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Sen. Jeff Flake is among the most endangered Republicans running for reelection next year. But he's not exactly acting like it.

The senator from Arizona unleashed a searing criticism Tuesday of President Trump and, more significantly, the GOP's unwillingness to confront the chaos at the White House.

Republicans, he writes in his new book, are in "denial."

"Too often, we observe the unfolding drama along with the rest of the country, passively, all but saying, Someone should do something! without seeming to realize that that someone is us," Flake writes in "Conscience of a Conservative."

"And so, that unnerving silence in the face of an erratic executive branch is an abdication, and those in positions of leadership bear particular responsibility."

Such frank criticism of ones own party is an unusual approach in Washington, and some are heralding Flake as a voice of reason in a Congress where most Republicans have been hesitant to confront Trump, especially in states the president won.

But its actually not surprising coming from the first-term senator, who was never a Trump fan. Flake has always been a bit of an outlier in his more than 16 years in Congress.

Flake is channeling his state's rich tradition as Western outsiders, a mash-up of Barry Goldwater's conservative legacy and, more recently, the dramatic return of Sen. John McCain to cast the deciding Republican no vote last week that doomed the GOP's Obamacare overhaul. Flake voted for the plan.

Second only to Nevada's Sen. Dean Heller as the most at-risk Republican in the 2018 midterm election, Flake certainly risks alienating Trump voters he will need next year to win reelection.

But Flake also appears to be calculating that Arizonas independent streak and its shift toward becoming a swing state will reward his McCain-like straight talk or that at least he will be defeated having had his say.

Certainly it's not the easiest path to reelection, Flake told PBS Charlie Rose, acknowledging his low net approval ratings in polls. It makes some people upset, but I felt it was important enough to do.

Flake said, "We politicians have to recognize that there are some things that are more important than reelection.

First elected to the House in 2000 and a strict fiscal conservative, Flake was tea-party-minded long before the rise of the tea party, railing against government spending and waste as a leading budget cutter in the House.

But he also comes from a Mormon tradition of missionary service, having worked for years in Africa. He has adopted a more welcoming attitude to immigrants than many in his party, and was part of the so-called Gang of Eight senators who drafted the 2013 immigration overhaul.

During the early days of Trump's fiery campaign trail rhetoric, Flake delivered a speech during Friday prayers at an Arizona mosque. He traveled to Cuba during the Obama administration, favoring more open relations.

Flake was among just a few Republicans in Congress who didn't vote for Trump, and has been more willing to speak out against White House policies.

In his book, excerpted first in Politico, he lambastes colleagues who were quick to attack President Obama in hopes of making him a one-term president but who today have "maintained an unnerving silence as instability has ensued."

"To carry on in the spring of 2017 as if what was happening was anything approaching normalcy required a determined suspension of critical faculties. And tremendous powers of denial," he writes.

Those sentences are a not-so-subtle swipe at party leaders, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who orchestrated that strategy, which Flake indirectly argues left Republicans bereft of their own policy ideas.

McConnell dismissed questions Tuesday, saying he had not yet read the book.

Ill get around to it at some point, McConnell said.

Flake acknowledges he shares blame, accepting some responsibility for his own willingness to duck the hard questions over Trump.

"Ive been sympathetic to this impulse to denial, as one doesnt ever want to believe that the government of the United States has been made dysfunctional at the highest levels, especially by the actions of ones own party," he writes.

"But it was also a monumental dodge. It would be like Noah saying, 'If I spent all my time obsessing about the coming flood, there would be little time for anything else.' At a certain point, if one is being honest, the flood becomes the thing that is most worthy of attention. At a certain point, it might be time to build an ark."

What remains unclear, though, is how many fellow Republicans might follow his lead.

Republicans in recent weeks have shown some willingness to chart their own course or confront the White House, including passing a Russia sanctions bill, though the package also sanctioned Iran and North Korea.

Flakes colleague McCain and two other Republicans resisted Trumps insistence that they pass the healthcare bill, and many have also warned Trump against firing Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions.

