Ladies and gentlemen, Steve Bannon has royally screwed the Republican party.
Last night’s special election in Alabama was just as much about Bannon as it was about Roy Moore. See, ol’ Roy was Bannon’s opening salvo in the war to unseat GOP incumbents and replace them with a merry band of circus freaks.
Having (begrudgingly) come to terms with the fact that Trump simply cannot get anything done in Washington if he doesn’t compromise with the GOP establishment, Bannon set his sights on that establishment, the idea being to do what the President couldn’t: “drain the swamp” and fill it back up with populists. Of course the problem with backing a bunch of circus freaks is that, as Matt Drudge himself put it last night, there’s only so much “crazy” people can take:
Yes, “there IS a limit”, Steve. And it turns out, an accused child predator was a bridge too far – even for Alabama voters.
Well now, the knives are out for Bannon. “Stephen K. Bannon and his alt-right movement have helped accomplish something no one in a quarter-century has been able to do: get a Democrat elected in the state of Alabama,” Marc Thiessen writes this morning, adding that “it takes a special kind of stupid to pick a candidate who can lose to a Democrat in Alabama.”
“Bannon is like so many people that get involved in politics. They work on their first race, their person wins, and they think people voted for them,” Stu Stevens, the former top strategist to Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign told The Daily Beast. “I think Bannon made an ass of himself [in Alabama].”
“Steve Bannon has done more for Democrats than they could’ve ever thought possible,” Mitch McConnell’s former chief of staff Josh Holmes declared before accusing Bannon of “displaying an absolutely breathtaking display of political incompetence that will go down in the annals of history for every Republican to mourn for generations.”
Before we get the results, I'd just like to thank Steve Bannon for showing us how to lose the reddest state in the union and Governor Ivey for the opportunity to make this national embarrassment a reality
— Josh Holmes (@HolmesJosh) December 13, 2017
Here’s the statement from the McConnell-aligned Senate Leadership Fund PAC:
This is a brutal reminder that candidate quality matters regardless of where you are running. Not only did Steve Bannon cost us a critical Senate seat in one of the most Republican states in the country, but he also dragged the President of the United States into his fiasco.
And it just goes on, and on, and on.
Stunning. Heckuva job Steve. https://t.co/l99fftMUaG
— David French (@DavidAFrench) December 13, 2017
Not to put too fine a point on it, but this is exactly what we’ve been saying for months. Namely that Steve Bannon is a moron. He is not a “strategist.” He knows nothing about this and he’s mistaken a historical accident (Trump) for his own acumen as a political operative. Here are three points we’ve made before that seem especially relevant on Wednesday:
- For one thing, Bannon’s populism is false. Steve is a multi-millionaire former Goldman banker whose entire shtick rests on a patently absurd story about how watching his father lose his ass in AT&T shares awakened something in him.
- Further, anyone who knew Bannon when he was a failed Hollywood screenwriter will attest that Steve is a complete joke. You’d be forgiven for thinking that maybe being shunned by Hollywood might have left Steve feeling a little sour grapes-ish.
- Finally, Bannon grossly overestimates Breitbart’s influence. Breitbart is the online equivalent of a supermarket rag. It has no credibility and no one takes it seriously. It’s not “a machine” (as Bannon has described it). It is simply a propaganda outlet and everyone with any sense knows it. Steve seems to have deluded himself into thinking it’s an actual news outlet.
The first two are important but the last one is just flat-out funny in light of what just happened in Alabama. Turns out Breitbart was no match for the Washington Post, a real media machine.
Perhaps Meghan McCain summed it up best…
Overall the sentiments expressed reveal the issue – hatred. It’s both sides. Childish tantrums & name calling, politics is taking it’s cues from Hollywood & the Kardashians
I’m hard pressed to find a much of a victory in Moore’s loss. Doug Jones victory will be determined by how he serves his voters in his term – not by how he won what should have been the most obvious of contests. Let’s not lose sight of this instructable moment in our history. Consider that Moore only lost by 1% – meaning that 48% of Alabama voters lack the critical thinking skills to evaluate Moore’s record of being removed from his judicial bench not once, but twice. That Moore is an open racist bigot. That Moore is an obtuse religious fanatic – mentally incapable of separating the positive parts of the Christian religion from those that are demonstrably pathological, self-contradictory and self-annihilating. And of course that he was running for office as an accused (by four different victims) of being a child molester/sexual predator of underage females while he was in his 30s and a district attorney. What rational mind would consider this man fit for any form of public responsibility, much less political leadership authority. Yet, 48% of the Alabama arrived at the conclusion that Roy Moore was their kind of political leader.
There is no reassuring victory here for any of us. There is no misinterpretation of the demonstrable absence of nearly half of the Alabama electorate’s “critical thinking skills,” or the general population’s psychological failure to meet the technical definition of sanity. Worse, and though many poke fun at Alabama as being a rural backwater living a century or more behind the rest of the country – in truth – the Moore Senatorial vote was the same mathematical and psychological representation as the Trump Presidential vote. This is an extremely bothersome and indicative fact and unfortunately not a coincidental one. The Trump and Moore elections are two different samples that show that these individuals represent the preferable ideals as leaders. While often offered as an excuse – there were no obviously better candidates to change their minds in the context of what stands for an unbiased public media.
