Friends, this Saturday I might watch SNL for the first time in years. Normally, it's a woke snoozefest, but this week the host is none other than the world's second richest man (nice try -- better luck next time): Elon Musk. Musk is a titan of industry and a skilled self-promoter, in addition to being a visionary futurist. He's also been sponging off of taxpayers since the beginning. He's a complicated fellow, in other words, and my latest article, published by the New York Daily News, is a reflection on that paradox:
In other news, here's Liz Cheney's recent WaPo op-ed on why the GOP needs to purge itself of Trump and Trumpism. I won't waste my time debunking all its claims, but suffice it to say that plenty of Democrats have opined that past U.S. elections were tainted and/or illegitimate, including the 2016 presidential election and the 2018 Georgia gubernatorial election. Fretting about election integrity and unfairness just isn't that unusual in America, so Liz Cheney needs to get off her high horse and chill out. She won't be conference chair for long, and that's entirely appropriate. She won't be in Congress for long either, but that's a different story. Now, if a Republican hates Trump, as far as I'm concerned they're still welcome to be a Republican...but they don't represent the party's mainstream, and if they pick fights with DJT on a constant basis they're essentially doing the Dems' work for them. How do you know if a Republican is really, at heart, a Democrat? If they start publishing op-eds in the Washington Post, that would be a big clue...
It looks like fellow New Yorker Elise Stefanik is the favorite to replace Liz Cheney in the Republican leadership. Apparently she's not as right-wing as they come, but that's cool: the GOP is a big tent, right?
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/stefanik-republicans-one-team-working-with-trump
Here's an interesting reflection on how banning and censoring content has become our default expectation in the modern age. Sad.
https://abigailshrier.substack.com/p/has-censorship-become-our-baseline
Here's a study of who posts political rants online and who doesn't. No surprise here: the most extreme among us are also the most outspoken -- and Dems and liberals feel more comfortable letting it all hang out online than Republicans and conservatives. Gee, I wonder why?
Finally, Kudos to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for signing Florida's new election integrity law, which enacts modest changes to ensure the security of drop boxes and to prevent ballot harvesting, as well as to prohibit the mailing of unsolicited absentee ballots. None of this will prevent Floridians from exercising their right to vote, needless to say, but all of it will be compared to "Jim Crow", as per usual. Come on, Dems! Find a new line of attack.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/desantis-signs-florida-election-bill-fox-friends
Nick,
ReplyDeleteI don't quite know what to make of Mr. Musk. I've often found myself puzzled as to whether he is a crypto-conservative, merely an a-political opportunist, or a sympathizer. In any case, he is a fine model for what I have long recommended to conservatives, game the system and get your enemies to pay you to fight them. More conservatives should play games and angle to get government grants and public funds to bludgeon our ideological enemies with their own money; the left has been doing it for decades.
As to the Liz Cheney episode, I have a simple rule, if your political acumen and goals irritate people whose last names are, "Bush," and, "Cheney," you're doing something right. Elise is a squish, I don't respect her policies or positions. Big tent politics is fine, if the outer edges are intelligent and disciplined enough to be ordered, or stupid and cowardly enough to be beaten, into line.
It's a simple mathematical vector, we have to move to the right to the same magnitude, and the opposite direction, that our enemies move to the left, or the result is leftward drift. If our own politicians can't at minimum follow this basic mathematical tenant, then they should be mocked, coerced (electorally), and harangued into compliance. If they will not comply, they aren't our representatives, they're not even our enemies, they're worse, they're traitors, and it's obvious what to do with traitors.
“If I had but one bullet and were faced by both an enemy and a traitor, I would let the traitor have it.” - Corneliu Zelea Codreanu
"The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born."- Matthew 26:24
We should prefer on a big tent, but we should insist on a disciplined tent.
-Lee
Lee,
DeleteYour quote from The Romanian Fascist (Iron Guard) Codreanu is interesting. I remember him from a course in graduate school on Eastern European extreme right-wing groups between World Wars 1 and 2. As I recall, he was strangled (literally) by the opposition.
Ray,
ReplyDeleteI like to range afield in my studies, and Codreanu and his Iron Guard are an interesting bunch. Your memory serves you well, he was in fact murdered by the government while serving a prison sentence, before having his remains dissolved in acid and buried under 7 tons of concrete. Tells you have dangerous, and popular, he was.
Our predecessors in this titanic, centuries long, global struggle against the Revolutionary Spirit often made compacts of convenience with less savory political elements, such as the Falange or the Iron Guard. Those compacts were as much because they got a few things right, as much as their hatred of Marxism and Communism.
