Sorry Ross, both houses need to flip. This experiment has failed.
188
If your judgment is that Trump has been less destructive than expected, you are already part of the problem and have no standing to suggest anything.
215
Respectfully, Mr Douthat--what are you talking about? This opposite world, "alternative fact," lying Republican administration and congress have no decency, no honor left. They are aiding and abetting the worst presidency in American history. What do you mean by calling for any of them to be elected or re-elected?!
Democrats, says your colleague Mr Brooks, are materialists--yes, indeed. Democrats offer policies consistently if imperfectly aimed toward inclusion over exclusion and toward maximizing prosperity for the greatest number of Americans. Call it real patriotism, if you like.
133
What is to be fearful of liberalism at this point? Seriously, Ross.
110
Complete nonsense! The "institutional" Republican Party is represented most of all, by majority leader Mitch McConnell.Recall that the first words out of his mouth when Obama was elected: "Our main job is to make sure he is a one-term president." Not, "We will work together to make this a better country." He is, as is his party, a racist, partisan, pig-headed bloviator. Push tax cuts then push eliminating entitlements. That is institutional Republicanism. Not to mention ignoring the nomination a a perfectly well-qualified Supreme Court justice and holding it hostage. Institutional Republicans, indeed.
179
A Democratic House will investigate ad nauseam and impeach. Period. People who generically want a Democratic House as a "check" do not realize that it comes with committee chairs like Maxine Waters and Jerrold Nadler, who's already ramping up to impeach Kavanaugh. If you are frustrated with Congress now, this would hardly be an improvement.
15
This comes on the heels of the massacre at a Jewish synagogue. Trump has already mocked three people the MAGABomber attempted to murder: Clinton, Soros and Steyer. He has also continued to imply Clinton and Soros are criminals.
Yet according to Douthat, the GOP still does not deserve full rebuke, because a few years from now, Democrats might decide to pass legislation for an unwieldy, expensive national healthcare system.
Douthat, you are just as complicit as the Trump’s Republicans in Congress who are already out deflecting Trump’s violent, hateful rhetoric (this after weeks of calling Democrats “mobs” because some protestors raised their voices. Remind me again, did Bernie Sanders mock Scalise before or after he got shot? Of course not, because Bernie is not a monster). You place your policy preferences over the basic fabric of our democracy. Shameful.
119
For heaven's sake, Ross Douthat, how many more conservative justices on the Supreme Court, or for that matter the lower courts, will make you feel safe from those dangerous liberals?
119
Its ever so cute that you believe that there will be nine Supreme Court justices once the Democrats control the Senate and the Presidency.
Or that the DC circuit won't be packed in turn.
The worm will turn, and all McConnell's accomplishments will end up as dust in the wind.
30
There is no institutional Republican party.
59
Mr Douthat - As of today at 4:46 PM ET, there is no mention on Mitch McConnell's Twitter page of the massacre in Pittsburgh. Just self engrandizing post after post of McConnell "standing down the angry left wing mob".
Again, remind me, why these Republican "leaders" deserve to be in power.
111
"Liberalism in full power"?!! Holy Mother of God. Republicans control all three branches of government and have profoundly undermined our fourth branch.
The hordes at the gate are, in fact, a bunch poor brown people carrying seven year-olds on their backs.
The franchise for black people is once again utterly at risk through unwarranted voter fraud allegations and the disenfranchisement of convicted felons who have COMPLETED their sentence. Gerrymandering and the electoral college have made a mockery of the "one man one vote" ideal, profoundly tilting favor torwards conservatives.
But we are to believe that there is some genuine risk of "liberalism in full power"?
How about folks like you put your money where your mouth is and stand up for all Americans' right to representational government?
92
The only chance for the Republican Party to purge itself of its current racist, xenophobic, and kleptocratic core is through the most overwhelming defeat possible. The addiction to vile behavior will likely only be reversed by the Republican Party reaching rock bottom. Then it can rebuild itself in the mold of American ideals.
97
I am calling you out on your silent support of anti-Semitism. Your statement that Trump has not been as destructive as he could have been is an insult to everyone his hate-mongering has helped to injure or kill. As the editorial appearing a few slots above yours notes, turning the tide of hate requires everyone to condemn the abusive language that enables these hate crimes. Step up Ross.
98
Sorry, Ross.
We need the fullest repudiation of Trump possible.
Even more, since no GOP Senators or Representatives have had the spine or the conscience to check this president, and the country is now becoming a dangerous place with Jews being mown down in shul and white nationalists hearing the dog whistle and responding with mail-bombs, we need to vote out do-nothing GOP Trump collaborators.
64
The Republican senate is Donald Trump.
Donald Trump is the Republican senate.
60
Here you can see into the "soul" (such as it is) of Ross Douthat, and see that there is literally nothing there of substance.
The only possible moral reaction to the ethical rabies of Trumpism is to root for its total destruction in the elections.
60
In a reasonable world this would be great, to have some balance in ideas. But we are now living in a country where the GOP promotes racism, sexism, hatred towards immigrants, transgender people, Jews, among many others, as a means to instill fear and grab power. People are literally dying as a result. They lie as easily as they breathe, and they care more about money and power than the lives of their fellow Americans, the survival of our Democracy, and even the survival of our planet and our species. Think about that.
Many long time Republicans are even saying that everyone should vote Democratic across the board because the GOP has become so dangerous to our country. You sound ridiculous trying to pretend we should trust our country to the Republican party in any way.
48
An incredibly flawed thesis. Balance of power, in this day and age, is an entirely Democratic Congress (both houses) and a vitriol spewing, duplicitous, and divisive executive branch. The approval of judges being the most important reason for control of the Senate. If only one were possible, would prefer the Senate to the House.
17
The Democratic Party is not in a match leftward, the grass roots are attempting to return it from being dragged to the Center-Right by the Clintons and others. Many of us think the right wing drift of the party enabled the Republicans to go off the rails into the Tea Party and Trump fit that has put our democracy in this mess. We are tired of choosing between center right and crazy right on election day.
We need to get Republicans out of power until the party cleans up it’s act. Stealing Supreme Court seats such as with Neil Gorsuch is so far past the pale as to boggle the mind. Jamming an accused sexual predator onto the Supreme Court has further frayed comity. Behind these high profile actions, Republicans have been stonewalling appointments to various independent agencies of government in order to castrate their ability to work as designed and intended under law- OSHA comes to mind.
The simple truth is that Republicans have not been governing in good faith for far longer than the existence of the Tea Party or Trump as politician. From local government on up, they have been playing scorched earth, “heads I win, tails you lose” governance. And I blame the mainstream media for failing to properly report this misconduct.
I am an independent voter and right now am not inclined to elect a Republican to do anything until they return to a more civil tone and mode of governance.
33
The only hope left for America is to install lawmakers in both the House and Senate with the backbone to stand up to the corruption, hate and violence of Trump. Vote them all out.
30
Ross Douthat remains the most oblivious commentator to Trump's reckless subversion of democracy. Touting Trump's" less destructive"than expected policies is not only blindly wrong, it is also enabling the serious damage to continue. Unraveling what this so-called "Administration" is doing will take years. Trump fails the most basic task of government - careful stewardship of resources for the benefit of everyone. Trump's kleptocracy is only possible because the Douthats in the press tout the fiction that things aren't really so bad. Yes! They are that bad!
66
“But so far Trump has been more constrained and less destructive than I expected”
I stopped reading after this point.
54
If Trump has a Republican majority in the Senate, he can and will fire and replace the leaders of the Justice Department and FBI, and unquestionably he will shut down the Mueller investigation.
Trump has bragged that he has appointed a greater percentage of the federal judiciary than any President since George Washington. He seems to be, as is his habit, lying, but not by much. Several of his low level appointments are downright evil. After the 2018 election if he still has a Senate majority, it will be Kitty bar the door, and for future vacancies you can count on nominees far worse than Kavanaugh to any judicial level.
Like the evangelicals, Douthat is eager to sell his soul for judicial nominations.
48
Why is Ross using the word "FEAR" so many times? We should try liberalism again there is nothing to be afraid about it. We try The Donald's way and see where we are. Now this is a real fear!
29
When Douthat wants a democratic House, you know the right has gone over the cliff. He would still be with it if it were only the brink. He WAS with it when it was only the brink.
10
In other words, Mr. Douthat is all too happy to tut-tut that Donald Trump's behavior is unacceptable and should not be rewarded, but perfectly willing to accept and reward those who have enabled it. Perhaps Mr. Douthat would benefit less from voting than from acquiring a mirror or a conscience.
30
As Sam Kanter’s comment stated 20 minutes ago, Mr Douhat is defending the indifensible. To continue to support a Republican Party which enables the current President is neither ethical nor moral. Where are Mr Douhat Christian values, did he lost them along the way? The conservative Supreme Court majority, the tax cuts can’t justify the political debacle we are experiencing.
20
"Liberalism in full power" is Douthat's and the religious right's boogeyman. It justifies supporting Trump and the GOP no matter what they do, whether destroying the environment, stealing our money and giving it to their billionaire donors, or destroying basic civil rights. "Liberalism in full power" is something none of us in America have actually seen in our lifetimes, it only exists in the minds of those like Douthat who want to transform America into a Theocracy and Autocracy. In Douthat's fevered imagination "Liberalism in full power" existed on those rare occasions when Democrats were able to pass something that was the work of the devil, like the ACA covering preexisting conditions.
That you actually seriously state that Trump's "foreign policy is less destabilizing," that he's be "more constrained," and that "his appointments" have been "more responsible", proves you're totally detached from reality. Trump has used rhetoric to build a white nationalist movement, and exhorted adoring crowds with rhetoric of dehumanization in empowering that white nationalist movement. It defines outsiders as seeking to defile, pollute, and ultimately destroy the insider community, and it is rhetoric which revolves around 3 themes: identity, purity, and security. The GOP has supported this, or done nothing. Such rhetoric just lead to violence and death, but those very real deaths are nothing compared to Douthat's fear of "Liberalism in full power." So much for his purported morality.
27
As someone who's identified as a Republican since 1963 and as a conservative for almost as long, I'm treating this as a chemo election.
Trump is as much a cancer to the sort of Reagan-Kemp conservatism I embrace as it is to the body politic at large. And as with any other cancer, sometimes the only way to heal the body is to poison the malignant cells — even if it also causes short-term damage to some of the healthy ones that remain capable of regeneration.
So any candidate for federal or statewide office whose principal campaign declaration is loyalty to Trump will find me voting for the Democratic opponent, no matter how repellent I find that rival's positions.
Only if and when Trump's stooges have receded from the scene will I again look to embrace the GOP's candidates.
27
"The best argument for conservative support for Donald Trump was always defensive: Elect him and you prevent the installation of a long-term liberal majority on the Supreme Court, and perhaps chasten the Democratic Party and arrest its leftward march."
Come on, Ross. The "leftward march" of the Democratic Party is nothing compared to the rightward goose steps of the Republican Party.
25
Trump has such a strong voice and command of his base and the elected public officials from the Republican Party, the only reasonable counterweight is a supermajority across Congress.
15
I hope more people vote for a Democrat in this midterm election. Checks and Balances keep our Democracy. I do think, it may not happen that Democrats will be victorious in taking the House. They may not increase their presence in the Senate. I think voter suppression, closing of polling booths, and gerrymandering the districts prevent Democratic elections. We will see how it turns out this election. My Republican newspapers surprisingly supported the Democrat running for Senate. I was surprised to see the newspapers in Texas support the Democrat. I was surprised to hear Republican incumbents not running telling us to vote for the Democrat. I was surprised to hear Trump's former lawyer, Michael Cohen, tell us to vote for the Democrat. These are messages asking us to preserve Democratic rule in America. I hope people listen and vote. Needles to say, I hope they vote for the Democrat.
22
So Ross, you don't think you, your party and Trump have done enough damage to the U.S. yet?
We need more, in the name of balanced government?
You really can't beat Republicans -- victims when they're out of power (which is never), and victims when they run the whole show.
If you love "balanced" government so much, where was the call, for the past two years, for "moderate" Republican Senators (all .25 of them) to caucus with the Democrats?
I didn't think so...
42
I am not hoping for a midterm split. That would leave the despicable and dishonest Mitch McConnell in place as Senate Majority Leader. You know, the one who likes to bend all the rules to suit the GOP.
Though not likely, the best path forward for this nation is for Dems to take both House and Senate. So people can get decent healthcare, and, a decent minimum wage, and less voter suppression, and circuit court judges who are actually competent (another little trick of McConnell). So that trump can be kept on a leash, where he belongs.
You think trump is not as destructive as you thought he's be? Where have you been the past week? Have you listened to a trump rally? Have any inkling of how divided this nation is? Do you really think that trump belongs in the WH?
Please, stop insulting us.
44
The current GOP is the party of lies, hate, intolerance, unfairness, obstruction of justice, tax cuts for the rich, cutting social programs, cutting medical care, environmental destruction, voter suppression, misogyny, putting children in cages, separating parents from children, and complicity with a con man unfit for the oval office.
The party needs to be eradicated from our country.
33
And here I thought you weren't a Trump supporter!
In past articles you have distanced yourself from him, but now the truth is coming out.
The United States is no longer trusted by our allies, let alone those who thought we supported justice throughout the world. We no longer support the Paris accord, the Iranian nuclear agreement, rewriting NAFTA, and not signing on to the TPP.
You say you are a Christian. What is Christian about not keeping your word?
You think abortion is the worst thing in the world. What about world destruction with never-ending wars, possible nuclear war, famine and the killing of babies who are actually born?
As long as the Democrats can have a scrap of power, but not too much, you're OK. Seems like the food program for the poor, but I'm sure you're against that.
17
Douhat and Brooks are simply “reasonable” arms of the Republican party - FOX News for the educated. I guess this serves them well and butters their bread.
They are both still defending the indefensible, and if they had any ethical or moral compass would have abandoned the Republican Party a long time ago.
82
QED: The conservative elite is truly craven. Ross hopes that the Senate can continue to pack the courts with judges made in Trump’s and McConnel’s own images: hateful, power-hungry, win at-all-cost, self-serving white nationalists.
30
@James Byerly Once they achieve a sympathetic Supreme Court, they will selectively suppress non-Republican voting in many states. That in itself is a reason to hope for a Democrat majority in the Senate ASAP.
21
""But so far Trump has been more constrained and less destructive than I expected."
Attempted assassination of two American Presidents, Vice President, members of Congress and the public, and murder in a Jewish community. Trump's rhetoric and attacks on the Press have consequences and all the while the Republicans in Congress sit complicit. It's time to throw the bums out and elect democrats.
41
This space says "share your thought". OK, this is mine: to support anything to do with the Republican party today is to support evil. For decades the GOP has built up its power with racist appeals, and this has been all out and overt since Mr. Obama was elected president. We now have a foul president, uniformly supported by a political party from the local to US Senate level. Whatever `moderate' policies have been blown up years ago: this is the party that slashes a needed tax base, then spends more than ever on military ventures, and `homeland security' aimed at making us all fearful all the time. Mr. Douthat is an enabler of the worth kind.
That is my thought to share.
36
Are you serious? Trump's foreign policy is better than you expected? We are the only country which is not a signatory to the climate change agreement; he has insulted the leaders of Canada, the UK, Germany; moving the US embassy to Jerusalem has damaged the likelihood of real peace in the Middle East for a generation. He appointed good people? Then why have more cabinet level individuals been forced to resign for ethical lapses then in any other administration? Carson, DeVos, Perry are unqualified under any measure. This administration could not be worse than it is, we have hit rock bottom. Vote blue for every office.
62
@JaneF You can add on the reprehensible effort of the Republican Party to electively disenfranchise voters who they feel would oppose them. There is no place for a party that attacks American Democracy itself.
19
Unfortunately, Ross, you are likely to get your wish. But I am convinced you will be equally likely to regret what you wished for.
I am looking forward to watching Republicans trying to squirm out of their flagrantly dishonest campaign promise to keep pre-existing condition protections. And twist themselves into pretzels to sell TrumpCare junk insurance policies when the House proposes to restore and improve ObamaCare.
I can’t wait for the House Democrats to shove Mitch McConnell onto the third rail when he attempts to gut Social Security and Medicare.
I will actually look forward to reading the news when the Republicans spectacularly fail to justify the corruption and greed of the Trump administration as the House committees provide nearly daily reports.
But my favorite thing will be to see the Republican senators search for the bottom of their cowardice and depravity as they stand in sullen silence while the House Democrats give voice to the shock and horror that most Americans feel about the leader of the Republican Party.
Thoughts and prayers, Ross, thoughts and prayers.
29
Temper trump?......Are you waiting for trump to be more
Presidential.......? HUH?
what evidence do you have that trump could ever be
Presidential.......
You might remember '33 the Catholics were on their list too......
Would that make a difference in your thinking?
So look around you.....are you suggesting America looks good?
Now I've heard everything......
11
Trump's appointments have been riddled with corruption and the taint of lies and moral lassitude. Nothing any predecessor has ever done, Nixon included, has so endangered our democracy as the disastrous policies of this administration. Mitch McConnell is a prime architect of this destruction in refusing to allow Obama's appointee be seated on the court. A Republican Senate under McConnell can be expected to continue the march to authoritarianism and the unrestrained criminality of Trump and his cronies.
24
Ross is completely delusional if he thinks that the Democrats won't act on their very worst impulses should they regain control of the House. I almost think Ross rather relishes that prospect so he can safely 'tut-tut' over the resulting auto-da-fé from the sidelines.
1
Sorry Ross, your so-called "conservative choice" is NOT a choice. If your choice comes to pass, it will mean the difference between sanity and insanity because the horror of the alternative of a Republican Party continuing to control all THREE branches of government allowing this President to become even more unhinged than he already is would further tear America apart(if that is even possible).
31
With all do respect sir:
Why on earth would you feel justified to defend keeping the Senate Republican or keeping Trump in power. Were you not the one who said a tax cut would justify a Trump win in 2016? You won. And ,that Ireland should obey the Pope and continue on with bad women's health choices. Even though the Irish voted a secular vote and you lost.
Please stop justifying your choices with hindsight.
Try actually living (IMO) your choices, and not pretending that you are a person who half believes in a secular commons and half believes in the Christian dominion.
You are no different than the present Republican Senate or
the Republican House. They don't pretend to be free of religious prejudice. You , sir, do.
14
Please remind me of what the Republican Senate has done for the benefit of the country in the last ten years that deserves their remaining in the Majority.
26
Perhaps liberalism AND conservatism need both to be held in check - at least in their extremes. What we have now is far, far from balance, with a president who has no restraints and is dividing the country into a polarized bitterness we have not seen since the Civil War. A Republican Party constituted of statesmen and true patriots devoted to democracy might have kept him in check, but they have not done so in the slightest.
Two (or more) parties are needed, both to balance each other, and to hold abuses in check. The current GOP has shown no willingness to balance or to check. The best hope for our country is a Democratic sweep now, and a wiser, more truly patriotic GOP to emerge from the ruin the current so clearly deserves - and the country needs.
6
I had to chuckle when Mr. Douthat invoked a sanitized version of the Republican boogy man of the unchained liberal mob argument. Let's see, the last time this horrific event occurred in 2008 this unruly crowd:
1. Passed a stimulus that arguably saved the economy from continuing its precipitous fall brought about by an unfettered financial industry.
2. Passed a healthcare bill that, although flawed, provided improved medical care to millions of Americans.
3. Negotiated a treaty to limit nuclear weapons development in the middle east and greatly reduced our military involvement that had seemed a never ending story.
4. Put the US in a leadership position in the climate change effort through global treaties and US environmental policies.
5. Pushed for increased voter participation in our elections.
6. Negotiated a treaty with the Pacific rim nations to help insure improved working conditions for those makingthe majority of our imported goods while increasing opportunities for our businesses overseas.
7. Deployed polices to provide equal rights and opportunities for all Americans.
I suppose that I should mentions most if not all of these efforts were vehemently opposed by the "principled conservatives" at every turn.
If we have reduced how we evaluate success in our country to a pure zero-sum financial metric with no social or moral compass, then perhaps I could agree with Ross, but I hope that we are still better than that.
47
In the end it's not so much about Republicans and Democrats. It's about Americans.
It would be great if we could all start talking and LISTENING to each other again, with respect and sincerity.
I generally vote Democrat. But to any GOP voters reading this, please believe me when I say I do NOT want to take away your guns, force your daughters to have abortions, prevent you from going to the church of your choice, etc.
I'm firmly convinced that we could get 80% of Americans to agree to just about every important policy decision, acknowledging that we would all be expecting compromises, both given and taken.
There will always be 10% at each end of the spectrum whose heels are dug into intractable positions. We must not let them dominate the conversation or it will just be a screaming match.
14
Thanks for the point of view of many Americans and I agree with our sentiments. Fruitful debate and reasoned argument are not in their best interest. The evidence is clear. Demand term limits or at least don't every vote for an incumbent. If politicians had such constraints, I believe they would start to sound and act like most of the people you know. The ones your agree with an the ones you don't.
1
There's always an argument for power sharing as damage control - and specifically now, I guess I'm inclined to agree that the Democrats need to cool and collect themselves a bit before being trusted with too much power.
But on the other hand, established Senators have been more of a check on Trump because they pre-dated Trump - and in many cases, were not returning. So the argument to vote for new GOP Senators as part of a strategy seeking to constrain Trump is bad, bad, bad! Individual cases may vary, but in general GOP candidates coming up in 2018 are going to be ones that reflect Trumpism and get elected for just that reason.
In 2020, we could hope for a traditional GOP moderate to win the presidency (and I say this as a committed progressive!) - because more than anything we need the right to get solid evidence that rejecting Trumpism is a winning proposition. But in 2018, with candidates embracing Trumpism to win, the GOP needs a good ol' fashioned thumping all up and down the ticket.
91
@Patrick R I'm inclined to agree with you.
2
Flipping the House and the Senate to Democratic would be best.
McConnell is in Trump's swamp up to his neck.
McConnell and Ryan both refused to act when informed by the Obama administration of Russian hacking and election interference.
McConnell turns a deliberately blind eye to Trump's lies and malfeasance. Family values and fiscal conservatism are just words, no longer Republican policy.
Republicans are not willing to put the good of the country before the good of the GOP, and as a group have broken their Oaths of Office.
Vote Democratic on November 6th,
Every seat, every office.
Changing Majorities in Congress is our best course of action.
Vote.
102
After Pittsburgh Ryan and McConnell’s silence is deafening.
The GOP. Should be sent to the only place it’s comfortable
The sewer
10
If the Democrats take the House, they could control the news cycle by starting impeachment hearings even before Mueller's report, calling witnesses, day after day, to testify about Russian connections with Trump. They could call them, 'Trumpy Traitors,' except for the never-Trumpers, gutting the RP.
If they win the Senate and White House in 2020, they could give the vote to all undocumented citizens and Dreamers. They could also investigate the FBI-Kavanaugh fiasco, calling all the witnesses the FBI wouldn't interview; then expand the SCOTUS to 25 or 50 or even a thousand; one vote out of a thousand would have almost no chance of affecting the outcome.
11
@T Mills
Oh please, you are just trying to scare people. Read Maureen Dowd's op-ed from today and get back to us.
8
@T Mills
They could. When you offer possibilities as reality, you could equally speculate that news agency will report the truth, that all citizens can vote, that the SCOTUS decisions are based on law and human values, which are not based upon profit. And on and on.
5
The fundamental flaw in Douthat’s reasoning is that Senate Republicans have not tempered Trump. Who among them consistently has challenged the appalling, constant and numerous string of lies emanating from the Oval Office? Of the three who have tried, none will be in the Senate next year.
First, Sen. McCain. McConnell, the purported “buffer-in-chief,” hardly displayed less cruelty than Trump by postponing a key vote to punish McCain for for his vote against repealing Obamacare, a childish response that delayed McCain’s cancer treatment. As to Corker and Flake, which Senate Republicans defended their limited efforts to speak the truth rather accept the lies and appease the base?
What has the Republican Senate done to address known Russian interference in the 2016 elections. Whether Trump colluded or no, Russian hacking happened. It is happening again in 2018. Senate response - silence.
Which Republican Senator has chided Trump for his petulant responses to the Florida bomber or the Pittsburgh shooter? No one, because winning the next election is more important than attempted bombing of progressive political “opponents” or actual murder of Jews. In America. Again.
We cannot continue hoping that the “honorable men” among Senate Republicans - or conservative leaders - will repudiate the deal with the devil that empowers Trump. It is time to make America great again. Vote Democratic.
41
"Liberal Supreme Court"? What is liberal about emasculating the Civil Rights Act in favor of its preferred groups, or handing real estate developers the government power of eminent domain to confiscate people's homes in Kelo?
20
Wow. Another conservative thinking liberals are hatching some vast overreach. Where do they get these ideas?
The fact that most Americans agree with the central liberal policies of this election--strengthened health care, access to abortion, addressing our carbon emissions, protecting LGBTQ rights, and immigration reform that doesn't demonize migrants--doesn't seem to stop these conservatives from thinking that liberals are hell bent on undermining the will of the people.
Mitch McConnell needs to be hounded from power. Simple as that. His sins are in some ways worse than Trump's. By his breaking of the rules both before and since the 2016 election, the Senate is well on its way to institutionalizing majoritarian thuggery in the chamber that was designed explicitly to prevent that. At this point it is unclear whether it can recover from these wounds without writing new and explicit rules.
Throw the them out. Don't worry, there won't be enough votes to convict Trump in the Senate. He'll just lose in 2020 so that he can go off and rant from the sidelines, spewing vitriol and causing damage until nature and his terrible dietary habits still his tongue.
19
I guess today's GOP suggests that we put a full magazine of .223 or 7.62x39 in the collection plate.
6
With this column, Douthat crosses over from the role of thoughtful conservative to defender of the indefensible. It is time for the Times to find an honest, articulate conservative pundit, as this kind of whataboutism is simply not credible, and Douthat has now officially joined the world of political flacks.
45
Yeah, all those Senate republicans who respectfully joined in trashing and ignoring a survivor of sexual assault and put a binge drinker in full denial on the court.
