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Welp, turns out more Epstein files are finally getting released!
Apparently there will be a vote coming out to release even more, but the docs released so far have been negative for Trump's claims to be innocent of the whole matter.
This, combined with the ruckus over Trump arguing we need foreign talent, has caused a massive cratering amongst online confidence in MAGA. From my perspective, confidence in MAGA at least online is the lowest it has ever been. Many feel betrayed by Trump when it comes to his America First promises.
Add in the storm over Fuentes and Israel, and I feel I'm seeing the conservative coalition fall apart in real time, extremely quickly.
Is this inevitable, the narcissism of small differences? Or is it just Trump not being a very principled man?
You really see the craven lack of any consistent position across the congressional (and executive, but Trump’s loyalty to himself is widely known) GOP here. Weeks ago, MTG was arguing in her big Reason interview that actually deporting non-criminal illegal immigrants is a bad idea and implying, essentially, there should be some kind of pathway to citizenship. Today she’s criticizing the administration for being soft on immigration.
Miller opposes both illegal and legal immigration. But the reality is that deporting illegals (which can be done without congress) is higher priority than deporting H1B workers or ending legal work visa immigration, which requires congress to repeal laws it passed and where even minor measures like the $100k new application fee are likely to be successfully challenged. Importing an Indian elite, 150,000 people a year at a time, may be an issue in the medium to long term, and I find that argument persuasive, but on a fundamental priorities basis it’s low skill illegal immigration in the millions, primarily from Central America, that is far worse for the future of America when it comes to crime, schooling, welfare, tax receipts, public services and general civilizational quality.
But of course MTG (herself a construction business owner) and various other Republican congressmen work in states where red business interests rely on illegal labor, whereas H1B Indian immigration is a distant thing that’s easy to performatively oppose because it’s concentrated in a few coastal cities and the constituencies that like it are either WITCH outsourcing firms owned by non-Americans or big tech companies in California.
I don’t know how there are people who aren’t loyal to themselves.
Absolute loyalty to your personal self interest over anyone else’s is widely considered a bad trait in politicians given that perceived personal self interest (especially financially but also in terms of influence, donations and so on) is rarely absolutely aligned with public support.
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