Bring Out Your Dead!

Friends, as we contemplate the spread of the dreaded coronavirus, and the public reaction to it, it's helpful to listen to what some of the experts have to say, and to keep in perspective how minor the threat is for most people.  As usual, the media loves a good panic, and the Dems see an opening if the economy tanks or if Americans start dying by the millions: they hope to blame Trump, naturally.  My advice is: don't French kiss any wheezy Asian tourists, sure, but otherwise just take a deep breath, wash your hands a little more often than usual, and go about your business.  Despite what you may have heard, the sky isn't falling, and life, for most of us, will go on.

https://slate.com/technology/2020/02/coronavirus-silent-spread-actually-good-sign.html

Oops, I Did It Again...

Friends, my article this week will come as an anti-climax to those of you in the "in-crowd" here at WaddyIsRight.  That's because it's a slightly reworked version of my blog post from earlier in the week, when I attempted to calm your fears of Bernie Sanders.  Well, here it is at WND, for your reading pleasure:

https://www.wnd.com/2020/02/conservatives-shouldnt-panic-bernie/

Stay tuned for a great article on America's favorite pseudo-Indian, Liz Warren, in the coming days.

Is America Ready for Corbyn-Style Socialism?

Friends, in the last four years, one thing has become clear: the Left, venting its anti-Trumpian rage, has become steadily more radical and intolerant of dissent.  It's been veering leftward in an ideological sense for much longer than that, which is, I would suggest, a factor of the bubble in which most liberals live.  When all your friends are Marxists, and the media you consume and the popular culture you partake in, all reinforce your diseased worldview, it becomes inconceivable that any decent, intelligent person could think otherwise.  Be that as it may, there are reasons to question whether America as a whole is prepared to entrust sanctimonious extremists with political power.  The reaction to political correctness has frequently been negative, and now that "socialism" is at the leading edge of leftist politics, the American people may finally be ready to throw up their hands and say, "No more!"  What we're seeing, in truth, is the Corbynization of the American Left, and how well did that work out for Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party in Britain?  Let's hope that's the model that the Democrats are determined to follow in 2020.  If so, as this poll indicates, Bernie and his "bros" may go down to an historic defeat!

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/3-in-4-dems-would-support-a-socialist-for-president-poll

The Rise and Fall of the Luftwaffe, The Rise and Fall of Bernie Sanders, and the Rises and Falls of Some Other Stuff Too

Friends, this week's Newsmaker Show is the usual intellectual potpourri.  First, we cover an array of fascinating historical topics, including: the role played by Hermann Goering's Luftwaffe in Germany's World War II adventures and misadventures, the lessons of the Tet Offensive and the Viet Cong massacres in Hue, the U.S. campaign to retake the Philippines in 1944-45, the U.S. withdrawal from Beirut in 1984, and the defeat of the Sandinistas in the Nicaraguan elections of 1990 (and what the socialist Bernie Sanders might have to say on the topic).  Whew!  No stone left unturned.

Naturally, Brian and I also get into some analysis of the state of the Democratic race for President, including the positives and negatives of a potential Bernie Sanders nomination.  You know my view: we conservatives should wish Bernie well, because no one is better equipped to destroy the Democratic Party as we know it than him!

All in all, it's a great show, in my humble opinion.  I hope you agree...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWMxpme4ebQ&feature=youtu.be

America is Feeling the Bern, and For Many It's Heartburn

Friends, many of you are hyperventilating now that Bernie Sanders, an admitted socialist, is inching towards the Democratic nomination -- and many polls show him beating President Trump in a head-to-head match-up.  Well, I'm here to whisper some words of encouragement in your ears.  All is not lost!  Here's why.

First, Bernie is a long way from locking up the Democratic nomination.  In Nevada, where he will apparently scoop up two-thirds of the delegates, he got only one-third of the first round votes.  In national polls of Democrats, he's hovering around 30% support.  The betting markets now give him about a 55% likelihood of being the Dem nominee.  All that's impressive, but it doesn't seal the deal by any stretch of the imagination.  Just a few short months ago, Elizabeth Warren was in a similarly strong position...and now she's seen as less likely than Hillary Clinton to get the nomination!  Political realities can turn on a dime.  Yes, Bernie benefits from the divided field and the numerous candidates trying to claim the mantle of the "moderate alternative" to Bernie-style socialism, but he's got a long way to go, and the criticism that the Democratic establishment will unleash on him has only just begun.  Bernie has myriad skeletons in his closet -- he's got a very long record, after all -- but in the past no one ever bothered to rummage through his dirty laundry, because he wasn't seen as a credible candidate for President, but rather as a kindly old kook.  Well, things are about to "get real" for the Bernster, and no one can predict how that will turn out.  Consider, for instance, the fact that Mike Bloomberg is itching to spend his millions on anti-Bernie ads.  That could change the dynamics of this race in a hurry.