Another Trump critic, fellow Republican Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska, also declined to back the president, but he prefers to troll Trump on Twitter rather than in public debate.

For now, that leaves Flake among the few GOP lawmakers who openly have spoken so critically about Trump and the situation in the White House.

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Sen. Jeff Flake is one Republican willing to take on President Trump and his party's 'denial' - Los Angeles Times

Remember this day, July 28, 2017. The day Donald Trump became a lame duck president. More significantly, the day the Tea Party revolution ended and Washington began the return to "regular order."

The coup de grace came at 1:30 a.m. on the Senate floor as John McCain became the third Republican to break ranks and defeat the third and final attempt to repeal Obamacare, which embodied the Democrats' promise that all American could -- and should -- have health insurance at a price they could afford. It was, as Tea Party Republicans had warned, another expensive government entitlement that, once granted, could never be taken away. Now John McCain had acknowledged that political reality.

Although it appeared to fall short by a single vote in the Senate, that was always going to be the margin of defeat for the seven-year effort to repeal Obamacare that had become the centerpiece of the Tea Party revolt. There were as many as 10 Republicans who had acknowledged that proposal cobbled together at the last minute by the Republican leadership was so bad that, earlier in the day, they had demanded assurances from the House of Representatives that it would never become law.

It was left to McCain, however, to do the deed so the others could protect themselves from the retribution of party leaders or the wrath of party Tea Party voters in the next Republican primary. Having just been diagnosed with brain cancer, the senior senator from Arizona had achieved that state of political liberation where he no longer had to worry about such things.

McCain was joined in his "no" vote by Republican Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who earlier in the week had received a call from the secretary of the Interior warning that the administration would drop its support for expanded energy drilling and road construction in Alaska if she dared to defy the president and Republican leadership on the crucial vote. Murkowski did not take well to being muscled in that ham-handed fashion. As chair of the two relevant committees, she announced that she was indefinitely postponing sessions to consider nominations to Interior's top positions and to mark up its 2018 appropriations.

The collapse of the Obamacare repeal effort was hardly the only evidence of the waning influence of Trump and his Tea Party supporters.

In the hours before the vote, the attorney general of the United States had defiantly declared he had no intention of acceding to White House requests that he resign and dared the president to fire him.

"If he wants to make a change, he can certainly do so," Jeff Sessions told Fox News. The Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, urged on by several Republican colleagues, had already warned the Republican president that anyone appointed to replace Sessions would not receive a confirmation hearing. And senators of both parties had indicated that they would use parliamentary slight of hand to keep the Senate in formal session through the normal summer recess to prevent Trump from replacing Sessions with a recess appointment.

Earlier in the day, military and civilian leaders at the Pentagon indicated they would "study" what to do about transgender members of the armed forces after the commander in chief had tweeted that they would no longer be allowed to serve.

And at the White House, the long-running tong war among members of the president's top staff finally broke out into the open, as the new communications chief let loose with a profanity-laced rant against a chief of staff whom he characterized as a paranoid schizophrenic leaker and chief strategist who spent his days engaged in political self-fellatio.

Hoping to demonstrate, despite all the evidence to the contrary, that the business of government was proceeding apace, the White House and the Republican leadership of the House and Senate issued a five-paragraph "statement of principles" for a long-promised reform of the tax code. Months in the making, the statement was a nothing-burger of political and economic platitudes that failed to resolve the central challenge of reducing tax rates without reducing tax revenue and exploding the federal deficit.

This is a Waterloo moment for Trump, the Tea Party and their alliance. They have been stopped in their tracks not only by Democratic opposition, but because of a mutiny within their own ranks. Although never particularly liked or respected, it is now clear that they are no longer feared. The bankruptcy of their ideas and their incompetence has been exposed. Their momentum has been dissipated. Their rejection of political norms has itself been scorned. Our long national nightmare may finally be coming to an end.

Steven Pearlstein is a Washington Post business and economics writer. He is also Robinson Professor of Public Affairs at George Mason University.

