April 7, 2019

Andrew Sullivan seems to have derived inspiration from the "Goofus and Gallant" children's comic strip.

From "Is Pete Buttigieg a Transformational Candidate?":
Trump is a pathological, malevolent narcissist from New York, breaking all sorts of norms. Buttigieg is a modest, reasonable pragmatist, and a near parody of normality. Trump thrives on a retro heterosexual persona; Buttigieg appears to be a rather conservative, married homosexual. Trump is a coward and draft dodger; Buttigieg served his country. Trump does not read; Buttigieg does. Trump’s genius is demonic demagoguery. Buttigieg’s gig is careful reasoning. Trump is a pagan; Buttigieg is a Christian. Trump vandalizes government; Buttigieg nurtures it.
Here's the "Goofus and Gallant" article in Wikipedia. Excerpt:
The comic, published monthly in Highlights for Children, consists of two panels depicting the actions of two children, Goofus and Gallant. Gallant's actions are always virtuous and respectful, in contrast to Goofus's, which are always rude and selfish. They are presented side by side with a brief caption (e.g. "Goofus turns on the television when there are guests; whenever guests arrive, Gallant turns off the television at once.")...

According to Brown, who was Editor of Highlights for Children, "Without Goofus, Gallant would be bland and no one would pay attention. But kids see parts of themselves in both characters. No one is as good as Gallant, and no one is as bad as Goofus. But being more like Gallant is something to strive for." For many years, a short line of text reading "Gallant shows correct behavior" was included at the bottom of the comic....
Without Trump, Buttigieg would be bland and no one would pay attention. But we see parts of ourselves in both characters. No one is as good as Buttigieg, and no one is as bad as Trump. But being more like Buttigieg is something to strive for.

By the way, one of Sullivan's contrasts does not belong with the others: "Trump is a pagan; Buttigieg is a Christian." The disparagement of Paganism is religious bigotry.

From the Wikipedia article "Modern Paganism":
Contemporary Paganism has been defined as "a collection of modern religious, spiritual, and magical traditions that are self-consciously inspired by the pre-Judaic, pre-Christian, and pre-Islamic belief systems of Europe, North Africa, and the Near East." Thus, the view has been expressed that although "a highly diverse phenomenon", there is nevertheless "an identifiable common element" running through the Pagan movement. [religious studies scholars Michael F.] Strmiska similarly described Paganism as a movement "dedicated to reviving the polytheistic, nature-worshipping pagan religions of pre-Christian Europe and adapting them for the use of people in modern societies." The religious studies scholar Wouter Hanegraaff charactised Paganism as encompassing "all those modern movements which are, first, based on the conviction that what Christianity has traditionally denounced as idolatry and superstition actually represents/represented a profound and meaningful religious worldview and, secondly, that a religious practice based on this worldview can and should be revitalized in our modern world."

240 comments:

1 – 200 of 240   Newer›   Newest»
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

Sullivan gets tunnel vision with his favorite political overlords.

tcrosse said...

Grasping at straws, Andrew?

hawkeyedjb said...

A nice fellow, well-read, pleasant, understated. He wants reparations, open borders, and the wrecking of the industrial economy. But yes, he's a nice, polite guy. The kind of person you need to carry out an agenda that basically amounts to "destruction." Go for it.

Phil 314 said...

The ever useful Andrew Sullivan: good for ridicule when he comments on Sarah Palins vagina. Good for affirmation when he occasionally critiques the left.

Did I mention he’s gay?

Ann Althouse said...

I'm not saying what I think would be best for the county but, oh, how I would love to see a series of debates between Buttigieg and Trump!

Mike Sylwester said...

Sullivan too is on Adderall?

robother said...

Booty Judge's father was a Marxist professor at Notre Dame who devoted his his life to preaching the gospel of Gramsci, so I doubt his loudly professed "Christianity" is anything but a useful Alinsky ploy.

mccullough said...

Mayor Pete is credentialed. Earnest, smart, hardworking.

But he is not accomplished. Nice guy with the same leftist bullshit policies. South Bend is still the same as it was before he was mayor. Doing personal good deeds is great but it doesn’t make bulkshit failed policies any better.

Trump is an odd guy and Mayor Pete seems fairly normal.

But as odd as Trump can be, he’s not a nitwit Brit like Sullivan, who was obsessed with Sarah Palin’s baby.

The Trig Truther was a big Obama fan. Obama was a failure. So is Mayor Pete. South Bend still sucks. If you can’t improve a town like that after 8 years, you aren’t good enough to be President. Credentials don’t mean shit. It’s ability that matters. Mayor Pete doesn’t have it.

David Begley said...

I loved Goofus and Gallant as a kid!

gilbar said...

and a near parody of normality....
a rather conservative, married homosexual.


that DOES sound like a parody of normality!

Phil 314 said...

Ok I did what you’re not supposed to do: comment before reading the article. Now I’ve read it.

To be fair, the piece starts out by pointing out that Trump was everything that Hillary was not and then the piece posits what candidate would be that to Trump.

As I read the rest of the article I didn’t get the sense that Sullivan really likes Buttigieg

Phil 314 said...

Is Buttigieg the Tim Pawlenty of the Democratic primary season?

Big Mike said...

By the way, one of Sullivan's contrasts does not belong with the others: "Trump is a pagan; Buttigieg is a Christian."

Neither assertion is proven. There are many Christians for whom marriage is a holy sacrament and people like that will say that Buttigieg’s referring to his homosexual partner as his husband is an insult to true Christians.

Hari said...

Buttigieg and Trump are complete opposites, black and white. This makes all the other candidates gray. The country chose black Trump over gray Hillary. Wouldnt the Democrats best hope be to move to a dark gray candidate?

Mike Sylwester said...
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Mike Sylwester said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Mike Sylwester said...

... breaking all sorts of norms.

Our norms changed before Donald Trump became President.

The FBI established FISA warrants that accused innocent people of being Russian spies.

The FBI established those FISA warrants in order to wiretap communications within Trump's campaign staff and within Trump's personal sphere.

The FBI intended to use the recorded communications, if necessary, to convince Electoral College voters to switch their votes from Donald Trump to Hillary Clinton.

Those were our country's new norms by the end of 2016.

mccullough said...

Mayor Pete is an Episcopalian. A dying religion just like England where Henry VIII started it. The Anglicans are worthless group. No match for Islam.

I’ll take American paganism over that flummery.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

The thoughtful socialist.

Limited blogger said...

Trump is president, and Mayor Pete is not.

Trump will win the presidency in 2020 and Pete will not.

Hagar said...

Trump is an independent who saw an opportunity to run for President as a Republican and took it.
All he has got is the White House, and his tweeting machine to communicate with.

The tweets and counter-tweets is a running presidential debate that is actually informative.
I refuse to listen to any staged performances, especially those "moderated" by media celebrities.

buwaya said...

My first lathe, in high school shop, was an ancient South Bend.
From the great days of the industrial economy.

Bay Area Guy said...

Mayor Pete seems like a decent young man.

Did I mention he has fine credentials?

However, Mayor of a 100K pop college town is a pretty small launching pad for a Presidential campaign.

Do we even know who the Mayor of Madison, Wisc is? Or the Mayor of Ann Arbor? Or Berkeley?

And, did Mayor Pete actually do something to make South Bend great again? If so, please tell us so that we can duplicate the policies in other fine American cities.

Of course, the media says, in essence, fuck all that, the gay married dude wears a tie and served in the military! He is a square, normal Homo!! Can't you morons see this? Yay he is gay and married and normal and handsome and Christian!

So, it's nice that Mayor Pete has got some good press and can raise some dough and may now run for Governor of Indiana. And compared to the other Dem candidates, he is probably a bit saner than Hair Sniffer Joe, Pochahontas and Slick Willie Brown's concubine. But that's a pretty low political bar.

mccullough said...

Mayor Pete has no kids. He and his husband have pets instead.

Sullivan doesn’t have kids either.

Trump has 5. Not having kids is not normal.