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/24/mike-bloomberg-prepares-media-blitz-against-bernie-sanders.html?

Consider also that, even if Bernie becomes the Democratic nominee, this is not the end of the world for America.  In fact, it could be the best news that Trump supporters have had in a long time.  That's because Bernie, as an unapologetic socialist/radical, ought to be a very weak general election candidate.  There's no question that he would be disowned by many down-ballot Democratic candidates and by establishment donors, organizers, and officeholders.  Bernie would almost certainly split the Democratic Party and cause diminished turnout among moderate Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents who would otherwise like to defeat Donald Trump in 2020.  He will forfeit a major portion of the Democrats' base, in other words, and this will almost certainly help Trump to win the election.  The Democrats' only hope, in fact, would be that a majority of voters hate Trump so much that they simply don't care who his opponent is.  That didn't work in 2016, and I don't expect it to work in 2020 either.

Lastly, I would point out that, even in the very worst case scenario, i.e. the scenario in which Bernie Sanders becomes the 46th President of the United States, the solidification of a Marxist tyranny, the redistribution of wealth, a government takeover of health care, etc. are by no means guaranteed.  In fact, even a President Sanders will be highly unlikely to accomplish and enact even as much as 10% of his radical agenda.  If one takes "Medicare for All" as an example, as Amy Klobuchar has pointed out, that idea doesn't even command the support of most Democratic Senators.  It commands the support of zero Republicans, so...simple math dictates that there is no chance whatsoever of Medicare for All being passed into law.  Other parts of Bernie's agenda would run into similar problems, so that, in my opinion, the main outcome of his presidency would likely be extreme frustration among his supporters, who would have expected a "revolution" and gotten next to nothing.  Meanwhile, an unpopular President Sanders would hand Republicans a golden opportunity to make a political comeback in 2022 and 2024.  And, in the wake of that comeuppance, my hope would be that "democratic socialism" would never be heard from again in America, although Marxism certainly won't evaporate altogether (it is, sad to say, a cancer that festers and grows unchecked in leftist brains).

So, to make a long story short, my fellow conservatives and patriots, the rise of Bernie Sanders DOES NOT portend the destruction of all we hold dear.  If we play our cards right, in fact, the fractures in the Democratic Party, and the escalating radicalism of that party, give us an excellent chance to win a solid victory in 2020 -- and thereafter to split the Democrats down the middle, such that they may never pose a threat to our republic and our way of life again.

I, therefore, am optimistic, and I invite you to take a deep breath and join me on the sunny side of life...

TDS Reaches New Heights: Dems Prefer Death to Trump?

Friends, lefties have already decided we're all going to die a fiery death because of climate change, so perhaps this explains, in part, their apparent preference for the extinction of humankind over a second term for Donald J. Trump.  On the other hand, maybe spite really is the strongest emotion of which a liberal is capable.  Alternatively, maybe the poll referenced below proves that even liberals have a sense of humor?  No!  Surely not.  Forgive me.  That last thought was out in left field -- literally.  If Dems say they'd rather die than live under Trump, we have to take them at their word.  One assumes they haven't yet committed mass suicide because...they're too lazy, or they're clumsy with firearms?  Now I'm just answering a question with a question, though, and that won't do.  Check out this article for yourself, and see if you can make any sense of it.

