Wrote Annie C in the comments to my post, earlier this morning, "Today, I will reveal something that I have kept secret for 3 years — who got my vote for President, here in swing-state Wisconsin, in 2016." I'd said, "I've had my reasons for keeping my vote secret, but this morning, I woke up with the thought that I now have a very good reason to reveal it, because I have something specific to say, and I want to recommend something, and knowing how I voted will reinforce my recommendation."
What's different today is that yesterday Nancy Pelosi announced that there will be a vote in the House on Thursday on whether to "affirm" the impeachment inquiry. As you may be able to tell from my post on the subject — "Maybe they hope it will be voted down! Suddenly, House Democrats want a formal vote on impeachment" — I would very much like to see a "no" vote. As I've said many times on this blog, I think election results deserve respect, Democrats have failed to accept that they lost an election and that those who won deserve their victory and that those who were disappointed should be focusing on winning the next election, not undoing the results of the election they lost.
Democrats need to turn back from the precipice. They need to give up the drama and hysteria about Trump and show that they are more stable and responsible than Trump. A "no" vote on the impeachment proceedings will only happen if Democrats — some of them — have the sense to say "no."
I don't normally try to persuade anyone of anything here on this blog. I'm a distanced observer, a natural-born inhabitant of political territory I call Cruel Neutrality. I'm averse to politics, but I like to write about the political scene in my homeland, America — Wisconsin, America. The big swing state that might determine the outcome of the next election. And I might be the biggest blogger here. I once was. Who even keeps track now? Blogging is past its prime, or so they say. But there could be a renaissance of blogging. Blogging is independent and personal — blogging that is real blogging. Which is what I do.
So if anyone wants to listen to me, I have one thing I want to add, as I choose to attempt to persuade Democrats to vote "no" on the affirmation of impeachment inquiry. I want to tell what I have held secret for 3 years: I voted for Hillary Clinton.
I could not stand Hillary Clinton. I didn't want to disclose my vote because I hated having to vote for her. I didn't want to say it even though I endure heavy social consequences here in Madison, Wisconsin for not dispelling the possibility that I voted for Donald Trump. Hillary did not deserve my vote, and I did not want to show any public support for her. She did not earn my vote. She got it by default, because I could not vote for Donald Trump.
I could not vote for Donald Trump because the whole idea was completely weird and chaotic. That can't happen. You've seen that video montage of all the celebrities and politicians saying, "Donald Trump is not going to be President"...
That's how my brain felt on election day: No freaking way!!!
I like when things feel normal and practical and realistic. Remember "no drama Obama"? That's what I'd like to see from the government. Stability. Good sense. Regularity.
Could you just do that, Democrats? Is that too easy for you?! Do you admire Donald Trump? Are you trying to beat him at his game? Chaos. Weirdness. You pathetic imitators! His chaotic weirdness should have kept him from getting elected in the first place, but what happened happened. And now he is President, so he's inherently less weird and chaotic. There's the continuing strangeness of his being President. I still fall into a reverie now and then: How the hell did that happen? On perhaps 6 occasions, I have watched video of the election night coverage — the real-time recording that goes on for hours — as if to drive it home into my resistant brain that it really did happen. It wasn't just a crazy dream.
The people who voted for Trump are real. They are not despicable or "deplorable." They are voters in a democracy, and democracy — crazy though it is — is our beloved system here in the United States of America. We're wedded to it, for better or worse, and I'm trying to make the best of it. There's some wild excitement and there's some serious work to be done. I don't want any more chaos than is needed to claw through the days to the next election. Let's have an election, not a kooky congressional extravaganza. I need Pelosi and Schiff and these various Congress critters to shrink back into their place and let the presidential candidates have the stage. Let's be normal.
I am not a Trump fan. I voted against the guy. I have voted in 12 presidential elections, and in 9 of them, I voted for the Democrat. In the 21st century, there have been 5 presidential elections, and I've voted for the Democrat in 3 of them. There have been 2 Presidents in the 21st century who have won twice and neither of them did I vote for twice. I am a true swing voter (in a swing state). All I want is a very competent, reliable, sensible, good person who can handle the presidency. I don't want your ugliness and hysteria. I don't want to see my fellow citizens cranked up into a frenzy. The very reasons I voted against Trump are getting cooked up into reasons to vote for him — by you, you idiots.
But this week, you have a chance to turn back from your crazy ways. It won't take all of you. Just some of you. Please, House Democrats, please vote "no." Stand down and let us get back to the 2020 presidential campaign. Surely, some of you still believe that elections matter and elections must be the norm in America. The rest of you seem as though you've already given up and ceded the 2020 election to Donald Trump. That's how I will interpret a "yes" vote on the impeachment, a disclosure of your consciousness of 2020 loserdom.
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«Oldest ‹Older 201 – 336 of 336Remember "no drama Obama"? That's what I'd like to see from the government. Stability. Good sense. Regularity.
Pity that under the cover of "no drama," there was plenty of drama. Weaponizing the IRS to go after the Tea Party. Running guns to the Mexican cartel. Shipping cash to Iran. Interfering in Israel's election. Inciting race riots in Ferguson.
The only reason there was "no drama" is because the media was supporting him, 100%. Meanwhile, Pelosi's husband was raking in the bucks during the first Green New Deal (he was investing in solar companies in California at the same time she was getting legislation passed to throw taxpayer dollars at it).
Meanwhile, the middle Americans who lost their manufacturing jobs beginning with NAFTA were killing themselves with pain pills. They died real quietly, too.
In my family, I voted for Trump because I hated Hillary. My wife voted for Jill Stein, because she hated Hillary and disliked Trump.
This November, I'm voting the straight GOP ticket, down to the local level, and I'll be telling the D pols outside the poll booth why I'm doing so. They're members of a party that is silent in the face of anti-Semitism and wants to destroy the Constitution, and they're complicit in it by their membership.
Great post, Ann. Probably the best one I've read here. Also, many great comments above. The commenters here really are the best group I've found.
My vote for Trump wasn't a lesser-of-two-evils vote. At first I was for Scott Walker because of the way he fought the teachers' union in Wisconsin. He displayed courage and that's what I was looking for.
When I began to see that coming from Trump, I warmed towards him. I remember his takedown of Hillary in the Al Smith dinner in New York City which I found amazing in every respect but the courage of him telling those jokes to a moaning audibly audience really won my heart. I dream of being that courageous but I know when the social pressure is too great, I sometimes wilt.
Of course courage itself isn't what matters: one can be courageous like those 9/11 plane-flyers (at least in Bill Maher's opinion) and all you accomplish is destruction. No, I needed courage from the right, courage to take on the social chaos Obama and many others before him had ushered in with a vengeance. So I watched to see if Trump was not just courageous but also against the right things.
At first I wasn't sure. I was like Paul Ryan, an idol-worshipper of FREE TRADE. Trump cured me of that. I was never a 100% Pro-lifer but when Trump said in a debate about third-trimester abotions "It just isn't right" I felt a total Amen in my soul.
