When we see the changes of direction from people like Haley or Cruz or Graham, we wonder how they can sleep at night. We need to change our frame. These are not people abandoning principles. Rather, they are rats in a maze, trying to get to the cheese at the end. Backing out of a dead end is no more than trying to solve a puzzle. Unlike you, they don't see it as a retreat from, or betrayal of, principle. They took a wrong turn, and are now backing out to go down another path that will lead to power. That's it. That's ALL.
Charlie, just a comment to say that it is a pleasure to read such a crisp, witty, incisive writing about such a painful subject. One of the challenges of this insane time is processing the onslaught of nonstop, jaw-dropping outrages, hypocrisies, betrayals, and disappointments. Having someone define, interpret, and condemn those actions is providing a valuable mental health service to people who are exhausted by looking for new words to describe their feelings. Thanks for reminding us about Nikki Haley's debasement of herself and her values.
GW is dependent on tuition income from foreign students. Especially China and the Middle East. They've made an art out of extracting large sums from parents looking to give their kids a leg up with a degree from a university in the nation's capital. Not surprising that they would line up on the side of the Chinese government.
Nikki Haley is a pathetic joke. She should be made to sit in a room and listen to her double talk comments she’s made on the fool ex prez, over and over again until she gets what a joke she is. We need better leaders!
It is becoming increasingly tiresome to read about/hear the nonsense from relatively accomplished former Republicans, who have become ReTrumplican'ts. There are no policies put forward, only crazed fact-abandoned diatribes and tweets to attack Dem propositions as Fascist, Communist, or Socialist (take your pick), and offering accolades to their Dictator-in-Waiting.
Q. How does one explain such people, who are so astonishingly transparent in their sycophancy?
Is power that much of an aphrodisiac for them to abandon any semblance of principles with no line of degradation that would not be crossed? (Even Detective Jimmie McNulty had a line he wouldn't cross in the last episode of the last season of The Wire.)
Haley has desperate hope that TFG will choose her for VP, after all the groveling she will offer over the next two to three years. Will it will be worth it in those moments of self-reflection? Even more pathetic is Li'l Marco. What does he hope to achieve in his never ending knee pad campaign for relevancy? Yikes!!
In some ways, Haley, Rubio, and colleagues who should know better, are worse than the Secessionist Seven in Congress led by Coatless Gym Jordan because they aren't stupid and vapid. And as (self-proclaimed) good Christians, their connection to the Secessionist-In-Chief is an abomination in relation to the teaching in the Bible.
But, perhaps there's hope as written in 2 Timothy 2:25-26
"...God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will."
Please have somebody check in with continuing barrage of violent threats against election officials in Georgia, Michigan, and other states! It also started happening to school board members. There sadly has not been enough reporting about how radicalized the grassroots GOP has become, and how that’s fed into a seemingly unending torrent of violent threats against critical election infrastructure. Thanks!
At one time I actually thought Nikki Haley might be a person with the leadership qualities and character to lead the R's into a post-Trumpian reality based future. How crazy was that? It is now clear that she is devoid of any principles and simply willing to say whatever it takes in the moment to appeal to the target audience, usually the Exile of Mara Lago. We have grown accustomed to politicians who flip-flop on issues, but her messages are so at odds with each other that it lowers the bar to a whole new level. What disgraceful behavior from one of the many who should know better.
Speaking of how the GOP got here. I faintly remember back in the 90's when Newt Gringrich was ascending to the Speaker of the House hearing some senior GOP folks concerned that the party was turning into simply an attacker attacking the other party. They warned of dire consequences to the GOP not actually having principles and a foundation for what it was about.
I honestly didn't understand the criticism at the time....not because it didn't make sense, but I didn't realize that this was what Newt was all about.
Wow...so this is what happens when a ship doesn't have an agreed to, known destination, a working compass and a crew committed to getting to the final destination. You end up with a ship tossed by the waves, a crew that is ravenously hungry for direction (tired of directionless) and is constantly reacting to an enemy (that may or may not actually exist...but who cares). Thus the platform is created for someone like Trump to step in...eager for a cult following, glad to regale the crew with stories of the evil enemy, and has no other goals than to be the adored Captain of the world...
All of the officers under the Captain...have to make believe that they actually are going somewhere otherwise they would incur the wrath of the crew that thinks they are on the way to conquer their enemy and save the world.
Charlie's podcast with Will Saletan yesterday (02-07-22) raised the topic of people who lied (enabling Trump) but might later be considered redeemed if / when they speak out in support of truth and democracy. Charlie and Will also discussed forever irredeemables such Tucker Carlson and Steve Bannon. I'd like to nominate Ronna McDaniel to the forever irredeemable candidate list. While less significant than Tucker and Steve, Ronna deserves equal irredeemable hall of fame recognition.
Could Ronna's potential future words and actions in support of truth and democracy earn her redemption? Just. Plain. No.