21
"But so far Trump has been more constrained and less destructive than I expected." Christ! What, exactly, were you expecting, that was going be worse than what Trump has already done. If you're happy with the man in any way, shame on you. You belong in the dustbin of history alongside The Lord of the Flies currently in the White House. Nothing could ever be worth this nightmare!. To people like you, I guess it's worth destroying the country for a tax cut for the 1%, and a seat on the Supreme Court(which was stolen). You're shortsighted and as scary as Donald Trump. Until today, I've at least respected your opinion, even if I disagreed with you. You've lost my respect, and a reader of your column. If you've driven me further to the left, it makes me happy to think that you've done the same for many, many others. The country deserves so much better than you and Donald.
33
What does conservatism stand for?
You do not have to dig very hard to find that every "issue" "they" stand for has been corrupted to the core by the "conservative" crowd
Family values? Is it in the best interest of this nation to have destitute minorities (black, hispanics) with practically nonexistent paths to a good living, or the keep women and "other" minority sexes in subjugated positions?
Morality? While it is true that abortion may not be the best way to deal with unwanted pregnancies, it is preferable to go the route of "safe legal and rare" terminations.
Religious attitudes? Religiosity and hypocrisy seem to be at the top of that pyramid.
Frugality? Most conservatists do not care about balancing the budget, that is pretty obvious. "No more taxes" is a disingenuous slogan.
Health Care? I will not even pursue that one.
2nd Amendment? What hypocrisy on that front! If you think the answer to any problem is more guns in the streets you are either an idiot or brain-dead. Stop using the "slippery slope argument" which is nothing but a disingenuous slogan.
Respect for others? Show me!
Military Defense? We spend more money that the NEXT ten countries combined!
Wealth of ideas? I do not think theocratic tendencies, gerrymandering, attacking institutions or worming them from the inside, imperialist tendencies, nationalistic posturing, corruption, compartmentalization along religious, race, wealth, sex, origin, harboring hate groups are the path to greatness.
24
The entire GOP is rotting from the core. Anyone who supports Trump, for any reason, is by definition immoral. Supporting them is likewise immoral. Period.
19
This article makes me want to vomit. It’s all about the judges. Ross just can’t wait to control woman’s sex lives. America really is in dire straights. I’m ready to break up. I wonder where Ross will choose to live?
21
Douthat, like other fake "conservatives," continues to promote election of Republicans who are manifestly immoral, corrupt, incompetent, and treasonous.
Only a morally depraved person who opposes pluralistic Consitutional democracy would want to re-elect McConnell and the Republicans who shredded the Constitution to place an easily blackmailed rapist and perjurer on the Supreme Court.
Earlier this morning, Rubin falsely and immorally equated the the violent slaughter of innocents in a synagogue with the peaceful BDS movement that is protesting Israeli governments slaughter of even more innocents.
Now, Ross Douthat pretends that morally depraved Republican senators are good for America.
There is a serious and unrepairable defect in these fake "conservative" journalists. Douthat and Rubin cannot seem to resist reverting to disgracing American journalism and fighting for the bad guys.
17
The Republican Party has lost its way as a legitimate political force. The Republican Party has brought out the worst in America: racists, terrorist bombers, murderous anti-Semites, gun crazies. And Ross Douthat says "What me worry?"
Trump is the face of the so-called Republican Party.
Throw them all out of our government now!!
14
@jefflz
yes and it has (long ago) lost all credibility as a moral party as well.
2
Nice argument but it's full of holes. The biggest one being that the Republicans have anything to offer the American people and they absolutely don't. What would be the point of Congress cancelling this ridiculous tax cut that is bankrupting our nation if the Republicans block it in the Senate?
Please tell me just one thing that the Republicans want to do for the American people? Just a single one because I can't think of any. Not any.
19
Unless or until conservatives like Mr. Douthat understand that the conservative party known as the Republican Party has been usurped by the far-right fascist members of his party; there will be no hope for true conservatives to re-capture their party. Sorry Mr. Douthat, you do not appear to be capable of either understanding or acknowledging the very dangerous ledge on which we stand at this point in our history. Republicanism has been replaced by Trumpism. Trumpism must be stopped during this year's elections and the elections of 2020. Nothing else matters more for the future of our rule of law and system of justice.
13
@Bryan
Are you sure Ross doesn't understand it? I think he and his fellow "on both sides" travellers are just trying to put a softer face on their extremism to try to dupe us into accepting it.
3
The Republican Party needs to be voted into the wilderness for however long it takes for them to drive bigotry, hatred, xenophobia, anti-intellectualism, and misogyny out of their ranks.
15
Wait, so Douthat thinks that Trump has been "more constrained and less destructive" than he expected??? Under what delusional cloud does this man walk??? Was he drugged all this past week? He, like every other preposterous Conservative/Republican/Alt-right believer, continues to blatantly assist in vindicating Trump's march toward autocratic government here in the U.S., with their metaphoric right arms stretched out as they march. It is beneath contempt. Not destructive, seriously? Who is he kidding.
15
Someone who praise Trump with "so far" at the end of every sentence is not reassuring. Even Ross knows that Trump can just switch and do something extremely dangerous and stupid, but being a conservative himself he is willing to risk the welfare of our nation to a destable, malicious (fake) conservative strong man. After all, Ross trusts Trump more than he trusts Pop Franciscis. Go figure.
3
Durham is being demagogic. Republicans who vote for Trump don't get to support just his policies that they like, while tsk tsking those they find distasteful. Since Congressional Republicans have chosen to enable all things Trump, a vote for any Republican candidate is an endorsement of Trump's entire reign of error, bad and worse. Douthat's nonsense about keeping the Senate Republican to check Nancy Pelosi's wild-eyed radical leftist commie dreams is the same fear mongering that is Trump's closing"argument"(or threat) for voting Republican. We don't need Ross doing Trump's work in these pages.
15
@EB Make that Douthat, not "Durham." Spell check"!
1
“... returns to power flush with ideological zeal, ..” How is this different from today? (I’m a Registered Republican, yes, a never Trumper.)
3
Russ Douhat wants us to ignore the stench of Trumpism in the Senate. He is catastrophically wrong (scratch a Republican and find an autocrat). There is only way to staunch this bonfire, and Republican Senators are not it.
19
There is no case for a Republican *anything*. When you cannot sell your reactionary politics in the marketplace of ideas, it shouldn't be permissible to take control of the government and steal the voices of the majority by lying, pouring in dark money to buy politicians and demonize your opponents, and using race and religion as weapons to fracture the citizenry. Yet, this is exactly what Trump and the Republican party have done. You don't want to *govern*, you want to *rule*, and that is unacceptable in a representative democracy. The GOP can't end up on the ash heap of history fast enough. Vote 100% Democrat.
10
Mr. Douthat states that Trump is more constrained and less destructive than he expected. Exactly what did you expect, then? And more importantly, how much destruction and destablization do you feel content with?
Trump's brand of governing is ebola in the halls of government. No amount of it can be tolerated and it needs to be contained and removed as quickly as possible.
5
To be wishing for any Republican victory is to be complicit in the worst of US politics. Douthat should read Jennifer Rubin’s column to learn what politics is today.
11
The only accurate statement and this column is that a split decision is the most likely outcome. The problem with the rest of the column is that a split decision is totally inadequate to restrain Trump. Even a democratic sweep of both houses will be inadequate unless there are sufficient numbers to guarantee his impeachment and conviction. At least a sweep will stop the second most divisive and ethically challenged leader in our nation from turning the federal courts into a branch of the corrupt Republican Party.
6
By all means let's have a Republican Senate so that we can have more Justices like Kavanuagh and Gorsuch on the bench. I am sure that would suit Ross just fine. If we must have a split, better a Democratic Senate and and a Republican House. Maybe Trump won't have the opportunity to make any more SCOTUS appointments, but the less I see and hear McConnell the better.
5
Unless the institutional GOP has split from DJT in some fashion, isn't it simply a matter of style?
2
This argument might are sense except: we are dealing with an ignorant madman. And every day during which he controls the nuclear codes represents a new risk that none of our children will grow up. And every day that we pretend that climate change does not exist may lead to the same end, albeit more slowly.
Mr. Douthat’s halfhearted assessment that Trump has not been as bad as expected does not ring true; I wonder whether he is trying to convince himself.
Regardless, the Republican Party has gone all in for a President who has repeatedly exhorted his followers to violence and continues to do so. As recent events demonstrate our system simply cannot stand such a President, and he needs to be constrained by all legal means.
12
I disagree with the notion that we will be okay if the GOP retains control of the Senate. First, Mitch McConnell, their leader, is a man with no discernible conscience or concern for the American people.
But the real issue is that the GOP is an addict. Its drug of choice is power. It will, and has, done horrible things to acquire and cling to that power. Holding on to that power has become much more important to them than actually governing. As with most addicts, the GOP will not begin recovering until it has hit rock bottom. It must be deprived of its drug, power, so that we have a chance to see it recover and become a responsible, sober adult.
The primary goal of this election must be to remove Republicans from power.
107
I'm a former Republican and couldn't disagree more with Mr. Douthat. My fervent hope is for a Democratic sweep...of everything.
I do agree with him about Rep. Steve King, who may be the single worst elected official in Washington. I was born and raised in the largest city in his district, and when I was growing up, he could NEVER have been elected. But I left, as did every single close friend I ever had.
That's what happened all over the country. Then add the Electoral College, gerrymandering, and voter suppression. The result is, in my opinion, the worst president in history. Only a Democratic sweep will bring us back from this (to use one of Trump's favorite words) disaster.
11
How about the other way around, with a Dem Senate and GOP House? Trump has already had two SCOTUS appointments, one of which was blatantly stolen from Obama. He deserves no more.
And the "leftward march" of the Democratic Party is largely illusory, a product of the high visibility of the progressive wing. The fact is that the Democrats moved sharply to the right under the Clintons, and are today almost as corporatist as the Republicans of a generation ago.
3
Ross's argument is predicated on the assumption that giving up the Senate is a "salt the earth" move. As though conservatism would never grow again and progressive liberalism would rule unopposed for generations. Of course, that simply isn't true. Conservatives will still wield considerable power and will rise to power again in the near term. Hopefully with a party that is less nationalistic and more honoring of the power of civil discourse.
Perhaps. Cogently argued, yet entirely conjectural. Fanciful, actually.
Fundamentally: to what end? What would a continued Republican Senate strive to accomplish? If they do have an objective, and anything even vaguely resembling a coherent strategy for addressing a single actual problem afflicting the US now, then their highest accomplishment is concealing it.
Confining ourselves therefore to verifiable reality, one must conclude that they have no grander plans for the US than McConnel's for Kentucky, proudly
sporting the 9th highest state poverty rates in 2014, climbing to 5th in the most recent data. With this depressing record achieved and perfected under McConnel's able leadership, is there a reason to expect a different outcome for the country?
I fear that if there is any such reason, Mr. Douthat is yet to unearth it.
11
The Senate is crucial because the Senate votes to confirm Supreme Court and other judicial appointments.
I disagree with Mr. Douthat.
I do not want another Kavanaugh on the Court.
Leaving aside the question of whether or not Dr. Ford was accurate , I do not want Justices who believe as Kavanaugh does that a sitting president is immune from indictment and prosecution thru the legal system.
I do not want a Justice who is against regulating AR 15 type firearms.
Mr. Douthat: What kind of fire arm was used in this most recent massacre.
I do not want a Justice who is against controlling mercury [a known neurotoxin] emissions.
I do not want Justices who are unwilling to control money in politics or are willing to accept religious bigotry under the false guise of religious freedom.
Alito/ Thomas/ Gorsuch / Kavanaugh are disasters.
Maybe Roberts concerned about his legacy will prevent some of the conservative justices' nonsense. Roberts did so when he voted to support ACA,
I see nothing "extreme" about presidential immunity or firearm regulation or toxic emissions or controlling money in politics..
Mr. Douthat does.
We respectfully disagree.
13
By all means, a Republican Senate majority. There they can continue to do the most damage to country, whether packing the federal courts with marginally qualified, uber-partisan hacks or approving venal incompetents to the cabinet, or backing disastrous fiscal policies. All the better to make the US a banana republic, dominated by rubes still enjoying the 1930s.
6
Ross plays with fire. I don't know let's say how fully he grasps the reign of terror he wants to unleash on women. Obviously the near maniacal way he goes after women's reproductive and sexual lives reveals something deeply disturbing about him . But does he really grasp the full depth of what that assault means and gets off on it. Or is it possible he doesn't grasp it and is just stuck in his head, with walled off emotions and some very deep willful naivete. I am more scared than ever about the literal minded, mean spirited, logic chopping, stone hearted mind set of the more benign seeming right wing columnists like Ross. The more liberal ones are hard enough to take. But these guys can help usher in a level horror that they seem clueless about. Unless in fact they are more aware of what they are doing than I even think.
11
Dear Ross,
You were for the demise of this GOP as a precondition for the revival of sound conservative politics. What made you change your position? Awhile back, there seemed more reason for you to worry about both chambers being in Democratic Party hands. Then you wanted to GOP to go down. Now the GOP has got your qualified support. What changed?
4
Republicans aren't for democracy any longer. Voter oppression and gerrymandering aren't democratic. They rule against the majority.
14
“But so far Trump has been more constrained and less destructive than I expected — his foreign policy less destabilizing (so far) than either of his predecessors, his cruelest policy instincts walked back under pressure, the country more prosperous, his appointments more responsible and a large-scale investigation into his possible crimes proceeding, beset by Trumpian insults but otherwise mostly unimpeded by the White House.” Seriously, What world are you living in? Breaking with all our allies on almost every issue, including global security and trade, has been less destabilizing than what? Trump/Kushner have gone more full-in with the Saudis than any previous administration and what stability has that brought? Yemen and the Crown Prince’s murderous rule. Climate issues? Less destabilizing than Obama? Seriously. Every time he opens his mouth or his twitter feed he’s destabilizing the world. Country more prosperous? For who? Last time I looked the trajectory of job creation was slower than under Obama. His appointments? Wages remain stagnant while the wealthy get tax breaks and now the GOP is coming after the social safety net to fund the deficits the GOP tax bill created. The most corrupt Cabinet in history. The most corrupt White House in memory. More responsible than what? I always read your column because I think it’s important to hear and understand opposing political views, but this was a bridge too far.
8
@Gary
Ross believes that having a black president was more destabilizing because it made the racists crazy. He clearly thinks that having a racist as president makes that a lot better. The GOP catering to their lowest common denominator.
4
As expected the NYT's liberal true believers are slamming Ross Douthat's ideas without mercy. I take the minority view, which is to focus on the spirit of his column. For goodness sake, give the man some credit. Here is a coherent, intelligent, devoted Catholic conservatve intellectual who is actually willing to accept and even promote the idea that a Democratic House would govern best after the midterms.
As a left-leaning Independent I will vote a straight Democratic ticket, but isn't a measured, well thought-out column like this (and, by the way, and extremely pragmatic non-polarizing approach) something to actually acknowledge for its bipartisanship, perhaps even celebrate? Show me a liberal Democratic politician who can come to the table with the reverse and I would see some potential collaboration and functional government on the horizon. But, as most comments show, it's still "take no prisoners."
These days, I understand the supporters of President Trump better than I understand my fellow liberals, the latter running on pure outrage and seemingly more and more determined to deepen the divide and extend this bitter and damaging chasm far into the future.
9
@Gerald The fact that this column is well thought out is what makes it so horrifying!
2
Can you explain what you mean? It’s cryptic.
Ross you say "But so far Trump has been more constrained and less destructive than I expected". You must have been expecting armageddon.
11
Apparently Mr. Douthat and I are watching different movies. His take on Trump’s foreign policy and his cruelest policy instincts being walked back, bear no resemblance to what I have observed.
3
If you think that Trump is doing a good job, then you are sadly confused, Mr. Douthat. If you are more fearful of liberalism then Trump, you are sadly misguided. If you think that the Republicans in the Senate are willing and able to rein in Trump, you are sadly mistaken.
10
I don't remember the part where he said Trump is doing a good job. He said Trump has been less destructive than he expected, which is not exactly a ringing endorsement.
1
I gather that Douthat thinks bankrupting the nation with a middle-class tax cut to match the one already given the ultra-rich is good policy. I would take a GOP Senate as desirable only if it were sworn to convict Trump on a House impeachment for the numerous offences against the Constitution he has committed, and for his view of executive powers unmatched since the Stuarts lost their monarchy.
Trump's presence in office is a continuing threat to the Constitution he is sworn to defend, but daily proves he has no knowledge of. He has no conception of the general welfare or the public good -- for a conservative interested in either of these, a structurally stable economy, or the rule of law, Trump is a disaster.
4
Give continue power to the one person that has undermined our democracy more than any other individual in the history of the country - Mitch Mc Connell? No Thanks!
7
I might be okay with a Democratic Senate and Republican House … maybe. The other way around? No! DJT has gotten far too many court appointments already.
3
Ah, the virtues of gridlock! But the thing about this presidency is not just about how bad it has been, it is also about how much worse it is certain to be. At a time when urgent action is required on climate change, health care, and a swelling national debt, there could hardly be a worse time for bad governance. And what do Senate Republicans deserve admiration for? McConnell himself will likely find his lasting place in history as the leading congressional figure to make Trump's treason possible. But with few exceptions, this is true of all Republicans in congress. The truth is they all need to be voted out. But because of their success with voter suppression, they probably won't be.
6
Here are some of the things I hope will happen in the years ahead:
* The US will be a world leader in creatively combining good economic policy and climate policy aimed at dramatically reducing greenhouse gasses
* The US will be a trust-worthy, dependable, and predictable partner in international agreements, and
* Everyone who puts in work gets to share in the economic good times, which includes having access to good health care.
I also hope (but this will require a longer process) that once again, democratic processes and institutions will be respected by all.
It is abundantly clear that these things will not happen with the current GOP and the current president in charge. It is simply not in line with their priorities. A blue House and a blue Senate could stop things from deteriorating and lay a foundation for progress from 2020 onwards.
After that, the Democrats will have a big challenge on their hands. I welcome the challenge.
2
The Trump administration is like a runaway train on a gradual decline, slowly gaining momentum. The longer we wait to pull the emergency brake, the harder it becomes to stop it.
Ross seems to be arguing that because until now some people are enjoying the gain in momentum, they are entitled to act as though are no upcoming curves likely to send the train careening off the tracks.
8
"I wasn’t persuaded. But so far Trump has been more constrained and less destructive than I expected"
Talk about a low bar.
Mr. Douthat, have you no decency left, at long last?
32
What cannot wait for an eventual liberal takeover of the legislature is the prevailing conservative denial of climate science. As commentators are here pointing out in the wake of recent outrages, lives are, and will be, lost to the CORRELATION of right wing rhetoric to violent behavior. But when it comes to the destruction of the planet, the relationship is one of CAUSATION.
12
Nope, we are way beyond discussing economic and social policy. The Republican party has forfeited its right to govern.
41
Our income places us at about the 80% level in terms of family income. We got a nice tax break from Trump and the Republicans. If that is what the conservatism that Douthat celebrates means, then please keep sending me money.
Now, for the rest of you who are in the 50% and lower levels, tough luck. I'm taking your money. Thanks for giving it to me. Go conservatives!
Not only that, but I get to watch the spectacle of people like Douthat ,who says he is a Christian, support the policies of a cruel person who debases all of our institutions, just because he gives them a lot of money. That's just what Jesus would have done. Right?
How much money did you get from the tax breaks, Mr. Douthat?
18
With all of its faults, most thinking Americans read the NYT. Because of the breadth of its coverage you can count on it to tell you the "what," even if the "how" and "why" will come with progressive bias and elitist conceit. Being and advocate for Democrats is one thing. But the NYT insists on presenting analyses by purported conservatives, whose opinions magically undermine conservative interest.
There is NO conservative case for allowing Democrats to control any branch of government in any part of America. And the best case for Trump is that he has been bold enough to deliver more conservative progress than any of the RINOs elected since Reagan. Conservatives have wanted corporate tax reform and limits on state and local tax deductions for decades, but have run to hide whenever liberals cried about tax breaks for the rich. Conservatives have wanted to appoint genuine conservative to the federal bench, but have instead appointed timid moderates to appease Democrats. Conservatives favor curtailing the regulatory state, but have shirked any truly bold deregulatory actions. Conservatives oppose mandatory political correctness and identity-based social policy, but are afraid to say so. Trump even would have signed a bill to repeal ObamaCare.
Trump is not a nice man, and it would be nice to have more dignity in the office. But he is delivering conservative results. That is the best case.
2
To address one of your comments...conservatives want to fund necessary government programs without deficit spending. Conservatives may disagree on what’s necessary, but they rarely disagree on deficit spending, and getting worse.
2
@AR Clayboy I recommend that you read Mr. Jenck's response to Dothan's column herewith. Given the week we have just experienced where Mr. Trump's rants have materialized in hatred and death, I suggest you read Jencks piece several times. It may help you.
1
Republicans have appointed right-wing justices to the SC on a regular basis. Only Kennedy or Souter could be counted as moderate. Scalia, Thomas, Alito and Roberts are all reliable conservative votes. Now, we have a conservative "nirvana" with the addition of Kavanaugh and Gorsuch . Also the appellate courts are packed with conservatives for years to come. The days of a court system with mixed philosophies are gone for a generation. Republicans can count on favorable rulings to implement a minority Republican opinion should the Democrats ban on any legislative or executive power.
Don't call it anything else, it is the desire to ultimately prevent the un-anointed majority from ruining the comfort of the haves.
3
Your column assumes that Republicans are worthy to govern. They used to be so, but have now cravenly fallen under the influence of extremism. I supported Reagan and Bush (1), who despite their bad points, helped unify the country. Trump is dividing the country, leading us towards uncivil war--not with armies, but by gangs, murders, terrorism, unlawful imprisonments, denial of civil rights, and so on. We simply must vote Democrat across the board on Nov 6th. It may really be our last chance to derail this slide into unlawful governance (dictatorship). Please help your country Nov 6th.
22
Roos, though our politics differ I always enjoy reading your columns. A certain vagueness in this one, however, frustrates me a little bit.
You write:
"...fearful of liberalism in full power, but also fearful of Trump untrammeled..."
What is this fear of liberalism? I'd like to know, VERY specifically, what it is you fear.
Economic irresponsibility? I direct your attention to Trump's tax cuts on the wealthiest, his and the GOP's huge military expenditures, and also to the GOP's consistent budgetary mismanagement, evident through the creation of huge governments debts.
Are you worried gays will continue to see their rights to such things as marriage continue to grow? If so, and if that should happen, how would it negatively impact your life directly? Or are you concerned there may be some larger negative societal impacts? If so, what are those impacts that cause you fear?
Access to legal abortion? Are you fearful of a Supreme Court that continues to maintain women's rights to make their own healthcare decisions?
Is it concerns about immigration? Are you worried DEMs will open the floodgates to uncontrolled illegal immigration? If so, I encourage you to look into the views of the more experienced and thoughtful DEM leaders, who have absolute respect for law, order, and who also have at least a modicum of compassion.
What is it, precisely, that you fear?
61
@J Jencks
So well put. Thanks.
1
@J Jencks
Or it could be a conservative's generic fear of the "other". Trump knows what he's doing when he strikes fear into his followers. But yes, I had the same question for Douthatt.
Can you put a name to your fears, Ross? It might help you overcome your angst if you can.
8
@J Jencks
Ross Douthat is just spreading the fear of liberalism. That is part of conservatism, they created the fake image of liberalism to feel better about themselves.
5
“But so far Trump has been more constrained and less destructive than I expected “ Says a white man who doesn't feel targeted by the GOP's bigotry which has never been more apparent: they believe white men should rule without question. And what are you hanging your hat on otherwise? Fiscal responsibility? Nope. Traditional family values? Not so much. An economic revival? The foundation was laid by the previous administration, and is likely being undercut as we speak by deregulation. Yes, some people are making lots of money; that will come at a price later. The GOP is rotten to the core and needs to be reinvented, not encouraged with "I guess it's not that bad."
24
And the Senate will just continue to rubber stamp an endless stream of radical judges (remember all the crowing about "activist judges"? How quaint.) We need both houses to stop this march of dangerous right wing ideology.
5
Bob Dole, not known for his sense of humor, once said, to the effect, the citizens of the US should feel safer when Congress was not in Session since, while in recess, they could do nothing to hurt you. That is not a bad argument if you favor limited government. Having unlimited governmental authority in all branches of government by one party leads to foolish one sided legislation. It seems the best type of legislation is not from Syllogistic Logic but rather the Hegelian Dialectic. Might not be a bad solution.
1
The disturbing aspect of Douthat's esssay is that, though he once viewed Trump as an impossible president, he has "evolved" to look at Trump as normal in some ways. In a little more time will Trump be normal in all ways, Mr. Douthat?
9
I often wonder what world Ross is living in as his perceptions seem colored by simple misunderstanding of events and intentions, and suffused with a happy desire for a time that never was when all were happy pope centered Catholics. To say the 'Trump has been more constrained than expected' is, I think, ample evidence of this. Clearly Ross has not been listening to the words or watching the policy hatchery operating under Stephen Miller. The words are vile and violent; the harvest of which we have seen this very week. The intentions are destructive, destabilizing, and, frankly, thoughtless with no interest or concern for anyone other that the massive ego drenched in narcissism that spews them.
Ross is simply trying to live a fantasy of perfection ignoring life as it is really occurring, much like the Pre-Vatican II Church-sticking to Latin, excluding real people's lives, stuck on pomp and circumstance. Ross, like those priests, is living facing away from the people.
4
“But so far Trump has been more constrained and less destructive than I expected..” Are you serious?? If the last two years haven’t been destructive (and divisive, for that matter), then what were you expecting?
3
The fear of “liberalism in full power” is a product of the lies that conservatives tell themselves. It’s irrational at its core and no one, not even Ross Douthat, can articulate it. It’s just an article of faith for them. For what has Nancy Pelosi—the poster child of liberalism for the purposes of this comment—wrought? Health care for the uninsured, equal pay for women, financial regulation in the wake of Wall Street’s meltdown, protection of retirement income for ordinary Americans? Where’s the threat there to GOP or conservative interests? Is it gay marriage or trans rights that keep Douthat up at night? Is not a healthier, financially secure and egalitarian society in the long-term interest of the nation and thus to the interest of Republicans? The golden age for this country occurred between 1945 and 1980, and during this period we had the greatest expansion of civil rights, women’s rights, union representation, environmental regulation and social welfare in history, enacted by a predominantly liberal Supreme Court and Congress, that produced the wealthiest, most prosperous nation on earth. Since then, we’ve been in a drunken frenzy to undo these achievements by privatizing everything in sight, and the result has been the embrace of a vision that, in Thomas Hobbes’ words, is “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short.” The midterm elections are in part a referendum on these competing visions.