By the time Nov. 8 came along I was not just a Trump-voter but a Trump-promoter. I'm more so today. Is the guy perfect? Please. I don't look for that. But he is perfect in one sense: he is the only man IN THE WORLD who could do what he's doing right now, take the incoming he's taking, not fold, bend, or break.
Sorry so long a post but this is, as I said, your best post and I wanted to respond on that level. I'm not going back and proof-reading it so I hope I have few errors.
The organized grifter class is angry and frightened. They are angry their grift has been disrupted and they are frightened of being exposed and punished.
Not just grifters, although there are plenty, we listened to Kim Strassel's book driving to CA. I have download Lee Smith's book, based on Devon Nunes work.
The Clinton team threatened publishers trying to block publication. It is Amazon #1 seller the day of publication. I assume it explains in detail how Clinton used Russian disinformation to try not only to defeat Trump but to drive him from office after the election.
The bureaucracy is full of leftists with agendas they were using taxpayers' money to fund. That is detailed in Strassel's book.
I would have voted for Stephen Douglas in 1860, but Abraham Lincoln in 1864. You all with me there?
Now. I think we have to listen to career officers and State Dept officials, , who have real concerns about Trump's ability to compromise and risk national security and vote yes on impeachment even thought it will be voted down in the Senate.
R/V will never read Strassel's book and learn all the self dealers in the bureaucracy, including Pentagon desk troopers like these guys whining about foreign policy.
Thanks for the post Ann.
We don't often get your thinking, but we appreciate it when we do.
Yours is not a voice much heard or amplified in the current cacophony.
(eaglebeak)
Not surprised that you voted for Hillary. I am surprised that, with your capacity for creativity and your orneriness, you found Trump too weird. The weirdness and chaos in his case goes with orneriness and creativity (his own), which in my view has been very good for the country, but you didn't see it that way.
Hillary is beyond weird, but I suppose that has become obvious to most only in the aftermath of the election.
My father always voted for the socialist on the grounds that he was the only honest candidate.
Howard said...
Perhaps this was Nancy's only path to shutting it down. The TDS left wants impeachment as much as Trumpers love brown kids in cages.
10/29/19, 10:57 AM
What the holy hell are you talking about? "Trumpers love brown kids in cages"? I guess Obamer's do too as he was doing that long before Trump was even running, there were even pictures then but that was a "D" administration so its all good, right?
Would you rather the parents were held in custody and the kids just dropped off at the nearest bus stop?
God save us from the sanctimonious lefties.
Short answer is: you don't want you and yours in detention, don't break the law and invade another country.
Faults and all, Donald Trump's courage as President has been to this country what Wade McCluskey's courage as USS Enterprise's Air Group Commander was to US Navy in the early days of WWII. As a result of one man, the Japanese Navy had to hide away its survivors to keep the results of that day a secret. They would not even tell the Japanese Army what happened. That Damn McCluskey.
I wrote a lengthy response on your other post, and it disappeared. Glad it did, because I was totally wrong.
I had fun this a.m. rereading your posts from just before the election, til the end of 2016, trying to figure out if you gave us a clue. I thought I'd figured it out, and am still shocked that I was wrong (my past-time is reading mysteries, and misread your clues)
The post of you having just voted, Meade made it quite clear in the comments who he had voted for, and why (immigration). If I remember correctly, your son voted for Johnson.
Then, you made a comment on a post dated 11-21-16, "It's not that I'm happy with Trump. I wasn't a Trump supporter, but I couldn't stand Hillary either." That's when I thought that you had also voted for Trump.
On a post dated Dec. 6, titled "I am going to run in 2020."/"For what?"/"For president. What the hell man, anyway."
Hallie Jackson has a tweet from a conversation with Joe Biden.
Your comment was, "Biden will be 78 in 2020, and I assume he's joking or maybe combination joking and preserving a remote option, but anyone who cares about the Democratic Party should be horrified at this interference with the development of younger talent. Hillary performed that function for so long, to such a dreary effect. " "I'm for vibrant speech."
Having read your comments about Hillary, I really was surprised that you voted for her.
Blogger Nichevo said...
If I wasn't sufficiently clear, President Donald John Trump is literally the Savior of our Country, if only he can succeed. Absent him, and proper successors, the death of the Republic beckons anxiously. This is literally our last chance before the long night. I would sacrifice my life for this President, and I'd definitely slaughter all of you wrong motherfuckers if it would help. Believe it.
Are we twins? :-)
I do fear for the continuation of The United States of America and our Constitutional freedoms if the Democrats get their way. Instead of the slow chip chip chipping away, the will be drunk with power and the slide into a Venezuela type of country will be precipitous.
Socialism is Communism's ugly little brother.
I voted against "no drama Obama," because I knew of his shady deals in Chicago, of Rev. Wright and Tony REzko. And then came the "bitter clingers." What a way to talk about fellow countrymen! He turned out worse than I expected, with "If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor." (People who need specific doctors because they have specific conditions had a lot, lot to lose, and they did.)But it was all part of the basic sense of superiority--I know what they are, I am superior to them.
I voted against Hillary, because of Benghazi, and because she deliberately put national security at risk with her private server, just in order to get pay-offs--including from, yes, the horrible Russians.Actually, just the "deplorables" quote would have been enough. I'm tired of hearing about "Chimpy Bushitler" and all the other sustained but baseless slurs against conservatives. It is that habit of mind on the part of the left that has brought us to the Russian collusion conspiracy and this fake impeachment. I'll vote for whoever fights it--and that is Trump.
It's been mentioned earlier, but:
"The very reasons I voted against Trump are getting cooked up into reasons to vote for him — by you, you idiots."
This captures my sentiments exactly. He (Mr. Trump) is an odious, deceitful, egotistical jerk.
However, unlike all the Democratic presidential candidates, he doesn't want to see our culture and traditions (and economic viability) sacrificed at the alter of progressive-ism.
so the good colonel vindman, who was all about duty, was lobbyied by naftogaz, which is largely supplied by, and contains subsidiaries of burisma, that was from vindman's fara application,
As shown by her behavior over the last 3 years we dodged a bullet when wine-box Hillary "everyone's a Russian asset" Clinton and her gang were kept from the White House. As for people banging on about Obama - McCain would've been worse, much, much worse. Mittens would've been better than Obama, but not by much, and given his personality and RINO politics would've led us to President Hillary in 2016.
M Jordan responds: But he is perfect in one sense: he is the only man IN THE WORLD who could do what he's doing right now, take the incoming he's taking, not fold, bend, or break.
Very well said and oh, so true!
The very reasons I voted against Trump are getting cooked up into reasons to vote for him — by you, you idiots.
That is the way it is now. The most passionate advocates or adherents for either side in the political debate are the worst and least convincing. Wade through enough political opinion - either in Washington or on the Internet and it can convince you to vote for the other side.
I need Pelosi and Schiff and these various Congress critters to shrink back into their place and let the presidential candidates have the stage.
Many people would like that, but that isn't the way the game is played now. Symmetrical Polarization. It's systemic.
BTW, have you read Andrew Sullivan's critique of the candidates in New York Magazine. I suspect a lot of people would want the candidates to get off the stage as well.
Remember "no drama Obama"? That's what I'd like to see from the government. Stability. Good sense. Regularity.
