“Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated”♠

For John, BLUF:  Democrats think Republicans live in a dream world.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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At Nation of Change we have Professor Robert Reich talking about "The Death of the Republican Party".

It has been replaced by warring tribes:

Evangelicals opposed to abortion, gay marriage, and science.

Libertarians opposed to any government constraint on private behavior.

Market fundamentalists convinced the “free market” can do no wrong.

Corporate and Wall Street titans seeking bailouts, subsidies, special tax loopholes, and other forms of crony capitalism.

Billionaires craving even more of the nation’s wealth than they already own.

And white working-class Trumped’s who love Donald. and are becoming convinced the greatest threats to their well being are Muslims, blacks, and Mexicans.

Each of these tribes has its own separate political organization, its own distinct sources of campaign funding, its own unique ideology – and its own candidate.

What’s left is a lifeless shell called the Republican Party.  But the Grand Old Party inside the shell is no more.

And it ends thusly:

Without a Republican Party, nothing stands between us and a veritable Star Wars barroom♥ of self-proclaimed wannabe’s.

Without a Party, anyone runs who’s able to raise (or already possesses) the requisite money – even if he happens to be a pathological narcissist who has never before held public office, even if he’s a knave detested by all his Republican colleagues.

Without a Republican Party, it’s just us and them. And one of them could even become the next President of the United States.

The thing is, if, as the last paragraph suggests, a Republican is elected as our next President it will be a comment on the Democrat Party and voting in Chicago.  Someone from a non-existent party will have beaten either a Democrat with a Criminal Contempt for Federal Laws or a Socialist who is a throwback to the Democrat Senator Huey P Long.  Who is, speaking of death, gone from us lo these many years, gunned down in the Capital of Louisiana.

And, speaking of The Donald, I don't like the way Prof Reich uses the term Mexicans.  Is he referring to Hispanics in the US, some of whom are coming over to Mr Trump?  Or, is he referring to people from Central America, who are streaming through Mexico to come to the United States?  Or, is he talking about real Mexicans, who had come to the United States as Economic Migrants, but went home to Mexico because things had improved back home?  I hope Prof Reich is not expecting them to vote in our US Presidential Election, come this November.  So, what does the Professor mean, unless it is just another Ethnic slur.

The Inquisitr had this item five days ago:

Sixty-four percent of each group of Hispanics want migration to be reduced or leveled, said Gallup, which released the report under a misleading headline, "U.S. Support for Increased Immigration Up to 25%"

On the flip side, why shouldn't Blacks see immigrants as a threat to their well being?  As Hispanics become a larger voting block, why wouldn't the Democrat Party drop them for the new minority, with more votes to be had.

Eventually, Immigrants become acculturated and just want to be recognized as Americans and not some ethnic subset.  Republicans trend to think this is a good thing.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  Mark Twain, after hearing that his obituary had been published in The New York Journal.
♥  When the first Star Wars movie came out Air Force Fighter Pilots deducted three lessons learned.  There will always be a Happy Hour.  The women at Happy Hour will always be below average.  And, third, Dive Toss will never work, Dive Toss being the F-4D and F-4E automatic bombing system.