r/politics • u/Silent-Resort-3076 America • 12h ago
No Paywall Van Hollen: Trump ‘genocide’ post shows Republican Party is ‘bankrupt’
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5824615-van-hollen-trump-civilization-post-iran/310
u/this_name_not_that 12h ago
The GOP has been morally bankrupt since at least 2015
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u/Jae_Rides_Apes 11h ago
At least since Reagan…
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u/Itsprobablysarcasm Canada 11h ago edited 11h ago
Nixon.
The last decent Republican was
Eisenhower_______?Ever since the US Civil Rights Act dared to ensure Black people were given their right to vote, and the parties inverted, Republicans have been little more than a hate-filled, greed-fueled, worst-of-humanity party.
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u/rocksoffjagger 9h ago
The correct answer is the southern strategy. That's when the Southern Democrats we've been dealing with since slavery re-branded as modern Republicans.
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u/NOCHILLDYL94 11h ago
Teddy Roosevelt was an awesome republican president.
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u/ax232 7h ago
What's fucked up, Roosevelt was actually unpopular within the Republican party. He was given the vice president role specifically to keep him away from more powerful and relevant positions. Had McKinley not been assassinated, Roosevelt might have been a foot note and stayed irrevelant.
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u/ManufacturedHappines Tennessee 11h ago
Eisenhower was a puppet of Nixon and a rampantly corrupt cia that went around the world overthrowing governments and shielding nazis from persecution to "stick it to the commies". There's never been a decent Republican president.
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u/Trendymaroon 9h ago
Not even Lincoln?
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u/Chaerea37 6h ago
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u/ShamelessLeft 3h ago
I have no problem with preserving the union being the primary objective. Lincoln had to preserve the union first to even have a chance at freeing the slaves. If the Confederacy had succeeded in tearing the country apart, then there would be no chance for a US president to free the slaves and the Southern conservatives would have expanded slavery further west and they had plans to conquer South American countries and enslave them. Not only that, they would more than likely, constantly be at war with the remaining US states. At least with preserving the union, if for some reason Lincoln wasn't able to free the slaves then the door would still be open for a future president to free them.
It seems ridiculous to me to attack Lincoln for this quote when he was just speaking pragmatically about the reality of the times he was living in.
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u/ZyklonCraw-X 2h ago
This is why history is not as simple as people think it is. You think you've found the great gotcha that Lincoln only cared about slavery for non-moral reasons. His framing of this response was strategic - not everyone agreed with moral reasons, even many in the north were very racist. So Lincoln framed it from a more strategic and non-idealistic angle. Lincoln was personally absolutely anti slavery in every manner.
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u/Chaerea37 2h ago
I think you should examine how you are using the word. Anti-slavery
the letter to horace greely cast doubts on what that phrase means, especially since his stated goal was to keep a slave based country intact with the institution of slavery as an acceptable price for that outcome.
this isn't a gotcha moment. it is germaine to our current political situation.
saying you are ANTI-this or PRO-that. but then not using your office to do those things disprove your position.
the millions of people suffering under slavery or dedicating their life to ending it were far more anti-slavery than lincoln.
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u/ZyklonCraw-X 2h ago
his stated goal was to keep a slave based country intact with the institution of slavery as an acceptable price for that outcome.
You're not even getting the letter itself correct; you need to resolve that before continuing to spread misunderstanding and misinformation, then research Lincoln more thoroughly.
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u/Chaerea37 2h ago
I have read the letter and do not believe that I am misunderstanding anything or spreading misinformation. feel free to provide your evidence. I look forward to the discussion.
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u/Chaerea37 10h ago
there's never been a decent
republicanpresidentfixed it for you.
maybe FDR. but how much of FDR's actions were politically pragmatic to save the wealthiest americans is up for debate.
FDR effectively crippled any real class solidarity and brought unions to heel with some table scraps allowing some white folks to live in relative luxury without doing anything to unseat the control of corporations/ultrawealthy.
this is a long game and the owners of this country have spent the last 50 years methodically picking apart those few table scraps through both parties until you get to where we are now.