Seems as though Nikki Haley is taking Rich Lowry's "to live is to maneuver" dictum to heart. It also seems as though she has no idea what she is trying to maneuver towards or what the end goal is.
Thanks for the article on GWU. Academics are only a half step behind politicians in bowing and scraping to get money. I lived in China 1988-92. I lived in Kazakhstan 1992-96. I knew Uighurs, a peaceful people, many of whom had converted to Christianity. It was not enough for them to mind their own business, knowing there was never going to be a way to participate in government. They had to be rounded up, imprisoned in gulags, abused and killed because of their convictions about how to live. I appreciated the cartoons. We need more of them. The offended, apologetic official at GWU makes me ashamed.
Don't human beings conduct themselves in such a way that they can maintain some bit of self-respect? If so, what inner monologue occupies Nikki Haley's head when it hits the pillow each night? Or perhaps my search for a glimpse of something redemptive is utterly misguided, and the sour old Calvinists were right in declaring humanity totally depraved.
Watching Nikki Haley debase herself because she thinks a brown lady has a shot at support from this pack of racists and know-nothings is...I don't know. It will take about a nanosecond for whoever is running against her to run photos of Nimrata Randhawa hugging her immigrant dad, an observant Sikh, to blow her out of the competition. I'll never understand why she got anywhere near the maga universe--she's young enough she could have lied low and emerged as an effective never Trump candidate in 2024 or even 2028.
Charlie, I was a grad student in the MIT Chemistry department during Mark Wrighton's tenure. He got promoted to whatever -- tenure, department chair, whatever. And he celebrated in the typical mid-life guy way. He bought a Corvette. But here's the thing -- the Corvette he bought was...brown. Brown? So I've always had doubts about his judgement.
One thing you have to give to Nikki Haley is she is right in line to be number 2 come 2024. She will literally be a big mac attack away from the job she always wanted. Its classless, but the power grab is smart from her no values or principles standpoint.
Maybe Nikki Hayley is worried about the MAGA mob showing up at her house with guns? I have thought a lot about just how far many of the R’s are willing to go in support of Trump and it seems possible that maybe they feel threatened. It would seem though, if that is the case, they ought to simply fade away.
I guess I simply can’t fathom going to the level of degradation and sycophancy that all these R pols seem so willing to occupy. It is revelatory in so many ways.
The Unbearable Lightness of Nikki
When we see the changes of direction from people like Haley or Cruz or Graham, we wonder how they can sleep at night. We need to change our frame. These are not people abandoning principles. Rather, they are rats in a maze, trying to get to the cheese at the end. Backing out of a dead end is no more than trying to solve a puzzle. Unlike you, they don't see it as a retreat from, or betrayal of, principle. They took a wrong turn, and are now backing out to go down another path that will lead to power. That's it. That's ALL.
Charlie, just a comment to say that it is a pleasure to read such a crisp, witty, incisive writing about such a painful subject. One of the challenges of this insane time is processing the onslaught of nonstop, jaw-dropping outrages, hypocrisies, betrayals, and disappointments. Having someone define, interpret, and condemn those actions is providing a valuable mental health service to people who are exhausted by looking for new words to describe their feelings. Thanks for reminding us about Nikki Haley's debasement of herself and her values.
GW is dependent on tuition income from foreign students. Especially China and the Middle East. They've made an art out of extracting large sums from parents looking to give their kids a leg up with a degree from a university in the nation's capital. Not surprising that they would line up on the side of the Chinese government.
Nikki Haley is a pathetic joke. She should be made to sit in a room and listen to her double talk comments she’s made on the fool ex prez, over and over again until she gets what a joke she is. We need better leaders!
Charlie,
Header is an excellent play on words!!!
It is becoming increasingly tiresome to read about/hear the nonsense from relatively accomplished former Republicans, who have become ReTrumplican'ts. There are no policies put forward, only crazed fact-abandoned diatribes and tweets to attack Dem propositions as Fascist, Communist, or Socialist (take your pick), and offering accolades to their Dictator-in-Waiting.
Q. How does one explain such people, who are so astonishingly transparent in their sycophancy?
Is power that much of an aphrodisiac for them to abandon any semblance of principles with no line of degradation that would not be crossed? (Even Detective Jimmie McNulty had a line he wouldn't cross in the last episode of the last season of The Wire.)
Haley has desperate hope that TFG will choose her for VP, after all the groveling she will offer over the next two to three years. Will it will be worth it in those moments of self-reflection? Even more pathetic is Li'l Marco. What does he hope to achieve in his never ending knee pad campaign for relevancy? Yikes!!
In some ways, Haley, Rubio, and colleagues who should know better, are worse than the Secessionist Seven in Congress led by Coatless Gym Jordan because they aren't stupid and vapid. And as (self-proclaimed) good Christians, their connection to the Secessionist-In-Chief is an abomination in relation to the teaching in the Bible.
