Lankford Hates His Job

The flagship has spoken.

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27

Steve rejoins the Dispatch Podcast roundtable with Sarah, Mike, and John to discuss the behind-the-scenes discussions that killed the border deal and the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals’ rejection of Donald Trump’s claims of presidential immunity.

The Agenda:

—Does the GOP want to solve the border crisis?

—Nikki Haley is having fun out there

—How SCOTUS will treat Trump’s case

—Quasi Moon Named Zuzvi

—“Conservative curious” writer and Sarah’s New Yorker piece

Show Notes:

–Kelefa Sanneh’s piece on George Strait

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Comments (27)
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  1. MathewA

    There's an easy move for Democrats to make. The senate could bring up and pass the house immigration bill from May, then dare Republicans to not go along with it..

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  2. Nickolas

    As a loyal AO listener with no legal background, I agree that the current incarnation is superior to Steve's initial idea of an accessible-but-necessarily-more-shallow pod. I do sometimes wish there was a big yellow AO for Idiots book on my shelf, but I'd rather be eves-dropping on the adult table than being schooled like a child : D

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    George.Skinner

    You could anticipate the failure of the border bill months ago because the populist right parts of the Republican caucus were always going to find some reason to be unhappy with the aid for Ukraine, and would rather have the purity of the partisan messaging of HR2 rather than accept a realistic compromise on border security. Trump commanding them to spike it to support his campaign simply crystallized the eventual rationale.

    There should be electoral consequences for the Republicans for throwing away this opportunity, either in 2024 or 2026 if they fail to accomplish anything despite holding power again. Unfortunately, their voters seem to have both the memory of a goldfish and a tribal partisan loyalty that allows them to forgive all manner of disappointment so long as they’re in power.

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    1. MathewA

      I note that the senate immigration bill doesn't fix family catch and release problems.

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    2. Francislyo

      True, George.Skinner - and you sum it up really well.

      In this pod we heard it discussed how Republicans killed the best deal that they're likely to get on their top issue of the last 8 years. Then Steve grabbed the last word on the subject, leading with "Democrats deserve to be condemned for that". He painted Democrats as cynical and equally responsible for the bill being killed with no discussion.

      In doing so Steve completely negated the value of the compromise: Democrats giving in on their past position on immigration in order to send desperately needed aid to Ukraine.

      Moderate Republicans I know are looking for the permission structure to throw Ukraine under the bus and blame it all on Democrats. Steve is providing it. TD, please don't.

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    3. Jackrabbit McQuivers

      I've noticed there are lots of "center right" folks who say they continue to vote for GOP because of Immigration. And yet it was always obvious that the GOP did not care about Immigration, only shouting about Immigration to manipulate people into thinking they cared.

      I hope that now, some of those center-right folks are realizing that they were being conned the whole time. (Since 2014 or so). I'm not saying they have to like Dems. But any Republican who thinks the GOP is stronger on Immigration is drinking from the Kool-Aid

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      1. Sai Ayila

        Here chip speaking the truth about trump when they were in power. https://www.google.com/amp/s/thehill.com/homenews/house/4452898-chip-roy-donald-trump-border/amp/

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  4. Martha O'Brien

    Great podcast! The insightful political commentary as well as the friendly banter is always engaging. And for what it’s worth, I’d like to respectfully offer my take on the ‘time lag’ (Hur report) mentioned in an earlier comment. I too noticed it, but thought it was refreshing and re-enforced to me that resources are prioritized wisely. One of the main reasons this website is the first place I go-to for political news is exactly because it is not a Chyron infested, ‘breaking news’ place. The amount of quality content that is produced daily by what appears to be a very 'lean' organization is remarkable.

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  5. Brett F

    It's a sin the Republicans killed that bill. Hugely necessary improvements to the asylum system.

    Although maybe they are going to rebuild it with amendments to the Ukraine/Israel funding. Hope so.

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    Dsfelty

    Listening to the podcast Saturday afternoon in the den doing paperwork and bookkeeping ......two thoughts:
    1. Thank the Lord for TD. Keeps me sane to know there's a place I can identify with intellectually and politically, especially when Steve is included.
    2. Just got a blurb from News Nation that Mike Gallagher will not be seeking re-election. Can't blame him, but so sad to see more rational people leaving the Republican party.
    Is 3:45 Saturday too early to start indulging in adult beverages?

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      Scarlette Tarte

      I saw that as well. Too bad. He was one Republican I thought was a straight shooter.

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      Retired Prosecutor

      Nope. Remember the late Jimmy Buffet's motto: it's 5 o'clock somewhere!

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    Carolyn

    Another good one who hates his job, now getting out:

    Wisconsin Rep. Mike Gallagher, chairman of the Select Committee on China, will not seek reelection this November.

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      Retired Prosecutor

      Oh geez! One by one, the sane ones are leaving the Island of Misfit Toys.

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  8. Sai Ayila

    Immigration won't be a decider on Nov. Actually its republicans who blew their only chance. The problems half of those GOP morons didn't even read the bill instead followed their "godfather" blindly. If they actually read the bill they will know that it actually contains GOP wish list. In fact it didn't even have pathway to citizenship or daca reform a key democratic priorit but still political reasons or not the fact Dems agreed to tighten the border is itself should have been victory for any republican not named trump . Chris Murphy is absolutely furious and he made it clear they will not ressurect this bill even if Republicans beg him anymore. Dems will make them pay starting with the special election next week. Suozzi absolutely destroyed her opponent in the debate saying she is all talk no show

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    Jeff Walden

    The Hur mentions highlight yet again how sometimes awkward it is that this podcast takes a full day to be produced and go live. Presumably it's a question of manpower or something and nobody actually wants it to take ~24h to turn around, but the delay is pretty glaring here!

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  10. Randall Briggs

    I have little sympathy for my U.S. Senator, James Lankford. He has sailed along on the giant wave of Trumpism, without expressly endorsing the worst aspects of it, but without ever uttering a word of criticism of the Great Orange God-King. Now his mates throw him overboard because he negotiated a decent compromise bill only to find out that Trump's gut-rumbles demand chaos on the border.

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