Bill Peschel said...

It's more important to note what he's not saying than what he's saying.

No discussion of issues, because voters won't go for it, but what a crease in his pants!

tcrosse said...

Why, it's almost as if the Marketing Department has developed a new product but forgot to run the name past a focus group.

mccullough said...

Trump has 9 grandkids.

Normal.

Mayor Pete has two dogs.

narciso said...

You betcha:

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2019/04/mueller_express_fails_to_deliver_democrats_head_for_the_abyss.html

narciso said...

Yes sullivams mancrush on Obama, and two minute hate against Palin disqualifies him as an objective observer:

https://www.judicialwatch.org/press-room/press-releases/judicial-watch-releases-report-on-attack-on-tucker-carlsons-home-suspected-hate-crime/?utm_source=t.co&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=press%20release

mccullough said...

Why hasn’t Mayor Pete’s “careful reasoning” improved South Bend?

If he’s a “reasonable pragmatist,” why hasn’t he delivered any improvements for South Bend?

Results matter. They are all that matter in politics.

Mayor Pete should have some kids, raise them, and come back in 20 years. Having kids will open his mind and help him grow up. He comes off like an earnest college student. South Bend is a Democrat town with the same problems that Dem towns have always had for the last 50 years. Mayor Pete was not any better of a mayor than the orger Dem mayors who have been running that town since the early 1970s.

chickelit said...

Not buying the Buttigieg hype.

Andrew Sullivan seems uniquely suited to criticize the press-- he's been in it at the highest levels for a very long time. My fear about Buttigieg and press is the same that we saw play out with Obama: too much softball coverage and ass-kissing. I'm convinced that the press would would do the same with Buttigieg because of his "gay" status. In that sense, Trump has been a blessing because he keeps the media on their toes. Andrew Sullivan could best serve his adopted country by taking on the media in an adversarial way, or at least in a profoundly critical way the way Althouse does.

Diogenes of Sinope said...

Obama was 'the next messiah' with Bush as Goofus ... Now it's Christlike Buttigieg with Trump as Satan.

mccullough said...

Sullivan has smoked way too much pot. I feel bad for they guy.

He was initially a big supporter of W and then Obama. Sullivan is highly educated. And like most highly educated Westerners, he’s a fucking moron.

Marcus Bressler said...

It was only at the dentist's office that I observed the Goofus and Gallant feature. Goofus might have been a douche but Gallant was a beta ass-kisser. I looked forward to the needle.

THEOLDMAN

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

John Brennan is a treasonous poisonous snake. There's some norm breaking for ya.

Michael said...

Mayor Pete rolls his sleeves up just like Bobby K did. And every Dem pol since.

mccullough said...

Calling Trump narcissistic and pathological and a racist, sexist, homophobe, misogynist, and/or xenophobia isn’t working for The Left.

Calling Trump a norm breaker isn’t working for The Left either.

Sullivan lives in a bubble. A uterus-shaped bubble.

Henry said...

So in The Katzenjammer Kids, is Trump Fritz and Pete Hans? Or vice versa.

chickelit said...

BTW, "Mayor Pete" is a euphemism for "Buttigieg." That's why they use it instead of his real name.

mccullough said...

Mayor Pete would rather run for President than have children.

That’s not normal. Or conservative. Or pragmatic. Or reasonable.

That’s selfish. Even narcissistic. Why the pathological need to be president?

Amadeus 48 said...
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mccullough said...

Kamala and Cory don’t have kids either.

The Dem debates will put the childless candidates against the normal candidates with children. Even Bernie Sanders has a kid.

chuck said...

From his press, I expected Buttigieg to be a principled man of courage. In practice, he has turned out to be a flip-flopping man without a message. He would benefit from a replacement set of Trump balls.

Tom Ault said...

If you look at the RCP democratic nomination polls, you'll see a Morning Consult poll covering 3/25 to 3/31 where Mr. Buttigieg gets 3%, about the same as polls in the weeks before. While polls this early are not predictive of who will win the Democratic nomination, these polls are nevertheless interesting because the onset of "Buttigieg mania" began around 3/25, so we should have seen some movement during this week. Mr. Buttigieg may be more popular on Twitter and among the elite than he is with Democratic voters in general, or there may not have been enough time to move the needle before 3/31.

More polls covering 4/1 to 4/7 should come out in the next few days. If "Buttigieg mania" can't move Mr. Buttigieg into the second tier of candidates (Beto and Harris) by the third week in April, then it's unlikely to ever do so. He'll need a stellar debate performance plus an upset in one of the first three primaries to become a serious candidate rather than a contender for vice-President.

Oso Negro said...

“Mayor Pete” is the Democrats version of “Governors Scott”. And his chances are about the same. Of course, Andrew Sullivan, and others with a vested interest in mainstreaming homosexuality are going to like him.

Amadeus 48 said...

Buttigieg needs to become governor of Indiana if he wants to be president some day. Or would that complicate things?

mccullough said...

Mayor Pete has already groveled to the Black Lives Matter crowd.

If you can’t stand up to them, then you are a oust. You aren’t going to stand up to China and radical Islam. You are going to kneel before them and they are going to chop your head off. But at least Mayor Pete can beg for his life in Arabic. They will appreciate that.

dustbunny said...

Dukakis with a touch more warmth

Wilbur said...

Marcus said...
It was only at the dentist's office that I observed the Goofus and Gallant feature. Goofus might have been a douche but Gallant was a beta ass-kisser. I looked forward to the needle.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
I had the same thought except for me it was the doctor's office.

I remember thinking Goofus would've kicked Gallant's ass during recess, while the rest of the kids watched approvingly. I guess that made me kinda Goofus.

Mary Beth said...

"Goofus turns on the television when there are guests; whenever guests arrive, Gallant turns off the television at once."

This is why we don't invite Gallant to our Game of Thrones watch parties.

Carol said...

He just wants a fetching new boy-toy as the figurehead, the top of the deep state heap.

It doesn't matter, the same old machine will run things.

Bob Boyd said...

The disparagement of Paganism is religious bigotry.

Sullivan probably struggled before he settled on "pagan".
He couldn't say Atheist. All right thinking lefties are Atheists. He couldn't say areligious because that's what lefties are supposed to be. They believe in Science!
Sullivan was looking for a word that would cast Trump as a throwback and ammoral.
Associating "Pagan" with Trump is going to offend some people.

Nancy Reyes said...

does any child actually read and enjoy "highlights for children"?
I was given it by adults thought it would be good for me. But I never read it, because it was booooring...and as a kid, I read everything in sight...

Michael K said...

Mr. Buttigieg may be more popular on Twitter and among the elite than he is with Democratic voters in general, or there may not have been enough time to move the needle before 3/31.

I still think the poll results for Biden indicate a yearning on the part of real Democrats (not the Socialists) for "normal" candidates.

They are going to be disappointed. This, like 1972, is going to be the year for crazy,

Drago said...

The lefty media and their lapdog LLR hacks keep trying to make Mayor Pete "happen".

This follows precisely the same form and tone when the media/Dems/LLR's were trying
so hard to Chelsea "happen". That didnt work either.

I predict we will soon witness advanced stage tactics such as "Mayor Pet-o" who is really really in tune with his hispanic roots and learned spanish to run for President.

Diogenes of Sinope said...

Somehow this Buttigieg is completely qualified to be president? The hypocrisy of the MSM and left is breathtaking. Think of all the tens of Republicans who the left insisted didn't have the knowledge or experience to be president.

Gunner said...

Heh heh, Goofus is cool.

Fernandinande said...

Trump and Obama Are So Much Like “Goofus And Gallant” From Highlights Magazine That We're Insane

A bumper-sticker said: "Runs with scissors"

MBunge said...

I can understand the rise and conquest of a flamboyant outsider like Trump would unsettle the establishment. But at least Trump was a world famous billionaire. But the mayor of South Bend? That Buttigieg's candidacy is taken seriously AT ALL is a even greater illustration of the pathetic state of America's political elite than Trump.

