Althouse: "The media can keep calling you 'Republicans,' but if you support Democrats, take Democratic Party positions, make voting for Democrats all the way down the ticket a... moral imperative..."

July 16, 2020

"The media can keep calling you 'Republicans,' but if you support Democrats, take Democratic Party positions, make voting for Democrats all the way down the ticket a... moral imperative..."

"... and then take most of your money from big Democratic Party donors, you’re a Democrat. That’s fine. You should embrace it. I’m not really a fan of making a big deal over a group’s funding. Your arguments should stand on their own. I don’t care who pays you. But if you advertise your cause as something it’s not, you’re a fraud. And the biggest funders of The Lincoln Project aren’t distraught Republicans but long-time Democratic Party operatives."

From "Who Funds The Lincoln Project? Exactly Whom You Expect" by David Harsanyi (National Review).

49 comments:

rhhardin said...: Who Funds The Lincoln Project? Exactly Whom You Expect

It's "who." A grammatical mistake typical of the swamp right wing. Apply rules without understanding them.; 7/16/20, 7:10 AM
Temujin said...: If you look at the names of the 'leaders' of this group, it reads like a list of "Top Grifters in US for 2020". Something you'd expect to read next to the "Best Cities to Retire 2020".

They are an intellectual and moral garbage dump and those who would throw large or small dollars at them are simply not bright. But I'm sure they view themselves as morally superior. That is an absolute.; 7/16/20, 7:17 AM
MayBee said...: It's funny, isn't it? What makes a person or even a group a Democrat or Republican? It isn't something we have to join or swear an oath to. I mean, I guess in some states you can join by registering, but is there a way to really join, if you aren't running for office?

Saying, oh I'm a Republican but I run ads against Republicans is a strange tactic. What makes you a "Republican" then? When it comes to politics for civilians, you are what you do.; 7/16/20, 7:28 AM
iowan2 said...: I pointed this out to Patterico. If you support Democrat agenda, you are a Democrat, not an anti Trumper.
That's the last thing I posted because he banned me.; 7/16/20, 7:30 AM
Howard said...: Whom cares, they advertising is first rate and oddviously hitting a nerve with the Trump customers, clients and cultists.; 7/16/20, 7:32 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: I don't buy any of this shit:

We are in a time of extreme nuance, and conservatives are all screaming for extremes.

They're as full of shit as anyone else.; 7/16/20, 7:37 AM
Sebastian said...: "The media can keep calling you 'Republicans,' but if you support Democrats, take Democratic Party positions . . ."

The MSM is fake news all the way down, and all the way across.; 7/16/20, 7:37 AM
rehajm said...: As always, follow the money. Now do ActBlue and BLM...; 7/16/20, 7:41 AM
JayDee77 said...: These grifters were cut off the trough by Trump so they had to attach themselves to others. Their only loyalty is to their piggy banks and their next Mercedes payment.; 7/16/20, 7:49 AM
Chuck said...: Althouse you missed this part of Harsanyi’s column:

“ If the group wasn’t working against the moderate Republicans senators for the sin of supporting originalist Supreme Court justices, who will transcend the Trump presidency and help preserve the traditional constitutional order, one might believe that its mission was to preserve the system. If you target moderates like Susan Collins and Cory Gardner — politicians who not only parted with Trump on issues but have quite un-Trumpian dispositions — you’re not working against Trumpism, you’re working against the GOP.”

All of that is purely untrue. George Conway strongly advocated for both Gorsuch and Kavanaugh. The Lincoln Project never advocated against either one as SCOTUS nominees. Heck, the Lincoln Project didn’t exist when Gorsuch was nominated and the group was barely active at all when Kavanaugh was nominated.

As for the “moderate” GOP incumbents like Gardner and Collins, it isn’t a policy dispute. It was their failure to vote for any meaningful impeachment procedures. And now their failure to speak out about Roger Stone’s commutation or the Russian plot to pay for the targeting of American servicemen.

