The Republican Party has a historic opportunity to revive the old Reagan coalition. The person standing in the way is the 45th president, writes the former attorney general.
First off.....I, a life long republican of the Northeast variety, do not want to see the old republican party come back. I just do not.
I am all for and fully support religious freedom. Bakers etc should not be forced to bake for anyone when doing so violates their religious beliefs. But neither do I want to have the religious right to have a dominant influence.
Tax cuts are great until they lead to financial ruin. You want to spend, then tax, but do not run up huge debts.
I do not want the republican party of Wall Street. Let the democrats have it. I want the republican party of small business and main street.
I do not want back the republican party that is lead by neocons, always looking for a foreign war or proxy war on which to spend tens of billions, cause massive disruptions, waste countless lives and make us even more hated around the world. I want a well trained, well armed, military that is capable of defending the nation but not one that is constantly looking for a place to fight.
I want a republican party of the Ron DeSantis type and not the Mitch McConnel type.
Trump served his purpose. It might have been good to have him beat Biden and serve a second term but I do not want him back. He is too toxic and with the democrats in such a horrid place we need someone that is sensible on more than just policy. We need someone that can form a large coalition against the far left. Trump is not up to that. DeSantis is our best choice and he also would not be term limited.
I would give my left arm for a DeSantis ticket with Tulsi Gabbard as VP.
If it’s DeSantis, which I hope it is, I think Glenn Youngkin has a high chance of the VP spot because if he can deliver Virginia, the Dems are in a world of hurt.
I agree with this 100%. I was raised in Panama and worked there for many years. I have many Panamanian friends and one Argentine who gained their US citizenship the proper way. What do the Democrats say to these people who jumped through the hoops and spent money to become citizens? Do they thumb their nose at them and call them suckers and tell them they didn’t have to spend years waiting for your citizenship. All you had to do was swim the Rio Grande.
I have been on the border and can take you to a place not 100 yards from the river where houses have been abandoned by their owners because it was unsafe to live there. Ranchers have had their fences cut. Their cattle killed and some ranchers have been murdered.
The first obligation of a government is the safety and well being of its citizens. We owe nothing to these illegals. I’m sorry. I mean undocumented Democrats.
And then there is the fentanyl problem which I won’t address.
This situation makes my blood boil and this dangerous invasion can be firmly laid at Biden’s and the Democrats’ feet.
They say to those immigrants who gained citizenship the proper way the same thing they are saying to tradesmen that are paying for student loan forgiveness - eff you.
I think DeSantis is a better choice than Haley. His policies would more closely align with the good stuff Trump gave us and he has more charisma to get things done, he is a better communicator, in part because he is just funnier and he puts FL in the bag in the electoral college. Never mind that he is also Latino.
Gabbard is articulate and charming. She has a way of calling a spade a spade and getting concisely to the root of an issue. She is also a pragmatic veteran with strong cred, at least with me, on foreign policy. She is tough and unafraid. Top it off with the fact that she is highly attractive, which matters in politics, female, a minority and a former democrat, and she brings a lot to a ticket.
Haley or Scott would be decent choices for VP, but on balance, I think Gabbard would be better and were anything to happen to DeSantis I think that she would be a decent president.
She received 56% of the votes in SC when she ran for re-election. I can't speak for your friends, but those who "can't stand her" seem to be a irrelevant minority.
The fun thing about all this speculation is that conservatives have a lot of potential stars (many named above) we have some time to sort this out. Think of the choices for the Dems - AOC, Harris and Newsome (Gruesome?).
It’s great that we have such high quality choices. I always prefer ex-governors - so DeSantis or Haley have the appropriate governing experience. Can DeSantis build a coalition outside Florida?
Well, he would... if mainstream media could be relied upon to report his message (or that of any other Republican challenger to the Democrats) accurately and fairly. What are the chances of that, do you suppose?
Why would DeSantis run now, when he can wait 4 years and avoid a brawl with Trump? He's only 44. Plus, the entertainment value alone of another Trump/Biden race would be over the top.
Because things change. All the stars are aligned now for DeSantis, but it never stays that way. And if he chooses to run as Trump's VP, his name would be forever tainted. His time is now.
DeSantis's disloyalty? Disloyalty to whom? To Trump? Trump endorsed DeSantis in 2018, but that was four years ago, and if Trump knew what was right for him and for Florida, he would have endorsed DeSantis without expecting rigid loyalty in return.
His win in 2016 was one of those unique times when a candidate intersects with history, and they almost seem destined to win. This isn't 2016, and I'm afraid both he and his supporters think he can win on that old 2016 magic. The idea is retrogressive, and a tad reactionary. I think time has passed him by. He won't have lightening in a bottle in 2024.
I am feeling a little sorry for all of those who want DeSantes with Gabbard or Haley or Scott because knowing human nature it ain't gonna happen. Most of us especially the oldies amongst us have known Trumpian individuals in our lives. We know they don't willingly go away. If u choose them out of a basketball game they take their ball home with them and there is no game. Trump in losing the Republican nomination will pull a Ross Perot and u will end up with a Slick Willy for President like the one u have now.
DeSantis has to become less of a culture warrior. Go for parents' rights, ok. But be very careful of enraging gays and LGBTQ warriors. There's only at least dozen million of those. He cannot win if he appeals only to what was once Trump's base. He needs Biden voters and independents. The rest of the USA ain't Florida. He'll need moderate Dems like me to win. Plus, bone up on foreign policy. He'll get carved up if he doesn't. He better start reading.
Very much agree. As long as he makes a strong stand AGAINST groups, he weakens himself as looking like a hater, which plays too well to the "liberal" script.
I know low-key liberals who are TERRIFIED of DeSantis because they think he is Trump with a bit more class - a dangerous wolf in sheep's clothing. (Personally I'm undecided how "good" of a good guy he is yet.) But because they are to the left when it comes to social issues - not activitists, just warm fuzzy types - they are afraid of his cultural positions. He is more ideologically to the right than Trump ever was, and their key fear is legislation that in any way restricts freedoms.
So long as De Santis keeps riling up constituents with an "anti" message (whether it's abortion, trans, gay marraige) i don't see how he can win.
As a nation, the majority (for better and for worse) would probably be libertarian, for lack of a better label, when it comes to sexual and cultural issues, and MILDLY left of center when it comes to social issues - we are ok with spending some money on the disadvantaged, prefer some safety net than leaving the mentally ill, the elderly, children without safe family units, etc., to die in the streets. We are not cruel, as a nation.
Economically, the majority does not want big goverment, but it is duped because of the first two concerns into thinking that the Democratic party is the lesser of two evils.
I think the only way to turn this boat around is for someone to show up as a grownup, and focus on consensus issues, rather than beat the ideological drums.
Ironically, Trump, the prior Democrat, was himself rather
amoral when it came to the cultural stuff, and pretty generous when it came to the social welfare piece (unless of course he was doing business - then the reptilian brain was activated).
In reality, Trump's policies were more "loving" than hateful - but that is not how most Americans experienced him, because he came off as a hater.
My takeaway is that haters are scary = votes for the perceived "nice" Biden or whichever proxy the Democrats prop up.
De Santis needs to tweak his messaging - most Americans would probably agree with the statement "i do not want legislation that curtails the right of an adult to live as they please as long as there is no demonstrated harm to others AND I do not want the promotion of social change as a state-sponsored activity."
I love Tulsi Gabbard but I’d rather see her in the cabinet, maybe secretary of defense. For vp I’m gonna go with a wild card, Richard Grinnell. He was a former ambassador to Germany and served as Trumps director of national intelligence. It’s clear our intelligence community is corrupt and an existential threat to our democracy. I suspect Grinnell shares my concern and has the wherewithal and integrity to cleanse the corruption. He’s also openly gay which may well insulate him from the inevitable attacks that would be directed his way
Gabbard would never make it to the top of the ticket so no to the VP slot. I like Tulsi but she isn't trusted by many of the mainstream republicans and she's never been an administrator, which we need to have in order to manage government effectively. You want someone who can graduate from VP to the top. Haley is also getting too far out of the limelight to be considered. Doug Ducey would be my choice.
You were doing okay until you suggested Tulsi Gabbard for vice president. Gabbard is bought, owned and a mouthpiece for Vladimir Putin. And then you said that DeSantis is "Latino"? Seriously?
I live in FL. I voted for DeSantis, but back then I was mildly skeptical. He's won me over completely.
But -- Haley/Scott would be great, too.
So would Youngkin.
The GOP has plenty of great choices -- as long as it's not Trump (and I don't really want Ted Cruz, either). Trump turned me into a Never Trump Republican. There are too many people like me who are done with Trump. I can't see Trump exceeding 40% in a general election.
Republicans still have the 'etch-a-sketch' problem Mitt Romney mentioned in 2012 - they have to campaign wayyyyy out to the right in order to win the primaries, and then shake the etch-a-sketch and try to rebrand as moderates in order to have a shot at winning the general. Case in point, Blake Masters scrubbing his website of all the Stop-The-Steal and pro-life absolutism as soon as he won the primary. Obviously, it was too little too late in his case.
Democrats don't really have the same problem because their base (especially the black vote) is overall pretty moderate. So a politician like Biden can campaign as a moderate in the primaries, *win on a moderate platform*, and then carry over a consistent platform into the general. The problem Democrats have is they tend to shake the proverbial etch-a-sketch once they're in office. All those promises of being a unifying moderate fly out the window, and instead they govern wayyyyyyy out to the left to appease woke Twitter and their own staffers (who are mostly recent grads from woke universities). As Andrew Sullivan put it, "Many of us voted for Biden as a competent moderate. Turns out he's more like an incompetent extremist"
For the 2024 primaries, Trump has a huge advantage over DeSantis or any other contenders. The best pitch DeSantis can make is basically "I actually have a shot at winning the general". The only group that can decide whether winning a big tent matters more than hardcore base appeal is ultimately Republican voters themselves.
Democrats, meanwhile, can (for now) continue sitting pretty with their "campaign as moderates, govern as radicals" playbook.
You describe this issue well, miles, thanks. "Democrats don't really have the same problem because their base is overall pretty moderate." Yes, the majority of us ARE moderate--I'm a non-woke liberal who has voted for Republicans who fit this mold, and voted for Biden not because he enamored me, but because Trump repelled me. I'd love to see sanity return in 2024 from both the GOP and the Democrats, but fear that the Woke and MAGA wings will define both.
I voted for Trump because HRC repelled me. So we are both guilty of the cult of personality just anti-personality. I think this is what has to change - for all of us.
I hear ya, Lynne! What we desparately need are better choices. I don't want to have to choose between Trump, Hillary, and Biden. "Best of a lousy hand" doesn't move our culture ahead, and we have much that need fixing.
I differ only in that Trump may have the Twitter megaphone (for now) - but he's lost Murdoch. Of that I'm pretty sure. That's roughly 75% of main stream conservative media. I do not think Trump is in a strong position. He's announced early because he wants to get ahead of what he (and his staff) believe are indictments coming his way; their thinking is to make it as political as possible for the DOJ (and a special prosecutor).
A year in politics is an eternity. DeSantis, if he plays his cards right, keeps his mouth relatively shut, and generally slowly tacks to the center (where the national votes are), will be in a position to take it. I don't think Trump, who only understands appealing to his base, can compete, especially once his donors are gone (taking their cues from Rupert).
As a South Carolinian - no to Haley. She's not a serious person, she's just an old fashioned Republican ladder climber. Not a leader. DeSantis / Scott - now we're talking.
She was elected to be leader (Governor) of our state...then skipped out to some goofball UN position...which she also resigned from. She's not a serious person and not a leader.
I don't. I'm not convinced that Nikki actually understands the cultural ennui of the moment or the danger of wokeness. I won't call her a swamp creature, but she's too easily co-opted by those who are. DeSantis is a governor who has never made a living on the Washington gravy train. That counts for a lot with me.
I used to have respect for Nikki Haley. In 2016, she recognized Trump for what he is, but then became one of his acolytes. My respect for her evaporated.
I think that is unfair to Haley. She was a superb Governor and she did a good job in the UN. And she had the integrity to stand up to a couple of people in the Administration that wanted to shunt her to the side. She also worked hard to get a couple of candidates through the process in this cycle.
DeSantis / Scott - the leftists won't be able to stop themselves from using all their awful racist insults against Scott. Let them show everyone who they are, please.
Here is the relevant passage from Article II - The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by Ballot for two Persons, of whom one at least shall not be an Inhabitant of the same State with themselves.
"Bakers etc should not be forced to bake for anyone when doing so violates their religious beliefs. But neither do I want to have the religious right to have a dominant influence."
The "religious right" never had "dominant influence", or anything close to it. Rather, Leftists of the same sort that you're concerned about today sold you conspiracy theories, and you bought into them. What threatened the Left was never "dominance", but rather the EXISTENCE of an alternative to their epicurean nihilism.
Meanwhile, we're seeing massive cultural decay and a mental health epidemic - exactly the sort of things you'd expect to see when good culture is lost. That "religious right" you hate so much? We need it back.
I do however think they historically been too rigid in the same way that the far left is too rigid to be helpful in a democracy where compromise is the key to building an acceptable consensus that allows for governance. They have generally been perceived, sometimes justifiably, as too judgemental and too absolutist. In short, they can be stubborn, sanctimonious, and judgemental. But when you think your doing God's work and things are black and white, well, thats kinda what you would expect.
I also think that they are largely out of step with the broader culture on things like gay rights.
No doubt they have things to offer. No doubt that they have a role to play. No doubt that they should have the right to live and practice their faith as they will so long as they are not preventing or attempting to prevent others from doing the same. But I think that they, generally, are not the image we want as the face of the party or that we want them to provide the overall leadership for the party on cultural issues.
"I also think that they are largely out of step with the broader culture on things like gay rights." Gay rights have now morphed into "trans" rights, as was to be expected. Trans rights now include the right to destroy women's athletics. Do you see the slope here?
No. Gays are being transfixed the same way feminists - and indeed men and women - are by the Trans ideology. And many of them are figuring it out. Bari and Nelli are cases in point. I've read of many others.
Yes. The thing is that the major part of adult guys who say they *are* women do not get themselves "fixed" because then where would be the sexual jollies in having people "accept" them as women and in entering women's spaces including prisons? Republican Bruce Jenner likely falls into this category. He was married, fathered children, and has girlfriends. Just ask all the "trans widows" out there. They have websites of their own and say that their husbands "fell in love with themselves". You never hear from them in the mainstream media. That guy in the spa in LA would fall under this category as well. It's called autogynophelia. They do not care how many girls get double mastectomies or simply ruin themselves with "T" in the name of all this. Then, there's the great amount of money being made in drugs and surgeries. It's absolutely crazy that we have Richard/Rachel Levine in such an influential public health role. I think we are really not in the time of building some kind of "Reagan" Coalition. People are always looking at the past war or political situation.
There are all kinds of slippery slopes. So what? Its on us to put the brakes on how far we go.
I'm a firm believer in the 2nd amendment. Own quite a few guns. Do I think that I want anyone and his brother to be able to walk in and purchase an M60 or an M203? Not a chance in hell.
I'm fine with the idea that trans people should be treated with the same basic human dignity as anyone else but I draw the line at opening up women's sports or locker rooms to them, the former for reasons of simple fairness and safety and the latter because there are plenty of freaks out there willing to call themselves trans to simply get into women's locker rooms. And yes, I draw a line at schools intervening in parents management of a child that claims to be trans and I have issues with schools teaching anything on the subject. But I do not want schools talking about straight sex either apart from general health and how not to get pregnant to teens.
No trans will take your deal. A few might pretend to, but they're insincere.
The ideology fundamentally insists that truth is subjective, which is license to any imaginable abuse. It also insists that all perceived imperfections in adherents' lives are due to external oppression, which can only be remedied by coercing more submission.
They have rights but they do not have the right to make me agree with their fantasies, and they do not have the right to teach a cult religion to our children.
Everyone has rights. No question about that. And, dress however you like but I do not have to agree that a man *is*a woman. "Reality" is being warped. The kids are brainwashed at school. Both Dems and Rs to some extent - have bought into this - and receive money from groups that promote trans ideology:
yes, we do - but I'm also seeing a very, very robust movement on the left against the trans-mania. That includes gay people who've had up to here as being lumped in with the Ts and the Qs
As a former dem, now independent, this is exactly how I feel. And that rigidity is what kept me from voting Rep in the past. Do what works for you, but don’t force your beliefs on me .
My number one concern is let doctors be doctors (treatment decided by hospital executives and big pharma) and vaccine mandates. The Hunter Biden thing deos not concern me. The other issues are important enough to stay informed. But a vaccine that neither stops transmission nor prevents infection, with potentially lethal side effects, with reports of thousands of deaths and thousands of injuries (as per VAERS) that is killing more babies than Covid - THAT is what has my family's attention. It is the DEMS (and most repubs) that are still shilling for big pharma and in return, enriching the politicians coffer. THIS is what will personally affect ALL of us.
I agree. I don’t really understand why they made this big alphabet label when Gay and Lesbians and Bi are about sexual preferences and the rest of the labels are about Gender. Often times, children especially, but also young adults who are gay or straight seem harassed into identifying themselves as a different gender and all the medical stuff that comes with it. I feel like the LGB worked so hard for so many years just for acceptance and mutual respect. For the most part, at least no one I know personally, doesn’t think twice wether someone is gay or not. I have never cared what happens in other peoples relationships. I know many of my gay friends are appalled at this gender ideology and was told that they too are being called “cis” now. 🤦🏻♀️
"Gays Against Groomers is a coalition of gay people who oppose the recent trend of indoctrinating, sexualizing and medicalizing children under the guise of “LGBTQIA+
Our community that once preached love and acceptance of others has been hijacked by radical activists who are now pushing extreme concepts onto society, specifically targeting children in recent years"
I was never registered with either party in the past. But, I think you are focusing on the dynamics of a by-gone era. Almost no one cares about homosexuality anymore. But, the progressive left which now owns the Democrat party is destroying the culture with this fiction that there is no such thing as biological sex. This is taught to the young in schools. Many Republicans do not object to it... If you stop to glance through the "Trans Leviathan" you will see the big money in this and the harm it is doing to us all. Please do not get caught up in past political battles The media has attached the "T" to LGB but many gay people do not even want that. We do not need any Republican who will not defend basic reality. I'm very much in favor of Ron DeSantis and some time later - Tulsi Gabbard. It is the LGBTQWTF lobby that is a cult religion.
"[I]n short they can be seen as stubborn [also known as standing firm], sanctimonious [a/k/a being of firm conviction] and judgemental" sounds pretty judgmental to me. Not saying your statements are inaccurate just that there may be merit to being that way. It seems to me that the party of peace, love, tolerance, and if it feels good (for a nanosecond) do it is willing to cancel the entire right, not just the religious right, out of existence.
I don’t know about what Falwell wanted, but I worked for Pat Robertson’s Christian Coalition between 2000 and 2005 and I have a very good idea what Robertson and the CCA members wanted: to be left alone. They wanted to influence government to respect them and let them be themselves.
It is fair to say that Robertson and Falwell sometimes said that God would punish the US if the country and its leaders continued to act in bad ways. They were wrong to argue this. But I also know that the average people who contributed to the CCA and the other right-wing religious political groups were NOT the mindless, evil people that the left portray them as. They were and are kind, compassionate people who would eagerly risk their lives to protect vulnerable people being hunted by a wrathful government.