Mike

Tommy Duncan said...

Blogger mccullough said...

"Nice guy with the same leftist bullshit policies."

Same $h!t, different way.

MadisonMan said...

Mary Beth at 952: LOL!

Henry said...

@Nancy Reyes said...
does any child actually read and enjoy "highlights for children"?

Exactly my memory also.

The only place I ever saw Highlights was in the Dentist's office waiting room.

I soon switched over to reading Car and Driver.

Fernandinande said...

Gallant warns anyone who'll listen that "it's all an illusion", and everyone is just "a cliched character in a children's magazine".

Holy Adams, Batman!

mccullough said...

Sullivan was an Obama fan. Obama had no experience. He was a state senator who voted present for a decade. and was in the US Senate for two years before he ran for president.

His presidency turned out as expected. Not expected by fools like Sullivan and the other Left Pubdirs. But expected by reasonable pragmatists who knew Obana was an inexperienced, indecisive, arrogant fool. .

Mayor Pete was another mediocre mayor of a town of 100,000, which makes Mayor Pete much more qualified than Obama was. Mayor Pete did a weak job running South Bend. But he ran South Bend. Obama ran his mouth.

Mayor Pete’s presidency would follow the HW, Clinton, W, and Obama decline of the US into Brazil with nuclear weapons. A shithoke for 97% of the country while mediocrities like the Bushes, Clintons and Obamas prosper.

Sullivan would be ecstatic with this.

buwaya said...

It is curious isn’t it?
There are hundreds of Democratic mayors of larger and more consequential cities.
And a few dozen governors.
One would think a veteran politician with true executive experience should be able to present well.
This one seems to have been chosen simply because he is gay.
It’s an agenda thing, and it would be interesting to know what immediate backing this fellow has.

n.n said...

Mayor Pete has no kids. He and his husband have pets instead.

That's a popular choice for couples and couplets.

This one seems to have been chosen simply because he is gay.

Transgender is trending.

Michael Fitzgerald said...

Good boy Peewee calls Trump a Nazi. Trump is not a Nazi. Peewee is a liar. Peewee is a demagogue. Peewee is a member of the democrat party and they support killing babies, using the power of government to harass, intimidate, and impoverish their political opponents, opening the borders of our country to let in millions of unknown foreigners, abolishing border patrol and security, killing cops, making innocent Americans pay reparations to other Americans, support witch hunts and show trials accusing political opponents of crimes that Democrat party members are allowed to actually commit with impunity, and so much more. As far as Peewee's military service goes, so what? Hasan Nidal, Bowe Bergdahl, Reality Winner, Clayton Lonetree all say Hi

Bay Area Guy said...

Mayor Pete is on Meet the Press as we speak. After Chuck Todd is done fellating him, er, I mean, interrogating him, I might or might not have some meaningless observstions of the interview.....

n.n said...

National Socialists (Nazis) were atheists, leftists, and Pro-Choice (e.g. selective-Jew).

~ Gordon Pasha said...

Dave Beiter! Mayor of Boise, speaks Basque, liberal, runs one of the top 5 cities in the country. Why isn’t he getting any traction? Oh, married Catholic.

Christopher said...

I'm reading this Salena Zito Buttigieg starter pak: How Pete Buttigieg could hurt Trump in the Rust Belt

He's deeply religious but supports abortion in the third trimester.

He says If the only way I can get all of us paid parental leave, universal health care, dramatically improved child care, better education, good infrastructure and, therefore, longer life expectancy and a healthier economy is to raise revenue, then we should be honest about that. So honest, that raising taxes is magically, painlessly transformed into "raising revenue." Meanwhile, universal healthcare in the UK continues its collapse, with just one example being glaucoma surgery being deemed "non-essential" and thus denied to large sections of the elderly, and thus disposable, British public.

Yeah no.

Sebastian said...

"Buttigieg is a Christian."

The kind of Christian progs can use to pursue their culture war against the actual Christians, who know Trump will have their back.

Michael Fitzgerald said...

Trump is Sluggo, and Peewee is Nancy with pants on.

Michael Fitzgerald said...

Trump is Dagwood, and Peewee is Blondie with a penis.

Sebastian said...

But I wouldn't underestimate Mayor Pete for a moment. He gives nice midwestern women an out: a well-spoken gay vet ("I'd love to see him debate Trump," they'll say) enables them to rationalize a Dem vote while maintaining their self regard and the illusion that they are not in fact supporting prog insanity, cuz he's so reasonable, so serious, so not a hack.

Achilles said...

Mayor Pete is a smart person.

He is also a socialist.

That means he is evil.

He knows millions of people will die if he implements his policies.

Or he is not as smart as the media is fellating him up to be.

Bay Area Guy said...

Oh goody, Jerry Nadler is on Face the Nation!

He is the master of time, space and dimension - all 5'4 of him.

Tommy Duncan said...

I remember as a child being given a copy of "Highlights for Children". I chose to read my brother's Boy Scout Manual instead. It was a good choice in reading materials that provided practical information and useful moral guidance.

A Scout is Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, Courteous, Kind, Obedient, Cheerful, Thrifty, Brave, Clean, and Reverent. And knows how to build a fire, cook a meal, choose a campsite, paddle a canoe and read a map.

Bob Boyd said...

Since the '70s, Dem Presidents were all previously little known men without lengthy public records. The prominent candidates were not widely liked or trusted and they lost.

tcrosse said...

Mayor Pete is all very well and good, until he gets in the way. Then he'll get what Biden's having.

Gunner said...

How do Democrats get away with insulting the millions of men who got medical and educational deferments during Vietnam as "draft dodgers" every day?

Ann Althouse said...

“does any child actually read and enjoy "highlights for children"?
I was given it by adults thought it would be good for me. But I never read it, because it was booooring...and as a kid, I read everything in sight...”

One of my sons was so enthusiastic about Highlights for Children that when asked if he liked it said “Yes! Every magazine should be Highlights for Children!”

Scott said...

Donald Trump is Presbyterian. To Sullivan and others this may seem like paganism, but let's get our facts straight. I'm sure calling Trump pagan is not Sullivan being glib. Sullivan is never, ever glib.

gilbar said...

Michael Fitzgerald said... Trump is Dagwood, and Peewee is Blondie with a penis.

Trump is Lucy, and the Democrats are Charlie Brown.
2020 election is the football

Amadeus 48 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Amadeus 48 said...

Goofus and Gallant parody (with drawings): "Goofus is selfish and pleasures himself on the playground. Gallant was 'nicer' to the kid with the mullet."

Well, Sullivan put some names to that parody, but I still think he owes attribution.

Trump is who he is, and hectoring by Andrew Sullivan (the nation's delusional gynecologist in the Palin days) is not going to get me to regret my vote.

Buttigieg is--what? Some guy with a great resume' who got himself elected mayor of South Bend, which hasn't changed much one way or the other since he got elected 7 years ago. Have you been to downtown South Bend? Nice place, no people. No one on the wide, empty streets. Lots of open air parking lots. I guess that's one way to solve the automobile problem: no traffic. There is more going on in Naperville than in South Bend.

gilbar said...

. Obama had no experience. He was a state senator who voted present for a decade. and was in the US Senate for two hours and 15 minutes before he ran for president.

fixed it for you!

Big Mike said...

He's deeply religious but supports abortion in the third trimester.

I believe that Buttigieg, like Virginia’s Democrats, supports post partum abortion.

John henry said...

This is Andrew "milky loads" Sullivan, right?

http://milkyloads.tripod.com/bareback/index.html

I take loads in my ass.
I take loads in my mouth.
I give loads in asses.
I give loads in mouths.

I'm interested in bi scenes.

I do not have tattoos.
I do not have piercings.
I do not party (aka NOT Chem. Friendly)


One-on-One's
3-Ways
Groups/Parties/Orgies
Gang Bangs


8 percent body-fat; squatting 8 plates; killer muscle ass that loves to milk loads with my power glutes; 
32w 45c huge thick neck - 19 inches 
close to 8 inch dick 
love to fuck but prefer to be fucked 



hairy hung masculine guys 
black guys 
uncut guys with over 8 inches


shaved bods; fems; fats; over 50;


In other words, consider the source

NTTATWWT

John Henry





Ken B said...