"No drama Obama," like "scandal-free administration" is propaganda, designed to put Obama in the most positive light.
Still, I can't deny that the Obama administration seemed more placid, less agitated, less manic or chaotic than the Trump administration.
But I wonder: a few days back you were comparing Trump's energy and passion with Obama's pale, bloodless, formal persona. Is there a contradiction there? Ambivalence?
I agree with Prof. Althouse re: impeachment being tacit proof that Democrats don't think they'll win the WH in 2020. I get moving full speed toward impeachment if Trump was in his 2nd term and thus shielded from voters kicking him out. But we are about a year out from an election where voters get to decide if his actions these 4 yrs warrant another term. If this process moves to the Senate why should only 50 people get to make such a disruptive and consequential decision? Why even have an election at all? Does anyone really think that Pence would have time, money and charisma to pick up the baton if Trump gets kicked out? It's essentially appointing whomever the D nominee is-likely Warren or Biden.
That potential outcome is so rotten and toxic to that it may very well poison our democracy for years to come. If there's honest belief that Russian bots and Facebook are "ruining" our democracy why in heaven's name do they think THIS would be okay??
Slap Trump's hand for his Ukraine snafu but for gawd's sake let the election go forward.
What really chaps my arse is that we've got people willing to blow up our democratic process over a person (Hillary) they wanted so badly to be president who neither warrants that much loyalty nor deserves much place on our historical bookshelf. She knew damn well the game was the Electoral College (as Althouse rightly points out) and has run too many times not to know this. Shame on her for tripping at the finish line and shame on her for feeding the sour grapes beast 3 years out from that night.
Blogger BleachBit-and-Hammers said...
Socialism is Communism's ugly little brother.
10/29/19, 1:14 PM
No, no, no - socialism is communism's hot sister. You know, the one that is hot because she's got just enough fat on her to give her curves, but not enough to start really showing it. Once you move in with her, though, she eats every fucking cookie in the house, and all the ice cream, and then she gets real shrewish and you run out to get more ice cream just to shut her up. Next thing you know her metabolism is shot, she smells like ass all the time, and the whiskers start growing out of her chin. And you realize OH FUCK THIS BITCH IS JUST COMMUNISM ALL ALONG. And when you try to move out her brother Dzerzhinsky shows up - he was there all along, you were just too goddam stupid to see it. You're stuck.
Bob Boyd said...
The organized grifter class is angry and frightened.
Blue districts produce 60% of GDP, Red districts produce 40%.
Althouse was fairly predictable as likely to default to the “safe” option. The key were her votes for Bush in 2004 and Obama in 2008, which she had been clear about. In 2004 she wanted to stay the course in wartime. In 2008 she wanted the Dems to take some responsibility for our posture in international affairs. Mccain’s failure to respond in the financial crisis was a catalyst.
When I thought about those votes, I could not imagine her defaulting to Trump.
Socialism is Communism's ugly little brother.
The Communist-Socialist-Fascist axis.
Everyone on the left think Trump voters should be killed. They want us marginalized and so isolated that we will scream for them to let us back in. They refuse to allow us human standards. You voted for Hillary and no matter what you say to justify and sooth your soul, you were wrong. And I have lost all respect for you.
I still have the days where I wake up and at some point think “Donald Trump is POTUS?!?!” Hard to believe, but there it is. In 2016, he was around #14 on the list of candidates I could support. After he won the nomination, his feistiness and ability to connect with people began to warm my heart and today I must say his accomplishments - in the face of unprecedented pushback - have impressed me. At this point, given what I’ve witnessed, the man would win my vote in 2020 even with only half of what he’s gotten done.
One of the best qualities about him is his ability to reveal the resistance for who and what they really are.
You're following an anti-Christ.
But his VP is a Pro-Christ. So together they make up just the right amount of Christ.
Wrote in a name (Mike Rowe) in 2016 because my vote doesn't matter in my state.
Even though it still won't matter, I will crawl over broken glass to vote for Trump in 2020.
Ann, you are 68 soon to be 69 and I’m but two months younger than you. Looking back on my life, I realize that for almost 60 years the world has been mad, frenzied and chaotic. From MADD to the U2 shoot-down to the Cuban Missile Crisis (with accompanying air raid drills) to Diem’s murder to JFK’s assassination to the Civil Rights Act to the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution to the Vietnam War – on and on and on – the world is nuts. And you’re looking for “stability, good sense, regularity and normalcy”? When in our lifetimes has that ever happened?
I’ll give you the necessary props – teaching law to generations of students (each succeeding generation manifesting the profound influence of latent Marxism purposely built into the curriculum of public education) - that can’t have been easy. Nor were the difficulties you likely encountered, especially at the beginning of your academic tenure, with the hierarchical and “good old boy” network that now and forever infests the post-secondary world. Perhaps your stated feminism became fully resonant as a consequence of what you experienced. We are, after all, what our life experiences have made of us.
Your goals are noble. You don’t want ugliness and hysteria. You don’t want our fellow citizens cranked up into a frenzy. You want people and especially political leaders who are competent, reliable, sensible and good. I want all of these things too. Millions of people want them! But millions of other people hold to other goals less noble. It seems that there is little chance of reconciling these conflicting goals at this period in American history. And without that reconciliation there is no hope of tamping down the passions of people on the various sides (more than two certainly) of the political/policy divides. Unrestrained passion will lead to tribalism, xenophobia and physical violence.
It’s my opinion that our Boomer generation seriously screwed the pooch in regards to the degradation of public education. We were the last generation to take Civics and Government classes in high school with its emphasis on American history, the Constitution and the societal compact. And we made the petri dish whereby the destruction of American Exceptionalism and the American Experiment was first cultured. We own this current mess. We should be the ones to clean it up. Did I vote for Trump because of the person he is? Nope, I voted for him because I still remember my teacher Mr. Bradford from my freshman Civics and Government classes. A Marine, a WWII combat veteran, a coach, a hardass who conveyed moral clarity about American uniqueness, Mr. Bradford was better than Trump. But he would have voted for Trump. I’ll do no less than Mr. Bradford.
Adam Corolla stated a theory that I also have. The Democrats' MO is to make us so tired of having turmoil under a Republican presidency that we will do anything to have peace, including voting for someone like Warren whom we disagree with.
Althouse says she craved "no drama", and this indeed fits in with this theory.
We saw it with GWBush. Everything he did was odious, stupid, racist, a war crime, made other countries hate us. John Kerry ran partially on the idea that he would make other countries like us again. Luckily, he did not win but the press and Democrats went all in on Bush hate. Obama was going to bring us together! There was no drama! No red American and blue America. Do you remember how people longed to hear it?
And so they are back at it, all in on Trump. Just trying to exhaust us back into voting for any Democrat.
I started coming to this blog during the Walker hysteria. Usually I skip comments on blogs because they are one sided and only reflect the views of the blogger which are in the story blogged. So why bother? Here though the blogger is clearly liberal and the commentariate leans right. That intrigues me. Our hostess is not in the habit of shouting down speech with which she disagrees. Kudos for that.
I find it very valuable to hear how a liberal thinks and why they vote the way they do.