They "owned" that argument about as much as they "owned" free speech. They pretended to care about those concepts while they were the minority and had no intention of sticking to them when they had power.
In elections, perceptions matter. Democrats used to "own" the education issue, but Republicans are increasingly poaching it, so transfer of ownership cuts both ways.
I will answer your two questions: (1) I did not grow up Jewish in Virginia in the 70s and 80s (I gew up Jewish in Ohio) so I have no experience or understanding of what that was like. (2) The woke puritans are like the “Moral Majoritarians” of that period. Both are wrong. Both are bad.
I went off on a tangent. When I was working for the Christian Right, I was trying (and in some ways succeeding) in directing the energies of the movement towards a more proper and appropriate course. Less preaching, less fanning emotional flames, a little more coalition building and constructive work.
I will admit that the Christian Right ( with the exception of the Dominionists and extreme fundamentalists ) has moderated its message to one of tolerance of other groups as they now have become very much a minority. I feel that they currently wish to live and let live for the most part.
I agree on one thing - I do not want the Bush / Cheney / Romney Republican Party back...I too want..." the republican party of small business and main street." I'll take DeSantis and even Trump if they can make it so......the Democrats are morally bankrupt and will never be an option for me...
The Dem party already has hard core Communists it the House and Senate. Bernie Sanders has been a communist since he was a child and in the 70s vote straight communist ticket in the national elections. AOC and the Palestinian representative (I can't remember her name.) both belong to the Democratic Socialists of America. Don't let the title fool you. There has never been nor ever will be a Democratic socialist country. The first synonym for socialism in the Webster Dictionary is communism. So, tell me I am wrong.
80% of millennials say they would vote for socialism. These left wing nut cases say this because they are ignoramuses and don't know what a brutal dehumanizing system socialism is.
You're wrong. Denmark and other nations are democratic socialist run countries which have flourishing democracies and are not Communists. Socialism is a broad term, running from freedom and democracy to yes, totalitarianism. Almost all nations have elements of socialism, including the U.S. Our highways, our military, our Social Security system all fit the definition of socialism. Look it up again!
Hey, Bill, the 1980's called; they want their political strategy back.
"revive something like the old Reagan coalition: a combination of Republican-leaning, college-educated suburbanites; culturally conservative working-class voters; and even some classical liberals who are repulsed by the left’s authoritarianism."
I'm so sick of aging GOPers promoting zombie-Reaganism as the solution to our ills.
The Democrats have gone off the deep end of maximal personal autonomy and Bill Barr wants to resurrect the President who took the GOP furthest to the deep end of the maximal economic autonomy pool. So we compete with out-of-control liberals by being... another species of out-of-control liberal? Instead of "my rights stop at your nose" the GOP stands for "my money stops at your bank account"? That's a wining strategy? We tried that for 40 years and we never held Congress once (1950-1995). That's the reason Reagan couldn't get more done, Bill -- the "great communicator" always had a Congress that hated him.
I agree with Barr that Trump will burn down the GOP just to convince himself that he's not a loser. I hope he's not the nominee. But this isn't the answer.
Bill is also correct that the GOP has a huge opportunity right now. People in America are hungry for something to believe in. They're hungry for purpose. They're hungry for, as RR Reno says, a "strong God". Look at depression rates. Look at the fastest growing churches: serious Protestant and Orthodox denominations. Look at the rising conservative Islam. Look at the declining churches: liberal, milquetoast, mainlines. People are hungry for standards. They're hungry for structure. They're ready to get behind and push something, but there's no cart to push. Reaganism's economic liberalism doesn't solve ANY of that.
It's time to admit that secular liberalism is dead (the very term is an oxymoron). The Left has already found its new, non-Enlightenment-based, governing philosophy: group identity ethics. The Right needs to get serious about finding its own post-liberal answer. Because there are truly evil forces on the Right (the ethno-nationalists) that are willing to meet the Left on its own race-essentialist terms. If the mainstream Right can't find a way to rally the normies from the lunacy of the Left, the far-Right is happy to do so. And that would be a disaster.
We need to get back to governing the country as provided by the Constitution, and maybe at this moment we have a Supreme Court the will allow us to do so. There's a whole lot of "just leave me alone" in that document. Perhaps Reagan's greatest statement was, "Government isn't the solution, government is the problem."
I think you’re wrong about all of us wanting a “strong God”. That’s really not going to save us. Realizing the corruption of big pharma and the damage they’ve done and continue to do, their influence over every aspect of our lives, is paramount to me. Whomever is willing to take them on has my vote.
Reno doesn't mean a "strong God" in a religious sense. He means something that establishes some kind of moral compass. Something that gives society a purpose. A broadly shared transcendental understanding of some kind. Historically, that was Christianity, but Reno isn't under any illusions that it will be again. His article from 5 years ago is here if you're interested. It's pretty good.
But if we do not all want the same "strong God" then maximizing personal autonomy will enable everyone to follow his own, rather than follow the majority's choice.
Without a shared commitment to something, society falls apart. Enlightenment liberalism's answer of "my rights only stop at your nose" just leads to an increasing number of conflicts between rights and noses and an ever larger state to police them.
Jeff, can you define any ethical or moral standard beyond "consent" within the context of Enlightenment liberalism? That's what I mean by maximal personal autonomy.
The Left rejects all unchosen limitations on personal human behavior. They bought J.S. Mill's theory that "my rights only stop at your nose" and have never looked back.
They're fine with limiting your behavior if it infringes on the potential autonomy of someone else (especially from a chosen victim group) though. So the baker MUST bake the cake, and Amazon MUST ban the book Irreversible Damage. Becuase permitting either action would infringe on the potential autonomy of LGBTQIA++2SXYZ people. That's what I mean by "maximal personal autonomy".
But how much personal autonomy does one really have when one is attacked, vilified, canceled, loses ones livelihood and is financially ruined merely for or disagreeing with a narrow set of ideas? How much autonomy does your baker have? From where I see, this new "consent" is limited to only certain kinds of behaviors and ideas.
And as I said above, all of the authoritarian strategies you just identified are deployed (according to the Left) in defense of victim groups that are being harmed by hateful words or conduct.
I'm not saying that they're right. Only that their behavior is entirely internally consistent. Wokeness provides the one thing liberalism can't give itself: an ethical compass.
Ok I'm with you (except on Tulsi Gabbard - don't trust her), but the most important question is, would you vote for Trump if he was the nominee? For me it's an obvious yes.
I would add my left arm to yours for a DeSantis ticket with Tulsi Gabbard as VP. But, I really have to take issue again with:
"But neither do I want to have the religious right to have a dominant influence."
IMO, this is living in the 1980s. I thought that way back then as well.
Today the issue is the religious Left - and they are deeply, fanatically, religious about Gender Ideology - with top officials in the White House promoting "sex changes" for children:
"Trans" is closely linked to normalizing all sexual deviancy - including MInor Attracted People (they can't help it right?) And, a child who never goes through puberty and arrives at adult age with a childlike brain and body is perfect for these folks. Perfectly legal!
"Gays Against Groomers is a coalition of gay people who oppose the recent trend of indoctrinating, sexualizing and medicalizing children under the guise of “LGBTQIA+”
Our community that once preached love and acceptance of others has been hijacked by radical activists who are now pushing extreme concepts onto society, specifically targeting children in recent years.
The overwhelming majority of gay people are against what the community has transformed into, and we do not accept the political movement pushing their agenda in our name.
Gays Against Groomers directly opposes the sexualization and indoctrination of children. This includes drag queen story hours, drag shows involving children, the transitioning and medicalization of minors, and gender theory being taught in the classroom.
The activists, backed by school boards, government, woke media, and corporations, have been speaking on our behalf for too long. When fighting for equality, our goal was to successfully integrate ourselves into society, but now these radicals aim to restructure it entirely in order to accommodate a fringe minority, as well as seek to indoctrinate children into their ideology.
We’re saying NO.
There are millions of gays within the community that want nothing to do with this Alphabet religion and join the fight with parents and concerned people everywhere to protect children. We also aim to return sanity and reclaim the community we once called our own.
The gay community is not a monolith. Those pushing this agenda do not represent or speak for us all, nor do we want to be associated with them in any way. What we are witnessing is mass scale child abuse being perpetrated on an entire generation, and we will no longer sit by and watch it happen.
It is going to take those of us from within the community to finally put an end to this insanity, and that's exactly what we're going to do."
"Tax cuts are great until they lead to financial ruin." I disagree. Ever since JFK's cut taxes, with every tax cut, Tax revenues increased. More money was put into the economy, which was then taxed, and not into the pockets of den of thieves and their pals in Washington.
Tax cuts, just to say you cut taxes, are not necessarily a social or economic good.
It depends on what taxes you cut and for whom, by how much and when.
Cutting taxes on Apple only leaves them money to do more stock buybacks.
Cutting taxes on the local auto dealer or plumbing shop may actually result in additional hiring and investment.
It also depends on how you structure taxes in relationship to regulations. Is the country or the economy really well served by cutting taxes for hedge funds? Are tax cuts that feed into the disconnect between the real economy and the markets a good idea? Is the country well served by allowing hedge fund managers to define their income as not being income but "carried interest"?
Should we be cutting taxes in times of war?
Then, if, as has been the case for decades, we keep spending at the rates we are, are we justified in cutting taxes? If an individual has huge debts does he or she quit her job? We always hear about cutting spending when we hear about tax cuts. Problem is, they almost never happen and even when they do, they eventually get quashed when the next recession, war or financial crisis pops up, which they do with regularity.
Our debt should be half of what it is. It will kill our childrens futures as it will likely make our old ages harder than they need to be. Not only should we be not running up more debt, we should be paying down what we have. Nobody wants to accept that doing this is gonna mean more revenue to the government and less spending, less for more. I do not like it. I want to keep every penny I can. That said, we are where we are. We can point fingers and gripe about it but it will not change the math.
"Tax revenues increased with tax cuts" is an even bigger fantasy than Trump winning the 2020 election. EVERY tax cut since the 1980s has sent gov't deficits skyrocketing.
Tax revenues have increased with tax cuts since the days of Calvin Coolidge. But in recent decades spending has increased even more, leading to larger deficits. I think we would have had the spending in any case, so tax cuts made the deficits smaller.
The federal government had record tax receipts in 2019, _after_ the Trumpian tax cuts of 2017. Economic growth, repatriation of dollars, full workplace participation all contributed. Raising taxes is a terrible way to fund government.
We got higher revenues from tax cuts. That is indisputable but our spending outpaced the revenues. Higher revenues help fund the government but if the ever senile Biden and The Donald encourage the den of thieves to offer higher and higher spending bills and the swine we elect for presidents don't veto them then of course spending will outpace higher revenues.
But you can't separate the higher revenues from the deficits. If the tax cuts had been coupled with austerity-style spending cuts, revenues wouldn't have grown in the same way.
Deficits are due to one and only one reason - too much spending. Congresss is totally irresponsible, repeatedly trying to buy votes with government money. Donkeys worse than Heffalumps.
Which is why America almost always runs up a deficit with a Republican president, while Democratic presidents run a surplus, or the deficit goes way down. The Trump tax cuts for the wealthy raised the deficit to the stratosphere. For those who still advocate tax cuts to "help" the economy I have two words: Liz Truss.
That was true up to the Clinton years, but Obama and Biden are pretty deficit happy. Biden bringing the post-Covid deficit down but leaving it well above pre-Covid levels doesn't really count for much.
CAN the right tax cuts, at the right time, done in the right way, actually lead to growth in tax receipts via other growth?
Yes.
But whether or not a tax cut will have that effect is highly dependent on who gets them, how, when and in what context.
Some of those, are also show short term benefits to tax receipts but then fade out over time.
Does any old tax cut do that? No frigging way. For it to work, it has to juice productive parts of the economy either directly or indirectly. You cannot just cut capital gains and think that is gonna boost revenue. But, a cut to very small businesses with marginal earnings, such as a family owned restaurant, or to middle class families living paycheck to paycheck who will very likely spend it.....that's different.
The point is that for a tax cut to have a positive economic effect on revenue, it has to juice the revenue generating parts of the economy above the value of tax cut.
Even then, you have to look at and examine tax policy as it relates to capital investment.
There is no clean yes or no answer to that question and a lot of the analysis of any cut is going to be inherently subjective until the results are in.
Actually, the answer is "yes" far more frequently than no, because capital is invariably EMPLOYED.
Moreover, the issue's framing is absurd from the outset. We are not slaves who exist to build Pharoah's pyramids. Taking money out of the state's pockets and putting it in ours is GOOD. To discuss this subject as though optimizing the government's balance sheet is the goal is not just inaccurate; it's immoral.
Supply side economics, Lonesome. Right. Didn't work for Reagan. Deficits every single year of his Administration (though he did love spending on the military..). Tax revenues never rose enough to meet government needs. You know what happens when you lower taxes on the wealthy? They invest it - they don't spend it. Where's the stimulus?
The thieves and their pals (lobbyists, I assume..) still thrived.
Here is a news flash for you. If the congress passes spending bills that spend more money than it takes in, tax revenues, you have a deficit. Pretty simple, eh? Regan never had a Rep house or senate, all Dems.
I don’t remember Reagan vetoing any budget alterations coming from a Democratic congress. What they wanted he gave. There was just not enough revenues to cover it once rates were lowered.
They were all pals anyway. Him and Tip I’Neill would probably have drinks every night before bed.
This 👏👏👏💯all day every day! I’m a liberal and I’m politically lost in a haze of slapstick carnage - a fracturing that has left me examining the frailty of our institutions and the people that run them all- we don’t need another wrecking ball it’s time to see the brokenness and work to repair it together
My take on what Bill Barr was referring to when he mentions Reagan is not the republicans of old (the people and their policies) but more so Reagan’s ability to form a very broad coalition to win an election. And that is still very true today.
I like DeSantis too, but would rather see Nikki Haley as the VP.
Correct and absolutely obvious. Hard to understand why so many people here fail to understand that it’s all about coalition building, not about specific ideas. I guess it’s out of fashion these days, on the right as well as on the left everybody is righteous and want things only their way, even if the cost is actually getting nothing.
For once I am at an almost complete loss for words. I agree with everything Mr. Barr has written. Including that President Trump's accomplishments need to be acknowledged. I would, however, only add one more caveat about President Trump. He is 76 years old and would be 78 if and when he assumes office. Meaning he'll be 82 when he leaves. No matter how vital Trump may appear now, a lot can happen in the aging process. So, in addition to being temperamentally questionable, President Trump is just too old. The Republican Party has a deep bench of excellent candidates. We need a younger, less divisive leader.
I just forwarded this article to a large mailing list I belong to with almost exactly your second sentence as my preface. I keep hoping that the several members who are of the "burn down the house" variety of Give me Trump or Give us Death variety of Republicans will finally take heed.
Bruce, Murdoch controls most of conservative mass media. He's finished with Donald. And it's not because he's old. It's because he's mentally vacant and living in the past of repetitive lost grievance, bombast, hyperbole and too transparent in his lust for power. Even Rupert knows the GOP needs more than just registered Republicans to win a national race for the White House. Trump's base is simply not enough. And he's too hated outside of it.
And where Rupert goes, mega donors will follow. Trump (imo) is finished, all by himself as the only declared candidate for the GOP nomination (trying to get ahead of indictments), and he'll be slowly picked apart like a bloated carcass from the raven sniping of DeSantis, Christie, Pence et al for the next twelve months.
If the vile scum crew of Pence, fat Christie, Nikki do this to Trump there will be no way that any R can win. (Note that a great candidate will not win in 2024 after the R establishment allowed the Democrats to get away with murder on voter integrity in 2020 in 2022 just to get rid of Trump).
Who exactly is Mr. Barr talking to? Does he really think that most of the huge cohort who voted for President Trump did not know that he was childish, self-centered, and undisciplined? Oh- thank you for opening our eyes!
Mr. Barr needs to talk to himself, Mitch McConnell and the other folks in the leadership of the Republican Party. There are tough questions they need to ask themselves. Among them are: Why do so many Republicans call us the Stupid Party?
Why did so many Republicans disdain John McCain when we (the leadership) thought he was wonderful?
Why did so many Republicans despair at Mitt Romney's candidacy?
How many Republicans admired Bob Dole as an individual but knew he would lose?
Why was Lindsey Graham horrified and surprised at the media and Democratic treatment of Brett Kavanaugh when conservative voters were not?
How are we 'leaders' completely out of touch?
What have we done to show that we don't despise the people we want to vote for us?
Have we looked in the mirror and understood that our weak, spineless responses to things like the IRS targeting conservatives, the betrayal of the Constitution in the treatment of the Jan. 6 protestors, and dozens and dozens of other issues are what make people support Donald Trump even though they agree with all our complaints about him?
Time to look in the mirror, Mr. Barr and do your own mea culpas. I happen to agree that if he can't change and learn (which I don't think he can) Donald Trump should step off the stage. But, I think that if Republican leadership cannot change and learn then they should also do so.
Well said. I think the value of "water is wet" articles like Mr. Barr's are important because of the author's status. Consider it a kind of celebrity anti-endorsement rather than informative.
Nice of you to show up. Agree totally, and I'd add, get over the 'Trump can't win, woe is us' and get behind him (or DeSantis if he shows he has the Yarbles of Trump and attacks the ruling elites), equip ourselves to play by the new rules, and take our country back.
Add county fairs, the Hallmark channel and Charter School mailing lists.
Thank you for pointing this TOTAL truth out Kevin. We don't stand a chance unless we outpace the dems in collecting ballots. I don't see the R's getting that organized in less than two years. Plus we are at a complete disadvantage as we don't have the institutions in place, as the dems have with the unions and non-profits who were set up already for that purpose, and seem to have it down to a science.
Kevin that is the answer. But read all the comments it’s all President Trump’s fault. The vote is completely corrupted and will be for 2024 but then can somebody please tell me who will be the next Democrat President? If we keep on with this we are well on our way to a one party country.
Unfortunately, we tried so hard. Our State is broken. Everyone, Dems, independents, republicans, he won’t get much support from Californians. Just like Kamala. But you know, the “celebrities “
Absolutely spot on. Trump had his chance and he blew it. DeSantis can pick up the Trump base and broaden the party as he has done in Florida to an even broader coalition than Reagan's.
I agree, but like it or not, Trump was, as Chapelle said last week, an honest liar, who knew xactly what the elites were doing to this society becuse he played in those circles, and was honest enough to call them out and attack them.
Bill was part of the old Reagan coalition, but that's irrelevent now. Reagan didn't have a media that was nothing more than a partisan and dishonest mouthpiece for the DNC. He didn't face a weaponized FBI/CIA/IRS/CDC/FDA who fought the legitmacy of the Republican party. He also didn't have an academic class indocritnating students in socialistic/racial/gender cultures at odds with the best interest of the country.
In my 65 years I've never witnessed a leader willing to take on the permanent governing class and international elites like Trump. and until I see someone rise to that level of confrontation, maybe DeSantiss can, I'll continue to support him. We're in a revolution, and need someone who's willing to acknowledge and confront that.
It’s almost impossible to factually disagree with anything Bill Barr has said here. But he also missed the real issue. The conclusion is not “Trump must step aside.” If Bill Barr is right about the rest of the piece, then clearly, Trump will never do that.
The *PARTY* needs to do the extraordinarily heavy lift of winning over the Trump supporters. Whining from the sidelines that Trump doesn’t put the party first demonstrates a fundamental misunderstanding of Trump supporters.