With Sullivan everything is always about sex.
Retro persona? Can no longer like screwing beautiful women I guess.
Vandalize? Cutting regulations, and bringing troops home is vandalism?
And the combination of religious bigotry — nothing new for Sullivan who hates evangelicals intensely— with an admiration for growing government power.

Sullivan repeatedly called John McCain “gob-smackingly vile”.

John henry said...

Ask anyone for a quote by John Maynard Keynes and they are likely to say

"in the long run we are all dead" 

His economic theories reflected this, focusing on the short term instead of the Long. Keynes was childless and in the long run he is dead. Like buttegieg Keynes was gay. 

His economic theories still haunt us though. 

Most of us are not dead in the long run. We live on through our children and grandchildren and great grandchildren.

I would be concerned about a childless president. I would be concerned gay or straight. 

I would be concerned that they would not have the same interest in the future that most of us do. 

AOC is another example of a, so far, childless politician who seems to focus on the present at the expense of the future. She is a big believer in MMT (modern monetary theory) which is basically Keynes rebranded. 

John Henry

tcrosse said...

The decision the Democrats face is whether 2020 will be a rerun of 1968 or 1972.

tcrosse said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Ken B said...

Sullivan is just following Buttigieg's lead here in appealing to religious bigotry. PG made the “not a Christian “ charge first.

John henry said...

Sorry, I had posted those last two in the wrong thread.

John Henry

Henry said...

I would be concerned about a childless president.

George Washington?

Wince said...

Trump should call Buttigieg "Pistol Pete".

"You got it Joban."

William said...

He was on Meet The Press. I watched nearly the entire interview, so he's got something. Can anyone here claim that they would watch an entire Elizabeth Warren or Joe Biden interview........He's got terrific hair. I would give him the edge over even O'Rourke in this department. There's something downy and fledgling about his hair. O' Rourke's hair is kind of helmet like. It's nowhere near as soft and appealing as Mayor Pete's. I'm sure most normal, intelligent women would like to pat his hair. That's definitely not the case with Donald Trump, and its even kind of problematic with O'Rourke. I myself am an extremely normal straight guy so I can't say for sure, but that's the way it looks.........Biden is semi bald. That's a damn shame when you consider the pain and expense he went through in order to keep his hair. Well, life is unfair. What really works against him though are his eyebrows. He doesn't keep them trimmed and neat. Bernie Sanders has unruly hair but he takes care of his eyebrows. Nasal hair and eyebrow trimming should be part of every older man's daily grooming.

Ken B said...

Henry's implication misses the point. George Washington *sired* no children, but he *had* two — he and Martha’s raised two of hers. It's the emotional investment in the future not the the potency which is the issue.

Chuck said...

"Trump is pro-gay and being cagey about it."

Maybe. Until Buttigieg?

I'm thinking of someone who was pro-Trump and being cagey about it.

Skeptical Voter said...

I did read dear old "Milky Glutes" Sullivan's mini essay. So I guess I can comment properly.

The "draft dodger" meme with "bone spurs" Trump is tiresome. It's not quite true, to paraphrase Time magazine's "we are all socialists now" cover, that we are all draft dodgers now. I got my 1-A in late 1968--and served albeit as a reservist. A very large percentage of my generation--those born in say 43 to 48 were "safe" from the draft under any number of different kinds of deferment--married, college students, had kids, had reached the age of 26, had medical issues etc. Were they "draft dodgers"? No--and that was true for almost any middle or upper class kid during the years 1945 to 1970 and the institution of the draft lottery. So Andrew, check that one off your list.

As for Mayor Pete's executive experience. I live in a Los Angeles suburb with a population more than twice that of South Bend. I don't know if the mayor of South Bend is elected by the populace, or by the city council. In my suburb the mayor is elected by the city council from among their members, and the mayorship tends to get passed around on an annual basis. The council members are nice folks--the most recent mayor has been mayor four times in his 19 years on the council. But I wouldn't pick any of them to manage anything larger than a small family business, and I suspect half of the members couldn't do that.


As for Mayor Pete's military service, he did go to Afghanistan for a short while--four months or so. But as they say, he was "in the rear with the gear". Not very likely to hear the sound of a mortar shell, artillery round or rifle bullet. He's a bright guy and his task was to analyze the Taliban's financial mechanisms. Short of a terrorist bomb, his greatest physical danger was from a paper cut.

As for Amadeus's comment re South Bend. I've visited the city. It's a nice quiet place. There's even a museum for a failed industrial company--Studebaker. And the museum is nice.
It's the kind of place Mayor Pete should govern--and stay there.

Paco Wové said...

"This one seems to have been chosen simply because he is gay."

And has a nice crease in his pants.

Henry said...

It's the emotional investment in the future not the the potency which is the issue.

Exactly my point.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

I loved G&G when I first encountered it as a Mad magazine-reading near-adolescent in the early ‘70’s. It was just so succulently ripe for parody that it seemed like one of those unforced adult errors that little shits like me took such delight in. These days, I look to the Democrat Party for this kind of manna.

rcocean said...

Yep. I saw a couple video interviews with Mayor Pete Gaga and was unimpressed. Very bland. Very Left-wing. Very Harvard/Oxford Grad. Maybe VP material. I think that's the Democrat game plan. Female POTUS candidate, and then some wimpy Beto Or Mayor Pete as VP. Like what's his name that was Hillary's VP.

Not Sure said...

Goofus helps himself to other people's stuff.

Gallant buys his own stuff with the money he earns.

rcocean said...

Mayor Pete was in Afghanistan in Naval Intelligence. He was sitting in an office for 4 months, on a secure Air Force/Army Base near Kabul. But it sounds better when you summarize it as "Was in Military. Spent time in Afghanistan." No doubt he was in some danger though. Perhaps de-planned under sniper fire.

rcocean said...

Althouse likes "Normal". The Democrat party doesn't.

JAORE said...

One of my sons was so enthusiastic about Highlights for Children that when asked if he liked it said “Yes! Every magazine should be Highlights for Children!”

So, did he get extra time on his ACT's?

I keed, I keed. I hated Highlights for Children.

Henry said...

"Emotional investment in the future" could be tied to the younger generation of any number of human relationships -- friends, cousins, in-laws.

Buttigieg lives in the same neighborhood where he grew up. His husband is a teacher at a middle school. Buttigieg is an active member of the congregation Cathedral of St. James.

I personally think the concept that children create an "emotional investment in the future" makes little sense.

Most parents have a profound emotional investment in their children's future. That's different than a generic future.

Even if that that emotional investment is directed into politics, it still conforms to the parent's world view. It may change the intensity of the parent's politics. It doesn't change the direction of their politics.

Examples abound.

Lewis Wetzel said...

Does Wikipedia mention that the Nazis were pagans?

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...


“It's the emotional investment in the future not the the potency which is the issue.
-------------------------
Trust me on this one? Plenty of people who have not borne/sired children themselves has kids in their lives they are invested in, “

Maybe, maybe not. I know bucket loads of middle-class couples, of both political persuasions, who are childless by choice. They may have a favorite nephew or niece that they dote on, but that relationship has no bearing on their politics. In my experience, they fiercely resent any suggestion that they have any duty to other people’s children, beyond the usual welfare/school stuff that we’re all conditioned to.

Nichevo said...

And compared to the other Dem candidates, he is probably a bit saner than Hair Sniffer Joe, Pochahontas and Slick Willie Brown's concubine. But that's a pretty low political bar.



No. He may be well contained from day to day but there is deep, tortured madness in Peter Buttigieg. Look closely at his face. Look into his eyes. It's there.