I admit though I am amazed at the idea the Obama was no drama. Really? I did NOT expect to hear that. I know the press always said that about him but they were his sycophants and toadys. I really thought Ann liked him because he was a socially liberal and a socialist. I am surprised to hear someone considers personality as a decisive criteria, especially when it was a made up by the press personality, though so what do I know?
Blogger tcrosse said...
Go ahead and reproach me.
All right. I reproach you for inferring that I voted for Hillary, or that I won't vote for Trump.
10/29/19, 12:48 PM
Oh, I only wanted to be reproached for not voting for the lesser of two evils but voting for Trump with Glee and Gusto. But that's OK. I'm glad to infer that you also voted for Trump and will do so again.
Robert Cook said...
"If I wasn't sufficiently clear, President Donald John Trump is literally the Savior of our Country, if only he can succeed."
You're following an anti-Christ.
10/29/19, 12:41 PM
You're an atheist. I'm Jewish. You're 0-2.
Are we twins? :-)
DBQ, in soul, surely, at least.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Trump'n Trumpian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be rememberèd—
We few, we happy few, we band of voterss;
For (s/)he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in 'Murica now a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Don Trump'n's day.
@ ARM
What percent of GDP is produced in Washington?
Oh, thank God the drama is over, I couldn't hold my breath any longer.
I too, find it hard to believe that our host would would vote for the known criminal. The evidence is staggering. When in doubt, voting Republican is a safe alternative. The media in on full, expose evil, mode
Democrats in control, the media is in full coverup, aid and abet, mode. If you care about corrupt politics ruining things. Republican is safer. Note I did not say all Republicans are pure, just that the chances of being exposed are by orders of magnitude greater.
I thought Althouse voted for Trump in 2016.
I think this explains why Ann avoids conservative media.
No one who paid attention to conservative media during Obama could possibly believe he was "no drama". That was ONLY possible if you restricted your sources to left wing sycophant sources like WaPo and the NY Times.
If Ann listened to both sides, her dream of "no drama" becomes impossible to achieve. The only realistc way she can achieve her desired state of "no drama" is with a Democrat president during which she only reads Democrat sources. That President could easily engage in non stop scandalous actions (like Obama did) but as long as her preferred sources cover those scandals with a pillow, "no drama" is achieved.
Her only *real* complaint now is that the current drama is coming from Democrat politicians. She can't blame that on Trump (to her credit... most lefties do despite the absurdity). If Lefty politicians would just shut up, and all the drama could just come from Democrat operatives posing as non partisan journalists, THEN we could blame all the drama on Trump, and get back to a "no drama" Democrat.
Phil, you said a mouthful.
I had you pegged for a 3rd party voter like me. But then, I live in California where my vote doesn't really matter. If I had lived in a battleground state I would have voted for Trump. This time around I'm definitely voting for Trump.
With regards to normality, when has history been normal? The financial crash? 9/11? Iraq? The Cold War? Inflation in the 70s? Vietnam? Maybe normal sucks.
When I go back the highschool civics, I am reminded that that a 4 year presidency, is of little consequence. Real power rests with congress. Except, Congress has handed off to the executive branch a lot of power. Instead of Pelosi spending all the political energy to get rid of a President, that will be replaced in less than a year, she could be passing legislation clawing back power, as the constitution had it laid out.
But that is not really what she is worried about. Evil Trump is the smoke screen. Both parties want a strong President, because between the executive, and our betters in robs, congress critters can avoid responsibility for almost everything. And what splatter does dirty them, they just push off on the other party.
My point is, if we are today suffering from a "constitutional crisis" (we aren't) solutions are at hand.
RE: "no drama Obama"
I'm another commenter who is surprised at that. This is the guy who was all *about* drama (and emotion, and tribalism) during the 2008 campaign.
"This was the moment" that he was going to 'heal the oceans/planet'! Si, se puede (yes, we can!). "We are the change we seek!".
Good Lord. People were literally swooning over his (to these ears) over the top rhetoric to the point where it actually alarmed me. Some of them recognized that Obama basically bypassed the more rational part of their brains (Jonathan Haidt for one, wrote about Obama and "elevation"):
When you start thinking about mass movements, all those upturned, glowing faces of true believers—be they the followers of Jim Jones or Adolf Hitler—you don’t always get a warm feeling about mankind. Instead, knowing where some of these “social collectives” end up, the sensation is a cold chill. Haidt acknowledges that in “calling the group to greatness,” elevation can be used for murderous ends. He says: “Anything that takes us out of ourselves and makes us feel we are listening to something larger is part of morality. It’s about pressing the buttons that turn off ‘I’ and turn on ‘we.’ ”
Even at its most benign, elevation can seem ridiculous to outsiders. Think of how Obama’s opponents love to mock his effect on people. During the campaign, if your chest was contracting while all about you chests were dilating, you may be a Republican. If you were unmoved by Obama, watching your fellow citizen get all tingly, even fall into a faint (too much vagus stimulation, and you’re going down), was maddening. “Other people’s reverence seems unctuous and sanctimonious,” says Keltner.
When you look at the mass uprisings during Obama's two terms (Occupy, Black Lives Matter, the constant campus craziness), it seems to me that a whole lot of that started with overt appeals to emotion instead of reason.
It never felt calm, rational, or normal to me.
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...
Bob Boyd said...
The organized grifter class is angry and frightened.
Blue districts produce 60% of GDP, Red districts produce 40%.
Just wait until we cut off the power and water.
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...
Blue districts produce 60% of GDP, Red districts produce 40%.
Why bury the lede that Dems are the big money party?
People should ask themselves whether Trump would be acceptable as a boss/employer. For most people the obvious answer is no. He is too drama queeny, too unstable, too uninformed, too disloyal and he is incapable of balancing the books. If you wouldn't want to work for the guy what possible reason is their to support his presidency? Almost no one who has worked with him thinks he is a reasonable boss. Most openly disdain him.
I would have voted for Stephen Douglas in 1860, but Abraham Lincoln in 1864. You all with me there?
Um ... no. Lincoln all the way. It was time to settle the slavery/states rights issue once and for all. I would have been an uncompromising abolitionist. I would have hated the antibellum South and all it stood for. I still do. I remain true to my Irish immigrant Union Army ancestors.
I truly enjoy how ARM believes the exposure and lunacy of all his previous lies and moronic "hot takes" has no effect on how his latest batch of lies and lunatic "hot takes" are received.
History did not begin 5 minutes ago ARM.
"Lance said...
Doncha just LUV the Democrat claim that a sitting President can't nominate a person for confirmation to sit on the Supreme Court ....during a campaign year
That was the Republicans arguing for that principle, or at least it was when Obama was president and McConnell the Senate Majority Leader. We'll probably see arguments for a different "principle" if there's a SC opening next year."
Umm, that's known as the BIDEN rule, for a reason.
As a result of one man, the Japanese Navy had to hide away its survivors to keep the results of that day a secret.
What ... he dropped all the bombs that sank four Japanese aircraft carriers and one heavy cruiser? He was the only American aviator/sailor/Marine who took part in battle?