I am part of The Lincoln Project in Michigan; we aren’t taking a-n-y liberal/progressive policy positions. None. Zero. We are attacking Trump, and the GOP Senators who have personally enabled him.; 7/16/20, 7:50 AM
TreeJoe said...: Did anyone think the Lincoln Project was anything but a fraudulent way for folks formerly known as GOP to continue to get paid by selling their reputation as former GOP members to promote democratic causes and the narrative that democrat causes are attracting GOP members because Orange Man Bad?; 7/16/20, 7:56 AM
wendybar said...: The elites of both parties really don't care about any of us...only their money making, and their reelections. If you think otherwise, you are foolish. Trump is the ONLY one who has made his money on his own....without political power behind him...; 7/16/20, 8:09 AM
Wince said...: Definitely watch the video cartoon interview takedown of Rick Wilson at the link below.

Lincoln Project Co-Founder Rick Wilson Ambushed Over Bush Support By Colbert’s Cartoon Anchors

Rick Wilson, the co-founder of anti-Trump group The Lincoln Project, was ambushed on Monday night by the cartoon anchors on Stephen Colbert’s parody news show Tooning Out the News.

Many of The Lincoln Project’s videos have gone viral for ruthlessly bashing President Donald Trump, earning both the respect and money of Democrats committed to voting Trump out in November. Wilson’s interview started off well, with the anchors praising him for his efforts in sabotaging Trump, until Inside the Hill cartoon host Sarah Sabo faulted him for calling the president “a whining b*tch addicted to Twitter.”

“Yes, he is a b*tch. That is the biggest insult, comparing someone to a woman,” Sabo responded. “I hate us.”

...The anchors then showed a series of clips of typically liberal MSNBC hosts, guests, and correspondents lauding The Lincoln Project and their dedication to roasting Trump.

“Rick, how rewarding is it to win over the people you’ve demonized your entire career?” cartoon host Richard Ballard asked before Sabo pointed out Wilson’s past tweets that disparaged liberals, Muslims, and the LGBTQ+ community.

“Rick, when was the exact moment you realized those pathetic little wh*res could be tapped for money?” Sabo asked, directly quoting one of Wilson’s 2010 tweets that also called “nutroot lefties” “Barack Obama’s b*tch.”

Wilson asked the anchors not to zero in on his old quotes — noting that people move on from the past, and reiterating his dedication to bringing down the current Republican president.

What's interesting is the Colbert writers seemed to use Brietbart as a source criticizing the Lincoln Project on the expenditure side.

Never Trump Lincoln Project Devoted 89 Percent of Disbursements to ‘Operating Expenditures’; 7/16/20, 8:13 AM
Joe Smith said...: Grifters is far too kind...Rick Wilson is an insufferable, smug, sanctimonious prick.

The Colbert takedown of him recently was pretty damn great to watch.

This is epic:

https://youtu.be/tNvuYPpX0C0; 7/16/20, 8:19 AM
Wince said...: Chuck said...
All of that is purely untrue. George Conway strongly advocated for both Gorsuch and Kavanaugh. The Lincoln Project never advocated against either one as SCOTUS nominees. Heck, the Lincoln Project didn’t exist when Gorsuch was nominated and the group was barely active at all when Kavanaugh was nominated.

That's because Harsanyi's piece (Who Funds The Lincoln Project? Exactly Whom You Expect) was about who funds TLP, not who is feeding at the TLP trough.; 7/16/20, 8:35 AM
Drago said...: LLR-lefty Chuck: "I am part of The Lincoln Project in Michigan;"

That helps explain your years long, over the top, reflexive support for every single democrat and lefty policy that has come down the pike.

That you believe you can succeed with your FakeCon grift here at Althouse is positively hilarious.

Per the Tooning takeout of Rick Wilson, there is literally NO ONE buying your obvious and transparent lies.

Dont get me wrong. The far left is paying for the FakeCon Lincoln Project grift so the far left funders expect a return on their far left investment (BTW, are ROI expectations a "white cultural value"?) and LLR-lefty Chuck intends to give it to them.; 7/16/20, 8:54 AM
Tommy Duncan said...: Early in this thread you find this:

Blogger Temujin said...