They don’t give a rat’s ass about the party (nor should they, IMO.). The Republican Party of today isn’t even a vague shadow of Reagan’s party. Mitch McConnell and the rest of the decrepit old guard betrayed the working class every bit as much as the Democratic Party. Trump supporters are not Republicans - they see themselves as normal people that love America who lack any substantive representation.
They want a champion - they want someone who cares about them, not about some Byzantine, self-enriching Party structure. They feel like they’ve done everything they’re supposed to do, and are utterly vilified by a circus of dark insanity for doing so.
Why should they have an ounce of loyalty for the Republican Party? What has the Republican Party done for them since Reagan? Nothing.
The smoke filled rooms, full of lifelong residents, are all the same - they just have an R or a D on the sign outside. The mind boggling authoritarian state of today was set in motion by Bush-the-younger. both George Bushes and Bill Clinton were/are good buddies IRL, for God’s sake.
Bill Barr is right - the Republicans WILL lose the 2024 election - when literally anyone should be able to beat the current crop of Democrats. If they wait for Trump to go away, they only get the consolation prize of being able to blame him, nothing else. If they want to win, the PARTY needs to change - more than just the candidate they field. From Bill Barr’s writing, it doesn’t look promising.
Excellent post. I tried to convey many of the same things today in both Bari's and Sasha Stones columns today.
I will support Trump until DeSantis shows the same balls as Trump.
Also, if you don't read Sasha Stones substacks, you should really read today's. Better yet, listen to the podcast as it incorporates parts of Trumps last rally and excerpts from Mr Smith goes to Washington. It is amazing.
Jon - I’ve been liking all your comments today, as well - you’re spot on. Thanks for the Sasha Stones recommendation; I’m heading over there right now.
Thoughtful Reader, that was a… thoughtful post, and fascinating. It articulates what is so hard to accept or understand about Trump for people who despise or dislike him.
And yet. All other things aside, Trump’s age is definitely a problem. And even if one likes his style of rhetoric, he has become unhinged.
As many others have commented here, Trump can’t win in a general election. He can’t. Period. So Trump supporters are welcome to vote for him as the Republican primary nominee, or boycott the general election if he doesn’t win the nomination. But very quickly they will realize what a petty, spiteful, shortsighted decision that was. They don’t owe the Republican Party a damn thing, but they still owe America something more than to vote for a loser just from spite.
Agree that Reagan's oratory skills were magical, but many find Trump's skills, while certainly not as gentle, to be every bit as substantive and correct in their messaging. Trump doesn't have Reagan's style, but we're in the midst of a revolution, and Trump's boldness is needed.
I'd support DeSantis is a second if I was convinced he'd take on the big boys like Trump, but he's still pretty green. I'll watch closely how he handles the next two years. I VERY MUCH like that he isn't taking the bait that Trump is tossing out there.
There's a lot of Republicans who have joined the ruling class and forsaken the citizens. Trump is careful to only go after specific targets, whereas the left (and many rinos) and Biden attack half the country.
But when Mitch McConnell and Kev McCarthy fund candidates and Pacs that are anti maga candidates, thats ok? I guess as long as they do it in secret, right?
Yip only Trump! If you put anybody else there they will be eaten for breakfast, lunch and dinner. That’s why the MSM and the Democrats are encouraging this talk. Notice here we all squabbling over who we would put, but Bari and Co are telling us who we won’t have, but from the Democrats side SCHTUM! Who are they going to put up?
Well the Dems already put up a man with dementia and he won. Then they got the win with Fetterman, so does it even matter who they put up? Republicans need to get on top of their game and their message. But most of all Ballot harvesting needs to stop and election integrity needs to be restored or candidates migh not matter.
52% of the Twitter world (a notoriously leftish clan) voted to put Trump back in the platform. The media wants you to think Trump’s days are over and both side of the aisle are petrified of him running again as he’s always a threat to expose their corrupt gravy train.
Agree totally. They've been trying to exterminate him for seven years, and won't let up now.
I was of the belief that we needed to cut him loose too, until the midterms. Now, I'm back to fervently supporting him until a DeSantis or someone else shows the willingness to expend political capital to take on the ruling class, I'm back to supporting Trump. If he moderates his style, even a litlle bit, he'll win.
Please just take him as he is, why do you want him to be different. We need to fix our elections, because if we don’t it doesn’t matter who Republicans put up the Democrats will always win. President Trump knows this, we know this now we need to fix it
Because he is toxic in many ways. He is unwilling to try to tone it down. I was for him until he attacked DeSantis, before and after the mid-terms, and Youngkin and said other destructive things. That was it for me! Shows huge immaturity. He has become a liability in my view and the view of so many. And I totally agree about the elections
DeSantis, unfortunately, has aligned with the ruling class. Ken Griffin funds him. Paul Ryan and Jeb! have endorsed him and he does not distance himself from any of it. DeSantis does not have the $$$ on his own, so he will ultimately be beholden to his mega donors and the establishment. I think expecting many Trump supporters to get behind DeSantis, Pence, Haley, etc is foolhardy thinking. JMO.
💯 in fact a 1000% correct. Switch off Cable it’s toxic. Get CNN out of your living room, bedroom and wherever else you have them If you streaming turn off your device. They are petrified of Trump.
86% of Trumps endorsements won. The media cherrypicked the ones that lost to spin th message to read that Trump was out of touch.
Go to the bottom of this link if you want to see the analysis.
'According to Ballotpedia’s tracking, Trump endorsed 257 candidates who appeared on the November 8 ballot. This includes all regularly-scheduled general elections at all levels of government, Louisiana’s primaries, and the special U.S. Senate election in Oklahoma.
Trump’s endorsees won 213 of the 241 called races held on Nov. 8 (86%).
'Thirty-seven of those called races were battleground congressional or gubernatorial elections, rated as either a toss-up or lean/tilt Democratic or Republican by The Cook Political Report, Inside Elections, or Sabato’s Crystal Ball.'
You misquoted the analysis - here’s the full quote:
Thirty-seven of those called races were battleground congressional or gubernatorial elections, rated as either a toss-up or lean/tilt Democratic or Republican by The Cook Political Report, Inside Elections, or Sabato’s Crystal Ball.
Trump’s endorsees won 14 of the 35 called battleground races (38%).
Trump’s lowest win rate was in gubernatorial races, where he endorsed 21 candidates. One of those races—in Alaska—remains uncalled. Of the 20 elections where we know the outcome, nine of Trump’s endorsees won (45%).
But he lost most of the battleground races - that 86% is misleading because it includes deep-red areas and that’s not where you need to pick up votes in the general - I’m a moderate liberal and I’d vote Republican for any of the candidates mentioned here except trump and the democratic establishment knows it so they’re trying to keep him alive to force me to vote dem which I really don’t want because of the crazy woke stuff - I’m in southern CA so I see it first-hand. But Trump’s selfishness, vindictiveness and narcissism for me negates any policy wins he had. He’s too unstable and exhausting.
There is a lot to it. I will mention a couple of issues. The Dems used Covid as an excuse to push for massive mail in voting and ballot harvesting in many states. In some states they sent ballots to everyone they had addresses for, many no longer even lived in the state or at the address. But There is no way to know who actually fills out the ballot. There is no Voter ID involved in that. In many states they allow ballot harvesting and special interest groups hire people to actually go to houses and 'collect' their ballots. There is no way either of those things would not allow for fraud. In many places there were 'finding' ballots hours and even days after the election. https://lawyersdemocracyfund.org/other-issues/ballot-harvesting/
I felt that way too, until the midterms. While Trump is polarizing, I think the majority of the country believes in his cause, they're just offended by his style. Right now, I favor substance.
If DeSantis shows the ability to take on the big guys and doesn't pull punches, I agree that he would have the best odds for 2024, but I'd rather see him take 28-32/
Agreed. I'd prefer Trump in 2024, but would be more than happy or DeSantis. We still need four more years of asskicking attacks on the ruling class, the way Trump showed he's capable of.
DeSantis has been creating a great track record. but still needs to start spending some of his political capital going after the big boys. The fact that he isn't taking the bait of Trumps insults is encouraging.
The party needs some more destroying. It's not Rep v Dem any more, it's Citizens versus governing elites. Trump's one of the citizens, as are DeSantis, Tulsi, Youngkin and others, but Barr (though I still like him) wants a return to days gone by, when we still had a bi partisan press and an FBI/CIA/CDC/IRS/FDA that was on our side, and academia that didn't hate what we as a country stand for.
We are currently in the midst of a revolution/Civil War, and need a leader that acknowledges that.
Jon - Agreed. The past isn’t coming back and nostalgia for the good old days doesn’t help. The world has changed and we need to look forward, not back.
I live in Florida. DeSantis has been taking on the media and the left continually. Trump says his success was due to Trump. No. DeSantis’ success has been on display continually. DeSantis’ success was due to DeSantis.
Jon, if this last election proves anything, anything at all, it is that a middle course is the right course. Things have to change. Yes.
We need to expunge the radical left. And I must add we need to marginalize the extreme right, of which no names need to be mentioned. The tails of both parties have to be stopped in wagging the dog. (I wish Kevin McCarthy luck..).
But in my opinion we need slow, incremental steps at compromise between, let's face it, two warring factions in Washington, at home where we live, and sometimes in the very homes we reside in. There has to be proof that real progress can be made, if only we put the rhetorical weapons down.
Confrontation I'm afraid is not the answer, compromise, though, is.
I agree, but I'm of the opinion that Trump is in the middle. He's hated by the fringes of both parties, and more importantly, the career politiciams and global elites.
He's for the working guys and wants to take the country back, but I doubt you'll agree with me, and don't judge anyone with a different opinion.
Barr is living too long in DC if he thinks Republicans can revive the old Reagan coalition and win a presidency by canceling the guy who has the firm backing of 35% of confirmed Republican voters.
If the Barrs, DeSantis, Romneys,Ryans of the party want to ever win an election, they should find a way to coalesce around the leader of that base. The Democrats have no problem coalescing around and lionizing the current nasty partisan in the White House.
If Barr had disclosed the existence of Hunter’s laptop and the then pending criminal investigation of it, there would never have been a Ukraine impeachment or the sudden rise and election of Basement Biden. I don’t remember Barr disclosing the contents of the laptop after the Bobulinski interview or when Biden said it was Russian disinformation.
These Swamp creatures owe Trump and Republicans an apology for their silence. It will be Republican folly to listen to them now. The base knows the truth and will stay home if Trump is not the nominee.
Try winning with suburban housewives when Democrats run like they just did as bulwarks against national abortion bans and codifying Roe.
You don't care that the laptop of the son of the sitting president contains credible evidence that the president took Chinese communist cash laundered through Hunter? Huh?
I know what's been publicly released so far, including information that a cut of the payments of Chinese communist cash was reserved for "the Big Guy." Who has credibly identified by Bobulinski as Joe Biden. We also know that Joe has lied about being unaware of Hunter's business dealings, as photographic evidence proves the contrary. Is there a treasure trove of information being protected by the FBI that implicates Biden in criminal activity? We will see. But there is already sufficient evidence to investigate his wrongdoing. The laptop is not about Hunter's perversions. It's about Joe's treachery and corruption.
I care about the fact Biden was clearly doing business deals with China and Ukraine. Hunter can spend as much time on drugs and hookers as he likes, the real problem is with his corrupt, racist father.
Wait til the banks start having to turn over the Biden suspicious money transfers between Jim, Hunter and the rest of the family. Witnesses and whistleblowers start to come forward to testify about the business dealings and meetings between the Chinese and the Bidens and how the FBI and Justice have ignored the same crimes they indicted and convicted Bannon, Manafort of.
They didn’t have anything on Trump and they bloodied him up even with a great economic record and four years of no new wars.
I think it's just awfully weird that Hunter was gifted a questionable sinecure with Burisma Holdings on the basis of his father's influence, and now all of Ukraine is a battlefield.
I mean, I expect corruption on a massive scale from practically all elected officials. It's just really bizarre to me that when those corrupt politicians are Democrats, the mainstream media refuses to denounce them.
Just like no one cared about Iran-Contra, the CIA importing cocaine in the 1980s, the Gulf of Tonkin Incident, 1979 October Surprise/failed Iranian hostage rescue, etc. Same as it ever was.
And that's what Trump has done. As I've posted many times today, on Bari and Sasha's columns, this isn't Rep v Dem anymore, it's Citizens v Ruling Class, and many of the Reps are now part of the ruling class. I respect Barr greatly, but he's on the wrong side.
Should DeSantis show over the next two years that he'll spend some political capital by calling out the folks in power (CIA/FBI/CDC/IRS/FDA/Academia/Media) the way Trump has, and propose solutions that will give the country back to the Citizens, I will gladly support him. But, he's still pretty green.
It's funny, but I was originally quite depressed by the midterms, and even before them, was privately hoping that Trump would go away and/or support DeSantis.
I'm now of the impression that the ruling class needs an adversary of Trumps stature, and that the people's will wasn't reflected in the midterms. I believe they are just as disgusted with the ruling class, if not more so than prior to the midterms, and maybe 2024 could work out pretty well.
All of the post midterm stories about the coverups of 1/6. Mar A lago, Paul Pelosi, failed student loan vote buying scheme and other crap should be making clear to the electorate just how far the Ruling Class has gone to steer elections.
Not naive at all Jon, the coverups, the constant lying. We are all exhausted, however, we have to soldier on its going to get even more mad before 2024.
In 2016 I was ready to vote for Bernie as I believed he came closest to a 'third party', even though I didn't agree with many of his positions. When the Dems screwed him, I went with Trump thinking he didn't have a prayer, and would probably be a crappy President, but again, he was also a thrid party canidate. Bernie was a TPC who tried to come up through the Left, and Trump was a TPC who came up through the Right.
I don't think I'm exagerating when I say Trump saved this country in '16. Imagine th last six years if Hillary won. The Rep party has totally morphed into a different entity over the past ten years, and I believe it reflects what the Citizens of this country want. The left has lost it's soul in a quest to be part of the global power structure that Macron is openly promoting.
A third party cannot win. That’s not how the system has developed over time. I agree that while most Americans are not ultra left or ultra right, the institutions all the way down to the grassroots level do not support a third party probability of success. People who vote third party normally work against the party they would otherwise have voted for. It’s a lose-lose proposition.
It's a 20-year process. You ally yourself with a national platform, but you start with local elections—school boards, county supervisors, town clerks etc and as you get name recognition, you gradually start going after state elections.
The BIG problem is (1) funding and (2) voters who believe we're at a crisis point, and if we _don't_ vote for Tweedledum or Tweedledee, the whole nation is gonna come squeaking to a halt.
The latter is a line of crap that both Democrats and Republicans work hard to make you believe, by the way, which is one of the proofs—to my mind at any rate—that the two parties collude more than they disagree.
Respectfully back, every age quivers under the weight of its own imagined Armageddon. At some point, we've got to risk it. If we don't, it'll be more of the same.
100% agree. Trump is a single issue guy, and the issue is himself. He needs to get himself and his attendant distractions out of the way of the business of politics and governing and allow the party to focus on someone creative and serious. 2024 cannot be about Trump v Biden. America needs so much better than that.
2024 will be all about America Vs. the Administrative State. And so far the latter is winning bigly, thanks largely to the Media-Swamp-Hollywood propaganda machine along with the near complete capture of key election bureaucracies.
The ginned up hatred for DJT (and the endless witch hunts), along with refusal to acknowledge any of his accomplishments, is misdirection. And damn effective at that.
Finally, any GOP candidate who emerges and espouses even a hint of Trump's policies will be immediately smeared and attacked as his minion or protégé. First by the GOP establishment and eventually by the full-on swamp should he/she earn the nomination. The real question to ask before throwing your support behind such a candidate is whether they have the balls and the resilience to withstand such sustained attacks. Not to mention the financial independence to resist becoming owned by the big donors, who regardless of stated political ideology have very different priorities and goals for America than those of us trying to keep the lights on and food on the table while the elites wallow in unearned luxury.
You may find it easy to diss on Trump, but good luck finding a replacement.
The picture you paint about how difficult it will be for the red team to win is depressing. Cold, clear and truthful reality. It will be a heated battle for sure.
Yeah well, you would say that. I'm sorry; did you say that the reason Trump had so much trouble governing was the one in the mirror? You only suffered in the periphery of the blow back against someone standing up to the cabal running our country. Bill, I put so much faith in your integrity; I lost. You deluded yourself into thinking you were above the fray and too high-minded to struggle in the mire with lesser beings. Well, you and your ilk have this country where we are today. Thanks so much. Like the old farmer who came out of the cellar with everything destroyed in the storm saying "Ain't it fine the wind stopped blowing"! Faith without works is dead and the way your ideas smell so are your ideals. Keep 'em.
I consider myself a Republican that was an anybody but Trump that became a Trump supporter.
I believe people support Trump for what he stands for not because they want or wanted a disrupter!
Although #FakeMedia and #CleantheSwamp resonated with many!
Trump does need to grow as a speaker! I believe it is important to him to that middle America knows he is speaking for them BUT that doesn't mean he has to speak down! It's like when Obama would speak with an accent in front of Blacks🙄
Trump needs to grow as a speaker? Maybe he could start by not patting himself on the back, telling obvious lies, insisting everyone "kiss his ass" etc. He could stop attacking other Republicans. He will do none of this.
It seems everyone needs Trump. Everyone except the nation.
Dems need Trump to win.
The media need Trump to sell.
Anti-Trumpers need Trump so they can say I told you so.
Pro-Trumpers need Trump to tell the world I told you so.
Prosecutors need Trump for headlines and scalps.
Trump needs Trump to stoke the fire in that expansive narcissistic belly of his.
Our country is falling down around us, yet we’re obsessed with Orange Man.
Our schools cannot teach.
Our medical industry long ago abandoned its obligation to do no harm.
Industry has defenestrated capitalism from the corner office window and installed its wokier step-sibling. So what if ESG destroys the single most powerful engine known to man for relieving poverty.
Family? Optional.
Sovereign borders? Meh.
Our churches twist themselves into theological pretzels to fill pews.
We’ve abandoned one half of our population — boys — because it’s easier to deal with the mood-swings of feminists than teach boys to channel the aggression that comes with masculinity.
A schlubby-socked brat who never learned right from wrong has unleashed a financial scandal the implications of which we’re only now beginning to fathom. But, hey, Democrats got theirs.
Marauders hold our cities hostage, but our leaders insist law-abiding citizens must relinquish their weapons.
We’re militarily and economically incapable of dealing with our two existential enemies, one which threatens nuclear war, the other that challenges our allies’ sovereignty, while buying allegiance of the Third World with gleaming chip factories.
We can’t see past a group’s faces to measure an individual’s character.
I’ve got an idea. Let’s ignore The Donald and commit to cultivating true statesmen bore-sighted on saving our Republic.
The operative word in the sentence as cultivating. I’m with you, there are none on the stage. Maybe, sort of DeSantis, but I’m not sold yet. Besides, what constitutes a statesman or woman? Churchill is probably everyone’s go-to. While he truly he was because of his super-human courage, he also failed epically along the way. Perhaps we’re all looking for that leader who walks on water. In all of history, there was only one who accomplished that feat. The rest are merely human.
Faith Ham’s common sense understanding coupled with Jordon Peterson’s “ Conservative Manifesto” provide a good road map for the Republican’s message and agenda going forward.
