Current Events > The Daily Show on Republican "moderates"

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYp2j2dKsjA

From Thursday's Daily Show

This is pointing out something that drives me crazy about the media. Nikki Haley, by basically every policy metric, is a hard right Republican. But people in the news keep calling her a moderate because she doesn't deny that Biden fairly won the 2020 election. Somehow that's enough to get her the label of moderate when she is not.

They bring up other Republicans this happens with. Brian Kemp & Liz Cheney are not in any way moderates. But they're not election deniers and that's enough to label a Republican as moderate. That's where we are apparently.

As the Republican fringe zooms off to the right edge of the observable universe at light speed, so-called "GOP moderates" are headed to that destination at only half the speed.

This is enough to give the both sides types in the media their talking points.

Nikki Haley can get it

The "moderates" are literally considered RINOs by the modern GOP.

They're still Republicans. They're just not accepted by the Trump cult. When they start donating their money to Democrats, third party, or run as Independents, THEN they can call themselves moderates.

hockeybabe89 posted...

The "moderates" are literally considered RINOs by the modern GOP.

This. The intra-party divide in the GOP these days is between:

1) hard right nut jobs that don't want a Trump dictatorship to upend(*) their decades of work in undermining US democracy on the down low, and

2) Trump cultists, ready to ride into Valhalla, all shiny and chrome.

*mostly by putting the wrong kind of dictator in charge

hockeybabe89 posted...

The "moderates" are literally considered RINOs by the modern GOP.

The problem is to most people moderate means like middle-of-the-road so when news commentators call people like Nikki Haley moderates it makes it sound like their policies like climate change denial, anti-immigration, and abortion bans are moderate centrist policies.

No such thing as a moderate republican. Republicans are fascist or fascist enablers. If they weren't those things they wouldn't be Republicans.

UnsteadyOwl posted...

Brian Kemp & Liz Cheney are not in any way moderates.

I laugh every time I hear a Trumpist refer to Liz Cheney or Mitch McConnel as RINOs. The former has a more conservative record than the woman who replaced her (Stefanik) and the latter has done more to advance conservative causes in the last 30 years than anyone. Being a Republican is now defined by fealty to Donald Trump, not one's dedication to conservative ideals.

UnsteadyOwl posted...

The problem is to most people moderate means like middle-of-the-road so when news commentators call people like Nikki Haley moderates it makes it sound like their policies like climate change denial, anti-immigration, and abortion bans are moderate centrist policies.

This issue goes even deeper. There is no such thing as a "moderate middle" between fascism (R) and democracy (D).

So it isn't just that there are no moderate Republicans. There are also no moderate Democrats (instead, the likes of Manchin and Sinema are Vichy-level appeasers of fascists, at best).

There is also no coherent "moderate" position between the parties. What could be more disordered than advocating for a mix of fascism and freedom?

Yea it's abundantly clear that the Republican Party is nothing short of dangerous extremism. There's not a single elected Republican who isn't lock in step with Trump's brand of fascism at this point. And when they continue to get voted in to office, that tells you what kinds of people are voting for them.

I have no clue how somebody could be on the fence between the two parties right now. You'd have to be ridiculously uninformed or a complete idiot to think "both sides make compelling arguments" in 2024.

EPR-radar posted...

This issue goes even deeper. There is no such thing as a "moderate middle" between fascism (R) and democracy (D).

So it isn't just that there are no moderate Republicans. There are also no moderate Democrats (instead, the likes of Manchin and Sinema are Vichy-level appeasers of fascists, at best).

There is also no coherent "moderate" position between the parties. What could be more disordered than advocating for a mix of fascism and freedom?

Yeah. It reminds me of a story about a woman who started frequenting alt-right online spaces because she agreed with their antisemitic views but then she was appalled when she found out they also wanted to strip rights away from women. You can't expect fascists to only go halfway with their fascism. It doesn't work like that.

EPR-radar posted...

This issue goes even deeper. There is no such thing as a "moderate middle" between fascism (R) and democracy (D).

This is true

So it isn't just that there are no moderate Republicans. There are also no moderate Democrats (instead, the likes of Manchin and Sinema are Vichy-level appeasers of fascists, at best).

Wouldn't Biden count as a moderate Democrat?

There is also no coherent "moderate" position between the parties. What could be more disordered than advocating for a mix of fascism and freedom?

The left are known for having moderate positions. The right are known for fascism and stepping aside for fascism.

when is today's daily show? i watched all last week, it was all funny

ZMythos posted...

You'd have to be ridiculously uninformed or a complete idiot to think "both sides make compelling arguments" in 2024.

True. This is why most of those making both sides arguments are actually Republican ratfuckers. It is impossible to defend the GOP these days, so "good Republicans" concentrate on lies and bullshit intended to drive down D turnout. I believe it's often referred to as lying for Jesus in RWNJ churches.

nocturnal_traveler posted...

Wouldn't Biden count as a moderate Democrat?