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/poll-new-hampshire-democrats-meteor-trump-949636/

Desperate Dems Determined to Derail Detractors

Friends, my latest article analyzes the debate in Las Vegas last night, and boy was it a doozy!  The candidates really let each other have it, after spending the last, oh, year walking on eggshells.  Elizabeth Warren was the clearest example: she's avoided attacking anyone, including in the recent New Hampshire debate, but last night her fangs and claws were fully exposed.  She leveled her bitterest attacks against Mike Bloomberg, who graced the debate stage for the first time.  Bloomberg and Sanders (as the frontrunners, at least according to the Fourth Estate) attracted the most incoming fire, but everyone took some hits, except for Joe Biden, who seems to have been left for dead.  All in all, it was highly entertaining!  It was also a gift to Donald Trump, because he was barely mentioned, while the Democrats proved their adroitness at mutual destruction.  And remember -- this is FEBRUARY!  If the Dems are at each other's throats now, what will the race be like by April, May, and June?  And, if a brokered convention is the outcome of the primaries, what will that convention look like?  Democrats and liberals, in case you haven't noticed, have a limitless capacity for hatred and self-pity.  That's not a recipe for a unified, "big tent" political party, or a successful presidential campaign.  It might, however, be a recipe for four more years of Trump!  And, as many of you have commented, four more years of Trump could well be a recipe for the demise of the Democratic Party itself.  Let us hope.

You can find my full analysis at Townhall:

https://townhall.com/columnists/nicholaswaddy/2020/02/20/the-debates-big-winners-mike-bloomberg-and-bernie-sanders-n2561609

A Dictator By Any Other Name...

Friends, this week's Newsmaker Show with me and Brian O'Neil is a fascinating journey along the highways and byways of American politics.  Brian and I consider the rise of Bernie Sanders and Mike Bloomberg, and the potential for dissension in the Democratic Party to build to an even higher level.  We also look at the Department of Justice's intervention in the trial of Roger Stone, and whether or not "justice" is being done in that case and under Barr's watch more generally.  We then examine the new federal lawsuits against sanctuary states, counties, and cities, and whether we've finally turned the corner on illegal immigration.

Historically, Brian and I talk about the steep price paid by Alexander Solzhenitsyn and other critics of the Soviet regime.  I make the case that those in America today who regard the Trump administration as dictatorial have entirely lost touch with historical reality: America is not a tyranny.  In fact, Americans are among the freest people who have ever lived.  Lastly, I discuss the fate of Japanese-Americans in WWII.  Their internment in camps as "enemy aliens" was seen as a military imperative at the time, but it has since become regarded as a national disgrace.  Moreover, the U.S. government formally apologized and paid reparations to victims and their families in 1988.  Like it or not, that provides a precedent for the payment of reparations to other groups going forward.  The genie is out of the bottle, you might say, and the politics of grievance threaten now to bring the "American experiment" to a swift and fractious conclusion.

All in all, this week's show is superb brain food.  Take a nibble, why don't ya?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GZ0H-hHBKg&feature=youtu.be

When in Rome...

Friends, today I bring you some great articles -- none of them written by me!  I know, I'm shocked too.  The first concerns the jaw-dropping decision of FBI agents to hand over secret information to Christopher Steele, the author of the infamous Trump-Russia dossier, in Rome shortly before the 2016 election.  They knew he was working for Hillary Clinton and digging for dirt on Trump -- and they gave him sensitive information regardless AND they paid him to boot!  Incredible.  If the shoe was on the other foot, and the FBI had worked with the Trump campaign against Hillary, how do you think the media would be covering this story?  Duh.  Now, whether Steele's meeting with the FBI took place in the form of a toga party -- on that question we can only speculate, although I have heard that the sorority sisters of Delta Delta Delta were present...  Draw your own conclusions.

https://www.realclearinvestigations.com/articles/2020/02/13/buried_in_ig_report_fbi_gave_steele_highly_protected_secrets_122394.html

And here's a very interesting poll on the Biden family's dealings in Ukraine.  Lo and behold, huge numbers of Americans agree that Hunter Biden's stint at Burisma was inappropriate.  Thus, one might conclude that investigating such matters isn't necessarily impeachable, but might be...wise and prudent!  Note that the media never bothered to poll on this question until the Senate trial was over.  A bit late to be asking the question, don't you think?

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/02/13/biden-burisma-poll-ukraine-115096

Here's a perceptive analysis of the headwinds many of the Dems face on Super Tuesday.  My guess is that the picture after that big day will still be cloudy.

https://thehill.com/homenews/the-memo/483060-the-memo-super-tuesday-looms-large-for-democrats

Lastly, here's our old friend Nigel Farage's take on the 2020 election.  Fingers crossed that this guy has it right.  He usually does.

https://www.newsweek.com/trump-beats-democrat-throw-him-four-more-years-farage-1486692

Illegal Aliens Might Scale The Wall, But They Won't Get Around Bill Barr!