“If Trump had run his reelection campaign on that platform, and dialed his churlishness back just a little, he would have won”
—————————————————-
Trump is definitely going to lose if he’s the nominee, but I don’t think personality tweaks are the key to victory when a lumbering communist skinhead who chased a black guy down the street with a shotgun and who can’t speak English just beat a heart surgeon in Pennsylvania.
How is it "faux concern"? The mefia convinced people that Rittenhouse was a racist Trump supporter who killed 3 black people, but crickets on Fetterman using a shotgun to chase down an actual black person.
It is important to remember that, while the outcome was not as tragic, what Fetterman did was WAY more racist than what the McMichael guy did. The guy Fetterman chased was in fact just jogging. He wasn’t on camera trespassing and being suspicious or whatever. He was literally just jogging.
John Fetterman saw him, grabbed his shotgun, and chased him. Im struggling to think of something that is *more* racist than that. It wasn’t an offensive blog post he wrote in college. He chased. A black guy. Down the street. With. A. Shotgun.
Hmmm....must have missed the trial when all the McMichael' previous text messages, social media posts, as well as those after the shooting were he talked about "killing the stupid N*gger" among MANY more examples of interesting post-murder rhetoric, were admitted into evidence. Along with no evidence of theft or criminal tresspassing....but there is always "suspicious running, " right?
Yes....the whole thing such murd -- I mean "tragedy."
Your concern re: Fetterman would be a little more credible of you weren't a member a of the McMIchaels' justification/fan club.
“Being a heart surgeon makes one qualified to be a Senator?”
———————————————
No, it does not. In order to be a Senator you need to be at least 30 years of age and you need to chase at least one black guy down the street with a shotgun.
Okay even if that was true, and you didn’t believe that I thought chasing a black guy down the street was problematic……..YOU are still supposed to care when an obese skinhead communist chases a black guy down the street with a shotgun……but ya don’t care, do ya.
Of course he doesn't. Because the left has no principles other than getting and keeping power. They'd sell their own mothers into carnal slavery to do it.
You/Conservatives had no problem with what happened to Ahmaud Arbery.
So....you expected your fake concern re: Fetterman NOT murdering a black jogger to move the political needle? You/MAGA are not a credible messenger on such issues, Kevin.
So...explain again why you think I should care?
As far as I know, Fetterman isn't a skinhead, but you seem to have evidence.
No, we don't. But we also don't support burning down cities by people who claim police shoot unarmed black men, but fail to talk about those unarmed black men also getting in physical altercations with police, reaching for weapons, disarming police officers to use their weapons against them, or police using their weapons to save a 16 yr old girl from being stabbed by another 16 year old girl.
I guess we can start claiming "rAciSm" now whenever a cop kills a white person who does the same, right? After all, more white people are killed by police every year than black people.
2. Damn right more unarmed white people are shot. Too bad you don't give a f*ck about them either.
For the rest of your "reaching for a weapon" and "feared for their lives" BS bootlicking - you can share that nonsense with someone else....especially considering how many cops have been exposed as active members of white supremacists groups....but you're not ready for that conversation.
Portland, Seattle,Philadelphia, Chicago, Kenosha, Atlanta. Are you really going to go with that "no cities were burnt down" bullshit?
We do give a fuck. I know of plenty of cases of ACTUAL unarmed innocents being victims. None of the ones rioted for in 2020 were innocent. I mean, unless Atlanta rioted for Sequoia Turner, who was an 8 year old shot by people rioting because of Rashard Brooks; or David Dorn, killed by looters because of George Floyd riots; or Horace Anderson killed by the "self policing police" in the CHAZ; but yeah, kerp going with your narrative.
Nah, Democrats just hide 10,000 murders a year happening in Democrat city strongholds. But those 100 deaths by police makes those 10k pale in comparison.
You're right. That's what it is. Those damn cops really do numbers on inner city people...oh, my bad. That 30 people a weekend shot in Chicago aren't the "white supremacists", unless they're just "faces of white supremacy"...
No but when an electorate prioritizes abortion as the number one concern over inflation, crime, the ability to source and reduce energy prices, relying on tweaking a Republican personality might not be the answer either.
We need to stop calling it an “electorate”. That sorta implies interested citizens who choose to make their voices heard by going to vote.
What we have is more of a collectorate, where various and sundry street hustlers, nightclub promoters, and community activists go out to see who can get the largest number of disinterested people, who know nothing and who weren’t going to vote, to fill out a ballot.
You prioritize what is a direct and immediate threat to your health and welfare. It's why people are more afraid of being robbed and less afraid of slowly dying and getting diabetes from eating crappy food.
Being a gay moderate, I vote for Republicans in local elections all the time and would consider voting for one on a national level because of the out-of-control crime and homelessness in our cities. However, if a Republican were to campaign on ending my marriage and breaking up my family, I'd vote against them immediately regardless of their position on anything else.
1. Inflation is not the only indicator of economic strength.
2. Crime has spiked in some areas. Nowhere near close to a national issue.
And when an electorate prioritizes fake moral panics like "wokeism" and "cancel culture" and never seems to understand their party is not as popular as they think/keep telling themselves....a major tweaking across the board might be needed.
And they screech about an orchestrated campaign of Russian disinformation. The Dems have a well oiled machine of drooling posters to whom copious amounts of lies are disseminated daily. Odious but they are quite practiced at it. And then there are the tech and media barons who work doggedly to spread the lies. And hide the ugly truth.
1. Lol. That would be a horrible ROI for Soros....especially the super important, vital Bari Weiss substack forum. Lol. Yeah....or maybe some people don't like MAGA? Impossible.
2. Is there anythinge else you want to pretend to care about?
If the GOP hadn’t allowed the Democratic’s to set the narrative on abortion we would have run.
The day after pill addresses rape and incest! To save the life of the mother medical procedures are preformed (usually delivering the baby alive) not aborting the baby! There is no state that I am aware of that has a bill that will deny an abortion to a victim of rape or incest, usually in the form of the day after pill not in the 9th month!
I was a huge Trump supporter, precisely because he seemed like a giant wrecking ball. And that's exactly what Washington DC deserved and still deserves.
Immediately after the 2016 election, I started a Facebook Group, Praying for our President. It grew to over 140,000-members and we had tens of thousands of posts per day leading up to the election. In October, we were suddenly shut down without warning and without recourse — ostensibly because one of the members posted something about alternative treatments for COVID-19. (A post we would have deleted ourselves as off-topic, given a few hours)
This type of big tech and media meddling was definitely a brand of "stealing the election." The media handling of the Hunter Biden laptop scandal was absolutely egregious. Anyone who believes a man who couldn't get 300 people to a Lady Gaga concert legitimately got more votes than Obama is drinking a very special kind of Kool-aid.
Obviously...and I mean painfully obviously...the Democrats took their usual vote-cheating schemes to a whole 'nother level
Nevertheless, meddling or no meddling. Cheating or no cheating. Trump lost. And then he lost me in the aftermath of the election. I can't believe he's STILL talking about the last election. It's absolutely pointless and counter-productive. I will not be supporting him this time around.
Ron DeSantis & Tulsi Gabbard to unite the nation.
Meanwhile, I'm in the process of becoming an Irish citizen. The whole country has lost it's ever-lovin' mind. Peace out, people.
Couldn't agree more. The media and intelligence agencies are directly involved in censoring us and lying to us while Democrats conduct ballot harvesting in defiance of the law.
Trump doesn't even register on my list of serious threats to our democracy.
But at the end of the day, if this country is happy with Joe Biden as president, I'm with you. Time to get out and let it burn to the ground. I have no interest in "unity" with the kind of people who think the Emperor's Clothes are beautiful.
Agree Trump is stuck in his own pity party but are you sure Ireland is different? My husband is Irish and the news from there sounds pretty much like what’s happening here
The Republic of Ireland is rated the 3rd safest country in the world. And they don't meddle in the affairs of other nations. It infuriates me that trillions of tax dollars have been wasted blowing up the Middle East and now hundreds of millions are being thrown at a proxy war in the Ukraine.
Never a thought for the long-suffering American people and how our tax dollars might serve to benefit us for a change. That's one thing Trump never gets enough credit for. He kept us out of pointless foreign interventions and tried to put the American people first.
The problem with Bill Barr’s anti-Trump positions is that the alternative for the GOP are Bill Barr establishment types… and voters are sick of Bill Barr establishment types.
Fraud absolutely prevented his second term, and it is the collusion of the Deep State, Bill - of which you are the poster boy - that prevented the overwhelming (even that term is an understatement) evidence from being presented to the public. Add to that the judiciary's refusal to hear any evidence - for the purpose, of course, of preventing its being entered into the public record - and the circle is closed.
What was the main purpose of Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution, creating the Supreme Court? It is to provide a means for adjudicating disputes between states - yet the Supreme Court refused to hear the lawsuit of Texas against the so-called "swing states" - Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, alleging fraud in the 2020 election. The fix is in, and you, Sir, as the perfect Trojan Horse, allowed, aided, and abetted that fraud. I have to say one thing: you're good. Really good. Unfortunately, you're also a crook.
Bari - snaring the former AG is a real coup. You are building an empire; never let up. We need you. I hope I live long enough to see you buy the NY Times.
First off.....I, a life long republican of the Northeast variety, do not want to see the old republican party come back. I just do not.
I am all for and fully support religious freedom. Bakers etc should not be forced to bake for anyone when doing so violates their religious beliefs. But neither do I want to have the religious right to have a dominant influence.
Tax cuts are great until they lead to financial ruin. You want to spend, then tax, but do not run up huge debts.
I do not want the republican party of Wall Street. Let the democrats have it. I want the republican party of small business and main street.
I do not want back the republican party that is lead by neocons, always looking for a foreign war or proxy war on which to spend tens of billions, cause massive disruptions, waste countless lives and make us even more hated around the world. I want a well trained, well armed, military that is capable of defending the nation but not one that is constantly looking for a place to fight.
I want a republican party of the Ron DeSantis type and not the Mitch McConnel type.
Trump served his purpose. It might have been good to have him beat Biden and serve a second term but I do not want him back. He is too toxic and with the democrats in such a horrid place we need someone that is sensible on more than just policy. We need someone that can form a large coalition against the far left. Trump is not up to that. DeSantis is our best choice and he also would not be term limited.
I would give my left arm for a DeSantis ticket with Tulsi Gabbard as VP.
I’m a former Democrat and a current Independent, but I’d certainly take that over our current options.
If it’s DeSantis, which I hope it is, I think Glenn Youngkin has a high chance of the VP spot because if he can deliver Virginia, the Dems are in a world of hurt.
This is off topic:
Copy of letter Texas Gov. Abbott to the ever senile Joe Biden:
https://gov.texas.gov/uploads/files/press/BidenJoseph_11.16.22.pdf
I agree with this 100%. I was raised in Panama and worked there for many years. I have many Panamanian friends and one Argentine who gained their US citizenship the proper way. What do the Democrats say to these people who jumped through the hoops and spent money to become citizens? Do they thumb their nose at them and call them suckers and tell them they didn’t have to spend years waiting for your citizenship. All you had to do was swim the Rio Grande.
I have been on the border and can take you to a place not 100 yards from the river where houses have been abandoned by their owners because it was unsafe to live there. Ranchers have had their fences cut. Their cattle killed and some ranchers have been murdered.
The first obligation of a government is the safety and well being of its citizens. We owe nothing to these illegals. I’m sorry. I mean undocumented Democrats.
And then there is the fentanyl problem which I won’t address.
This situation makes my blood boil and this dangerous invasion can be firmly laid at Biden’s and the Democrats’ feet.
Lonesome
They say to those immigrants who gained citizenship the proper way the same thing they are saying to tradesmen that are paying for student loan forgiveness - eff you.
Amen.
Amen.
Great post.
Abbott letter to POUTUS is awesome.
Mr. Plant - I love ya, but don't take our Governor just yet.
Since I don’t live in FL, I fully intent on stealing him for myself.
😫
Yes to all of this.
What about Nikki Haley at the top of the ticket and Tim Scott as VP? Love that pairing...
I think DeSantis is a better choice than Haley. His policies would more closely align with the good stuff Trump gave us and he has more charisma to get things done, he is a better communicator, in part because he is just funnier and he puts FL in the bag in the electoral college. Never mind that he is also Latino.
Gabbard is articulate and charming. She has a way of calling a spade a spade and getting concisely to the root of an issue. She is also a pragmatic veteran with strong cred, at least with me, on foreign policy. She is tough and unafraid. Top it off with the fact that she is highly attractive, which matters in politics, female, a minority and a former democrat, and she brings a lot to a ticket.
Haley or Scott would be decent choices for VP, but on balance, I think Gabbard would be better and were anything to happen to DeSantis I think that she would be a decent president.
DeSantis is not Latino. He’s Italian. A DeSantis-Haley ticket would be a strong one. She’d destroy Kamala Harris in the debates, if it got that far.
Debates don't matter. Can the GOP counter ballot harvesting and the mail-in ballot + delayed counting phenomena?
If not, it literally does NOT matter what Republican runs.
GOP friends of mine from SC could not stand her.
Yes, Haley is a rino.
"RINO": a Republican office holder that someone disagrees with 5% of the time, and for that reason shouldn't be supported at all.
She received 56% of the votes in SC when she ran for re-election. I can't speak for your friends, but those who "can't stand her" seem to be a irrelevant minority.
44% is irrelevant?
The fun thing about all this speculation is that conservatives have a lot of potential stars (many named above) we have some time to sort this out. Think of the choices for the Dems - AOC, Harris and Newsome (Gruesome?).
So would Kristi Noem. How would you like her on the ticket?
the heart didn't work; I agree.
It did work, but thanks!
Correct- and agree!
It’s great that we have such high quality choices. I always prefer ex-governors - so DeSantis or Haley have the appropriate governing experience. Can DeSantis build a coalition outside Florida?
Not without Trump’s blessing and even then…I’m not sure the Republican base or Trump independents would support DeSantis over his disloyalty.
I’m praying that DeSantis doesn’t sell out to the money from the Ryans, Murdocks, Bushes and backs Trump to unite the party for America’s last stand.
We should be spending a lot more time and money finding an abortion message that isn’t ruinous.
DeSantis would win people over quickly - he is smart, articulate, and highly competent.
Well, he would... if mainstream media could be relied upon to report his message (or that of any other Republican challenger to the Democrats) accurately and fairly. What are the chances of that, do you suppose?
How has DeSantis been disloyal? The badmouthing has all come from Trump.
DeSantis' abortion policy is 15 weeks.
Allowing himself to be bankrolled by friends Ryan, Bush et al to prevent Trump from the nomination is disloyal to Trump and his millions of supporters
You mean the DeSantis abortion ban is 15 weeks and energized GenZ
Why would DeSantis run now, when he can wait 4 years and avoid a brawl with Trump? He's only 44. Plus, the entertainment value alone of another Trump/Biden race would be over the top.
Because things change. All the stars are aligned now for DeSantis, but it never stays that way. And if he chooses to run as Trump's VP, his name would be forever tainted. His time is now.
He might do that. But he should run now if he has a strategy to win.
DeSantis's disloyalty? Disloyalty to whom? To Trump? Trump endorsed DeSantis in 2018, but that was four years ago, and if Trump knew what was right for him and for Florida, he would have endorsed DeSantis without expecting rigid loyalty in return.
His win in 2016 was one of those unique times when a candidate intersects with history, and they almost seem destined to win. This isn't 2016, and I'm afraid both he and his supporters think he can win on that old 2016 magic. The idea is retrogressive, and a tad reactionary. I think time has passed him by. He won't have lightening in a bottle in 2024.
If Trump is the nominee or runs as an independent it will be the Republican's last stand, they will follow Custer.
DeSantis has built a strong coalition in Florida by being strong, smart and a winner who has political street smarts.
That’s the question.
DeSantis is Italian.
Cool....then he can cook too!!
Good start to my day…made me laugh!
I live to serve. LOL
Shhhhhh......do not wreck the narrative. LOL
I am feeling a little sorry for all of those who want DeSantes with Gabbard or Haley or Scott because knowing human nature it ain't gonna happen. Most of us especially the oldies amongst us have known Trumpian individuals in our lives. We know they don't willingly go away. If u choose them out of a basketball game they take their ball home with them and there is no game. Trump in losing the Republican nomination will pull a Ross Perot and u will end up with a Slick Willy for President like the one u have now.
Biden is too stupid and senile to be another slick Willie. I despise Clinton but he was not just smart, he was sly and slippery.
DeSantis has to become less of a culture warrior. Go for parents' rights, ok. But be very careful of enraging gays and LGBTQ warriors. There's only at least dozen million of those. He cannot win if he appeals only to what was once Trump's base. He needs Biden voters and independents. The rest of the USA ain't Florida. He'll need moderate Dems like me to win. Plus, bone up on foreign policy. He'll get carved up if he doesn't. He better start reading.
If I were him, I'd start right about now..
Very much agree. As long as he makes a strong stand AGAINST groups, he weakens himself as looking like a hater, which plays too well to the "liberal" script.
I know low-key liberals who are TERRIFIED of DeSantis because they think he is Trump with a bit more class - a dangerous wolf in sheep's clothing. (Personally I'm undecided how "good" of a good guy he is yet.) But because they are to the left when it comes to social issues - not activitists, just warm fuzzy types - they are afraid of his cultural positions. He is more ideologically to the right than Trump ever was, and their key fear is legislation that in any way restricts freedoms.
So long as De Santis keeps riling up constituents with an "anti" message (whether it's abortion, trans, gay marraige) i don't see how he can win.
As a nation, the majority (for better and for worse) would probably be libertarian, for lack of a better label, when it comes to sexual and cultural issues, and MILDLY left of center when it comes to social issues - we are ok with spending some money on the disadvantaged, prefer some safety net than leaving the mentally ill, the elderly, children without safe family units, etc., to die in the streets. We are not cruel, as a nation.
Economically, the majority does not want big goverment, but it is duped because of the first two concerns into thinking that the Democratic party is the lesser of two evils.
I think the only way to turn this boat around is for someone to show up as a grownup, and focus on consensus issues, rather than beat the ideological drums.
Ironically, Trump, the prior Democrat, was himself rather
amoral when it came to the cultural stuff, and pretty generous when it came to the social welfare piece (unless of course he was doing business - then the reptilian brain was activated).
In reality, Trump's policies were more "loving" than hateful - but that is not how most Americans experienced him, because he came off as a hater.
My takeaway is that haters are scary = votes for the perceived "nice" Biden or whichever proxy the Democrats prop up.
De Santis needs to tweak his messaging - most Americans would probably agree with the statement "i do not want legislation that curtails the right of an adult to live as they please as long as there is no demonstrated harm to others AND I do not want the promotion of social change as a state-sponsored activity."
What is a "moderate" Dem? (as regards to LGBQT, abortion, borders, judges)
Sorry all - i deleted this and re-replied becaus it kept cutting off mid-comment. Hello to technical dept! We need a hand over here!
I love Tulsi Gabbard but I’d rather see her in the cabinet, maybe secretary of defense. For vp I’m gonna go with a wild card, Richard Grinnell. He was a former ambassador to Germany and served as Trumps director of national intelligence. It’s clear our intelligence community is corrupt and an existential threat to our democracy. I suspect Grinnell shares my concern and has the wherewithal and integrity to cleanse the corruption. He’s also openly gay which may well insulate him from the inevitable attacks that would be directed his way
Gabbard would never make it to the top of the ticket so no to the VP slot. I like Tulsi but she isn't trusted by many of the mainstream republicans and she's never been an administrator, which we need to have in order to manage government effectively. You want someone who can graduate from VP to the top. Haley is also getting too far out of the limelight to be considered. Doug Ducey would be my choice.
