I admit I have enjoyed Mr. Schmidt’s many appearances on MSBNC shows. As a long-time staple inthe rotation of Republican guests he was generally more forthcoming in admitting the truth, and then along came Trump. Now Schmidt has announced he is done with the Republican Party and will be voting Democrat. Good for him.
To me, Steve and Nicole Wallace have been surprising given their past and all the total crap they pushed onto the public for years. But with Steve, it seemed every appearance by him would have at least one Howard Beal moment. It was obvious that he was violating the understood rules of playing the Republican spokesperson on cable TV. I have particularly enjoyed the faces and expressions of the hosts and guests as he has let it rip. Time after time, and even knowing that Schmidt is going to go off, most other panelists still appear highly uncomfortable with what he says and how he says it.
Todays “I’m out of here” twitter screed from Schmidt is here: https://twitter.com/SteveSchmidtSES/status/1009325255142207488
Once again, I thank Steve for stating the obvious. But for all of his passionate outrage, Steve is still a Republican, but only that fictional Republican that was packaged and sold during the Reagan years, the same fiction that continues to permeate the soul of every single person that calls themselves a Republican to this day. Trump may have “woke” Schmidt, but his “truth’s” about the Republican Party did not begin with Trump.
I have spent much of my life working in GOP politics. I have always believed that both parties were two of the most important institutions to the advancement of human freedom and dignity in the history of the world. Today the GOP has become a danger to our democracy and values.
The GOP has been a danger to our Democracy for far longer than Schmidt will admit. I’ll not bother with the racism as that has been part of our democracy from day one. But how exactly did Schmidt think that the state and national Republican Party led voter suppression, based on absolute lies, was not a threat to our democracy? The W Bush years were replete with Republican efforts to suppress Democratic voters’ Constitutional right to vote via purges, caging, and creation of barriers. It did not happen just when Trump came along.
This Independent voter will be aligned with the only party left in America that stands for what is right and decent and remains fidelitous to our Republic, objective truth, the rule of law and our Allies. That party is the Democratic Party.
Since when has the Republican Party concerned itself with the objective truth? (see voting fraud above, for instance.) Tax cuts pay for themselves? Reagan’s “cut taxes, increase military spending and balance the budget in 4 years”? Since W Bush’s “cut taxes, increase military spending, secure Social Security, and pay off the national debt in 10 years”? Since the Republican Party, at the exact time of two wars and the catastrophic collapse of the US and world economy, united to prioritize their total opposition to the newly elected Democratic president on any and everything he proposed?
Jesus, Steve. How objective and truthful has the Republican Party ever been about their true goals of abolishing most every program serving the needs of the people so that the richest of the rich can be even better off?
Steve was on board with the entire history of the Republican Party’s lies for decades because, Reagan. Family values. God. Guns. Military. True patriots. The Real Americans. Utter Bullshit.
The biggest threat to our democracy, for at least 20 years, has been and remains the Republican Party.
Welcome aboard Steve.