I appreciate the attention to detail you pay!
Cheers!
-Lee
Lee,
DeleteThanks. And I also recall that King Carol II of Romania (1930-1940) did not want people like Codreanu in his way. And if my memory serves me at all, the bigger organization around The Iron Guard was The Legion of The Archangel Michael, which was heavily supported by the lower ranking members of The Romanian Orthodox Church.
Have a nice weekend.
Dr.Waddy from Jack: I am elated to hear thatRep.Elise Stefanik is in line for House leadership. That could mean she'll be on the majority leadership team by and by. And she faithfully represents the North Country, with which I am well acquainted. NY's North Country (the Adirondacks, their foothills and closely adjacent counties is a common sense, real America place - part of God's country.) Its hard to believe you are in Cuomoyork when you are up there! A nonpartisan column this week noted she may bea candidate for NY Governor but if so would certainly be defeated by . . . Cuomo(!) because of her staunch support for President Trump. Yeeeeech!Does Cuomo actually retain any future in politics?! Only in our benighted NY. But if she has a national future, we can rejoice and I hope she is soon joined in the House by former state Senator Cathy Young,who waged a resolute battle for years against the radical NY C crowd.
ReplyDeleteDr.Waddy from Jack: Good political riddance to Liz Cheney, as appears to be at hand! How can anyone (Dem or one willing to stand with them on anything), who laments Trump's down to earth expressions, ignore the most OBSCENE individual ever to pollute our White House!? SlickWillie that is.Support for him and his pitiful consort disqualifies one from credible criticism of President Trump's inexcusably popular utterances
ReplyDeleteLee: I agree that Musk is an enigma. Sometimes he seems like an ideological ally, sometimes an enemy. I too don't begrudge him the desire to feast at the government trough -- but I do begrudge the trough-masters.
ReplyDeleteYou know Elise a lot better than I do. I don't watch tv, so I've never heard her speak. She may be an ignoramus for all I know. McCarthy, Scalise, et al. seem to think the number one priorities must be: speak with one voice, and don't tread on DJT's toes. Seems sensible to me.
I'm not as hard-hearted vis-a-vis "traitors" as you are. It's all very well to say that we need to go as far right as the left goes left, but that could very well be a recipe for the self-annihilation of the GOP. Remember, the standards that are applied to right-wingers just aren't the same as those applied to the Left. If we flirt with fascism-lite, we're excoriated. If the Left beds down with Stalin and bears several of his kids, they're congratulated on their handsome brood. I tend to agree with -- gulp! -- Liz Cheney that the GOP needs to be very careful in how it deals with extremism, racism, and the like. We're lucky to be still in the game, frankly, after the damage Trump did to our brand. There IS a time for self-assertion and principled perseverance, and there's also a time to retreat, or even to obfuscate. Political victories are often won by saying and doing nothing, not necessarily by saying and doing what's right. We need to be smart, as well as good. How to strike the right balance? Decent people can disagree on that.
I continue to believe that the key is recapturing political power...and then doing something with it.
Lee/Ray -- thanks for teaching me something new about Monsieur Codreanu! The 1930s and 40s were a time, in my view, when right-wing extremism could be, in some cases, justifiable as a response to the very real danger of Bolshevism. More to the point, fascism WORKED, at the time, in a way that sadly liberal democracy didn't. Our own times are very different, though. I can't think of a single case since the end of the Cold War in which right-wing extremism has been rewarded with success or political power. It's often been "rewarded" with imprisonment and/or marginalization, however...
Jack, one has to wonder whether Stefanik has her eye on the Governor's mansion... She's risen far already. Are you impressed by her bearing and intellect?
Nick,
ReplyDeleteI agree with the sentiment that our path forward is through the capture of legitimate political power. I merely like to remind my fellows to keep their eyes focused on the objective and not to become too comfortable with the methods and norms such that we miss opportunities and, God forbid, last chances, in our complacency. Trump's first 2 years were a missed opportunity. We had every branch of government and our coup de main culminated in, wait for it...tax reform.
Pathetic. There's no sense in delivering political power into the hands of the GOP if the GOP is disinterested in wielding power efficaciously towards undoing the ravages of our leftward drift. They need to stop blushing at wielding political authority to empower themselves and weaken their enemies, which is itself only valid if we truly believe that Socialism, Liberalism, and Marxism weaken the country and the People and Conservatism and Traditionalism strengthens them.
