The Rs have the House. They have the Senate. They control at least 34 Governor's mansions and 32 state legislatures (including all of them in the South). Trump, as an R with the balls to actually fight, is POTUS. The Rs still hold a majority in the SCOTUS and that will expand within the next four years. The economy is already picking up due to anticipation of Trump bringing manufacturing and jobs back to the U.S.

How in the Hell will the GOPe f'k this up?

Easy: they'll go "culture warrior" instead of focusing on the economy.

Yes, abortion is a travesty that needs to end. Do it via 6-7 SCOTUS appointments. Quit worrying about who is f'king whom in their bedroom; nunyabizness.

Concentrate on the economy, on bringing back jobs and manufacturing, on improving crumbling infrastructure, and on rebuilding the military. Do that, and the swing states of VA, WV, PA, OH, NC, NH, and MI are solid R in 2020 (and beyond) and the Rs control Congress as well. The rest takes cares of itself at that point.

Concentrate on breaking the back of the D-plantation for blacks in urban areas by creating jobs there and busting up the gangs and rings of violence. Do that, and the Ds can't win anywhere outside of the urban elite sectors. The rest takes care of itself then.

Concentrate on the economy and leave all the culture war bullschit to the side, because if you win on the economy the culture war stuff takes care of itself.

The GOPe will f'k this up if they do otherwise.

The R's will look for the easy way out and don't want to offend their big money donors. You are right, they will F'k this up.

kwg

+1. I wholeheartedly agree. Trump is not a culture warrior but some of the Rs in Congress are. Economy, Economy, Economy.

Oh, and term limits would be nice (dreaming). 2 terms for senators and 5 for reps.

I am going to the Art Institute today..........

I need all the plucking culture I can git.

Rs always find a way to shoot themselves in the foot.

That's what leadership is all about. Hopefully, we finally have some.

They better get a game plan before the midterms.

The best game plan for the Republicans is get up a little earlier, warm up/stretch, and do their dead level best to keep up with President Trump.

The usual suspect 'R's will try to go back to their old way of business.
Hopefully, the Trump presidency will not be the old way of business.

Sean, don't you agree that addressing the problems of the cities, which you listed, is gonna be tricky without exceeding the proper role of the Federal Government?

Think I'd rather have a large dog chit meatloaf for lunch.

National defense, foreign policy and ensuring that states don't overstep the Constitution (via Supreme Court cases) are where the Federal Government needs to spend their time.

C'mon gunner, this would be our kind of artist.



At the National Art Gallery in Dublin, a husband and wife were staring at a portrait that had them completely confused.

The painting depicted three black men totally naked sitting on a park bench. Two of the figures had black willies, but the one in the middle had a pink willie.

The curator of the gallery realized that they were having trouble interpreting the painting and offered his assessment.

He went on for over half an hour explaining how it depicted the sexual emasculation of black men in a predominately white, patriarchal society. 'In fact,' he pointed out, 'some serious critics believe that the pink willie also reflects the cultural and sociological oppression experienced by gay men in contemporary society.'

After the curator left, an Irishman, approached the couple and said, 'Would you like to know what the painting is really about?'

'Now why would you claim to be more of an expert than the curator of the gallery?' asked the couple.

'Because I'm the guy who painted it,' he replied.

'In fact, there are no black men depicted at all! They're just three Irish coal miners. The guy in the middle went home for lunch.'

Not necessarily.

Appoint Fed prosecutors that actually prosecute violent criminals and break up gangs.

Invest in infrastructure rebuilding that create jobs.

Redirect Fed funding from programs that are not working and only fatten D wallets to programs that teach trades and do work to provide labor for those infrastructure jobs.

Revise welfare to make work a goal and welfare temporary.

Crack down on the use of Fed HUD supported housing as areas of drug and gang activity.

Those are Fed actions under the existing laws. Just a few that come to mind quickly.

Need to ship more ammo to $hitago, Detroit and do marksmanship training 10 out of 29 wasn't very good last report!!!

BWAAHAHAHA, especially if they had a damn liquor bar down the hall!

One of the ways to help the economy is to start cutting down the debt. Reduce government spending and waste. I think Trump will be all over this but congress is going to need to be prodded, likely by replacing many of the older ones.

Yep. His early take on a partial budget has a $1T budget cut.

Need to severely knock the dust outta those old halls RC!

And we aint never heard the likes of fuggin whining.

Hahaha! We would get thrown out for sure.

I wouldnt be let in wearing my blue state highlighted dumbfuckistan hoodie!

We know President Trump has the balls to call a footdragger out and do it RIGHT NOW .
And of yes the rinos will do their level best to keep change for the better "for us'' from happening .

""Easy: they'll go "culture warrior" instead of focusing on the economy.""

Sure wish President Trump would explain to federal gov't that they aren't there for "culture war stuff" -leave that to the states .

By continuing to be a elite group of egotistical self interest seekers.
To politicians, no priority exceeds the desire to stay in power.

I totally agree on these points.

But if any group can snatch an agonizing defeat from the jaws of certain glorious victory its the Republican Establishment.