Friends, my latest article praises the recent actions of the DOJ and DHS in tackling the problem of illegal immigration, particularly as it relates to sanctuary cities and states.  Bill Barr is bringing down the hammer on lawless Democrats!  It's about time.  I know old Bill is taking it on the chin from Democrats these days, but as far as I'm concerned he's doing a spectacular job.  That proposed sentence against Roger Stone was a gross miscarriage of justice.  Basically, if you look into it, Roger Stone's crimes were similar to those of Bill Clinton in the Lewinsky Affair.  How many Democrats do you know demanding prison time for Bill Clinton?  I rest my case.  But I digress.  Check out my latest thoughts on illegal immigration, and see if you agree...

Trump's Crackdown on Sanctuary Cities is Good — A Crackdown on Employers Would Be Better

This week Attorney General Bill Barr's Department of Justice announced a raft of lawsuits against sanctuary jurisdictions that are undermining the ability of the federal government to enforce our immigration laws. Their so-called sanctuary policies are designed to prevent local and state law enforcement from cooperating with ICE and the Border Patrol. The goal? To nullify federal laws against illegal immigration and shield criminal aliens from deportation.

The Trump administration is fighting back. In addition to DOJ lawsuits against California, New Jersey, and King County in Washington State, the Department of Homeland Security has made New York residents ineligible to participate in “Trusted Traveler” programs because of that state's new policies preventing the Department of Motor Vehicles from providing critical information to DHS. New York residents will be perturbed, but they have only left-wing Governor Andrew Cuomo and a deep blue state legislature to blame. It's about time that the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security started taking seriously their obligation to prioritize the safety of U.S. citizens and to quash, once and for all, the Democrats' lawlessness.

The crackdown on sanctuary jurisdictions is just the latest in a long series of bold and largely successful efforts by the Trump administration aimed at suppressing illegal immigration. Trump has ended the disastrous “catch and release” policies of the Obama years. No longer will illegals be bused to their final destinations in the U.S. and asked politely to turn up for hearings years later. Instead they are detained and rapidly returned to Mexico or their countries of origin. 

 

In addition, Mexico, under threat of U.S. tariffs, is providing unprecedented and very valuable assistance in the maintenance of U.S. border security. The President of Mexico has deployed thousands of police and soldiers to prevent the “caravans” of Central American so-called refugees from reaching the U.S. border in the first place. Flows of such Central American migrants have been dramatically reduced, and total illegal crossings at the U.S. border are down at least 75%.

Meanwhile, the courts have finally started to fall into line, allowing the Trump administration to take necessary steps to control our southern border, including permitting the construction of the Wall. While much remains to be done in terms of the erection of physical barriers, billions have already been spent, and hundreds of miles of fencing has been built or upgraded. Circumventing these barriers at the U.S.-Mexico border has never been harder.

No wonder, then, that the mainstream media barely covers the “border crisis” anymore. Thanks to President Trump, the crisis has largely been resolved. The lax immigration policies that once drew illegal immigrants from Mexico, Central America, and as far away as Africa and the Middle East, have been replaced. As would-be illegals have figured out that the gate is closing, and that America will no longer permit unchecked migration or reward illegality, they have made the inevitable decision to stop coming. If the media covered the situation at the border, therefore, they would have to admit that President Trump's policies have been a massive success. Better, then, from the press's vantage point, to say nothing at all.

There is one sense, however, in which the Trump administration is still coming up short. Around 11 million illegal immigrants still live in this country. The vast majority of them have jobs, which is a violation of both immigration and labor laws. Nonetheless, employers who hire illegal immigrants are almost never prosecuted or punished. Indeed, employers often seek out illegal immigrant workers, precisely because they know such workers are cheap and pliable, and the likelihood of any unwanted attention from federal authorities is very low.

This is unacceptable. Even though the Trump administration is business-friendly, the rampant violation of federal laws by American businesses cannot stand. Likewise, even though illegal immigration has been reduced, illegal aliens will continue to flow towards our southern border if they believe that there are jobs waiting for them in the USA — jobs that pay far better than anything back home.

As we congratulate Bill Barr and Donald Trump for a job well done on illegal immigration, therefore, we should remind them that more needs to be done. The scourge of illegal immigration will never be completely eliminated unless both the craven politicians and the unscrupulous businessmen who benefit from it are brought to justice.