Trump is so horrible because his policies have given us the best economy in 50 years and minorities are benefiting, so he has to go! Also, no new dumb wars, so he has to go!
Ann stop voting your emotions
I like the way your sparkling banalities play,
And your blandness is so profound.
And I wanna listen to you on NPR tonight
With all the sleepyheads at the cafe in town
'Cause I want a peaceful easy presidency
And I know you won't let me down
'Cause I'm already lullabied into the ground
And I found out a long time ago
What a weirdo maniac can do to your soul
So you can take your Goldwater away
When that Johnsons drawls smooth and sllllllow
Cause I want a peaceful easy presidency
Don't really care what policies you may sneak round
Just don't cause me to be anxious
Don't irritate me with wild manners
Yeah I don't want me no chaos
From a clown.
Don Henley 2020 I guess.
You're following an anti-Christ.
I never thought of you as religious, Cookie.
"The organized grifter class is angry and frightened."
People who are angry and frightened tend to blurt out non-sequiturs a lot, instead of responding to the topic at hand.
Mike Sylwester said...
I thought Althouse voted for Trump in 2016.
I would go with your gut on this one.
Our representative will not vote against Impeachment. I would be absolutely stunned speechless if he did.
I'm not sure what he actually does in office, actually.
And the Biden rule was specifically about a President's *last* election, not every campaign year. The fact that the President would be a "lame duck" was part of the argument. It shouldn't apply to Trump this year, only to 2023 if he wins in 2020.
I am PROUD to be an American and after reading the comments on your blog, it makes me even more so. HOPE is ALIVE! There are so many good Americans here! I feel like John Adams as he lay dying, proclaiming,”Thomas Jefferson still lives!”
My cry would be, “The Constitution Lives!”
Those who believe in the dream and what the founding fathers envisioned for us are here speaking for many.
Ann, as they say, with all due respect, I am stunned that you would be satisfied to live with the illusion of “no drama Obama” and all the insidious policies and behavior of those years.
Well, many here have taken you to task with reasoned arguments that I cannot express better.
I will say this, and it is that you are a TRUE public service to the health and political welfare of the country we All LOVE!
Your blog is TOPS!
"you wouldn't want to work for the guy what possible reason is their to support his presidency?"
Millions of employers, just two candidates.
House Democratic leaders are walking back a planned vote Thursday that would officially endorse impeachment proceedings and say that the resolution would merely address the process of holding public hearings on the matter. “This is not an impeachment resolution,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told reporters Tuesday morning. “I don’t know what an impeachment resolution is.” (Snip)Hoyer said the resolution “addresses moving from the investigatory phase to the hearing phase” of the impeachment proceedings, entering the public phase. Hoyer, who controls the floor schedule, would not fully commit to holding the vote on Thursday.
What’s the difference between “commit” and “fully commit”? None, the votes aren’t there yet. Maybe they never will be.
Sounds like we're hung up on the "no drama Obama" thing, and taking it to mean the same thing as "scandal-free administration," but I understand "no drama" to refer more to the calmness or unemotional coolness of Obama's public persona, than to the presence or absence of wrongdoing in his administration.
If you think Obama was rather formal, cold, distant, lifeless in his manner, then "no drama" does seem to fit. If on the other hand, you still think he really was inspiring and exhilarating, there is some drama going on, and you shouldn't deny that. Candidate Obama, may have quickened some pulses, but President Obama, not so much. Maybe Obama's fans see him as a kind of John F. Kennedy, coolly rational and intellectual, yet also inspiring and uplifting, but that doesn't describe Barack Obama for me (and it misses things about Kennedy as well).
I didn't vote in the primaries last time. I voted for Trump in the November election, in part because I didn't want Hillary to win in an FDR- or LBJ-size landslide. I'll vote for Trump again, but I can't put my trust in politicians the way I once did, can't go on hoping they'll change, and don't fall in love with them the way some people do.
Nichevo, thanks for the Henry V adaptation. It is stirring.
So today apparently a guy at the State Department testified in the secret meetings that he thinks Trump should be impeached for having the gall to take the “The president shall conduct foreign policy” clause of the Constitution as having any meaning. What next? Is he going to cite the 9th ammendment?
Also Schiff has been telling witneses not to answer questions from Republicans. Yesterday he took a witness into another room alone.
None of this could happen in a publc hearing and there will be no public hearins for a while.
"Blue districts produce 60% of GDP, Red districts produce 40%."
How then are so many members of disadvantaged groups concentrated in red districts?
"I would go with your gut on this one.”
Tokyo Rose can’t accept that this impeachment thing is turning people away from the Democrats and driving them to Trump. The unfairness, the secrecy, the lying from Adam Schiff, not everybody restricts their news intake to the WaPo, CNN, and MSNBC.
People should ask themselves whether Trump would be acceptable as a boss/employer. For most people the obvious answer is no. He is too drama queeny, too unstable, too uninformed, too disloyal and he is incapable of balancing the books. If you wouldn't want to work for the guy what possible reason is their to support his presidency? Almost no one who has worked with him thinks he is a reasonable boss. Most openly disdain him.
How do you know this? As a NJ resident who knows people who have worked at Trump properties and who has visited Trump properties myself I can state with near certainty that you are just plain lying. Organizations populated with employees that despise their employer could never provide the level of customer service that Trump properties are known for.
Maybe ARM/Chuck could get some Secret Service testimony about working for Hillary while he speculates about Trump's thousands of current and former employees.
"I would have voted for Stephen Douglas in 1860, but Abraham Lincoln in 1864. You all with me there?"
Depends on what you're talking about. teleport me back in time, and I'd vote for Big Abe both times. But put me back in 1860, not knowing what the future would bring?
I'd vote Douglas in 1860, and McClellan in 1864. The first is obvious. The 2nd would be due to Lincoln's complete incompetence as Commander in Chief. I'd have voted for McClellan to bring victory and an end to the war.
AlanS - "S" stands for Master of sarcasm.
Thank you Althouse.
Very interesting - I'm always curious about what mental maps of the social and political landscape people carry in their heads, and how much they differ from one person to another.
E.g., the notion that candidates and presidents before and opposing Trump were the "adults", the professionals, the boringly competent, the upholders of procedure and precedent in a nice stable system, "normal and practical and realistic", isn't part of my map. So off it's "not even wrong". The PTBs (for want of a better term) struck me as a governing class operating with a more and more out-dated and inaccurate model of events, both domestic and foreign. Long before Trump appeared they gave every sign of being afflicted with a false sense of their own understanding and competence (and provoked the fear that were going to confidently run everything into the ground).
Trump didn't bring "chaos" into order. The order was an illusion. The center wasn't holding; the re-alignment was already on. The world just doesn't work the way the reigning "neoliberal consensus" (held by both right and left) insists it works. The Dems didn't just foolishly choose to go batshit after 2016, when they could have chosen to go on being "normal and practical and realistic". It's not happenstance that they can't produce a "normal" candidate. Same for the brand of looney that shows up in cuckservatives and NeverTrumpers. The crazy is the predictable result of decades of policy based on out-of-touch with reality world views.
""Blue districts produce 60% of GDP, Red districts produce 40%.”
