Friends, I've been pretty busy globetrotting and what not, but I found time yesterday to crank out an article that's surely destined to change your perspective on life, the universe, and everything. It's a reaction piece to an experience I had in Ireland, related to the growing popularity of "alternative lifestyles". It's a hot topic these days. See what you make of my point of view:
https://www.wnd.com/2023/06/irish-pride/
In other news, the campaign of legal harassment against Donald Trump is gathering strength, and I see no sign that the charges will stop accumulating anytime soon. The Dems' are all-in for a lawfare strategy in 2024, folks. Can we beat them at their own game? I'm not at all sure that we can. We seem hellbent on nominating Trump, and that strikes me as a very risky approach. He's a flawed and vulnerable candidate in the best of circumstances, and being in the dock is unlikely to enhance his charms.
"We seem hellbent on nominating Trump, and that strikes me as a very risky approach. He's a flawed and vulnerable candidate in the best of circumstances, and being in the dock is unlikely to enhance his charms."
ReplyDeleteI completely agree. The fact that many do not see the overwhelming flaws in the light of what is going on suggests that Trump loyalists (bless their hearts) are tuned into retribution more than reelection. Revenge is a tricky motivation. it can, and often does boomerang in the worst ways.
And... it's not like there aren't other candidates (well qualified by the way) who will stand up to the left and hold fast to real conservative values.
Dr Waddy, what do you put the odds at the base figuring this out before the primaries?
RAY TO RICHIE
DeleteThe question that should be asked is: "Why does The Left fear Trump so much?" The Leftist pukes have gone to extraordinary lengths to get rid of him ever since he declared he was going to run for president, then and now, not to mention their many attempts to "liquidate" him during his presidency. You might consider who the use of the word "revenge" applies to in this case. Think about this.
To your point, revenge motivates both ends of the spectrum. The "pukes" included.
DeleteWhichever side is tossing the boomerang should be prepared for the consequence.
The clergyman Douglas Horton may have expressed it best: "While seeking revenge, dig two graves. One for yourself."
There are nobler motivations that speak to a higher calling and focus.
Ray... Do you not see other candidates who hold fast to our convictions and who would have broader appeal with the general electorate?
RAY TO RICHIE
DeleteSo who do you want our next president to be?
RAY TO NICK
ReplyDeleteRemember when your site could hardly wait to reelect Trump, and to some extent bordered on the "hysterical"? Now you are throwing him under the bus. It is true that Trump never knows when to keep his mouth shut, among his other flaws, but I really believe that he cares about the United States of America.
Be that as it may, if Trump is not president again, we on the right side of the spectrum are going to end up with a Republican president (if we are lucky), who will be a tool of the The Left. That's my assessment of our dilemma, in my opinion.
People like DeSantis may make great governors, but they really don't know how to run the country. Sorry, but I'm not all that enthusiastic that the current potential Republican candidates are at all fit to sit in the White House.
RAY TO RICHIE
ReplyDeleteYou never did answer the question as to why The Left fears Trump so much.
RICHIE TO RAY:
ReplyDeleteNext President?
The candidate that embodies and articulates what this country can be when the tenants of conservatism are put into practice. That same candidate must demonstrate they are not afraid to confront and dismantle the autocracy.
To think no other candidate can carry the mantle and stand up to the left is to suggest that Trump is the ONLY one capable of doing so. That is a fatalistic view I hope his base does not hold.
A couple of candidates in the field have courage and do not carry the hefty baggage attached to the former President.
Why "...The Left Fears"? (Maybe the question should be "Hates"?)
Regardless, the answer is obvious. The institutional "left" sees Trump as a threat to their stronghold on power. The cultural "left" see him as an affront to their worldview.
Whichever candidate is "feared" more by the left is not necessarily the one who is electable. Besides, they will attempt to vilify whichever candidate rises in the public view.
Trump and his base seem largely fomented by revenge. The messaging from the GOP candidate must shed that motive and speak to nobler values, or they will not attract the center.
Ray... do you think Trump knew "how to run the country" before being elected in 2016? It would be easy to argue there are other candidates with comparably more insight into the job this time.
