September 15, 2020

"I fear that former vice president Joe Biden would be a figurehead president, incapable of focus or leadership, who would run a teleprompter presidency..."

"... with the words drafted by his party’s hard-left ideologues. I fear that a Congress with Democrats controlling both houses — almost certainly ensured by a Biden victory in November — would begin an assault on the institutions of government that preserve the nation’s small 'd' democracy. That could include the abolition of the filibuster, creating an executive-legislative monolith of unlimited political power; an increase in the number of Supreme Court seats to ensure a liberal supermajority; passage of devastating economic measures such as the Green New Deal; nationalized health care; the dismantling of U.S. borders and the introduction of socialist-inspired measures that will wreck an economy still recovering from the pandemic shutdown. I fear the grip of Manhattan-San Francisco progressive mores that increasingly permeate my daily newspapers, my children’s curriculums and my local government. I fear the virtue-signaling bullies who increasingly try to dominate or silence public discourse — and encourage my children to think that their being White is intrinsically evil, that America’s founding is akin to original sin. I fear the growing self-censorship that guides many people’s every utterance, and the leftist vigilantes who view every personal choice — from recipes to hairdos — through their twisted prisms of politics and culture. An entirely Democratic-run Washington, urged on by progressives’ media allies, would no doubt only accelerate these trends.... With Donald Trump, I know what I am getting. He wears his sins on the outside...."

From "I never considered voting for Trump in 2016. I may be forced to vote for him this year" by Danielle Pletka, senior vice president of foreign and defense policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute (WaPo).

That column has over 12,000 comments. Top-rated: "I'm really tired of closet Trump supporters playing the victim. You know voting for Trump is wrong so you go out of your way blaming others for your bad behavior." Second-highest:
I read this a couple of times and could only shake my head. Lady, you either vote for absolute corruption or a chance to redeem. No other choice now. And if you think the Democrats are forcing you to vote for Mr. Trump, you are either a pretty cowardly person who won't take responsibility for her choices, or you are a fraud. I suspect both. I know you work for a very, very conservative organization. That's ok. What's not ok is blaming someone else for the choices you are yourself ashamed that you will be making. You vote for Mr. Trump? You vote against our country. Period. Own it.

136 comments:

Lucid-Ideas said...

Figurehead for how long? All 4 years?

Come on. We know that's not the case. Everyone can see this soft-coup for what it is.

AllenS said...

Tags: no shit

Tina Trent said...

That's awfully rich, AEI whinging about open borders.

They want open borders.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

why isn't it considered 'bad behavior' to vote for Hillary or Biden?

they are both crooks.

Temujin said...

Well, yes. She's right. Commenters aside, she's right.

wendybar said...

They are the Radicals they are warning us about, and they are blind to it. Wakey, wakey...this isn't going to end well.

robother said...

Joe Biden a figurehead President in a Harris Administration? Inconceivable!

Kevin said...

voting for Trump is wrong

This is not a condensed version of leftist thought.

This is all they can muster.

gilbar said...

Lady, you either vote for absolute corruption or a chance to redeem

truer words never spoken; of course, the idiot that spoke them doesn't understand them but...
out of the mouths of babes

One of our choices is TRYING to redeem the country
One of out choices IS absolute corruption

wendybar said...

Voting for Trump who is 100% Pro American is voting against our Country??? What drugs are they on, because if burning down cities = loving our country, I would much rather live in Trumps America, then the America the left loves.

Michael K said...

Interesting to see the absolute inversion of the arguments. Thisn is the best example.

You vote for Mr. Trump? You vote against our country. Period. Own it.

I wonder how many of these people work for China connected companies or agencies ?

Stephen said...

What's the approved way to say ad hominem attacks when applied to a woman--ad feminam? Because that's what these comments are. None of them address the writer's fears; they're just attacks on her for her choice.

mikee said...

The problem I have with that second comment, about the chance to redeem being Dems, is that I personally know the Dems to be the absolute corruption party.

Lawrence Person said...

Wait, only now is she observing the hard-left drift of the Democratic Party? Now? In 2020?

That's some mighty fine detective work, Lou.

Maybe next she'll share some shocking news about Bernie Madoff's investments, or rigged outcomes in professional wrestling...

Mr. O. Possum said...

"Lady, you either vote for absolute corruption or a chance to redeem. No other choice now. "

Redeem Your Sins—Vote Biden

Purify the Nation.

mikee said...

As an aside, I find it amazing that the party espousing total destruction of the United States, evisceration of its Constitution, with replacement by Marxist ideology implemented via violence and revolution, has the audacity to say a vote for anything else is "a vote against our country." The cognitive dissonance must sound in their head like Stravinsky, Mahler and Buckner set to 11, simultaneously.

