I think of corruption as abuse of entrusted power, and and it seems to have become a way of life for the whole @#$%& "Republican" Party. Lord Acton was not the first to observe that power tends to corrupt, as it seems that corruption in it's many forms is the ancient curse of humanity, and power out of balance seems to corrupt absolutely. Reagan launched a systemic attack on the very psychology of republican (SMALL "r") rule of law with big lies, treachery, contempt, and the preponderance of the press and the public fell for it. The overall trajectory of the "Republican Party" has been downhill from there. At long last, does a party that defines the Jan 6th insurrection as "ordinary citizens engaged in in legitimate political discourse" and subsequent investigation and lawful prosecution of the participants as "persecution" have left any shred of decency? And that's a clear and present danger to our whole republic.
Paxton is a piece of,,, well, work, but so was South Dakota attorney general Jason Ravnsborg who reported hitting deer but killed man, and it gets much worse from there. To say nothing of Bill Barr. So many creepy criminals somehow rammed into public office; and it can't go on without becoming a total nightmare. The "GOP" really can pick 'em.
JL, Don’t forget they had a little help from their very rich and very evil and very corrupt friends: The Federalist Society, Harlan Crow, The Kochs, Leo Leonard and the others. I get sick just thinking about it....
Ravnsborg - great comp. Literally getting away with murder. Like shooting someone on 5th Ave., ne?
I worked in the Pete Wilson govt. in Calif., and realized then, Republicans lie, and they don't care. But Reagan started it all out there. He made it ok to be mean.
And yet the press repeatedly described him as "The Great Communicator" and "a nice guy" and even to the present I encounter comments from liberals describing him as the last responsible "Republican" president. In 2019 Reagan's racist remarks about the Tanzanian delegation to the UN were released:
“To watch that thing on television, as I did, to see those, those monkeys from those African countries – damn them, they’re still uncomfortable wearing shoes!” Reagan tells Nixon, who erupts in laughter.
Yet the restoration of feudalistic plutocracy was Reagan's true project along with the smearing and rejection of democracy. He was also the first modern openly anti-environmental president. And unlike Nixon, who embarrassed even Republicans, Reagan was corrupt and incompetent, yet got away with brazening it out, the now universal strategy of the "GOP". Reagan was not a real "nice guy", but he played one on TV.
Using state money to pay his $3.3M fine is the height of bald-faced corruption. This guy thinks he's Roscoe Conkling.
I think of corruption as abuse of entrusted power, and and it seems to have become a way of life for the whole @#$%& "Republican" Party. Lord Acton was not the first to observe that power tends to corrupt, as it seems that corruption in it's many forms is the ancient curse of humanity, and power out of balance seems to corrupt absolutely. Reagan launched a systemic attack on the very psychology of republican (SMALL "r") rule of law with big lies, treachery, contempt, and the preponderance of the press and the public fell for it. The overall trajectory of the "Republican Party" has been downhill from there. At long last, does a party that defines the Jan 6th insurrection as "ordinary citizens engaged in in legitimate political discourse" and subsequent investigation and lawful prosecution of the participants as "persecution" have left any shred of decency? And that's a clear and present danger to our whole republic.
Paxton is a piece of,,, well, work, but so was South Dakota attorney general Jason Ravnsborg who reported hitting deer but killed man, and it gets much worse from there. To say nothing of Bill Barr. So many creepy criminals somehow rammed into public office; and it can't go on without becoming a total nightmare. The "GOP" really can pick 'em.
JL, Don’t forget they had a little help from their very rich and very evil and very corrupt friends: The Federalist Society, Harlan Crow, The Kochs, Leo Leonard and the others. I get sick just thinking about it....
Oh yes. Follow the money (and the "love of money") back to the sociopathic source of "GOP" systemic corruption.
I am reminded of a famous quote by Napoleon Bonaparte: "In politics, stupidity is not a handicap."
Psychologically speaking, people who tolerate criminal behavior in others have or intend to commit similar crimes.
Ravnsborg - great comp. Literally getting away with murder. Like shooting someone on 5th Ave., ne?
I worked in the Pete Wilson govt. in Calif., and realized then, Republicans lie, and they don't care. But Reagan started it all out there. He made it ok to be mean.
And yet the press repeatedly described him as "The Great Communicator" and "a nice guy" and even to the present I encounter comments from liberals describing him as the last responsible "Republican" president. In 2019 Reagan's racist remarks about the Tanzanian delegation to the UN were released:
“To watch that thing on television, as I did, to see those, those monkeys from those African countries – damn them, they’re still uncomfortable wearing shoes!” Reagan tells Nixon, who erupts in laughter.
Nice guy. The Guardian ( https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jul/31/ronald-reagan-racist-recordings-nixon ) noted that Reagan died in 2004 and "that the conversation between the two men had been originally released in 2000 with the racist portion removed 'to protect Reagan’s privacy ' ”.
Yet the restoration of feudalistic plutocracy was Reagan's true project along with the smearing and rejection of democracy. He was also the first modern openly anti-environmental president. And unlike Nixon, who embarrassed even Republicans, Reagan was corrupt and incompetent, yet got away with brazening it out, the now universal strategy of the "GOP". Reagan was not a real "nice guy", but he played one on TV.