I would respect Liz Cheney's position if she were content to heed your advice and keep her mouth shut about it in public and merely voice her concerns behind closed doors to her fellows. As it stands she doesn't seem to quail or hold reservations about lambasting her own side in public; undisciplined behavior that suggests unreliability. Also, it's just stupid and self-defeating for the sake of scoring points with people who will never vote for her anyway.
I should clarify, by, "traitor," I did not mean Liz Cheney, she merely disagrees in method, stupidly because she disagrees publicly in a manner which sows dissent among the troops, but still her disagreement appears methodological. By traitors I refer to Romney, Bill Kristol, and their Neo-Con ilk who flatly reject objectives contrary to the leftward drift. McCarthy and Scalise are well disciplined, and so they are assets, Cheney is undisciplined, and so a potential liability, Romney is a traitor, and so should be done away with quickly and without apology.
Shoot me an email next time you're in Olean, we'll grab lunch.
-Lee
Nick, Lynne Cheney is one of the most conservative members of Congress. In fact, she has a much more conservative voting record than Elise Stefanik (the opportunist, who, if Trump loses support, will turn on him in a New York minute).
ReplyDeleteCheney has not been going everyday and telling the truth about Trump and his BIG LIE about the election. Cheney tells the truth when asked, or when Trump makes it an issue.
Kicking her out of the conference is a bad move by the GQP. Trumpsters are already in the minority, and there are a number of Republican voters since Jan. 6 who have changed their party registration (over 10,000 in North Carolina alone). Moves like this don't expand the minority party, but make it even more of a minority.
These moves, and the voter suppression legislation being proposed, is spurring a major backlash against the GQP. That backlash is likely to result in Dems bucking history and expanding their Congressional advantage in 2022.
Dr.Waddy from Jack: Stefanik
ReplyDeleteanik is well spoken and, I say this unapologetically, possessed of good looks equal to those of AOC. That is politically significant rea!ity! Males especially, cannot countenance criticism from a good looking woman. AOC has ridden this horse! Well, for NY, Elise is tbe anti AOC!
y
Dr.Waddy from Jack:Yes, statistics do appear to show Cheney at a higher percentage of conservative voting than Elise. But: that begs closer analysis and there are, overriding, their individually expressed opinions of President Trump. Donald Trump in office, evinced self and family effacing defiance of obnoxious and obvious leftist totalitarian intent! Elise recognizes this and Cheney cannot bring herself to do so,so sensitve is she!
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, what you said about Trump is malodorous bovine excrement! The only totalitarian was Trump himself.
DeleteAnd Cheney at least recognizes Trump for what he is -- a clear and present danger to democracy!
Rod,
DeleteHey there guy! You nailed it! Totalitarian Trump has been replaced by Totalitarian Biden. They are the same breed of cat.
Well said, Lee! I agree that the first two years of Trump were a missed opportunity. The last two weeks even more so! If Trump -- the ultimate disruptor -- doesn't have the cajones to tackle leftism directly and aggressively, then I fear we can't expect much from the GOP rank-and-file. That's why it's so important that we find a standard bearer who understands the stakes of the game. For Trump, the game was largely personal, not ideological. That made Trump the wrong man for the job, and it gives me no pleasure to admit that.
ReplyDeleteI agree re: Liz Cheney. Her convictions are one thing. Her constant braying about them is decidedly unhelpful. She needs to go.
Romney I have mixed feelings about. He isn't in the leadership, and he votes the right way 90% of the time. I support efforts to primary him, but I would shrink from calling him a "traitor". He's frankly too moralistic for his own good. He's, again, just not the right man at the right time.
Rod, I see you've been drinking the Kool-Aid again. Were you not paying attention during the recent election in Texas? There's zero evidence that the GOP is facing a "major backlash". Republicans are doing better in "generic ballot" polls than they were in 2020 -- you remember, when we came within a whisker of capturing the House?
FYI, no one is talking about kicking Cheney out of the conference. They're talking about removing her as conference chair. That's entirely appropriate. If the Dems' conference chair endorsed Trump, you'd fire him in a New York minute.
Ah, so Elise is a hottie? Well, that settles it! Elise for Conference Chair! Elise for Governor! Elise for President! I concede that she may be "moderate". That's okay. For that very reason she may be useful.
Trump was/is a "totalitarian"? Ha! He was handed an "insurrection" and did zilch with it, except to hurt lefties' feelings, of course, which he did a million times. If Trump is a totalitarian, I'm a Bolshevik.
