If Joe Walsh can vote for any Democrat, including Bernie, so can the rest of us!

[southernhybrid]

Since most of you are political junkies, you probably know who Joe Walsh is, but if not, let's just say, far right tea party, former Congress, extremist pundit who supported Trump in 2016 and now regrets it. I love it when people grow and change, and are able to admit their mistakes. But Joe Walsh? Wow! Good for him.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/02/25/joe-walsh-im-no-fan-bernie-sanders-nevertrump-means-never-trump/

This isn’t complicated. “Never Trump,” “never-Trump” or, if you prefer, #NeverTrump has always been a straightforward concept — the word “never” is right there in the name. But with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) moving ahead of the pack as the clear front-runner in this year’s Democratic presidential primaries, some of my Republican and ex-Republican brethren have started implying that what never-Trump actually meant was something more like: fingers-crossed-I-really-really-hope-not-Trump-but-I-guess-sometimes-Trump if Democrats wind up nominating a self-described democratic socialist. But that’s not how this works.

Never-Trump means that you still believe in the Constitution. It means you knew what Benjamin Franklin meant when he warned that we Americans have been blessed with a republic, “if you can keep it.” It means you recognize that Trump is enough of a threat to our founding principles that you won’t vote for him under any circumstances. And, at least to me, it also means you’ll suck it up and support his Democratic opponent, no matter who that is.

In 2016, sadly, I supported Trump. I freely admit that I’m a second-wave never-Trumper. But once I got here, it was always my plan to stay. Because, for me, the ways in which Trump threatens this country go beyond left-right ideology. He lies constantly. He grants pardons to toadies. He conflates America’s financial interests with his own. He uses his bully pulpit to air a never-ending, year-round list of Festivus grievances.
He surrounds himself with lackeys and purges staff who won’t do his bidding. He’s an authoritarian who once said, with a straight face, “I have an Article II, where I have the right to do whatever I want.” That’s a bigger threat to America than free college, a $15-per-hour minimum wage and Glass-Steagall part deux. Yes, I’m a fiscal conservative who still worries about the national debt. But not as much as I worry about Trump wrecking my country.

If someone like Joe Walsh can vote for any of the Democrats, so can any never Trumper. He even says he will campaign for him. Could Republicans like Walsh be the people who help unite the country by helping us all realize that this election is like no other and this president is like no other, so we must take him down in a unifying way?

Today, former Republican Bret Stevens, a man I actually respect, said that he would vote for anyone but Bernie. Joe needs to speak to people like Bret and talk some sense into him. Hopefully, once the primaries are over, there will be some unity, but Bernie must help do that too. He can't just preach to his base and expect everyone else to jump on board. Joe fucking Walsh! I'm thrilled.

 

[J842P]

Could Republicans like Walsh be the people who help unite the country by helping us all realize that this election is like no other and this president is like no other, so we must take him down in a unifying way?

No, haha. Absolutely not. It amazes me you even think that could be the case.

 

[ideologyhunter]

Absolute goddamned lemmings. The democratic system is riddled with Donald cancer -- just stunning how much havoc this deluded thug is doing. Stunning that the Republican party can stand at the gravesite of Constitutional government and rationalize their support of him.

 

[PyramidHead]

Never-Trump Republicans are a tiny minority of the country and have a vested interest in maintaining the same status quo that brought us Trump. They just think they're being nuanced and charitable by writing their 75th op-ed column called "Democrats Risk Alienating Me, An Overpaid Hack Journalist".