Dr. Nicholas L. Waddy is an Associate Professor of History at SUNY Alfred and blogs at: www.waddyisright.com. He appears weekly on the Newsmaker Show on WLEA 1480.

Here it is at American Greatness:

https://amgreatness.com/2020/02/14/trumps-crackdown-on-sanctuary-cities-is-good/ 

And, for those of you hungry for some analysis of where the Democrats running for President now stand, consider these two fine articles.  The upshot: it's going to be a wild ride, and where we'll be after Super Tuesday is anyone's guess.

https://apnews.com/8a14d349df472c96b41fff916b449bca 

https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/13/politics/bernie-sanders-pete-buttigieg-2020-race/index.html 

Guest Essay: The Superbowl Halftime Show -- A National Disgrace

Friends, it's a first for the WaddyIsRight commentating empire: a guest essay!  I for one am very pleased to be providing a forum for one of our most faithful participants to share his thoughts about pressing issues of the day.  As you know, cultural matters interest me greatly, and yet I didn't get around to writing on this topic -- partly because I paid little or no attention to the freak show that marked the halftime of this year's otherwise very entertaining Superbowl -- so I am extra-grateful to Jack for filling the void.  Enjoy, connoisseurs of conservatism!

The Super Bowl Halftime Show: A National Disgrace

By The One and the Only..."Jack"

Often, in response to an offensive comment, people will say "can you actually hear yourself speaking?"  Similarly, I bid us all consider : do we actually think about the presentation of such a tawdry spectacle as part of what is surely an event of interest to our children? Do we? Do we think about what we are seeing (and next it will be hearing, as soon as those who produce and promote such dreck think it possible to try the American public's tolerance once more). Do we think about what kind of people hold us in such contempt as to assume that though myriad Americans despise such trash, enough Americans have succumbed to it to make it profitable for them to pollute our general airwaves? What kind of people are they? Are we really as lazy and uncaring for our national culture as to abide their sneering, leering  disdain for us? Their product is the conception and broadcast of the outlook of debased, often drug addled libertines who sneer at us as "suckers" and  "meatballs" . Their own lives are very often records of unrepentant public degradation and dysfunction. As the hellish Demon Mephistopheles said to Marlowe's Dr. Faustus as Faustus blithely set to condemn himself in exchange for 24 years of utter lack of restraint : "In company the damned find comfort".  And so do these show business sybaritic degenerates.

Consider how much of the rest of the world looks on us for our celebration of such garbage.  Many countries rightfully fear the corrosive effect of our popular culture on their moral foundations, especially among their young. Some of them have taken decisive and forceful action to counter it and I do not blame them, no not one bit. Yes, many of them have cultures which do not embrace that of the liberty loving West which I rejoice to live in but their cultures usually have very positive standards which they are understandably loathe to see compromised. I saw this first hand in Singapore, a country largely free of predatory crime and resultant drug use. 

So what does this say about us? I would not sacrifice the freedom of expression our Western tradition has painfully afforded us but at the same time I would note, it gives us full license to reject that which we find unendurable, through the popular, non governmental tactics of boycott, material rejection and expressed protest! The first to feel this outrage should be the corporate and even political sponsors of  this putrescence.  Also to be considered is the virtually complete devotion these lost people enjoy from the American left. Reject them and you disempower those who would smear us with their mainstream media empowered negativism.

Please America: take heed of this assault on all you value and its direct relationship to all who seek the Dem nod for leadership of our beloved country! 

 

Jack

Apologies to Slick Willie

Friends, this week's Newsmaker Show, starring me and Brian O'Neil, includes some terrific commentary, if I do say so myself.  We cover the bewildering developments in the race for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States, and the failure of both the "progressive" and "moderate" lanes in the party to coalesce into a single candidate.  Above all, I relish the Democrats' predicament.  They look like they will be sniping at each other, instead of Republicans, for months to come!

In addition, Brian and I get into some fascinating historical questions.  We look at the Yugoslav Civil War in 1991-95 and Slobodan Milosevic's role in causing it; we analyze Field Marshal Erwin Rommel's spectacular career in World War II, as well as his fall from grace and the predicament of German conservatives in 1944-45; and we remember the freeing of U.S. POWs by North Vietnam in 1973, as well as the tragedy that unfolded in Cambodia as a consequence of the instability unleashed by the Vietnam War and the ravages of communism.  Lastly, Brian and I discuss the impeachment of President Bill Clinton in 1999 for perjury and obstruction of justice.  Even though Clinton clearly broke the law, I argue that Republicans (like me) were wrong to try to remove him from office -- an expedient that ought to be pursued only in the most extreme instances of misconduct, in deference to the power of the people to choose our leaders. 

