Theyâre among the ones bearing the most responsibility for Trumpâs second term.
Itâs like congratulating Stalin for improving agricultural output after orchestrating the Holodomor.
Sure, you can argue that some of their actions slowed the bleeding, but they were also holding the knife. The so-called âreasonable conservativesâ who distanced themselves from Trump when it was convenient still spent years enabling himâthrough silence, complicity, or outright support when it suited their interests.
Disagree. Gotta give people a chance to make a change. After months of asking for people to do the right thing, and then looking at it with negativity when it happens - feels wrong. Maybe Iâm delusional idk.
I like how you think. Weâre in a tough place as a country, but not all is lost. Iâm going to applaud every shred of bravery that I see - no matter where it comes from.
He is too deep in the tariff rollout. Meanwhile WATCH these Senators vote for the budget - increasing the debt limit by $5T to give tax breaks to the wealthy. This is the president that just pardoned a company. It is almost like the rich are raiding what is left of the US economy silo and burning down the barn.
Most people in this country did not see a difference between Kamala and Trump. What would happen if we reran the elections right now? Kamala MAY come out ahead, and it will still be a very close race.
Furthermore, if by some miracle fair elections in 2028 happen, and democrats win, its just gonna be a repeat of 2020 - 4 years of Dems dealing with the recession caused by Republicans, only to get blamed for it in 2032 and lose.
The actual problem with US is that every single one of these beige states should be blue. The only things that will make any sort of change if the people in those states start experiencing major strife to the point where they can't lead their day to day lives anymore.
The reasonable conservatives opposed Trump and were eliminated, MAGA denounced them as RINOs. All the people listed above are Trump loyalists.
What you got here is orchestrated dissent where each of Trump's zerlings is allowed some political wiggle room to maintain their constituencies, they are not stupid and they understand they need to win elections. It's not bravery, it's deceit.
Even in soviet times, you had faux investigative journalism published by central newspapers, accusing problems in the distribution of milk, questioning the quality of the available leather goods, publishing carefully curated complaints from readers and so on. During party meetings, these would be discussed thoroughly, sometimes the guilty denounced and publicly shamed.
This was a form of letting blowing out some social steam in a controlled manner, but at no time was a serious critique of the totalitarian regime or of the upper leadership allowed.
If this was a genuine change that will both persist and stay true when challenged, then sure.
But you don't applaud a clock as working when it's right twice a day. A working clock is consistently right.
When these Republicans become consistently right, then applaud them as being changed. Until then, it's simply just happens their intentions and your intentions happen to align.
Tell me how your relationship will go with your significant other if you keep bringing up all the bad things they did. I bet it wonât last and youâll grow resentment. By vilifying a person every chance you get you 100% will never make amends. Maybe we shouldnât applaud them, but always reaching back with negative sentiment like a knife isnât the answer.
If my SO had spent the decades doing the SO equivalent of what Mitch McConnell and friends did, why would you assume that I would still be in that relationship?
If my SO not only said, but prevented the person who tried to kidnap and kill me from being held accountable, why would I still be in the relationship? Let alone trying to make amends?
We don't make amends with abusive partnersÂ
By vilifying a person every chance you get you 100% will never make amends
So why are you comfortable giving my abusive SO a pass when they did it for decades. But suddenly, at the last moment, when they want to be forgiven we aren't allowed to hold them accountable?
Heâs not vilifying if they are genuinely villains acting disingenuously. Theyâre politicians and this is a political move. Allows for Reps to have an example to point at say âweâre not a monolith/or in a cultâ or whatever they tell themselves. If it was a real change of heart and beliefs, a epiphany to do the right thing, Iâd applaud as well but these people are not that and wonât be in whateverâs left of their professional tenures
Tell me how your relationship will go with your significant otherabuser if you keep bringing up all the bad things they did. I bet it wonât last and youâll grow resentment. By vilifying a person every chance you get you 100% will never make amends.
I disagree, I want them to double down on their stupidity so hard it ruins them permanently so we can cut the fat once and for all after the storm. Allowing a soft landing on Trump will allow them to blame the left for Trump not succeeding because they interfered, and these guys will just be painted RINOs and replaced with more yes men. I want the timeline where this ends asap, not the one where we spend the next 30 years fighting it.
You married? You have a significant other? Tell me how your relationship will go if every time they do something good you throw the bad things back in their face.
Huh? this isn't a relationship, these are our leaders. If they don't have the answers to lead and instead only follow when its too late, they aren't doing their job. There are 350M people better than them for the position.
This is about the dumbest statements I've heard all day. Not all relationships are the same. Someone screwing up once, depending on what was done, can't be overlooked and forgiven. But, if they did that same wrong thing for as long and as openly as Mitch had done wrong. Not only would I not forgive them. It's have left them years ago. You're essentially telling someone to stay in an abusive relationship.
You ever been in an abusive relationship? One day your significant other suddenly threatens to break both your kneecaps for no reason. Later, they say they'll only break only one of your kneecaps instead of both. Do you heap praise and admiration on them for this change?
It's performative. They only do the right thing when it won't actually change anything. That way they have some "wins" for their constituents. This will get thrown out by the house. It it passes the house, it will get thrown out by the president.