If you look at the names of the 'leaders' of this group, it reads like a list of "Top Grifters in US for 2020". Something you'd expect to read next to the "Best Cities to Retire 2020".

They are an intellectual and moral garbage dump and those who would throw large or small dollars at them are simply not bright. But I'm sure they view themselves as morally superior. That is an absolute.

Later you find this:

Blogger Chuck said...

I am part of The Lincoln Project in Michigan; we aren’t taking a-n-y liberal/progressive policy positions. None. Zero. We are attacking Trump, and the GOP Senators who have personally enabled him.

Temujin nailed it.; 7/16/20, 8:55 AM
Big Mike said...: Back in 2017 a Silicon Valley billionaire named Reid Hoffman (co-founder of LinkedIn IIRC) sponsored a false flag operation, paying left-wing loonies to portray themselves online as “concerned” long-time Republicans lining up against Roy Moore in the Alabama special senatorial election. When caught, Hoffman claimed to be running a “secret experiment” to determine how the Russians may have influenced the 2016 election. Hoffman apologized, but Doug Jones was still a senator.

The Lincoln Project is just Hoffman’s “secret experiment,” with enough of a facade to fool people who want to be fooled. That Chuck claims to be a member of the Lincoln Project says it all, doesn’t it? Oh, and BTW, he doesn’t even like Sue Collins.; 7/16/20, 8:56 AM
Larry J said...: To paraphrase Forest Gump, Democrat is as Democrat does. The word Democrat is an excellent synonym for stupid.; 7/16/20, 8:56 AM
Nichevo said...: I am part of The Lincoln Project in Michigan; we aren’t taking a-n-y liberal/progressive policy positions. None. Zero. We are attacking Trump, and the GOP Senators who have personally enabled him.

Oh, so we can find you through them?; 7/16/20, 9:11 AM
The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...: "The elites of both parties really don't care about any of us...only their money making, and their reelections. If you think otherwise, you are foolish."

Full stop. You'd have to be incredibly naive or historically ignorant to think otherwise. Years ago I watched, in person, a Democrat governor go through this self-interested kabuki during a natural disaster. It was all about her, not about the people affected. What an eye-opener.; 7/16/20, 9:12 AM
Nichevo said...: The Lincoln Project. Following in the footsteps of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade.

(That would be the Americans who volunteered to fight for the communists in Spain); 7/16/20, 9:13 AM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: It's the "but Comey is a republican!" argument.

The left love to shovel fraud and money in every direction.

The left are the party of lies.; 7/16/20, 9:30 AM
n.n said...: It's people's burden (and "burden" h/t Obama, too) to discern the facts and truth.; 7/16/20, 9:38 AM
Howard said...: Blogger Nichevo said...

The Lincoln Project. Following in the footsteps of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade.

(That would be the Americans who volunteered to fight for the communists in Spain)

and against the Hitler proxy, fascist Generalissimo Francisco Franco (who is still dead).

The original Antifa.

For Who the Bell Toles is my favorite book by the Commis Cubano fisherman Ernesto Hemmingway; 7/16/20, 9:43 AM
rcocean said...: They are fakes. They call themselves Republicans because otherwise the would just be Democrat PAC against Trump No. 487. We're talking about them because they claim to be R's.

That's why McCain never became a Democrat and why Romney will probably remain a Republican. Betraying the Republicans gets headlines and Talk show appearances. Being one of 46 Democrat Senators attacking the Republcian President gets you nothing.; 7/16/20, 9:48 AM
Tina Trent said...: Lincoln Project: standing with George Conway. Funny.; 7/16/20, 9:54 AM
MayBee said...: I am part of The Lincoln Project in Michigan; we aren’t taking a-n-y liberal/progressive policy positions. None. Zero. We are attacking Trump, and the GOP Senators who have personally enabled him.

Pushing out GOP Senators and Congresspeople, and actively supporting Biden, is taking progressive policy positions.