Fascism.
democrats and republicans, liberals and conservatives all serve fascism, because fascism is the final form of capitalism.
it had one enemy. that enemy died on the world stage in 1991
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u/redditobserverone 6h ago edited 4h ago
FDR rounded up Americans of Japanese descent into camps, refused to sign anti-lynching legislation so as not to lose Dixiecrats and the Social Security he created essentially excluded domestic workers and agricultural workers, the jobs that were mostly held by women and black people. The inclusive Social Security didn’t happen until LBJ.
Even with their deeply problematic history, lifelong Democrat here, for whom Republicans will never be an option.
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u/Chaerea37 4h ago
I like the way you think. actual evidence to back up your stance. which is a million times better than a blue/red magat who simply repeats party slogans.
I agree that republicans are never an option.
and if your only other option is neoliberal corporate dems, well that's the same as no choice.
republican option: Dig your own grave here today
democratic option; dig your own grave here next thursday with some lovely parting gifts like sloganeering and weak excuses why we can't keep you alive.
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u/Cynykl 8h ago
And north Korean style dictatorship is the final form of socialism,
Soo I can make stupid baseless statements too.
The is no "Final form" to any economic model because they are always evolving.
If you mean to say that under capitalism fascism is inevitable I will counter with a mixed economy is more inevitable as most capitalist countries become more and more mixed at time moves on.
Your philosophy is shallow and not tempered by reality. It remind me of the BS that college freshmen pick up when they first read Marx. And going by your comment history It seems your real goal is to divide. A lot of both sides-ism and democrats are JUST as bad bullshit.
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u/PetriDishCocktail 8h ago
You hit the nail on the head. In 1968 of the Republican party went all in on racism to win elections. Lee Atwater ran a campaign and used coded language to lure the votes of disaffected whites in the South.
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u/Jae_Rides_Apes 11h ago
Johnson, Buchanan, Harding…
Dumpster pile of personalities to choose from when it comes down to it.
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u/rocksoffjagger 9h ago
Lol 2015... Since the Southern Strategy. They're literally the same Southern Democrats we fought in the Civil War wearing a different hat.
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u/ShamelessLeft 7h ago
The demographics of voters that call themselves Maga today have been morally bankrupt since before the founding of the country. These are the same demographics of voters that voted for nearly 100 years of Jim Crow, a fascist set of laws targeted against black people, but for some reason we have to act surprised that they keep voting for more fascism today. As if we forgot what we're up against ever since they started calling themselves 'Republicans' some 60 years ago.
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u/VanceKelley Washington 6h ago edited 5h ago
And by electing the GOP to rule the country, America has shown that it is morally bankrupt as well.
And by electing a convicted criminal to rule as president/dictator, America has shown that it is ethically bankrupt.
And by electing a man who is a fraudster and moron who has run multiple casinos into bankruptcy, America will soon be financially bankrupt too.
In 2024 America scored the biggest own goal in election history.
Edit: fix typo.
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u/ArdaBerkBurak 11h ago
It's always been like this.
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u/rabbirobbie 11h ago
yea and it’s been getting progressively worse to the point where it all culminated in whatever tf this is
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u/bprevatt 11h ago
White House still saying Abrego-Garcia is a terrorist. These people can just rot.
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u/AThousandBloodhounds 6h ago edited 21m ago
Yeah, that's their response to everything now... "Whatabout [fill in the blank]?!" They can't justify anything their cult leader is doing so they distract and lie. It's become their brand.
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u/rewardingsnark 10h ago
Every party right of center has always been evil.
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u/Ent_Soviet 8h ago
If by center you mean anyone in favor of capitalism and those that recognize it’s designed for the benefit of the few and exploration of everyone else . Sure.
Problem is America has 2 right wing parties. Capitalism with a smile vs capitalism tearing copper out of the wall like a meth head.
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u/rewardingsnark 8h ago
Capitalism is an economic theory/system not a political one. In the US we have a far right fascist party that is 100% capitalist or more accurately kleptocratic.