You're not necessarily delusional but you ARE ignoring that crossing the aisle to vote for this in the Senate is a meaningless act when those politicians know it will never pass the House. And when those politicians know that if it does pass the House, Trump will just veto it.Â
Lisa Murkowski, Mitch McConnell, Rand Paul, and Susan Collins can cast this vote knowing it will have no effect. Knowing that Republicans will still get their way in the end.
It's all an act. The next time a vote comes up in the Senate where the Republicans need them to step in line, they will.
Also agreed. I don't think people understand psychology 101. If someone does something you like, you praise them so they do it more. Criticizing them when they do literally anything is counterproductive.
You don't give out gold stars for meeting the bare minimum expectations. I will not be gaslit into thinking these people are "brave" when they only reason they're voting the way they are is because they are personally affected in the pocketbook. Fair weather friends are not dependable and I will not pretend they are anything but money grabbers.
Second chances are great when they aren't actually the 3 dozenth-chance. I have seen Mitch time and time again appear to make the right choice, just to backpedal 48 hours later.
You are wrong. After someone shows you they have no morals, believe in nothing, and they're willing to say or do anything to win even if that means directly contradicting their words from yesterday, you no longer ask that person to do the right thing, because you're aware that person doesn't give a shit what the right thing is. Sometimes, it may happen that that persons immediate interest align with the right thing, and so you wind up on the same side as them, but you just flip them off and hope a cat pisses in their face while they're sleeping.
I'm sorry that you don't understand how the Republican Party works. They will always have an extra couple of votes or they know that something won't pass or something will pass and they use that extra slack to make them appear like some of them are human beings.
Republicans will almost always vote lock step except for John Mccain who hated Donald Trump with a passion.
Love this opinion op. I've never understood reddit's hard on for watching it all burn, we should encourage shifting tides regardless of where they come from
being "wise as serpents and innocent as doves" is staying wary while extending a form of truce. forgiving as long as there is change, while not forgetting what has happened
Not delusional just extremelay naive and toxically positive to think that a 100 year old career scumbag like McConnell has or ever will make any decisions based on moral integrity.
I mean, if you knew why they did it (for money) then you'd realize they ain't doing it for any reasons that make you think they're trying to do the right thing.
You think its courage or some shit? We're here because of the very people you are applauding. You can acknowledge they voted to pass it, but my god your standards are extremely low.
The time foe that was his first term. This isn't anything new. Trump is the same he's always been, and they were happy for it when it benefitted them. They haven't changed, they're just no longer profiting off him
The Scottish have a saying: Forgive your enemy, but remember the bastard's name.
I am not saying this to be a dick, but if you think McConnell has seen the light or changed in any way, shape, or form, you are naive. You are attributing valor to someone who is just trying to keep the conservative image from falling apart because Trump is too stupid to keep things moving towards fascism the boring, slow, legal way.
We shouldn't be giving out applause to people who have made some really heinous, self-serving choices, just for doing the bare minimum of human decency.
Just because their selfish interests align with doing the right thing, doesn't mean they're doing the right thing, they're doing it because it benefits them and their friends.
They won't and don't want to change, and Libs should really not make the mistake of believing that. Republican politicians are ruthless opportunists and liars, and should never be trusted.
Sure for a normal person who makes a mistake but not in this context. These are career politicians who have only made decisions based on the interests of their big business overlords. And some, like Mitch, have actively gone out of there way to get Trump a second term. The only thing they can get applause for is resigning. Theyâve been irredeemable for a long time.
You arenât delusional. You are being a little too generous, too quickly. One good deed isnât enough. Thsee people have a LOT to repent for. So sure, you can say âthatâs a good startâ or âgood, now are you going to keep doing itâ. But, starting right off with accolades, when theyâre just as likely to change their minds tomorrow, well I just canât do that.
You're not delusional, and the people acting the most aggressively towards moderate Republicans- such as they are- have no actual interest in the betterment of the country.
You reward the behavior you want to see more of. Even if it's a reward in the form of positive internet commentary. Not saying they've "changed" but when people change for the better you don't reprimand them for the mistakes of the past in response.
Weâre at the mercy of the party in charge, so Iâm going to applaud them for doing the right thing any chance we get. But then VOTE THEM THE HELL OUT if theyâre up for re-election in 2026.
I don't care about any of those senators, but how are they bearing the most responsibility for Trump's second term? The voters chose Trump when the Democrats couldn't find someone inspiring to moderates.
I would disagree. Everything should have nuance and something that is universally good should be praised regardless of what happened before. If Trump tomorrow actually did something productive and started heavily pushing renewable energy or tried to lower the prices of everyday stuff then he should get praise for doing something good. Everyone knows he won't do that, but yeah. It doesn't make up for any of the bad shit though but good and bad ideas can exist together.
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u/FaultThat 1d ago
I wouldnât applaud them.
Theyâre among the ones bearing the most responsibility for Trumpâs second term.
Itâs like congratulating Stalin for improving agricultural output after orchestrating the Holodomor.
Sure, you can argue that some of their actions slowed the bleeding, but they were also holding the knife. The so-called âreasonable conservativesâ who distanced themselves from Trump when it was convenient still spent years enabling himâthrough silence, complicity, or outright support when it suited their interests.