19
@AlNewman The fact is there is nothing any Democratic politician is advocating that's to the left of that noted communist Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
1
Hint: what keeps Ross up at night is bringing back good old unsafe illegal abortions.
1
"But so far Trump has been more constrained and less destructive than I expected"...Mr. Douthat you have to be kidding. If not, this is a shameful statement.
Trump has polarized the country like never before. Attacked the media to the point where pipe bombs are directed at them. Unleashed racial animus. Turned his back on climate change and trade with long-established partners. Threatens the LGBTQ community with new laws, promises to undo healthcare for millions, and signaled to women that their concerns about sexual assault aren't really all that important. And, oh, separated helpless little kids from their parents.
I would like to know what you think would be destructive?
11
Ross, what conservative case are you referring to?
The one that lead to this disastrous presidency?
Are conservatives even cognizant of what they have unleashed upon this country and world?
Foreign Policy? By what metric do you define this as a success Ross? Because he did not start a nuclear exchange yet?
Should we judge you by economic achievement Ross?
Have you been in a supermarket lately? Prices are already skyrocketing. How about the new tax laws and its full implementation on January 1st Ross? How much longer do you think we should pay higher taxes to subsidize those who clearly hate us with a passion?
And speaking of identity politics Ross, your party seems to be reveling in its dog whistles.
So Ross, why would any rational person want to maintain this kind of political structure?
You may be right in terms of a split decision Ross, but you are also assuming that your party will accept any outcome except total victory.
After all, if Democrats win anything, you can also expect Trump to scream "Voter Fraud", only this time he might actually be in a position to do something about it.
7
Gee, Ross, so glad that you want to put the brakes on Trump... now that the political landscape is JUST about the way you want it.
So, you're good with people losing healthcare? And you are good with drug prices out of control?
Gerrymandering to such an extent that a candidate can garner 3 million more votes than the other and still lose an election?
You like the fact that our infrastructure - roads, bridges, trains - does not have sufficient funding to repair itself in coming years?
You're good with such a huge number of college students ending up in so much debt that many can't ever hope to own a house afterwards?
Happy with another AR-15 involved with another massacre?
Things are just about where you like them, Ross, so let's just hold the line here, somehow "constrain" Trump, life is all golden? No need to worry about the terrible, "idealogical" left?
Never.
VOTE Nov. 6th.
5
Not good enough!
To save the Republican Party we have to vote them completely OUT of government. State, House and Senate next week and White House in 2020.
Mitch McConnell should not be rewarded for the cynical, snarky way he’s been “governing”. I don’t want to disturb his dinner plans - I want to make him cry on election night. I want him to know this is NOT Trump’s America. It’s the only way to stop the Republican Party from being the Trump Party.
Save the Republican Party. Vote For NO Republican- on local, state and federal levels. That’s what I am doing - I’ll vote for a Democrat or not vote at all.
1
Why is it that there are a hundred people writing much more intelligent, perceptive and honest comments for free on this thread, and yet Ross Douthat and others get paid big bucks to run interference for Republican criminals?
9
@Paul Rogers
Amen. I’ve written exactly that at least a dozen times . Apparently, I’m on the “ NO FLY “ list for responses to Douthats “ work”. Seriously.
1
"So far Trump has been more constrained and less destructive than I expected."
What did you expect, Mr. Douthat? A Neo-Nazi named to the cabinet? Trump pushing a disabled Times reporter down a flight of stairs, instead of merely mocking him? Putin given his own wing at the White House? Kim Jong-Un named as Trump's 2020 vice presidential nominee?
That's the only way you're baffling statement would make sense.
www.newyorkgritty.net
40
“...arrest its leftward march”? Seriously, Ross? We have a *president who proudly proclaims himself a nationalist and Republicans sending bombs to Democrats and slaughtering Jews and you’re worried about how the Dems are too lefty? You’re a religious sort of fellow. I’d refer you to Matthew 7:3—
“And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye,
but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?”
22
I actually understand Douthat's point of view, although I do not share it. No matter what happens in the midterms, the Democrats will win. Of course if Democrats win both houses it's a win because they have the power to affect some change and begin investigations into a number of issues surrounding the Trump presidency. If each party wins one House, it's a win because the Democrats have the ability to clamp down on some of Trump's more unreasonable actions and can still begin an investigation.
If the GOP retains control of both houses, it's still a win for Democrats because for all the horrible things Trump has said, it's mostly words. I'm not saying his words have not done tremendous damage; they have. But he could do so much worse. The Republican Congress is powerless to enact much legislation with the incompetent Trump at the helm. He has no idea how to be a president. That is America's saving grace. Doing nothing is much better than passing horrible policies.
9
Ross, take off the rose colored glasses. The country is more prosperous? I mean that is like being handed the ball as a relief pitcher with a 5 run lead in the eight inning and say you, singlehandedly, won the game. It is so easy to put that prosperity on the credit card and say look at all the great wealth we have. What do you say when the economy sends the re-po man for all that wealth? Trump's answer will be to fire the re-po man. The Republican answer is to go to the poor neighborhoods and take their stuff and sell it to pay the overdue bills. Only problem with that is the base thinks only minorities will have to ante up. The reality is they are part of the poor America now. How much rage will they have once they see it is their health care, their retirement, and their safety net that is included in the cuts? We have arrived at a time when the president of the United States, with close Jewish relatives, cannot pause for a day to bow the country's head and mourn. Because mass murder is just another common event in the life of America. You may think Trump is doing YOUR bidding. But there are 60-70 % of us who feel otherwise. Sooner or later this nightmare, which you feel is a sweet dream, will end.
6
"But so far Trump has been more constrained and less destructive than I expected — his foreign policy less destabilizing (so far) than either of his predecessors, his cruelest policy instincts walked back under pressure, the country more prosperous, his appointments more responsible and a large-scale investigation into his possible crimes proceeding, beset by Trumpian insults but otherwise mostly unimpeded by the White House."
This is an astonishing sentence, and written by someone who believes himself a Christian: "responsible appointments?" Betsy DeVos? Ross? Manafort? Wow. "Cruelest policy instincts walked back? I guess the separation of families, jailing of infants is no biggie. And Trumpf's rhetoric? I guess the attempted (bungled) assasination of Democrats, and the murder of worshipers had no relationship to Trumps hate filled rhetoric.
9
And let's not forget a policy separating children from their parents at the border and putting them in cages in camps. Christian? I don't think so. None of it is.
Anybody, who like Douthat, professes not to see a direct line between what happened in Pittsburgh yesterday and Fox News, the Republican Party and President Trump is being deliberately disengenuous. Worse, they're being enablers.
I should add that given Douthat's rhetoric on the very day after the massacre -- "chasten the Democratic Party and arrest its leftward march" (what, he couldn't work in a Trumpian reference to "angry left-wing mobs"?) he really should have a word with himself.
8
The best outcome would be the Dems take both Houses of Congress and in 2020 to teach the Republican Party a lesson not to allow crazies and fascists into their group, and undo the mess that Trump and the Repubs are making of the Judiciary, consumer, environmental and financial regulations, and handing over the Republic to a bunch of predators.
5
This argument is nonsense. We need a Democratically controlled Congress to check this President. Otherwise, Trump and McConnell will continue to pack the Courts with Federalist Society judges who would take us back to the 1920s in judicial philosophy.
2
Aah, these terrible Democrats who want to give American people universal health care. Want to increase taxes on the rich. Want to limit the release of greenhouse gases. It is pure communism!!!
I guess that Ross Douthat has given up on the House and concocted the idea that it would be good for the country if Senate was still in GOP hands.
Well, Ross, at this point anyone is better for the country than GOP, anyone! It is not even close.
8
The GOP controlled House and Senate not only tolerate but actively support the most heinous and unqualified individual to ever occupy the Oval Office. They both deserve to be driven out of office. Who cares what outcome conservatives should favor in November? Trump and the GOP have proven that conservatism is both morally and intellectually bankrupt.
1
More constrained and less destructive than you expected? Seriously? Welcome to the dark side.
5
Ross Douthat sas "If you are a conservative who is moderately happy with some of Trump’s policy steps...".
Like David Brooks and Bret Stephens, Mr. Douthat is a closet Trump supporter. The rest of the commentary is de facto meaningless.
7
While I'm glad to see a conservative columnist recognize that a Democratic House majority will help constrain some of Trump's worst tendencies, I'm shocked at Douthat's conclusion that, "So far Trump has been more constrained and less destructive than I expected." Ross, what could be more destructive to the health of our country than the daily doses of hate, bigotry, lies and incitement to violence that Trump spews into our lives? Have you already forgotten that as a journalist who isn't a pure propagandist for Trump you are now an "enemy of the people?" Come on man, wake up and stop soft pedaling what's going on.
7
Who in the Senate is going to restrain President Trump in 2019? Mitch McConnell? Lindsay Graham? Chuck Grassley? Susan Collins?
Ross, the only Senator who had the slightest success in tempering Trump and his Senate enablers died in Arizona on August 25th, 2018.
3
The only thing to be said about the Senate (along with the electoral college), is that it is America's most undemocratic institution and that it should be repealed and (not) replaced.
The words "representative democracy" are devoid of meaning, when a *minority* of Americans can impose on the considerably larger *majority*:
(1) Not say a Romney as President, but an unfathomable egotistical populist buffoon; and
(2) Not, say a "Merrick Garland of the right" as Supreme Court Justice, but a lifetime right-wing political hack and activist judge.
5
The worst case of convolution and the least convincing attempt at deception I've read in a very long time!
Are there anti-Trump conservatives? I've never met one! Is electing Trump hacks to the Senate an effective ploy to contain Trump? Seems a long-shot!
The opening sentence of our Constitution sets justice and liberty as purposes and goals of our nation and our government. Is constraining liberalism an acceptable goal for any elected or appointed official who has sworn to uphold the Constitution? Isn't supporting liberalism the patriotic duty of every American?
Conservatism is a poisonous, unpatriotic, depressing state of mind that has hindered the progress of our nation toward the goals set by our Constitution. Under Trump, conservatism has come to full flower as a threat to our national unity and a disturbance to our domestic tranquility.
Surely, Trumpian excess is sufficient motivation for intelligent Americans to purge themselves of conservative notions, tricks, and ploys that seek to deny justice and the blessings of liberty to all Americans. The bathroom is second door on the left!
2
Douthat encourages a Republican Senate to stop the "leftward march." How can a seemingly intelligent man write such drivel? There is no "leftward march." Today's liberal politics are slightly right of center.
And, regardless of issues, reelecting a Republican majority that has no shame, has obstructed justice, has encouraged gerrymandering and voter suppression and is chauvinistic and cowardly - that's just not defensible.
The GOP is rotten and hopeless, Mr. Douthat. Perhaps ethical conservatives should admit it and try to form a political entity with principles.
5
Sorry, Ross. Trump and the conservative political leadership has failed to confront, and has in fact added to, some of our most serious long-term problems: economic inequality and insecurity, runaway deficits in the federal budget, threats to the global environment, and increased hostility abroad toward the US. Why on earth should we keep a senate in place that perpetuates these failings?
3
More of Mitch McConnell, unprincipled man extraordinare, and his spineless colleagues keeping a short leash on their master? You must be kidding. This Douthat concoction is all in service of thwarting one of his great bugaboos, the always ominous liberal wave endangering his conservative never-neverland, a place where every step backwards into olden time is a step in the right direction. RD is in all likelihood going to get his GOP Senate wish, but maybe he should be more concerned about the accelerated rightward drift towards fascism, even if the Democrats do manage to take the House. The combination of Trump's lies, crudity and cunning, the Senate's nauseating servility and rubber stamp courts could put us into uncharted, dangerous territory. Ross, frankly, you should have covered your ideological tracks more artfully because I think you're going to get way more than you asked for.
2
This was a rather convoluted way of justifying Ross's wish for conservative Supreme Court nominees to be rubber stamped by the Senate.
1
Congress members are subservient to those who fund their
campaigns....so the current so called Republicans are not
representative of those they ...say they represent....the current
Congress is subservient to those who pay for their seats in
Congress.
So...how to re form a Republican or a Democrat...get rid of the
money managers who get them all elected.
Get rid of Citizens United...which I believe is unconstitutional.
Vote now for the Democrats so that the phony Republicans are
kicked out of office.
6
There is no Republican party. There is not conservatives and there is no liberals. None of your discussion makes any sense. We are and your are at war. First, this sentence, "....his foreign policy less destabilizing (so far) than either of his predecessors, his cruelest policy instincts walked back under pressure, the country more prosperous, his appointments more responsible" is mostly misleading, but dripping with "conservative" double-speak. We are prosperous not because of DJT.
Second, you are fully waging propaganda war by saying that the Republican party can save itself by keeping its policies all the while "constrain future liberals". This is not the ideal of a model government which has about a 50/50 split in opinion. The irresponsible use of "liberal" as a dirty word and an opinion that should be constrained is divisive, yet it is the current opium of the masses. Both Democrats/liberals and Republican/conservative entities have reasonable policy ideas. Both should be heard and dialogue and consensus or compromise would be the ideal, not war. We are now seeing the result of lying and cheating political language that polarizes us and is now on the cusp of violence. Please rethink your awful suggestion and rewrite it. D-
1
At this point, 10/27/18, we need a Democratic House and Senate.
8
wrong wrong wrong ... boy is this off the mark .. the best possible outcome is a total switch over ( which probably won't happen ) and a year or so from now Trump walking away in handcuffs.
10
I suppose you are hoping for some balance in the exercise of power, away from a runaway president unconstrained by civility, the truth, the facts based on evidence, and decency. Quite frankly, republicans in power have abused it to their heart's content, false prophets in fiscal conservatism, and awol in checking on the Executive's unscrupulousness. Accordingly, the G.O.P. does not deserve to be in power, given their rampant abuse of it...while trying to blame 'the other', a shameful enterprise. Enough already of the Trump, Ryan and McConnell type of hypocrites, a disgrace for this country's moral standing. We need a healthy change, and hope to save this suffering democracy.
1
This week has pushed us close to anarchy, directed from the right. It's a time that screams for moral courage and basic decency from our leaders.
There has been no leadership from the Republican President to steer us clear of the rocks. Indeed, the message of his rhetoric is more "wanna see how fast I can get us there?"
There has been no leadership from the Republican Senate in even denouncing a rightist wing nut who targeted two other Senators, along with two former Presidents with bombs.
There has been no leadership from the Republican House whatsoever.
No one has heard anything significant from any Republican statehouses or governors either. Except John Kasich.
Why? Because they are all terrified of the anarchist mob they have assembled.
Voting for any Republican anywhere right now looks like the most un-American thing any true patriot could possibly choose next Tuesday. There is no "leader" worthy of the name.
"his foreign policy less destabilizing (so far) than either of his predecessors" ???
Proof, please.
5
But so far Trump has been more constrained and less destructive than I expected —
The mind boggles at what you were expecting. Trump has created tremendous problems for people at home and around the world. That's real problems. Mr Douthat. From starving people in Yeman, to babies kept in cages, to state sanctioned murder of journalists, to undermining truth itself with his endless lies. He ought to be ashamed, but is psychologically incapable. Are you, Mr Douthat?
3
It is quaint that anyone thinks a split congress has any ability to constraint the Don. Unless the Don is removed America will continue its downward spiral, a democratic held congress is the only hope to do this.
Looking back at how the Don attempts to "rule" the only term that seems to fit is "fascist", so he will simply ignore a split congress.
There is no sane case for a split Congress. Only House and Senate in hands of Democrats can save this nation from the follies and corruption of Trump and his administration.
4
"so far Trump has been more constrained and less destructive than I expected"
Ross, you do know that there were three instances of right-wing domestic terrorism this week, yes?
While only one of the attackers was an overt Trumpist, the president - through his rhetoric and policies - is largely responsible for this surge in white nationalist right-wing attacks. He's been supported by Nazis and far right groups since the campaign. He famously uttered that there were "good people on both sides" at Charlotesville.
Upon Trump taking office, many people warned about the potential for right-wing violence by emboldened extremists, and they were generally dismissed as hysterics. And here we are.
If this is "less destructive," I shudder to think what you think a worse scenario would have looked like.
8
Mr Douthat: You want two things. The overturning of Roe v Wade and the strong rollback of marriage and other rights now enjoyed by Gays. You have been clear about this for years. If you could somehow get Pope Francis kicked out of the Papacy, you would experience heaven on earth.
4
Ross, you state, "But so far Trump has been more constrained and less destructive than I expected . . . "
I shudder to think what you expected.
Not one Republican senator or representative has stood up to this dictator wannabe.
Vote as many Republicans out as possible!
1
Mr Douthat,
I have heard that you claim to be a Christian, specifically a Roman Catholic.
You apparently place confidence in the Republican Senate.
Would that be Senator Graham screaming that the testimony of Ms Ford was a "charade"? Would that be Senator Hatch shouting that Ms Ford's testimony was "a national disgrace"? Would that be Senate Majority Leader McConnell saying that he hoped President Obama would fail? The last statement comes close to treason.
Any Christian who does not oppose Trump by all means possible, including hoping the Republicans are swamped in the House and Senate in a blue wave, has sold their soul to the devil. America is great because it is good. It cannot be good with a bad man as President, and Donald Trump is a bad man.
You also have my personal guarantee that the estimable but past her sell-by date Nancy Pelosi will never again be Speaker of the House.
Dan Kravitz
5
Completely delusional because it is so 2016. Back then the media kept telling us not to worry, Trump will grow into the job; once the enormity of the position becomes apparent, he will conduct himself with the dignity the office deserves; he's the first non-politician elected president so he needs to learn the ways of DC.
These were all things the MSM was telling then. When we found out he was trying to arrange back channel communication to the Kremlin without US intelligence knowing it, or claiming Obama tapped "his wires" or he fired Comey because of the bad way he treated Hillary, the MSM changed its tune to "the guardrails will hold."
After the disaster that was for Trump the 2017 Alabama senate race, Trump decided to chuck it all and do everything himself.
Today, the "establishment GOP" is the Trump GOP. And I am not referring to loons like Nunes or Jordan, or King or Gohmert or Gaetz.
McConnell, Grasley and Hatch are repeating Trump's lies almost verbatim.
"... his foreign policy less destabilizing (so far) than either of his predecessors, his cruelest policy instincts walked back under pressure, the country more prosperous,..."
We are bailing out farmers, markets are in correction territory, interest rates, inflation, gas prices skyrocketing, GDP predicted by Fed to be 1.8% in 2020.
And, Ross, when you have to use the word "cruel" to describe his policies, then walking them back is truly damning with faint praise.
One more word for you, Ross: Helsinki.
2
If a nation expects to be ignorant and free , in a state of civilization , it expects what never was and never will be - Thomas Jefferson
Vote in the mid- terms as if the future of America depended on it ... because it does.
1
Ross, I have read your take on politics and religion, for years. I did not agree with your views at all. Then you were never-djt, and I gave you a second chance. Now I am simply exhausted by your efforts to make yourself a pretzel. You need to get a life.
No excuses here, Mr. Douthat. Mr. trump is a demonstrably bad person. And he is the result of your brand of conservatism.
4
"... you had to trust the institutional Republican Party’s promise to contain Trump’s authoritarian instincts and restrain his follies. …"
Because there is ZERO constraint, checks and balances in deep hibernation, for this reason alone I will vote straight Democrat.
All else is rendered secondary if the US devolves into fascism. The US is already largely an oligarchy who acquired power by duping a gullible minority into voting against their own self interests.
4
You seem to think that there has been any material check and balance by Republican senators thus far - and that's where your logic fails. Given that, I sincerely hope for both the house and senate to flip, as it is the only real chance the country has of constraining this out of control, hate-mongering president and his destructive policies and rhetoric.
1
It sickens me to think electing a Republican would even be considered after the past month.
11
"But so far Trump has been more constrained and less destructive than I expected." Other than the sheer ignorance you display with a statement like this, it also means that everything else in your column is not worth reading, because it means you have no problem with a criminal as your leader -- a true criminal -- as long as you get your policies. It means you don't care that he lies literally every day. It means you're OK that he praises someone who physically assaults a reporter, you're OK that he calls the media the enemy of the people... and so much more. If you support him or defend him, then you're culpable for everything he does. Period.
4
Every day that Donald Trump occupies the oval office he denigrates the dignity of the American presidency and degrades the integrity of the United States around the world. A Democratic house, utilizing its subpoena power and public hearings,can restore a portion of American credibility, gravitas, and stop the hemorraging of the "American Ideal " The Republican Senate, composed of ethically emaciated Trump sycophants, will be eviscerated by future historians,for their craven political cowardice in the face of Trumps demagoguery and base ignorance.
7
"But so far Trump has been more constrained and less destructive than I expected — his foreign policy less destabilizing (so far) than either of his predecessors, his cruelest policy instincts walked back under pressure, the country more prosperous, his appointments more responsible and a large-scale investigation into his possible crimes proceeding, beset by Trumpian insults but otherwise mostly unimpeded by the White House."
LOL Ross!!
Enjoyed your Blog with David & Marcia. It showed that there is still a place where people can talk about their views, even with passion, but still at least listen to the other side without feeling that they have to “push them off a cliff.”
I’ve been on both sides of the Abyss. Voted in 1960 for Nixon, supported and voted for Goldwater in 64, flew with Robert Kennedy when he announced his candidacy in Binghamton, NY and dropped out of politics upon his assignation.
What you’re proposing makes a lot of sense. Our Founders had it right! Remember the “saucer cools the tea” analogy?
The House represents the city, the Senate represents the State, sort of a brake on the accelerator.
I used this analogy yesterday about the survival of the Republican Party. In a UFC fight in the Cage, when you have your opponent in a choke hold, they have two options: Tap or go to sleep. If the Republican Party doesn’t TAP now, it may not have a future worth fighting for.
Many wasted words here, all Douthat had to say was I want a Reublican Senate for they will appoint Federal Judges that will keep women in reproductive slavery.
11
I am astounded that anyone who calls themselves a Christian supports Trump. No, Democrats are not saviors, but written into their platform are principles that Christians say they believe in. It appears many Democratic candidates retain a sense of shame and work on behalf of the least among us. That has become a losing point for Evangelical Christians in America.
Republicans have Christian rhetoric down pat but shrug their shoulders at shameless, unGodly behavior and don't even try to dissimulate cheating, lying and pillaging. The party that claims the mantle of Christianity time after time has placed millstone after millstone around their necks as the rest of the world sees them hungry for power and fortune and, as a voting block, it doesn't matter to them how far their preferred candidates veer from the 10 commandments and the sermon on the mount. What hypocrisy.
What lack of faith in God as they swoon with religious fervor at Trump rallies. Did Jesus proclaim his ministry with a rally denigrating his opponents? Did he begin his ministry by accepting the Devil's offer to make him ruler of all? Or did he say "get thee behind me Satan"?
In the US Christians have gained the world --and they may continue to gain in the Senate and the House by virtue of voter suppression and gerrymandering-- but they have lost their souls and any legitimate claim to moral authority or representing God's grace on earth.
https://shouldchristianssupporttrump.wordpress.com/
3
"Of course, if you’re a Trump skeptic who believes that only an earth-salting defeat will enable the re-emergence of a decent right, then trying to constrain a future liberalism will seem less important than rooting for the necessary disaster to arrive for Republicans today."
It will take more than earth salting to dilute the legacy of across the board icompetence -malfeascance and moral putrification that has poisoned every aspect of our governement and world affairs.
We are headed for economic disasters flowing from the egregious tax cuts and ensuing deficits - idiotic tarriff wars - global warming and general environmental dystopia - health care disrepair - attacks on voting rights - and a policy of immoral immigration terrorism and support for tyrants everywhere.
Each and everyday Americans with respect for the dignity of the white house see a pitiful narcissist attack our best institutions of government and the free press with lie upon lie divorced from evidence. A total repudiation of science and intellect as anyone who disagrees with his babble gets bullied and pillried for the glee of his base mob of supporters.
You want to mollify the best of us to enable this monstor of ID and his acolytes for whom core values and ethics have proven nonexistent -or change daily (along with their religious leaders?)
Even you have drunk the kool aide and come to terms with this man/child evil grifter.
Not one of this columnist's better columns.
The whole premise is DOA: there are no real "conservatives" left in Congress.
I can't bear reading this article through to the end. As a life-long republican, my fervent hope is for a blue sweep. We've had a week in which the deplorable right has surged over the top: slamming stone hearted judges into lifelong tenures, bombing politicians, killing blacks, killing Jews, and blaming the victims before the warmth had left their bodies. Enough is enough. If you're a conservative in this election cycle, you are on the wrong side of history.
7
Proving, once again Mr. Douthat, that you can be under the bus, and on it, at the same time.
Gee, our country is doing soooo much better under Trump and the "studiously incurious" Republicans:
Who cares about a few people being killed while're praying?
Who cares about a few people being terrorized by pipe bombs?
Who cares about children being torn away from their parents?
Who cares about global warming?
Who cares about a new nucear arms race with Russia?
Who cares about severing ties with our allies?
Who cares about lowering the economic and moral stature of the US in the eyes of the rest of the world?
Who cares about finding a way to prevent foreign adersaries from interfering with our elections?
Who cares about taking away affordable healthcare from millions of Americans?
Who cares about allowing lies to replace facts as the basis of our political discourse?
Who cares about undermining freedom of the press (i.e. one of the bedrocks of our Constitution)?
Who cares about continuing the tradition that women's claims of being raped don't deserve full and unbiased investigation?
Who cares about allowing the blatant promotion of hatred of fellow citizens to become an acceptable strategy for political discourse?
Who cares about allowing the President, elected officials, and media outlets to make the promotion of violence against fellow citizens acceptable?
Who cares about all of this, when you're "winning" by stealing a seat on the Supreme Court, passing a tax cut which hurts most ordinary Americans, and destroying our morality?
Disgusting!
3
In the words of Andrew Gillum: “Well, that was a mouthful.”
Mitch McConnell is the most corrupt and shameless Senate leader in my long memory. You should fear his craven "party and donor-first" politics more than anything the Democrats might do were they to retake the Senate. Your party has become indefensible, Ross, and the only cure is for it to lose any and all power and have to start over.