Achilles said...

Democrat voters are no longer stupid or evil.

They are evil period.

There is no level of stupidity that can hide the truth of what the democrat party is.

We are up to 4 arson arrests.

Everyone over here knows what is going on too. We are all talking about it. We know who is doing this.

tommyesq said...

Top two comments share a common theme - a complete lack of denial of any of the accusations she makes re Biden and the left.

Are W said...

I wouldn't see any redemption in a Harris Presidency.

Dave Begley said...

That second comment is unhinged. There is no serious doubt about Joe's senility and inability to do the job. And, of course, his handlers will tell him what to do. We don't know for sure who all his handlers are and they certainly aren't on the ballot.

One of Joe's top campaign people is Symone D. Sanders from Omaha and Creighton University. She's a liar and a poor one at that. She wrote in her book that she was an intern for federal judge Patricia Lamberty. I've know Pat for over 30 years and she's was on the state court bench; not federal.

Symone Sanders is the kind of person who is around Joe and is influential.

Are W said...

I wouldn't see any redemption in a Harris Presidency.

Fernandinande said...

If voting for Trump is wrong I don't wanna be right.

Big Mike said...

You vote for Mr. Trump? You vote against our country.

The second highest rated comment has it precisely backwards. You vote for Mr. Trump, you vote for our country. Period.

I can contemplate the entire United States having our President selected by a coalition of California and New York City, and I want no part of living in that sort of place. Rolling electrical blackouts? Human fecal matter all over our streets? They are now talking about 16% tax rates! For what services??? You don't provide reliable electrical power but you want people to drive electric cars? People who vote Democrat are incompletely sane.

Static Ping said...

In the title, replace "fear" with "know" to make it more accurate.

GRW3 said...

The Amazon Washington Post is the paper of record for the swamp. The comments come mostly from the swamp, which are liked mostly by the swamp. That this column was published at all is the interesting part. The top rated comments are not. I suspect they published only as a warning that the over the top nonsense of the radical left is losing them the support of the Never Trump brigade.

Wince said...

It's the unidirectional move of people who didn't vote for Trump in 2016 who will vote for Trump in 2020 that has WaPo commentariat so upset. Voters will just not switch their votes the other way.

"I'm really tired of closet Trump supporters playing the victim. You know voting for Trump is wrong so you go out of your way blaming others for your bad behavior."

Sounds to me like Pletka was an unrepentant Hillary supporter.

"I never considered voting for Trump in 2016. I may be forced to vote for him this year" by Danielle Pletka.

Actually, it's the reluctant, out of the closet Trump supporters who always have to gesture at his failings in either generalized terms or his "tone" before acknowledging Trump is the better candidate.

With Donald Trump, I know what I am getting. He wears his sins on the outside..."

daskol said...

"Lady, you..." is a very patronizing and insulting way to address a woman. Since the woman works for the AEI and is considering a vote for Trump, I suppose it's warranted in the eyes of those who upvoted it. The sisterhood is fickle.

Flat Tire said...

Surprised the WaPo printed that. It's so "sensible" I may send it to liberal friends.

rehajm said...

It Votes Biden Or Else It Gets the Riots Again

Unknown said...

That the commentators don't realize they are proving her point is the funniest part of this to me.

Bay Area Guy said...

You vote for Mr. Trump? You vote against our country. Period. Own it.

Corrected:

"You vote for Mr. Trump? You vote to save our country. Period. Own it."

Browndog said...

"A Harris administration together with Joe Biden..."

Not a gaffe. She read this off a teleprompter.

Leland said...

Nobody but the author at all concerned with: abolition of the filibuster, creating an executive-legislative monolith of unlimited political power; an increase in the number of Supreme Court seats to ensure a liberal supermajority; passage of devastating economic measures such as the Green New Deal; nationalized health care; the dismantling of U.S. borders and the introduction of socialist-inspired measures?

A friend of FB noted that Trump supporters talk about his accomplishments (as noted here yesterday as well), but that Biden supporters don't talk about his agenda, rather they just show their hate of Trump.

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

I'm sure this has already been posted, but:

Kamala Harris Accidentally Says the Quiet Part Out Loud

Unknown said...

"Lady, you either vote for absolute corruption or a chance to redeem"

What religious wording. The liberal inquisition has started. They have replaced politics with a combination of fanaticism and fantasy. Lenin would be proud of them.

rcocean said...

The attitude of Trump haters would be hilarious if it wasn't so scary and selfish. Basically, its "We don't care if Biden/Harris are competent nor do we care what they do in office". So, there's NOTHING Biden or Harris or Schumer or Pelosi could say or do, that would stop them voting democrat. Because Orange man bad. Crazy.

