Let's talk about a GOP governor calling Trump actions 'un-American'.... - Belle of the Ranch

[TexasTowelie]

Well, howdy there Internet people. It's Belle again. So, today we're going to talk about a GOP governor calling Trump actions un-American.

In another example of how many in the Republican party might be starting to view Trump as a lame duck already, especially at the state level, the governor of Oklahoma leveled some pretty heavy criticism at Trump and his effects on the Republican party. It looks like some are already looking forward to a post-Trump party.

Oklahoma's very Republican Governor Kevin Sttit has had some run-ins with Trump before. In fact, recently, because he's chair of the National Governor's Association, he was at the center of that giant mess Trump created by attempting to exclude some governors from the White House breakfast. And it was on the sidelines of the National Governor's Association meeting in DC that Stitt really leveled his heaviest criticism at Trump.

The interview started out with the normal stuff governors talk about states rights, how it's important to have a good relationship with federal counterparts regardless of party and how governors can work together and so on. Then he talked at length about the separation of powers and how the federal government shouldn't be strong enough to force its will on the states.

It was about 10 minutes in before he really started criticizing Trump's way of doing things to include immigration, even pushing for states to take over immigration to a degree. Then he pushed back against federalizing elections. He pushed back against immigration going after kids in schools and using kids to get to their parents.

Then he spoke on issues specific to Oklahoma for a while. But it was when he was asked about the future of the Republican party that things got even more surprising. He wants a Republican party of limited federal government. He actually sounded like those almost now extinct small government conservatives.

Then he started talking about the pendulum swing at the federal level killing infrastructure development because of the uncertainty. Markets hate uncertainty. He used the Keystone pipeline as an example and then talked about a wind project in Rhode Island and said, "They did everything right. They've been working on it for 8 years. They have all their permits. They're 90% complete and they just got the plug pulled on them. That is by the administration. That's un-American. We cannot be a pendulum swing where we are going back and forth and we're killing different projects based on our political views.” In closing, he said “we have to get back to integrity. We've got to get back to a limited federal government.”

When the interviewer joked about him wanting to go back to a Republican party from before 2016, he gave a very politic answer of simply saying, "I believe we should get back to putting those things forward that we've always done."

This interview is important for two reasons. One is yet another very clear example of Trump losing his sway and the other is that this should send a warning to the Democratic party. There are some Republicans who are already working on a post-Trump message. If the Democratic Party wants to be competitive, they've got to work up real tangible policies that hit home for the American worker.

Anyway, it's just a thought. Y'all have a good day.