In his compartmentalized closeted mind he is versed in concealment. But find some provocateur, some provocation, and watch the real Pete blaze forth. Think of, in a far milder vein, George Allen and the "macaca" incident. Send somebody out to annoy Buttygag and watch him carefully.

You remember the videos of Peter Strzok turning into something out of The Exorcist, the hate and anger and seething contempt pouring out of him? That's going to be Petey when his cork pops. He is good at acting normal but he cannot keep it up.

Watch this space. It WILL happen. The Democrats should hope that it happens before he is nominated and the country should hope that it happens before he is elected.

chickelit said...

It's a myth to think that you keep on "living" through your children, any more than the rest of us keep living through our work that remains behind, what we've built or contributed that remains.

The majority of people with kids do tend to live on through their children -- that is self-evident albeit anecdotal. Childless people with accomplishments -- like Keynes -- also live on through their ideas. But a growing cohort of people who neither reproduce nor manage to accomplish much besides the serial adoption of pets do tend to die out. It's cruel, sad, and true all at the same time.

Henry said...

George Washington pursued his emotional investment in the future by buying up land.

Lucky for all of us, he was dispassionate about politics.

bgates said...

"Buttigieg" is a Maltese name, which translates into English as "McMullin".

Quaestor said...

Trump vandalizes government; Buttigieg nurtures it.

Absolutely nothing deserves vandalism more than government, particularly government as it exists in Washington. Sullivan may sincerely believe he bolsters Mayor Buttigieg absurd fantasy but with this one sentence, he has driven a stake through its heart. Trump will almost certainly not face Buttigieg in 2020, but if the already insane Democrats destroy their 17 more viable candidates (insane people are prone to do insane things) then Sully's words will be used on the most sought after pro-Trump bumper sticker.

Lawrence Person said...

Even before running for President, Doanld Trump stated on multiple occasions that he's a Presbyterian.

Quaestor said...

"Buttigieg" is a Maltese name, which translates into English as "McMullin".

Are you sure about that? I heard it translates as "rectal obstruction".

Earnest Prole said...

There’s a tendency in Trump defense that assumes that because his critics are wholly unhinged, we should compensate by pretending the man is completely normal. That’s dumb because it obscures all the things that make Trump truly fascinating, including his unapologetic pre-Christian personal morality.

William said...

The supreme high virtue of the left is tolerance--or anyway toleration of those in the approved minorities. Tolerance was always more of a pagan than a Christian virtue. The pagans were far more tolerant of the gays and the Mithridites than the Christians were. Anyway, Trump is more a hedonist than a pagan. I don't knock this. It's a neat trick to have a pleasant, comfortable life. Most everyone tries, and most everyone fails.......... I suppose Trump's real estate developer father passed along some of his values to Trump and that Buttigieg's Marxist professor father passed along some of his values to Mayor Pete. I never got through Ulysses and I'll never be able to afford a Trump condo so I'm loathe to pass judgment on either man's values. They're out of my reach.

Seeing Red said...

The decision the Democrats face is whether 2020 will be a rerun of 1968 or 1972.

Or 1992.

Michael K said...

Most parents have a profound emotional investment in their children's future. That's different than a generic future.

Nope. Black Plague, for example, affects your children's future as much as it affects anyone else's.

Economics, law, culture, crime all affect both. If you want your children to lead happy lives, try to be a good citizen. Support law enforcement and good economics.

mccullough said...

Raising kids is hard work. It’s not about “emotional investment in the future.”

Reality trumps theory as a parent (unless you are a useless ideologue or just let the state raise your kids like most black fathers).

Parents understand that. The childless Mayor Pete with two pets doesnt get it. Not yet. He should have a few kids.

Obama sent his daughters to private school. Reality trumps theory for him as a parent.

Obama was conservative in his parenting. He didn’t perform his bullshit social theory on them. He did it on other prople’s children. Obama would never send his daughters off to war in Afghanistan. Never.

Having kids won’t make you a good president. But not having them will make you a terrible president. It is disqualifying.





Swede said...

Sullivan was so firmly ensconced in Sarah Palin's uterus, I didn't know he could still operate a keyboard.

Anything new on the Trig drama, Andy?

Michael K said...

Wow ! Bob Kerry unloads on Democrat delusions.

The second Democratic delusion is that Americans were robbed of the truth when Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller and Attorney General William Barr concluded that President Trump did not collude with Russia in 2016. All evidence indicates that the full report will not change the conclusion that Donald J. Trump did not collude with Vladimir Putin to secure his victory in 2016.

Anonymous said...

Since Mr. Buttigieg apparently never met an abortion he didn’t like and Mr. Trump has done more to help unborn children than any other president in recent years, I’d say Buttigieg acts like a pagan worshiper of Baal and Trump acts like a Christian.

robother said...

It is pathetic (but totally predictable) that Sullivan accepts Mayor Pete's passive aggressive suggestion on CNN that he, not Trump, be recognized as the true Christian. A sincere follower of the Christian Gospel might have recognized the resonance of Mayor Pete's phrasing with the Pharisee's prayer:
"God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this [Re]publican...."

cubanbob said...

Ann Althouse said...
I'm not saying what I think would be best for the county but, oh, how I would love to see a series of debates between Buttigieg and Trump!"

I agree! I would like to see Trump debate the very nice, mild manner Mayor Pete and have Trump dissect The Mayor's socialist policies were he to get elected President. And for Trump to remind those very same suburban woman just how much they will have to pay for them.

Gk1 said...

Why is this any different than when the dems threw 10 people in the primaries against GW Bush?Al Sharpton, Mosely Bruan, Dennis Kucinch, Howard Dean etc. Other than more obscure mediocrities why is this go around different? No one was gaining any traction even with all of the openings the Bush presidency gave them. So they settled on 'Reporting for Duty' Kerry and the rest is history.

Chuck said...

Lawrence Person said...
Even before running for President, Doanld Trump stated on multiple occasions that he's a Presbyterian.


It is true, that Trump has "stated" what you say.

Donald Trump "states" a lot of things.

He has rarely attended any church, and has not regularly attended any church, since he became president.

Before he became president, he had never attended the Presbyterian church closest to Trump Tower, which is Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church. Also before he became president Trump claimed to be a member of Marble Collegiate Church. That church took the very rare step of denying that Trump was a member (and no one recalls Trump ever attending except on the rarest of occasions, including his marriage to Ivana, in 1977). Trump was married to Marla Maples at the Plaza Hotel by a minister from Marble Collegiate, in 1993.

Trump is not, as far as I know, a current member at any church. He is supposedly "affiliated" (?) with an Episcopal (NOT Presbyterian) church, Bethesda-by-the-Sea, which is near Mar-A-Lago. He married Melania in that church in 2005.

Basically, Trump goes to churches when he is getting married again. And again. And he goes to churches on the rarest of holidays, when that is what society (and I use the term loosely and advisedly with Trump) people do. Christmas Eve; Easter. When the golf courses are closed, there is nothing on tv, and nothing else is going on.

When Trump says that he is a Presbyterian, what he can only mean is that he was taken by his parents to a Presbyterian church as a boy and was confirmed there, when that was what people did, in the 1950's.

He has practically no objectively discernible religious affiliation as an adult.

https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2017/politics/state/donald-trump-religion/

Quaestor said...

I've never seen a Goofus and Gallant cartoon, but then, I never even opened a Highlights for Children, though my allergist's waiting room was well-stocked with them. The covers looked suspiciously cloying to my eyes, obvious Communist propaganda designed to destroy the rollicking free will of the two-fisted American boy. I have since learned that Highlights was published by a cabal of Unitarian spinsters and psychologists with Viennese accents.

What I do remember is Davy and Goliath. There were no good cartoons on Sunday morning, just "good" cartoons. It was Davey and Goliath or Gumby. Both were first order mind rot, but with Gumby you could feel the neurons shrivelling. No commercials for breakfast cereals or toys, just good old Protestant morality boiled down to a syrup.