Personally, I think Biden is unfit to be President. Physically Unfit. Period. Further, people are assuming the senate will stop the Radical left-wing agenda. They're forgetting about executive orders. There's no reason to think the Left-wing judges will overturn left-wing executive orders. Or that Roberts isn't going to side with the Liberal bloc if an Executive Order case comes before them. All the legal energy and power is on the Left.

If Biden does get elected and The Senate goes D, which is 50/50, its katie bar the door. You'll see DC and PR given statehood, and ballot harvesting, mail in voting, illegal alien voting, 16 y/o voting. The D's have it all planned. They'll behave on a national level just like they have in California. They got the bills all written.

Sebastian said...

"Lady, you either vote for absolute corruption or a chance to redeem"

True. Either vote for Biden corruption or Trump redemption. Not that DJT is a savior or anything, but he offers a chance for Hill voters to redeem their own bad judgment.

By the way, where's Hunter?

Spiros said...

Mr. Trump's foreign policy has been adequate. But he doesn't deserve credit for defeating ISIS.

ISIS raged for years. Obama was at war with Assad and believed that a complete breakdown of Syria's social structure would end Assad's brutal regime. If sufficiently motivated (i.e., "driven by self-preservation"), the Syrian people would rise up and demand "change"! But the Geneva Convention lays down that civilians are not to be subject to attack. And so Obama's hands were tied. Obama's attack on Assad's military was ineffectual. But if Obama neglected ISIS, the attack on Assad's weakest points, his cities and people, could still occur. So ISIS malingered in the area for years while Obama was president.

I mean, really, isn't suspicious how rapidly Trump demolished ISIS? He's an ego-driven jerk, he's not a military genius.

Fernandinande said...

What about Biden's promise to tear out policing, education and capitalism by the root so we won't be oppressed by perfectionism, the written word, individualism and objectivity?

rcocean said...

If the senate is close, you'll be depending on Mitt Romney, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkey, and Ben Sasse to stop the Democrats. I wouldn't count on that.

Elaine Raco said...

I read Danielle Pletka's post in the 9/15 Washington Post...twice. And couldn't believe it. Talk about drinking the 'Kool Aid'...she's a total disgrace to every woman who struggled to vote for the last 100 years. She's a disgrace to every woman who support this 'grab the pussy' president; this disgusting POS in the White House who bullies the handicapped, the Gold Star families and the military. This draft dodger whose biggest accomplishment is kissing Putin's ass!

When you support the GOP you are supporting Moscow Mitch and so many others who are taking Russian money via assorted hidden bank donations. The support of all things KKK and Confederate 'good people'....

Hitler was defeated once, and We the People will defeat Trump and the rest of the GOP's Hitler's again.

My husband is a proud VietNam veteran not a slacker!

Ampersand said...

Her characterization of the likely policies of a Biden administration seems realistic. They are powerful reasons to unashamedly vote Republican. But she feels social inhibitions. Join the crowd. In my neighborhood, 20 percent of the houses have Biden signs, 10 percent have BLM signs, and NOBODY has a Trump sign.
If I put one up I would jeopardize my family.

MayBee said...

I can really understand not liking Trump, but I really can't get the hysteria around him. That he's fascist? That makes no sense. That voting for him is "wrong"? Dumb.

People don't seem to understand that sometimes you just don't like the president or his policies. Sometimes you can't stand the way he talks, and you don't adore his wife and everything she wears and you don't think of his daughters as an extension of your family. And that's ok. It doesn't make him a fascist or corrupt or unqualified to be neighborhood association president.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

The Harris administration is at the ready.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

BTW - why isn't Bernie Sanders out there telling his supporters to stop burning down Portland?

Jupiter said...

"With Donald Trump, I know what I am getting. He wears his sins on the outside...."

What "sins" is she talking about? "Grab 'em by the pussy"? Mean tweets?

404 Page Not Found said...

Elaine Raco, the hate fairly oozes from your post. You have drunk the kool aid honey.

buwaya said...

"You vote against our country."

A nation state requires a distinct cultural entity as its core.
A group of people with a given ethnic identity, language, religion probably, folkways, mores, history, the ashes of their fathers and the temples of their Gods, and etc. A nation state directs its allegiance to a people. This is different from empires or kingdoms, where allegiance is given to a leadership group or royal house.

The US is, still, a nation state. Hence the country, the US, is still that cultural group that sees itself as Americans in the historical cultural sense, as distinct from any other. The eventual elaboration of Wilsons 14 points of 1918 (part X particularly) applied universally, as it was in the 20th century, would have required the self determination of the Americans, no less than the Czechs or Hungarians or Filipinos or Basques. And that core cultural group, within the territory of the US, is nearly entirely with Trump.

