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Trump is a ‘populist, authoritarian narcissist’, says ex-speaker Paul Ryan
(www.theguardian.com)
Wanna explain why you were kissing the ring for two years then, Paul?
this post was submitted on 15 Dec 2023
275 points (98.2% liked)
politics
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Whatever values they claim to hold, in the end conservatives only recognize one virtue: power.
Not even. It has to be tyranny. They don't respect power on its own.
‘Powerful cowards’ what an archetype, eh? It’s such a strange combination. It’s like- tuna flavored ice cream.
Cowards crave power because it allows them to lash out at what they fear (ie everything)
Tax cuts. Remember when he helped pass a $1.5 trillion unfunded tax cut for the wealthy then resigned? That was the only issue he cared about, and he cared more about that than about being honest about Trump's behavior
"I didn't know" you will probably hear.
for the tax cuts he promised to his wealthy backers
“…who I gladly enabled as much as I could for as long as possible…”
For as long as it benefited myself.
I feel like politicians are taking advantage of how short the average U.S. person's attention span is. (Mine included)
"LOOK OVER HERE" politician says, as they do a bad thing in the opposite direction
"Hey, wait a minute..." Some people
"HEY LOOK AT THAT GUY" politician to one of the people noticing
And the heads just keep turning, the pitchforks keep coming out, and soon it's a jumbled mess of misinformation, distraction, confusion and in-fighting.
How do we even begin to fix it?
Its not even about short attention span. Its a trick as old as time and right out of the fascist playbook.
Gish gallop
Nobody can keep up with all the bs
You can start by paying attention to who the bad guys are and remembering their names, or at least their party affiliation. The same ones turn up over and under most of the time, so it's not as big a task as you would think.
As for fixing the attention span of people who just can't be bothered, I have no idea.
Never forget, Paul Ryan bent the knee.
Bent the knee and polished the knob
Oh no, I'm throwing up in my mouth!
Hmm sure but even if it's not forgiven, maybe looking forward seeing he has changed his mind at least
It doesn't really matter when he willfully overlooked so much to even make this assertion, and then to follow through with it as well. He KNEW what he was when he made this statement, same as the new statements.
You know, one thing I'll give Liz Cheney and Kinzinger, they weren't afraid to speak the truth while still in office. Spineless fucks like Paul Ryan here might've actually been able to do something if they had.
What’s the point of getting elected if you aren’t there to do the right thing at all costs, even losing your seat.
'And yet, I'm gonna vote for him anyway'
-Also Paul Ryan (probably)
Fuck Paul Ryan. Traitor shitcunt, like nearly all other republicans. Fuck off and die.
Well, duh. It's not like you didn't contribute to putting him in power you ass.
Too little, too late, you spineless sycophant.
Paul Ryan is mostly upset that Trump beat him to it.
From a leaked 2016 recording while this righteous asshole was Speaker:
McCarthy: "There’s two people I think Putin pays: Rohrabacher and Trump. Swear to God."
Ryan: "This is an off-the-record. No leaks, alright?"
McCarthy: "Alright."
Ryan: "This is how we know we’re a real family here."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/515f6f8a-3aff-11e7-8854-21f359183e8c_story.html
Uhhh this is exactly why his followers love him.
We truly are a docile populace
This is a compliment coming from Ryan.
I absolutely despise Paul Ryan, but he is nothing if not a libertarian in Republican clothing. The man hates Trump almost as much I hate him.
Is that semen on your black eye?
Paul Ryan isn't always wrong.
One of those things is not like the others.
Populism, in the American context, was a proto-leftist movement with a "fuck the bankers" vibe. I believe it had the most traction during the depression with dust bowl era farmers, but someone can correct me if I'm wrong on that. Regardless, it was a popular bottom up political movement, which is why it's been vilifed by the ruling class and media ever since.
Yes, I know there are people who label themselves as right wing reactionary populists, but letting them freely co-opt that political movement is akin to letting the National Socialists co-opt a socialist movement.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Donald Trump is “not a conservative”, the former Republican House speaker Paul Ryan said, but “a populist, authoritarian narcissist”.
He was speaking to Kevin Kajiwara, co-president of Teneo Political Risk Advisory, in a podcast interview recorded in November but widely noticed this week.
Voices on both sides of the main political aisle have criticised Ryan for not strongly opposing Trump when he ran for the Republican nomination in 2016, or through four chaotic years in the White House that ended in the deadly January 6 attack on Congress.
Kajiwara asked Ryan how he thought history would judge Kinzinger and Cheney, conservative Republicans from Illinois and Wyoming who stood against Trump and sat on the January 6 committee before being forced out of Congress.
Historians searching for the roots of Trumpism have generally looked to the 1990s, when another Republican speaker, Newt Gingrich, turned Congress into a scorched-earth battleground; to the rise of Fox News; or to opposition to Barack Obama, the first Black president, particularly through the Tea Party movement.
Ryan, an economic conservative who was Mitt Romney’s running mate in 2012, continued: “There has to be some line, some principle that is so important to you that you’re just not going to cross, so that when you’re brushing your teeth in the morning, look yourself in the mirror, you like what you see.
The original article contains 583 words, the summary contains 224 words. Saved 62%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!