The only D&G episode I recall involved prejudice against a new kid who wore a polka-dotted tie. In the end, Davey got the correct Lutheran anti-anti-polka-dotted tie instruction from his faithful dad. Appropriately chastened, Davey befriended the new kid and complimented his neckwear. Goliath, however, continued to snarl at the tie. Good dog.

What struck me at the time was the tie. No kid I knew would ever voluntarily wear a tie of any color or pattern. Just to intrude on my little peer group wearing a tie at any time except Sunday morning was to invite a punch in the hooter.

Recently Adult Swim featured a parody of the D&G called Moral Orel. The first few episodes were funny enough for government work, but then the plots grew increasingly dark and diseased. I welcome good-humored satire, but the opposite of religiosity is not satanism. My advice — turn it off.

Henry said...

Having kids won’t make you a good president. But not having them will make you a terrible president. It is disqualifying.

That's a fact-free statement, if there ever was one.

The only president without kids was James Knox Polk. Polk was arguably a terrifically successful president, though he could be regarded as terrifically awful if you don't like manifest destiny. At the time most Americans did.

Woodrow Wilson had kids. Franklin Pierce had kids. James Buchanan had kids. Harding had kids. Hoover had kids. FDR had six kids. The Adamses had kids.

Joe Kennedy Sr. never made President, but he had a lot of kids, one of them who did.

If you argue that a President should have a close bond with their kids, you lose a lot of strong presidents, including George Washington and Ronald Reagan. Your model president becomes John Adams. Or maybe George HW Bush.

hstad said...

So another politician with no experience (he runs a city of 100k) wants to run a country of 330 + million. Truly amazing? The MSM is pushing another minority candidate, that really went well with Obama - not. This is the beginning of the end for the MSM. They are literally bankrupting their various brands with their Leftist propoganda.

Churchy LaFemme: said...

Goofus has been lucky for me!

Molly said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Amadeus 48 said...

I can't quite picture Trump dissecting anything. I can easily picture him mashing something flat and then building a new 70-story hotel/apartment/retail complex with the name TRUMP emblazoned on it. I don't think South Bend is ready for that.

Darkisland said...

Blogger Henry said...

Joe Kennedy Sr. never made President, but he had a lot of kids, one of them who did.

Two, actually.

Jack and Jimmy.

John Henry

walter said...

"David Brooks rightly notes Buttigieg’s Obama-like combination of somewhat banal leftism with personal rectitude and calm."
His popularity is in creasing.

"Buttigieg’s immigration policies are very vague — he favors a “path to citizenship.” My own view is that the only Democrat who will beat Trump next year will campaign for control of immigration, legal and undocumented, in a sane and humane way. The issue will be dominant again — because of a huge wave of migrants, many of them rural Guatemalans, who are overwhelming the border, trying to enter the U.S. at a current pace of 100,000 a month. Their ability to claim asylum under current law permits them to show up at the border, get admitted and processed by the Border Patrol, and then released into the interior, to reside here until a court date, which could come up years later. The backlog in the underfunded immigration courts is vast, with more than a million still in line for a hearing. Many of the migrants won’t show up for the court date; those who do can still resist deportation indefinitely.
<
Like Obama, he has a living faith and it points in a progressive direction:

“When I think about where most of Scripture points me, it is toward defending the poor, and the immigrant, and the stranger, and the prisoner, and the outcast, and those who are left behind by the way society works. And what we have now is this exaltation of wealth and power, almost for its own sake, that in my reading of Scripture couldn’t be more contrary to the message of Christianity. So I think it’s really important to carry a message (to the public), knitting together a lot of groups that have already been on this path for some time, but giving them more visibility in the public sphere.”


Skeptical Voter said...

Is life long Republican Chuck a church goer? Who knows? I was baptized a Methodist at age 8 nearly 70 years ago. I doubt I've been in a Methodist or any other church on an average of more than once a year since then. I was married in a Methodist church.

But I fell out with organized civilian religion after seeing the most spectacularly cruel thing I ever observed. It was a 1968 Lutheran funeral for an Army First Lt. who'd taken two .51 caliber NVA slugs in the chest. I knew him, and knew his parents. He'd been a pledge in my college fraternity. He was a nice hard charging young man. Not the brightest guy in the world, but he'd ticked all the boxes at his Lutheran home church. President of the youth group before he went off to college, faithful attendee etc. He had one sister. As the only son, he was the light of his parent's lives.

His youth group pastor conducted the funeral service and let his antipathy to the Viet Nam war get in the way of his pastoral duty and excoriated the young man. His parents had to sit there and take it. If I was going to go all Joe Biden, I should have decked the SOB at the end of the funeral. Instead I didn't darken the doors of a civilian church for 20 more years. It takes a long time to get over a grudge inspired by such monstrous behavior.

I can deal with my Methodism and live my life in proper fashion without help from the clergy. And I suspect Trump can deal with his Presbyterian views (to the extent he conforms) without benefit of clergy.

So Chuckles keep on keepin' on with your disdain for Trump. Others may not quite see it your way.

Jim at said...

Let me know when Sullivan starts ranting about Buttigieg's uterus and I'll pay attention.

cubanbob said...

The issue will be dominant again — because of a huge wave of migrants, many of them rural Guatemalans, who are overwhelming the border, trying to enter the U.S. at a current pace of 100,000 a month. Their ability to claim asylum under current law permits them to show up at the border, get admitted and processed by the Border Patrol, and then released into the interior, to reside here until a court date, which could come up years later. The backlog in the underfunded immigration courts is vast, with more than a million still in line for a hearing. Many of the migrants won’t show up for the court date; those who do can still resist deportation indefinitely."

Walter just consider Atlhouse's idea of having a debate between Mayor Pete of South Bend Indiana with a population of 100,000 and Trump and Trump asking Da Mayor if he is willing to have a referendum in South Bend asking the voters if they want to double their population every single month ad infinitum.


walter said...

Oh my..if he got one of those, he'd be a shoe-in.
And it would get around Sullivan's concern whether Pete's "gay enough".

walter said...

cubanbob,
Indeed. Bring it.
South Bend is a long way from the Southern border..which near as I can tell, he hasn't visited to get his veteran boots on the ground for a look-see or border patrol consult.
It would be interesting to have someone pose Sullivan's summary in a debate.
Ain't gonna happen, of course.

FullMoon said...

In 2000, blue California had a 95.5% voter turnout.
61.35% voted in favor of prop 22, in favor of traditional marriage.
Court struck it down.
In 2008 prop 8, basically same as prop22 earlier, passed with around 52%, after seventy million dollar campaign against it, along with publication of every donor for prop 8 published in LA times and other media.
Much doxing and harassment of supporters resulted.

A gay judge struck it down.

Times have changed. Maybe Pete has a chance.
BTW, what does his husband do? Any skeletons in that closet? JK !

Kevin said...

He’s a left-liberal, but relatively unformed on policy, and has carved out a moderate place in a field careening leftward. Even his most daring ideas — expanding the Supreme Court to 15 — are designed to reduce polarization.

Court packing as civility bullshit.

Amadeus 48 said...

I was raised in a protestant church. Studying the Bible has informed the way I view the world. So many of the practical, moral, and ethical questions we face every day are presented and dealt with in the old and new testaments. One may not like the answers in the text, but one then has the challenge with coming up with better ones.

Studying the Bible is great practice in holding yourself accountable. As the Easter season is coming up, consider Simon Peter's behavior in Matthew 26: 69-75. Any of that sound familiar?

Do Trump, Buttigieg, Sanders, Warren, Harris, Beto, Booker, etc. ever hold themselves accountable? Who knows?

In a real dark night of the soul it is always three o'clock in the morning according to Scott Fitzgerald.

Kevin said...

How does Sullivan see the Dems beating Trump?

By finding someone so bland, whose political philosophy is so unformed, that the voting public can be told with a straight face they haven't completely bought into progressive socialist utopia.

The rest of the article is about how the Dems are on the wrong side of the immigration issue and they'll have to "evolve" on that to have a chance in 2020.

Kevin said...