Dr. Nick
DeleteJust being sarcastic about Trump being a "totalitarian".
Nick, the Dems are still leading the generic ballot by 4 points, and it's a non-presidential year. As the economy bounces back, we achieve herd immunity and life comes back to normal, Dems will benefit.
ReplyDeleteAlso, to give any weight at all to a win in a Trump district in a jungle primary held on a Saturday -- and the shut out of the Dem candidate being 384 votes -- is really laughable.
Rod, the point of Texas is the swing. The swing isn't in your favor...and given the imminent collapse of the GOP, which you've so sagely predicted, you'd think the result would have been a little different!
ReplyDeleteAnd you're ignoring the fact that, historically, after a presidential win the party in power generally looks good(ish) in the polls, but then gravity sets in and by the midterms it's losing ground. If you think Sleepy Joe can defy gravity, well, you give him more credit than I would. We'll see.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/03/politics/2022-midterms-republicans-congressional-ballot/index.html
Nick, that district was not a swing district. It was pretty dark red until 2020, and then became lighter red. To have flipped it, even if the Dem had gotten in, would have been expensive. Plus, redistricting is going to shake up things, so that particular district could've gotten redder.
ReplyDeleteFinally, history is not destiny. Americans will be feeling a ton better in November 2022, and Dems will get the credit.
The GQP has a couple of advantages in 2022. The Census nets the GQP about 4 seats, and gerrymandering probably another 4. That gets the GQP to +3. But, the Dem losses in the House in 2020 were mostly from swing districts that they picked up in 2018. So, all they need to do is flip 5-6 (which, with the strong economy we have next year is pretty easy) and Nancy Pelosi is still Speaker.
Finally, the GQP is about ready to implode. They just got polling about how badly Trump is hurting them in swing districts. As long as Trump is in the mix, the GQP is in trouble.
Rod,
DeleteDefine Totalitarianism.
-Lee
Rod, even if you're right that everything will be coming up roses, COVID-wise, within a few months, if you think the American people will still be swooning over that in November 2022 I'm afraid you haven't been paying much attention to American politics. The American people have VERY short memories. A year and a half from now, virtually anything could be dominating the news cycle. Now, I agree that Trump won't help much in swing districts. If he's smart, he'll concentrate his efforts on the districts where he can help. That's what he's done in the past. If a GOP candidate wants Trump to show up, he does. If they don't, he doesn't.
ReplyDeleteAs for Texas' 6th district, I believe I'm right in saying that Trump won it by 3 points, and the last GOP incumbent won it by 6 points. This time we won it by 20. If you can spin that into a nothing-burger, then you're a true partisan!
Lee, I can define "totalitarian" for you, leftist-style. It means whatever Rod says it means, you right-wing monster! All bad words apply to Trump. That's a given. Plus, words have no fixed meaning anyway. They "evolve", didn't you know? So, yeah, Trump's a totalitarian. He's also a mushroom, a bed and breakfast, and a 1964 VW Beetle. He's whatever Rod needs or wants him to be. Rod is among Satan's Elect! Bow to Rod!
I hope this clarifies things for you.
Dr.Waddy et al from Jack: Jeane Kirkpatrick,in 1978 or 9, in an article said to have impressed Ronald Reagan , in ,I think, Foreign Affairs and extensively examined in Commentary, defined "authoritarian" and "tota!itarian" regimes. The latter, she said, seeks absolute control of every aspect of national life, public and private and has demonstrated in power already no misgivings about using murderous measures to effect and enforce it. Donald Trump has been the first since Reagan to actually carry out Presidential denunciation of this OBVIOUS proclivity in the American left . Naturally you on the far left thinkthis deserving of vulgar hyperbole. In your detached view Trump is an intolerable heretic. And we do know what the ,yes, CERTAINLY proven, thoroughly TOTAlITARIAN American left, proven so by its dictatorial conduct in those areas it dominates today, incipiently and ultimately, totalitarian, yes, in its demonstrated intent ,does to insolent dissenters. Only present American law prevents the American left from enacti g the corporal sanctions so characteristic of its totaltarian models in the 20th century. Donald Trump knows this and has sacrificed his latter life comfort to standing against it resolutely. He and his supporters like Elise Stefanik deserve the resolute support of the real America!
ReplyDeleteWell said, Jack!
ReplyDeleteRod, you could prove yourself to be non-totalitarian by describing for us the areas of life and phases of endeavor that ought to be apolitical and exempt from the wages of wokeness... We're waiting.