It’s kind of figure that a commodities trader in Chicago, making money buying and selling agricultural products is divorced from “red districts” but it has been a common theme of the comments here that the Democrats are the party of the well off and wealthy, so sure.
Fox News analyst correct: Impeachment inquiry is following rules by questioning witnesses in private
Biggest Private Coal Miner Goes Bust as Trump Rescue Fails
The economy under Trump has not benefited the people who voted for him: quelle surprise.
DBQ @11:27 AM speaks the truth (as is so often the case). As does Neveliashka.
Regrettably many, perhaps most, of our fellow citizens have no sense of how rare, precious, and vulnerable their liberty is. This is partly a result of the government-run school system (dominated by Leftists), partly the "entertainment" industry (dominated by Leftists), and partly the laziness inherent in human nature. Such citizens are easily manipulated by scoundrels and demagogues on the make into selling their birthright for utopian dreams.
Immigrants from socialist countries see things much more clearly. Just one example: The lady whose small business (comprising herself, her mother, and one employee) cleans our house emigrated from Poland. She'll never support any politician that pushes "Medicare for All", having suffered from government-run medicine before she came here.
We've got a fighting chance to keep what we've got, but it's going to be just that, a fight. So be it.
I voted for Hillary for the same reasons as Ann. But I was overjoyed that she lost. Can’t stand her. Laughed out loud on election night. Maybe it’s just that now I get to enjoy the Trump Show with no sense of culpability. I don’t like Trump, but I don’t despise people who do. I don’t get why the Democrats think it’s smart to so openly demean half of the country.
I live near the Rio Grande, and all the Wall nuttery is a big part of what turned me against Trump. I’m not an open borders guy. I just think there are more sensible solutions.
ARM, read the link you provide.
"The House rules permit committee chairs to hold closed hearings on matters of national security or intelligence. Diplomatic matters implicate both national security and intelligence. The rules also permit standing committees – as opposed to the full House – to issue subpoenas. As well, they permit interviews of witnesses in secret in order to determine if they are credible enough to present in public."
Schiff has started each interview with the Statement that NO classified information will be part of the interview.
This afternoon, Republicans have had enough of being silent while Schiff, leaks at will.
Republicans have reported that Schiff constantly determines Republican questions that would lead to exculpatory evidence are out of order. And directs the witness to ignore the question.
Yea, wait till next year when the Republicans regain the house and use the same tactics
To vote for Hillary was to vote, with approval, for institutionalized corruption with an "in-your-face-you-plebe" sanctimonious hauteur. For all of his weirdness - DJT was a healthy disruption to a system that desperately needed to be refreshed. And look how the system is fighting back and showing the rot within! Thank goodness for free elections and the secret ballot!
Thanks, Professor. From your lips to Congress’s ears!
I can hardly wait for 2023 to have to guess who The Althouse Woman voted for. Prime time mysteries. A series.
Hardin
Then Bernie is the counter example.
D 2... Henley - like the Eagles - have sucked for a long, long time... even before Henley was found with two coked-out 15 or 16 year old girls (one was OD'ed, and the reason he was "found out) in his spa at his luxurious casa back in 1981.
Desperado, my ass.
Angle-Dyne, Samurai Buzzard said...
The order was an illusion.
This is true of almost every stage of history, collapse is always an option. Our recent old regime had some significant failures, overly optimistic assessment of the effect of China's entry into the global markets and the middle east wars, as well as successes, no nuclear holocaust and a steady increase in the standard of living.
Trump doesn't offer any real solutions to our current problems beyond emotional venting. He has no coherent philosophy or any disciples to extend his influence beyond his outsize personality. In particular, he offers no solution to our relative decline and arguably has made it more precipitous.
Late coming to see the Great Reveal. But after reading the post, I feel just like I did when Geraldo Rivera put us into suspense on the contents of the Al Capone vaults back in 1986.
I'm stunned by Althouse's reasoning, though not her vote. I would have accepted the idea that urban Wisconsinites made it clear that Trump was a BadMan thanks to Paul Ryan, or that she would face direct personal consequences for supporting Trump. But hiding a vote for Clinton also makes sense- because suddenly the notion of being a serious conservative commentator is blown apart. Watching what's happened to institutions as old as National Review is instructive- and once the audience flees, no one will subsidize some blogger to feign independence. So she's caught between a rock and a hard place.
Eye-opening.
I hasten to add that none of us had any idea how Trump would turn out as President, and a pretty good idaa what Hillary would have been like. Now we know.
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...
If you wouldn't want to work for the guy what possible reason is their to support his presidency?
a) I'm not having him over for dinner so why would I care what he's like personally?
b) He's not going to (among other things) 1) subordinate business to the whims of apparatchiks through the CFPB and (2) destroy the economy with the Green New Deal.
So to sum up some pretty strong reasons.
"No drama Obama" Heh, that always reminds me of Gov.Bobby Jindal's hilarious break down of any obama era folly, like the Oil well explosion in the Gulf or the Obamacare websites tanking during the roll out. Obama was sure was angry a lot wasn't he? He never fixed anything but sure was upset on how other people messed up.
Stage 1 Crisis Management:"This crisis is unprecedented. I will channel all of our efforts in fixing this crisis". Stage 2 Crisis Management:"I'm so mad now"
Such an ineffectual empty suit. He was in office for 8 years yet was never responsible for anything, apparently. At least when you elect white people you can actively blame them for any performance issues (unlike other people we know)
Blogger Dust Bunny Queen said...
Blogger Nichevo said...If I wasn't sufficiently clear, President Donald John Trump is literally the Savior of our Country, if only he can succeed. Absent him, and proper successors, the death of the Republic beckons anxiously. This is literally our last chance before the long night. I would sacrifice my life for this President, and I'd definitely slaughter all of you wrong motherfuckers if it would help. Believe it.
Are we twins? :-)
NO DBQ, we are triplets!!!
"...our current issues..."
You assume so much.
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said..
Trump doesn't offer any real solutions to our current problems beyond emotional venting.
Neither do any Dems. In Trump's favor though is that he's not making them worse by wasting vast sums of money on programs which have no effect on the problems they claim to be addressing.
In particular, he offers no solution to our relative decline and arguably has made it more precipitous.
And yet the economy is vastly better under Trump. Why it almost seems like businesses function better when government isn't threatening to put them out of business and demonizing their owners & employees. It's almost comical how the left constantly asserts his incompetence which only proves their own performance has to be judged on a completely difference scale.
At 12:12 Jerry said it best, wow Jerry. Trump knows how to get all kinds of things done. He did build that, and that and that. He is one of the most competent men in the world. Some of us could see that. He has earned the right to use his own vernacular. He is genuine. He has been mentally practicing the presidency for decades.
Obama to me appeared to be conversant in only one subject, basketball. The rest required a teleprompter. I found him to be very lazy, boring and clueless. Dishonest hiding his school records etc. A puppet.
Hilary has always seemed like a very dishonest and artificial, entitled social climber.
rcocean said...
I'd vote Douglas in 1860, and McClellan in 1864. The first is obvious. The 2nd would be due to Lincoln's complete incompetence as Commander in Chief. I'd have voted for McClellan to bring victory and an end to the war.