I agree. I think she has a future but she also has some conservative dues to pay.
You were doing okay until you suggested Tulsi Gabbard for vice president. Gabbard is bought, owned and a mouthpiece for Vladimir Putin. And then you said that DeSantis is "Latino"? Seriously?
Oh brother.
how else would you define a woman who pretends that rapes of toddlers by Russian troops in occupied Ukrainian territories is not happening?
Rapes of toddlers?? Did CNN tell you that?
I live in FL. I voted for DeSantis, but back then I was mildly skeptical. He's won me over completely.
But -- Haley/Scott would be great, too.
So would Youngkin.
The GOP has plenty of great choices -- as long as it's not Trump (and I don't really want Ted Cruz, either). Trump turned me into a Never Trump Republican. There are too many people like me who are done with Trump. I can't see Trump exceeding 40% in a general election.
According to Mrs. DiSantis:
Governor DiSantis = God.
What’s not to like?
Whatever you think of Trump (and as someone who lives in Florida), he absolutely nailed the governor's nickname: Ron De Sanctimonious!
I don’t choose who I vote for based on their using nicknames to put down meaningful debates. Trump is poison.
Neither do I, and yes, Trump is absolutely poison. But as a Floridian, let me assure you the nickname is right on the money.
Weak sauce. You hate DeSantis so you're not really unbiased here.
I don't hate DeSantis, but I love freedom more. DeSantis is for freedom only as long as you agree with him. But if you don't? Watch out!
Good you will enjoy four more years of Joey 10%.
Terrible pairing. Both are sellouts.
Republicans still have the 'etch-a-sketch' problem Mitt Romney mentioned in 2012 - they have to campaign wayyyyy out to the right in order to win the primaries, and then shake the etch-a-sketch and try to rebrand as moderates in order to have a shot at winning the general. Case in point, Blake Masters scrubbing his website of all the Stop-The-Steal and pro-life absolutism as soon as he won the primary. Obviously, it was too little too late in his case.
Democrats don't really have the same problem because their base (especially the black vote) is overall pretty moderate. So a politician like Biden can campaign as a moderate in the primaries, *win on a moderate platform*, and then carry over a consistent platform into the general. The problem Democrats have is they tend to shake the proverbial etch-a-sketch once they're in office. All those promises of being a unifying moderate fly out the window, and instead they govern wayyyyyyy out to the left to appease woke Twitter and their own staffers (who are mostly recent grads from woke universities). As Andrew Sullivan put it, "Many of us voted for Biden as a competent moderate. Turns out he's more like an incompetent extremist"
For the 2024 primaries, Trump has a huge advantage over DeSantis or any other contenders. The best pitch DeSantis can make is basically "I actually have a shot at winning the general". The only group that can decide whether winning a big tent matters more than hardcore base appeal is ultimately Republican voters themselves.
Democrats, meanwhile, can (for now) continue sitting pretty with their "campaign as moderates, govern as radicals" playbook.
You describe this issue well, miles, thanks. "Democrats don't really have the same problem because their base is overall pretty moderate." Yes, the majority of us ARE moderate--I'm a non-woke liberal who has voted for Republicans who fit this mold, and voted for Biden not because he enamored me, but because Trump repelled me. I'd love to see sanity return in 2024 from both the GOP and the Democrats, but fear that the Woke and MAGA wings will define both.
I voted for Trump because HRC repelled me. So we are both guilty of the cult of personality just anti-personality. I think this is what has to change - for all of us.
I hear ya, Lynne! What we desparately need are better choices. I don't want to have to choose between Trump, Hillary, and Biden. "Best of a lousy hand" doesn't move our culture ahead, and we have much that need fixing.
Miles, good post.
I differ only in that Trump may have the Twitter megaphone (for now) - but he's lost Murdoch. Of that I'm pretty sure. That's roughly 75% of main stream conservative media. I do not think Trump is in a strong position. He's announced early because he wants to get ahead of what he (and his staff) believe are indictments coming his way; their thinking is to make it as political as possible for the DOJ (and a special prosecutor).
A year in politics is an eternity. DeSantis, if he plays his cards right, keeps his mouth relatively shut, and generally slowly tacks to the center (where the national votes are), will be in a position to take it. I don't think Trump, who only understands appealing to his base, can compete, especially once his donors are gone (taking their cues from Rupert).
Lol, sell out to who, the electorate, the party, or just Trump? I'm sure it's safe to assume that you meant to Trump. #Trumpispoison
As a South Carolinian - no to Haley. She's not a serious person, she's just an old fashioned Republican ladder climber. Not a leader. DeSantis / Scott - now we're talking.
As a tactical decision though, having a WoMaN oF CoLoR as VP helps neutralize Biden's virtue-signal choice in Kamala.
Are you mad at her about the flag thing? How was she not a leader?
She was elected to be leader (Governor) of our state...then skipped out to some goofball UN position...which she also resigned from. She's not a serious person and not a leader.
South Carolina electors could not both of them. I checked to clarify.
That works for me with Scott at the top
I think he means Tim Scott. I agree the other Scott is an oleaginous weasel.
"oleaginous", what a great word.
It is! Smug. Smarmy. Unctuous. Love it!
I don't. I'm not convinced that Nikki actually understands the cultural ennui of the moment or the danger of wokeness. I won't call her a swamp creature, but she's too easily co-opted by those who are. DeSantis is a governor who has never made a living on the Washington gravy train. That counts for a lot with me.
I used to have respect for Nikki Haley. In 2016, she recognized Trump for what he is, but then became one of his acolytes. My respect for her evaporated.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P43wDpKQxaM
What a great clip but Haley didn't sound like an acolyte in the clip.
None of them did then. It was only after Trump won that they started kissing his ass.
Both parties do that. It's called taking one for the party. It's shameful, but common
I think that is unfair to Haley. She was a superb Governor and she did a good job in the UN. And she had the integrity to stand up to a couple of people in the Administration that wanted to shunt her to the side. She also worked hard to get a couple of candidates through the process in this cycle.
NEVER!!!!
Personally I think Haley would be better suited to Secretary of State.
Both are from SC. I don't think that will sell well.
DeSantis / Scott - the leftists won't be able to stop themselves from using all their awful racist insults against Scott. Let them show everyone who they are, please.
They are from the same state which is unconstitutional.
I don't think its unconstitutional - we should check that fact. BUT - your point is a good one. It might be impractical.
In 2000 Cheney had to claim Wyoming residence since both were living in Texas.
It's not unconstitutional but it's not smart election tactics. Usually, a VP can help deliver a contested state (his/her home state).
Here is the relevant passage from Article II - The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by Ballot for two Persons, of whom one at least shall not be an Inhabitant of the same State with themselves.
I concede. And I learned something. Thanks for citing the relevant part.
South Carolina electors can’t vote for both. The same as when Cheney took a Wyoming address in 2000. I checked to clarify.
This sure is a hot topic !
I like DeSantis (POTUS) & Haley (VP).
They are both from South Carolina. The Constitution frowns on that.
"Bakers etc should not be forced to bake for anyone when doing so violates their religious beliefs. But neither do I want to have the religious right to have a dominant influence."
The "religious right" never had "dominant influence", or anything close to it. Rather, Leftists of the same sort that you're concerned about today sold you conspiracy theories, and you bought into them. What threatened the Left was never "dominance", but rather the EXISTENCE of an alternative to their epicurean nihilism.
Meanwhile, we're seeing massive cultural decay and a mental health epidemic - exactly the sort of things you'd expect to see when good culture is lost. That "religious right" you hate so much? We need it back.
JD, I never said I hate the religious right.
I do however think they historically been too rigid in the same way that the far left is too rigid to be helpful in a democracy where compromise is the key to building an acceptable consensus that allows for governance. They have generally been perceived, sometimes justifiably, as too judgemental and too absolutist. In short, they can be stubborn, sanctimonious, and judgemental. But when you think your doing God's work and things are black and white, well, thats kinda what you would expect.
I also think that they are largely out of step with the broader culture on things like gay rights.
No doubt they have things to offer. No doubt that they have a role to play. No doubt that they should have the right to live and practice their faith as they will so long as they are not preventing or attempting to prevent others from doing the same. But I think that they, generally, are not the image we want as the face of the party or that we want them to provide the overall leadership for the party on cultural issues.
"I also think that they are largely out of step with the broader culture on things like gay rights." Gay rights have now morphed into "trans" rights, as was to be expected. Trans rights now include the right to destroy women's athletics. Do you see the slope here?
No. Gays are being transfixed the same way feminists - and indeed men and women - are by the Trans ideology. And many of them are figuring it out. Bari and Nelli are cases in point. I've read of many others.
You are correct except the consistent core is liberal idealogy.
"transfixed"? Very bad pun. Trans-broken if anything.
Yes. The thing is that the major part of adult guys who say they *are* women do not get themselves "fixed" because then where would be the sexual jollies in having people "accept" them as women and in entering women's spaces including prisons? Republican Bruce Jenner likely falls into this category. He was married, fathered children, and has girlfriends. Just ask all the "trans widows" out there. They have websites of their own and say that their husbands "fell in love with themselves". You never hear from them in the mainstream media. That guy in the spa in LA would fall under this category as well. It's called autogynophelia. They do not care how many girls get double mastectomies or simply ruin themselves with "T" in the name of all this. Then, there's the great amount of money being made in drugs and surgeries. It's absolutely crazy that we have Richard/Rachel Levine in such an influential public health role. I think we are really not in the time of building some kind of "Reagan" Coalition. People are always looking at the past war or political situation.
Yup. It is a cultural sickness.
See: https://reports.americanprinciplesproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/2022_TransLeviathan_web.pdf
Next up, bigamy rights. Then pedophile rights.
Hey....hey.....let's not pick on the bigamists now. Anyone who has been married for 20 yrs might want to keep some options open. Just saying.
There are all kinds of slippery slopes. So what? Its on us to put the brakes on how far we go.
I'm a firm believer in the 2nd amendment. Own quite a few guns. Do I think that I want anyone and his brother to be able to walk in and purchase an M60 or an M203? Not a chance in hell.
I'm fine with the idea that trans people should be treated with the same basic human dignity as anyone else but I draw the line at opening up women's sports or locker rooms to them, the former for reasons of simple fairness and safety and the latter because there are plenty of freaks out there willing to call themselves trans to simply get into women's locker rooms. And yes, I draw a line at schools intervening in parents management of a child that claims to be trans and I have issues with schools teaching anything on the subject. But I do not want schools talking about straight sex either apart from general health and how not to get pregnant to teens.
No trans will take your deal. A few might pretend to, but they're insincere.
The ideology fundamentally insists that truth is subjective, which is license to any imaginable abuse. It also insists that all perceived imperfections in adherents' lives are due to external oppression, which can only be remedied by coercing more submission.
The kids/young people are taken up by a hysteria - and many profit from their confusion - causing irreparable harm.
Most of the adults appear to suffer from personality disorders:
"Psychiatry Professor: ‘Transgenderism’ Is Mass Hysteria Similar To 1980s-Era Junk Science"
https://thefederalist.com/2016/11/17/psychiatry-professor-transgenderism-mass-hysteria-similar-1980s-era-junk-science/
They have rights but they do not have the right to make me agree with their fantasies, and they do not have the right to teach a cult religion to our children.
"The ideology fundamentally insists that truth is subjective..."
Yes. And once you go down the path of rejecting objective truth, it can take you to some very unexpected (and dark) places.
Everyone has rights. No question about that. And, dress however you like but I do not have to agree that a man *is*a woman. "Reality" is being warped. The kids are brainwashed at school. Both Dems and Rs to some extent - have bought into this - and receive money from groups that promote trans ideology:
https://reports.americanprinciplesproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/2022_TransLeviathan_web.pdf
yes, we do - but I'm also seeing a very, very robust movement on the left against the trans-mania. That includes gay people who've had up to here as being lumped in with the Ts and the Qs
Can you name a leftist leader or coalition (besides certain feminists) who have spoken out vocally and consistently against transgender ideology?
Again, your perception of the "religious Right's rigidity" is flawed in two ways:
1. The Left, which controls institutions, egregiously misrepresents the Right.
2. The Right is actually correct about the benefits of a number of norms, and the loss of those norms is causing big problems.
As a former dem, now independent, this is exactly how I feel. And that rigidity is what kept me from voting Rep in the past. Do what works for you, but don’t force your beliefs on me .
There needs to be a corollary to this: "Be properly informed as to who is forcing beliefs and who is being forced."
We've got a lot of Orwellianism going on these days.
My number one concern is let doctors be doctors (treatment decided by hospital executives and big pharma) and vaccine mandates. The Hunter Biden thing deos not concern me. The other issues are important enough to stay informed. But a vaccine that neither stops transmission nor prevents infection, with potentially lethal side effects, with reports of thousands of deaths and thousands of injuries (as per VAERS) that is killing more babies than Covid - THAT is what has my family's attention. It is the DEMS (and most repubs) that are still shilling for big pharma and in return, enriching the politicians coffer. THIS is what will personally affect ALL of us.
I'm the same.
Gay rights has been totally co-opted by the trans fantasy - promoted in schools and everywhere:
https://reports.americanprinciplesproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/2022_TransLeviathan_web.pdf
Talk about a religion... We have a major cultural problem here.
I agree. I don’t really understand why they made this big alphabet label when Gay and Lesbians and Bi are about sexual preferences and the rest of the labels are about Gender. Often times, children especially, but also young adults who are gay or straight seem harassed into identifying themselves as a different gender and all the medical stuff that comes with it. I feel like the LGB worked so hard for so many years just for acceptance and mutual respect. For the most part, at least no one I know personally, doesn’t think twice wether someone is gay or not. I have never cared what happens in other peoples relationships. I know many of my gay friends are appalled at this gender ideology and was told that they too are being called “cis” now. 🤦🏻♀️
I could not agree with you more.
Have you heard about Gays Against Groomers?
https://www.gaysagainstgroomers.com/about
"Gays Against Groomers is a coalition of gay people who oppose the recent trend of indoctrinating, sexualizing and medicalizing children under the guise of “LGBTQIA+
Our community that once preached love and acceptance of others has been hijacked by radical activists who are now pushing extreme concepts onto society, specifically targeting children in recent years"
Yes, I am following Gays against Groomers. It’s a great organization and really shows the difference
I was never registered with either party in the past. But, I think you are focusing on the dynamics of a by-gone era. Almost no one cares about homosexuality anymore. But, the progressive left which now owns the Democrat party is destroying the culture with this fiction that there is no such thing as biological sex. This is taught to the young in schools. Many Republicans do not object to it... If you stop to glance through the "Trans Leviathan" you will see the big money in this and the harm it is doing to us all. Please do not get caught up in past political battles The media has attached the "T" to LGB but many gay people do not even want that. We do not need any Republican who will not defend basic reality. I'm very much in favor of Ron DeSantis and some time later - Tulsi Gabbard. It is the LGBTQWTF lobby that is a cult religion.
https://reports.americanprinciplesproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/2022_TransLeviathan_web.pdf
"[I]n short they can be seen as stubborn [also known as standing firm], sanctimonious [a/k/a being of firm conviction] and judgemental" sounds pretty judgmental to me. Not saying your statements are inaccurate just that there may be merit to being that way. It seems to me that the party of peace, love, tolerance, and if it feels good (for a nanosecond) do it is willing to cancel the entire right, not just the religious right, out of existence.
Uh, nope. You didn’t grow up Jewish in Falwell’s Virginia in the 1970s and 80s apparently.
The woke puritans are just like the “Moral Majoritarians” of back then although of different political bent. Neither are the answer.
I don’t know about what Falwell wanted, but I worked for Pat Robertson’s Christian Coalition between 2000 and 2005 and I have a very good idea what Robertson and the CCA members wanted: to be left alone. They wanted to influence government to respect them and let them be themselves.
It is fair to say that Robertson and Falwell sometimes said that God would punish the US if the country and its leaders continued to act in bad ways. They were wrong to argue this. But I also know that the average people who contributed to the CCA and the other right-wing religious political groups were NOT the mindless, evil people that the left portray them as. They were and are kind, compassionate people who would eagerly risk their lives to protect vulnerable people being hunted by a wrathful government.
And yet it used to be Democrats that owned the "live and let live" argument.
Don't like abortions? Don't get an abortion
Don't like gay marriage? Don't get gay married.
Spare us the "Christians always just wanted to be left alone". Tell that to gays trying to get married in the 90s, or women trying to get abortions.
They "owned" that argument about as much as they "owned" free speech. They pretended to care about those concepts while they were the minority and had no intention of sticking to them when they had power.
In elections, perceptions matter. Democrats used to "own" the education issue, but Republicans are increasingly poaching it, so transfer of ownership cuts both ways.
They were a very different animal when the held great power and influence in the 1980s.
Also your 2nd paragraph has no relationship to my statement and comes across as a strawman.
I will answer your two questions: (1) I did not grow up Jewish in Virginia in the 70s and 80s (I gew up Jewish in Ohio) so I have no experience or understanding of what that was like. (2) The woke puritans are like the “Moral Majoritarians” of that period. Both are wrong. Both are bad.
I went off on a tangent. When I was working for the Christian Right, I was trying (and in some ways succeeding) in directing the energies of the movement towards a more proper and appropriate course. Less preaching, less fanning emotional flames, a little more coalition building and constructive work.
I will admit that the Christian Right ( with the exception of the Dominionists and extreme fundamentalists ) has moderated its message to one of tolerance of other groups as they now have become very much a minority. I feel that they currently wish to live and let live for the most part.
I agree that the threat is not "the religious right" as I might have even bought into a little at one time... see: https://reports.americanprinciplesproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/2022_TransLeviathan_web.pdf
I agree on one thing - I do not want the Bush / Cheney / Romney Republican Party back...I too want..." the republican party of small business and main street." I'll take DeSantis and even Trump if they can make it so......the Democrats are morally bankrupt and will never be an option for me...
Oh no, not Trump! Anyone but him. The thought of it gives me an anxiety attack.
Trump is a megalomaniacal swine but he is far better than anyone the Dem/Socialist party nominates to run.
A neo-Socialist or a neo-Fascist? Those are our only two choices?
I beg to differ.
The Dem party already has hard core Communists it the House and Senate. Bernie Sanders has been a communist since he was a child and in the 70s vote straight communist ticket in the national elections. AOC and the Palestinian representative (I can't remember her name.) both belong to the Democratic Socialists of America. Don't let the title fool you. There has never been nor ever will be a Democratic socialist country. The first synonym for socialism in the Webster Dictionary is communism. So, tell me I am wrong.
80% of millennials say they would vote for socialism. These left wing nut cases say this because they are ignoramuses and don't know what a brutal dehumanizing system socialism is.
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/467684-70-percent-of-millennials-say-theyd-vote-for-a-socialist-poll/
You're wrong. Denmark and other nations are democratic socialist run countries which have flourishing democracies and are not Communists. Socialism is a broad term, running from freedom and democracy to yes, totalitarianism. Almost all nations have elements of socialism, including the U.S. Our highways, our military, our Social Security system all fit the definition of socialism. Look it up again!
And can I just add that next to NOBODY uses the term “fascist” aright?
Please tell me just what “everybody” means by the term when they speak it, especially in reference to President Trump??
Me too!
Hey, Bill, the 1980's called; they want their political strategy back.