It's all food for thought and well worth a listen, so tune your YouTube dials to the Newsmaker Show and enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnljLpLULvg&feature=youtu.be

Why the Vote in the Senate Should Have Been 100-0 to Acquit

Friends, there were plenty of holes in the Democrats' case against President Trump for "abuse of power" and "obstruction of Congress," and a no vote could thus be explained in a variety of ways.  In my view, however, the biggest weakness of the Democrats' case was always that they failed to prove, and didn't even try to prove, the central assumption of their prosecution: that Trump's goal and motivation in pressuring Ukraine to investigate the Bidens was to alter the results of the 2020 election.  That underlying rationale was simply assumed by Trump haters from the start.  And that, in a nutshell, is what's wrong with Trump haters: they have forfeited their capacity for critical thought and fairness in the course of their unholy quest to destroy Donald Trump. 

The article below points out, very eloquently, why the Senate, if it had been weighing the evidence (or lack thereof) impartially, could only have reached one verdict on the abuse of power charge: NOT GUILTY.  And the vote, as I indicated, should have been 100 to nothing.

https://www.realclearinvestigations.com/articles/2020/02/10/impeachments_big_fail_no_proof_of_a_trump_2020_motive_122353.html

The Impeachment Anti-Climax

Friends, the impeachment hoax has run its course.  The Democrats worked feverishly to win over the nation, and Republican Congressmen and Senators, to their view that President Trump is a danger to democracy and a corrupt super-villain.  And, to be fair to the Dems, it worked!  They won over exactly one convert: Mitt Romney, the Utah Republican.  He voted to convict the President on the "abuse of power" charge.  So...well done, lefties!  Four years of fanatical Trump hatred and spinning of conspiracy theories, and you managed to capture the hearts and minds of .00000001% of the Republican Party!  Hooray for you!  I trust you have no regrets.

Do you sense a little sarcasm on my part?  Well, after all this hullabaloo, surely I'm entitled to a little fun...

In all seriousness, though, it's instructive to reflect on what the Dems and their media allies accomplished with their smear campaign against the President.  Mainly, they convinced almost half the country that the 2016 election should be cancelled, and the 2020 election should be preempted, because Donald Trump is just that awful.  That's no mean feat.  They also seem to convinced themselves, against all the available evidence, that the GOP could be persuaded to break ranks with a Republican President and remove him from office.  Indeed, the fact that the Dems, including Nancy Pelosi, are so peevish and irate at the moment can mean only one thing: they're frustrated and disappointed.  Many of them believed their own spin, apparently: they really thought they were inches from the end zone, and that Trump's days were numbered.  The campaign against Trump, in other words, worked...on the people who already hated him.  It excited their hatred to a fever pitch unparalleled in American history.  That's no way to remove a President from office, as it turns out, but it sure does create some fireworks along the way...

Consider that Trump's popularity among Republicans is as great as ever.  Consider also that his overall approval ratings are at or near all-time highs.  What this means is that the impeachment hoax either had no effect on Republicans, or it consolidated their support for Trump.  Furthermore, it means that the vanishing "center" in American politics -- those few voters who are persuadable -- were never fully won over to the idea of removing a duly-elected President from office, and many of them, for a wide variety of reasons, believe that Donald Trump is doing a good job.  His chances of winning reelection in 2020, at least according to the polls and betting markets, have never been higher.

Consider too the fate of Joe Biden, the hapless septuagenarian who was the intended victim of Trump's diabolical "scheme" to subvert the 2020 election, according to Democrats.  He finished fourth in the Iowa Caucuses, he's sinking like a stone in New Hampshire polls, and, according to the betting markets, he's now less likely than "Crazy Bernie" Sanders and "Mini-Mike" Bloomberg to emerge as the Democratic nominee.  Is that because of doubts about the venality of the Biden family and its ties to Ukraine?  Only partly, but the fact remains that the Dems circled the wagons to protect the man they thought would be their standard-bearer in 2020, and they achieved nothing of the kind.  Trump is stronger than ever, and Biden is weaker.  That's the political legacy of impeachment, and it isn't pretty for the Dems!

