The Republican Party: "Democracy needs its gatekeepers": The Republican Party is too corrupt to care about the country

[sear]

https://citizenvoice.us/threads/topic-drift-overflow.531/page-4 #77

The meme earns a smirk. BUT !
Is there a deeper story here?
In a general election, a partisan voter has incentive to vote for the candidate of his own party, even if ideologically he may prefer the opposing candidate.
Why?
In each house of the U.S. federal legislature the legislative agenda is powerfully influenced by the political party that dominates by %population. The majority rules. BUT !
In the primary?
In primary elections, candidates WITHIN the party compete against one another. Thus primary elections tend to be more concept based.

 

[sear]

Post 2026 mid-term election tea leaf review:

Some elected officials concentrate their efforts in office to governance, promoting public welfare.
But for others, political partisan rivalry is a higher priority than good governance.
For them partisanship is a higher priority than citizenship.

“The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
http://www.mediaite.com/online/white-house-appears-to-want-to-shame-the-shameless-mitch-mcconnell-and-company/

"One hundred percent of our focus is on stopping this new administration." Senate Minority Leader McConnell (R-KY) 21/05/08

That was then. How about now?

The context for the answer to that question is the mid-term election drubbing the GOP suffered, not merely flipping house control from Republican to Democrat,
but reportedly giving house Democrats the largest party majority in a century.

Have elected Republicans gotten the message?

Hell NO !

SEMAFOR
New White House chief of staff Miller shuts door on big business
Ben Smith Mon, November 9, 2026 at 8:01 PM GMT-5
The replacement of White House chief of staff Susie Wiles with her hardline deputy Stephen Miller shuts the door through which many CEOs softened Trump administration policies or sought favors, and sets the stage for more direct confrontation with business in the second half of Trump's term.
Even CEOs skeptical of Trump's chaotic style and his hostility to trade and immigration found that they could, with the help of Wiles and now-former tech czar David Sacks, talk Trump out of his aides' most disruptive moves, and beat back everything from worksite raids to canceling TSA PreCheck.
Former Robert F. Kennedy Jr. adviser Calley Means complained on CBS News Sunday that Wiles helped big business foil Kennedy's health plans. Now CEOs are unsure who to call, a top DC lobbyist tells Semafor — and aren't sure that Miller, whose career focus has been on stopping immigration, is inclined to take their side with Trump.
— Ben Smith

New White House chief of staff Miller shuts door on big business

Under previous chief of staff Susie Wiles, many CEOs had a channel that helped them soften Trump administration policies or seek favors.

www.yahoo.com

Republicans chose a former leadership rebel to lead them
House Republicans elected Jim Jordan as their next leader after major midterm losses, betting the conservative firebrand can unite the party and challenge Democrats.

Jordan looks to move Republicans beyond midterm rout

House Republicans on Tuesday tapped Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) to lead their diminished conference in the next Congress, betting that a conservative spitfire — and onetime leadership nemesis — can resto...

www.yahoo.com

So lady & gentleman $taxpaying voters, the ruthless Republican component of our government may have been diminished in number slightly by the mid-term election.
But these early Republican leadership rearrangements indicate the will of the People as expressed at the ballot box
is rather more an obstacle to be circumvented than a democratic edict to be obeyed / fulfilled.

 

[Shiftless2]

Re #22 - it's been said that a politician's main duty is to get reelected. And that leads to party over country.

 

[sear]

"- it's been said that a politician's main duty is to get reelected." S #23

It has, in various ways. Also familiar:
- More important to keep your job than do your job. -

Sometimes in politics you have to rise above principle. Sen. Everett Dirksen

Fine.
BUT !
They're not ALL crooked.

"After 8 years in Washington [DC] I long for the realism and sincerity of Hollywood." former Senator Fred Thompson (R-TN)

And while I'm no fan of the political bloodline, Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) refused to go along with the crowd.


"Remaining silent, & ignoring the lie, emboldens the liar." Rep. Liz Cheney,addressing the house floor 21/05/12 regarding the Republican conspiracy to claim Trump won the 2020 election

"...I think that there are some things that have to be bigger than party. They have to be bigger than partisanship. Our oath to the Constitution is one of those. I've seen countries, I've worked in countries around the world where you don't have a peaceful transition of power. What's happening right now with Donald Trump and his continued attacks on the Constitution and the rule of law is dangerous. And we all have an obligation to stand up against that." Rep.Liz Cheney (R-WY) former Republican Conference Chair in tele-conference with FOX News Chris Wallace on FNS 21/05/16

[Trump]"summoned the mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack. Everything that followed was his doing. ... There has never been a greater betrayal by a president of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution." Rep. Liz Cheney Republican Conference Chair 21/01/12, authenticated by Cheney 21/02/07 FNS

"The single greatest threat to our republic is a president who would put his own self-interest above the Constitution, above the national interest. We've had a situation where President Trump claimed for months that the election was stolen and then apparently set about to do everything he could to steal it himself and that ended up in an attack on the capitol. 5 people killed that day." Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) speaking on FNS Superbowl Sunday 21/02/07

"We have to choose, because Republicans cannot both be loyal to Donald Trump, and loyal to the Constitution."
Representative Liz Cheney (R-WY) speaking at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute "A Time For Choosing Speaker Series", & was interrupted by applause from the Republican crowd delaying her completion of her next sentence
"...what we already know is enough for his impeachment. What we already know does constitute the greatest violation of his oath of office by any president in the history of the country ..." Rep. Liz Cheney Republican Conference Chair 21/01/12, authenticated by Cheney 21/02/07 FNS

Rep. Liz Cheney [R-WY] October 2022: "It's really disgraceful that Minority Leader McCarthy suggested that if the Republicans get the majority back, we will not continue to provide support for the Ukrainians. What's happening in Ukraine today shows that democracy must be better armed than tyranny."

Those are quotations of former representative Liz Cheney [R].
Often our elected officials must decide between keeping their oath, and keeping their job. Former Rep. Liz Cheney [R-WY] made that decision.