This idea is a development of modern European history, but was exported successfully to the world. It is curious how recent this change was. One marker for this, because it hits where it counts, at the point of men having to risk life or kill, is the history of battles. At the battle of Pavia, 1525, between the Kingdom of France and the Holy Roman Emperor, there were no nations. Nearly every participant was a mercenary loyal to his paymasters and to his mercenary band, or, at best, personally to his sovereign. Pavia is fascinating in many other ways and in great depth; sadly there is no one easily available book.

The latest trend in global politics is, however, in a general sense, the return of imperial systems. There is no "country" in that.

papper said...

Voting is a choice between (or among) the available candidates. Sometimes your choices all seem good and you are picking the better choice and sometimes the choices all seem bad and you are left choosing the lesser evil. I guess the Wapo commenters are too dense or dishonest to acknowledge that.

roesch/voltaire said...

I vote for the man who wears real hair and keeps his sins to himself.

Krumhorn said...

Even the neverTrumpers are planning to vote for Trump....although that would not include our LLR Chuck since that’s just a sock puppet for a leftie.

- Krumhorn

Mattman26 said...

"This draft dodger whose biggest accomplishment is kissing Putin's ass!"

You mean kissing Putin's ass by unleashing American energy production? Or arming the Ukrainians? Or moving NATO troops into Poland?

Please be more specific.

And if it's that he said nice things personally about Putin, maybe you need to work on your priorities.

LA_Bob said...

Danielle Pletka, you can't stop at voting for Trump. We need sufficient Republicans in the House and the Senate to stop (or at least slow) the advance of the policies you fear.

Governors and state legislatures, too!

Republicans aren't perfect. But they're mostly better than the bomb-throwers and woolly thinkers on the other side.

Skeptical Voter said...

Second highest rated comment--a vote for Trump is a vote for absolute corruption. Whoo Hoo--have you seen Biden's mansion, or Hunter Biden's bank account? Some people truly have their head about 12 inches up the bottom end of their alimentary canal. That commenter is one of them.

Jupiter said...

Oh yeah! "Bullying the handicapped". Forgot that one.

Kevin said...

The second highest rated comment has it precisely backwards. You vote for Mr. Trump, you vote for our country. Period.

That used to be true, but now Biden has reversed all his positions and the media will be making it clear Trump sent all our jobs overseas while Biden worked tirelessly for 47 years to bring them home.

Birkel said...

Absolute corruption or redemption?

Agreed.
But probably not the way that commenter meant.

tcrosse said...

Somewhere there's a bridge missing its troll.

Skeptical Voter said...

Second highest rated comment--a vote for Trump is a vote for absolute corruption. Whoo Hoo--have you seen Biden's mansion, or Hunter Biden's bank account? Some people truly have their head about 12 inches up the bottom end of their alimentary canal. That commenter is one of them.

Gunner said...

WaPo commenters make the ones on YouTube look smart.

exhelodrvr1 said...

Elaine,
That attitude would be humorous, coming from the party of Bill Clinton, TEd Kennedy, and Hillary the Enabler, if it wasn't so horribly dangerous to our country.

Michael said...

The WaPo commenters (and E. Raco above) have drunk so much Progressive Kool-Aid they must slosh when they walk. Virtually nothing she says about Trump is true. One example:

With respect to Putin, Trump knows how to deal with thugs from his days in Manhattan property development. They have no legitimacy and are therefore always insecure and concerned with their image. You can do a lot more to contain their aggressiveness if you treat them personally as "big men." Trump has sent arms to Ukraine, moved troops and weapons into Poland, opposed the gas pipeline to Europe, largely thwarted Putin's ambitions in the Mideast, and strongly supported fracking, which has greatly reduced the price of Putin's oil. "Kissing his ass" (as she put it) makes it possible for Putin to tolerate this without some kind of forceful response. In this, as most else, Trump knows what he's doing.

buwaya said...

It is curious how quickly ISIS was defeated beginning late 2016.

The critical bit was not anything in Syria but the siege of Mosul in Iraq. The ISIS loss at Mosul (and the region) pulled most of ISIS funding and gravely weakened it in Syria.

The US COULD have organized an Iraqi army much sooner in the Iraqi panic of 2014.
Especially as ISIS in Iraq was a small thing at the time, 1000 men that beat 30,000.

Ref. the Napoleonic maxim "the moral is to the material as three is to one". Much more than three is to one in fact, and not just in the case of ISIS.

ISIS subsequently grew much bigger, as a consequence of taking and holding Mosul and so much of northern Iraq.