I know many Republicans and conservatives want to believe that, with the impeachment hoax behind us, the Democrats are utterly discredited, and President Trump will thus be a cinch for reelection, and Pelosi will likewise lose her speakership in January 2021.  I'm not so sure.  As President Trump knows better than anyone else, the constant assaults on him, his family, and his administration won't stop because of his acquittal in the Senate.  In fact, the smear campaign won't even slacken or take a short vacation.  In an election year, Democrats will be working more diligently than ever to develop and pursue negative storylines against Donald Trump and Republicans.  If anything, they've only begun to fight!  Will any of their attacks find their mark?  Will they ultimately convince voters in a few key states to reject Trump and embrace a socialist, or a socialist-lite?  It's possible.  That's why, despite our victory on impeachment, we must redouble our efforts to support President Trump and defeat the Democrats -- at the local, state, and national levels -- in November.  Trump has been acquitted, yes, but he's a long, long way from "vindication".  The only vindication that counts, after all, is reelection, and it's not a sure thing.  It's a mere possibility, and it's up to you and me to make sure that America delivers the goods.  The alternative, needless to say, is horrifying and unthinkable.

Tyranny, American-Style

Friends, this week's Newsmaker Show, featuring yours truly and Brian O'Neil, is a fascinating exploration of American politics, current and former.  Brian and I talk extensively about the state of Democratic race for the presidency in the wake of the (abortive?) Iowa Caucuses.  The picture among the Dems has become, if anything, even more confused...and I for one can't wait to see which of these stumblebums limps over the finish line!

In addition, Brian and I delve into some interesting historical questions, including the ill-fated alliance between Germany and Italy in WWII, the snow job that Colin Powell perpetrated at the United Nations in 2002, aiming to convince the world to support the invasion of Iraq, and, lastly, the dust-up between Franklin Roosevelt, the Supreme Court, and Congress in 1936-37.  FDR's New Deal was under assault from the Supreme Court, which (rightly!) regarded it as unconstitutional.  FDR therefore proposed forcing Justices to retire at age 70, as well as packing the Court with six additional Justices.  In the end, it wasn't necessary, because the Supreme Court was bullied into compliance.  The rest is history: the expansion of federal power, and the diminution of liberty, has been relentless ever since.  And the Dems, in case you haven't noticed, are considering packing the Court anew.  They can't abide the conservative-Trumpian majority on the Court -- and they're considering extreme measures to rectify it, if and when they re-establish Democratic control over the presidency and the Senate.  You've been warned!!!

So listen in, America.  You might like what you hear...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bml2B9M4uEw&feature=youtu.be

The (Democrats') Road to Nowhere

Friends, I promised you a riveting analysis of the contest for the Democratic nomination, especially in the wake of the Iowa muddle, and here it is!  I conclude, not surprisingly, that the only true winner coming out of Iowa has to be -- you guessed it -- Donald John Trump.  Total score for the 2020 elections, therefore: Trump 2, Democrats -1.  A good start!

Trump Wins a Double Victory in the Iowa Caucuses

The results of the Iowa Caucuses were, on the Republican side, predictable: President Trump won overwhelming support from his GOP base. He received over 97% of the vote. A surer sign of the unanimity of Republicans heading into the 2020 election would be hard to imagine, especially given the high hopes Democrats had harbored for impeachment. The anticipated crackup of the Republican Party, along Trumpian fault lines, just never materialized. Never mind — some Democrats, gluttons for punishment, are already talking about impeaching the President again.

On the Democratic side, the results could hardly have been better — for Republicans. First, Iowa Democrats proved themselves incapable of running an election in the first place. It took them almost a day to tabulate even partial results. As a consequence, the candidates who appeared to be falling short, especially Joe Biden, immediately began casting into doubt the integrity and reliability of the election. Even the prospective winners, however, had reason to grumble, since their precious momentum had been stolen by the Democratic establishment's fumbling. Or was it fumbling? Could the extraordinary inefficiency in reporting results have been a ploy to shield Sleepy Joe from the consequences of his anemic performance? Rumors are swirling in Democratic circles, and tempers are fraying. The prospects for ugliness in the weeks ahead have never been greater.