"revive something like the old Reagan coalition: a combination of Republican-leaning, college-educated suburbanites; culturally conservative working-class voters; and even some classical liberals who are repulsed by the left’s authoritarianism."
I'm so sick of aging GOPers promoting zombie-Reaganism as the solution to our ills.
The Democrats have gone off the deep end of maximal personal autonomy and Bill Barr wants to resurrect the President who took the GOP furthest to the deep end of the maximal economic autonomy pool. So we compete with out-of-control liberals by being... another species of out-of-control liberal? Instead of "my rights stop at your nose" the GOP stands for "my money stops at your bank account"? That's a wining strategy? We tried that for 40 years and we never held Congress once (1950-1995). That's the reason Reagan couldn't get more done, Bill -- the "great communicator" always had a Congress that hated him.
I agree with Barr that Trump will burn down the GOP just to convince himself that he's not a loser. I hope he's not the nominee. But this isn't the answer.
Bill is also correct that the GOP has a huge opportunity right now. People in America are hungry for something to believe in. They're hungry for purpose. They're hungry for, as RR Reno says, a "strong God". Look at depression rates. Look at the fastest growing churches: serious Protestant and Orthodox denominations. Look at the rising conservative Islam. Look at the declining churches: liberal, milquetoast, mainlines. People are hungry for standards. They're hungry for structure. They're ready to get behind and push something, but there's no cart to push. Reaganism's economic liberalism doesn't solve ANY of that.
It's time to admit that secular liberalism is dead (the very term is an oxymoron). The Left has already found its new, non-Enlightenment-based, governing philosophy: group identity ethics. The Right needs to get serious about finding its own post-liberal answer. Because there are truly evil forces on the Right (the ethno-nationalists) that are willing to meet the Left on its own race-essentialist terms. If the mainstream Right can't find a way to rally the normies from the lunacy of the Left, the far-Right is happy to do so. And that would be a disaster.
We need to get back to governing the country as provided by the Constitution, and maybe at this moment we have a Supreme Court the will allow us to do so. There's a whole lot of "just leave me alone" in that document. Perhaps Reagan's greatest statement was, "Government isn't the solution, government is the problem."
I think you’re wrong about all of us wanting a “strong God”. That’s really not going to save us. Realizing the corruption of big pharma and the damage they’ve done and continue to do, their influence over every aspect of our lives, is paramount to me. Whomever is willing to take them on has my vote.
Reno doesn't mean a "strong God" in a religious sense. He means something that establishes some kind of moral compass. Something that gives society a purpose. A broadly shared transcendental understanding of some kind. Historically, that was Christianity, but Reno isn't under any illusions that it will be again. His article from 5 years ago is here if you're interested. It's pretty good.
https://www.firstthings.com/article/2017/05/return-of-the-strong-gods
But if we do not all want the same "strong God" then maximizing personal autonomy will enable everyone to follow his own, rather than follow the majority's choice.
Without a shared commitment to something, society falls apart. Enlightenment liberalism's answer of "my rights only stop at your nose" just leads to an increasing number of conflicts between rights and noses and an ever larger state to police them.
"maximal personal autonomy"? Wow. Where have you been? The left is almost exclusively defined now by their proscriptions - in every facet of life.
Jeff, can you define any ethical or moral standard beyond "consent" within the context of Enlightenment liberalism? That's what I mean by maximal personal autonomy.
The Left rejects all unchosen limitations on personal human behavior. They bought J.S. Mill's theory that "my rights only stop at your nose" and have never looked back.
They're fine with limiting your behavior if it infringes on the potential autonomy of someone else (especially from a chosen victim group) though. So the baker MUST bake the cake, and Amazon MUST ban the book Irreversible Damage. Becuase permitting either action would infringe on the potential autonomy of LGBTQIA++2SXYZ people. That's what I mean by "maximal personal autonomy".
But how much personal autonomy does one really have when one is attacked, vilified, canceled, loses ones livelihood and is financially ruined merely for or disagreeing with a narrow set of ideas? How much autonomy does your baker have? From where I see, this new "consent" is limited to only certain kinds of behaviors and ideas.
And as I said above, all of the authoritarian strategies you just identified are deployed (according to the Left) in defense of victim groups that are being harmed by hateful words or conduct.
I'm not saying that they're right. Only that their behavior is entirely internally consistent. Wokeness provides the one thing liberalism can't give itself: an ethical compass.
Ok I'm with you (except on Tulsi Gabbard - don't trust her), but the most important question is, would you vote for Trump if he was the nominee? For me it's an obvious yes.
Sorry. I would vote for a ham sandwich first. He's the definition of toxic.
Enjoy your sandwich Phil
lol.
On rye?
Agreed!
Hard pass. I voted for him twice, but never again. Can't deal with the undisciplined pettiness.
Add Nicki Haley or especially Tim Scott and Desantis is a sure thing.
I would add my left arm to yours for a DeSantis ticket with Tulsi Gabbard as VP. But, I really have to take issue again with:
"But neither do I want to have the religious right to have a dominant influence."
IMO, this is living in the 1980s. I thought that way back then as well.
Today the issue is the religious Left - and they are deeply, fanatically, religious about Gender Ideology - with top officials in the White House promoting "sex changes" for children:
https://dailycaller.com/2022/11/21/rachel-levine-childrens-hospital-philadelphia-transgender-kids-gender-sex-change-surgery/
They promote Radical Gender Theory in the schools.
Hurrah for Elon Musk taking down child sexual exploitation on Twitter:
https://humanevents.com/2022/11/21/elon-musk-says-addressing-child-sexual-exploitation-on-twitter-is-new-1-priority?utm_campaign=64487
"Trans" is closely linked to normalizing all sexual deviancy - including MInor Attracted People (they can't help it right?) And, a child who never goes through puberty and arrives at adult age with a childlike brain and body is perfect for these folks. Perfectly legal!
https://reports.americanprinciplesproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/2022_TransLeviathan_web.pdf
LGB - Lose the T!
https://www.gaysagainstgroomers.com/about
Exactly! LGB needs to leave the rest of the letters behind, the trans ideology has basically hi-jacked what has become wonderful acceptance and pride.
Gays against Groomers About page:
"Gays Against Groomers is a coalition of gay people who oppose the recent trend of indoctrinating, sexualizing and medicalizing children under the guise of “LGBTQIA+”
Our community that once preached love and acceptance of others has been hijacked by radical activists who are now pushing extreme concepts onto society, specifically targeting children in recent years.
The overwhelming majority of gay people are against what the community has transformed into, and we do not accept the political movement pushing their agenda in our name.
Gays Against Groomers directly opposes the sexualization and indoctrination of children. This includes drag queen story hours, drag shows involving children, the transitioning and medicalization of minors, and gender theory being taught in the classroom.
The activists, backed by school boards, government, woke media, and corporations, have been speaking on our behalf for too long. When fighting for equality, our goal was to successfully integrate ourselves into society, but now these radicals aim to restructure it entirely in order to accommodate a fringe minority, as well as seek to indoctrinate children into their ideology.
We’re saying NO.
There are millions of gays within the community that want nothing to do with this Alphabet religion and join the fight with parents and concerned people everywhere to protect children. We also aim to return sanity and reclaim the community we once called our own.
The gay community is not a monolith. Those pushing this agenda do not represent or speak for us all, nor do we want to be associated with them in any way. What we are witnessing is mass scale child abuse being perpetrated on an entire generation, and we will no longer sit by and watch it happen.
It is going to take those of us from within the community to finally put an end to this insanity, and that's exactly what we're going to do."
"Tax cuts are great until they lead to financial ruin." I disagree. Ever since JFK's cut taxes, with every tax cut, Tax revenues increased. More money was put into the economy, which was then taxed, and not into the pockets of den of thieves and their pals in Washington.
Outside of that I agree with you.
Tax cuts, just to say you cut taxes, are not necessarily a social or economic good.
It depends on what taxes you cut and for whom, by how much and when.
Cutting taxes on Apple only leaves them money to do more stock buybacks.
Cutting taxes on the local auto dealer or plumbing shop may actually result in additional hiring and investment.
It also depends on how you structure taxes in relationship to regulations. Is the country or the economy really well served by cutting taxes for hedge funds? Are tax cuts that feed into the disconnect between the real economy and the markets a good idea? Is the country well served by allowing hedge fund managers to define their income as not being income but "carried interest"?
Should we be cutting taxes in times of war?
Then, if, as has been the case for decades, we keep spending at the rates we are, are we justified in cutting taxes? If an individual has huge debts does he or she quit her job? We always hear about cutting spending when we hear about tax cuts. Problem is, they almost never happen and even when they do, they eventually get quashed when the next recession, war or financial crisis pops up, which they do with regularity.
Our debt should be half of what it is. It will kill our childrens futures as it will likely make our old ages harder than they need to be. Not only should we be not running up more debt, we should be paying down what we have. Nobody wants to accept that doing this is gonna mean more revenue to the government and less spending, less for more. I do not like it. I want to keep every penny I can. That said, we are where we are. We can point fingers and gripe about it but it will not change the math.
An educated understanding of taxes and the varied results of tax policies. How unusual but so welcome.
"Tax revenues increased with tax cuts" is an even bigger fantasy than Trump winning the 2020 election. EVERY tax cut since the 1980s has sent gov't deficits skyrocketing.
Tax revenues have increased with tax cuts since the days of Calvin Coolidge. But in recent decades spending has increased even more, leading to larger deficits. I think we would have had the spending in any case, so tax cuts made the deficits smaller.
It was the resulting deficit that juiced the economy and increased revenues. Tax cuts only increase tax revenues when accompanied by deficit spending.
The federal government had record tax receipts in 2019, _after_ the Trumpian tax cuts of 2017. Economic growth, repatriation of dollars, full workplace participation all contributed. Raising taxes is a terrible way to fund government.
2019 was also the year the federal gov't posted a trillion dollar deficit. Cutting taxes is evidently an even WORSE way to fund government.
We got higher revenues from tax cuts. That is indisputable but our spending outpaced the revenues. Higher revenues help fund the government but if the ever senile Biden and The Donald encourage the den of thieves to offer higher and higher spending bills and the swine we elect for presidents don't veto them then of course spending will outpace higher revenues.
But you can't separate the higher revenues from the deficits. If the tax cuts had been coupled with austerity-style spending cuts, revenues wouldn't have grown in the same way.
miles - you've nailed it, we don't have a revenue problem, we have a spending problem.
Deficits are due to one and only one reason - too much spending. Congresss is totally irresponsible, repeatedly trying to buy votes with government money. Donkeys worse than Heffalumps.
Cutting taxes and running deficits as a result is also a way of buying votes with gov't money.
Which is why America almost always runs up a deficit with a Republican president, while Democratic presidents run a surplus, or the deficit goes way down. The Trump tax cuts for the wealthy raised the deficit to the stratosphere. For those who still advocate tax cuts to "help" the economy I have two words: Liz Truss.
That was true up to the Clinton years, but Obama and Biden are pretty deficit happy. Biden bringing the post-Covid deficit down but leaving it well above pre-Covid levels doesn't really count for much.
Its not that clean and simple.
CAN the right tax cuts, at the right time, done in the right way, actually lead to growth in tax receipts via other growth?
Yes.
But whether or not a tax cut will have that effect is highly dependent on who gets them, how, when and in what context.
Some of those, are also show short term benefits to tax receipts but then fade out over time.
Does any old tax cut do that? No frigging way. For it to work, it has to juice productive parts of the economy either directly or indirectly. You cannot just cut capital gains and think that is gonna boost revenue. But, a cut to very small businesses with marginal earnings, such as a family owned restaurant, or to middle class families living paycheck to paycheck who will very likely spend it.....that's different.
The point is that for a tax cut to have a positive economic effect on revenue, it has to juice the revenue generating parts of the economy above the value of tax cut.
Even then, you have to look at and examine tax policy as it relates to capital investment.
There is no clean yes or no answer to that question and a lot of the analysis of any cut is going to be inherently subjective until the results are in.
I agree with all of that, but in general tax cuts lead to deficits which lead to the cure being worse than the disease.
"Does any old tax cut do that? No frigging way."
Actually, the answer is "yes" far more frequently than no, because capital is invariably EMPLOYED.
Moreover, the issue's framing is absurd from the outset. We are not slaves who exist to build Pharoah's pyramids. Taking money out of the state's pockets and putting it in ours is GOOD. To discuss this subject as though optimizing the government's balance sheet is the goal is not just inaccurate; it's immoral.
Ah yes, having roads and bridges and a military is the same thing as building pyramids for the pharoahs.
No spending creates deficits. I only pointed out that historically, lower taxes stimulate higher revenues.
https://www.heritage.org/taxes/report/tax-cuts-increase-federal-revenues
This is, of course, the sort of lie that can only be defended by going big or going home.
Supply side economics, Lonesome. Right. Didn't work for Reagan. Deficits every single year of his Administration (though he did love spending on the military..). Tax revenues never rose enough to meet government needs. You know what happens when you lower taxes on the wealthy? They invest it - they don't spend it. Where's the stimulus?
The thieves and their pals (lobbyists, I assume..) still thrived.
And it didn't work for Liz Truss., either..
Here is a news flash for you. If the congress passes spending bills that spend more money than it takes in, tax revenues, you have a deficit. Pretty simple, eh? Regan never had a Rep house or senate, all Dems.
I don’t remember Reagan vetoing any budget alterations coming from a Democratic congress. What they wanted he gave. There was just not enough revenues to cover it once rates were lowered.
They were all pals anyway. Him and Tip I’Neill would probably have drinks every night before bed.
Investing it is spending it.
But taxed? Not the same..
Eventually taxed.
I just suggested the same ticket. Time to unite the country. She is the un-Trump. So measured and sensible.
Just stick around long enough to vote. Ireland is beautiful and the people are lovely but please don't give up on the US.
yes, especially how sweet she is to mass murderers like Assad and Putin. she's light itself, that one.
/s
If DeSantis ran for POTUs and selected a common sense non-Republican as his running mate, that should be a winning combination.
never happen
This 👏👏👏💯all day every day! I’m a liberal and I’m politically lost in a haze of slapstick carnage - a fracturing that has left me examining the frailty of our institutions and the people that run them all- we don’t need another wrecking ball it’s time to see the brokenness and work to repair it together
I am a conservative and feel exactly the same.
It will never happen.
It will ot the house of cards completely collapses.
Imagine the face of the party with DeSantis/Gabbard! Principled, disciplined, articulate. Under 80.
💯 it looks great
My take on what Bill Barr was referring to when he mentions Reagan is not the republicans of old (the people and their policies) but more so Reagan’s ability to form a very broad coalition to win an election. And that is still very true today.
I like DeSantis too, but would rather see Nikki Haley as the VP.
Correct and absolutely obvious. Hard to understand why so many people here fail to understand that it’s all about coalition building, not about specific ideas. I guess it’s out of fashion these days, on the right as well as on the left everybody is righteous and want things only their way, even if the cost is actually getting nothing.
If so many can’t see it, we have a problem Houston.
I don't think he's saying that at all. I think he wants his old GOP of war, corporate tax cuts and permanent minority status back.
That type of thinking won’t win an election, but you could be right.
For once I am at an almost complete loss for words. I agree with everything Mr. Barr has written. Including that President Trump's accomplishments need to be acknowledged. I would, however, only add one more caveat about President Trump. He is 76 years old and would be 78 if and when he assumes office. Meaning he'll be 82 when he leaves. No matter how vital Trump may appear now, a lot can happen in the aging process. So, in addition to being temperamentally questionable, President Trump is just too old. The Republican Party has a deep bench of excellent candidates. We need a younger, less divisive leader.
I just forwarded this article to a large mailing list I belong to with almost exactly your second sentence as my preface. I keep hoping that the several members who are of the "burn down the house" variety of Give me Trump or Give us Death variety of Republicans will finally take heed.
Burn it
I agree.
The Republican Party has a very deep and capable bench.
It’s time to turn the page on Donald Trump.
Bruce, Murdoch controls most of conservative mass media. He's finished with Donald. And it's not because he's old. It's because he's mentally vacant and living in the past of repetitive lost grievance, bombast, hyperbole and too transparent in his lust for power. Even Rupert knows the GOP needs more than just registered Republicans to win a national race for the White House. Trump's base is simply not enough. And he's too hated outside of it.
And where Rupert goes, mega donors will follow. Trump (imo) is finished, all by himself as the only declared candidate for the GOP nomination (trying to get ahead of indictments), and he'll be slowly picked apart like a bloated carcass from the raven sniping of DeSantis, Christie, Pence et al for the next twelve months.
You'll get your younger less divisive leader.
:)
If the vile scum crew of Pence, fat Christie, Nikki do this to Trump there will be no way that any R can win. (Note that a great candidate will not win in 2024 after the R establishment allowed the Democrats to get away with murder on voter integrity in 2020 in 2022 just to get rid of Trump).
Who exactly is Mr. Barr talking to? Does he really think that most of the huge cohort who voted for President Trump did not know that he was childish, self-centered, and undisciplined? Oh- thank you for opening our eyes!
Mr. Barr needs to talk to himself, Mitch McConnell and the other folks in the leadership of the Republican Party. There are tough questions they need to ask themselves. Among them are: Why do so many Republicans call us the Stupid Party?
Why did so many Republicans disdain John McCain when we (the leadership) thought he was wonderful?
Why did so many Republicans despair at Mitt Romney's candidacy?
How many Republicans admired Bob Dole as an individual but knew he would lose?
Why was Lindsey Graham horrified and surprised at the media and Democratic treatment of Brett Kavanaugh when conservative voters were not?
How are we 'leaders' completely out of touch?
What have we done to show that we don't despise the people we want to vote for us?
Have we looked in the mirror and understood that our weak, spineless responses to things like the IRS targeting conservatives, the betrayal of the Constitution in the treatment of the Jan. 6 protestors, and dozens and dozens of other issues are what make people support Donald Trump even though they agree with all our complaints about him?
Time to look in the mirror, Mr. Barr and do your own mea culpas. I happen to agree that if he can't change and learn (which I don't think he can) Donald Trump should step off the stage. But, I think that if Republican leadership cannot change and learn then they should also do so.
Hear! Hear!
Very measured and spot on analysis. Thank you for that.
Yes, I’m thinking someone who is fearless and tough like Ariel Sharon.
Republicans today are too weak and not willing to fight the way Democrats do.
Splendid comment.
Well said. I think the value of "water is wet" articles like Mr. Barr's are important because of the author's status. Consider it a kind of celebrity anti-endorsement rather than informative.
Could not agree more -- well said.
What did Biden get 81 million votes? Kamala will get 85 million. Can we stop pretending it matters who we nominate?
Either we spend $2 billion collecting ballots from people who weren’t going to vote at Bass Pro Shops and Toby Keith concerts or we lose.
Put another way, stop being he stupid party and beat the slimy Dems at their own rotten game.
Nice of you to show up. Agree totally, and I'd add, get over the 'Trump can't win, woe is us' and get behind him (or DeSantis if he shows he has the Yarbles of Trump and attacks the ruling elites), equip ourselves to play by the new rules, and take our country back.
Add county fairs, the Hallmark channel and Charter School mailing lists.
Thank you for pointing this TOTAL truth out Kevin. We don't stand a chance unless we outpace the dems in collecting ballots. I don't see the R's getting that organized in less than two years. Plus we are at a complete disadvantage as we don't have the institutions in place, as the dems have with the unions and non-profits who were set up already for that purpose, and seem to have it down to a science.