The only Lincoln Project ad I've seen on tv has the "Good people on both sides" lie. So congratulations.; 7/16/20, 9:55 AM
Chuck said...: “Blogger Nichevo said...

‘I am part of The Lincoln Project in Michigan; we aren’t taking a-n-y liberal/progressive policy positions. None. Zero. We are attacking Trump, and the GOP Senators who have personally enabled him.’

Oh, so we can find you through them?”

Huh? “We”?

Do you mean that there is some kind of group, that wishes to “find” me? What will all of you do with me, when you “find” me?; 7/16/20, 9:58 AM
Chuck said...: Right on cue, Trump himself provides the justification for the Lincoln Project’s broad attack on GOP incumbents in the Senate who have enabled Trump and who will not separate themselves from his worst excesses.

From Politco’s story on Trump’s interview this morning:

“‘If they don’t embrace, they’re going to lose, because, you know, I have a very hard base. I have the strongest base people have ever seen,’ said Trump, who met with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell last week to discuss the party’s prospects in key Senate races.”

There you have it. Trump links all the swing Senate races to himself, and makes them all referenda on himself, personally. It doesn’t matter how reliably conservative their voting records are. Jeff Flake had one of the most conservative voting records in the Senate. It wasn’t a matter of policy. Flake didn’t “embrace.” Flake criticized Trump’s saying stupid things.

https://www.politico.com/amp/news/2020/06/19/trump-interview-mail-voting-329307?__twitter_impression=true; 7/16/20, 10:22 AM
Dude1394 said...: Dr. Althouse, I really appreciate your labeling of the articles you site in the post instead of forcing me to give them a click.; 7/16/20, 10:35 AM
Wa St Blogger said...: So...

The Lincoln Project, funded by anti-conservative forces, is an effort to destroy the person most conservatives in the country voted for in an effort to "save" the GOP? Do I get that right? Sounds like the Lincoln Project is not conservative at all, and whether it wears a Republican skin, it is still antagonistic to the true conservative values of most Americans. I would like ole Chuckie to explain to me what exactly he wants the GOP to represent that distinguishes it from the Democrats and how conservative voters should flock to that platform.; 7/16/20, 10:40 AM
Sam L. said...: HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM. Do I trust the National Review... NO. Not since they went NEVER-TRUMP.; 7/16/20, 10:54 AM
Drago said...: Howard: "The original Antifa."

Your Spanish Civil war "antifa" heroes were explicitly communist and murdered thousands of innocents and in particular Christian clergy members.

This Red Terror is described by Wikipedia thusly:

"During the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939, and especially in the early months of the conflict, individual clergymen were executed while entire religious communities were persecuted, leading to a death toll of 13 bishops, 4,172 diocesan priests and seminarians, 2,364 monks and friars and 283 nuns, for a total of 6,832 clerical victims, as part of what is referred to as Spain's Red Terror.[2]"

Killing Christians by the thousands.

No wonder Howard and his pro-islamic supremacist allied Howards Heroes adore the Spanish Civil War commies so much.

It also helps explain why we see the rising terrorist antifa/BLM/Dem/Lefty/LLR-lefty actions against American Christian churches and lefty policies targeting orthodox Jews in democrat controlled areas.; 7/16/20, 10:55 AM
rhhardin said...: For Who the Bell Toles is my favorite book by the Commis Cubano fisherman Ernesto Hemmingway

That's a different mistake. Modern English allows "who" for a formerly required "whom" as to case, but not as to register.

A fronted preposition is formal register, and "who" for "whom" is informal register, and you can't mix them without sounding wrong.

"Who the bell tolls for" would be fine. informal/informal.

The blog topic one is a mistaken "whom" for a required "who," which always sounds wrong, modern English or not.; 7/16/20, 11:00 AM
daskol said...: This is a nearly perfect comment thread. Perfection would have been silence after Chuck endorsed the Lincoln Project.; 7/16/20, 11:05 AM
Bilwick said...: ‘I am part of The Lincoln Project in Michigan; we aren’t taking a-n-y liberal/progressive policy positions. None. Zero. We are attacking Trump, and the GOP Senators who have personally enabled him.’