Only a 1% margin (in this case without the dubious benefit of an Electoral College) separated the Alabama voters from Roy Moore being seated in the Alabama Senate. It is an indicative fact that 48% of the electorate were willing to vote for an accused criminal, with a demonstrably unprofessional record, with almost zero positive attributes – rather than change their personal perspectives of what they some how believe is a correct and acceptable world (state) political view. These people see a US nation with likes of Moore and Trump representing their desires, thought processes and lives. Perhaps it would have been best if Moore had won. Together these dynamic twins of the dark side – a duo of Trump and Moore would have shredded what little leadership credibility that the Republican Party still has. Now we only have Trump working tirelessly to create “stupid,” incompetent leadership, and lead the country further astray. Maybe, Trump and Moore in combination would have been a sufficient disaster, to shock to US voters to critically think about their perceptions of what now stands for US democratic and electoral processes – and just how corrupted, counter productive, and inefficient they have become – both left and right.
Somehow, we – all of us – have failed in our responsibility to support and encourage “critical thinking skills” both in our electorates and the evaluation of our electoral processes that are supposed to produce professionally capable problem solver candidates – not the induction of accused criminals. Instead we have let paid content media and for-profit political motivations drive our public thinking processes – on both the left and the right. We have failed to understand the nuances of the fact that there is no demonstrably successful model of a far left or a far right democratic governing model on the face of the planet. That the most efficient, best serving and enduring democratic models have been and still are always somewhere in the middle. We have lost sight of the fact that it is no more possible to produce a functional pure capitalistic state, than it is to produce a pure socialistic state. Too many of our population approach politics as entertainment – a team sport, not unlike high school or home town football or baseball competitions. Unfortunately, it is the worst case analogy of a “sport” – politics have become like professional wrestling – where reality is put aside and people actually believe they are witnessing competitive conflicts of good vs. evil. Some naively believe that world problems have only black hat vs white hat solutions. If this truly represents the critical thinking capacity/limitations of 48% of the US electorate and doesn’t change very soon – we are assuredly lost – and not just as the world’s most exemplary democratic nation.
We did not arrive at this point over night. We arrived day by day. Days focused on the commercial consumer distractions that surround us. We as a people have failed to properly (and as firmly as required) – to instruct the nation’s political institutions and their constituents that their focus and responsibility is not to seek the far boundaries of left or right agendas, but to logically, rigorously, scrupulously, and transparently work to seek the most appropriate middle ground solutions acceptable by both left and right. That they should be focusing not on ‘winning” arbitrary left or right agendas – but on finding workable and efficient (economically/environmentally sustainable) solutions. Efficient solutions do not seek political gridlock where no problems are solved as an effective strategy or goal. Nor should their be a belief that they are an acceptable use of voters and tax payer money.
US politics need to change drastically. We need a far better system of creating political dialogues and processes that encourage and offer he best solutions to our problems as a nation and a people. We need to see governance as a serious and critical process. Where “winning” is not a partisan process, but the realization of achieving efficient solutions to our problems. We need a system that produces professional leaders that are capable, honest and effective problem solvers – and public media whose goal is to serve the unbiased truth about candidates and not just the special interest of their advertisers.
# smart < # dumb
“Somehow, we — all of us — have failed in our responsibility to support and encourage “critical thinking skills” ”
No “we – all of us” have not failed in our responsibilities to encourage “critical thinking skills.”
You were doing fine, until that point in your comments, Durwood. Then you got into more vague generalities as to what is wrong with “us” and similarly vague and general “solutions” of the “we all need to”/ “we all need a system that” and “US politics need to change drastically” school of meaninglessness sounding like somethingness
The “minorities” are just about outnumbering the caste in charge. Trump ironically, is pulling them together and getting them out to vote in a way even Obama could not do. This is why not only did the Democrats win statewide offices in Virginia but, even local, gerrymandered district races. That is the story that was not publicized as much after the Virginia races. THAT is what is and will continue to make the difference going forward. Left leaning people are actually getting scared enough to get out and vote en masse like right leaning people always do.
Dugger, I agree with your overall theory in that there is too much ignorance about politics and government in all society. Let me first state that I have an abundance of insight into Alabama as I hesitate to admit how many relatives I have on one side of my family – all of them in Alabama. When I was about 16 yr old I flat refused to continue family vacations to visit as I could not stand to be around all my cousins there. No other word will work – just plain ignorant. Going to school did not help! Their use of English language was embarrassing. Vocabulary limited. And no desire to do better. All in small towns did not help – maybe larger city dwellers were better?? So they have all grown up now. Trust me, no change. I was thrilled to see them step up to meet the challenge and understand this was important! So, I would prefer to celebrate this achievement today!
I am also thrilled to hear GOP’ers beating down the disheveled Bannon and pushing away from him today. Trump has some nerve saying he was right about Moore…he finds some way to always bring it back to himself, doesn’t he. Well, make him explain why he would push that disgusting pervert racist into a decision making position in DC rather than accept a good smart honest true public service man like Jones? It’s about our Country, not a Party. Let’s abolish the 2 party system! Why do we accept a divided government and ask the citizens to not be a divided nation?? Cut off the head of the snake – kill the 2 party system – everyone is on the same field with the same goals.
So now the citizens of Alabama have freed up the entire GOP membership to step up and come clean about their pledge to work for the citizens of America — or get the hell out! And that includes this lousy ignorant president! Perhaps the wins in Virginia and Alabama (especially!) will convince them of their destiny if they continue to support these lousy members. Think Country not Party.
Most of all, this surprising and WONDERFUL SUCCESS by the VOTERS will convince the rest of the American VOTERS that WE ARE THE ONES who WILL MAKE the CHANGES that WE DEMAND BE MADE!
THROW THE BUMS OUT – CLEAN HOUSE – GET NEW BLOOD IN THERE – CLOCK IS TICKING!
In sum, I think Trump is doing more to galvanize the Progressive movement than anyone, Democrat or Republican, on the political scene today could do.