2
"talking up a phantom middle-class tax cut and proposing an “America First” approach to drug pricing." I think in English this is called lying, Ross.
2
I'm sorry, but the academic points presented in this anodyne, analytical piece make as much sense in today's world as Mussolini boasting that he made the trains run on time. And we all know how that ended.
As I'm writing this comment today, 11 people have been murdered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania by an arsenal wielding anti-semitic criminal bound and determined to kill as many people as he possibly could in their house of worship simply because of the God they chose to believe in.
And while neither Mr. Douthat nor The Times can or should be held responsible for the timing of this article's appearance, its content unfortunately focuses on the petty games of insider politics instead of the unprecedented importance of saving, then restoring the basic decency of our country's founding values and the hope for the survival of our deeply wounded democracy.
Sadly, and more than ever before, this is the state of our union: Distracted, thereby complacent, complicit and incapable of speaking truth to power until it's too late.
Wake up.
Vote.
". . . the conservatives who opposed him in 2016 have increasingly divided into distinct camps — one group continuing to criticize him but still backing the institutional G.O.P., and the other following their anti-Trumpism into root-and-branch opposition to his party."
Is this some kind of a joke, Ross? You left out the most conspicuous and perhaps largest group among Republican office holders; and overwhelmingly so among Congressional leaders. That is the camp of those who have abandoned all pretense at having any principles and rolled over like poodles begging for a belly rub from their Dear Leader.
1
". . . the conservatives who opposed him in 2016 have increasingly divided into distinct camps — one group continuing to criticize him but still backing the institutional G.O.P., and the other following their anti-Trumpism into root-and-branch opposition to his party."
Is this some kind of a joke, Ross? You left out the most conspicuous and perhaps largest camp among Republican office holders; and overwhelmingly the biggest among Congressional leaders. That is the camp of those who have abandoned all pretense at having any principles and rolled over like poodles begging for a belly rub from their Dear Leader.
5
Nancy Pelosi in control of the House of Representatives is NOT good for America in ANY possible way! Vote Republican!
2
@Rod a woman with power; how frightening
I have long suspected, Mr. Douthat, that you often write of an alternate planet. I believe this time out you have proved it.
" ...his foreign policy less destabilizing (so far) than either of his predecessor's, his cruelest policy instincts walked back under pressure..."
To talk only these two elements, foreign policy and cruelty, ( cruelty has certainly risen to the level of policy in this administration), surely you must be speaking of an alternate Earth.
On this Earth from this administration we have mindless support for Israel. Cutting off Palestinian aid. Tearing up the Iran nuclear deal. Attempting to destabilize NATO. Engaging in trade wars with traditional allies. Sucking up to autocrats who order political assassinations. Pulling out of arms deals and other international arrangements faster than your newspaper can keep track of the withdrawals.
Putting small children in cages and separating them from their parents is, of course, not cruel at all. Nor in its consequences at least, is cozying up to anti-semites and white supremacists, while simultaneously mounting personal attacks on genuine American heroes. More non-cruelty?
That's here, Mr. Douthat, on our Earth.
Please let me know what Earth you had in mind.
2
Until we put a stop to Politics for Profit, none of this corruption and perversion of our republic will cease.
1
Mr Douthat exhibits a surprising degree of naïveté; the latest threats of mass murder with pipe bombs and a real assault rifle massacre in Pittsburg against Jews in a Synagogue were committed by individuals prompted to come out of the woodwork by repeated encouragement of violence from the presidential stage. That his failing to grasp this terrible phenomenon, in favor of an argument that somehow the republic may benefit from a legislative balance of power, is quite shocking. May Mr. Douthat indulge in a vigorous examination of intellectual conscience.
Hoping for a mid-term wipeout, Ross. The Republican Senate is corrupt and dishonest to the core.
1
Pollyanna in the extreme but I most fervently disagree w/ the statement, "his appointments more responsible" - what on earth do you mean? Seating people who want to destroy the departments they're heading & ruining the strides Obama had made on environment, public safety & the like. IMO, that one phrase undermines the legitimacy/sanity of anything else in the piece.
1
Well, count me as a Trump skeptic. Today's Republican Party deserves no respect or support from patriotic Americans. It's a party consumed by greed and self interest with little concern for our country or its people. Or, indeed, the world at large. And it's sadly subservient to a man - Mr. Trump to be clear - who is stubbornly ignorant and completely amoral. No, I'm hoping for a massive blue wave that can put some clear limits on the excesses of the right.
The headline was enough. Not listening, pal. Like Republicans in this environment of their blind allegiance to a tyrant? Nope. Not buying it for a second. All true patriots will vote against all Republicans in this midterm election and in 2020.
2
I understand Ross...
Vote straight Democratic ticket on November 6.
5
Why don’t you root for the American people instead of your conservative self. The “institutional GOP” is structurally a gerrymandered, vote suppressed, lie-manufactured majority. Americans want a more liberal governance and they can’t have it as long as the GOP is allowed to cheat. Your conservative self has helped assure that won’t happen for a long time.
Every similar article you write is dishonest unless you acknowledge this fact.
Yeah that's sensible, if you're a republican, trying to make lemonade out of lemons. What's sensible to me is removing as many republicans as possible.
2
There are no GOP checks and balances on this lunatic reality show president. He is being allowed to get away with blatant corruption, violations of the emoluments clause, nepotism, a ruinous trade war, conspiring with with Russia, destroying all our international alliances, attacking all our democratic institutions and wasting our tax dollars on endless campaigning instead of governing. His inflammatory rhetoric has inspired at least one right-wing bomber and and a deranged anti-Semitic gunman, with God knows how many more mentally disturbed Trumpists waiting in the wings. And what have we heard about this from Mitch McConnell, Paul Ryan or others in the GOP leaderhip? Nothing.
4
Ross,
Where were you when the Republican Senate stole a Supreme Court nomination? Where were you when McConnell and Ryan handed the keys to the Treasury to their donors?
A "constrained" Trump? Six thousand lies, race baiting, riot inciting and in your face theft is your idea of constrained ?
Go to one of those rallies, Ross. If that's your idea of America then you've become just another enabler.
3
A conservative Senate that rubber stamps everything that comes out of a demonstrated white supremacist White House? There is no case for that, and the notion that this is a good thing demonstrates the moral rot at the core of conservativism.
3
The judicial appointments are putting people in power who are there to deliberately destroy. We have seen the recent appointment of weeping, criminal filth to the Supreme Court. A man who has already demonstrated a utter contempt for a young woman in his social circle by assaulting her, and another in his legal care by demanding she carry her rapist's child to term (using a filthy argument that was transparently fake to avoid a Roe challenge).
So, every person of color, every person who is not straight, every person with a pre-exisiting condition, every person who is not at least reasonably wealthy has no access to legal redress or support, every woman who is assaulted or harassed or forced to endure sexual demands to keep her job has no legal recourse. Marriage is out of the question for some. Freedom from arbitrary job loss because of who they are and not what they do is a threat for all of them. Decent schooling and affordable medical care can be stripped away. There is no right to vote unless you are a chosen member of a chosen group (to protect against non-existent impersonation fraud). This is not a legal system, or judicial opinion. This is a judiciary run amok.
No Ross, appointing utterly corrupt judges with no respect for law and every respect for white, wealthy male, protestant privilege, and no respect for science or the planet is not a good idea. It is a guarantee of certain disaster after invoking untold misery.
I got as far as: "But so far Trump has been more constrained and less destructive than I expected", and stopped. Where have you been this last week Mr. Douthat? Perhaps the pipe bombs sent to Democratic leaders escaped your notice. Or was it of no particular concern to you? Do you honestly think that you cannot draw a straight line between Trump's rants against Democrats and that man's actions? No other president in my lifetime has been more destructive or ever encouraged such racism, misogyny, xenophobia, and violence as this pretense of a president, and I am 73. HIs foreign policy is exactly - what? Offend our allies, and suck up to the world's thugs? Increase tariffs on goods necessary for manufacturing and increase layoffs?
Where did you get the idea that the Senate was less "Trumpian" than the House? The voices there that have opposed Trump are either leaving or have been silenced by death, and others who had expressed their disgust for Trump like Senator Lindsay Graham are now gushing over him, kissing his ring, and hoping for an appointment to a powerful Cabinet position, once Sessions is dumped. At any rate, the Senate has done what you care about most. The Supreme Court has now been secured from the evil liberals for years to come, and the lower courts have been packed with conservatives. This will more effectively silence liberal voices than electing anyone to the House or Senate. We are about to witness over 50 years of social progress being erased.
I would say that, as Ross says, "If you are a conservative who is moderately happy with some of Trump’s policy steps," then your standards have dropped far, far below the level of Richard Nixon (who on many domestic and some foreign policy issues would be considered a fairly liberal guy today, despite his other evil instincts.) Ross, what basis do you have for concluding that Trump's "foreign policy less destabilizing (so far) than either of his predecessors, his cruelest policy instincts walked back under pressure, the country more prosperous, his appointments more responsible and a large-scale investigation into his possible crimes proceeding, beset by Trumpian insults but otherwise mostly unimpeded by the White House?" His foreign policy has destabilized our alliances and emboldened tyrants. None of his vicious policies have been retracted. His appointments are an disgusting and unprecedented mix of relatives, donors and ignorant hacks who have vowed to destroy the agencies they run. The only reason his efforts to sabotage Muller haven't worked is that his such an incompetent boob. Speaking of which, have you heard about his history of sexual assaults, and have you seen him assault the press? Have you read how Mussolini and Hitler came to power, by similarly demonizing minorities, the left and the press? I think not.
4
No dice! Hopefully the house flips this november to stop the bleeding but in 2020, in am hoping for a permanent democratic takeover of house, senate and the WH. The repulsive, corrupt, power-hungry republicans have lost all ability, credibility to ever rule again. They have ruined the country, relationship to the world as well as the earth.
The columnist’s raison d’etre these days seems to be advocating for anything that will result in the overturning of Roe v. Wade. This piece, of course, is no exception.
Ross I think you are going off the deep end with one sided broad unspecified criticisms implying that a Democratic majority in both houses could get anything done. What decisions has Trump made that are good. Picking a partisan arrogant liar for the SCOTUS (nothing to do with the sexual charges), being bellicose without benefit, an ill considered tax cut and all to make abortion and birth control criminal behaviors, immoral decisions that are only in the mainstream of the hypocrisy of the religious far right.
2
I don’t like Trump and his hateful ways. I do like the stand on emigration and trade. I want a president who doesn’t embarrass America whenever he opens his mouth. I think the majority of republicans are spineless hateful ppl who lie cheat and steal. The dems have for sure gone too far left and need to be brought back to mainstream America. I’m hoping they realize this. Nancy Pelosi needs to retire and the dems need fresh faces. I truly wish there was a third party lead by a solid idea and not the way out kind. We are in deep trouble if they retain the majority in both houses.
“Conservatives” are merely a fringe element of the GOP whack job. Trump is not a conservative. His pet projects: ending social security, medicare, obamacare, the VA...Why? Because it is more money for him. Why do conservatives pursue the same dream? Because somewhere a person of color was reportedly gaming those systems. So rather than fix anything, destroy the systems. What was “conservative” about that?
An unpunished unpenitent unchecked Trump has mainstreamed a murderous form of “nationalism.” Conservatives have a lot to answer for. “Christian” conservatives have the most to answer for because there was NEVER any excuse for insisting that christians vote only GOP, the party of hate.
Mr. Douthat states, ". . . so far Trump has been more constrained and less destructive than I expected." -- My god, Ross, what were you expecting? I read most of your columns, and I don't recall any thoughts from you, leading up to the 2016 election, that gave the impression you felt Trump was anything more (or less) than an unschooled, offensive jerk.
When we moved from the idea that he was just a jerk who would never be elected, to the realization that, yes, this guy could wind up in the White House, you should have been out there sounding the alarm, loudly.
2
Wow, Mr. Douthat, what a give to the American people. You are willing to give up the House for the country's sake. And, yet, according to your podcast, you enjoyed some Schadenfreude at the Kavanaugh confirmation. At some point, you being a purportedly intelligent individual (although everyone should check out Ross being exposed by David Remnick's vastly superior intelligence on The New Yorker Radio Hour) need to ask yourself why minority rule by pretend conservatives is okay with you. And, by the way, you are a father. No concern with the environmental shenanigans by this hideous administration for your children's sake?
No need to even read between the lines here, folks. By not-so-sneakily planting Amy Coney Barrett's name in this column, Ross reveals his one true "conservative" (meaning paternalistic) goal: To get rid of Roe v. Wade. All else is just triangulated froth and faux bipartisanship.
Correcting for typos:
I would say that, as Ross says, "If you are a conservative who is moderately happy with some of Trump’s policy steps," then your standards have dropped far, far below the level of Richard Nixon (who on many domestic and some foreign policy issues would be considered a fairly liberal guy today, despite his other evil instincts.) Ross, what basis do you have for concluding that Trump's "foreign policy [is] less destabilizing (so far) than either of his predecessors, his cruelest policy instincts walked back under pressure, the country more prosperous, his appointments more responsible and a large-scale investigation into his possible crimes proceeding, beset by Trumpian insults but otherwise mostly unimpeded by the White House?" His foreign policy has destabilized our alliances and emboldened tyrants. None of his vicious policies have been retracted. Any prosperity has come with a huge deficit, tax breaks to the rich, and cutbacks in social programs. His appointments are a disgusting and unprecedented mix of relatives, donors and ignorant hacks who have vowed to destroy the agencies they run. The only reason his efforts to sabotage Muller haven't worked is that he's such an incompetent boob. Speaking of which, have you heard about his history of sexual assaults, and have you seen him assault the press? Have you read how Mussolini and Hitler came to power, by similarly demonizing minorities, the left and the press? I think not.
3
The fact that you believe Trump is less destructive than you thought he would be frightens me. People’s lives are impacted daily by his negative rhetoric. His hatred for difference is inciting racists, sexists and xenophobes to behave in unconscionable ways. I’m truly not sure how much worse it can get. Or if we can survive it if it does.
2
Until Ross admits that the GOP is rotten to the core and irredeemable, his words won't be worth the server space they take up. Republicans deserve to be defeated at every level of government, in every chamber, until they exercise the demon of Trump
4
Oh so wrong. Within a relatively short time the G.O.P., as a whole--House, Senate and Presidency-- has done serious harm to our democracy. It is time to drain the swamp. The Democrats need to win both the House and the Senate.
The G.O.P., under Trump, McConnell and the spineless members of the House, has attacked our political structure in multiple cynical ways. Examples include: threatening Obamacare without having a workable alternative; injecting the knowingly false trickle-down economic theory into our tax laws; anti-unionism (Gorsuch); gutting fair immigration and trade policies; appointing Gorsuch and Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court over Obama’s--but McConnell blocked--nominee, Garland; gerrymandering; voter suppression; racism; and, in ignoring science, damning the environment in which we live.
Two themes emerge from this destabilizing collection of events. First, they're designed to serve the wealthy. Second, they're designed to put the power of government into the hands of a few. Where does Trump fit into this? His interests match those of the rich and few. If he and they are successful, our government will be controlled by a set of privileged, rich, conservative, self-serving, authoritarian, older, white men--thus, extinguishing our democracy.
By definition, we'll live in a combined plutocracy/oligarchy--in this case, with Trump/McConnell leading the pack, filled with a heavy dose of meanness.
A split decision could well neuter the crazies in both parties. The moderates might find their voice. Trump might lose his. That might not be a bad outcome.
1
Like a lot of conservative columnists, there's a lot of assertions about how such and such is better, without the requisite evidence or even a specific instance of that. So many "trust me on this" sort of nonsense. I have one word:
No.
Stop it. You've been lying. All you have been lying. At the minimum, to yourselves as the best case scenario. At worst, you're knowingly mendacious and and think we haven't been paying attention.
We are now. Everything you have asserted in this column is a direct lie. Your statements about the Senate is beyond laughable and would be appalling were there not a dozen other appalling things happening just this weekend.
But Mr. Douthat, your average conservative knows that the 'check' the House puts on Trump will be impeachment papers. Because your average conservative knows that they are supporting a person who is guilty 'prima facia'. Trump isn't just some bore you've attempted to portray, he is a raging, roaring premeditated lion of a criminal. He is dirty and wants to dirty everyone he can. Including the Republican party, Congress, and yes even the United States of America. He's right when he says 'no collusion', it's so far past that it scares even him.
The willful ignorance of Trump and GOP devastation reflected in this column should get Mr. Douthat fired.
1
That’s such a defeatist position to take.
We need the Democrats crushed, as they’ve allowed the socialist wing to take over their party.
1
Under Trump and his party America is coming apart at the seams. They should be repudiated at the polls, not left with a power base to spew hatred and lies. The soul of our country is at stake.
2
An anti-democratic solution to our national problem is hardly the answer. All those empty red states makes the Senate not only much too republican to represent America, but too rural. Most of us live on the coasts and in the cities.
If the Republicans hold the Senate, they will continue to support Trump's political appointments and his judges. They will not, as the constitution requires, circumscribe the executive and hold him accountable.
In brief, what you want is for Republicans to continue as they have while putting the burden of saving the republic on House Democrats.
Sorry, but the Republicans have not earned re-election.
3
11 Jews lay dead, their murderer encouraged by Trump's blaming a Jew, George Soros, for immigration and protests, the same Trump who said of Nazis chanting, "the Jews will not replace us," "there are good people on both sides;" by House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy saying "We cannot allow Soros, Steyer, and Bloomberg to BUY this election!;" by Rep. Matt Gaetz accusing Soros of funding the refugee caravan, and we're supposed to hope for a split ticket because Trump isn't quite so bad after all? Today, of all days?
6
I assume that this column was drafted several days ago, but in light of the horrific events of Friday and Saturday its publication is simply tone death.
1
“Foreign policy less destabilizing?” Maybe I stumbled upon an editorial from some other time.
This is the soft sell for a Republican Party that is forced to run against itself. “Elect a Republican Senate, because Democrats threaten the norm?” Really? I can’t even remember what a “norm” is.
This is like an advertisement for a laxative.
4
To hijack a phrase from the Republicans:
Our goal as Democrats, and really as Americans, should be to shrink the modern-day GOP, Donald Trump's party of liars, misogynists, racists, etc. (and now we can include mass murderers and domestic terrorists) to the size where we can drown it in a bathtub.
Senate, House, whatever it takes to stop this madness.
8
This column is a disgrace, a waffling embrace of the evil that is Trump as long as it isn't too evil, an acceptance of the conditions, politics, and policies that made Trump the inevitable conclusion of the Republican Party, and the most despicable of false equivalencies.
Douthat wishes for the condition of being just a little bit pregnant - let us deny the most egregious and obvious aspects of who we are as long as we get the judges and policies that define us.
Douthat is less a NeverTrumper than a writer who wishes not to be seen getting his hands dirty.
7
Hey there old Russ... You think Trump's foreign policy so far has been better than his predecessors while he empowers desots and encourages Russian meddling? Wow. Just
.....wow.
5
Please take the pipe out of your mouth, the slippers off your feet, and pad out of your study to see what is going on in the real world. This entire piece sounds like something out of the mouth of one who has never engaged with a person of color, a gay person, a working woman, a jewish person, any variety of blue collar worker, an immigrant, mother earth... I could go on. Useless dreamlike pondering in a bubble is what this is.
5
Nice try, but any vote for any Republican in this election cycle is an endorsement of Trump and his nationalistic, racists, xenophobic, misogynist and and anti American vision. You are either on the bus or not...and Republicans love him and are all clearly emphatically on the bus!!
Buy hey-nice try anyway!
5
Conservatism has shown its face clearly. They cannot win without the racists. They cannot win without the billionaires. They cannot win without the morally bankrupt.
This nation cannot stand while they hold power.
5
Sorry Ross but you’re just wrong. This Republican Party needs to be burned to the ground. They are amoral coconspirators to a president who is destroying the nation one lie at a time.
7
Wishful thinking at its best
Mr.Douthat, are you kidding? Just because you hold onto some fairy tale of past times when republicans weren't out for the wealthiest and greediest, and embraced ALL Americans and not just white folks, doesn't mean we should have to endure the likes of McConnell and Ryan for years to come. Your party is a disgrace on so many fronts it's not even funny. Wishful thinking changes none of what it's become over the last 4 decades. What happened to the supposed big tent? Isn't your party the one that usually houses and welcomes the least tolerant in our society? Do you think there are large numbers in the left's base who belong to the KKK, white nationalist groups, NRA, Nazi sympathizers, and other hate groups? Not all racists, bigots, homophobes, and the generally intolerant are Republicans, but most racists, bigots, and the intolerant are Republicans. Look around you Mr. Douthat. You can't doubt that. Then again, it seems as if you can.
5
Ross, you must be the only one who thinks that an institutional GOP still exists.
2
This article is utter hogwash and a white washing of Trump's worst actions and his malign impact on this country's people, institutions and allies. Trump is reprehensible, and so is Russ for writing this article.
7
If you don't want the entire Federal judicially stacked with right wing hacks for the next 30 years, vote for your Democratic senate candidate, too!
VOTE.
6
GOP senators are a gang of liars and thieves who just confirmed a liar to the Supreme Court. Most of the GOP candidates running for the Senate are also liars. They are lying about their position on healthcare and their willingness to require insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions.
Why ought We the People of the United States reward liars and thieves by giving them power? We ought to take their power away, and show them that lying is unacceptable. It is only when these people start losing elections huge that they will change.
5
The best outcome for America would be a resounding repudiation of Trump. In the wake of an anti-Semitic mass murder, racist murders of African Americans and a bomb plot against prominent Democrats, all in the past couple of days, it is well past time to hope for "split decisions" on his divisive, hateful leadership.
4
Scary that for you it’s bad, but not quite bad enough. Sorry, but the enabling Republican thug senators must go too. Having a monster such as McConnell (I know he’s not up for re-election) but at the helm is reason enough to wish for and work very hard for a Blue Senate. Not enough to have a House of Blues
3
Trump has been far worse because Congress has donr NOTHING to stop him.Only5 Republican Congresspeople have done ant resistance and 3 are retiring or dead.
Trump has not drained ant swamps. This is the most corrupt government ever. Companies are charging $140/day to detain aliens!. Possible treason is ignored. Trump is the greatest conman in history. Period.
3
There is no conservative split.
There is a section of GOP that goes through the motions of acting independent, but where rubber meets ground. The votes are always with Trump.
I am a conservative and looking forward for a conservative candidate I could vote for. But what I keep seeing are a bunch of rapists, racists, economic illiterates, science denying schizophrenics who have no sense of decency and no need for grounding in reality.
And I am left with the moronic Bill DeBasiio administration in charge....
2
Douthat is actively supporting Trump's incitement of violence. He should be ashamed of himself.
3
"But so far Trump has been more constrained and less destructive than I expected ...."
This is bad faith arguing since we know little of RD's darkest fears. Worse, save a nuclear holocaust, there is no evidence that President Foot in Mouth has been "constrained" at all.
RD wants to have it every which way: standard bull from self-proclaimed "reasonable" conservatives, all of whom left the building in 1981, never to return again.
5
What a strange column, what are you talking about mr Ross?
2
Dear Ross,
When you are in your Catholic church of a Sunday, eyes shut tight in prayer, does the face and voice of Donald Trump come to you, and if so, what does he look and sound like to you in that moment of solemnity? What does your God tell you about such a man? Come on Ross, God is watching you now, right?
2
One is either for Trump or against Trump. There is no Republican Party any more. Sadly the last Republicn I know of was John McCain and we lost him. I am wondering if Romney will cow tow to Trump or prove himself a bull in the Senate.
2
A vote for the GOP is a vote, not for governance by people like you, but by a handful of billionaires that tell the GOP exactly what to do. Maybe the Mercers, the Kochs, the Uihleins, the Wilks, the Adelsons, the Spencers have the same goals you do, but it is doubtful. Compare your lifestyle with theirs.
4
This Republican is in the "earth-salting defeat" camp
1
I guess Ross Douthat and I are not living in the same country with the same destructive narcissist as president.
1
“ But so far Trump has been more constrained and less destructive than I expected “. My God, exactly what planet are YOU living on ??? This is delusional, or YOU are so invested as a propagandist for your beloved Church that NOTHING else matters but the Supreme Court. And as an educated, white Male with an upper middle class life, YOU have little to lose. Things are just peachy. Take off the Vestments, Sir. Go out into the real world, met real people. See how much they are “ winning “ with Trump and his Collaborators. Seriously.
4
After this week, if you're not terrified by what we have now, you really should not be writing for a general newspaper. Take off your rose-colored glasses of delusion.
2
So you’re cool with a political party that supports its leader stoking white nationalist hate against immigrants, resulting in triggered armed embeciles massacring innocent people.
Enjoy all the blood.
2
Yeah your wonderful constraining the liberals Senate led by utterly corrupt Mitch. Your avoidance of even using his name shows the fallacy of your argument and the duplicity of your purpose
1
Coming from a hypocrite that insists he is more Catholic than the Pope (because he will never support a church that forgives divorced persons) Douthat actively supports a “moral” acquiescence to government divided by racist-greed driven-sharia law Republicans and liberal-Socialist-empaths. Maybe the Nationalist bomber Sayoc, or the Nationalist murderer Chambers will serve to temper the deranged President and his sycophants? That is not any reason to temper our resolve to rid our Nation of the fraudulent man in the WH. He actively promotes hatred and fear of Blacks and Hispanics, and Muslims. It is time for Jews to recognize that inciting race hatred will always result in hatred of Jews. White Nationalists are openly anti-Semetic, yet there are Rabbis who continue to embrace Trump, like Black and Hispanic and Muslims who have taken a knee to Trump.
Christians are the most confusing supporters of the GOP. Abortion defines them. They have become the Uterus Police. Kidnapping children at the border, cutting food stamps, health insurance, befriending tyrants and known murderers, poisoning the air and water, global warming and threats of nuclear annihilation are secondary to birth control and abortion.
Vote Democrat! Don’t bend your knee to cruelty, lies, and brutality.
7
So Douthat wants to rein in the bigots, racists, nativists and other American roaches that he and his party embraced to gain power, but he doesn’t want actual progress made towards a better America. I am so sick of these whiny hand-wringing Establishment Republicans, who just want the loons back in their cages, but still voting GOP.
