party than a personality cult. Law and order is a strange theme for a candidate who radiates conflict and disorder. Some rich children are careless that way; they break things and other people have to clean up the mess.
I'm sorry. I gave you not one Zombie in this WaterCooler. But after the past weeks life-sucking (and life sucking) convention, we can relate to Zombies, yes? Vaguely mobile wretched creatures, searching for brains?…God knows a Zombie could starve in this newfangled GOP/Trump Party!
Fear not, RedStaters! You'll find brains aplenty here at RedState's only Daily Open Thread. Enjoy!