McClellan? Bring victory? McClellan? You're serious? https://www.historynet.com/george-mcclellan
All sorts of people above saying how Trump would be a terrible friend and neighbor. Non-smoker, non-drinker, non-drug user. Based on just that, I'd probably get along with him just fine. Except I don't golf. Does he like bowling? Tennis?
Huisache writes: I live near the Rio Grande, and all the Wall nuttery is a big part of what turned me against Trump. I’m not an open borders guy. I just think there are more sensible solutions.
So what do you propose? Land mines?
Rick said...
And yet the economy is vastly better under Trump.
GDP growth 2% and 1.7% for the last two quarters. Not terrible, not particularly good. Pretty much anyone could have produced these results.
Come on it's perfectly reasonable to impeach. It's hardly anti democratic as the next president would Trumps chosen successor Mike Pence. They don't impeach and then AOC gets to be president. This isn't like trying to reverse the 2016 referendum.
"All I want is a very competent, reliable, sensible, good person who can handle the presidency. "
Yes! Thanks for saying that.
No one who has ever read this blog could ever have thought that Althouse wold have ever voted for Trump.
That is just ridiculous.
Hillary placed personal political gain above the Rule of Law, and above the very lives of American public employees. She is an habitual liar, morally unfit for the Presidency. She publicly humiliated her husband's sexual victims, diminishing herself and all women.
Trump had no disqualifying moral failings. We were left with DJT, an experienced and successful businessperson. It was clear from his campaign speeches that he respected America, Americans, and American values. That DJT was not a career public employee was a great plus.
We all have irrational moments, Althouse, but please try not to let it happen again when voting.
Thank you for your thoughts, Professor.
My question is, does having seen so much of the Walker recall effort effect how you perceive what is going on?
For example, is this simply a continuation of Feingold's "It's not over until we win" on the national stage?
Are the Democrats trying to overturn a Presidential election in 2019 just as they tried to overturn a gubernatorial one in 2012?
" Pretty much anyone could have produced these results."
Not while fighting a long overdue trade war, and fighting for his political life 24/7 .
Obama had a hard time even with the huge advantage of starting out in a recession, spending hundreds of billions on stimulus, and having a cooperative Fed giving him the lowest interest rates possible without any delay or pushback. The Obama economy is the one that could have been done by anyone - slowest recovery in our lifetimes despite being the most expensively treated in history.
"The only reason there was "no drama" is because the media was supporting him, 100%."
You know that is entirely what that is. Just vote for whoever the press likes, and it will be calm and drama-free. You know, like a dictatorship.
I really wish I didn't know, and when I read the rationale, it's even sadder. Just keep it to yourself, for my sake.
Very slightly OT:
"even though I endure heavy social consequences here in Madison, Wisconsin for not dispelling the possibility that I voted for Donald Trump"
Question: is there any conservative community where you would risk being ostracized for not dispelling the possibility that you voted for Hillary Clinton?
Hypothesis: even there is such a community, the social consequences would not be as heavy as they are in Madison, WI. Cuz when it comes to civility, you know, actual civility, progs and righties differ. As they must: for progs, it's politics ueber alles.
It's more the riff, Iman. It's not really about voting for Don Henley.
That search for a "Peaceful Easy Feeling" was what came to mind when reading about Althouse's desire for a quiet normal President. The other song that came to mind was V Morrison Keep it Simple but that isn't easy to riff and not many people know it in any case.
Althouse has been a stated fan of boring or simple on many aspects of life, but surely there can be a hint of sarcasm suggested at the fact that behind many smooth calm talkers there can be incompetence or worse, a hidden malice.
Truth be told, a great thing about Don Henley was that it facilitated a great series of Lazlo gems about Lindsey Buckingham.
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...
GDP growth 2% and 1.7% for the last two quarters. Not terrible, not particularly good. Pretty much anyone could have produced these results.
You keep cherrypickin.
“Real median household income—the amount earned by those in the very middle—hit $65,084 (in 2019 dollars) for the 12 months ending in July. That’s the highest level ever and a gain of $4,144, or 6.8%, since Mr. Trump took office. By comparison, during 7½ years under President Obama—starting from the end of the recession in June 2009 through January 2017—the median household income rose by only about $1,000.”
The economy under Trump has not benefited the people who voted for him: quelle surprise.
C'mon, man, you are a better troll than that.
Disappointed.
You are so funny Professor. Your weird people detector must be broken.
You taught at a Yuge, liberal university for what 30 years. You certainly had a yuge assortment of weird, impractical colleagues and some, I bet, got promoted into big management and exec jobs at your school. Would you have voted for them if they ran for office?
Rick said...
You keep cherrypickin.
This is ridiculous. GDP numbers are the most fundamental measure of economic performance - and they are not very impressive. Not terrible, but not very impressive, and a long way from what he promised.
bagoh20 said...
fighting for his political life 24/7
Self-inflicted wounds are still self-inflicted.
You fell for a basic popularity contest argument, and then being embarrassed, you hid for three years. Your instincts were right about being embarrassed.
GDP numbers are the most fundamental measure of economic performance - and they are not very impressive.
Interesting. GDP can be misleading though that's why people focus on median wages and other measures. Usually far leftists are the first to point this out...unless it helps Trump of course. You leftists always build the analysis to support the narrative.
Today you posted a comment that the economy wasn't helping those who voted for Trump. This information directly contradicts that but all you can do is point out that the GDP measure - disproportionately in Blue Districts as you also noted - isn't as good. I think that shows your real concern is that Trump isn't helping rich Dems enough for your taste.
The rest of us don't much care rich Dems aren't able to continue strangling everyone else.
agoh20 said...
The Obama economy is the one that could have been done by anyone
Remind me how many major banks went under or needed government assistance just prior to Trump becoming President. Remind me how many house loans defaulted, or how many people were underwater on their housing loans. Remind me how far the stock market fell. Remind me about the global recession that had just begun and would take years to shake out. There is no equivalence here and I don't believe that you think there is. No one is that dumb.
Not terrible, but not very impressive, and a long way from what he promised.
ARM is competing w3ith Freder to be the most ignorant economist.
Remember those "Recovery Summers?"
These are a bit dated but it has been gatting better.,
Remind me about the global recession that had just begun and would take years to shake out.
Obama should have had the best economic numbers since WWII recovering from such a trough. Instead his and the Dems constant demonizing of business and changing the rules they operate under turned it into the slowest recovery since the Great Depression.
The only bigger fools are those who thought it was awesome. Maybe they were rooting for economic failure to usher in the Socialist Nirvana, at least then their giddiness would make sense.
ARM,
If you knew what the non-public information I know about why the banks failed in 2008, you'd know for a fact it was government that CAUSED the problems. 100%. No argument. Black and white.
It's one of the many reasons I hate George W "Big Government" Bush. We haven't had a conservative President since 1986. Yes, 1986. After the second mid-term of Reagan the Reagan movement was dead with HW Bush.
Robert Cook said, "You're following an anti-Christ."
Just so. And he beats Hell out of the anti-Christ who preceded him.