3
this article illuminates your basic ideology- and normalizing of the most destructive period in recent history. perhaps- the Catholics in Germany and Europe who looked the other way as Hitler was rising to power- focusing on economic and political policy gains while ignoring the humanitarian concerns his rhetoric drove forward- took the same approach you are taking now. well- please- understand- this is not a game... blood is on the hands of any and all who support this agenda and president at this time- there is no healthy- moderate approach... you can't have it both ways... I found this article on every level- morally bankrupt
4
Blah blah blah. Cut to the chase. Douthat wants a Republican Senate majority in case Trump gets to pick another Supreme Court justice.
5
In your first sentence you misspelled "Basically no republicans have taken a principled stance against President Trump."
"...his foreign policy less destabilizing (so far) than either of his predecessors..."
Really, Ross, really?
Sucking up to Putin and Kim Jong-un, trashing NATO, starting a trade war, insulting our closest allies, embracing dictators around the world. That foreign policy is "less destabilizing?" Really?
I guess as long as you get a reactionary Supreme Court that's all that matters, right?
4
More conservative judicial nominations? Like “George Soros is after me” and entitled frat boy who may have molested a woman Kavanaugh? Sounds like pair-a-dice there Ross.
1
Whether Dems take both house and senate or just house, this could actually work out great for Trump. He cares nothing about policy, he just wants a win. Dems working with the few moderate repubs left could hand him several wins with great ideas republicans have refused to act on for years. And all repubs who refuse to get on board will be seen for what they are: rich scum who hate the average American. I think Trump is a terrible creature who is destroying our country. But he is merely a symptom of the gangrenous body that is the modern GOP. 2020 is far away, and a lot could change before then. The only thing that is certain is that the GOP must go, and this "president"* must be kept in check until then.
1
Not. Good. Enough. Read Maureen Dowd. We need to get rid of Republicans in every position, a complete purge - until they wash themselves of the apparently inbred stink of bigotry - including your own. There is nothing good in electing any Republican, a party rotten to the core.
3
The first newspaper I turned to this morning was Haaretz. It is clear and unabashed in its condemnation and fear of Trump, Netanyahu, fascism.the GOP and the Evangelicals who have destroyed democracy in Israel, the USA and is putting a champion of Hitler in power in Brazil.
On Monday Ted Cruz condemned this old man and millions of others calling us the enemy of the people.
I am a Jew, a liberal and some one who knows and understands that the conservatism preached by the GOP is a philosophy of hate fear and division. I am 70 years old and have seen America unable to withstand the so called conservatism of the Buckleys, Goldwater, Nixon, Reagan, Buchanan, Lee Atwater and Ted Cruz.
I grew up learning and loving the great melting pot we called the USA while Montreal had English Protestant schools, hospitals and welfare systems, English Catholic schools hospital and welfare systems, French Catholic schools, and hospitals and Jewish schools, hospitals and welfare systems.
The GOP is a party of hate and xenophobia it is their DNA and has been since the Buckley children burned a cross in front of a Jewish resort and William F. Buckley Sr was the biggest fan of Generalissimo Francisco Franco.
Chemi Shalev's lead article in Haaretz explained that yesterday's attack was not aimed at our beliefs but our values and it is our values and the values taught by our brother Jesus that conservatives hate.
Conservative values have no place in 2018 if we are to survive. Our boat is too small.
3
Ross, your blindness to the existential threat that Trump and the Republicans pose to America is quaint but toxic. To suggest that the Senate continue to be controlled by a person who is committed to packing the courts with unqualified far right wing supporters of theocracy and misogyny is tantamount to a vote for Christo-fascism. We’ve heard enough from right wing apologists like you, Ross. Let’s hope no one listens to you any more.
2
Your right wing terrorists are showing their true selves. Bombs and guns. Your party needs to go away forever.
3
"...But so far Trump has been more constrained and less destructive than I expected..."
And with that, any argument that you may have had falls flat on its face. George Will, Steve Schmidt, Nicole Wallace, David Frum, and many actual Conservatives would tell you that you've lost your Conservative Conscience. and maybe even your sanity.
This current bunch of trump enablers and abetters should be shown the door, each and every one. Every single person who tries to normalize or apologize or provide cover for the actions of this handful of excrement administration deserves to be voted out of political office.
If you really believe that this unhinged race baiting, institution destroying, loose cannon has been "constrained" and "less destructive" than YOU EXPECTED and you feel you're representing a significant portion of conservatives who share your thoughts, that's the best argument for voting the GOP out of office I can think of.
3
The timing of this editorial couldn't be poorer. After this past week, to reward the GOP for everything that it has wrought, or to hope for the Republican Senators who have fostered and profited from the current climate of hatred and violence to provide any of the leadership required at this moment, is categorically wrong.
2
It seems like Ross is saying that gridlock is the only answer to America’s current political problems. If gridlock is the only answer then the great American experiment in actual full-fledged democracy, which begin not in the 18th century but in the 20th century with women’s suffrage ant the voting rights laws protecting the right to vote of blacks and other minorities is coming to an abrupt end. We’ll no doubt still call ourselves a democracy but we’ll actually be ruled by an imperial president (either Republican or Democrat) and an unelected Supreme Court.
1
What Douthat does not consider is that there is in all societies an unavoidable cultural and social movement that no amount of temporary and artificial impediments can stop. No matter how much you stuff courts with conservative judges, they cannot stop the slow but inevitable recognition of individual and political rights. You can't impede forever voting through manipulations, such as we are seeing in this election. The right to health will always be there, and the means to maintain it will eventually become a political right. The matters that, incredibly, are viewed as far left issues, will become as "normal" and desirable as SS.
The trouble is that Republicans have replaced economic conservatism with social conservatism and now have no place to go but resistance at all costs.
4
Nowhere is an argument as to why someone should support conservatism over liberalism. Ross is rational is premised entirely on how to best "win" without ever justifying the goal. Personally, I find international liberalism, economic conservatism, and domestic socialism are the best combination for any democratic nation. Trump is none of these things and neither is the Republican party.
I have plenty of disdain I could throw at Democrats. However, there's nothing left in the GOP worth saving. They deserve a few decades in the wilderness. For that matter, conservatism in generally needs to fundamentally rethink how their ideological foundation is applied. Only one party has ever interfered with international policy in war time in order to win an election. The same candidate was later removed from office under credible threat of impeachment and conviction.
To call yourself a conservative today is an open admission of moral and ethical decay. There are times and places where conservation is appropriate. However, as a political principle, conservatives today are so far divorced from any appreciable rational for their actions as to not even warrant consideration. Conservatives are about winning for winning's sake. They have no idea what they're trying to "win" anymore.
To that point: you'll notice Douthat is attempting to rationalize what most likely will happen. What is actually in the best interest of the nation is irrelevant.
11
Ross, you are putting up an indefensible straw-man by alluding to an argument that Reagan, both Bushes and now much of Trump's policies are mainstream and benefit the majority. It was Roosevelt, Truman, Kennedy and Johnson's administrations that established needed government programs to make life better for the middle class. We desperately need more of these and less of your conservative government looking to aid the richest. Lastly, you cannot re-invent conservative legislation from the likes of McConnell, Grassley, Hatch and Ryan as good for anyone but the richest and least in need.
9
Gridlock works! Only very important Bills are passed now and that is a good thing for confused country. The less Bills passed, the better and a bit more gridlock would be, ironically, welcome!
1
Alternatively, it would be wiser, and admittedly more difficult, if the Democrats could embrace a conservative wing of their party. Getting both views under the same big tent will enable and model the kind of debate that is no longer possible between the polarized parties. Jon Meacham quotes one of the founders advocating this in his latest book, “The Soul of America.” So much of our current crisis comes from talking past each other rather than engaging in sincere dialog.
2
All movement is relative. If the GOP weren't accelerating rightward at a fantastic clip (as recently demonstrated by Trump's fervent embrace of nationalist as a title to cement his clear fealty to nationalism as a philosophy), Ross Douthat would be surprised to discover that the Democrats haven't budged from just left of center in years.
4
I can’t believe that I’m actually considering finding another country to move to when I retire. Yes, things are that bad.
19
Douthat has long wanted Republican government without Trump himself. This proposal is aimed at that.
Who would those Republicans be without Trump?
Ted Cruz was the last opponent standing against Trump.
The Senate leadership is what defied Obama, refusing even a hearing on the Supreme Court, and pledging to defeat whatever he did.
They are the "repeal and replace" lie, that tax cutters for the rich who bemoan the resulting deficit and want to cut repayment to the rest of us for the Social Security and Medicare for which we already paid.
This is not a suggestion for compromise, or for something better. His suggestion would be a deep dive into something even worse.
Bad now does not preclude worse next.
20
These responsible GOP senators are at this moment conducting Senate Judiciary Committee hearings for lifetime US Court of Appeals Judges while the Senate sits in recess. These hearings feature upwards of two senators in attendance, last 20 minutes and to maximize efficiency they pass through two nominees at once. This sir is not responsible institutional behavior.
25
My confusion with your options here is the notion that "Trump constrained" is possible. And his regime will certainly not be either.
7
I note that you didn't name any possible norm-busting moves by the Dems so I'll help you out: after a new, Democratic president takes office in 2021 the Democratic congress will add seats to the Supreme Court, as many as Trump filled.
We're not going to let the right-wing minority control our government through judges, not going to let them restore the Lochner ruling. So all that effort by the conspiracy called the Federalist Socitey will be for naught!
4
This is a tortured little essay, hopping from one foot to the other. Except for his restraint on foreign policy (excluding his stance towards dictators and his nutty tariff policy), Trump is a danger to the Republic. Almost every day there is a new outrage--massacre at a synagogue, a deranged pipe bomber, the growth of anti-Semitism--that has been encouraged by his rhetoric.
A conservative should want change to be gradual, to be tested in the states before it is adopted federally. He believes that society is a complex mechanism that can be broken by sudden shifts and tacks--whether it is in regard to immigration, the administrative state, the fillibuster.
This is the most important election since 1860. Even if the Republicans win only the Senate, they will approve more Federalist Society judges who will destroy the rights of minorities. We shouldn't let that happen.
11
DJT more constrained? you have to be kidding Ross. he is worse than what I expected, no feared in my imagination.
fostering and inciting hatred in the country. destruction of our environment. trashing much of the Constitution. appointing unknowledgeable, special interest and self interested people to positions in the cabinet and agencies. turning women, minorities, immigrants, news agencies and more into targets for hatred.
packing all levels of judiciary with partisans, no attempt at any kind of diversity.
all actions to split the country into two tribes increasingly distant from each other. one bowing down to King Donald.
but I agree, maybe if the Congress was split, one house with the party calling itself Republican and one Democratic there might be some cross-party dialog for the first time in years
1
@Jon_NY Sorry but if the Republicans maintain control of the Senate they will block any legislative initiatives of the House that could constrain Trump and continue to confirm right wing judges.
1
In your dreams!
Are you kidding me? I wouldn't let a Republican Senator anywhere near my government, if I had the choice.
9
"But so far Trump has been more constrained and less destructive than I expected."
Good Lord, what kind of apocalypse did you expect?
52
@☆1\£~€°V `i8/n£/77nyAS9 it u`!65{h 7aa•••|_°_!I o°#□0!su °♡NJ 17!☆°7■,▪4% -- "Good Lord, what kind of apocalypse did you expect?"
We'd see that soon enough if Douthat got his way. Pence and McConnell could do far worse than Trump has done, if only by being more effectual in their schemes.
11
>>> "...his foreign policy less destabilizing (so far) than either of his predecessors, his cruelest policy instincts walked back under pressure, the country more prosperous..."<<<
The first notion (not a fact) is simply wrong, in no small part because Trump simply has NO coherent foreign policy. His knee-jerk impulsiveness actually portrays instability that is recognizable by nearly all world leaders, and is affecting the ability of the U.S. to retain effective partners.
The second notion, while slightly true, is actually inverted from the predominate reality. Trump, on some occasions, will utter something reasonable-sounding in a given crisis (often of his own making), clearly prompted by his exasperated handlers. But shortly thereafter, his baser and/or egocentric instincts burn through the facade, and he undermines himself with nasty, even cruel, tweets and press statements.
Your third notion is laughable. While unemployment numbers are indeed low, the true numbers are reflected in continuing poor wages in the working and middle classes, along with reduced buying power, damage to personal finances due to (for example) changes in health care insurance and rising medical costs (read that: gross profiteering) and a widening economic inequality. This is NOT the picture of prosperity. For God's sake, starvation is still a problem in this country, supposedly the richest on the planet! Wake up, Ross.
17
In the face of a changing country, a country that is becoming more diverse, the GOP is going to use the courts to keep that population in check and powerless. Not a surprise. The GOP is a minority party that represents more land than people. In the big cities and states that power this country’s economy, it’s has zero presence. In fact that the electorate in those places wants nothing to do with GOP because at its core the GOP is a white Christian Party, actively hostile to anyone who isn’t white or Christian.
This sounds like those countries like South Africa, Iraq or Syria where a small minority tries to rule the majority. Never really seems to work out in the end.
8
“But so far Trump has been more constrained and less destructive than I expected “
Really?!? Wow...
25
At this point, trying to find points of light in the darkness that is the Trump ascendance is like looking for edible fruit in a cesspool. When the likes of George Will are saying, "Vote for the Democrat," those who aren't listening need a bracing bowl of cold water to the face. You can't buy into the Trump regime piecemeal. Once in, you are all in, and if you're all in you are an agent against the American ideals of freedom and justice for all.
20
Anything less than a total rout of Republicans in both Houses of Congress will encourage crazier behavior from Trump than ever before.
19
First, they stole a Supreme court seat, then they stole an election. The Republicans are setting the country up for one party rule, theirs. Don't be a party to that vote Democratic.
16
I would love it if your opinion writers answer some questions about the pieces they write. They seem to spout off without consequence as if they knew their job was never in jeopardy for fear of the backlash of Right Wing Media. The fact is Right Wing Media already discounts everything you write they disagree with and yet you keep these guys around.
The first question I would like answered is: Do you (Ross) actually read what you write and understand what you are promoting? There is only one side that has a true agenda that defies the will of the majority of the country while the other side is trying to represent their constituents. Hating the "liberal agenda" has led you to very undemocratic place and blinds you to all the constitutional violations that have been occurring. Loading the courts with ill-qualified ideological judges with barely a majority of Senators was NEVER in the minds of the founders. Add to that the whole way the Republicans have chosen to govern - attempting to ram through an agenda without a single compromise or consideration of other points of view should disqualify them from continuing to govern.
This country is hemorrhaging because the side Ross identifies with is playing games to create the country they want and believe it is their right to pervert everything to get it. It was never a game but too many have forgotten that fact and continue to treat peoples' lives and rights and freedoms as theirs to do with what they will.
38
@Lucas Lynch -- Krugman did that yesterday, with four rather good replies.
We should encourage that.
5
@Lucas Lynch: US media is united in denial of voice to atheists. Instead, it stocks itself with advocates for various sects, such as Ross Douthat for the Roman Catholic Church here.
Competing claims to know what God thinks have driven the US mad. And the dumber the claimant is, the more fervently believe they know what it is like to know everything.
Who's Donald Trump? That'll be a trivia question in fifty years. Trump is not some great leader or amazing campaigner; he was in the right place at the right time. He ran against the worst possible entitled politician the Democrats could have put up, and he still lost the popular vote. He has no abilities or particular talents, and is simply a provocateur. Unless impeached, he will be our President for four years. Then, he will be a footnote in history. Unfortunately, the real problem will remain: our partisan Congress.
4
Honestly, the questions raised by this column begin with: What in the world is wrong with this man that he can't see that the American right led by Trump is destroying our country?
11
Ross, be careful for what you hope for. My hope is also for a Democratic house. Then, when the investigations begin: of the President, his children, his incompetent and corrupt cabinet, we will soon know all about this depraved administration. Hopefully, with this knowledge, Americans will realize the politics of division, the politics of governing only for the rich, and the politics of governing only for one's supporters will be cast aside; along with those who enabled this President in this misguided experiment in modern "conservatism".
6
I am amazed how concerned you are about "future liberalism" from a moderate to center-right Democratic Party. I am amazed that you can call Trump's corrupt Cabinet appointments "responsible." I am amazed how little concerned you are about Trump's and Republicans' authoritarian instincts and threats to democracy. Then I remember why you want the Senate in Republican hands – abortion – and I am amazed how this one issue blinds you to everything else.
31
@John B: Security is an established position as a crony in the US.
A truly hallucinogenic article.
Trump is 'more constrained' and 'less destructive' than you imagined? Your imagination must be Olympian.
To vote for a republican in the Senate is to abide and encourage the biblical level pestilence that the current mob of republican senators has inflicted upon this country: The outright theft of a supreme court seat, the subsequent seating of someone demonstrably unqualified to be a justice of the supreme court and a level of self-dealing, nepotism and outright criminality in the president's appointees approved and accepted with nary a smirk.
The only equivalence I can think of to the current republican control of all branches of our government is having the Joker take over Gotham city hall.
The republican party has blossomed like an infection into full putrescence, the product of decades of pandering to an extremist 'base' and the echoes and remnants of a civil war the results of which are apparently still in dispute.
No, the right thing is to punish the republican defilement of our civil society with a rout. Only then will we be able to begin to patch together the remnants and hope for a time of healing.
22
The Republican Party is morally and ethically bankrupt. Republicans have sold their souls because winning means more to them than our country. Voting for ANY Republican on November 6 makes you culpable for Trump. You own it if you don't stop it.
15
Douthat wants to order his government "a la carte" with the ignorance and intolerance on the side. That Republican Party does not exist. The one that does exist needs to be eradicated.
8
"...one group continuing to criticize him but still backing the institutional G.O.P., and the other following their anti-Trumpism into root-and-branch opposition to his party."
Wow what wild spin, you forgot the majority of those republicans that formerly opposed Trump are now giving him their full throated support, sorry you can't squirm off the hook so easily. If you are still supporting republican majorities you are fully a Trumpian, you own him, he's yours for the rest of your life. Take responsibility.
8
I always appreciate your thoughtful commentary, but I’m surprised you don’t see Trump as the danger he is. Every former to natl security adviser has said Trump is a danger to the nation. But in your mind they must all be wrong? If Trump keeps the House and the Senate what do you think will happen? It’ll be the end of democracy..I think you should ponder what that would mean....but as long as abortion is illegal....I’m guessing it doesn’t matter to you.
6
The Republican Party no longer exists, replaced by the party of Trump. Endless lies, graft, and hate. Embrace of muderous thugs in Saudi, North Korea, Russia, and beyond. Tax relief for corporations and refusal to regulate the shadow banking system that will lead to recession soon enough. Promotion of policies that accelerate climate disaster.
This is the party Mr. Douthat wishes will retain a degree of power. No.
8
A split government will result in a worse economy. It will result in even greater attacks because neither side will have a clear victory. It will likely result in impeachment or similar tactics. The U.S. does not have two years to waste on such nonsense.
5
"Trump has been more constrained and less destructive than I expected"
What, were you actually expecting a nuclear war?
(I wasn't ... but now I'm not so sure.)
14
Mr. Douthat has been asleep.
Sure the Republican controlled Senate has been less foaming at the mouth than the Republican controlled House.
But the Republican Senate has been an ineffective check and balance on an out of control President. And, with the death of Sen. McCain, the voices of decency, Sasse, Corker, Flake, Murkowski have been too meek and mild in an era of Trumpian indecent attacks on the Intelligence Community and the free press.
Where are ethics investigations of Cabinet officials, of Trump? Where are oversight hearings on Puerto Rico? Or military readiness. Or foreign relations? The Senate Republicans’ signature accomplishments have been packing the federal judiciary and passing tax cuts for the wealthy.
The House Republicans may have been Trump cheerleaders but the Senate Republicans have been Trump enablers. And neither group has ied up to its Constitutional duties.
Vote the bums out.
15
Ross, you are assuming Democrats--if they retake the House, will be reasonable. Have you not heard Maxine Waters? Have you not heard Rahm Emmanuel? Have you not heard Hillary Clinton? They are not interested in civility, or in getting along--or in being a moderating influence.
If the Democrats take over the House, expect them to engage in scorched earth policies. If they can't win the game--expect them to destroy the venue. They will do whatever it takes, to dirty-up a president they regard with seething hatred.
You seem to suggest a Democrat house will be a moderating influence. It will not be--it will unleash the most chaotic forces in American political history. It will be non-stop ugly--and it will do more to bring our political process to a grinding halt--and sow generations-long hatred, than anything we've ever seen.
18
@Jesse The Conservative
Hyperbole much?
18
@Jesse The Conservative - Replace the word "Democrat" with "Republican" in your rant and you have accurately described the situation at hand today. Thanks for playing.
27
Hello @Jesse The Conservative Jesse, Yes I have heard of Maxine Water. That's the black congresswoman who is a "low IQ" individual? Correct? As you clearly don't suffer from this problem but still are full of fears, please be reassured that the Dems will do some responsible oversight over the well-documented corruption that Trump has facilitated. What the Dems will not run are non-fact based investigations, such as those that were conducted by your party into Benghazi and into allegations of alleged collusion between Trump and Russia. (PS: Worry not. It is virtually impossible to "dirty-up" the president and go beyond what he has done to himself).
41
I speak as a conservative with a sense of ethics and a deep love of country and the institutions that keep us good. The GOP has been ill for years. It took Trump for many outside the party to see the disease. The GOP does not have issues with Trump. The GOP LOVES Trump. Only a complete Democratic victory will be enough to wake up the GOP and/or actual conservatives to the danger that the party presents to our institutions. Not just Trump, the party. As long as the GOP holds any power, we are in danger. The party has shown its colors. Believe them.
916
We're also in danger due to the Federalist Society. If Democrats come to power, I hope they tear out by root and branch the conservative virus that has infected the judiciary. To have a shadowy group such as they are spreading such ideological dogma is treasonous itself. Their only goal is to destroy Social Security and commit the common man to a life of serfdom.
68
@ModerateWhat dangers? Be specific.
1
@Moderate
Most of the people outside the party who keep informed about politics have known for 20+ years about the party's disease, since the Starr/Gingrich years at least. Trump opened the eyes of some but so far not enough people inside the party. Those who are left inside remain because of fear, like Mr Douthatt, or greed.
40
Well, the key sentence in Mr Douhat's opinion this morning is "so far Trump has been more constrained and less destructive than I expected."
If this is an honest assessment of Mr Trump's tenure and republican complicity in his tenure, there can be no better argument for thinking people to vote democratic.
The republicans have demonstrated they do not believe in science, do not believe in math, do believe in an assault rifle in every home, church, school, synagogue, do believe in ... well, by now everyone in America should get the point.
However, this week we have evidence of what a decade of republican winking at the right wing brown shirt wannabes does lead to. We have the bomber and the synagogue shooter.
Are Trump and his republican apologists responsible for those acts of right wing terrorism? No more so than a person shouting "fire" in a crowded theatre would be responsible for people trampled by the crowd.
This country is in a bad place. Republicans put us there. Remember that when you vote.
8
Mr. Douthat: I'm a big fan of your columns and I recoil at your characterization of this President's track record. You say of the President "so far Trump has been more constrained and less destructive than I expected — his foreign policy less destabilizing (so far) than either of his predecessors..." I am fascinated by your claim especially because I have a difficult time reconciling this rendition of President Trump's term to date with the historical record of the past year and a half. Re. just foreign policy, the 1st of your 5 points, how are we to understand this comparison? On the one hand we have this President's ignorance of and/or antagonism towards NATO, WTO, UN, etc.; his affinity and very public approbation for authoritarian strongmen incl. Putin, Duterte, MBS, Orban, Kim, etc; his equivocation on differences between clear geopolitical/ideological adversaries & our own nation; his baseless, punitive economic sanctions against close allies, his corrosion of norms of diplomatic (& every other) discourse, the in-your-face spirit of his interactions with all parties aside from brutal strongmen - we could go on and on. What is it in the foreign policy of the Obama administration that you see as more destabilizing that the upshot to date of the Trump presidency? Please don't limit yourself to his failure to follow through on his threat to bomb Syria for its chemical weapons - I have a hard time believing that a critical thinker such as yourself would equate these two.
2
Speaker Pelosi if all the Democrats who've promised not to support her for speaker keep their promises?
You have your judges.
You have your tax cut.
Corporations have been given human rights already.
What more harm could you possibly want to do to America by giving Trump even a hint of power?
12
I get it Ross - you are a good person I suspect and do believe but you are a RCC conservative - basically an authoritarian.
That's life - a certain portion of us are hardwired by millions of years of evolution to be more - shall I say - prone toward authoritarian tribal oriented fears/solutions.
Though Evolution found that SECULARISM, cooperation, openness, tolerance, empathy, diversity, and acceptance were the real winning traits in the population game of survival and progression - and thus hardwired most of us accordingly - it also found some balance was necessary.
A sufficient minority of the former were necessary if the majority - the latter - was to weather all storms.
Here is the rub - it isn't that the more authoritarian of us (like you Ross) are always wrong - aren't good and vital citizens -cannot bring good things to the table - it is this: they cannot rule and especially rule absolutely. No testable model where they rule the roost EVER ended well for a population. EVER!
We are headed toward that dangerous model with the GOP.
Having the Senate with a GOP Prez gives them SCOTUS for decades!
The survival of our children's children hangs in the balance - we have every reason to fear the theocratic Plutocratic GOP more than the "hordes" who fear for their children's safety, or the "liberal leaning Democrats" who want gays to live in peace, health care for all and for less $$, a woman to have autonomy of body, and a sustainable planet.
8
Douthat betrays any notion of fiscal conservatism when he says that voters do not need to hand the Senate back to Democrats now, because Democrats will probably take the Senate back later during the recession that Trump will trigger. Trump's illogical tariff war, combined with his broken promises on higher wages, are already on their way to robbing consumers' purchasing power - and the torpedoed stock market last week was a clarion call to action. A true fiscal conservative would call for that correction to a fiscally responsible Senate-and that means a Democratic Senate-now.
Every Democratic administration since World War II has had a healthier economy than every Republican administration. This column underscores why. We can fight about why neo-Nazi style social nationalism is not good for people- but genuine fiscal conservatives already agree that Trump nationalism is not good for the economy, For these fiscal conservatives, the coming recession should be as much of an anathema as a woman retaining the legal right to make own decisions about her body is to Ross.