It's so hilarious how the Dems pretend military service is so important to them -- but only in those instances where the Dem candidate has it and the Republican does not.

I watched them savage GHWB, Dole, and McCain. They made up false service records for GWB, in an attempt to trash his military record, only to roll out the red, white and blue, for John Kerry who trashed everyone involved in Vietnam.

Perhaps they'll put Buttigieg in a tank for 2020.

Kevin said...

Even his most daring ideas — expanding the Supreme Court to 15 — are designed to reduce polarization.

That the Dems don't feel they can run the government without controlling the Supreme Court tells you everything you need to know.

iowan2 said...

There's a theme today, (last several days?)

No way are the Democrats going to talk about President Trump, his leadership, policies, and agenda. All these deep thinkers are reduced to stuttering idiots in the presence of President Trump. The very best they have, "orange man bad". At least AOC talks policy sometimes, collage dorm rooms on pot, policies, but policies, sometimes, sort of.

walter said...

"collage dorm rooms on pot, policies, but policies, sometimes, sort of."
She is all that plus a bag of chips

Chuck said...

Skeptical Voter said...
Is life long Republican Chuck a church goer? Who knows? I was baptized a Methodist at age 8 nearly 70 years ago. I doubt I've been in a Methodist or any other church on an average of more than once a year since then. I was married in a Methodist church.
...


Hmmm...

Hey I do! I know exactly how often Chuck goes to church! It matters not, but I can tell you that it is about 50 times more than Donald Trump.

Seriously; the reason I deigned to reply to you is because I too was baptized and then confirmed in the United Methodist Church. I'm really proud of our church right now.

President Grant was a Methodist, when it was very much not "United." (The church separated over slavery, then "united" in the 20th century.) President George W. Bush is a Methodist, following his wife Laura. Hillary Clinton is a Methodist, and she is probably angry about the recent same-sex marriage vote. Presidents Polk, Hayes and McKinley also were Methodists. Rush Limbaugh and Elizabeth Warren are Methodists. Dick Cheney and Ralph Reed are Methodists. George McGovern and Hubert Humphrey were Methodists.

If Trump ever had a spiritual mentor, by his own account it was Norman Vincent Peale, who was ordained as a Methodist Episcopal; the "northern" Methodist church before re-uniting to become the United Methodist Church.

traditionalguy said...

Sweet Pete has not earned any respect from traditional men.And Americans don't award the Presidency to sweet boys.. Real
life needs real men. Respect has to be earned.

Drago said...

One of the key critical priorities of the far left and democrats is to find some way, any way, to separate Trump from his evangelical supporters.

Without his evangelical base, Trump would have no chance to win re-election and then the dems/left and their LLR allies could return to power and continue solidifying their plans for permanent democrat/socialist control of govt along with policies such as post-birth abortion and open borders.

There are concerted efforts underway, in many cases funded by far left billionaires, to attempt to drive a wedge between Trump and this segment of his base.

These efforts involve de-platforming actual conservatives and utilizing online "voices" that proclaim themselves to be "True Conservatives" or "Real Republicans" or even "lifelong republicans" to attack Trump from a religion angle.

Just remember that these self-priclaimed "True Conservatives" or "Buckley Conservatives" or "LLR's" are nothing more than the lefty vanguard blazing a trail for the anti-Christian Fifth Columnists.

These so called "True Conservatives" are really very easy to spot over time.

I wouldnt be surprised if some of these hacks have taken up residence on Althouseblog. I wouldnt be surprised in the slightest.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

Most democratic ideas promote ideas that ultimately, if enacted, grant more power to the democratics, and make it difficult to remove them from power later.

Clues - dear Andrew. Clues.

ie: Electoral College smashing/removing small state's voting rights, Supreme court stacking, tax rape/free stuff/felons and illegals with more rights than actual citizens.
I'll add - special above the law privileges for Jussie Smolette. Jussie Smolette IS the modern democratic party. Corrupt., Lies. fake hate crimes, and above the law.

Drago said...

For those interested, the United Methodist Church in the US is massively pro-gay marriage, pro-abortion and pro-open borders, pro-socialism.

The only reason the global UMC hasnt "officially" (wink wink) gone Full Left-Social Justice is that the members from Africa and other parts of the world wont agree to the lefty insanity we see represented on this blog so ably by our resident lefty/LLR dullards.

But its just a matter of time before the far far lefties of the western UMC drive the conservatives out from around the world.

Its inevitable and the latest voting margins within the UNC demonstrate that conclusively.

Rusty said...

"Hey I do! I know exactly how often Chuck goes to church! It matters not, but I can tell you that it is about 50 times more than Donald Trump."
Facts not in evidence, again.

Drago said...

I expect a full court press from the Democrat-4th Trimester Abortion-Open Borders left/LLR's as we move closer to 2020.

There will be a desperate need on the part of the far left/LLR's to redefine "normal" and acceptable as being in complete alignment with the Full Socialist/Identity Politics narratives being pushed by the dems and the lefty billionaire funded LLR's at places like The Bulwark.

Gunner said...

I predict that the crazy libtard media will rant and rave at the first conservative who points out that Mayor Pete had a military posting with little risk.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

Who would Jesus vote for?

Leftwing abortion absolutists? I doubt it.

bleh said...

Sully is an excellent writer who gets things about half right most of the time. He calls out the mind rot of today’s SJW culture but somehow always finds a way to pin the blame for it, as with everything else, on Trump. For that reason I suppose he’s one of the few people who can communicate important, unfortunate truths to the Left.

n.n said...

Modern pagans have a Twilight faith (i.e. conflation of logical domains), receive instruction from mortal gods and goddesses, practice a selective, opportunistic religion (e.g. code of ethics), and sacrifice human (and animal in a green deal) life for social progress.

cubanbob said...

Kevin said...
Even his most daring ideas — expanding the Supreme Court to 15 — are designed to reduce polarization.

That the Dems don't feel they can run the government without controlling the Supreme Court tells you everything you need to know."

You nailed it. Absolutely true. Now if Trump gets reelected and wins back the House and keeps the Senate he should do just that, pack the Court with judges in their forties. Just to teach the Leftist that actions have consequences, be careful what you wish for. Or have Congress propose an amendment to the Constitution fixing the number of justices to nine. Either way the hysterics from the Left will be rather entertaining.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
narciso said...

ditto, Cuban bob, now they can't possibly object can they, snorfle, of course they will,

I was Jesuit educated, as well by the Dominicans and other orders, but I became a Baptist some years ago.

Freeman Hunt said...

Buttigieg is easily my favorite of the Dem field. But then, I'm a conservative. I have, however, asked some politically active Dem friends what they think of him, and all of them like him so far.

Like Althouse, I would like to see some Trump-Buttigieg debates.

Francisco D said...

Seriously; the reason I deigned to reply to you is because I too was baptized and then confirmed in the United Methodist Church. I'm really proud of our church right now.

Chuckles view of church is sort of like a students view of the fraternity he picked. It's the popular one with a lot of past Presidents and VIPs.

narciso said...

ditto the first Baptist church I went to was decidedly more modern in it's accountrements, this one is more traditional in the approach,

Freeman Hunt said...

As for his supposed far left platform, I have my doubts that it's real. To be the DNC candidate these days, one has to sign on to a list of crazy positions. Primary nonsense.

cubanbob said...

walter said...
cubanbob,
Indeed. Bring it.
South Bend is a long way from the Southern border..which near as I can tell, he hasn't visited to get his veteran boots on the ground for a look-see or border patrol consult.
It would be interesting to have someone pose Sullivan's summary in a debate.
Ain't gonna happen, of course.'

Walter you're probably right but part of Trump's appeal is that Trump doing what I said is credible coming from Trump.

Chuck's concerns about Trump's church attendance is as per his usual is missing the obvious when it comes to Trump. Church goers know who Trump is and don't care because Trump isn't inimical to their concerns unlike the Democrats. Chuck as you have said on this blog on several occasions you voted for Trump. You also said you hated Trump and want to see any other Republican nominated instead of Trump. But that isn't going to happen and Trump will be the nominee and you will once again hold your nose and painfully vote for Trump. That is if you are really are a LLR. Because a real LLR will never vote for a Socialist which is what the Democrats will nominate. To paraphrase Mel Brooks " be a smarty and come and join the Trump Party".

