511 Comments

There was some good analysis here. Most media seem agog over Vivek. To me his continual talking over anyone seems pretty "show time" rather than capabilty. Haley seemed the brightest and the most on issue. Gov of Arkansas . . .capable candidate? We better find one, because to me Trump will nevet win a general election. So a lot of money is being wasted on paying his legal bills.

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Any time or place. Show me whatcha got punk

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You liberals think you know shit but you dont. We are going to deport all of you to China and aee how you like it there. You’ve fucked up this country enough.

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founding

When Haley went after Vivek for being a foreign policy neophyte I thought he missed a really great opportunity to point out that our foreign policy "experts" haven't done such a great job for like 20+ years! Time for a novel approach perhaps.

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My favorite part of this interview was when Olivia (I think) observed that Vivek Ramaswamy is not running for second place or for Trump's VP or for a cabinet position. Everyone else in the media and politics says the opposite. I've been following Vivek for a while, and he is in it to win it. He's playing chess while the other candidates are playing checkers. If anyone can get this nomination away from Trump, it's Vivek.

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Commentators in this interview purposefully overlooked Trump's vices like so many in GOP. He is a vicious narcissist and has turned on those who have not stood by him in intemperate, ad-hominem ways, as with John Bolton, Mike Pence, Elaine Chao, and so many others. He still overestimates his great personal relationships with the triad of dictators -- Putin, Xi, and Kim. He wants to totally defer to Putin on Ukraine which would be an absolute disaster. Come on, people. Trump would be the worst thing to happen to America. What kind of people could he attract into his cabinet? Matt Gates and Marjorie Taylor Greene! Come on!

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When Batya says”Trump’s accomplishments were so vast on behalf of the working class. “ : does anyone have a few sources or links that support this? Not easy to find on the Web! Thanks

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I guess you could look at inflation. Most apolitical people get riled when they have to make tough choices regarding money. I think they used to call this kitchen table issues. There are a huge amount of working class people who for the first time in a long time saw positive results from Trump. It was a good vibe, that transcended race & religion the usual pressure points. Instead of adapting and addressing these concerns, well here we are.

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The other big thing concerning tangible numbers you can pull from the internet. Was the OD crisis. No one seems to care & it is an issue that continues to devastate the working class in the Midwest. Everyone in the old rust belt has been touched by this scourge. Trump seized the issue and displayed empathy. Like it or not many other politicians almost seem to celebrate the suffering. That is not an optimal look wether international or not.

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For the next debate, I'd really love if one of you watched it with working class or other voters rather than the media/spin room. I just don't care about how reporters felt about what the candidates said.

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After the debate I am even more convinced that the majority of the press (including, Fox and sadly, Bari et al,) are dismissive toward DeSantis in the same way they were toward Trump, early in his candidacy...tho not for the same reasons. I think they fear the fact that DeSantis can win against a Democrat and they don't want that. I, for one, am tired of drama...I like Vivek but he needs some seasoning. I thought Haley did well onstage, but she has other problems....my vote will still go to DeSantis who has an incredible background, is confident, competent and has the guts to act according to the values he expresses, most of which I seem to share.

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Listening to your round table discussion I was struck by how much misrepresentation of certain positions was taking place, even within your small group.

To take just one comment, Ron DeSantis was characterised as making statements about the merits of slavery - this is so hugely misleading about the Florida curriculum that it would be libellous if not said of a politician, yet nobody corrected it.

While minor errors are made here and there, one cannot correct everything live, but these sorts of massive errors and smears in a podcast from your organisation that holds itself as standing for something above the bizarre journalistic fray shouldn’t happen. I’ve seen a sort-of lovefest type of atmosphere in the podcasts before, where everybody is so careful never to correct anything that it feels sickly insular.

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Can you journalists please read some history pre-Jimmy Carter??? Batya says -

"the Trump voter is very pro-gay, like Trump. They’re also not suspicious of black people. There’s a lot of unity around that. They’re very eager to show that they are tolerant and have moved on from that stereotype about Republicans. "

Stereotype about Republicans??? That stereotype seed was planted and made to grow by your industry. It's not a stereotype......it is a lie.

Does the term Dixie Democrats mean anything to you journalists? How about the fact LBJ would not have got the Civil Rights Act passed if it not for the GOP. Just because you believe in every man and woman advancing on merit and not handouts...............does NOT make you afraid of Black people.

Being against gay-marriage and for traditional marriage does NOT make you a homophobe.

That's your inner leftie speaking....not truth or common sense.

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founding

Haley's comments were nearly drowned out and inaudible in real time during the debate. If the press hadn't snipped, focused and amplified attention on this particular exchange, it would have been (and I think is) meaningless. She made her point, but there was no opportunity to hear Vivek's further articulation of his position. I think Vivek's sharing a message that is ringing true with a lot of people. He's speaking in a way that resonates with real people. His approach acknowledges that our nation needs a positive narrative to carry it forward and real leadership in order to accomplish great things.

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Lots have been written about TDS. It's a great deal like anti-semitism: people hate Jews and Trump for reasons that are always made up, and then always justified by backfilled rationalizations. About the only big difference is that, except for Israelis, Jews don't generally fight back; Trump always does.

But the hatreds are always there, they're always irrational, and they're always violent. For anti-semites, there's only one acceptable endpoint: no more live Jews. The exact parallel situation exists for people with TDS. It might be a good idea for people with TDS--especially Jews infected with it--to reflect on this.

[Full disclosure: I'm Jewish, but never had TDS.]

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I am really shocked at the attitude about Ukraine, that somehow this has no affect on the United States. Don't they realize we have been dragged into two world wars. That Finland and Sweden never joined NATO in the Cold War and yet finds it necessary now. The Russian China pact is not that different from German Japanese pact from the 30s. America First is not that different from the America First of the 30s. The export restrictions on Chips is not that different from the restrictions on Steel to the Japanese in the 30s. Let's hope and pray we find someone who can lead this country.

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So, Bari--

Assume it's Trump v Biden again. Who are you and your discussion group voting for this time?

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Another Batya fan here, especially when she is so open about finding aspects of both Trump and Haley appealing. Donnie and Nikki are near polar opposites in both style and ideological substance, yet there is something in each of them that I think most of us can find appealing.

There was one part of this conversation where I found myself really questioning Batya, though. She suggested that one should change their mind about an issue if they learned that a sizable majority of the population disagreed. Bari pushed back a bit on this idea, although not quite as hard and directly as I would have liked. The majority is not always right, and if one sincerely believes an argument that places most people on the opposite side, that in and of itself is not cause to change one's mind. Indeed, a herd mentality is a big problem in our cancel-culture era of politics, with various heterodox thinkers cast into the wilderness. As Bari did note, when one has a minority position, it is important to accept the democratic will of the people--at least in the short run, while trying to win the argument another day. Likewise, if one finds themself believing an unpopular position, a truly critical thinker would humbly revisit the question, open to the idea that maybe the majority does know better. I think Batya would agree with all this, but it was remarkable how much her reactions to the debate were based on her conversations with "working class" people around the country, implicitly believing that whatever the majority of those folks believe must be correct and righteous. This strikes me as an overly conciliatory attitude towards populism. Sometimes it really is better to listen to the few rather than the many.

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