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Trump now a lame-duck president - Bucks County Courier Times

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Looks like Americans aren't quite willing to trade in their mocha Frappuccinos for matcha lattes just yet.

Starbucks announced Thursday that it will be shuttering all locations of Teavana, a tea-centric shop that currently boasts 379 locations throughout the country. The move will affect approximately 3,300 employees.

When Starbucks acquired Teavana in 2012, it seemed like a perfect marriage for the king of coffee chains to apply their successful model to the already successful Teavana brand. But it was an experiment that didnt work. Across the country, food traffic many malls and food courts (where most Teavana locations are found) has been steadily declining. With the change, Starbucks is deciding to put their focus back to their original brand pricey coffee beverages.

This is not new for Starbucks, theyve also bought, but then shuttered, bakery chain La Boulange.

But the move to shutter Teavana doesn't mean Starbucks is abandoning tea entirely. The coffee chain will continue to offer a wide variety of hot tea options at most locations, as well as iced green, black and other flavored, blended tea beverages, such as Shaken Berry Sangria tea or the new Shaken Iced Pina Colada Tea Infusion, a creamy and tropical beverage crafted with Teavana black tea, pineapple fruit and botanical blend, and coconut milk.

"Innovation is key, and we continue to innovate around tea, just this month introducing Teavana Infusions, a flavor platform made from real fruits and botanicals that strengthens our lineup of healthy, less indulgent, premium cold beverages," CEO Kevin Johnson said during the company's Q3 earnings call Thursday, reiterating the company's commitment to offer non-coffee beverages.

"We have big plans for tea in Starbucks retail and CPG (consumer packaged goods) globally."

So, maybe its not that were not so into tea, it's just that we don't need a special spot for it? Were all for the one-stop shop for all our beverage needs.

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The tea party is over: Starbucks to close all Teavana locations - Today.com

Fresno Bee (blog)

Mark this date: Donald Trump is now a lame-duck president Fresno Bee (blog) Remember July 28, 2017. It's the day Donald Trump became a lame duck president. More significantly, the day the tea party revolution ended and Washington began the return to regular order. The coup de grace came at 1:30 a.m. on the Senate floor as ... Party in peril? Republicans reel after Obamacare failureThe News Tribune Mr. McCain Goes to WashingtonNational Review Why American Democracy Is Broken, and How to Fix ItNew Republic The Intercept -The Manila Times all 1,940 news articles »

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Mark this date: Donald Trump is now a lame-duck president - Fresno Bee (blog)

Humans of 2016, I cannot let go of you just like that this year, yet. I HAVE to talk to you about the single most important life skill that all of you must possess no matter where in the world you go and whatever in life you end up doing - The art of cleaning your toilet.

Especially unmarried boys, I know you are very busy wondering ki what the hell more you should do to get that girl in your life because you have tried everything that any human being can do and still the girl is not impressed. What to do yaar? They are like that only.

And especially unmarried ladies who know everything that the boy is doing to impress them and yet are feeling shy and not telling him means what to do again? Life is tough only. But its ok, this kind of small things will eventually sort themselves out. But what you really have to put in effort for is learning how to clean your toilet. Boss Im telling you, this will save your life many times and you will thank me later.

It will all happen in a flash. One moment you are thinking ki oh boss thank god, today is Sunday, means I dont have to move my bottoms even one millimeter haiya jolly and then next second your spouse will say those dreadful words - Today we are cleaning the toilet.

I have to tell you upfront that there are few things in life that have a better warning mechanism than this. Tsunami, earthquake, volcanic eruption, parents arriving when you are about to watch adult-only movies etc., for e.g. When these magic words are uttered in the house means there is no going back. You can try to wriggle out of it and all by saying 'Not today I am busy but you have to give satisfactory answer to the next question 'Doing what? Having failed to come up with a suitable 2-mark answer, you have to get going immediately.