Very scary, yes.
Very very scary!
Kevin that is the answer. But read all the comments it’s all President Trump’s fault. The vote is completely corrupted and will be for 2024 but then can somebody please tell me who will be the next Democrat President? If we keep on with this we are well on our way to a one party country.
The next Democrat president will be Gavin Newsom.
Oh 🤦🏻♀️ ffs, I hope they put up Newsom, I live in California, there is no one worse, and he will galvanize Republicans
And yet California can’t get rid of him, even through a recall.
Unfortunately, we tried so hard. Our State is broken. Everyone, Dems, independents, republicans, he won’t get much support from Californians. Just like Kamala. But you know, the “celebrities “
If Biden didn't galvanize Republicans, Newsome won't.
God Forbid Brian!
You herd it from me.
The guy is a monster, but think about how the “ecosystem” of the Democrat party is just perfect for him.
This is where my exit ramp is.
I’ll make Aliyah if Newsom is elected president.
🤣🤣🤣Brian, me to, President Trump kept me in America. Now I’m sorry I haven’t gone. Can you imagine Slick Newson as President it’s a nightmare.
Newsom is my red line.
He is a despicable human being.
So smart!
Very true, we need to get pond scum on us to beat these parasites.
Approximate quote I heard the other day, forget by whom.
The GOP tried to persuade voters. The Dems collected ballots.
Absolutely spot on. Trump had his chance and he blew it. DeSantis can pick up the Trump base and broaden the party as he has done in Florida to an even broader coalition than Reagan's.
I agree, but like it or not, Trump was, as Chapelle said last week, an honest liar, who knew xactly what the elites were doing to this society becuse he played in those circles, and was honest enough to call them out and attack them.
Bill was part of the old Reagan coalition, but that's irrelevent now. Reagan didn't have a media that was nothing more than a partisan and dishonest mouthpiece for the DNC. He didn't face a weaponized FBI/CIA/IRS/CDC/FDA who fought the legitmacy of the Republican party. He also didn't have an academic class indocritnating students in socialistic/racial/gender cultures at odds with the best interest of the country.
In my 65 years I've never witnessed a leader willing to take on the permanent governing class and international elites like Trump. and until I see someone rise to that level of confrontation, maybe DeSantiss can, I'll continue to support him. We're in a revolution, and need someone who's willing to acknowledge and confront that.
Reagan knew how to disarm the media with his charm. Trump prefers mortal combat.
It’s almost impossible to factually disagree with anything Bill Barr has said here. But he also missed the real issue. The conclusion is not “Trump must step aside.” If Bill Barr is right about the rest of the piece, then clearly, Trump will never do that.
The *PARTY* needs to do the extraordinarily heavy lift of winning over the Trump supporters. Whining from the sidelines that Trump doesn’t put the party first demonstrates a fundamental misunderstanding of Trump supporters.
They don’t give a rat’s ass about the party (nor should they, IMO.). The Republican Party of today isn’t even a vague shadow of Reagan’s party. Mitch McConnell and the rest of the decrepit old guard betrayed the working class every bit as much as the Democratic Party. Trump supporters are not Republicans - they see themselves as normal people that love America who lack any substantive representation.
They want a champion - they want someone who cares about them, not about some Byzantine, self-enriching Party structure. They feel like they’ve done everything they’re supposed to do, and are utterly vilified by a circus of dark insanity for doing so.
Why should they have an ounce of loyalty for the Republican Party? What has the Republican Party done for them since Reagan? Nothing.
The smoke filled rooms, full of lifelong residents, are all the same - they just have an R or a D on the sign outside. The mind boggling authoritarian state of today was set in motion by Bush-the-younger. both George Bushes and Bill Clinton were/are good buddies IRL, for God’s sake.
Bill Barr is right - the Republicans WILL lose the 2024 election - when literally anyone should be able to beat the current crop of Democrats. If they wait for Trump to go away, they only get the consolation prize of being able to blame him, nothing else. If they want to win, the PARTY needs to change - more than just the candidate they field. From Bill Barr’s writing, it doesn’t look promising.
Excellent post. I tried to convey many of the same things today in both Bari's and Sasha Stones columns today.
I will support Trump until DeSantis shows the same balls as Trump.
Also, if you don't read Sasha Stones substacks, you should really read today's. Better yet, listen to the podcast as it incorporates parts of Trumps last rally and excerpts from Mr Smith goes to Washington. It is amazing.
Anyway, again, excellent post.
Jon - I’ve been liking all your comments today, as well - you’re spot on. Thanks for the Sasha Stones recommendation; I’m heading over there right now.
Thoughtful Reader, that was a… thoughtful post, and fascinating. It articulates what is so hard to accept or understand about Trump for people who despise or dislike him.
And yet. All other things aside, Trump’s age is definitely a problem. And even if one likes his style of rhetoric, he has become unhinged.
As many others have commented here, Trump can’t win in a general election. He can’t. Period. So Trump supporters are welcome to vote for him as the Republican primary nominee, or boycott the general election if he doesn’t win the nomination. But very quickly they will realize what a petty, spiteful, shortsighted decision that was. They don’t owe the Republican Party a damn thing, but they still owe America something more than to vote for a loser just from spite.
Agree that Reagan's oratory skills were magical, but many find Trump's skills, while certainly not as gentle, to be every bit as substantive and correct in their messaging. Trump doesn't have Reagan's style, but we're in the midst of a revolution, and Trump's boldness is needed.
I'd support DeSantis is a second if I was convinced he'd take on the big boys like Trump, but he's still pretty green. I'll watch closely how he handles the next two years. I VERY MUCH like that he isn't taking the bait that Trump is tossing out there.
Trump repeatedly and destructively breaks Reagan's 11th commandment: "Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican."
Time for him to be sent to the ash heap of history.
There's a lot of Republicans who have joined the ruling class and forsaken the citizens. Trump is careful to only go after specific targets, whereas the left (and many rinos) and Biden attack half the country.
Trump's recent attacks on DeSantis and Youngkin are enough for me to cut him loose.
But when Mitch McConnell and Kev McCarthy fund candidates and Pacs that are anti maga candidates, thats ok? I guess as long as they do it in secret, right?
Likewise for every NeverTrumper / #Resister, right?
Yip only Trump! If you put anybody else there they will be eaten for breakfast, lunch and dinner. That’s why the MSM and the Democrats are encouraging this talk. Notice here we all squabbling over who we would put, but Bari and Co are telling us who we won’t have, but from the Democrats side SCHTUM! Who are they going to put up?
Well the Dems already put up a man with dementia and he won. Then they got the win with Fetterman, so does it even matter who they put up? Republicans need to get on top of their game and their message. But most of all Ballot harvesting needs to stop and election integrity needs to be restored or candidates migh not matter.
Unfortunately, the ballot harvesting probably won't stop. The Citizens are going to have to learn to play that game.
Nope it doesn’t matter, the voting system is never going to change.
100% this.
52% of the Twitter world (a notoriously leftish clan) voted to put Trump back in the platform. The media wants you to think Trump’s days are over and both side of the aisle are petrified of him running again as he’s always a threat to expose their corrupt gravy train.
Agree totally. They've been trying to exterminate him for seven years, and won't let up now.
I was of the belief that we needed to cut him loose too, until the midterms. Now, I'm back to fervently supporting him until a DeSantis or someone else shows the willingness to expend political capital to take on the ruling class, I'm back to supporting Trump. If he moderates his style, even a litlle bit, he'll win.
Only Trump can beat Trump.
Please just take him as he is, why do you want him to be different. We need to fix our elections, because if we don’t it doesn’t matter who Republicans put up the Democrats will always win. President Trump knows this, we know this now we need to fix it
Because he is toxic in many ways. He is unwilling to try to tone it down. I was for him until he attacked DeSantis, before and after the mid-terms, and Youngkin and said other destructive things. That was it for me! Shows huge immaturity. He has become a liability in my view and the view of so many. And I totally agree about the elections
He isn't in control of himself. It's completely obvious.
DeSantis, unfortunately, has aligned with the ruling class. Ken Griffin funds him. Paul Ryan and Jeb! have endorsed him and he does not distance himself from any of it. DeSantis does not have the $$$ on his own, so he will ultimately be beholden to his mega donors and the establishment. I think expecting many Trump supporters to get behind DeSantis, Pence, Haley, etc is foolhardy thinking. JMO.
An excellent opinion RF!
If only he could moderate! I just don't know that it's in him to do.
💯 in fact a 1000% correct. Switch off Cable it’s toxic. Get CNN out of your living room, bedroom and wherever else you have them If you streaming turn off your device. They are petrified of Trump.
That's because after the midterms they realize their best chance of winning races is to support Trump and Trump picked candidates.
86% of Trumps endorsements won. The media cherrypicked the ones that lost to spin th message to read that Trump was out of touch.
Go to the bottom of this link if you want to see the analysis.
'According to Ballotpedia’s tracking, Trump endorsed 257 candidates who appeared on the November 8 ballot. This includes all regularly-scheduled general elections at all levels of government, Louisiana’s primaries, and the special U.S. Senate election in Oklahoma.
Trump’s endorsees won 213 of the 241 called races held on Nov. 8 (86%).
'Thirty-seven of those called races were battleground congressional or gubernatorial elections, rated as either a toss-up or lean/tilt Democratic or Republican by The Cook Political Report, Inside Elections, or Sabato’s Crystal Ball.'
https://ballotpedia.org/Endorsements_by_Donald_Trump#2022
You misquoted the analysis - here’s the full quote:
Thirty-seven of those called races were battleground congressional or gubernatorial elections, rated as either a toss-up or lean/tilt Democratic or Republican by The Cook Political Report, Inside Elections, or Sabato’s Crystal Ball.
Trump’s endorsees won 14 of the 35 called battleground races (38%).
Trump’s lowest win rate was in gubernatorial races, where he endorsed 21 candidates. One of those races—in Alaska—remains uncalled. Of the 20 elections where we know the outcome, nine of Trump’s endorsees won (45%).
But he lost most of the battleground races - that 86% is misleading because it includes deep-red areas and that’s not where you need to pick up votes in the general - I’m a moderate liberal and I’d vote Republican for any of the candidates mentioned here except trump and the democratic establishment knows it so they’re trying to keep him alive to force me to vote dem which I really don’t want because of the crazy woke stuff - I’m in southern CA so I see it first-hand. But Trump’s selfishness, vindictiveness and narcissism for me negates any policy wins he had. He’s too unstable and exhausting.
Can someone tell me why they think elections are broken?
There is a lot to it. I will mention a couple of issues. The Dems used Covid as an excuse to push for massive mail in voting and ballot harvesting in many states. In some states they sent ballots to everyone they had addresses for, many no longer even lived in the state or at the address. But There is no way to know who actually fills out the ballot. There is no Voter ID involved in that. In many states they allow ballot harvesting and special interest groups hire people to actually go to houses and 'collect' their ballots. There is no way either of those things would not allow for fraud. In many places there were 'finding' ballots hours and even days after the election. https://lawyersdemocracyfund.org/other-issues/ballot-harvesting/
I would support him if I thought he could win, but he is too polarizing. I think De Santis has proven he can take them on, them being the staus quo.
I felt that way too, until the midterms. While Trump is polarizing, I think the majority of the country believes in his cause, they're just offended by his style. Right now, I favor substance.
If DeSantis shows the ability to take on the big guys and doesn't pull punches, I agree that he would have the best odds for 2024, but I'd rather see him take 28-32/
The country won't survive another 6 years of ruinous leftist politics. I'm not sure that it will survive 2 more years.
Agreed. I'd prefer Trump in 2024, but would be more than happy or DeSantis. We still need four more years of asskicking attacks on the ruling class, the way Trump showed he's capable of.
DeSantis has been creating a great track record. but still needs to start spending some of his political capital going after the big boys. The fact that he isn't taking the bait of Trumps insults is encouraging.
You took the words right out of my fingers.
He’s only too polarizing because of the attacks. I can’t go through that again. He’s a rock for putting up with it.
But he won’t win-the midterms proved that. And he may destroy the party in the process of running.
The party needs some more destroying. It's not Rep v Dem any more, it's Citizens versus governing elites. Trump's one of the citizens, as are DeSantis, Tulsi, Youngkin and others, but Barr (though I still like him) wants a return to days gone by, when we still had a bi partisan press and an FBI/CIA/CDC/IRS/FDA that was on our side, and academia that didn't hate what we as a country stand for.
We are currently in the midst of a revolution/Civil War, and need a leader that acknowledges that.
Jon - Agreed. The past isn’t coming back and nostalgia for the good old days doesn’t help. The world has changed and we need to look forward, not back.
We are not at war. Stop writing this nonsense.
We are destroyed already, in fact the midterms, MSM and Social Media made sure of that.
So destroy the party then. They’re bunch of cowardly money-grabbers anyway.
I live in Florida. DeSantis has been taking on the media and the left continually. Trump says his success was due to Trump. No. DeSantis’ success has been on display continually. DeSantis’ success was due to DeSantis.
Jon,
'You say you want a revolution..
Well you know,
We all want to change the world..'
Where is Lennon/McCartney now when we need them?
Jon, if this last election proves anything, anything at all, it is that a middle course is the right course. Things have to change. Yes.
We need to expunge the radical left. And I must add we need to marginalize the extreme right, of which no names need to be mentioned. The tails of both parties have to be stopped in wagging the dog. (I wish Kevin McCarthy luck..).
But in my opinion we need slow, incremental steps at compromise between, let's face it, two warring factions in Washington, at home where we live, and sometimes in the very homes we reside in. There has to be proof that real progress can be made, if only we put the rhetorical weapons down.
Confrontation I'm afraid is not the answer, compromise, though, is.
I agree, but I'm of the opinion that Trump is in the middle. He's hated by the fringes of both parties, and more importantly, the career politiciams and global elites.
He's for the working guys and wants to take the country back, but I doubt you'll agree with me, and don't judge anyone with a different opinion.
Well-said, Jon.
I like DeSantis, but he lacks humor and entertainment value. Also, he badly needs a stylist.
A stylist? have you seen Trumps head? Half the time Trump is funny he isn't trying to be, and we don't need an entertainer we need a leader
Barr is living too long in DC if he thinks Republicans can revive the old Reagan coalition and win a presidency by canceling the guy who has the firm backing of 35% of confirmed Republican voters.
If the Barrs, DeSantis, Romneys,Ryans of the party want to ever win an election, they should find a way to coalesce around the leader of that base. The Democrats have no problem coalescing around and lionizing the current nasty partisan in the White House.
If Barr had disclosed the existence of Hunter’s laptop and the then pending criminal investigation of it, there would never have been a Ukraine impeachment or the sudden rise and election of Basement Biden. I don’t remember Barr disclosing the contents of the laptop after the Bobulinski interview or when Biden said it was Russian disinformation.
These Swamp creatures owe Trump and Republicans an apology for their silence. It will be Republican folly to listen to them now. The base knows the truth and will stay home if Trump is not the nominee.
Try winning with suburban housewives when Democrats run like they just did as bulwarks against national abortion bans and codifying Roe.
No one cares about Hunter’s laptop just like no one cared about Trump’s impeachments.
You don't care that the laptop of the son of the sitting president contains credible evidence that the president took Chinese communist cash laundered through Hunter? Huh?
How do you know what was on the laptop?
I know what's been publicly released so far, including information that a cut of the payments of Chinese communist cash was reserved for "the Big Guy." Who has credibly identified by Bobulinski as Joe Biden. We also know that Joe has lied about being unaware of Hunter's business dealings, as photographic evidence proves the contrary. Is there a treasure trove of information being protected by the FBI that implicates Biden in criminal activity? We will see. But there is already sufficient evidence to investigate his wrongdoing. The laptop is not about Hunter's perversions. It's about Joe's treachery and corruption.
I care about the fact Biden was clearly doing business deals with China and Ukraine. Hunter can spend as much time on drugs and hookers as he likes, the real problem is with his corrupt, racist father.
Wait til the banks start having to turn over the Biden suspicious money transfers between Jim, Hunter and the rest of the family. Witnesses and whistleblowers start to come forward to testify about the business dealings and meetings between the Chinese and the Bidens and how the FBI and Justice have ignored the same crimes they indicted and convicted Bannon, Manafort of.
They didn’t have anything on Trump and they bloodied him up even with a great economic record and four years of no new wars.
It won’t matter unless the media actually report it, and report it fairly. Which they won’t.
A. This will never happen as there is dirt on many Rs that will prevent any accountability.
B. If it occurs this is playing into the Ds hands as a way of getting rid of senile Joe for 2024.
And replace him with what?
If the Orange Man is to be replaced so too should the Congressional leadership, most notably, McConnell.
Gavin Newsome and a hard left black female. They will not let Harris near the ticket in 2024.
Perhaps a Stacey Abrams type…
Oh, _I_ care about Hunter's laptop.
I think it's just awfully weird that Hunter was gifted a questionable sinecure with Burisma Holdings on the basis of his father's influence, and now all of Ukraine is a battlefield.
I mean, I expect corruption on a massive scale from practically all elected officials. It's just really bizarre to me that when those corrupt politicians are Democrats, the mainstream media refuses to denounce them.
Mitt Romney foreign policy advisor in 2012 Cofer Black was also on Burisma board. Ukraine is a bipartisan cesspool of grift…
https://www.kyivpost.com/business-wire/joseph-cofer-black-excited-join-burismas-board-directors-focus-strategic-development-security-issues-expand-burismas-global-opportunities.html
Just like no one cared about Iran-Contra, the CIA importing cocaine in the 1980s, the Gulf of Tonkin Incident, 1979 October Surprise/failed Iranian hostage rescue, etc. Same as it ever was.
An excellent post
Yes!
Good piece. Identifies Trump's strengths along with his weaknesses.
Barr is a staunch Republican, of course, so his critique is delivered as a kind of Republican rally chant.
But I am neither a Republican nor a Democrat. I think the only way to restore America is to break the duopolistic chokehold of the two-party system.
And that's what Trump has done. As I've posted many times today, on Bari and Sasha's columns, this isn't Rep v Dem anymore, it's Citizens v Ruling Class, and many of the Reps are now part of the ruling class. I respect Barr greatly, but he's on the wrong side.
Should DeSantis show over the next two years that he'll spend some political capital by calling out the folks in power (CIA/FBI/CDC/IRS/FDA/Academia/Media) the way Trump has, and propose solutions that will give the country back to the Citizens, I will gladly support him. But, he's still pretty green.
Wow Jon your posting is spot on today, I wish you could run Trump’s campaign for him.
It's funny, but I was originally quite depressed by the midterms, and even before them, was privately hoping that Trump would go away and/or support DeSantis.
I'm now of the impression that the ruling class needs an adversary of Trumps stature, and that the people's will wasn't reflected in the midterms. I believe they are just as disgusted with the ruling class, if not more so than prior to the midterms, and maybe 2024 could work out pretty well.
All of the post midterm stories about the coverups of 1/6. Mar A lago, Paul Pelosi, failed student loan vote buying scheme and other crap should be making clear to the electorate just how far the Ruling Class has gone to steer elections.
otoh, maybe I'm naive.
Not naive at all Jon, the coverups, the constant lying. We are all exhausted, however, we have to soldier on its going to get even more mad before 2024.
Totally agree!!
A third party of centrists is the answer.
It already has the majority.
But as you note below, it’s very expensive and very time consuming.
I think Trump is that third party.