Meanwhile, the horse race itself has become, if anything, even more muddled. Sanders did well in Iowa, as expected, but so did Elizabeth Warren, bringing her campaign back from the dead. Ergo, the “progressive lane” in the Democratic Party has not yet resolved itself into a Sanders lane, and that makes it problematic for Bernie to build up a head of steam heading into Nevada, South Carolina, and Super Tuesday.

Among the “moderates” running for President, Joe Biden flubbed in Iowa. While some polls predicted he would win, he actually finished fourth — and came perilously close to fifth place. For a national front-runner, this is a humiliation, although Biden put a brave face on it Monday night. (Brave — or oblivious?)

Pete Buttigieg can credibly claim to have won the Iowa Caucuses, and he certainly outperformed expectations. The latter can also be said of Amy Klobuchar, who ran neck-and-neck with Vice-President Biden and breathed new life into her campaign. 

The problem for Mayor Pete and Senator Klobuchar, however, is that neither is showing much strength in national polls, and neither is well positioned to win any of the upcoming contests. It's hard to see, therefore, how the “moderate lane” will narrow to a single candidate anytime soon. That gives the progressives — Sanders and Warren — room to hope.

The good news for Democrats, therefore, is that their massive field of two dozen candidates has effectively been winnowed down to just five (or six, if you count Mike Bloomberg).

The bad news, however, is far more compelling. None of the remaining viable candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination are anywhere close to sealing the deal. All of them possess serious flaws, and most of them are repugnant to a sizable portion of the Democratic electorate. 

Moreover, the process by which the Democratic nominee will be chosen is increasingly fraught with complications, causing doubt among many voters and activists about the integrity and fairness of the contest. Consequently, the vast potential for mutual recrimination and ideological fractures among Democrats has only begun to be realized. The bad old days of the Clinton-Sanders slugfest in 2016 may look mild when all is said and done in 2020. 

Nor can we exclude the possibility that none of the current Democratic candidates for president will receive a majority of the pledged delegates at the Democratic convention. A brokered convention, and thus a protracted, bitter battle over the nomination, could ensue.

In short, the Democratic race for president is in a chaotic state, and hostility between the candidates, and between the different factions in the party, seems to be steadily on the rise. It is hard to conclude, in this environment, that any Democrat coming out of Iowa can be accurately described as a “winner”.

President Trump and Republicans, on the other hand, have never been stronger, in terms of organization, financing, and polling. They have survived the impeachment maelstrom and look set to sail majestically into calmer waters, just at the moment when Democrats are on the brink of a veritable civil war. Since politics is a zero-sum game, the challenges now faced by Democrats can only be regarded as opportunities, even as gifts, to the GOP.

In 2016, some analysts observed that only Hillary Clinton, a deeply flawed candidate, could have lost to Donald Trump, whose unfavorable ratings were in record high territory. 

In 2020, Trump's luck may be holding. Despite his consistently high disapproval numbers, he may be a cinch for re-election — simply because the Democrats are beating themselves.

Dr. Nicholas L. Waddy is an Associate Professor of History at SUNY Alfred and blogs at: www.waddyisright.com. He appears weekly on the Newsmaker Show on WLEA 1480.

And here it is at Townhall:

https://townhall.com/columnists/nicholaswaddy/2020/02/05/trump-wins-a-double-victory-in-the-iowa-caucuses-n2560753

Iowa Insanity

Friends, the Iowa Democratic Caucuses have ended in chaos.  Results are still pending because of technical glitches.  This allows anyone who under-performed in Iowa -- I'm looking in your direction, Joe Biden -- to claim that the eventual results will be tainted.  It allows the eventual winner -- Bernie Sanders?  Pete Buttigieg? -- to claim that party insiders sabotaged and delayed the counting, so as to steal their momentum.  What it surely does, therefore, is make the Democratic presidential contest more contentious, and that can only be good for Republicans!  The following article analyzes the likely consequences of the Iowa results, in terms of the upcoming contests.  I would say the big mystery is how the Biden campaign will respond to his miserable performance to date.  Can he make a recovery in New Hampshire, Nevada, or South Carolina?  Can someone like Mayor Pete become the new standard bearer for moderation?  It sure looks to me like Iowa answered remarkably few questions for the Dems...and it definitely posed a number of new ones.  Expect an article from me soon analyzing this gargantuan mess.

https://nypost.com/2020/02/04/iowa-caucus-mess-nothing-compared-to-intra-democratic-chaos-on-the-horizon/