None? Zero? That's pretty impressive. So you support a free market with strengthened Second Amendment Rights? On the Statist Scale (aka the Coercion Meter), with 0 being libertarian anarchism and 10 being pure tyranny, and 7-8 being what I call the State-fucker Zone (pretty much any prominent Democrat you could name) you would put yourself at what? 2, 3, 4?; 7/16/20, 11:21 AM
narciso said...: the mcclellan project, fernando wood, what else can omidyar finance,; 7/16/20, 12:27 PM
Chuck said...: Bilwick said...
‘I am part of The Lincoln Project in Michigan; we aren’t taking a-n-y liberal/progressive policy positions. None. Zero. We are attacking Trump, and the GOP Senators who have personally enabled him.’

None? Zero? That's pretty impressive. So you support a free market with strengthened Second Amendment Rights? On the Statist Scale (aka the Coercion Meter), with 0 being libertarian anarchism and 10 being pure tyranny, and 7-8 being what I call the State-fucker Zone (pretty much any prominent Democrat you could name) you would put yourself at what? 2, 3, 4?

Professor Althouse said there wouldn't be any math!; 7/16/20, 12:47 PM
Jim at said...: In a war, the enemy is defeated.
Traitors fare much worse.

The Lincoln Project should remember that.; 7/16/20, 12:56 PM
RichardJohnson said...: Howard
Abraham Lincoln Brigade.The original Antifa....

For those who want to learn about Spain- as opposed to those who merely make snarky comments- Stanley G. Payne's books on Spain come recommended. The kidnapping and murder of José Calvo Sotelo, the right's most prominent member of Parliament, at the hands of government police- without any arrests of those responsible -indicated to the right that the government was not a government of law, but a government dedicated to eliminate the right.

From his Collapse of the Spanish Republic, 1933-1936 : Origins of the Civil War:
No effort was made to apprehend those directly responsible for the crime, though Calvo Sotelo’s widow was able to identify Condés from police photographs that same day.

A partial listing from the book of disturbing trends during the months leading up to the Civil War:
• A wave of arson and property destruction, especially in the south.
• Seizure of churches and church properties in the south and east and some other parts of the country.
• Closure of Catholic schools, provoking a crisis in Spanish education, and in a number of localities the suppression of Catholic religious activities as well, accompanied by the expulsion of priests.
• Major economic decline, which has never been studied in detail, with a severe stock market decline, the flight of capital, and in some provinces of the south the abandonment of cultivation, since the costs of the harvest would be greater than its market value. Thus several southern Socialist mayors proposed the “penalty of remaining” for proprietors, rather than the penalty of exile.
• Broad extension of censorship, with severe limitations on freedom of expression and of assembly.
• Many hundreds—indeed several thousand—arbitrary political arrests of members of rightist parties, culminating in the kidnapping of Calvo Sotelo.
• Impunity of criminal action for members of Popular Front parties, who were rarely arrested. Occasionally anarchists were detained, since they were not members of the Popular Front.
• The politicization of justice through new legislation and policies, in order to facilitate arbitrary political arrests and prosecution and to place the rightist parties outside the law. In spite of the four violent insurrections of leftist parties against the Republic—which had no counterpart among the rightist parties—none of them was charged with illegal actions, since justice had become completely politicized, in keeping with the Popular Front program.
• Official dissolution of rightist groups, beginning with the Falangists in March and the Catholic trade unions in May, and moving toward the monarchist Renovación Española on the eve of the Civil War. The process of institutional illegalization was designed to create conditions of political monopoly for the leftist organizations, first achieved in the trade union groups.
• Use of coercion in the new elections of May in Cuenca and Granada, with the arbitrary detention of rightist activists and the restriction of rightist activity.
• Subversion of the security forces through reappointment of revolutionary police officers earlier prosecuted for their violent and subversive actions. One of these commanded the squad that murdered Calvo Sotelo. Equally notable was the addition of what were called delegados de policía, normally activists of the Socialist and Communist parties named ad hoc as deputy police, though they were not regular members of the security forces. This practice followed the precedent of the Hitler government in appointing violent and subversive SA and SS activists as Hilfspolizei in Germany in 1933.
• The growth of political violence, though its extension was very unequal in different parts of the country.... Some 300 people died within five and a half months.