But the US did not. The US dilly dallied for two years. In the meantime horrendous things happened to the populations ISIS held at its mercy, and it eventually required the destruction of Mosul to eradicate ISIS.

There is a story here that we have not yet heard, especially the internal details of US policy making 2013-2017. There is a heck of a lot of explanation due.

Ray - SoCal said...

From her Wikipedia:

- Husband worked for Bush and for Covington
- A NeoCon
- Jewish I assume - Adjunct Instructor - Center for Jewish Civilization
- Worked as a reporter

Yep, fits the profile of an anti Trumper that did not vote for Trump in 2016.

Real American said...

Trump IS the resistance.

danoso said...

I do love Elaine's full-throated endorsement of Biden. Or maybe I missed that part.

And that will be the postmortem of the Biden candidacy - you can't beat somethin' with nothin'.

buwaya said...

Elaine Raco is an example of "two movies one screen".

One sees what one CAN see, filtered by ones education and perspective, and, unfortunately, often the dreaded bubbles. Some filters are opaque, and nothing can get through those, while others are crystal clear, and others yet add bizarre colors and distorting effects.

Jupiter said...

Hi, Elaine, and welcome to Althouse blog. Are you Igna's replacement? I have been wondering what happened to her, haven't seen her for a while. I guess she must have displeased Herr Soros. We can only hope it was over with quickly. It sounds like you have pretty well mastered her schtick, the garbled spew of warmed-over talking points mixed with irrelevant personal detail. Do you by any chance have a pink, knitted piece of personal headgear? With two little kitty-ears?

JB71-AZ said...

It's interesting seeing all the gaslighting going on in the comments there, and the downright bullying. "Vote for Biden or you're worse than Hitler" (slightly paraphrased) is not a winning argument, but the tactics of someone who knows they realistically don't have any case for voting FOR Biden.

Even here there's some who let their utter hatred for Trump overshadow reality.

rcocean's got it right: "The attitude of Trump haters would be hilarious if it wasn't so scary and selfish. Basically, its "We don't care if Biden/Harris are competent nor do we care what they do in office". So, there's NOTHING Biden or Harris or Schumer or Pelosi could say or do, that would stop them voting democrat. Because Orange man bad. Crazy."

I think we're at a crossroads here - we can make this a 'One Man, One Vote - One Time' election and accept that the Dems will strip the country down like the Socialists have done in Venezuela by voting for Biden - or go with Trump and buy another 4 year reprieve, and hope that the left will eat themselves alive. I don't see any real alternative.

Narr said...

So far in my mostly white single-family home neighborhood, there are quite a few BLM and related signs but only a very few candidate signs.

If BLM = Biden vote that's significant.

Narr
But does it?

buwaya said...

And Trump of course is mostly a consequence, not a cause, except for the "great man" effect.
The current American struggle is not with or for Trump, but between classes and castes of the people.
History is a collective thing.
Conflicts happen between masses of people with divergent interests and cultures.

It is always a tragedy, and, taking the long view, almost always inevitable.

Personalization is very human, but also very delusional.

tim maguire said...

I agree with the commenters. All good people have an obligation to vote for the Democrat, no matter who the Democrat is. You're not allowed to complain about the quality of the choice because it's irrelevant. You vote Democrat. No matter what. Period.

Careful reflection is for suckers.

PM said...

"I know you work for a very, very conservative organization. That's ok."

Please. We know that's NOT OK.
Just more horseshit from the most intolerant group of people ever to claim love and respect for all people but you and you and especially you.

rcocean said...

Funny that Conservative Inc. are either rooting for Biden or AWOL. David French, Goldberg, Erickson, the Dispatch gang and Bulwark boys are all blase about Biden/Harris taking over and changing the country Far Left. But then, when were they interested in fighting the Left? They're more interested in attacking Trump, Palin, and those on the Right. y'know the "Non-conservative" Republicans.

Never has the establishment been more united in trying to destroy a President. Its quite remarkable. Some of them, like the author, are waking up to what a disaster a Biden/Harris Presidency would be, but most of them are willing to burn down the USA, as long as Trump is destroyed. Crazy.

buwaya said...

The Biden/Harris voters see things clearly, though mostly unconsciously.
It really does not matter what specific persons are elected. If one is weak or broken they are easily replaced, as they are almost always figureheads anyway.

What you are electing, with very rare exceptions, is a leadership clique, and really a social caste, in the modern American situation.

Trump is a "great man", the unusual case that acts as a catalyst for a latent collective reaction. But that reaction is, now, ongoing anyway.