RAY TO RICHIE
DeleteWhatever you say Richie, whatever you say. If you believe it, it must be true. Best of luck to you.
Dr.Waddy et al from Jack: Good dialogue.What motivates me to support Trump is that I am incensed at the antiamericans', theleft's, crusade to misuse our legal system to destroy him. This must not stand! Emotionally captured antiamerica hates and dreads Trump because he is an hombre who has their number and "right merrily" jerks their chain. It manifests equally savage antipathy to America in doing so. If they succeed we will all be in their sights.
ReplyDeleteDr.Waddy from Jack: Your essay on the featured display of "bellicose advocacy" ( a term right on point) of the current "trans" campaign in Dublin is very well taken. It is very shocking to hear of what you observed in such a profoundly Catholic setting! And its precipitate emergence is particularly disturbing. Experience of the "avant garde" is , more and more,no longer a matter of adult discretion or taste or even parental responsibility. Is Dublin perhaps akin to NYC in arrogant counterintuitive leftist fantasy and an "island "of such in a "sea" of common sense?The " trans" movement is but the latest vehicle hijacked by the left - the antiamericans in our country - to transport
ReplyDeletethem to achievement of totalitarian power. The pattern is very familiar: a matter , a group, a practice or an idea is identified as being unjust or the object of injustice and is adopted by the left, whether or not its principals approve or fit. Groups are summarily accorded exalted status and declared purely virtuous ( or forgiven, in the case of violent criminals)and culturally superior. Mandated deference and tangible benefits , especially those provided at the disadvantage of groups deemed politically incorrect, are distributed liberally. Ideas are arbitrarily denounced and suppressed and appeal is denied; any gainsayers of this largesse are immediate recipients of haughty disparagement and then personal and ever more so, legal sanctions.Similar vehicles include group rights and privileges, climate change, moral relativism, cultural marxism and generalized America loathing. Anything is liable to be be drafted so by the left. What is next: virus rights?
Ah, a vigorous debate about Trump's merits and demerits is exactly what the conservative movement needs right now!
ReplyDeleteRichie, I don't entirely understand the visceral connection that Trump has with so many Trumpers. I assume it has something to do with his bluntness and his earthy charm, and also owes itself to the media and the establishment's absolute contempt for him, which apparently makes 40% of the country assume he must have a lot going for him if the Deep State crowd hates him that much... Now, there's an element of truth to all those assumptions. Trump IS genuine and engaging in a way that typical politicians never are. Plus, his ability to enrage the Left is partly due to his unapologetic advocacy of conservative ideals. BUT, to my mind, a gift for pushing the Left's buttons is not the same thing as a gift for advancing the agenda of the right. I don't see that that agenda has been well-served at all by Trump's ascendancy. Sure, he appointed some good SCOTUS justices, but if Jeb Bush had been the candidate in 2016 I daresay he would have stood a good chance of beating Hillary too, and of nominating some fine judges (as his brother did). Anyway, to answer your question, it's almost impossible to say what will convince the GOP base to break with Trump. At this point, it's tempting to say...nothing ever could. Would conviction do it? I doubt it. Would incarceration? Not necessarily. One potential chink in his armor: his ability to interact with his base. Assuming the courts ever push him off his soapbox, i.e. impose an effective gag order on him, that might cause his legend and his campaign to suffocate (gradually). Does the establishment have the cajones to try something like that? If they're desperate, they just might.
"BUT, to my mind, a gift for pushing the Left's buttons is not the same thing as a gift for advancing the agenda of the right. I don't see that that agenda has been well-served at all by Trump's ascendancy."
Delete^^ THIS IS TRUTH^^
Enough with the pollution of cynicism and petty politics.
It's time that conservatism be a beacon of hope to our fellow citizens. Seek unity on a theme and avoid tearing down the opponent.
Some will say that is naive. However, many popular themes now run counter-cultural.
Where is the next candidate that, with conviction, can pull off the "shining city on a hill" type of messaging? The tenants this country was founded on hold the keys to that potential reality. The left's promises do not.
