comment: >
  
  It takes a lot of blood cells to keep a person alive, but only a few to form a clot and stroke that person out.
context: Because they aren't the "fringe." They are the base, the standard ignorant, nasty, stupid GOP voter. I wish the media would stop pretending like mainline GOP politicians are somehow "fringe." >
  
  In 2010 we watched hard-core conservatives like Bob Bennett get defeated in primaries because they weren’t sufficiently crazy.  They actively purged moderates and old-school conservatives for years. >
  
  And those guys themselves were purgers of the sensible moderate/Rockefeller/Nixon GOPers when the Reagan/Gingrich faction rose to power. It's the latest devolution of a party thats been morally and intellectually bankrupt for 40 years. >
  
  They find themselves mired in money, myopic in their understanding of value as they flounder in media seas, gripping pathological ego trips and obsessing on trivialities while the foundations of civil society rot away from neglect.
  Most of these cretins are accurate representatives of their voters, which raises some questions about democracy I’m not qualified to ponder. >
  
  Yes but I think for a lot of these ghouls, the rotting away of civil society is a plus because then they can say "See! The government doesn't work!" And then they sell the parts that are left to their buddies for profit. >
  
  When the Rs punish their moderates (Cheney and others) and accept their extremists openly calling for Christian Nationalism, this is what they get. >
  
  And Cheney is not really a moderate in terms of her policies, except for her belief in the integrity of elections and that trump lied and tried to foment an insurrection >
  
  And that qualifies as moderate now; sad. >
  
  In 4 years, Romney went from the standard-bearer of the party to being a RINO outcast without changing his positions. >
  
  This is what happens when you elect barely literate conspiracy theorists who see the office as an easier get than a spot on a reality show. >
  
  This is what happens when people who grew up on Reagan propaganda without realizing it are now taking office >
  
  If you put sawdust and weevils in your bread, it doesn’t take much before you no longer get a “mostly functional” bread, and you get complete garbage. >
  
  The way they really need to look at it is that the GOP does not actually have a majority.  They need to form a coalition government and they're trying to do it with the extremist party.  If they refuse to play ball the only other option is to try to negotiate with another party. >
  
  
  Those challenging Mr. McCarthy for speaker know they run the risk of being punished in their committee assignments, should he eventually prevail. But that threat no longer carries the weight it once did in an era of free-agent politicians.
  
  The article makes the case that social media and modern communications tools have enabled even the most green politicos to have a national presence and capture crap tons of campaign cash.   The only problem with free agents?  
  They’re not working for us, only themselves. 
  The sooner the electorate figures that out, the sooner the drama quotient will drop and maybe, just maybe, we’d get a semi-functional legislative branch outta the deal. >
  
  And the media has to stop pushing the cult of personality and get people excited about boring old policies. >
  
  Unfortunately, in this era of social media tools, media has NO power. Many youth get their news from Tik Tok these days. Who controls and manufactures news on Tik Tok? >
  
  And before that people read the news from the one local paper their town had and they spent the rest of their time gossiping and talking about nonsense trivialities.
  Before that Yellow Journalism was the norm and not frowned upon.
  Before that you got official word from the town crier of the King - I'm sure that was unbiased news. >
  
  Have they considered that GOP policies don't appeal to moderates? >
  
  The least crazy republicans should just vote with the dems and let them have the speakership. That seems to be the only thing that would shake the more crazy parts of the party. >
  
  uh, have you seen the republicans in the last decade? they dont work with dems on anything >
  
  True. But I’m hoping this will be a “come to Jesus” moment for some who may be ready to retire. They seem to find their morals when they are ready to retire. >
  
  Your are wildly optimistic lol >
  
  Same reason Manchin and Sinema have so much power over the democrats: slim majorities means you need them, and they know it. >
  
  It is funny looking back now at all the people who said Rs always fall in line. Why can’t Dems get shit done? When Sinema etc we’re holding things up. 
  This is pretty clear evidence that no in fact Rs definitely don’t always fall in line. >
  
  In-fighting is different than falling-in-line against Democrats.  The GOP will sort out a Speaker at some point and when they do, I wouldn't be expecting them to help the Dems out with any legislation. >
  
  They listed several ways these clowns are enabled, so why isn't anyone using these same methods to help the people? 
  Rhetorical question. I know the answer: $$$ >
  
  Because the difference between a far right fascist nazi fuck and a "moderate" republican is... never mind... there is no difference.  All republicans are fascists. >
  
  Well, for one thing, every time Trump said something, stupid, illegal, outrageous, etc., McCarthy and Republicans kept silent and turned a blind eye to it. So, the far right fringe nut jobs learned that they could do the same and they got a pass too. Now they reap what they sowed. So what is the say karma is again? Oh that’s right, it’s a b*. >
  
  Matt Gaetz just out here, walking around, not a care in the world.  The fuck?
  Sorry, that's so far off topic as to warrant a deletion by mods, but seriously, HOW is that guy still throwing weight in his party? 
  The Dems had a guy make ooga-ooga hands at a woman's breasts and the uproar was a cacophony and he got booted.  Matt Gaetz has Venmo receipts for pedophilia and he's just out there walking amongst us, STILL, like a year later? 
  I just...I just can't. Like...what?...how? >
  
  Same fuckin reason two Democrats held the rest hostage in the senate. >
  
  One dropped that affiliation, the other’s always been a DINO. >
  
  Most of the 20 causing this have always been maggots. >
  
  That doesn't really make them any different from the rest of the GOP. >
  
  They don't, really. McCarthy is just too spineless to kick them out. >
  
  They aren't fringe however, this is the party. Full stop.