ARM: "This is ridiculous. GDP numbers are the most fundamental measure of economic performance - and they are not very impressive."
Real wages are rising for all earners AND rising the most for those in the lowest 3 quintiles all at the same time as millions of long term unemployed have re-entered the workforce.
Precisely what ARM and his idiot lefty pals said was impossible.
Again!!
Sorry ARM. You've already lost those voters and they arent going to come back to Team Socialism any time soon.
One of my favorite recent stories was the democrat hack union leader in the Minnesota Iron Range describing with great sadness how all those multigenerational democrat voters were ALL on Team Trump now.
I felt a strange compulsion to gather up his tears and use them to make martinis......
LOL
But you hang in there ARM!! Keep telling those stupid deplorables in Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ohio, N Carolina, etc how bad they really have it under Trump. Im sure you can convince them to go back to your side.........not.
So. Much. Winning.
Those midwesterners are just going to love the green new deal, destruction of all private health insurance and free EVERYTHING for illegals!!
I know campaign cash is tight for Team Commie/Open Borders right now ARM. But dont you worry buddy, Trump will be sure to spread the democrat message of Prosperity Thru Chavezization of America.
Dont thank us. Its our pleasure!
This post is a great example of why I have been reading here daily for eight years.
Your mind is unlike anyone else I read, and I respect your honesty and bravery.
This makes me not mad anymore that you don’t favor us commenters over noncommenters. That stung a bit more than I’m really comfortable with.
Thank you for all that you do. It enriches my world, and I’m grateful for it, and I appreciate that your writing happens against some ugly headwinds that we readers never have to see.
The phrase "the new normal" was coined during Obama's presidency to describe reduced expectations for prosperity and the overriding economic malaise of 7-8% persistent unemployment and GDP growth of 1%. And it was Obama and his allies in the media who coined it. They preferred big fat government even if it reduced economic opportunity for Americans. Hell, they even coined the term "staycation" - remember that one ARM?
I'm full of soup wrote:
"They preferred big fat government even if it reduced economic opportunity for Americans."
I don't think so, Mr. Soup. They have convinced themselves that they have perfect knowledge. They truly believe that the pursuit of economic growth is responsible all the things they believe are evil in the world. It only makes sense to them that the educated elites manage society to have zero economic growth, and be tasked with a "just" division of existing wealth.
I assumed that you had voted for Clinton so this doesn't surprise me. I can't criticize anyone's vote in the 2016 election so I have nothing else to say about it but this : "The very reasons I voted against Trump are getting cooked up into reasons to vote for him — by you, you idiots." made me laugh out loud.
I was a Never Trumper until the day he won the Republican primary.
I had supported Walker and then Cruz after him; I was frustrated in the beginning because it seemed as if too many true conservatives were splitting the not-Trump vote.
Once it came down to Trump and any Democrat, I decided to hold my nose and vote for Trump—Ohio is a swing state, too, you know.
I was so relieved that Hillary lost. I just hope our Republic can survive 5 more years of Democrat sore-loser insanity.
Soup: "Hell, they even coined the term "staycation" - remember that one ARM?"
Remember "Funemployment"!!
Your big chance after being forced into unemployment to "follow your real dreams"!!
As mentioned above, obambi/Biden gave us 8 straight years of "Recovery Summers" as well, thinking that at some point, somehow, a real recovery had to take place.
I don't see any chance of Democrats voting no on the Impeachment Inquiry to avoid chaos or to demonstrate respect for the election process or results of 2016. I agree that would be nice, and also agree that the Democrats have zero chance of winning in 2020 unless they can invalidate/eliminate Trump through impeachment. The 2020 election campaign will be all about the attempt to impeach Trump, not the candidates. The actual Dem. candidate will be insignificant.
Listening to all the political "experts" mocking Trump's candidacy and his chances of winning is so strange because they were so wrong and I was right. I can't explain how or why. It was mostly my intuition that I thought Trump would be a great president: because of his personal talents, clarity of vision, experience in the real world, and his common sense approach to solving problems. I actually thought he might be a uniter of the country because although he ran as a Republican he was hardly a typical Republican or conservative. That's exactly why he appealed to me as a Democrat who had lost faith in the direction of the Democratic Party under Obama and was horrified by Clinton's phoniness and corruption.
I thought that after the election if Trump won Democrats could possibly put the country ahead of politics and work with him on constructive legislation which our country so desperately needs. I was extremely wrong about that! The Democrats are not at all interested in country ahead of politics or even treating him with decency. It's pathetic and very disappointing.
“ Truth be told, a great thing about Don Henley was that it facilitated a great series of Lazlo gems about Lindsey Buckingham.”
NOW yer talkin’, my friend... what a talent!!!
"I'd have voted for McClellan to bring victory and an end to the war."
That would be a triumph of hope over experience. What about McClellan would make you think he could ever have won the War Between the States? I could see McClellan quitting the war ("Let them go..."), but never winning.
I expect I could pay Ms Althouse no higher compliment to her cruel neutrality than to say I had no idea or inkling. I had, in fact, guessed Trump. I expected a Trump vote would carry more shame.
I cannot vote, and my US citizen wife chose not to. Originally I did prefer Clinton. But her collapse on 9/11 and subsequent lies about it was the campaign's defining moment swaying me the other way. Clinton could not be truthful about her own health, so whatever Trump's faults were, I could not take four (more) years of lies. I was overjoyed to see her lose.
Rick said...
Obama should have had the best economic numbers since WWII recovering from such a trough.
Breathtaking economic naivety. The economy as a rubber ball analogy.
Yes, the Obama economic miracle! Now let’s continue it with Warren!
Sub 2% GDP growth is Trump's current 'miracle'.
The economy as a rubber ball analogy.
Apparently left wing economics is now pretending the business cycle doesn't exist. Not only do they believe whatever it takes to support the narrative, they also don't believe whatever it takes to support the narrative.
No wonder they can't get anything right.
Pretty sure the normal business cycle doesn't include most of the banks going broke.
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...
Sub 2% GDP growth is Trump's current 'miracle'.
10/30/19, 7:02 AM
Just as throughout the Obama years, the administration and MSM constantly told everyone to ignore their lying eyes and believe them that the economy we doing GREAT, the MSM and lefties are yelling for everyone to ignore their lying eyes and believe us that the economy is in the crapper!
Go with that. It worked so well last time.
About this post, as Instapundit would say, "Another rube self identifies."
In a comment above someone mentioned most of the banks going broke. What most was that? Lehman Brothers?
And if that commenter wants to talk about banks all banks are broke the minute deposits exceed reserves which is what a bank is set up to do. I don't expect that commenter to get it.
I never read Althouse's posts I only read the comments.
And as to the twins or triplets above willing to place their lives on the line to defend President Trump you have a fourth here so we can play bridge or whist or pnochle while we wait.
Ok Ann.
We now know that from 1998 to 2003, Michelle and Barack Obama basically lived with Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn and lied about it later. Would you have voted for him knowing that and knowing that he would have known about their involvement in multiple murders of police and attempted murders of hundreds of American soldiers and their loved ones?
I can document this if you doubt it. Just answer the question. Have at.
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