I think it's best to retire the term "moderate" in US politics, since moderate in a two-party system pretty much means "working with th other party" and that's just been proven impossible by the border security bill going down in flames because of Republicans.

It is also undesirable, as long as Republicans remain so completely unreasonable.

Forgot to mention that in the video they point out that Nikki Haley herself has said she's not a moderate but there's still clips of people on CNN and other places trying to say she is.

Robot2600 posted...

when is today's daily show? i watched all last week, it was all funny

11 eastern I think? It goes up on paramount+ the next day which is how I've been watching it.

EPR-radar posted...

I think it's best to retire the term "moderate" in US politics, since moderate in a two-party system pretty much means "working with th other party" and that's just been proven impossible by the border security bill going down in flames because of Republicans.

It is also undesirable, as long as Republicans remain so completely unreasonable.

UnsteadyOwl posted...

Forgot to mention that in the video they point out that Nikki Haley herself has said she's not a moderate but there's still clips of people on CNN and other places trying to say she is.

Any day now the Liberal Media will start calling out the Republicans. Any day now. Maybe around the same time that wealth starts trickling down.

EPR-radar posted...

I think it's best to retire the term "moderate" in US politics, since moderate in a two-party system pretty much means "working with th other party" and that's just been proven impossible by the border security bill going down in flames because of Republicans.

It is also undesirable, as long as Republicans remain so completely unreasonable.

True. I wonder why the Republicans who aren't insane just don't use their money to form a new conservative party? Trying to cling on to a sinking ship isn't doing themselves any favors. Unless they decide to embrace the insanity and kneel before Trump, their political career is over.

Basically any GOPer who isn't Trump/MAGA is a "moderate" these days

nocturnal_traveler posted...

True. I wonder why the Republicans who aren't insane just don't use their money to form a new conservative party? Trying to cling on to a sinking ship isn't doing themselves any favors? Unless they decide to embrace the insanity and kneel before Trump, their political career is over.

I think the main problem the GOP establishment has is that Trumpism has exposed conservatism for what it is to too many people. After all, it is plain to see that there is no pathology in Trump that was not a dominant trend in the GOP for decades.

They also won't be able to keep control of the new party -- the base voters of that new party will necessarily be Republicans, and such voters are demonstrably stupid and easily led. So they will just run off to whichever demagogue takes over Trump's gold-plated toilet-throne after he dies.

EPR-radar posted...

I think the main problem the GOP establishment has is that Trumpism has exposed conservatism for what it is to too many people. After all, it is plain to see that there is no pathology in Trump that was not a dominant trend in the GOP for decades.

They also won't be able to keep control of the new party -- the base voters of that new party will necessarily be Republicans, and such voters are demonstrably stupid and easily led. So they will just run off to whichever demagogue takes over Trump's gold-plated toilet-throne after he dies.

In olden times, when a political leader became too corrupt for their own good, they were assassinated, along with those who followed them. I'm not saying the Establishment GOP should start doing that, but murder is going to happen whether they act or not.

nocturnal_traveler posted...

In olden times, when a political leader became too corrupt for their own good, they were assassinated, along with those who followed them. I'm not saying the Establishment GOP should start doing that, but murder is going to happen whether they act or not.

The only peaceful way to get back to a sane version of conservatism in the US is to shut down the right wing noise machine and wait 50 years.

EPR-radar posted...

The only peaceful way to get back to a sane version of conservatism in the US is to shut down the right wing noise machine and wait 50 years.

Yeah. Hopefully if Dems can gain enough power over time, they can start forcing outlets like Fox News with an ultimatum to stop lying or be taken off the air.

nocturnal_traveler posted...

I wonder why the Republicans who aren't insane just don't use their money to form a new conservative party?

The poor, uneducated base they've poisoned against marginalized groups far outnumber the wealthy donor class Republicans. They can't get elected unless they tap into that base, and that base isn't going to vote for anyone this side of Donald Trump.

darkace77450 posted...

The poor, uneducated base they've poisoned against marginalized groups far outnumber the wealthy donor class Republicans. They can't get elected unless they tap into that base, and that base isn't going to vote for anyone this side of Donald Trump.

Which is funny when you consider how many conservative voters of other races/religions/sexualities they can tap into if they just dropped the whole White supremacy angle.

nocturnal_traveler posted...

In olden times, when a political leader became too corrupt for their own good, they were assassinated, along with those who followed them. I'm not saying the Establishment GOP should start doing that, but murder is going to happen whether they act or not.

Im still astonished that Clinton survived to see the election results. If any president or presidential candidate was hated by their opponents insane gun-loving fanbase while that opponent was egging said fanbase on, it was her.

Anti-trump = moderate according to the centrists.

I know someone that told me they wanted Biden to choose Liz Cheney as a running mate.

The billionaire owners of all the news corporations have a vested interest in shifting the Overton window right, so even if theyre trying to appeal to people on the left for ratings theyre still trying to control the narrative around whats moderate

"moderate" is entirely an aesthetic classification. her policies are as extreme as trump's in a lot of ways but she's not as brash or inappropriate so people consider her "moderate" by comparison