Remember, we now have 3 parties. The Democrats, The Republicans and The Trump Party.

The Democrats will be stabbing Trump in the back as they want the WH back in 2020.

The Republicans will eventually stab Trump in the back as they want the WH back in 2024.

The Trump Party will need to stay on high alert to make sure neither of the above undo the new power of the Trump Party.

It's going to be a hell of a ride the next 4 yrs.

But NEVER DOUBT that neither the Democrats or the Republicans want an empowered American Trump Party.

After some success, Trump will start naming names, and calling out RINOs. He will hopefully start a new party. Maybe named the "Energized Republicans". Anyway President Trump needs to develop and identify a coalition. No need for the likes of mccain. RINOs may be a bigger problem than dems.

You nailed it Sean,

If the social conservatives wander into that wilderness, they won't be in control for long.

The one possible saving grace is Trump is NOT a idealogue. Indeed, he initially was pretty moderate socially. Over the last year he has obviously changed his language to cater to the more socially conservative.

Focusing on the economy is the best "social program" that can possibly happen for Republicans--and especially for Americans.

Casey

Excellent description.



Casey

Bring back and create jobs, reform tax code for corporations,small business and the regular guy

Rebuild the military

Secure boarders

A safe country that is prospering with more $ in peoples pocket is the way to insure 4 more years

That's what should be done.

How they will f'k it up is ignoring that and going culture warrior.

If they do f'k it up that way, it will be by design and as a means to insure the survival of the D party. There could be no other rational answer as to why.

I don't think the house will buck Trump as they must be reelected in 2 years and have enough a majority to out vote a few decenters.

The senate, now I wanted Cruz for VP and then after some Trump economic issues seasoning, the next president. That didn't happen. But if he's smart, coalition with Trump and some other senators to usurp the leadership and forge a new hierarchy within, if not in name but truth, he could do it with Trumps backing. And have a path to future presidency.

Kent

Cruz is done as POTUS he'll not sniff it again

This, and rightfully so.

The Rs have a very deep bench. Move on from Cruz and the bunch of knuckleheads that Trump stomped.

Ya know usually the politicians are the last one's to see that.

I would not be surprised to see Cruz try again.
As many have stated Cruz would be great on the SCOTUS.
He has said he is not interested in that.
Wish he would see that he could probably best serve the country on the court and leave a much longer and more important legacy.

God told him he would be POTUS not SCOTUS

That's his choice to sulk or not, the avenue is there though.

Kent

I keep hearing talk of "crumbling infrastructure". What is that? Are we going to pave the highways with gold or ??? New railways? To where? I thought railway construction was done 100 years ago. Are bridges falling somewhere and I missed it? What are we talking about? Oregon has roads that have ruts from studded tire damage, that I get. Otherwise, ????

Abortion. Sorry, can't leave it alone. God will not view a nation favorably that murders millions of children for the convenience of the unrighteous people that make them. Period. It simply has to stop. These screaming beitches marching in DC are the poster children for abortion. I wasn't impressed by any of them I watched, were you? Their opinion should bear zero weight in national debates because clearly their judgement is clouded by selfish rage.

A major issue is bridges. They're built for a certain life span and many are over it. Many weren't engineered for the much heavier traffic that they get now compared to 50 years ago. Many are too narrow. I really hate crossing a 3 lane bridge with my mirrors only a foot from a truck's tires on each side.
An example is one we have here over a 500' deep canyon. It was built in the mid 70's and engineered for a 50 year life span. We're already getting close to it's expected life. The traffic it carries is exponentially higher than when it was built. They've talked about planning for a replacement but the money isn't there and likely won't be.

The R's will, with fake expressions of pain, offer to deport One illegal mexicon in return for an expanded H1-B visa program......and tell The People that they worked hard for this selfless act of patriotism.

Rock Chuck, yes, here at home I have seen some bridge work in recent years.

The best summation I've read so far.

Bridges are in serious disrepair around the country. DOT and damned near every state reports that. The same with railways; major disrepair.

Concentrate on infrastructure, the economy, jobs, and national defense. Leave the culture war schit alone and fix that via the SCOTUS with the 6-7 picks that Trump can get in 8 years, along with the utter destruction of the D party.

Or, go culture warrior, f'k it up, and have the Ds not only survive but take control again in 2020.

Anybody want to hazard a guess as to how the infrastructure is crumbling.....

You got it.

That is exactly what yesterday was about. This country has been sucked into identity politics and if the Trump administration and congress get suckered into that battle, it's gonna be over real quick.

SC
Borders/Immagration (and for fuggs sake, don't go on and on about muslims)
Taxes
Healthcare
Trade

The long game is rolling back abortion and the rest of the leftist agenda.

That is accomplished by destroying the D party by breaking their plantation on blacks in urban areas through crime reduction and job creation. Couple that with improving the economy, bringing back jobs and manufacturing, and rebuilding the military. Do that, and Trump wins in 2020, the Rs have 60+ in the Senate after 2018, and control redistricting after 2020.