But, perhaps there's hope as written in 2 Timothy 2:25-26
"...God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will."
Ahhh, never mind.
Please have somebody check in with continuing barrage of violent threats against election officials in Georgia, Michigan, and other states! It also started happening to school board members. There sadly has not been enough reporting about how radicalized the grassroots GOP has become, and how that’s fed into a seemingly unending torrent of violent threats against critical election infrastructure. Thanks!
At one time I actually thought Nikki Haley might be a person with the leadership qualities and character to lead the R's into a post-Trumpian reality based future. How crazy was that? It is now clear that she is devoid of any principles and simply willing to say whatever it takes in the moment to appeal to the target audience, usually the Exile of Mara Lago. We have grown accustomed to politicians who flip-flop on issues, but her messages are so at odds with each other that it lowers the bar to a whole new level. What disgraceful behavior from one of the many who should know better.
Speaking of how the GOP got here. I faintly remember back in the 90's when Newt Gringrich was ascending to the Speaker of the House hearing some senior GOP folks concerned that the party was turning into simply an attacker attacking the other party. They warned of dire consequences to the GOP not actually having principles and a foundation for what it was about.
I honestly didn't understand the criticism at the time....not because it didn't make sense, but I didn't realize that this was what Newt was all about.
Wow...so this is what happens when a ship doesn't have an agreed to, known destination, a working compass and a crew committed to getting to the final destination. You end up with a ship tossed by the waves, a crew that is ravenously hungry for direction (tired of directionless) and is constantly reacting to an enemy (that may or may not actually exist...but who cares). Thus the platform is created for someone like Trump to step in...eager for a cult following, glad to regale the crew with stories of the evil enemy, and has no other goals than to be the adored Captain of the world...
All of the officers under the Captain...have to make believe that they actually are going somewhere otherwise they would incur the wrath of the crew that thinks they are on the way to conquer their enemy and save the world.
Charlie's podcast with Will Saletan yesterday (02-07-22) raised the topic of people who lied (enabling Trump) but might later be considered redeemed if / when they speak out in support of truth and democracy. Charlie and Will also discussed forever irredeemables such Tucker Carlson and Steve Bannon. I'd like to nominate Ronna McDaniel to the forever irredeemable candidate list. While less significant than Tucker and Steve, Ronna deserves equal irredeemable hall of fame recognition.
Could Ronna's potential future words and actions in support of truth and democracy earn her redemption? Just. Plain. No.
Seems as though Nikki Haley is taking Rich Lowry's "to live is to maneuver" dictum to heart. It also seems as though she has no idea what she is trying to maneuver towards or what the end goal is.
Thanks for the article on GWU. Academics are only a half step behind politicians in bowing and scraping to get money. I lived in China 1988-92. I lived in Kazakhstan 1992-96. I knew Uighurs, a peaceful people, many of whom had converted to Christianity. It was not enough for them to mind their own business, knowing there was never going to be a way to participate in government. They had to be rounded up, imprisoned in gulags, abused and killed because of their convictions about how to live. I appreciated the cartoons. We need more of them. The offended, apologetic official at GWU makes me ashamed.
Don't human beings conduct themselves in such a way that they can maintain some bit of self-respect? If so, what inner monologue occupies Nikki Haley's head when it hits the pillow each night? Or perhaps my search for a glimpse of something redemptive is utterly misguided, and the sour old Calvinists were right in declaring humanity totally depraved.
Watching Nikki Haley debase herself because she thinks a brown lady has a shot at support from this pack of racists and know-nothings is...I don't know. It will take about a nanosecond for whoever is running against her to run photos of Nimrata Randhawa hugging her immigrant dad, an observant Sikh, to blow her out of the competition. I'll never understand why she got anywhere near the maga universe--she's young enough she could have lied low and emerged as an effective never Trump candidate in 2024 or even 2028.
Charlie, I was a grad student in the MIT Chemistry department during Mark Wrighton's tenure. He got promoted to whatever -- tenure, department chair, whatever. And he celebrated in the typical mid-life guy way. He bought a Corvette. But here's the thing -- the Corvette he bought was...brown. Brown? So I've always had doubts about his judgement.
One thing you have to give to Nikki Haley is she is right in line to be number 2 come 2024. She will literally be a big mac attack away from the job she always wanted. Its classless, but the power grab is smart from her no values or principles standpoint.
Maybe Nikki Hayley is worried about the MAGA mob showing up at her house with guns? I have thought a lot about just how far many of the R’s are willing to go in support of Trump and it seems possible that maybe they feel threatened. It would seem though, if that is the case, they ought to simply fade away.
I guess I simply can’t fathom going to the level of degradation and sycophancy that all these R pols seem so willing to occupy. It is revelatory in so many ways.