Vote Democratic for the House AND the Senate. If you don't believe in civil rights, the sanctity of our environment, and the equality of people-then do it for the health of our economy. Because, under an ungoverned Trump, we ALL will reach rock bottom together.
4
Given the recent bombing campaign you really might want to rethink your statement that "Trump has been more constrained and less destructive than I expected ," considering that this "constrained" president recently celebrated a Republican politician's physical attack on a journalist.
Not tough rhetoric Mr. Douthat, an actual physical assault, a crime in fact. And don't forget the little detail that Gianforte punched the reporter while the reporter was on the ground!
That is now my image of the Republican party. And you are still a member of that party.
2
Much better idea. How about we refuse to vote for anyone of either party. Find the one candidate for each spot on your ballot who claims no party allegiance, is self-funded and who would rather die than commit either of these two sins:
1. Attend any political rally;
2. Stand up and applaud at a State of the Union address.
Nope, 5 chances out of 6 for a Democratic House, but only 1 chance out of six for a Democratic Senate. The former is probable, the latter is what is hoped. We must stop the packing of the judiciary with right-wing extremists.
If even the House is regained, the two-word summary by Robert DeNiro should be the mantra. I cannot repeat it here, but you know what it is. Let the investigations open, let the subpoenas rain upon the current regime, let all the documents be published, most especially the tax returns of the current resident of the White House.
4
This is a strange essay by Ross Douthat. There are lots of reasons for opposing Trump. One of the most persuasive is presented in Bob Woodwards book, Fear. Trump is a bully in his personal relationships and that makes him ineffective in building a cabinet and listening to the advice of experts.
This has caused several errors in foreign policy that transcend the differences between Republicans and Democrats.
On certain specific issues, Trump did in fact momentarily say something sensible about serious problems.
Perhaps the reason he was elected is that he said what many of the poor were thinking---that continued illegal immigration threatens the safety net for the poor.
OK, what he actually said was more divisive. He said some immigrants were rapists for example. In fact, he made some inflammatory statements that probably made it more difficult to find solutions to illegal immigration that both parties would accept.
Trump was right about one thing: the liberal elites were ignoring a problem which threatens to gradually increase poverty in the US and destroy living standards for workers.
Liberals are correct that Trump is in denial regarding global warming.
But Democrats are in denial about the long term impact of illegal immigration on quality of life. And that is perhaps an even more serious denial.
So what to do? Trump has antagonized people on his key issue, making progress impossible.
I suppose votes for the middle make sense independent of party.
Core conservative values.
Citizens United and unlimited dark money.
Destruction of the environment for a quick buck
Corporate protection from any civil or criminal actions.
Restrictions of civil rights for some people.
No Taxes for rich people.
Women will learn their subservient place.
Corporate subsidies for managenent's health care insurance, and the devil take the rest of you.
6
"more constrained and less destructive"? Tell that to the people of the Tree Of Life. They've seen enough destruction for a lifetime.
5
"To the extent that any Republicans deserve credit for this constraint, though, they are mostly elected Republicans in the Senate."
Right. Jeff Flake, Bob Corker and the late John McCain did dare speak out when their cowardly colleagues would not. But what did these three have in common? And how does that recommend a continued Republican Senate majority composed of individuals who won't have the freedom of nothing to lose?
1
How about DEMS take both the Senate and the House, and we get back to being sane again. The GOP has abrogated it’s soul - they don’t deserve to govern.
3
Ross is asking to vote tactically....not on principles (and let the chips fall where they belong). I am not sure that is the job of an intellectual, which I regard Ross is.
When bombs are getting mailed to politicians and Jew worshipers are getting slaughtered in their temple; what is needed is Americans to wake up and go away from this divisive politics.
Donald Trump does not reduce the divisiveness in our politics. Ross needs to stop making 'excuses' for such a wrong politician. Ross needs to stay clear of supremacy on the Supreme Court - if American voters want, they can change the composition of the Supreme Court as well. Ross should not treat it as 'Gollum's precious'.
2
"Studiously incurious" is one way to put it. Time for earth salting IMO.
1
I guess this erudite conservative columnist hasn't noticed that the "constrained" President Trump has, with the help and silence of Congressional Republicans, shredded our political culture and the norms that bounded it, raised incivility, division, and racism to levels not seen in a very long time, and activated the crazies. I thought character and values were important to conservatives. This was their big thing..."personal responsibility," civilized behavior, which included respectful treatment of opponents, and, yes, even manners. How wrong I was. I'd say your calculus is a bit too "constrained," Mr Douthat. Don't you know you work for the "enemy of the people" and some of the enemy almost got blown up the other day?
11
Douthat exemplifies the moral bankruptcy of establishment conservative thinking under Trump: 1) let's keep the Senate so we can keep pushing those conservative judges through, but 2) a Democratic House wouldn't be such a bad thing since Trump really is - or could be - a disaster for the country.
History is replete with self-serving establishments who have lost control of the tyrants they've unleashed upon the wider society and body politic.
Douthat: you own all of Trump. Not just the little morsels that swallow easily.
12
Demonstrating that Trump-style Repubs can't win elections will not prevent Repub voters from nominating Trump-style Repubs in the primaries, and will not prevent those nominees from winning at the least a substantial Tea Party presence in Congress. If there is any chance for Trump to leave a constructive legacy it will lie in convincing Americans that Repubs have no business occupying the White House. Ever. But Iraq and the financial meltdown weren't enough to get that message across, so Trump in all his miserable glory probably won't either.
1
Anything. Accept and support absolutely anything, isn’t that correct Ross? Whether Mitch McConnell or Jerry Falwell, it’s the robot like march and determination to replace every judge in the nation until Row vs Wade is stricken from the books. Whatever Republican orthodoxy that has been spewed over the years about the economy, the deficit, international trade, these soldiers have dutifully saluted. Yet, now none of that matters, or more likely it never did. The sickening grin on McConnell’s face tells it all. His life’s pursuit is coming together. All the lies, gerrymandered districts, voter suppression, gun violence, racism, hate, and division, all worth it. The rigging of the courts, the final goal at last is at hand.
Congratulations Ross. You and your party have sold everything for your blind pursuit.
16
If you were a true conservative you would recognize that Trump wrecked the authority of the presidency, has engaged in vile acts of government overreach, and has ushered in plutocracy to replace the authority of sovereign people.
15
The Republicans candidates are proclaiming their effort to protect pre-existing conditions coverage when they have actually been trying to remove it for the past ten years, including currently having a lawsuit to challenge this particular provision in ACA. Trump denied in the recent Wall Street Journal interview ever having imposed any tariff after months of trade war with China, Canada and Europe. And of course, Obama is still an African born socialist and Hillary colluded with Russia to defeat herself. And so on and on.
And you know what Douthat, the Republican establishment still concur with Trump and the base keep cheering. With a party like this, why do you think it is qualified to hold any house?
Trump is the Frankenstein of the GOP. Our nation's problem is not just Trump, but fundamentally, the Republican politics -- the way you campaign, the policies you hold, and the masters you actually serve, all with half truths or straight out lies. If you can make Republican voters believed McCain had a black illegitimate child, rather than one adopted with love and kindness, what else can you not do?
You sounded so holier than thou with your opposition to a radically liberal Pope Francis and various "liberal" agenda, but have you really checked how the policies you advocate hurt others?
You seem so smart and intellectual, yet so oblivious to reality. What does it take for you to see the utter corruption in the very core of the Republican Party?
9
"fearful of liberalism in full power," ? even if Democrats win both House and Senate, Trump will still be president. Split the house and Senate and we'll have two years of gridlock. Why not tear down the rot to its poisoned roots now so the GOP can grow a healthy conservative replacement in time for the next presidential election.
No, Ross. I love America (and our planet) too much to welcome another Republican Senate. Courts packed with unqualified appellate judges, an EPA that denies climate change and supports fracking with unlimited methane leaks, a CFPB that abets predatory payday lenders and student loan sharks, a State Department with no ambassadors in the capitals of major powers. If you were really pro-life you'd support educating women well and providing them with healthcare so they had healthy babies after planned pregnancies. Instead, environmental destruction, consumer ripoffs, disrespecting valid science, gutting a competent and dedicated civil service and undermining the rule of law confidence in the FBI and Justice Department seem to are all be OK with you because of your obsession with outlawing abortions (not preventing them, just making them illegal and dangerous). The Senate approves or withholds approval for judges, ambassadors and cabinet officials. They've done a terrible, terrible job of it since Trump's been President, and the damage they could do in another two years in power is frightening to contemplate. Climate change is real. Social capital is real. Lives and environments once destroyed cannot be brought back. Outlawing abortion isn't worth all the collateral damage.
214
@Barry Fogel
They were doing a terrible job of it before Trump became President - remember Merrick Garland?
7
@Barry Fogel Furthermore, outlawing abortion is NOT humane because abortion will continue; it simply is religious/patriarchal smoke and mirrors for control--of women. It won't work because technology has increased medical abortion methods which can be obtained online overseas. I wish Catholic males would sit down and shut up about women's varied and complex reproductive decisions. Just what this country needs is a surplus of miserable, unwanted children born in the 21st high-tech century due to medieval patriarchal religious oppression. Highly recommend reading "Bradshaw: On The Family" to understand how poisonous patriarchy and pedagogy aided and abetted by religion has caused so much family dysfunction. He theorizes that the rise of Hitler in Germany was possible due to poisonous pedagogical family systems. (Can be researched on Wikipedia).
7
The Republican Senate, under Mitch McConnell, has turned into a vile and inhumane body. They have supported Voter suppression, misogyny, getting rid of the ACA, taxing the middle classes and the poor to give Hugh tax breaks to the Corporations and the wealthy, and confirmed the most corrupt Cabinet members, allowing them and Trump to steal from the taxpayers.
They have not supported Separation of Church and State, sensible gun reforms, or Campaign Finance Reform.
All they appear to value is power and money.
What have they done of value for the average Americans?
230
The march toward the far right has been going on for decades. It is now in the area of extreme. I won’t repeat all the history since the early 20th Century, but Government had developed a conscience toward the governed, took responsibility to solve problems society could not solve on its own, made this country a more perfect Union, addressed the unnecessary suffering and deaths occurring under a government of exclusion, white male dominance, and purposeful ignorance.
I am sick of extreme right politics; sick of extreme right legislation that harms Americans and this country; sick of an extreme right Supreme Court that decided, beyond common sense, corporations were people, money free speech, gutted a part of the Voting Rights Act, all decisions allowing corruption to infect democratic elections; and, I am especially sick of an extreme right in the US Senate that redefines right and wrong to justify wrong, ignores the corruption of the President and his Administration, and remains silent while an incompetent, irresponsible Republican President continues to sow discord and division. To say this President has not done all the damage he can do, so it is okay, ignores the damage he had done. Narrow-minded, shallow thinking, Mr. Douthat.
I am sick of the pejorative use of “liberal” to describe who know positive prescriptions for this country make it stronger, and those who defy the anti-democratic extreme right.
236
@Kathy White Wow! I must say, Ms. Wright, that your essay might have been written by a Democrat equally alarmed and disgusted by an anti-democratic extreme right that has wrested control of government from moderation and turned it into a hyperpartisan joke that isn't funny.
Hoping to avoid sycophancy, where have you sensible, moderate Republicans been? As a Democrat I never thought I'd say anything like this, but we need you, both as a check on your own party's reactionary drift, but also as a check on my party's radicalism!
4
@CPMariner She did not describe herself as Republican.
1
If today's GOP had even a passing resemblance to the party that existed as recently as Bob Dole was a senator, maybe I could live with this scenario. But today's Republican party clearly has no principles and no conscience, and deserves no power or influence of any kind.
2
Ross, it's like beating the same drum, but you lost any credibility long ago by not calling for Republicans to abandon Trump in 2016, support a 3rd candidate, allow the Democrats to win easily, and proceed to try to rebuild your party. You can't have it both ways now, despite twisting into contortions to try to do so.
3
I often disagree with Ross Douthat. Here I disagree with him on several points, although I should add that I do not support Trump.
Yes Democrats are marching too far to the left. This is perhaps most evident in the Kavanaugh nomination in which Democrats abandoned the legitimate reasons for opposing Kavanaugh, such as his opposition to abortion, and focused on a claim of attempted rape made by a woman now after waiting for 36 years.
Democrats voted along party lines and voiced the sentiment that the accusation made Kavanaugh unsuited to the Supreme Court. But as Susan Collins said the evidence did not meet the standard of "more likely than not." To deny seating on the court is not only unfair but sends a chilling message.
Almost any male in US society could be falsely accused of an attempted rape. Do we allow that to destroy a career? Remember if he had not been seated on the Supreme Court, Kavanaugh would be prevented from teaching at Harvard because of a reputation of sexual predator.
Liberals seem to have abandoned the principle that the accused is innocent until proven guilty. The MeToo movement goes way too far in statements that women can never lie.
And there is hypocrisy. Why is Bill Cosby in jail and not Bill Clinton?
Was Cosby's trial fair? He was convicted by the media (the NY Times and the New Yorker) before a district attorney was seated because he would bring Cosby down.
I cannot support the replacement of jury trials with public shamings.
"It also provides a hedge against a future where the Democratic Party returns to power flush with ideological zeal, committed to its own forms of norm-busting, and eager for a measure of revenge." Gosh, I'd like to see THAT Democratic party. Where is it? And the eternal mystery: Republicans get away with "ideological zeal" and "norm-busting", but when Democrats stick to their actual principles, they are "extremists". The problem is that the real Democratic party is so afraid of being called "extremists" that they are often more Republican than the Republicans, and the bankers and hedge fund managers get away with outright fraud, the oil companies continue to be subsidized, and the environment and workers continue to get the shaft.
2
It was just a matter of time before Ross Douthat wrote a column like this in effect calling for the re-election and preservation of the current Republican senate majority. I could have predicted this two years ago. That's because for conservative commentators like him and Brett Stephens this is all an intellectual exercise and eventually they would find the right angle and logic (never mind how twisted or contorted) to get back to pulling for the GOP. Never mind that these same Senate Republicans went after the Affordable Care Act with same ferocity as their House counterparts or pushed through a tax cut that mostly benefited wealthy Americans and is driving up the deficit and debt to dangerous levels.
The only way I can understand or make sense of this column is this - Ross Douthat hasn't been personally impacted by Trumpian/Republican policies. He doesn't know what it feels like to be a first generation immigrant and feel the rising hostility and hatred aimed at them. He doesn't know what it feels like for someone with a life threatening illness watch those in power repeatedly try to take away the only health insurance they can afford. Mr. Douthat wears his Catholicism on his sleeve. But it only seems to have given him anti-abortion zealotry and not much succor for the well-being of the meek and the poor.
3
A Democratic House would initiate impeachment proceedings and impeach. The Republican Senate would defeat it. Think of all the time, money and energy wasted when the Democrats do not really want Pence.
But the desire for vengeance on their part is greater.
1
Mr. Douthat, give me a break, please: ‘If you are a conservative who is moderately happy with some of Trump’s policy steps…’ You mean tax breaks for the rich and corporations, and stuffing the bench with conservative judges? Crank up the debt and promote profits over people. Trump’s other ‘policies’ are either destructive or benign: environment, health care, immigration, fiscal, the list goes on.
2
"But so far Trump has been more constrained and less destructive than I expected."
A lot that is destructive Ross supports. For example five reactionary Supreme Court judges with the real possibility of more (and all the harm they are capable of) is something Ross is exhilarated by.
3
Mr Douthat made it clear a few weeks ago that his sole concern in supporting Republicanism was the reversal of Roe vs Wade. So it would make absolute sense for him to support another 2 years of a GOP controlled Senate so that the Federal court system can be jammed with more unqualified extremists and possibly even gerrymander another SCOTUS seat.
Mr Douthat is a single issue columnist and his column is simply an apology for his support for this issue. Who cares about all the people who live in this country as long as Mr Douthat's conscience is clear with regards to birth control and abortion.
2
God forbid Dems might take over both House and Senate and then do insane things like provide decent healthcare for Americans, fund schools, deal with climate change, promote free trade, protect public lands, safeguard elections from foreign actors, implement tax policy that actually benefits average working people, reduce the deficit, stop mass shootings by getting military grade weapons off the street, etc. etc.
It's a scary, scary world Mr. Douthat.
6
What, Mr. Douthat, would your so called untrammeled liberalism produce? In my view the Democratic Party in its present incarnation is a center right party if one compares it to the political parties in Europe. What are you and other conservatives afraid of? I tend to believe it is democracy itself you fear.
1
While I do not think that Brett Kavanaugh should have been confirmed (more because he was Feinstein's dance partner in the politicized confirmation hearing than Dr. Ford's unsubstantiated story), I am a single issue voter this November: a Supreme Court that interprets the Constitution as written rather than a "living document" that allows adding words to the Constitution and interpreting the "right to liberty" to include any cultural value du jour.
Ross, as a thoughtful, articulate writer I can't for the life of me understand how you can say that Trump
is in any sense constrained, or that his foreign policy less destabilizing (even ceding the fact that he hasn't taken us to physical war yet), or that his appointments are in any way more responsible.
His original rhetoric vis a vis North Korea couldn't have had a more threatening and destabilizing tone. His ineptitude in handling his Putin meeting couldn't have sent a clearer message...that the leader of the U.S. is indeed out of his league in diplomacy and foreign affairs.
As for his appointments: multiple indictments and currently two convictions among his coterie, not to mention the appointment of totally unqualified people to his staff and to head various departments, and cabinet members who have flagrantly abused their power and privilege are all so transparent that I am incredulous that you could utter the word "responsible" in describing his appointments or anything else about the man.
2
"So it seems more sensible for Trump skeptics on the right to balance different ends, to want Trump constrained and redirected and liberalism kept from the fullest possible power"
I see no attempt by euphemistically called "Trump skeptics" to put any moderation on him. Anyone who speaks against Trump is soundly bashed into submission. Mcconnell and Ryan are his patsies, or probably the reverse is more like reality. The only way to check this presidency is an overwhelming win by Democrats in the midterms. By 2020 it will be too late.
1
By this point, you've been "threading the needle" for far too long, Ross. If there was ever going to be a time for taking a principled stand on an issue, this is it. So, here's mine: There is no reasoned argument to support the proposition that the interests of our country are better served by having a "divided house." No pun intended. I never thought I'd be the one to "call you out," but it's enough.
1
I think there is a lot to debate and/or dispute here. But the upshot that the Trump presidency is not so bad just doesn't fly, if only because of the events over the last week. Trump's link to these events of may be more correlation than causation, but that's the problem. Any of the presidents in my lifetime could have condemned things like bomb threats and anti-semitic mass shootings and be taken seriously. But not Trump. He seethes with openly partisan belligerence, which is poisonous for our country. As far as I can see, Douthat and other reflective Republicans are among his most egregious enablers. Are low corporate taxes really worth this?
1
Where have you been living? There are no Republican conservatives left who meet your criteria. They've been cowed, silenced. Or, like David Brooks, left to wander the political wilderness wondering what happened and why. The only answer is to remove every Republican office holder. They are patently incapable of compassion, concern or willingness to compromise.
2
I was hoping for a conservative case for principles--truth and those things. But no, I got a conservative case for a Republican Senate, with Mitch McConnell in the lead, who among many damaging acts has morally cheated to give us Gorsuch or Kavanaugh--take your pick-- instead of Garland.
1
Sadly I don’t think you’ll get your wish Mr. Douthat.
Let me preface by stating that I sincerely hope what I am about to write will NOT come to pass!
I suspect the POT (Party of Trump) will manage to retain BOTH houses.
Oh... will that hurt their chances in 2020!?
I don’t think so.
Gerrymandering, their use of the culture wars to fan hateful division, ownership of the propaganda media and voter ID legislation/restriction will likely ensure single party rule into the foreseeable future.
The only problem with that will be a marginalized majority.
Sigh... history tells us what happens then.
Civil unrest. That will be bad. Innocent folks will suffer.
I hope our better characteristics will be engaged for the sake of our children, grandchildren and the precious life we are upon this earth within the heavens.
To sustainably flourish, we must love our shared humanity more than we fear/hate one another.
1
If we keep a republican majority in the Senate nothing will get done, unless we need more judges or justices... or maybe another tax cut for the rich. McConnell has proved himself to be a do nothing for our country since he took over the senate. We need a democrat senate and house so maybe something can be done for the American people instead of only things to hurt us as have been done since 2010 when dems lost control of the house. We need some adults to stop the Trump agenda of destroying America.
144
I've been an Independent voter my entire life, and have faulted the Democrats as much as the Republicans for plenty of mis-steps along the long, painful road by which we got here. But with the advent of the Trump Administration, all equivalencies are off the table. We can't even begin to calculate the damage that this administration has done to our global national security alliances (NATO, Pacific Rim, pulling out of the Intermediate Nuclear Forces Agreement); to the environment (loosening regulations on coal and dumping the Paris Climate Change Agreement ; to our position in the global marketplace (Tariffs, WTO, NAFTA); and our domestic tranquility, health and community (inciting hate crimes for one). Any way you parse it, Ross, by writing articles like this, you are ensuring your place in history as an enabler.
6
Ross Douthat is dead wrong advising that a split congress is now best for the country. Sure, the House, supposedly controls the purse strings, but it's in the Senate where the real action takes place, where all the cigar-filled backroom secret deals are cut. This is where a possible sixth conservative Supreme Court judge can be confirmed. Think about that scary scenario for a moment. NO Ross, right now I'm all in on a complete flip of both House and Senate. Only then can an effective muzzle and heavy ball & chain be attached to the individual commonly referred to as the president. Right now in this very divided country, it's all or nothing at all.
1
OK, so the Blue wave we promised, actually guaranteed, if you were a donor, might not happen. We thought it would, but, no.
So, we Dems, might take the house and lead by 4 or 5. We really hope that happens. The Senate was never going to flip. We just didn't want to pop your balloon.
Democrats in the House can use the power of the purse to keep President Trump from going all John McEnroe. He's going to go all John McEnroe, the Dems just won't pay for it.
Where the House is tactical, in the moment. The Senate is the strategic long game. And, it will be in the courts, that Trump writes his history. Justice Ginsburg will be replaced by a conservative. As will Justice Breyer and Thomas. And, Trump might shift into high gear to stack the appellate seats. Thank you Hillary's server.
About her server, can we get that put into the Smithsonian?
I don't disagree generally speaking but it's not clear that much will change with a modest swing of, say, thirty seats in the House. Much of what Trump has been doing has not required legislation. Anyone imagining that House oversight and a string of politically motivated investigations will be useful to anyone except Trump has been carried away on the fumes of too much wishful thinking. A potential upside, though, however unlikely, is that divided government might induce a degree of cooperation on something actually useful to the country like infrastructure spending.
1
"It also provides a hedge against a future where the Democratic Party returns to power flush with ideological zeal, committed to its own forms of norm-busting, and eager for a measure of revenge."
I can't believe you wrote this with a straight face. Democrats had a 'super majority' in the Senate for 4 months out of Obama's 8 years and what did they do with it? Oh, save us from a Great Depression and pass a private sector healthcare bill aimed at reducing the number of citizens who had none. Republicans? They have set the stage for another recession with their tax cuts. And love taking away healthcare insurance, voting rights, civil rights from people
And you really think that Republicans haven't been on a ideological binge with zeal? And revenge? Republicans have been doing that for decades.
78
@David
Loved the "norm-busting" bit, too. Sure, Obama's administration busted norms all over the place, didn't they - the only one I can really think of is the "norm" that the inhabitant of the White House should be white. Otherwise, it was inarguably a place of civility, respect, and adherence to our democratic traditions.
6
Yes, Ross, we want know you want judges who think the Handmaid's Tale is an instruction manual. And you will probably get them, even though the majority of Americans find that prospect appalling. But we know Republicans are opposed to majority rule since it would put them in the minority.
51
@kjb: Ross Douthat is a theocrat who believes his own "sincerely held beliefs" carry more weight than establishments of science. The whole right wing obsession with the Supreme Court revolves around Constitutional separation of church and state in a land riven by openly theocratic politics.
4
I would like to believe that, if offered the opportunity to share in the illicit benefits of the outright theft of the entire judicial branch now being executed by Trump and McConnell, I would resist in the name of honor and the norms of a democratic society.
I can't say for certain that I would, but I had hoped that Ross would.
19
I think the question is much more visceral: how do you want the Republican Party to be remembered? As the party of Lincoln or the party of Trump?
37
This idea makes sense, not just for Mr. Douthat's reasons, but because two different parties in control make for more compromise and likely more gridlock. Gridlock is not always a bad thing because we don't want government to move fast, especially under Trump. We want government to be inefficient and slow so that it can slow tyrannical impulses, even when there are no Trumps.
5
@Anthony: US government already falls further behind the pace of events every day.
1
The best out come for Republicans, is a Democratic house sprinkled with Democrats in previous Republican seats who are by Democrat standards Republican light. And the same in the Senate would be best for Republicans and the country for a balanced government.
Earlier an acquaintance wrote from MD: 'A Republican majority in the Senate and a Democratic majority in the House of Representatives'. This is her forecast, and she has the unfortunate habit of adding 'I am always right'.
When asked for an opinion, if not advice, rarely given or heeded, I reply 'do not count your chickens before they are hatched. It will be a tight race, and perhaps the largest turn-out for our Midterm elections. Premature celebrations are not in order, until it is an accomplished fact'.
Both political Parties to get their act together, and surprise our Nation with a show of civility and chivalry, temper the mud-slinging and encourage the President to take some home leave at his pad in Florida. He can play golf and hold his raging rallies on the screen.
Ban the word 'Liberal', which is considered detestable and much disliked among the Conservatives, who are not all church-goers. Our town is not voting for Trump because it remains in possession of its wits, but supporting timeless values, with the hope that life is going to be less strenuous, healthier and with more funds to keep us warm in an increasingly cold world.
Every silver cloud has a grey lining, and Trump is the most human and sensitive president in our time. His darkest and deepest thoughts are expressed in plain sight, much to the delight of his supporters; the indignation of decent Americans; and he remains the loneliest man on Earth, while The Press carries on, the drums keep rolling.
2
@Miss Ley: Liberals liberate. That's why tyrants hate liberals.