Josephbleau said...

Buttigieg looks ok now, but I would suspect that he “will have more flexibility after his election.”

YoungHegelian said...

The Democratic Party is, in spite of what the white talking heads who "lead" it think, a party of minority voters. Will those minority voters warm to a gay white guy from the Midwest? I doubt it.

We've been through this before. I was in my younger days a fan of Sen. Paul Tsongas' run for president. I then discovered an iron law of Democratic politics -- that a candidate who can't lock up the black & Latino vote stands no chance in the Democratic primaries.

Such will be Buttigieg's fate.

Roughcoat said...

Cardinal Cupich of Chicago is as leftwing as the pope and just as stupid. And yes I'm a Catholic.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

Booty-edge-edge "supports abortions into the third trimester ."

How delightful.

narciso said...


https://spectator.org/cultural-marxism-and-its-conspirators/

Josephbleau said...

Anyone who smears someone by claiming to decern that that person cannot believe in God is a zero in my book, though

narciso said...

Gramsci had his prison notebooks smuggled as qutb, did his after his death at the Citadel, the Arabic translation of that great fortress in Central Cairom

YoungHegelian said...

As for who's more Christian Trump or Buttigieg, let me phrase that question another way: Who's more likely to drag another order of nuns before the SCOTUS?

We know the answer with Trump. He shut down the case against the Little Sisters of the Poor that the Obama admin had been pursuing. Buttigieg? I sincerely doubt he'll be able to hold the line against the radical LGBTTWhatever wing of the Democratic Party. Well,he won't if he ever wants to get invited to any good orgies again, anyway.

I don't care about Trump's private life. I'm just voting for the guy least likely to make my faith illegal.

narciso said...

not far from where Obama gave his speech at Cairo university, you see how he grovels toward mehdi hasan, cnn and Aljazeera drone, there is scarcely a difference, Omidyar and emir al thani, have a tacit understanding

Temujin said...

He's transformational in the sense that someone who kisses the ring of Al Sharpton is transformational. If I was seen going to a blatant racist, anti-semite, whose mouth has actually gotten people killed, to get his blessing to run, I'd probably not be able to run for President of our HOA, let alone the country.

Dems, including the Transformational Mayor Pete have all gotten in line to kiss that diseased hand. Sometimes you just gotta shake your head at what you see and read.

walter said...

Pete isn't, as Al would say, one of "those Greek homos".

narciso said...

paganism is largely pantheistic, concerned with natural manifestation, the sating of desires, and not so much the quality of ones soul, it's person directed instead of god focused, is that not the world we live in today,

Obadiah said...

People used to think that Obama was a muslim because of his name. When he said he was a christian, we all said, "Oh, ok" regardless of any evidence to the contrary. I guess that doesn't work when you are Trump.

walter said...

Blogger Christopher said...
He's deeply religious but supports abortion in the third trimester.
--
Because WWJD?
Hey..this is the new moderate stance.
He's drawing the line somewhere.

Lydia said...

Buttigieg on late-term abortion in a conversation with a priest on CNN:

Buttigieg: At the end of the day these are, as I understand it, measures that are designed to preserve the life and health of the mother, who is only getting to that point, I imagine, for the most part, if she had every intention of carrying a pregnancy to term. And I just don't see how my intervention as a government official, making rules about what she can and can't do, is going to help.

Beck: But don't we ask government to intervene in other life issues, such as murder?

Buttigieg: There are consensus issues and there are decisive issues. We demand that government intervene when we can all agree on what's at stake. The problem with this issue is that we can't all agree on what's at stake. There was a Notre Dame law student who said that birth control, abortion and infanticide are all the same thing. To me, I cannot relate to someone who views the world that way, but I get that some people do, and they think the creator of the universe wants them to think that way.

Notice that nasty little distraction trick he tries to pull off by switching to the Notre Dame student’s point of view?

narciso said...

Resist we much has granted el dedazo, much like markos moulitsas did a dozen years ago,

narciso said...

one of buttigeg's burning strawmen, they come in a handy size, who says this, now partial birth abortion, is indeed infanticide, hyppocritas isn't taught anymore,

walter said...

"We demand that government intervene when we can all agree on what's at stake."
Oh really? Is this technocrat speak or babble?
I guess it depends on the meaning of "we".

Bay Area Guy said...

@YH,

"The Democratic Party is, in spite of what the white talking heads who "lead" it think, a party of minority voters. Will those minority voters warm to a gay white guy from the Midwest? I doubt it."

I agree with this, but would go even farther.

There are many good Americans who vote Dem. I would cite my 80 year old Father and Mother in Law, who loved JFK and still associate JFK (wrongly) with the current Democrat Party.

I would distinguish the current Democrat Party apparatus (and its allies/enablers in the Media, Universities, and Hollywood) as distinct from most of its many voters. The Party is in fact rotten to the core. They lie repeatedly, they yearn for open borders and bigger government control, they don't respect the Constitution, they affirmatively want abortion on demand, even post-birth, they want free stuff, and, ultimately, believe that America is a racist nation, built on the backs of the poor and the innocent blacks.

The Republican Party too has problems, but not the type and scope of the problems described above.

So, succinctly put, fuck the Democrats. They spread lies about the the 2016 election, bought the lies, and then were smacked by the results, when Trump won.?They spread lies about the Russian Hoax and pending indictments by Mr, Mueller, and, once again, were smacked by the results, when Trump wasn't indicted.

Trump, to his eternal credit, understands how bad the Democrat Party is and, thus, fights back. I don't think he knew this going into the Presidency (he worked with many Dems in NYC), but has learned this over his past 2 years. We, the sane voters of America, who have jobs, houses, wives and kids, appreciate it.

Churchy LaFemme: said...

Can the Democrats win without the black male vote?

Nominating Buttigieg is one way to find out.

alanc709 said...

So, in this dichotomy, heterosexual is bad and homosexual is good? Guess that's the end for civilization, unless scientists can begin making test tube babies wholesale. Hard to prolong the race without progenation.

chickelit said...

Going on 50 years now since I last picked up a copy of "Highlights For Children" (at the dentist, naturally), I recall but two things: First, the "Hidden Pictures" feature; second, the unique font of the title and cover. It was so retro, so against the Helvetica font conformity.

I rank "Goofus and Gallant" right up there with "Gumby and Pokey." John and Ken forever ruined my memory of "Gumby."

Buttkick51 said...

Allow in as many illegal immigrants as possible...and then some.
Allow 16 year olds to vote.
Allow felons to vote while in jail (because they fully comply with society).
Allow people to vote without an ID.
Get rid of the Electoral college.
Beat up people who wear a hat (straight out of the brownshirt playbook).

Yet they "love" the U.S.

Screw em all and the horse they road in on.

All of them.

Jeff Brokaw said...

Sullivan is confused — as so many are — on the difference between who a politician *is* and what they *do*.

Who they are isn’t really all that important if what they do is right.

Trump nails this to the wall. I wish more people would latch on to this idea.

Regarding Christianity, Trump has made it clear that he sides with Christians in the culture wars, which they appreciate because nobody else seems to care.

I don’t give a shit how many times he goes to church if he fights that good fight on my behalf.

Why does anybody care about such inconsequential details? You’d be happier if he attended services more often and had fewer divorces in his past, but yet did not have the courage to fight for the Constitutional rights of Christians? We’ve seen that kind before. No thanks.

chickelit said...

Bootygeek will make a fine VP mate for the chosen one -- Kahmala.

Jeff Brokaw said...

Also: Trump’s past and personal life is now completely irrelevant, as a sitting president with a track record.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

I hope he administers some sweet sweet governmetn controlled healthcare

Thousands in Britain left to go blind due to eye surgery rationing

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