As for your rules, laws, institutions, democracy, customs - these are, in a state of genuine conflict, as you now have, the equivalent of cardboard and balsa wood stage props. The uninsightful think they are stone and steel. They are no protection.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Hi Inga.

The tell in Elaine is the Russian obsession.

bonkti said...

"Shut up!" he explained.

Freeman Hunt said...

This is consistent with the main argument I see on social media, "Vote against Trump because he is mean, and you are mean too if you vote for him."

There is a certain species of academically-inclined male that posts about how Trump is a mean liar nearly every day.

rhhardin said...

Don't vote for democrats. It's the party of control at any cost including country. Maybe it will change someday - look for the return of gentlemen's agreements across the aisle - but not today.

Bruce Hayden said...

Blogger rehajm said...
“It Votes Biden Or Else It Gets the Riots Again”

I really don’t care. They aren’t going to be rioting here. They wouldn’t survive it. Ditto for much of the country. The only place that riots can really happen is in Dem strongholds where they are allowed to happen. And that isn’t even in all Dem strongholds - Detroit appears to have shown the way here. They allow protests, but whenever they turn violent, the police come down hard on those committing the violence, by arresting them for the crimes that they have committed. You can’t have riots without (often a lot of) law breaking, if these Dem strongholds are willing to tolerate rioting, looting, arson, etc, then they are welcome to the fruits of their choices. It just doesn’t move me a whole lot for them to tell us that they will burn their cities down, even more than they already have, if they don’t get their way. They are threatening a 2 year old’s temper tantrum if they don’t get their way.

I am reminded of one of the stories that my partner told. Her natural daughter is just as stubborn as her mother (I sometimes get stuck between them). When she was maybe 5, she refused to get in the car to leave, along with her brothers and sister. Her mother told her that she would be left behind. Daughter repeated that she didn’t want to go. Parents packed up the car, with the other 3 kids, and left. Of course, unbeknownst to the kid, they only drove far enough that she couldn’t see them. After about 5 minutes, she realized that they really had left her, that she really was alone, and started crying. Parents came back, and she never tried that again.

That is how these Democrats need to be treated. When they threaten to riot if Trump wins, tell them, fine, go ahead. Just don’t expect us to help you pay to rebuild your city. And don’t.

BUMBLE BEE said...

Hillary and Joe? blatantly corrupt in most every way. They lead the party? Good to be old.

Freeman Hunt said...

It's strange that there isn't more discussion of the fact that a vote for Biden is likely actually a vote for Harris. Shouldn't Harris receive more scrutiny?

Greg The Class Traitor said...

"Lady, you either vote for absolute corruption or a chance to redeem. "

Yep

You vote for Hunter Biden getting to cash in on Dad being President, like the way he did in Ukraine, or you vote for Trump.

You vote for an FBI that lied to the FISA court so they could spy on the President's political opponents, or you vote for Trump.

You vote for using the IRS to block political opposition with "Be On the Lookout For" orders, or you vote for Trump.

Personally? I'm voting against corruption, and therefore for Trump

YoungHegelian said...

As part of the Left's new found communal faith, white people are supposed to realize that they benefit from a racist and thus immoral societal system. This is called "systemic racism", and it it said by the Left to be the Original Sin of the American nation.

It amazes me that the Left, who claim to believe that they are part of a massive systemic evil, are so morally arrogant that when someone suggests that they might have additional moral flaws (e.g. like Ms Pletka), their reaction is one of unbridled vitriol.

This is not the reaction of people who have internalized a profound moral guilt (mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa...) This is the reaction of people who are play-acting at being moral. They are following the lead of the young Mickey Rooney as their moral exemplar "Hey, let's put on a show!".

Greg The Class Traitor said...

I do love watching the Left here. "Hey look, when gave you the 'moderate candidate', what more do you want? Actually centrist policies? No way in hell!"

If they're being this totalitarian now, when the GOP controls the White Hosue, Senate, and at least has some parity in the Courts, how do you think they're going to act if they get control of all of the above?

"A republic, if you can keep it."

If you're tired of freedom, vote for Democrats in 2020.

buwaya said...

"Never has the establishment been more united in trying to destroy a President."

Which is why the only conclusion can be that what you actually have is a caste war.
This has in any case long been obvious from the general institutional treatment of the American volk.

Whiskeybum said...

Do ya'll remember that viral video of the woman who, post 2016-election, was recorded screaming and shrieking like a jackass braying at the moon? If we could hear her talk instead of just screaming, I'm guessing she'd sound pretty much like Elaine Raco.

Beaver7216 said...

