Trump’s Weekend Racism Binge

Ken AshfordRace, Republicans, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

I just asked my neighbor why he removed the Trump sign from his lawn, where it had been since 2016. He replied, “I couldn’t ignore his racism any longer. My son [10 years old] asked why I still support him, and I had no answer. If you lose your kid’s respect, you’ve got nothing.” — Jon Cooper (@joncoopertweets) July 27, … Read More

What It Means To Be A Republican Now

Ken AshfordRepublicans, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

Ishaan Thoroor in the Washington Post: Trump saw a white nationalist seam in Republican politics and pulled at it to achieve power. He kept tugging and tugging and has dragged in his direction the entirety of the Republican Party — a party, as New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie wrote, “that elevates its narrow, shrinking base as the only authentic America and would … Read More

The Right’s Grifter Problem

Ken AshfordRepublicans, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

God help me. I’m linking to National Review Back in 2013, Conservative StrikeForce PAC raised $2.2 million in funds vowing to support Ken Cuccinelli’s campaign for governor in Virginia. Court filings and FEC records showed that the PAC only contributed $10,000 to Cuccinelli’s effort. Back in 2014, Politico researched 33 political action committees that claimed to be affiliated with the … Read More

Smoking Gun: Hard Drive Of Deceased GOP Consultant Shows Census Question Had Partisan Motive

Ken AshfordElection 2020, Polls, Race, RepublicansLeave a Comment

The move by the Trump administration to add a citizenship question to the census can be traced back directly to the work of a Republican redistricting expert who studied how to create maps that “would be advantageous to Republicans and Non-Hispanic Whites,” according to new evidence revealed in court documents filed Thursday. How the evidence even fell into the challengers’ … Read More

NCGOP Corruption Exposed

Ken AshfordLocal Interest, Political Scandals, RepublicansLeave a Comment

The Republican Party here in North Carolina has a list of horribles that only Trump could admire. Their antics have been covered in depth regarding their blatant racist gerrymandering, their attempts to neuter the Democratic governor, the current election scandal, or and overt racist voter suppression. But now they are getting caught — and not politically, but by the law: Federal prosecutors … Read More

GOP Confused And Concerned About Trump’s Attack On Obamacare

Ken AshfordHealth Care, Republicans, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

Reflecting widespread concerns within his party, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has told President Trump he disagrees with the Trump administration’s attempt to get the entire Affordable Care Act thrown out in court. McCarthy told Trump over the phone that the decision made no sense — especially after Democrats killed Republicans in the midterms in part over the issue of pre-existing … Read More

CPAC 2019: A Long Way From Reagan

Ken AshfordRepublicans, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

Molly Jong-Fast in the Independent: I lost three and a half days of my life at CPAC so you didn’t have to.I arrived Wednesday afternoon at National Harbor (a short 40-minute Uber ride from Washington DC) for CPAC. It was my first conservative political action conference and I had somehow convinced myself that this trade show with white nationalists (Faith … Read More

Daily Acts Of Moral Distancing

Ken AshfordRepublicans, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

I like this, from David Brooks (who I don’t usually like), talking about the Republicans in the Michael Cohen hearing who decided to rip Cohen rather than ask questions about Trump. Normal people have moral sentiments. Normal people are repulsed when the president of their own nation lies, cheats, practices bigotry, allegedly pays off porn star mistresses. Were Republican House … Read More

A Trump Primary Challenge?

Ken AshfordElection 2020, RepublicansLeave a Comment

AP reports: Former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld has changed his party registration from Libertarian back to Republican as he mulls a possible primary challenge against President Donald Trump. Weld served as a Republican governor from 1991 until 1997. He later became a Libertarian and ran for vice president on a ticket with former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson in the … Read More

Trump’s New Positions On The Wall And Syria Has Some Conservatives In An Uproar

Ken AshfordImmigration and Xenophobia, Republicans, Syria, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

Let;s start with the wall and note how sad Trump has become. He used to have so much vision: Oct. 3, 2015“We’re going to build a wall, and it’s going to be impenetrable, it will be a real wall.” — Jan. 16, 2016“China built a wall that’s 13,000 miles long 2,000 years ago. My ambition is for ours to be … Read More

Yup. There IS Such A Thing As Voter Fraud In NC

Ken AshfordElection 2018, Local Interest, Republicans, Voter Suppression & Voter SecurityLeave a Comment

TheWe may have to do a “do-over” in the North Carolina 9th Congressional District. It is alleged that – shock! – Republicans cheated in order to prevent black voters from casting their ballots. But the cheating goes far beyond the everyday voter suppression rampant in red states. It is alleged that those who wanted the Republican in the race to … Read More