The "Bad Fascsts" and "Good Loyalists/Republicans" narrative we had been taught leaves out quite a lot. But if you want to remain ignorant, keep chanting "Bad Fascsts, Good Loyalists/Republicans."; 7/16/20, 2:04 PM
Birkel said...: The "conservative" positions of TLP and a certain fopdoodle who claims to be a member align perfectly with the interests of the Chinese Communist Party. It wants to stop the decoupling and allow the CCP to kill American industry. They reject the tit-for-tat response to Chinese aggression and would let Chinese expansionism stretch its tentacles further. There is a lot of bribery money available from the CCP.

TLP is for sale to the highest bidder. And their leader is a FARA registered Russian agent.

My guess is the bidding was lower for a certain fopdoodle.; 7/16/20, 2:17 PM
Drago said...: Birkel: "My guess is the bidding was lower for a certain fopdoodle."

In terms of the bidding by the lefties for "republican" and "conservative" FakeCon assets to be deployed to advance the marxist cause, LLR-lefty Chuck fared about as well as Newsweek in 2010.; 7/16/20, 4:37 PM
Readering said...: Let's face it, Democrats fund the Lincoln Project because they make the most effective anti-Trump ads. Nothing fraudulent for the Lincoln Project to accept funding to attack a con-man who was a Democrat when they were part of or supporting Republican administrations, judges and members of Congress. Trump stands for himself only, but as long as he occupies the WH he keeps the support of folks who want to feed at his trough. Lincoln Project members take a longer view, inspired by their namesake.; 7/16/20, 5:04 PM
DavidD said...: rhhardin said...
“Who Funds The Lincoln Project? Exactly Whom You Expect

It's ‘who.’ ”

No, it’s “whom.” “You” is the subject.

Diagram it. Or recast it: “You expect exactly whom.”

Use “whom” when you would use “him” and use “who” when you would use “he”.; 7/16/20, 8:29 PM
effinayright said...: DavidD said...
rhhardin said...
“Who Funds The Lincoln Project? Exactly Whom You Expect

It's ‘who.’ ”

No, it’s “whom.” “You” is the subject.

Diagram it. Or recast it: “You expect exactly whom.”

Use “whom” when you would use “him” and use “who” when you would use “he”.
**************

Oh fer crissake.

Whom is used with indirect objects: FOR whom, BY whom, TO whom.

STFU; 7/16/20, 10:59 PM
DavidD said...: Sorry.

I rescind my previous comment.

Sometimes a shower helps.

“You think exactly whom.” makes no sense grammatically; it should be “who.”

There’s a whole bunch of unsaid things that should or would follow “who” as the subject of a subordinate phrase.; 7/17/20, 5:09 AM
Nichevo said...: Huh? “We”?

Do you mean that there is some kind of group, that wishes to “find” me? What will all of you do with me, when you “find” me?

Who knows? Doxx yourself, like you've tried to do to Emerita, and find out.

There you have it. Trump links all the swing Senate races to himself, and makes them all referenda on himself, personally. It doesn’t matter how reliably conservative their voting records are. Jeff Flake had one of the most conservative voting records in the Senate. It wasn’t a matter of policy. Flake didn’t “embrace.” Flake criticized Trump’s saying stupid things.

Flake lost. Bigly.

Howard
Abraham Lincoln Brigade.The original Antifa....

As George Orwell explained, it's good that Franco won and the communists lost.
Try getting off the wrong side of history. I enjoyed Hemingway but the world would have been better off had he suck-started the shotgun at 6 rather than 61. Certainly the people he betrayed, would.; 7/17/20, 8:16 AM
Bilwick said...: Weasel answer, Chuck.; 7/17/20, 10:52 AM