2
Ross ducks an obvious question any conservative will have about the House - will endless investigations into Trump paralyze and divide the country further? The idea of Adam Schiff running his House committee and then 5 minutes later working with CNN and MSNBC to disseminate whatever new theory he has on the President is a recipe for more gridlock and more division.
5
I guess you would have opposed the IRS investigating Al Capone as well
2
@Chris that’s funny. What about Benghazi, Benghazi, Benghazi? Email, email email? Compared to true corruption, emoluments, turning a blind eye to murder etc....
2
@Glen The article is why a conservative would want a Democrat House. Obviously liberals want to investigate anything and everything, including theories developed on CNN and MSNBC, which I totally understand. The only brake on folks like Schiff and Waters would be those so called middle-of-the-road democrats, who if elected on Nov 6th will immediately be targeted for defeat in 2020, meaning they can't allow Schiff and others to go too far or they will be toast.
"But so far Trump has been more constrained and less destructive than I expected — his foreign policy less destabilizing (so far) than either of his predecessors, his cruelest policy instincts walked back under pressure, the country more prosperous, his appointments more responsible and a large-scale investigation into his possible crimes proceeding, beset by Trumpian insults but otherwise mostly unimpeded by the White House."
In short, because Trump hasn't started World War III, because under great pressure he stopped (at least for a time) separating families seeking asylum, because (at least until last week) the stock market was up and more people were employed (at wages that did not increase to match inflation), because only some of his appointees were forced to resign because of financial improprieties, and because he hasn't fired Mueller (yet), you think that he is good.
Actually, you only have one criteria … were ultra conservatives vetted by the Federalist Society given lifetime appointments on the courts - and the answer is yes. So, unless the Democrats, when they take control, "pack" the courts (and I am sure that you will be outraged if they do so), the dead hand of the 2016 election will rule for perhaps more than a generation.
And, remember that the GOP is on the way to full embrace of white nationalism.
138
Ross, your abstract definitions of degrees of conservatism and blanket depictions of the "liberal" are tedious. The policy decisions of the Trump GOP are crushing the country with huge debt, ravaging the environment, and enriching the already rich. Health care will become market driven totally and put life at risk for the unborn children -- not from abortion but from poor health care (remember it is the poor who tend to have more children). You might do well to get outside the cocoon of NY academics and spend time at an emergency room, a Catholic Worker house, or in poultry processing plant where immigrants do the hard work and deal with the challenges of everyday life.
167
@Horsepower
Tsk,tsk...we'll leave all of those problems that you have listed for the Democrats to fix later!
Party on, GOP!!
4
Douthat's position is that of someone who accepts the Trumpism is here to stay and is willing to legitimate it. This is not "sensible" conservatism. Democratic politics start with a willingness to engage in meaningful debate and concede power. Trumpism is about power alone and should be illegitimate in a democracy.
94
Ross, your argument is reasonable except that the Senate has done nothing to constrain Trump, and in some cases has enabled his agenda.
One of the nightmare scenarios that I can think of is that Muller does find evidence of wrong doing - would a Republican Senate, as currently exists even entertain a trial? My guess is that they would put party over country and vote against any charges.
Further, given the partisan way the Senate has behaved, would an emboldened senate work with a Democratic congress to repair the country, or would they just block and disrupt as they did for Obama's last few years, just because they could...
73
He fails to mention the right wing's undermining of three other things that have, until now, kept our democracy relatively honest: the Supreme Court, the Justice Department and a free press.
120
@cyrano,
And the detractors of Judge Kavanaugh cannot deny that he has ensured the booming of the Beer Industry.
2
Trump’s foreign policy, is really the one anointed by the PM of Israel. Making Jerusalem the home of the US Embassy, while withdrawing from an international nuclear deal with Iran, that was working as intended, are policies based on spite more than substance.
Throw in his tariff policy based on punishing China, yet is punishing US consumers, US manufacturers who use imported products and US businesses that used to sell to China. His tariff policy is more chaos than clarity.
Treating long term allies as enemies, and long term enemies as allies, is a step many find hard to agree with. Instead of Russia being the enemy, it is the media who publish factual reports on President Trump.
No other US President has been so prone to over exaggeration and bending the truth. The UN General Assembly laughed at Trump’s claims he had done more to help the US, than any other President.
The word of the US can no longer be relied upon. Trump has no background in government or public policy. He has surrounded himself with some of the same neo cons who thought invading Iraq was a good idea.
Many observers of US politics from the outside, are concerned Trump may start another disaster in the Middle East or even North Korea, simply for domestic political reasons. As political pressure mounts on Trump, instead of dealing with the issue, Trump will move to his go to option of deflection. We are afraid Trump only cares about Trump, not the US or the world.
43
I'm sorry, but I don't understand this piece's reference to some leftward march on the part of the Democratic party. Jimmy Carter's administration was the last one to hold to the left, and guess what... He nearly balanced the budget! And then Ronald Regan gave us record deficits. Since then the Democrats have been chasing a Republican horizon that constantly recedes to the right.
We are seeing the fruits of this bipartisan rush to the right. Disenfranchisement of the middle class, spouting-up economics, record (and climbing) deficits, ecological disaster, international dismay, no dialog, violent culture... It's time for Republicans to recognize what they're doing to America and, in the words of one of their favorite first ladies, JUST SAY NO.
100
Agree. Leftward march? Dems are squarely in the middle. Pubs keep drifting right.
1
Isn't it sort of a foregone conclusion that Republicans will continue to maintain control of the Senate, primarily because of, on the one hand, incumbency and, on the other, the weakness of a small number of Democratic incumbents. It looks as if a coalition of small-population states will continue to dominate, more's the pity that states with about the population of Staten Island can continue, in effect, to steal New York City's money.
29
Mr. Douthat wrote, "his foreign policy less destabilizing (so far) than either of his predecessors..." Not so. Mr. Trump's withdrawal from the Paris Agreement on climate change exacerbates climate destabilization. Mr. Trump's withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, also known as the Iran Nuclear Deal, increases the chance that Iran will develop and deploy nuclear weapons, destabilizing the Middle East and the planet. Mr. Trump's withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty is destabilizing and increases risk. Mr. Trump's efforts to negotiate an agreement with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un may be well-intentioned, but doing so while aggressively cutting the State Department and with no ambassador to South Korea is beyond insane. Mr. Trump's reckless carelessness with intelligence, such as his May 10, 2017, revealing extremely sensitive intelligence from Israel about ISIL's bomb-making capabilities to Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak and Sergei Lavrov in the Oval Office was destabiliizing. What planet is Mr. Douthat on? Not Earth, apparently.
67
Personally I like full Trump all the time. Who can argue that the Country is worse off in terms of the economy and strength of world leadership? Any efforts to contain Trump or dilute his impact is therefore a bad idea. Let us hope that the Republicans will win both House and Senate in November. Is there really any sane person out there who thinks we would have been better off with Hillary?
4
@Michael Dowd
MIchael:
I hope I'm sane and certainly was not a Hillary supporter, so here goes: our budge deficit is climbing. The tax cuts have, indeed, lowered us to full employment, BUT wages are rising fast enough to keep up with inflation. If you believe that climate change is in part man made, we are leaving our kids and grandkids (both with the deficit and climate) in a far worse position than we would have been in with Clinton. We just saw a Trump supporter arrested for sending bombs. Could that have happened under a Clinton presidency? Yes. But not likely. No one sent a bomb or killed on behalf of Obama in 8 years. If you can believe that the current good fortune a) is tinted with hateful rhetoric that is not good for the country and b) that the current economy might be paid for later then, yes, it is easy to imagine how we'd be better off with a different president. if you think only in terms of the present, your case would be easier to make, but I would still disagree.
3
@Michael Dowd I'd be willing to wager that a majority of the country believes it now. Strength of world leadership? You must be joking. I can't think of a single empire in all of history that voluntarily abdicated its leadership of the world while insulting some of the finest allies a nation could possess. This fool of a president will be the first. Bigly. How many corrupt authoritarians around the globe does he support? How many are there? Yeah. That many. Corruption? Endless. How many high level members of this administration have gone down in flames so far? How many associated with this president have pled guilty? The list goes on and on. How many times has the president knowingly incited the worst the nation has to offer, to virulent hatred and/or violence? Has there ever been a greater demagogue inhabiting the Whitehouse? Mr. Dowds willful blindness is stunning yet not surprising. Look at who he supports. It is to Mr. Dowd's discredit that he believes these things in the face of so much evidence. As Thompson used to sign off: Res ipsa loquitor. The thing speaks for itself.
4
@Michael Dowd,
'Who can argue that the Country is worse off in terms of the economy'? Anyone who understands that increasing deficit spending in a time of full employment has short-term gains and long-term consequences.
'.....and strength of world leadership?' Anyone who heard the entire leadership of the world laughing in his face at the UN General Assembly last month.
'Is there really any sane person out there who thinks we would have been better off with Hillary?' Literally, anyone actually paying attention.
Hope that helps. Peace.
4
A decent right will not emerge from the Republican Party. The indecent right is, under Trump, in full control and is driving out the decent right or forcing it to pretend indecency. For the indecent right, it is standard tactics to adopt the ideology of the week, the one it needs to win the next battle. The decent right by definition has beliefs and ideologies it believes in and is unwilling to abandon and uncomfortable in downplaying.
The decent right also has internal problems. Libertarians and social conservatives are naturally opposed. A small, decentralized government will be powerless to force big businesses to compete with each other rather than banding together to win the competition with their customers. Private healthcare competes for a slice of the GDP with the other sectors of the economy and, because of the nature of its product, wins. The right decries deficits but runs huge ones when in power; as a plot to starve the welfare state, it exactly the sort of overbearing and deceitful government conservatives decry.
The decent right has no hope of dealing with these contradictions while fighting off the indecent right. The only way the decent right can reconstitute itself is within the Democratic Party as its more conservative wing. Once the Democratic Party reduces the indecent right to a fringe, the conservatives within it can split off and form a new party worthy of conservative ideals (unless their internal contradictions make this impossible).
11
As a Never Trump conservative that embraces social conservatism, but also economic populism, I have often found Douthat's analysis a helpful guide in the last two years. And as such, I do agree with the principles and intentions of this column.
However, I do hope he makes an exception for me. I prefer pre-Trump McSally over pre-Trump Sinema, but post-Trump McSally has accepted xenophobia and fear of the other while post-Trump Sinema has moderated. I don't care if their campaign rhetoric represents their true beliefs; it does represent how they'll vote.
With anti-immigrant legislation likely being introduced in the upcoming sessions, I don't feel comfortable with Arizona sending a Trump-ish candidate to Congress. Especially since border state senators are crucial in passing immigration laws. Plus, I don't think a Sinema victory would endanger a GOP Senate majority. Even then, I don't feel entirely comfortable with a GOP Senate, as the party has always favored a distorted right-wing politics over Burkean conservatism since Goldwater. But I do feel that it would be a healthy compromise: a Democratic House could restrain Trump and keep the Reps from going too far-right, while a Republican Senate could keep the Dems from going too far-left.
2
"So a Democratic House would supply...more vigorous scrutiny of corruption in the White House, about which congressional Republicans have been studiously incurious."
A weak point in Douthat's argument for moderate opposition to Trumpism is his assumption that Trump simply represents Teapot Dome style "corruption as usual." But the indicators are that Trump is a career criminal, whose expensive tastes over the years have caused him to become indebted to other international financial criminals located mainly in Eastern Europe. The need to please these international creditors has led Trump to attempt to align US policy with their interests, undercutting and perverting traditional American global roles. That is a concern that requires immediate and decisive attention.
Another immediate problem is Trump's crass appeal to nightmarish popular fears and his attempt to use those fears to build an authoritarian mass movement. Trumpism has become a national mental health problem, perhaps the political counterpart of the opioid crisis. Mass fear engenders the desire to surrender one's fate to some invincible higher authority empowered to execute a magical formula for tribal salvation. That is what Trump is offering. Casual opposition will not suffice.
But Douthat's prediction of a legislative stalemate coming out of the November elections is likely accurate and may bring temporary relief. The run-up to the 2020 election will be the crucible for hammering out a plan for going forward.
17
After the events of today, it is time for the total repudiation of the Republican Party or a repudiation of the current occupant of the White House by the GOP leadership. He has insulted the survivors of the Pittsburgh attack. The GOP must cleanse itself or facing a rejection at the polls.
53
"And it would offer that check without jeopardizing any potential conservative legislative achievements — because, let’s be frank, the congressional G.O.P. isn’t going to do anything serious with its power if it gets re-elected except confirm judges."
Um, why isn't the GOP going to do anything with its power - unless, of course, you advocate stripping it of that authority before they even get started ? If you look at the biggest disappointment of the last Congress, it was the failure to repeal Obamacare. And the impediment there (as in most cases) was not the House, but rather the Senate - where McConnell's task often resembles herding cats.
On the other hand, that should be easier in the new Congress. First, dissident Republicans like Corker, Flaker and McCain will be gone and likely replaced with more reliable conservatives. (All due respect to Senator McCain.) Second, it appears that Republicans are set to expand their majority in the upcoming midterms. This is critical since the party still has iconoclasts like Susan Collins who can single-handedly buck progress with such a diminutive majority.
On the other hand, having a liberal majority in the House almost certainly means legislative gridlock. With 2020 coming sooner than you think and many of the Democratic hopefuls in the Senate, their House colleagues will be sure to push investigations of Trump every day and twice on Sunday. How does that help the country ?
2
"...chasten the Democratic Party and arrest its leftward march." "...the country more prosperous..." "...so far Trump has been more constrained and less destructive than I expected ..."
Ross, I keep wanting to believe that you're more intelligent than your columns can lead a reader to believe you are, but statements like these don't make that case.
This Democrat Party is more Conservative than Eisenhower's Republican Party. And in what respect has anything Trump done contributed to the prosperity that 8 years of Barack Obama's administration hadn't already established? What Trump has done is exacerbate the tremendous income and wealth disparity between classes.
Trump 'constrained?' Is that a stab at some form of sarcasm? At what point in the ascent of Mussolini, Franco or Hitler would you have decided that they were dangerous?
This man is bad, Ross. He is, as one Tweet I read last week, my apology to the author whose name I failed to record, "... post-human. He has no psychology. It is what makes him immune from moral judgment. There is only power and money. This is late-late-capitalist zombie democracy.."
Another wrote, "(Trump) has no self. Only reactions. Keep this in mind and things become a tiny bit clearer. Narcissus fell in love with his own reflection, yes. But he didn't know that was him. Narcissism isn't self-love. It's confusion of self and not-self. This is why he's a deranged media figure."
We must deprive this man of Congress! He's dangerous!
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Elect Trump (in 2016) and you arrest the leftward march of the Democratic Party. Douthat suggests this is a reasonable justification for conservatives who disliked Trump himself to have voted for him in 2016. One serious problem with Douthat's argument of course being that there was no such leftward march of the Democratic Party at that time, nada.
24
'' If you are a conservative who is moderately happy with some of ...'' - and there you have it.
Do you support an abuser that hits you only some of the time ?
This is the travesty of the republican party in general and recently as a whole. Voters are disregarding the corrosive nature of the man at the top, and the policies that work against them in so many ways. It is not enough to say that people are voting against themselves, but rather their entire family and community. ( let alone country )
The best course of action for RIGHT NOW, (as many a prominent republican have pleaded for) is to vote for a straight Democratic ticket right down the line. They plead that the republican party (as it is condensed now) needs to be shattered for it to ever grow or be strong ever again. ( a purge if you will)
I agree with the sentiment. (not just because I am a Liberal) I agree, because there is room for conservative policies (generally just fiscal), because I believe in differing points of view. (so long as they do not trample of human rights)
So, I too plead - vote for a straight Democratic ticket.
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There's a case to be made that most politicians are scum, and the best way to deal with then is to have one team of rascals watching the other team of rascals. There are signs of treason among some congressmen and senators, and serious questions about the national security threat from Russian money funneled into Republican politics. Republicans haven't taken this seriously. Democrats will.
There is no reason to keep the House in Republican hands. The Republican Senate doesn't have much to recommend it either.
21
@Schrodinger And president Obama asking the Russians to help his re-election and not killing any of them in Syria, and candidate Clinton's campaign buying Mr Steele's Russian gossip, don't bother you at all?
No. No. No. No. No.
Douhat, in his preoccupation with the morality of abortion, seems remarkably oblivious to the true agenda of the conservatives, which is to restore America to the gilded age, when the gov't worked in the service of big business. And remarkably oblivious to the ways a conservative court can block progressive legislation.
And he thinks that Donald Trump, the man who has worked mightily to avoid paying taxes his entire life, whose career strategy has been to over promise and under deliver and when possible , get out of messes by declaring bankruptcy, or settling in court and having people sign non-disclosures - he thinks that this man would actually be interested in working with Democrats in Congress to do right by the working class.
And he thinks that that can happen while Mitch McConnell, perhaps the most powerful Republican in the nation remains Senate Majority Leader.
Ross, I think you should perhaps try your hand at writing fantasy novels. I don't think you have a good handle on human nature at all.
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I know we're coming up on an election and it seems really important to focus on the serious policy implications of which party controls which houses of government.
But can you please address the MAGA Van?
The soul of the political movement which is voting for the R politicians -- not necessarily the politicians, but many of their voters -- rests with the MAGA Van Man.
With tension between a Democratic House and a Republican Senate, presidency, and judiciary, do you think that Trump and his followers will use LESS violent rhetoric to vilify and dehumanize the left?
It might be safer for everyone if the political right were allowed to exercise its desires unrestrained, lest the complaints that obstructionist Ds are getting in the way lead to more violence against the announced sources of all their woes -- i.e. former Presidents, George Soros, and random Democratic lawmakers.
Until the R party chooses to disempower the MAGA Van clan, it's probably safer for everyone if we have either (1) Rs as a total majority party, unable to effectively attribute blame to scapegoats for any errors; or (2) Rs as a total minority party, trying to regain their soul in the wake of right-wing violence.
7
@Michael Then please vote Republican!
@Michael If the Maga van man had succeeded in killing anyone, who would've executed him, conservatives, or liberals with their activist judiciary? The man who shot up the Maryland newspaper...who shot up the black church...who keeps them alive?
What garbage, Mr. Douthat.
A majority of Americans want background checks, healthcare not junkcare that doesn't cover pre-existing conditions, a livable wage, an overhaul of our infrastructure.
A majority of Americans think that the current Republican president has criminal tendencies, and should be investigated.
Have you become numb to his hatefulness, the bile that flows out of his mouth every minute, the horrible tweets he sends forth every day, at every hour?
He lies. About everything.
He threatens the media.
He smirks about a Republican politician beating up a reporter.
He disrupts the move of the FBI building because it will affect his hotel.
He tears children from their parents at the border.
He mocks a woman who testifies she was sexually assaulted.
He and an advisor/son-in-law haven't paid taxes.
He has a daughter who lied to investors in Trump real estate.
He pushes through a tax cut for himself.
He has sullied our relationships with our closest allies.
He supports thugs, worldwide.
He provides cover to the Saudis, who brutally murdered a reporter and dismembered him.
He can't even act decently when former presidents are threatened.
He values himself over all others.
He plays the victim, again, and again, and again.
And not one Republican Senator has the courage to stand up to him and hold him in check.
What are you even talking about, Mr. Douthat?
Vote out all the Republicans this November 6th and restore our country to decency and morality.
736
@V
Everything you list is spot on correct.
None of it matters to those who vote republican.
55
@VThe decency and morality of the Clintons, and of keep-your-plan Barack Obama?
4
@Andrew Lohr
Sure, Andrew.
Turns out the Trump pipe bomber was egged on by Trump's spinning of the caravan.
Turns out the terrorist who massacred the Jewish people worshiping was whipped up by Trump's spinning -- and Fox News -- of the caravan.
Turns out the terrorist who murdered two Senior African Americans at Krogers was whipped up by Trump and Fox News and their lies about the caravan.
"Keep your plan" has nothing to do with the hate, bile and venom being whipped up and foisted upon our citizens by the current president of the United States and your weird false equivalence is strange, and not well thought out.
4
Heck, no. The Senate republicans have proven they are no better than mini-Trumps. We do NOT need them running the show. We do NOT need Mitch McConnell telling us he's going to cut back Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security while again trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act. We do not need a republican Senate once again putting an alleged rapist on the Surpreme Court. NO, NO, NO! Haven't you learned anything from the disaster of the past two years. The failed tax cuts spiraling our country into even deeper debt. The terror attacks (like the one in Pittsburgh today)—and the Senate republicans stay silent. The Pulse Nightclub murders—and the Senate republicans cheer for the murderer. Jeez, Russ, open your friggin' eyes already. The Senate republicans are just as vile as Trump—maybe worse because they are nothing but 51 enablers.
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Though it will likely be a Republican Senate and Democratic House, this country sorely needs Democrats to take the helm of all three pillars of government. We've seen what the Republican Party is about - self. The worst of what we are currently experiencing is the absolute lack of checks. The entirety of the Republican controlled Senate and House might as well not exist but instead yield all decision making to the executive - there would be absolute no difference in their presence or absence. I don't think that's what the founders envisioned when they constructed the 3 branches.
47
@David And unfireable bureaucrats with unfunded pensions are not about self? The Clintons are not about self?
Given Ross Douthat's thought provoking reflections over the last year and a half about what has happened to middle America, I wonder why he isn't concerned about a Supreme Court turned originalist.
Turning back to a pre-New Deal world with no social safety net, no health and safety regulations would be devastating to everyone, but the rich. Imagine 2008 without a safety net. It would have been 1930 all over again. People have short memories and Communism will look good if starvation returns.
Is banning abortion( and birth control?) worth that?
I'd rather have a moderate Senate and wild House.
30
@Sharon The US economy grew faster A.D> 1840-1860, when the cabinet had six departments and banks printed their own money, than in has grown in any 20-year-period since. Libertarianism has much to be said for it as practical.
1
@Sharon I don't think gaining a friendly SCOTUS is about abortion at all. That's what they tell their dim-witted voters in order to gin up turnout. What they really want is what kavanaugh, roberts, thomas, and gorsuch are so good at: Setting up the country in ways that enrich the already rich, protect corporations from any accountability for their misdeeds (polluting, gouging, destroying), busting unions, cutting the social safety net. trvmp is now openly stating he wants cases about his own misconduct, as well as those aimed at corporate malfeasance, to go directly to SCOTUS because he's confident he'll get his way. That is not what the Founders had in mind. We no longer have 3 co-equal branches. I hear people warning of a constitutional crisis; I'd argue it's here and it has been here since DHS / ICE / CBP refused to follow lawful orders issued by federal judges vis-a-vis trvmp's Muslim ban.
3
I also would be hopeful for a “split decision” if I had any faith that a Democratic House was capable of moderating its agenda and legislative proffers in a way that could actually be SOLD to a Republican Senate and president, even via extensive dickering. However, I don’t see that as a likely outcome at least for the upcoming Congress.
What I see in the event that Dems succeed at flipping the House are immediate attempts to impeach Trump and Kavanaugh – attempts that haven’t the ghost of a chance of yielding convictions in the Senate, and would distract mightily from moving forward on ANY basis as well as vastly decrease the possibility of ANY bipartisanship; of bare passage of extreme legislation that would have as much chance of passing in the Senate as Republicans’ excessive legislation had of passing a Democratic Senate just a few years ago; of a two-year war between House Democrats who want to build the incremental ability to get ELECTED, and strident social democrats who merely want to talk about how they want to transform the nation in ways they have no hope of EVER accomplishing; and of funding for two years on the basis of continuing resolutions – which, thankfully this time, would be based on a REPUBLICAN budget passed by a dead Congress.
However, Ross is getting in line with a growing number of conservatives, largely among the punditry who aren’t actually charged with accomplishing anything, who, in their visceral #NeverTrumpism, are seriously …
1
… considering changing party allegiance. This realignment clearly is at the heart of his “hope”.
I would find it sad if such a realignment were to occur, but there a lot of Republicans and even some “conservatives” who might smile at the prospect of Ross reduced to arguing for nothing MORE than banning abortion and imposing a Christian (preferably a Catholic) Shariya on all of America.
2
@Richard Luettgen,
Whatever. I am hoping that especially in 2020, the American people never let republicans near any part of government. That’s a party that can go the way of the romans and whigs.
50
@Richard Luettgen I fail to see why it should be so difficult to "sell" a Democratic House agenda to President Trump. After all, much of that agenda is in accord with the promises made by Trump during his campaign. Perhaps all that is required is for him to be reminded of his promises to enact universal health insurance, invest a trillion dollars in infrastructure, allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices, close loopholes and raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans, and all the other liberal promises. Hey, maybe he'll even start draining the swamp instead of polluting it even more. Unless, of course, those promises were just part of a scam to get himself elected.
How about this? A Democratic House and a Senate split 50-50, forcing Mike Pence to spend most of his life on Capitol Hill and forcing Republicans to compromise every now and then, while setting the table for full Democratic control in 2020.
24
If one looks at where we are going under Trump, it’s likely that the tax cuts and further cuts and cessation of enforcement of regulations, this country will operate as it did in 1880.
There will be no government that keeps powerful and wealthy corporate interests from acting as they want. There will be no pensions. There will be no Social Security, no Medicare, no Medicaid, no unemployment insurance. They will all go away because there will be no money to fund them and because the Republican Party is controlled by reactionary plutocrats. There will be multiple efforts to reduce the franchise to those deserving of having a voice in this late nineteenth century kind of regime.
If that’s what you want, vote Republican. If not, consider how a Congress without a veto proof Democratic majority will govern. Trump will only be impeached if he has committed high crimes and misdemeanors. Else, he and the Congress will cancel each other out. Nominate a true conservative, and I don’t mean Pence, to run in 2020. Nominate traditional conservatives for Congress. Then the country will not be turned into a chaotic nightmare.
12
Yes, the current Republican “House is more pure, uncut MAGA,” but the Republican Senate led by Mitch McConnell has been equally delinquent in being unable to correct the president’s copious lies, especially when they impact our national security and foreign policy.
So, no can do, Ross. The only way Trump can be checked and contained is with a truly divided government – which means a Congress (House and Senate) controlled by the Democrats.
62
Why does the GOP think it deserves to move, no, shove, the Supreme Court so far to the right? The GOP Senate Majority does not represent a majority of Americans. And a majority of Americans does not favor a highly conservative court. Plus the GOP judicial misdeeds already leave a taint on the court as it is.
