Trump Republicans and non-Trump Republicans are arguably further apart than non-Trump Republicans and most Democrats. The DNC had more non-Trump Republican speakers than the RNC.
Yes. The Conways may share the same party label but they have major differences ideologically.
This strikes me as a momentary schism. But I may be wrong. There may develop a permanent “New Protestant” wing of the GOP.
Which just reinforces it – people often can’t handle it and need to step back, so it is notable to see someone who can hack it at this level of visibility.
But also, one would expect people to have the character to say, “y’know what? Save my family first, THEN the high-octane career.” Nobody needs to make it to the West Wing.
OTOH there is the element that Matalin/Carville came up in a different sociopolitical ecosystem. Neither of them was in a position of “losing everything” if the people they advised lost the election, or even from having a falling out with their candidate. As Temporary_Name puts it, when it becomes a matter of “OMG I can’t let go, I’ll never have it as good”, that can make things pretty bad.
I think there’s a good chance the suit for emancipation has already been filed. Her parents both quit their jobs - that’s not a reaction to your child’s social media equivalent of “I’m running away to join the circus!”, it’s more what you do after the Sheriff’s deputy shows up at your workplace with a court summons.
On the morality of the situation, we agree completely.
All of my extensive verbiage was nothing more than efforts to explain how she got into the mess from which she is only now extricating herself. Even the day before the election no one seriously thought Trump was going to win. She took the gig because it was short term and paid well (whatever the reasons – I have a hard time imagining she ever thought it would lead here). Then she was offered a job in the West Wing and figured he would be a better executive than he was a candidate (almost everyone thought so back then). After she had taken another twenty steps down that road, she had forgotten where the road made of good intentions leads.
At some time she must have realized she was never going to turn him into a decent president and should have left then. I have seen firsthand how hard it can be walk away from all that glitters and I continue to resent her for her past work for Trump. But somehow (not my nature at all!), I am willing to forgive her because now she is leaving. I guess we have a teenage girl to thank for that. For my part, the past is past (after tomorrow night) I will try to not hold that against her going forward as long as she leaves and doesn’t help the campaign . If she helps Trump after that I will want to (metaphorically- violence neither expressed nor implied) burn her at the stake!!
Partly I have the same answer I had for Buck_Godet, as long as she is no longer helping the ass clown I will forgive her for the past. Live and let live, and let the fully innocent cast the first stone and all that.
As far as thinking she hated her boss and hated her job, the job of a political spokesperson is to give the boss’ argument—not your own. Kellyanne Conway is not an idiot, she knows Trump is a jackass – probably better than you or I know it (and I have NO doubt). Of course she doesn’t look like she is miserable, if she did she would be a very shitty spokesperson wouldn’t she? Not looking like you are under duress is not evidence you love your job. I have pointed out how someone could get a little deeper and a little deeper until eventually he or she has no good options – that does not mean they like where they are.
Is it possible she did not realize how much she was compromising her personal ethics until the cold slap of facing the possibility of losing her daughter occurred? Those hard fast lines that are easy to see from here might be a bit more convoluted from the range at which she was viewing them is all I am saying.
Does. Not. Compute.
Do you think an attorney took this gig pro bono or is she independently financially secure at 15?
You don’t need an attorney to file, although having one isn’t a bad idea. (Sez me, the instant expert, with my law degree from University of Google.)
I don’t know a single person who thought that back then. Everybody I knew predicted how he’d behave, and their predictions were pretty accurate.
There are resources out there for teens looking to emancipate. She is probably better situated than most to find them.
Let’s see if and how she avails herself of these resources.
Observationally: Many of us (just me?) have learned recently, she has a twin brother and two younger siblings. Yet when she speaks about years of abuse by her parents, she seems to speak only for herself. I find that peculiar.
YOu’re really determined to find a way that this teenage girl is contemptible, aren’t you? She’s a hypocrite, she’s manipulative, she’s frontin’, she’s lying about seeking emancipation, she’s not looking out for her siblings. What is it with you and her?
Testing my own intuitions about human psychology and character. Or my own capacity for cynicism. Sometimes it’s hard to tell which.
Yes, the good ole days, back when kids and people in general were respectful. The or else was an important part of that dynamic.
…and something else too, if I’m honest.
There seems to be every reason to think that this is a kid who is a product of her environment, who through no fault of her own has learned to be manipulative and attentions seeking. There is every reason to be suspicious of her motives, and the precociousness of youth, and the influence of undue attention and reward cycles of social media. But because she has expressed political views consistent with progressive values, which resonate with many of us here - especially in contrast to the villain in the other room, her mother - we are willing to grant her the widest possible benefit of doubt rather than cast a more skeptical eye. I find that interesting as well.
Perhaps test these things on your own motives, before you test them on the motives of a teenager going through a very difficult time?
The benefit of the doubt I’m giving her is because she’s a child whom I don’t know, not because of her mom. If you’re approaching this differently, again, maybe look at yourself first.
What is it she has done wrong? She has spoken her mind. I’d be willing to parcel out blame if there was anything blameworthy about her actions.
Well almost everyone I discussed it with between the election and the inauguration thought he would calm down and be more serious about the job. Of course, most of them voted for him so they were hoping they didn’t just screw the pooch by putting a madman in power. In my circles the conventional wisdom was that now that he had the job – the weight of its awesome responsibility would kick in and he would at least try to do a decent job. Even well after he took the oath of office they were still hoping he would stop tweeting and start reading briefing material. That he was just getting his sea legs and soon he would grow into the job. That was a pretty common belief in early 2017, if you look at reporting at that time you will see some (not all) pundits thought that was likely.
Even I thought the institution would temper him somewhat. I knew he was never going to be the mature, reasonable leader others were hoping he would become, but I sure didn’t expect him to get away with the disastrous level of … what, ‘nonconformity’ that has likely been criminal.
I am pretty sure it was the same election cycle when an executive did just what most people I spoke to about the matter hoped Trump would do. As a candidate for governor in Arizona, Doug Ducey was just as wild and right wing as Trump. He was also running as a businessman and there was no right wing ideal to which he was not willing to swear fealty and no left wing ideal he was not promising to demolish. But once in office he has been quite reasonable and moderate. He works and plays well others and tries to solve problems using reason rather than ideology. Arizona cases of virus are going down rapidly because he is one of the few Republican governors willing to mandate masks and shut down businesses for example. (He still sounds like a Trump loyalist, but he is about fifty layers above him by his actions- maybe more.)
Even before Trump it was not unusual for a candidate to promise the world and to spit fire during the campaign - - then be much more moderate in office. Almost everyone I discussed Trump with said some version of: “Oh, he doesn’t mean that, he is just throwing red meat to the base”. Here, I was the lone voice saying they had elected a madman and would regret it.