In 2016 I was ready to vote for Bernie as I believed he came closest to a 'third party', even though I didn't agree with many of his positions. When the Dems screwed him, I went with Trump thinking he didn't have a prayer, and would probably be a crappy President, but again, he was also a thrid party canidate. Bernie was a TPC who tried to come up through the Left, and Trump was a TPC who came up through the Right.
I don't think I'm exagerating when I say Trump saved this country in '16. Imagine th last six years if Hillary won. The Rep party has totally morphed into a different entity over the past ten years, and I believe it reflects what the Citizens of this country want. The left has lost it's soul in a quest to be part of the global power structure that Macron is openly promoting.
A third party cannot win. That’s not how the system has developed over time. I agree that while most Americans are not ultra left or ultra right, the institutions all the way down to the grassroots level do not support a third party probability of success. People who vote third party normally work against the party they would otherwise have voted for. It’s a lose-lose proposition.
I’ll be cautiously optimistic
Well said
How?
It's a 20-year process. You ally yourself with a national platform, but you start with local elections—school boards, county supervisors, town clerks etc and as you get name recognition, you gradually start going after state elections.
The BIG problem is (1) funding and (2) voters who believe we're at a crisis point, and if we _don't_ vote for Tweedledum or Tweedledee, the whole nation is gonna come squeaking to a halt.
The latter is a line of crap that both Democrats and Republicans work hard to make you believe, by the way, which is one of the proofs—to my mind at any rate—that the two parties collude more than they disagree.
Respectfully, I don’t think we have the luxury of a 20-year process. There will be nothing left to salvage.
Respectfully back, every age quivers under the weight of its own imagined Armageddon. At some point, we've got to risk it. If we don't, it'll be more of the same.
It’s true that there have been those who worried about disaster in every age. But it’s also true that sometimes they were right to worry.
We need to do better, but we need to be faster than 20 years about doing it.
👍🏻
Don’t think we will have a country by 2024 never mind 20 years time.
Bingo.
100% agree. Trump is a single issue guy, and the issue is himself. He needs to get himself and his attendant distractions out of the way of the business of politics and governing and allow the party to focus on someone creative and serious. 2024 cannot be about Trump v Biden. America needs so much better than that.
2024 will be all about America Vs. the Administrative State. And so far the latter is winning bigly, thanks largely to the Media-Swamp-Hollywood propaganda machine along with the near complete capture of key election bureaucracies.
The ginned up hatred for DJT (and the endless witch hunts), along with refusal to acknowledge any of his accomplishments, is misdirection. And damn effective at that.
Finally, any GOP candidate who emerges and espouses even a hint of Trump's policies will be immediately smeared and attacked as his minion or protégé. First by the GOP establishment and eventually by the full-on swamp should he/she earn the nomination. The real question to ask before throwing your support behind such a candidate is whether they have the balls and the resilience to withstand such sustained attacks. Not to mention the financial independence to resist becoming owned by the big donors, who regardless of stated political ideology have very different priorities and goals for America than those of us trying to keep the lights on and food on the table while the elites wallow in unearned luxury.
You may find it easy to diss on Trump, but good luck finding a replacement.
Ken Griffey of Citadel has already given millions to DeSantis. Will be have “independence to resist becoming owned by big donors”?
One thing you can say about Trump - he was not owned by them…
The picture you paint about how difficult it will be for the red team to win is depressing. Cold, clear and truthful reality. It will be a heated battle for sure.
Yes! If we have another Trump vs Biden ticket..the whole Country is pathetic
Yeah well, you would say that. I'm sorry; did you say that the reason Trump had so much trouble governing was the one in the mirror? You only suffered in the periphery of the blow back against someone standing up to the cabal running our country. Bill, I put so much faith in your integrity; I lost. You deluded yourself into thinking you were above the fray and too high-minded to struggle in the mire with lesser beings. Well, you and your ilk have this country where we are today. Thanks so much. Like the old farmer who came out of the cellar with everything destroyed in the storm saying "Ain't it fine the wind stopped blowing"! Faith without works is dead and the way your ideas smell so are your ideals. Keep 'em.
Barr was tested, and found wanting. His words now are as impotent as his actions then.
I consider myself a Republican that was an anybody but Trump that became a Trump supporter.
I believe people support Trump for what he stands for not because they want or wanted a disrupter!
Although #FakeMedia and #CleantheSwamp resonated with many!
Trump does need to grow as a speaker! I believe it is important to him to that middle America knows he is speaking for them BUT that doesn't mean he has to speak down! It's like when Obama would speak with an accent in front of Blacks🙄
Trump needs to grow as a speaker? Maybe he could start by not patting himself on the back, telling obvious lies, insisting everyone "kiss his ass" etc. He could stop attacking other Republicans. He will do none of this.
Expertly said. Thank you.
It seems everyone needs Trump. Everyone except the nation.
Dems need Trump to win.
The media need Trump to sell.
Anti-Trumpers need Trump so they can say I told you so.
Pro-Trumpers need Trump to tell the world I told you so.
Prosecutors need Trump for headlines and scalps.
Trump needs Trump to stoke the fire in that expansive narcissistic belly of his.
Our country is falling down around us, yet we’re obsessed with Orange Man.
Our schools cannot teach.
Our medical industry long ago abandoned its obligation to do no harm.
Industry has defenestrated capitalism from the corner office window and installed its wokier step-sibling. So what if ESG destroys the single most powerful engine known to man for relieving poverty.
Family? Optional.
Sovereign borders? Meh.
Our churches twist themselves into theological pretzels to fill pews.
We’ve abandoned one half of our population — boys — because it’s easier to deal with the mood-swings of feminists than teach boys to channel the aggression that comes with masculinity.
A schlubby-socked brat who never learned right from wrong has unleashed a financial scandal the implications of which we’re only now beginning to fathom. But, hey, Democrats got theirs.
Marauders hold our cities hostage, but our leaders insist law-abiding citizens must relinquish their weapons.
We’re militarily and economically incapable of dealing with our two existential enemies, one which threatens nuclear war, the other that challenges our allies’ sovereignty, while buying allegiance of the Third World with gleaming chip factories.
We can’t see past a group’s faces to measure an individual’s character.
I’ve got an idea. Let’s ignore The Donald and commit to cultivating true statesmen bore-sighted on saving our Republic.
True statesmen? If you have any suggestions, we're all ears.
The operative word in the sentence as cultivating. I’m with you, there are none on the stage. Maybe, sort of DeSantis, but I’m not sold yet. Besides, what constitutes a statesman or woman? Churchill is probably everyone’s go-to. While he truly he was because of his super-human courage, he also failed epically along the way. Perhaps we’re all looking for that leader who walks on water. In all of history, there was only one who accomplished that feat. The rest are merely human.
Well stated!
Sounds like the end is near.
A very sobering and detailed list of why the USA is being destroyed from within.
Bravo!
Here,hear!!!
Faith Ham’s common sense understanding coupled with Jordon Peterson’s “ Conservative Manifesto” provide a good road map for the Republican’s message and agenda going forward.
Yes, THIS.
“If Trump had run his reelection campaign on that platform, and dialed his churlishness back just a little, he would have won”
—————————————————-
Trump is definitely going to lose if he’s the nominee, but I don’t think personality tweaks are the key to victory when a lumbering communist skinhead who chased a black guy down the street with a shotgun and who can’t speak English just beat a heart surgeon in Pennsylvania.
Sigh....again with the faux concern for the black guy chased with a shotgun.
Fetterman is a skinhead? That is indeed a revelation?
Being a heart surgeon makes one qualified to be a Senator?
How is it "faux concern"? The mefia convinced people that Rittenhouse was a racist Trump supporter who killed 3 black people, but crickets on Fetterman using a shotgun to chase down an actual black person.
It is important to remember that, while the outcome was not as tragic, what Fetterman did was WAY more racist than what the McMichael guy did. The guy Fetterman chased was in fact just jogging. He wasn’t on camera trespassing and being suspicious or whatever. He was literally just jogging.
John Fetterman saw him, grabbed his shotgun, and chased him. Im struggling to think of something that is *more* racist than that. It wasn’t an offensive blog post he wrote in college. He chased. A black guy. Down the street. With. A. Shotgun.
But but but....that's not possible.
He's a Democrat.
But but but....he didn't murder anyone.
You had no problem with what the McMichaels did. So....is there anything else you want to pretend to be upset about?
Chasing black citizens out of the neighborhood with a shotgun, wearing a hoodie. I think I hear banjoes.
Lol. Just like I said. Right again.
Hmmm....must have missed the trial when all the McMichael' previous text messages, social media posts, as well as those after the shooting were he talked about "killing the stupid N*gger" among MANY more examples of interesting post-murder rhetoric, were admitted into evidence. Along with no evidence of theft or criminal tresspassing....but there is always "suspicious running, " right?
Yes....the whole thing such murd -- I mean "tragedy."
Your concern re: Fetterman would be a little more credible of you weren't a member a of the McMIchaels' justification/fan club.
You had no problem with Ahmaud Arberry, so you're upset Fetterman did NOT murder a black jogger.
Is there anything else you want to pretend to be concerned about.
I didn't? Where did I say that, or are you making shit up again like everything else you've said?
Oh, I just know. Didn't say you "said" anything. Just know that's the case. Can read between the lines.
Have never made anything up. Actually have a perfect record on predictions, too.
Is there anything else you want to pretend to be concerned about?
“Being a heart surgeon makes one qualified to be a Senator?”
———————————————
No, it does not. In order to be a Senator you need to be at least 30 years of age and you need to chase at least one black guy down the street with a shotgun.
You know why your shotgun story never moved the needle election-wise, Kevin?
Doesn't sound like a credible concern when it comes from people who support police shooting unarmed people.
Okay even if that was true, and you didn’t believe that I thought chasing a black guy down the street was problematic……..YOU are still supposed to care when an obese skinhead communist chases a black guy down the street with a shotgun……but ya don’t care, do ya.
Of course he doesn't. Because the left has no principles other than getting and keeping power. They'd sell their own mothers into carnal slavery to do it.
Also because Comprof is a troll.
Yes....good thing the right doesn't care about getting/keeping power.
You had no problem with Ahmaud Arbery, so don't pretend to have a problem with Fetterman.
"Even if that was true?' 100% accurate/true.
You/Conservatives had no problem with what happened to Ahmaud Arbery.
So....you expected your fake concern re: Fetterman NOT murdering a black jogger to move the political needle? You/MAGA are not a credible messenger on such issues, Kevin.
So...explain again why you think I should care?
As far as I know, Fetterman isn't a skinhead, but you seem to have evidence.
No, we don't. But we also don't support burning down cities by people who claim police shoot unarmed black men, but fail to talk about those unarmed black men also getting in physical altercations with police, reaching for weapons, disarming police officers to use their weapons against them, or police using their weapons to save a 16 yr old girl from being stabbed by another 16 year old girl.
I guess we can start claiming "rAciSm" now whenever a cop kills a white person who does the same, right? After all, more white people are killed by police every year than black people.
1. No cities were burned down.
2. Damn right more unarmed white people are shot. Too bad you don't give a f*ck about them either.
For the rest of your "reaching for a weapon" and "feared for their lives" BS bootlicking - you can share that nonsense with someone else....especially considering how many cops have been exposed as active members of white supremacists groups....but you're not ready for that conversation.
Yeah, who gives a fuck about bodycam evidence, right? That shit's "rAciSt".
Portland, Seattle,Philadelphia, Chicago, Kenosha, Atlanta. Are you really going to go with that "no cities were burnt down" bullshit?
We do give a fuck. I know of plenty of cases of ACTUAL unarmed innocents being victims. None of the ones rioted for in 2020 were innocent. I mean, unless Atlanta rioted for Sequoia Turner, who was an 8 year old shot by people rioting because of Rashard Brooks; or David Dorn, killed by looters because of George Floyd riots; or Horace Anderson killed by the "self policing police" in the CHAZ; but yeah, kerp going with your narrative.
Democrats support police shooting unarmed people?
Nah, Democrats just hide 10,000 murders a year happening in Democrat city strongholds. But those 100 deaths by police makes those 10k pale in comparison.
Really? How are they being hidden? Is this a 200 Mules thing?
You think Democrat cities are having 10,000 murders a year?
You think police only kill 100 people a year?
No. "Blue Lives Matter"/Conservatives do.
Always an excuse/justification.
You're right. That's what it is. Those damn cops really do numbers on inner city people...oh, my bad. That 30 people a weekend shot in Chicago aren't the "white supremacists", unless they're just "faces of white supremacy"...
No but when an electorate prioritizes abortion as the number one concern over inflation, crime, the ability to source and reduce energy prices, relying on tweaking a Republican personality might not be the answer either.
We need to stop calling it an “electorate”. That sorta implies interested citizens who choose to make their voices heard by going to vote.
What we have is more of a collectorate, where various and sundry street hustlers, nightclub promoters, and community activists go out to see who can get the largest number of disinterested people, who know nothing and who weren’t going to vote, to fill out a ballot.
The Dem Party's ties to Tammany Hall never really die.
You prioritize what is a direct and immediate threat to your health and welfare. It's why people are more afraid of being robbed and less afraid of slowly dying and getting diabetes from eating crappy food.
Being a gay moderate, I vote for Republicans in local elections all the time and would consider voting for one on a national level because of the out-of-control crime and homelessness in our cities. However, if a Republican were to campaign on ending my marriage and breaking up my family, I'd vote against them immediately regardless of their position on anything else.
Lol. Said the same thing about abortion.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/11/17/gop-senate-marriage-vote/
1. Inflation is not the only indicator of economic strength.
2. Crime has spiked in some areas. Nowhere near close to a national issue.
And when an electorate prioritizes fake moral panics like "wokeism" and "cancel culture" and never seems to understand their party is not as popular as they think/keep telling themselves....a major tweaking across the board might be needed.
1. You are a sock puppet account that gets paid $18/hr by George Soros to post talking points in various forums
2. John Fetterman chased a black guy down the street with a shotgun
And they screech about an orchestrated campaign of Russian disinformation. The Dems have a well oiled machine of drooling posters to whom copious amounts of lies are disseminated daily. Odious but they are quite practiced at it. And then there are the tech and media barons who work doggedly to spread the lies. And hide the ugly truth.
Lol....you're getting more deranged by the week, dude.
1. Lol. That would be a horrible ROI for Soros....especially the super important, vital Bari Weiss substack forum. Lol. Yeah....or maybe some people don't like MAGA? Impossible.
2. Is there anythinge else you want to pretend to care about?
Seriously, for a paid professional, we expect you to have better talking points than "inflation isn't the only measurement"
That's a hilarious way to acknowledge one of the most important and serious failings of our government today!
1. Not a paid professional. Know it's hard to believe but some people aren't Trump/MAGA.
2. Don't need a "talking point" statement re: inflation not being the only metric by which to judge an economy is 100% factually accurate. Sorry.
Inflation will go back down. No need for people to wet their diapers.
Living in Pennsylvania is a good qualification for being a Senator from Pennsylvania, and Oz didn’t have it.
That said, the Democrats now have at least for obvious vegetables in positions of power: Fetterman, Biden, Feinstein, and Jerome Nadler.
People don't like carpetbaggers of any sort. They cracked down on them in the Tennessee Republican primary.
And Hillary grew up in New York
If the GOP hadn’t allowed the Democratic’s to set the narrative on abortion we would have run.
The day after pill addresses rape and incest! To save the life of the mother medical procedures are preformed (usually delivering the baby alive) not aborting the baby! There is no state that I am aware of that has a bill that will deny an abortion to a victim of rape or incest, usually in the form of the day after pill not in the 9th month!
Medical procedures to save the life of the mother usually result in a live birth?
Not sure how many victims of rape or incest are waiting until the 9th month to get an abortion. That seems highly unlikely.
I think for many, the issue isn't that there are current laws on the books, but that is the plan.
https://www.poynter.org/fact-checking/2022/post-roe-v-wade-state-bans-no-exceptions-rape-incest/
I was a huge Trump supporter, precisely because he seemed like a giant wrecking ball. And that's exactly what Washington DC deserved and still deserves.
Immediately after the 2016 election, I started a Facebook Group, Praying for our President. It grew to over 140,000-members and we had tens of thousands of posts per day leading up to the election. In October, we were suddenly shut down without warning and without recourse — ostensibly because one of the members posted something about alternative treatments for COVID-19. (A post we would have deleted ourselves as off-topic, given a few hours)
This type of big tech and media meddling was definitely a brand of "stealing the election." The media handling of the Hunter Biden laptop scandal was absolutely egregious. Anyone who believes a man who couldn't get 300 people to a Lady Gaga concert legitimately got more votes than Obama is drinking a very special kind of Kool-aid.
Obviously...and I mean painfully obviously...the Democrats took their usual vote-cheating schemes to a whole 'nother level
Nevertheless, meddling or no meddling. Cheating or no cheating. Trump lost. And then he lost me in the aftermath of the election. I can't believe he's STILL talking about the last election. It's absolutely pointless and counter-productive. I will not be supporting him this time around.
Ron DeSantis & Tulsi Gabbard to unite the nation.
Meanwhile, I'm in the process of becoming an Irish citizen. The whole country has lost it's ever-lovin' mind. Peace out, people.
Couldn't agree more. The media and intelligence agencies are directly involved in censoring us and lying to us while Democrats conduct ballot harvesting in defiance of the law.
Trump doesn't even register on my list of serious threats to our democracy.
But at the end of the day, if this country is happy with Joe Biden as president, I'm with you. Time to get out and let it burn to the ground. I have no interest in "unity" with the kind of people who think the Emperor's Clothes are beautiful.
I have an exit plan too.
Good luck.
Agree Trump is stuck in his own pity party but are you sure Ireland is different? My husband is Irish and the news from there sounds pretty much like what’s happening here
The Republic of Ireland is rated the 3rd safest country in the world. And they don't meddle in the affairs of other nations. It infuriates me that trillions of tax dollars have been wasted blowing up the Middle East and now hundreds of millions are being thrown at a proxy war in the Ukraine.
Never a thought for the long-suffering American people and how our tax dollars might serve to benefit us for a change. That's one thing Trump never gets enough credit for. He kept us out of pointless foreign interventions and tried to put the American people first.
I've had enough.
The problem with Bill Barr’s anti-Trump positions is that the alternative for the GOP are Bill Barr establishment types… and voters are sick of Bill Barr establishment types.
Fraud absolutely prevented his second term, and it is the collusion of the Deep State, Bill - of which you are the poster boy - that prevented the overwhelming (even that term is an understatement) evidence from being presented to the public. Add to that the judiciary's refusal to hear any evidence - for the purpose, of course, of preventing its being entered into the public record - and the circle is closed.
What was the main purpose of Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution, creating the Supreme Court? It is to provide a means for adjudicating disputes between states - yet the Supreme Court refused to hear the lawsuit of Texas against the so-called "swing states" - Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, alleging fraud in the 2020 election. The fix is in, and you, Sir, as the perfect Trojan Horse, allowed, aided, and abetted that fraud. I have to say one thing: you're good. Really good. Unfortunately, you're also a crook.
Great article.
Trump’s time has come and gone.
It was fun while it lasted.
It wasn't fun.
“Well, that’s just like, your opinion, man” - Jeffery “The Dude” Lebowski
Bari - snaring the former AG is a real coup. You are building an empire; never let up. We need you. I hope I live long enough to see you buy the NY Times.
Yeah -- big get, Ms. Weiss, congrats.