Ray, I agree with Richie that there's no particular reason to assume that Trump has skills of leadership that no one else in the GOP can match. He's good at slinging arrows at his enemies, but that's not leadership -- it's mere rhetoric. And I come back to what I've said a million times before: Trump left office with the Left and the establishment and the Deep State STRONGER than they've ever been, not weaker. He took them on...and lost. Is that the kind of "leadership" we need? Not in my eyes. DeSantis, by contrast, has a record of almost uninterrupted and indisputable political/ideological SUCCESS. Now, you can argue that Florida and the national/world stage aren't the same thing. Fair enough. But it seems to me Trump's one and only claim to fame was his defeat of Hillary Clinton. Yes, that was a precious moment that we'll all cherish forever, but time marches on... What has he done for us lately?
ReplyDeleteWas I ever "hysterical" about anything? I hope not. If I claimed in 2020 that it could have been our last chance to stave off a leftist dictatorship, well, I stand by that analysis!
RAY TO NICK
DeleteYour arguments regarding my previous comments are hard to refute, especially the fact that when Trump left office, the Left was stronger than they have ever been. I'm still not convinced about DeSantis, yet. Anyway, you made some good points. Thanks. Appreciate your reply.
Jack, I think what you are saying is that the more the Left attacks Trump, the more you are drawn to him. That's exactly the dynamic we're seeing playing out in the polls, of course. The problem is that you may be falling into the trap that the Left has set for you. They WANT Trump to be the nominee. That seems abundantly clear to me. They are confident of their ability to defeat him -- probably because they've done it before, and they assume that he'll be much more grievously wounded this time. And, again, I don't even take it for granted that a Trump victory would be acknowledged by the powers-that-be. In fact, I think a Trump candidacy is much more likely to produce one of two results: first, we lose, and the Left grinds us underfoot more ruthlessly than ever before, or, two, we win, in which case I expect them to nullify the election by some creative means and extirpate the right once and for all. What are the chances that they ACCEPT a drubbing at Trump's hands and slink off and let the worst man who ever lived rule over them? Not good. Play the odds, I say, and the odds of Trump occupying the Oval Office again just aren't high.
ReplyDeleteIs Dublin more culturally progressive than the rest of Ireland? Undoubtedly. If there's one constant in the culture wars of the last couple centuries, though, it's that the cities innovate and "progress" (and/or degenerate) first, and sooner or later the rest of the country follows. I bet no one thought rural matrons would ever smoke or drive or wear trousers either. Well, guess again.
Dr.Waddy fro Jack: DeSantis is qualified to do a terrific job for us. This is a real dilemna. Your description of a trap is very plausible; its a very clever one. For DJT to bow out and endorse DeSantis might be best for us but he is bound to see it as capitulation with the slavering hyenas baying triumph.A secret agreement to do this just before the convention , with a rousing "vote for him and you are voting for me" might blow up the antiamericans' game.They might well have tailored their campaign to defeating DJT. Trump might be satisfied if he sees this as "taking one for the cause" after having fought hard. His honor upheld (and his debt to his supporters paid)he might retire redeemed.
ReplyDeleteRay, thanks! I'm not sold on DeSantis either, believe me. I'm not sure any Republican on offer has what it takes to turn back the flood tide of neo-Marxism and identity politics. All I know is that the past is the best guide to the future, and Trump's record is deeply problematic, while DeSantis, at least on the limited Florida battlefield on which he's been tested, has excelled. Of course, DeSantis hasn't faced a full onslaught yet from the media and the deep state. Trump has.
ReplyDeleteRichie, I would love to think that a Republican candidate for president could win by ennuciating a positive, optimistic vision for the country. In the past, that was always the best tack for a Republican to take. Given the levels of cynicism and vitriol now washing over the country, though, you have to wonder whether that kind of approach would work. Neither party knows any way to conduct an election except by scaring the crap out of its base. I suspect that's what we're in for once again in 2024.
Jack, I'd say a last minute Trump retirement from politics and an endorsement of DeSantis, in the interests of the nation and the party, is about as likely as Fox rethinking its cancellation of Tucker Carlson's show. No offense, but...DREAM ON!!! Trump will only mend fences with DeSantis if he's blown him out of the water and DeSantis comes to him on bended knee. Unfortunately, it looks like Trump and DeSantis are becoming more mutually antagonistic by the day.