"You know voting for Trump is wrong so you go out of your way blaming others"

"Lady, you either vote for absolute corruption or a chance to redeem"

There seems to be a lack of logic or coherence in those sentences. What has Trump done that has been proven corrupt? I would think that in almost 4 years with all Democrats, media, many bureaucrats at the FBI, CIA, etc, and many Republican politicians and pundits against him there would be something proven by now. Heck all those ex-Trump employees hate him. "Trump is a authoritarian" Explain and prove. "Trump is a racist." Explain and prove. "Russian stooge". How so? What policies?

Talk about grabbing pussies, calling Mexican immigrants racist, bullying, etc. are all offensive but link that with meaningful policy decisions or something of substantial impact beside "coarsening the culture". The US remains the #1 country for immigrants, by far.

And, Elaine, I suspect that your one charge about being a draft dodger actually DOES HAVE a policy impact. Trump hates wars and has demonstrated this by not starting a war and reducing the 8 wars he inherited (including ending one of them). I suspect many Vietnam Vets would agree. Don't accuse him of being a chicken hawk like so many politicians.

Michael K said...

roesch/voltaire said...
I vote for the man who wears real hair and keeps his sins to himself.


A Bernie voter ! He has successfully concealed all his corruption since he was Mayor of Burlington.

buwaya said...

"a vote for Biden is likely actually a vote for Harris"

Harris is really a null entity. She is an object, a pawn, a placeholder, a cardboard cutout. That is her history in CA. What you should be asking is who has been controlling Harris. What persons, what committee, what cabal.

Dr Weevil said...

I'm astonished that anyone dares bring up Trump's draft deferments when he's running against Biden, who also had draft deferments (the same number, I think: 5). I don't know who 'Inside Sources' is, politically, but this seems reasonable:

"He was 6 feet tall and had an athlete's build. He played football in high school and was active in sports throughout college. He spent one summer as a lifeguard at a local pool.

But after he graduated college in the spring of 1968 and became eligible for the draft and — possibly — combat duty in Vietnam, he received a diagnosis that let him avoid military service.

No, not bone spurs. Asthma.

And his name was Joe Biden."

There's lots more. In particular, the author notes that Biden never mentions asthma in his autobiography. One point he doesn't make: Bone spurs (I looked them up) are caused by excessive walking (we know Trump spent a lot of time following his father around to learn the business) and show up on x-rays. They would be impossible to fake, if the draft board checked up. Asthma, on the other hand, seems pretty easy to fake. I've had a mild case myself as a lingering after-effect of a bad case of pneumonia when I was 48, but would find it impossible to prove to an investigative body. (It only affects me when I'm simultaneously physically over-exerted, cold, and worried. The worst attack was when I had to run through falling snow while dodging traffic at Lincoln Center and worrying whether I would be too late to be admitted to the City Opera performance of Verdi's Macbeth that I'd paid a fair amount of money for. I had switched from subway to bus to taxi on the way, all of which failed and left me to run the last three blocks. I made it, but barely, and coughed and wheezed through the whole first act.)

Greg The Class Traitor said...

Spiros said...
Mr. Trump's foreign policy has been adequate. But he doesn't deserve credit for defeating ISIS.
...
I mean, really, isn't suspicious how rapidly Trump demolished ISIS? He's an ego-driven jerk, he's not a military genius.


Trump is an ego driven jerk who wants what's best for America.

Obama is an ego driven jerk who hates America, and wanted whatever was best for America's enemies.

So ISIS flourished under Obama, and was destroyed under Trump. Because Trump wanted America to win, and Obama didn't.

Biden is an ego driven jerk who is senile. While he does NOT hate America, all his staff / controllers DO hate America.

If you want more ISIS, more failure, and Iran to get nuclear weapons, vote for a Democrat

Greg The Class Traitor said...

Bruce Hayden said...
rehajm said...
“It Votes Biden Or Else It Gets the Riots Again”
I really don’t care. They aren’t going to be rioting here. They wouldn’t survive it. Ditto for much of the country.


That's only true if Trump wins re-election

If A Democrat gets into the White House, the DoJ will go into full scale assault mode against anyone who tries to stop the rioters, be it politicians, the Police, and / or private citizens.

Vote Trump like your home and life depend upon it.

Because they do

tom said...

Is the definition of small-d democracy now "not democratic"? The Filibuster is not democratic, the Senate is not democratic, and supreme court justices with lifetime appointments are not democratic. All of those things are defensible, but they are not democratic. Prove me wrong.

gilbar said...

roesch/voltaire said...
I vote for the man who wears real hair

really? i figured you'd be voting for Joe (plugs) Biden

ProTip: put (at least) a Little thought into what you write.
I know it's HARD, when you are brain damaged... But TRY!!

Beaver7216 said...