Do those things, and the SCOTUS is reshape for the next half century by 6-7 picks. And, THAT kills off the leftist agenda.

Play the long game and win.

Or, play culture warrior and lose.

Simple.

Here's the short list of how they will screw it up -

John McCain, Susan Collins, Lindsey Graham

Just grabbed this of some news site

"After careful consideration, and much discussion with Mr. Tillerson, we have decided to support his nomination to be secretary of state," Senators John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said in a statement.

Do you SERIOUSLY believe that these two clowns aren't going to STFU just a bit, now ?

You need to quit trying to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

Trump and his people are very bright folks. The first thing they're doing is putting the left and its media on the defensive.

It's also not just posturing when he put the police, the military, and the intelligence community on his side.

It's significant that he gave CIA director Brennan his walking papers and afterwards, 1000 CIA personnel chose to meet with Trump at his invitation. (only 400 would fit in the room)

They sounded very enthusiastic about what Trump had to say to them,...as has the police,..as has the military.

culture war is what it is developing into. the inner cities all voted D as far i can tell. not only did DC but all around DC went D.

we're divided: fly-over country vs. the big cities. and it's a developing global phenomenon. keeping the trains running on time will help the R's.

letting folks choose their own Fates will only help the D's.

Trump and his team have less than 2 years to establish a good foothold for the next 6 years following. the House & Senate will give him lipservice, but they're self-interested. they'll take care of their own, even if it's at the President's expense.

but, maybe Trump will really bring some positive action to the table. i hope so. but if he brings too much action, too soon, it could trigger roads being blocked by marchers.

...it's telling that so many are still thinking along the lines of actually SEEING "two more years" of ANYTHING vaguely resembling what we've seen hitherto, e.g. business as usual.

... It's not going to go down that way

Add this:

Take away this foolhardy idea that if someone does not have a degree they are a lesser person, a failure. Revalue the working class, the blue collar, for the producers they are. Don't break their unions or cut their pay, value them. Understand that no matter what union management says the rank and file see the truth. The truth is they are working, and Democrats had nothing to do with that.

The culture war started a long time ago.

It's just that both sides are now participating in it.

The side that started it really doesn't know how to respond other than to double down on the tired old crap its been spewing forever.

That's not a winning strategy.

and the old Judge asked the Sheriff: "and who threw the first punch do you think?"

or, said another way, this country has not responded well to the changes that advances in technology that has brought to the world.

It is not the economy all that much . It is a give me the free ticket or I raise hell.. There are jobs all over the place the last year and almost all of them are going unfilled. Why? Cause they are lazy entitlement welfare people that take all they can get for free in the guise they " can't find a job" . The jobs are right under their noses and they see them. They have been on the gov. ttiit so long they dont know how to apply anymore, and if they did they would fail the interview so miserably the employer would be crazy to hire such a high liability as them. So it is not economy so much as it is the Obama welfare culture people that can't keep a job to save their souls if they had one in the first place.

Its a little early to get worked up over a failure that hasn't materialized. Let's see what develops in the next 3 - 4 months before we start pulling out the long knives.

Nope. It's too late not to be worrying about the 2018 election cycle. The 2018 elections started yesterday.

The 2018 cycle will go down as the most important midterm election in our generation, maybe a couple of generations.

Depending on who takes the majority in the Senate (and Repubs need a 60+ to have "won" it), will determine the direction of the United States future.

Trump was only the beginning, the tip of the needed iceberg.

My wife used to be H.R. The company had a no drugs policy. She told me it is almost impossible to hire anyone because even the ones who want jobs can’t pass a drug test.

They F this up by doing what they always do- trying to make the other side happy. When the Dems win, it's a mandate and elections have consequences, and they do whatever they want. When they lose, they somehow convince the Republicans there is a need for compromise, and they cave. So the Dems win the 2 steps forward, one step back game every time. We have the White House, we have the House, we have the Senate, we have most of the Governors. Get as much done as possible while you can, let the other side go to hell.

Not looking for Trump to go down the culture war path either but an immediate and firm statement on MC, MC and SS backing up his campaign promise might help to remedy some of this unrest. Might even send folks back to work.

Have to say I am not very interested in paying further into entitlement without knowing its destiny.

And I would let SCOTUS give abortion and all else back to the states.

Everything else is big league.

I agree that the top priority is to secure as many SCOTUS seats as possible and let them hopefully stop the out of control social engineering trend we are on. Focus on the economy and downsizing federal government control at the legislature and executive levels.

4ager: You ask a VERY pertinent and important question!
I don't know if the "R's" will ignore the lesson we just taught them and I don't know if they will "f" this up like you surmise?
I hope they don't!
I've gotten so tired over the last 10 to 15 years of the Republican leadership stabbing our party members in the back every time an important issue was to be decided!
I have been a staunch conservative for half a century now and my threats to Republican leadership often go unheeded!
If they screw up this opportunity I will remove myself from the Republican roles.
I say that knowing full well that NO ONE in politics at ANY level gets 100% of what they are striving for/endorses but if the "r's" stick it to me "over-all" again - I'm done!
GO TRUMP!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy