General Mattis finally breaks his silence

[Daisys and Diamonds]

I am starting to see some conservative family members who were pro Trump and initially very vocal about supporting him become increasingly silent about him. One family member and his wife are choosing a similar route as @Karl_K and not going to vote in the next election.

I think there's a growing silent minority of conservatives/people who voted for Trump who are choosing to abstain from voting as a way of expressing dissent.

do you think if GW supported Biden they would secretly vote democrate ?
i know of female conservatives who secretly voted for Hillary last time

 

[Matata]

I think there's a growing silent minority of conservatives/people who voted for Trump who are choosing to abstain from voting as a way of expressing dissent.

Dissent over what? Trump? The way the Republican party has screwed itself and its constituents? Both? Abstaining does nothing positive for them and probably enhances the power of corrupt members of their party. Better to vote for Biden, get trump out of office, and then work to ensure they have a decent Republican candidate for the following election.

 

[Karl_K]

may i ask what people don't like about Biden ?
from afar i think the Dems need someone who will have mass appeal with the swing vote
they need to get a significant portion of the soft right vote

To anti gun/2a to get any real right wing traction for a start.
I have not seen any signs of leadership from him at all.
Partly because Trump is dominating the media still.

 

[Alexiszoe]

@Matata, I cannot speak for the group as to their exact motivations since it's multi faceted, but in my family's case it's over Trump's treatment of race.

I get that in a perfect world, it would be better for those who had voted for trump and grown disillusioned to vote for Biden. But I do not want it to come across than I am policing or haranguing them into voting for Biden because it might have the opposite effect. It took a long time for us, me being one of the handful of liberals in my family, to get to this point where we are actually talking and having a civil discussion. My approach with my family is to take it slow, and when the time is right, have a dialogue on finding common ground, lay out why it's important and let them make their own decision.

@Daisys and Diamonds , good question. I am guessing if more and more Republican leadership steps up to hold the current Pres accountable, more of these voters might feel comfortable no longer supporting Trump and/or voting for Biden. This article captures it quite well:

If Republicans Are Ever Going To Turn On Trump, This Might Be The Moment

While the past few days have felt unprecedented in almost all respects, they’ve been familiar in at least one way: President Trump has once again done something…

fivethirtyeight.com

 

[AGBF]

Ever since General Kelly lied about what a congresswoman said and never apologized, I cannot believe in his honesty (which I once did). Nonetheless, I appreciate what he said about Donald Trump and General Mattis because I remember the events and he is speaking the truth here.



"Former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly on Thursday came to former Defense Secretary James Mattis’ defense after President Trump slammed the four-star general as an 'overrated' military leader whom he relished firing.

Gen. Mattis — a member of a group Mr. Trump once described as 'my generals'— eviscerated the commander in chief one day earlier, saying the U.S. has suffered through 'three years without mature leadership' and is dealing with a president who actively tries to divide the American people.

In an interview with the Washington Post, Mr. Kelly insisted the president did not fire Gen. Mattis, who resigned in late 2018 after clashing with the president over U.S. policy in Syria.

'He did not ask for his resignation,' Mr. Kelly said. 'The president has clearly forgotten how it actually happened or is confused.'

'The president tweeted a very positive tweet about Jim until he started to see on Fox News their interpretation of his letter,' Kelly continued. 'Then he got nasty. Jim Mattis is an honorable man'".

 

[Tekate]

You don't? odd. He is certainly leading his base, take off your mask, go back to work, die for the grandkids.. NOW you want a leader who isn't just pandering to a certain segment of our US population. That is probably impossible because our politicians are always running, one thing you and I can do is push for limits 2 terms senator say (one is better) 3 terms congressperson.. this aint a career this is a public service. also I dont see this ever happening sadly.

@Bayek I dont want to do a huge quote so im not.

I dont see where Trump has shown any leadership ability with the corona virus or with the current unrest.
If anything he has made both situations worse instead of better.
A leader of a country does not pour gasoline and tnt on a bad situation like Trump has done in the last couple of days.

 

[elizat]

I will regret saying this because I don't like the political talk, but I don't think Trump doesn't respect the Constitution. Rather, I think he is ignorant of it and chooses to remain that way.

There are other politicians that I think are aware of it and understand it, but choose to disregard it or shift an interpretation to their goal. Let's be fair- that happens across the spectrum, whether you lean right or left.

Trump, I think fails to understand it and remain ignorant of it, despite his office.

 

[Demon]

There is a little sign of sanity the 82nd airborne has been sent home from DC.

Esper orders hundreds of troops from 82nd Airborne home from D.C. area

This is the second time this week Esper has ordered the troops to head home.

www.politico.com

Was this before the reversal that came after meeting with Trump, or did they finally actually send those troops back? And who are these people out there now policing that will only identify themselves as "from the DOJ"?

 

[AGBF]

I will regret saying this because I don't like the political talk, but I don't think Trump doesn't respect the Constitution. Rather, I think he is ignorant of it and chooses to remain that way.

There are other politicians that I think are aware of it and understand it, but choose to disregard it or shift an interpretation to their goal. Let's be fair- that happens across the spectrum, whether you lean right or left
Trump, I think fails to understand it and remain ignorant of it, despite his office.

I believe you made a mistake in logic.

Trump does not need to "be aware of" (I think you mean understand) the Constitution and deliberately disregard it in order to be disrespectful of it. Yes, Barack Obama was a Constitutional scholar, but President Eisenhower's background was in the military. One need not know the fine points of law in order to avoid the most egregious trampling of Constitutional norms. You simply must respect the rule of law to avoid them..

If one "remains ignorant of the Constitution" wilfully, he is deliberately flouting the law of the land.

 

[elizat]

I believe you made a mistake in logic.

Trump does not need to "be aware of" (I think you mean understand) the Constitution and deliberately disregard it in order to be disrespectful of it. Yes, Barack Obama was a Constitutional scholar, but President Eisenhower's background was in the military. One need not know the fine points of law in order to avoid the most egregious trampling of Constitutional norms. You simply must respect the rule of law to avoid them..

If one "remains ignorant of the Constitution" wilfully, he is deliberately flouting the law of the land.

And this is why I should not post in politics.

I said I believe Trump is ignorant of it and chooses to be so. I did not say that was appropriate, desirable or acceptable. I think that is wholly inappropriate. I don't think he respects any "law" other than what he makes up in his own head.

I will go back to not commenting. It's better that way.

 

[AGBF]

And this is why I should not post in politics.

I said I believe Trump is ignorant of it and chooses to be so. I did not say that was appropriate, desirable or acceptable. I think that is wholly inappropriate. I don't think he respects any "law" other than what he makes up in his own head.

I will go back to not commenting. It's better that way.

I hope I was not impolite to you. I did not mean to silence you when you wrote an articulate, polite post.