The Senate should not have powers in and of itself like court appointments, treaty approval, and ratification of presidential appointments since it is not truly representative of the people.
29
@lhbari Republicans don't believe in representative government. They believe the landed gentry like themselves should make decisions to benefit themselves and their owners. That's it. They don't care about the planet, medical and student loan bankruptcies, helping the poor, innovating in big arenas such as energy . . . they care about money. They pretend to care about the flag and abortion in order to get their voters to the polls. Their cynicism is infinite.
2
You're part of the problem you're trying to resolve. You complain about the leftward march of liberals but fail to recognize that leftward movement is necessary to offset the extremely right right turn conservatives have already taken which has them concerned because it's more severe than they anticipated. A sharp left movement is necessary to bring the country back to the political center where both liberals and conservatives can find agreement and both move forward. That's what I learned in catechism. Did you skip the class ?
53
@Coyote Old Man Douthat, like other con columnists, misleads in order to make his dubious points. There has not been a sharp leftward turn among Dems. All the data show the gop moving steadily rightward, and the Dems edging bit by bit to the left. Reagan could not get elected by the modern gop. Eisenhower wouldn't have made it to a primary, much less into office. Even Nixon was a softie who cared about the country too much to be a viable gop candidate.
These are radicals and criminals, intent on the smash and grab. They know they can be called to account any time now and they are wasting no chances to get while the getting is good.
5
@Coyote Old Man Freedom is good and works; bureaucracy, some people telling other people what to do, is a form of slavery and reduces productivity because some people are denied the use of their God-given creativity. Libertarianism is social justice. Liberty is equality because to force equality requires a non-equal Enforcer.
The secret to our current president's success is that, although a bad man himself who deserves much of the criticism he gets, his selfish instincts tell him he has to keep his base happy, and his base is conservatives, whose ideas work; and his instincts tell him he might as well diss liberals (whose ideas do not work, e.g. Obamacare redcued life expectancy and raised costs) because no amount of RINOism will make them happy. So a bad man is governing well. Thanks be to God. (Catechism: "No man living is able perfectly to keep the commandments of God, but doth daily break them in thought, word, and deed.")
What about liberalism is Douthat so afraid of? Or what does he think in conservatism that is more superior than liberalism? The denial of global warming, the persistent effort to deny average working and poor American families, the tax cut for the corporations and the rich, the cut of programs that help the poor and the sick, the relax attitude in not monitoring corporations polluting our environment, the blind eyes to overt money corruption in this Republican administration, calling capital owners "wealth makers" while denigrating workers which means denigrating work, letting Wall Street gambles with our retirement funds,.... what Douthat, that the Republicans (conservatives) have proven to do better than the Democrats (liberals)?
I checked the alternative Christian health share programs for my son who might lose his ACA subsidy next year. I discovered despite their opposition to abortion, these programs have rather stringent coverage for maternity care and childbirth. These programs all do not cover pre-existing conditions. I suppose they discover how expensive healthcare is while bemoaning the horror of socialistic Obamacare.
Please Douthat, name me one issue on which the Republican Party has a policy that actually helps the American people who are not in the top 10%.
I have no philosophical study of conservatism or liberalism. But just watching the adopted positions and actions of both our parties, I have come to think why we do not call the GOP the bad guys.
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If we have a split in Congress, I'd personally prefer a Republican House and a Democratic senate. There would still be gridlock, but the Republicans would not have carte blanche on appointments. The first thing a Democratic Senate ought to do is restore the filibuster rule on appointments. And then take the position that no nomination for a court position will be considered unless the nominee is determined to be at least "qualified" by the ABA.
One can only hope.
16
Are we just posting our wishes and dreams here? The Dems are almost certain to win the House back and have almost no chance at the Senate.
America as a whole has historically preferred divided government, in whichever of the different versions it sometimes comes in. Despite the desperate yearnings of the NYT commenters for Constitutional amendments making it easier for one party to control the White House, Senate, and House, those will never be ratified by the 2/3 majority required. And one party rule remain a historical anomaly.
Our country is diverse in ways that NYT Commenters do not consider part of that word's definition, although "diversity" is one of their favorite words. Divided government allows us all to live together, maybe not happily, but acceptably.
1
"It also provides a hedge against a future where the Democratic Party returns to power flush with ideological zeal, committed to its own forms of norm-busting, and eager for a measure of revenge."
Let's review the "ideological zeal, norm busting and revenge" promised by Democrats.
1) Restoring the US participation in the Paris Climate Accord, with the other 194 nations.
If 195 nations agree on something, it might not be all that ideological, Mr Douthat.
2) Restoring and enhancing the protections of the Affordable Care Act undermined by a series of GOP cost sharing cuts and rules changes that force premium hikes and diversion of clients without pre-existing conditions to cheaper plans.
I suppose this counts as "norm busting" prior to the 2010 passage of the ACA, much like lack of senior access to health care before Medicare back in 1965.
3) A check on Executive deregulation activities in EPA, Interior, CFPB, Education, Energy, HHS and other agencies.
Maybe in Douthat's circle, this qualifies as revenge. I wonder what Jesus would say?
4) Use of House Committee subpoena power to investigate Trump's businesses and relationships with Russia, Saudi Arabia and Israel prior to and after the 2016 election.
Mueller's investigations may never see the light of day with a GOP Congress, as we have seen.
With so many threads to follow, including Trump's global business entanglements, continued GOP obstruction is like burying the Pentagon Papers.
Vote!
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@Look Ahead
Under 3, Jesus was reported to have answered this question. Look it up. Really...you’re adding Jesus of Nazareth to this debate. Look back; look at yourself.
1
@Look Ahead Cons like Douthat can't help projecting all their worst impulses onto the Dems. *They* are the ones who use the tools of government for personal gain, so they assume we do, too. *They* have no faith in government being a force for good in people's lives without adequately taxing their donor-owners, which makes it a complete non-starter for them. They literally cannot conceive of a party that likes to identify and solve problems in order to help people. They view the kitty we all contribute to with our taxes as a big prize for those brazen enough to steal us blind.
12
As a libertarian conservative, I'm onboard with Ross on this. Not to claim that I'm more astute that Mr. Douthat, but I've been thinking this would be the best outcome for several months.
But I'd also like to see the Democrats have a single vote majority in the House. We might see a little more compromise from Ms. Pelosi if she needs 100% of Democrats to support her.
4
@J. Waddell
" a single vote majority "...
That forces them into the same situation that the current Republican Senators are in now. You build consensus by getting both parties to compromise rather than playing "follow the leader". One vote can be just as divisive.
7
@J. Waddell Are you a Fox News-watching libertarian conservative? Nancy Pelosi is not the unyielding leftist portrayed in right-wing media. Exhibit A would be the numerous compromises made for Republicans in the ACA – which none of them voted for anyway. Republicans do not have the best interests of America or its people at heart. Throw the bums out.
5
Steve King's migration toward white nationalism is no less disconcerting than the current president's proud declaration on being a nationalist. What goes unsaid is that "white" is understood in the president's statement. He knows that. Republicans have a problem with extremism. It needs to be addressed. The greater the loss in November the greater the likelihood that Republicans will finally address the consequences of partisan language that incites the worst in their growing fringe. A "midterm split" placates it.
33
@Vanessa Hall:You should remember your history, the Magna Carta, evolution of democracy and English common law, all of which are the legacy of our Anglo Saxon "ancetres,"and to have pride in the nation, what is wrong with that? Stokely Carmicheal,who after he left the US for good and resettled in Guinea lived in a house close to the highway between Boke and Conakry, and which I would pass each time I took a taxi brousse to the capital, coined the phrase "to be black and be proud," so what precisely is wrong with those who say"I'm white and I'm proud!"Being a pluralist and showing pride in your ethnic origins is not contradictory!Nor is there anything extremist about opposition to open borders, without which we would not be a sovereign nation.I know that assimilation is no longer the beau ideal of newcomers to our shores, but it should be, because if you do not speak the language, you cannot be a good citizen.Intelligent debate is virtually impossible these days because of identity politics. Am reminded of the attorney who walked into a downtown eatery in Manhattan and scolded the personnel for speaking Spanish and made exactly the same point Alexander Harrison is making.He was laughed at and ridiculed, and those who should have come to his defense did not. I love the idiom of Cervantes, but I also believe in assimilation as the highest form of patriotism!
I, personally, do not like this President at all. As with every other President whom I did not vote for, there are also places where I've found agreement with some of their policies though. My real worry is that the House of Representatives has seats so gerrymandered over the years that, collectively, they will never truly represent the net total views of the nation's population as a whole. This is troubling as the Senate already (whose design and purpose I fully understand) grants equal representation to states (geography) rather than population.
I hope Ross is correct in that we can, ultimately, find greater equilibrium in the checks and balances in our system. This is becoming increasingly important as it is not just a matter of conservative vs liberal social policy but, also, as how the laws in one state affect another, or as we look to where the Federal revenues come from and how they are distributed throughout the nation. Failure to do so will further the divide.
5
@Charles In the A.D. 1980s, the House was gerrymandered for Democrats. I suggested then that it change its rules to count votes differently--e.g. each Rep casts such percentage of a vote as s/he got votes in his district, or such percentage of a vote as the votes s/he got compare to average total votes cast in a district--which MIGHT be constitutional. Senate equality can "never" be changed, as you know.
With today being the communication age, we might dispense with congress and let a majority of the states having a majority of the population pass legislation; or allow this parallel to congress.
"But so far Trump has been more constrained and less destructive than I expected — his foreign policy less destabilizing (so far) than either of his predecessors, his cruelest policy instincts walked back under pressure, the country more prosperous, his appointments more responsible."
I am wondering if as an opinion writer you have been out in the western U.S. to feel the impacts of the 'fracking boom' on our western landscape and heritage. The environmental constraints that were enacted by Obama have been purged by Donald Trump to the detriment of our environment and to those of us who are 'forced' to witness it.
Seems similar to the lack of journalistic coverage about those people in the rust belt who lost their middle class roots. There is much going on in the intermountain west and midwest that is not investigated, particularly issues relating to the environment.
But thanks to the NYT for today's cover story on fracking in Wyoming.
21
@Jackie
Thanks Jackie -
The EPA with Pruitt, and now Wheeler and Wehrum, at the helm, and the Dept. of Interior under Ryan Zinke have become subsidiaries of the fossil fuel industry. Cagey enough to hang in the shadows of the chaos that is Trump, they have waged one of the most destructive assaults on our waters, air, and lands in our nation's history. But never is there a word from conservative columnists such as Douthat (or Brooks) about the plight of the planet.
Can't let that little thing about climate destruction get in the way of the money changers at the temple ...
... th
4
Ross, after the week we’ve just endured, I think that Nancy Pelosi + 53 Democrats in the Senate is just what this country needs.
420
@mindy As well as a Democratic takeover of the Senate.
7
I'm wholly unfamiliar to what Senate applied” constraint” of Trump the author might point. Refusing to upvote unqualified judges for the federal bench? Nope. Investigating Trump’s self-enrichment? Not even a bit. Protecting America’s health insurance system or creating a stable tax policy? Don't make me laugh. Far from containing Trump, his anti-republicanism has infected the Senate, reducing the great deliberative body to just another MAGA rally.
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@Jordan MAGILL
You are correct. I had to laugh as well. Nowhere does he reference any particular restraint on the part of the Senate. His "Senate restraint vs House" zeal hypothesis is a sorry way of conceding the House to the Democrats while underplaying that the Senate is the current Republican "tour de force".
40
There is no plausible case to be made for the GOP to hold a majority in either chamber of congress while Trump is president.
The fact that there has been no unmitigated catastrophe as of yet is not dispositive or persuasive. We have been extremely lucky so far, but based upon the events of this past week that lucky streak appears to be running out.
At a rally last week, Trump actually praised a sitting congressman for body slamming a reporter. And correct me if I'm wrong, but I didn't hear one GOP senator condemn him for it. Any political party that abdicates their responsibility in that flagrant of a fashion has no business in the majority.
Jeff Flake, of course, chimed in with his reliably mushy vanilla pablum. What a bold statesman, he'll be missed.
58
Alternative suggestion:
Hold Senators accountable to their Oath of Office to defend the Constitution. Even if the threat to democracy is the wannabe authoritarian in the Oval Office and leader of their party.
You do not wait to fight a forest fire because it "could be worse". Do we really need to wait until our democracy is a smoldering ruin?
Senator McConnell and his party will not do their job. We can find others who will. Why wait?
77
In another time maybe, but not now. Not with this Senate. Not with these Republicans.
57
This is my hope, Ross. That whoever controls congress receives Mueller's report and, if warranted, the President is indicted for all the laws he has broken and goes to jail for it.
This country has watched the Bush administration walk away unpunished from it's fictitious justifications for war and resulting war crimes. It has watched all but one of the heads of banks that fleeced millions of American's of their homes and savings resign with golden parachutes to retirements of luxury. It has watched the Obama administration kill a US citizen on writ of attainder.
Why should we expect integrity from our political and business leaders when no one is held accountable for criminal behavior?
Want things to change in DC? Show some footage of politicians in orange jumpsuits watching their cell doors close. The hammer needs to drop. Hard. I need to know that I live in a country where no one is above the law.
38
@Michael MoonNot Mrs Clinton? We know she broke the law about emails. I heard "lock her up" as a cry for equal justice under law. (Our current president's phone habits may be equally risky, but I haven't seen his critics saying he broke laws as she did. And if you think laws and regulations are so complicated they're hard to keep, I agree. Jesus is libertarian, and the Bible is only 1000 pages or so.)
1
@Andrew Lohr
Andrew, HRC did not breake the law, she was investigated as no one before, it is all right wing mitology.
Trump is being investigated only now.
To the conservatives, the terms 'left' and 'liberal' are synonymous with 'leper', 'communist' or worse. Most have no idea what a real communist might be. Hint: it isn't Bill Clinton or Eric Holder. Ross appears to be quite happy with the level of voter suppression necessary to preserve Republican legislative seats. We shall see where this goes.
61
From the standpoint of maintaining public respect for our institutions of government, a Democratic House/Republican Senate split is plainly the worst outcome. The narrative on the Left will be that the House is the voice of the people, continually frustrated by the anti-democratic Senate, the Electoral College-elected president, and the unelected Supreme Court. The Right will see the House's investigations of the President as obstructionist partisan witch hunts. Trump may be impeached, but there will be zero chance of him being convicted. Even if Trump were inclined to find common cause with House Democrats, there will be a comfortable enough Senate Republican majority to ensure that any Trump/Dem deals can be blocked by McConnell. All of the political fault lines that have opened in since the 2016 presidential campaign will be institutionally hardened.
But otherwise sounds great.
8
Mr. Douthat is convinced that a split decision in the midterm elections will produce a type of balance in the Republican Senate and Democratic House.
But he should remember that Robert Mueller is coming soon once the election is over to deliver a summation regarding the charges of corruption, obstruction, collusion with Russians and other charges against this administration.
I think we all need to stay tuned no matter the election outcome in a few weeks
7
Sorry, Ross, but this "Never-Trump" RINO (hey, I never changed my voter registration) wants to see the GOP pummelled on November 6, both House and Senate. The GOP in its current form needs to fail - and then be rebuilt, because we really do need a two-party system. And then two years from now we need to oust the current White House occupant. I only hope the Democrats can coelesce around a candidate that can appeal to broad segments of voters and stand up to the inevitable baiting from the other side.
Unfortunately, I do have to agree with Ross' likely outcome on the morning of November 7 - Rebublican Senate and Democrat House. It's better than nothing, though.
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Oy vay.
As America gets littered with daily pipe bombs, guns, bullets and 'thoughts and prayers' by the world's biggest Fake Christian community, perhaps 'conservatives' might want to take a step back from today's right-wing politically hijacked America and simply root for something actually conservative... words by Abraham Lincoln, an actual Republican, not a fake one:
"government of the people, by the people, for the people"
Donald Trump and the GOP Senate, who are the crooked beneficiaries of years of GOP voter ID suppression laws, poll closings and voter file purges, happily appoint 0.1% corporate supremacist federal judges because vote-rigging crimes pay and they can't stand democracy or its citizens.
'Conservative' Brian Kemp of Georgia tried closing black polling stations and rejecting new voter registrations because Jim Crow is back and better than ever in 2018, thanks to the Voting Rights Act that John Roberts and other 'conservatives' gutted because discrimination "doesn't exist anymore".
All this comes after the 2000 theft of the Presidential Election, after a decade of the GOP gerrymander on steroids, and after the Republican Senate rejected the Constitution and the Office of the President in 2016 so they could hijack the Supreme Court in the name of right-wing tyranny.
At some point, Father Douthat, you and the Grand Old Pirates have to ask yourself what exactly is it that 'conservatives' hate about representative government and democracy ?
November 6 2018
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@SocratesIf abortion suppressed 200,000 more Democrat votes a year than Republican A.D. 1973-2000, that's 5 million Democrat votes cut up and sold for Lamborghinis. Maybe the murder of little babies is evil? May be? (Have you read "The Unaborted Socrates?")
Doug Wilson has an interesting take on horror movies getting more gruesome as viewers with babies' blood on their hands seek theatrical catharsis with diminishing returns, instead of repentance and forgiveness in Christ Jesus.
Trouble with "government of the people, by the people, for the people"? (1) A majority voted to gamble on reform--Trump and minor parties--over status quo, Clinton II. (2) Government is some people telling other people what to do; some "people" are more equal than others. Some of this is necessary, and not even evil, but a lot of it is vote-buying, crony capitalism, and bullying. Jesus is libertarian, giving freely rather than taking. Follow Him.
3
@Andrew Lohr," A majority voted to gamble on reform--Trump and minor parties--over status quo, Clinton II ". Well, I guess you weren't paying attention..when Clinton won the majority of votes in 2016--by some 3,000,000 votes? Abortion is not the murder of little babies either. They are not babies until they are unattached from their Mother and breathing on their own.Over population on this planet is either the #1 or #2 problem on this earth. Unwanted birth of unwanted children contribute to a very big problem for the entire world population. Seriously!
4
@Andrew Lohr....if the religious right was as concerned about babies after they were born as they were while they were in uterus, I think we could all agree that they weren't all hypocrites, like you, sir. In fact, you may like to know that Jesus was in fact a Jew, and Jewish law states that the soul doesn't enter the babies body until 10 days after birth. The rightist abortion position which states that the soul enters the body at point of conception is superstitious goblegook. Add that to the support of the most deceptive, crooked, evil president of our lifetimes, and I say you guys have the spiritual credibility of Jack the Ripper.
6
So Douthat, what particular policies that Trump pursues warm your conservative heart?
Are you not concerned about conserving the planet in a state reasonably habitable to sapiens? Or is it your conservative belief that climate scientists are wrong and Trump's full-bore embrace of deregulation of the energy industry and promotion of fracking on public land is a fine conservative position.
What about the fiscal irresponsibility of a health care system that costs double the average other countries pay for equivalent or better coverage? Do conservatives like you believe that this is a sustainable system when costs are passed on to our exports among other economic liabilities.
As a social conservative, do you believe the Trump based GOP is a positive influence on the sanctity of marriage and other Christian values?
What about the ballooning federal deficit brought on by a tax cut that has not especially stimulated the economy and has ballooned the national debt? And for whom? Is this within your definition of conservatism?
How about the improvisational tariffs Trump is recklessly initiating, seemingly more to polish his populist resume than to actually effectively help working Americans? People who will soon likely be suffering the consequences of cuts in needed government programs to pay for his tax cut, such as an effective strategy to address the opioid crisis.
Please explain what exactly the GOP is attempting to conserve these days.
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@alan haigh,
I'm not RD, not a Republican and definitely not a Trump supporter, but I think Ross might suggest three answers:
1. Cutting corporate taxes keeps multinational corporation jobs and HQs in the US.
2. Incorporating Mexico's VAT in the new NAFTA reclaims the 16% disadvantage that was unnecessarily gifted to Mexico in the previous treaty.
3. Maintaining a more conservative supreme court limits the practice of "judicial legislation.
It is important to understand the other side's thinking.
7
@Michael The court that approved same-sex marriage included a majority of Republican appointees.
The VAT has been falsely represented by Trump as a barrier to U.S. trade as it is charged to all products sold in Mexico not only imports. https://www.factcheck.org/2018/09/trump-wrong-on-mexicos-vat/
If the GOP wants to keep corporate jobs in the U.S. why don't they legislate against companies like Apple offshoring operations to ditch billions in taxes?
3
I would say that a more conservative judiciary doesn't limit or halt "judicial legislation," it only changes the outcomes. This country has become so divided that precedent means nothing against the chance to overturn the other side's victories. It's only "judicial legislation" when the other side does it, but both sides do it whenever they have the votes.
26
Ross likes those conservative judges that Trump is appointing so much that he's really willing to put up with Trump, regardless of all of his previous denials. He might keep in mind Trump's esteem for the profession of journalism--and that of all of the right wing judges that Trump is appointing.
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OK, I know Ross and I live on different planets, but let's just parse one of his more outrageous paragraphs in this week's column:
"But so far Trump has been more constrained and less destructive than I expected — his foreign policy less destabilizing (so far) than either of his predecessors, his cruelest policy instincts walked back under pressure, the country more prosperous, his appointments more responsible and a large-scale investigation into his possible crimes proceeding, beset by Trumpian insults but otherwise mostly unimpeded by the White House."
1. "More constrained and less destructive"--in his environmental or economic policy? Both the planet and the economy (humongous deficits, stupid trade wars) are headed over the cliff
2. "His foreign policy less destabilizing"--China? Saudi Arabia? NATO? Russia?
3. "His cruelest policy instincts walked back under pressure"--you mean the 300+ kids orphaned, since their parents were deported? Or, the permanent tent cities under the scalding southwestern sun for new housing for these kids? Or his newest threat to refuse asylum seekers?
4. "His appointments more responsible"--would that be Scott Pruitt? Betsy DeVos? Ben Carson? Or (gasp) Wilbur Ross?
5. "investigation into his possible crimes proceeding ...unimpeded"-- Not for lack of trying, and for how much longer?
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@ChristineMcM
You forgot to mention that Trump wants to ditch the INF treaty, literally taking us backwards in time to where we were over thirty years ago. It even prompted 87 year old Gorbachev to write about the stupidity of such a decision. He, in fact, points out that the US in the past two years have upended multiple international treaties thus destroying the peace and stability of the world.
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@ChristineMcM
Oh, my, Ms. McM, thank you for speedily and incisively contesting the truly ridiculous whoppers on which Mr Douthat has premised his unconvincing argument.
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@ChristineMcM
And the list continues, Christine.
Vote the Democratic ticket on November 6 to keep the list from getting longer.
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I'm less concerned with the "leftward march" of the Democratic Party than I am with the rightward sprint of the Republican Party.
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@Michael
If only it were rightward. No its mostly down, away from rational decision making, away from any respect for anyone with any view different from the one they were told to adopt yesterday by their leader.
Yes, Republicans are in a rightward sprint, but certainly also downward to lies and lying, to fraud, to absolute false arguments. Climate change and the protection of our planet, our seacoasts, our arable land should not be an issue to be opposed by lying, denial, or cast as a "Democrat Issue". It should be a simple example of what governments from the time of Hammurabi and before were first invented to do. PROTECT the PEOPLE from death and destruction.
31
@Michael - Uh, what "leftward march"? It exists only in the imagination of Douthat and other Republicans who can't see beyond the end of their noses.
22
@Michael
The only way there's a "leftward march" is if you take Clinton as the norm—when he was an unusual rightward move.
There's nothing "left" about, say, wanting people to have something as urgent as healthcare when the current system has broken down.
And there's nothing good about constant lying.
18
For starters I'm going to predict that Amy Coney Barrett will be Ruth Bader Ginsberg's conservative replacement on the Supreme Court. That's why Trump stuck with Brett Kavanaugh. Trump wants a conservative woman to replace an outgoing female liberal justice.
I can't help but feel queasy about November 7th 2018. Remember that elections are won or lost in battleground swing states that alternate between red and blue depending on which way the wind is blowing. I don't think there will be any blowouts but I'm certain there I going to be a lot of gridlock until 2020 if the Democrats take the House but the Senate remains under Republican control. No one is going to be happy with the election results that's for sure.
3
@sharon5101 Better gridlock than the last two years
3
@sharon5101. If Democrats take the House, I’ll be happy. Anyone who opposes Trump would be. The Senate would be great, too, but it can wait until 2020.
3
You forgot something rather important Ross. If the GOP keeps the Senate, our judiciary will be a subsidiary of the far right Federalist Society, advancing a corporate tyranny for the next generation. So I for one couldn’t disagree more about this “split” result you find so advantageous.
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@Lon Zo Mr Douthat loves a ultraconservative judiciary, whom Mr. Bouthat hopes will reinstitute prayer in school and outlaw abortion. Mr. Douthat likes to pretend that this is not judicial activism clearly in contravention of the separation of church and state but the original intent of the framers.
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So much wrong with this, and far far be it from us to ruin Douthat's rose-colored glasses (myopic and hopelessly spider-webbed with cracks to the point of optical illusion) puppies and rainbows scenario, but we'll take the bait to ask just 2 teensy questions:
What in the world makes our scribe entertain the idea that after the election His Weaselness 45* will continue to allow "a large-scale investigation into his possible crimes proceeding, beset by Trumpian insults but otherwise mostly unimpeded by the White House" ?
And:
Where is an iota of evidence Complicit GOP'ers Senators will magically grow back-bones and defy their base/party leader, suddenly walking again after so much crawling, kowtowing, and abrogating their Oaths - risking a Twitter rant ?
From here, the only hope for our 'experiment in democracy', will be waking on Wednesday Nov. 7 with Dems running the entire Legislative Branch, to perform the enumerated constitutional duty of checking the Executive Branch and its epically rotten, corrupt appointees that make this administration worse than even the Teapot Dome brigade.
And, we must all just keep our fingers and toes crossed that in 2 years, when there are 21 GOP'er Senators up for replacement vs. just 11 Dems - virtually the opposite of 2018 - that Very Stable Genius (if he's somehow still in office) even allows elections to proceed.
We'd wager Complicit GOP'er enablers and the despotic cry-baby Billionaire won't willingly risk losing power.
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