Even as people were absorbing the incredible brazenness with which Trump backed our supposed enemy while doing what he could – or approving someone doing what they could – to hamstring our supposed ally in Ukraine, the Republican Party was rolling out yet another October Surprise! This time the surprise was an ad in the Ohio governor’s race that was below bottom scraping in its content.
I saw that the CBC had a story on this issue, so I purposely chose that one to post thinking the Canadians might be less partisan on this. No matter where the story comes from, it is very hard to avoid the stink of this bomb. As a victim of sexual abuse as a child myself, it is hard to say how outraged i got when I first heard this story. 2 minutes:
Creating and running this commercial shows just how low today’s Republican Party is willing to go. And to show there is no bottom to their depravity, no moral compass and absolutely no boundaries they have the number 2 person in our government give it an approving boost.
Even by current Republican standards, this is low. This ad was met with outrage from Democrats and Independents across the country. Yet the MAGA and Republicans of this country have said little. I guess they are going to see if it will work. Maybe this commercial will become the template for what will be a no-holds-barred presidential election in 2028 – if it happens.
So there you go – two October surprises that I am sure no political prognosticator would have predicted even under the spell of Jack Daniels or a doobie. Both have long range effects for this Republican Party that is now showing itself that it has little to do with its former incarnation. Nor does it have much to do with what the average American deals with in their lives.
On the one hand Republicans through the Ramaswami commercial show there are no depths to which they will no go to win. Also it highlights what they think of how little they think life is worth. Add this commercial to the damage they do by cutting off food to children, cutting off health care, cutting back on education. The list goes on. Many of those cuts were just enacted in their Big Beautiful(really ugly) Bill. They do not give a hoot in hell about any of us unless thay can use us.
The other October Surprise is Trump’s knife in the back to our allies while he switches our allegiances to what were our enemies. Will any country or group of countries ever trust us again? I would suspct in international relations potwntial allies and customers will have a caution such as “remember 2026!” or “Can we trust a country that elected Trump?”
I stumbled across another view of Trump’s treasn from the always very sober and reserved Paul Krugman:
The Traitor in Chief
Trump and his allies hate America and what it stands for
As Sanger notes, Trump’s support for Putin is unique in American history. Previous administrations have made deals with erstwhile adversaries, as Nixon did with China, and given up on support for failing allies, as the U.S. did in Vietnam and Afghanistan. But never before have we outright switched sides, let alone supported an aggressor while vilifying that aggressor’s victim.
What makes Trump’s support for Putin even more remarkable is that Russia has, by many accounts, been actively aiding Iran against America in the war Trump started. Who says so? Well, among others, Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. And the aid goes beyond intelligence sharing that has helped Iran target U.S. forces. Russia has also reportedly been sending Iran explosives and weapons components.
What would Republicans be saying if a Democratic president were supporting a foreign dictator even as that dictator was helping another nation kill American troops? They would be crying “treason.” But this is all apparently “fine” with Trump.
What’s going on here? It’s important to understand that — as Phillips O’Briendocuments — Trump hasn’t “pivoted” away from Ukraine toward Russia. He has been a Putin supporter all along.
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