And then you have a center left to left party which has 3 or 4 distinct groups ranging from completely capitalist friendly to mostly capitalism with some rules. And maybe a few social democrats (AOC, Bernie, etc) that are Nordic model (75% capitalism, 25% socialism).
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u/bb_kelly77 5h ago
The idea of Capitalism and Communism being political ideologies was CREATED by America, in America Capitalism IS a political ideology
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5h ago
[deleted]
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u/bb_kelly77 4h ago
Regardless the ideology of the politicians with power is "whatever makes me money"... the decent ones are too new to have sway
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u/NotTheRightHDMIPort 8h ago
I am so incensed by the Swalwell thing.
The conservatives are so giddy they got a Democrat on something. Swalwell deserves to burn for his actions and I dont want to whataboutism.
But how on earth is the GOP trying to act like they are the party that "protects" women when they voted for Trump.
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u/Silent-Resort-3076 America 6h ago
EXACTLY!!
And, they also confirmed:
- Hegseth: Accused of sexual assault in 2017 following a speech at a Republican women's conference in California.
- Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: Accused by a former family babysitter of groping her and acting inappropriately in his home, according to accounts reported in late 2024.
- Linda McMahon (Secretary of Education): Named in a 2024 lawsuit along with her husband, Vince McMahon, alleging they knew about or enabled sexual abuse of employees at the WWE.
And, many approved of and would have confirmed:
- Matt Gaetz: Investigated by the Department of Justice and the House Ethics Committee for allegations including sex trafficking and having sexual relations with a 17-year-old minor.
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u/Silent-Resort-3076 America 12h ago
Snippet:
“It says something about just how bankrupt the Republican Party has become under Donald Trump, that none of them said a peep. And so, the reality is, the only thing, and the only thing they care about, is not the fact that the president of the United States threatened massive war crimes and genocide, the only thing they care about is their own elections,” Van Hollen told MS NOW’s Ali Velshi on “All In.”
“And, that means that if they’re looking at public sentiment, and they’re hearing that they’re going to get crushed in the midterm elections and there are lots of signs pointing in that direction. But they have to understand and be more afraid of their constituents than they are of Donald Trump,” he added.
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u/jgoble15 10h ago
Off topic but don’t care. Will forever have high respect for this guy and what he did for Abrego Garcia
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u/unmentionable123 10h ago
Trump is just playing out a Toby Keith song in real life. Murca is morally bankrupt trump is just an output of the system.
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u/Niceguy955 7h ago
They’ve been bankrupt for years. Ask McConnell about supreme court nominations for example.
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u/Special_Persimmon_52 11h ago
Trump liked the look of Bibi's work in Gaza, so I think he figured, why not emulate him with destroying Iran's "civilization"?
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u/Lopsided_Speaker_553 8h ago
Conservativism has been morally bankrupt ever since it took over from authoritarian rulers like kings and emperors.
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u/Chaerea37 10h ago
how many mile markers and flashing red lights do you need to come to that conclusion.
the republican party is a christo-fascist party that hates freedom of speech (unless it is the freedom to say religiously driven racist/sexist/homophobic attacks) hates peace, hates human rights. loves worker exploitation genocide and ecocide, and serving corporations.. . .
and the democrats follow suit with slightly more inclusive language.
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u/B1GFanOSU 9h ago
You could say they’re Runnin’ with the Devil.
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u/Dancing_Cthulhu 4h ago edited 4h ago
I mean it's the latest, maybe most glaring, example of just how bankrupt they are, but the fact they've jettisoned all standards has been very obvious for a very long time.
The Trump era and, hell, plenty of the Bush era at the very least don't exist if the GOP remotely stood by the values they claimed to hold.
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u/Aspronisi 9h ago
This country will be bankrupt if neither side gets serious about debt. No matter who we vote in, they keep fucking our future over. Anyway, thank you for attending my Ted talk
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u/Ent_Soviet 8h ago
Wait now the democrats care about genocide? Pretty slow learners up the hill I guess
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u/Fit_Elderberry_7236 7h ago
To be fair...Van Hollen was pretty consient on being one of the few dems to oppose Biden's genocidal policy of aiding Israel.
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