Now, if you are having a lucky or a lazy background means all your life such kind of things like cleaning your toilet will be outsourced to a third party or insourced to a parent party because in your family when nobody trusts your non-core competency (eating, drinking, sleeping) itself then how will they trust you with core competency jobs like keeping the house clean etc? So now, you only have to get your hands dirty (no, stop thinking puns.)

So now I am going to guide you step-by-step on how to clean your toilet and thereby earn good name in the household.

First of all, you have to pour water all over the place. It is ok even if you pour water in the toilet. Avoid putting water on the walls because now you are being adhigaprasangi and nobody asked you to clean the walls.

The health-faucet (HF) is your friend. Make it your best friend. I know we all have love-hate relationship with health faucet, depending on the amount of psi it delivers on your back entrance at the most unexpected moment, but trust me, if you use it properly, it will make your life a lot easy. Use the HF to generously spray water all over the place. (Caution: This can get too much fun and distract you from your mission.)

So now you have have properly prepped the place. Excellent. Take a break. (But make sure nobody sees you taking the break.)

Now proceed to clear the entire area from having any obstructions, like bucket, mug, washing machine hose (those darn things are a menace) etc. Wait, this should have been done first, but its ok, just throw them out or place them on your head or something and keep the floor clear.

Next is the important part. You have to pick up a bottle of Harpic. Yes, that very same liquid they sell on TV when you are eating dinner and want to watch something decent. Take that bottle. Yes, you will be tempted to spend the next two hours admiring the ingenuity of the design of the bottle, but dont. Time is of the essence. You are competing against a pro here.

Remove the bottle cap and stick the nozzle of the bottle under the secret compartment in the WC. Secret compartment = where the water comes from.

Hold the bottle firmly in the middle section (bottles middle section), fill up your lungs to capacity, and squeeze the bottle firmly. Now depending on its mood (and the amount of liquid left inside) the bottle will dispense either a very-generous quantity (i.e. you will have a obese blue monster splattered on your WC) or just bubbled blue air. Eitherway something will come out of the bottle.

Next is the tricky part. You have to keep squeezing bottle and draw a circle around the WC with circumference equal to D (D is the inner-dia of the WC). This sounds more easy than it actually is. Heres what will happen. The Harpic bottle will suddenly make friends with the WC and refuse to move an inch. They dont meet often in your toilet and so they will want to spend some time together. Precisely at this moment, you will spot your spouse with her palm firmly planted on their forehead in disappointment and convince you to vacate the premises immediately. But dont. You are too far in this now to give up. You HAVE to stick to your guns and see this through. If the bottle gets stuck, just trace its path backwards and then go forward again. That will do the trick.

Question: How will you know if you have done the job right? Answer: You will now see many thin runny blue monsters racing towards the water in the WC and disappear into the abyss.

Next, take the cleaning brush. Pause. Ask yourself if this is the right brush. If your answer is yes, then you are wrong. Ask the spouse if that is the right brush. They will confirm your wrongness and tell you that this is a different brush to clean the wash basin. Put that brush down and pick up right brush.

Grip the brush tightly and attack. Go all out brushing all over the place. Under the secret compartment, under the toilet seat, inside the water, into the abyss (yuck, I know, but there is no time for sentiment right now), brush until you think you have done justice to all the abuse you have put this WC through.

Pause.

Think about your life choices. Realize that you have been a failure in everything you do. Bring out all the negativity in you and lay it out on top of the blue mess inside the WC. Contemplate for a moment. Look deep into the abyss of the WC that your life has become. Ok enough. Snap out to reality.

Hold your breath and pull down the flush. Watch it all get washed away and smile at your masterpiece. A spic and span WC. White and beautiful, returned to its original glory. Ready to be used and abused all over again.

Until the spouse comes and inspects it. And requests you to please not try this again and asks you to step out and says from next time, she will do it herself instead of letting you do such a shoddy job.

Back away from the area very carefully, slowly and (most important) silently. Go back to contemplating your choices and think about how you can have a better 2017.

May your new year be as sparkling and beautiful as a newly cleaned toilet.

Have a laughter filled 2017!

Read more from the original source:
The Local Tea Party