Elaine,
Joe Biden was born in 1942 and was a recent graduate in 1968, the year I turned 18. 300,000 were drafted that year. Bloodiest year of the war. Biden? He had asthma and got the same 1-Y deferment as Trump. Unlike Trump, Biden was athletic, played football and was a lifeguard. And Biden went on to start 7 wars with Obama.

Greg The Class Traitor said...

I am starting to be reminded of the 2002 Governor's race, Gray Davis v Bill Simon

Simon, the Republicans, spent the entirety of his campaign attacking Davis, and none of it making the case for why he would be better. In the end, he lost, because while Davis was greatly disliked, Simon never actually gave the voters a reason to vote for him.

The next year, when Davis faced a recall election, and it was a straight up or down vote "do you want Davis to be Governor", Davis lost.

The Democrats are pulling a Simon. They don't really have a choice, because their candidate is an empty suit, the VP candidate is a repulsive human being, and their policies are opposed by a majority of the voters.

I don't believe they're going to be able to win on their current path. And I don't see any way for them to get off of it

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

@Freeman Hunt

Democrats... scrutiny....

?

LOL. right.

Michael K said...

Since buwaya is in the thread, I wonder if you would like to comment on this Gary Berntsen column.

In it he suggests that the seed money for BLM came from Venezuela plus that Spain is heavily connected.

Podemos and Spain’s Socialist party now rule Spain, a NATO ally, in a coalition that answers to the Venezuelan narco-trafficking regime. Its banks and companies are loaded with stolen Venezuelan cash. Venezuela’s former intelligence chief Hugo Carvajal, the man who helped stuff the diplomatic pouch with cash and cocaine to create Podemos, is in Spain and the U.S. government is demanding his extradition for drug trafficking. He had been in Spanish custody several months ago and the Spanish have refused to extradite him, claiming he escaped. They are shielding him. The leftist Spanish government is full of liars. Critics of President Trump think he is too hard on our European allies. Think again!

Original Mike said...

Danielle Pletka presents a very good list of what will happen if Biden is elected. It bookends nicely with yesterday's comments in the post that Althouse asked for a list of Trump's accomplishments.

This election is so consequential.

Michael K said...

What you should be asking is who has been controlling Harris. What persons, what committee, what cabal.

The same people who put Gavin Newsom in as Governor, I suspect. California is a medieval state, complete with nobility and serfs.

Greg The Class Traitor said...

Follow up on my comparison between Davis - Simon 2002, and Trump - Biden 2020:

The key line from Pletka is this: "With Donald Trump, I know what I am getting. He wears his sins on the outside...."

The same could have been said about Davis in 2002. And was

Butkus51 said...

All her comments on the possibilities if dems take all 3 seems to have fallen on deaf ears.
Whistling past the graveyard.

Birkel said...

A vote for removing some statues was a vote for what came next, and was easily predicted.

No thoughts on that particular slippery slope?

Michael K said...

I am starting to be reminded of the 2002 Governor's race, Gray Davis v Bill Simon

Simon was the RINO candidate and the beginning of the end of the GOP in CA. The man who should have been the GOP candidate is still a Congressman.

His name is Tom McClintock.

Greg The Class Traitor said...

tom said...
Is the definition of small-d democracy now "not democratic"? The Filibuster is not democratic, the Senate is not democratic, and supreme court justices with lifetime appointments are not democratic. All of those things are defensible, but they are not democratic. Prove me wrong.

The definition of small "d" democratic (as opposed to Democrat) is you tell teh voters what you're going to do if elected, and then ask them for your vote.

Another part of that definition is NOT "one man, one vote, once". A Left wing controlled "Living Constitution" Supreme Court is the diametric opposite of respect for democracy, and allowing people to have votes that matter.

But, let's get back to that first part. Do you have a good idea what Trump will do with his next 4 years? More of the same? That's what he's running on.

What's Biden running on? I won't stop fracking and I supported President Trump's China and Europe travel bans.

Both of these statements are flat out lies. Running on "'ll be a moderate", while planing to destroy every institution we have that might get in your way if you're elected, is the opposite of small "d" democratic.

And that's what Biden's running on

rehajm said...

The only place that riots can really happen is in Dem strongholds where they are allowed to happen

Shortsighted- With Democrats winning the presidency every place becomes a Democratic stronghold where they are allowed to happen. If you resist you don't have to go peacefully but you will go...

LilyBart said...

I see all the democrats talking about how awful Trump is - but wonder if they really 'get' where the democrat party is taking the country. This writer gets it. I hope more people do.

Trump's bad manners won't destroy my life. But the dem's plans for our country just might. Just like Chavez destroyed Venezuela.

LilyBart said...

I vote for the man who wears real hair and keeps his sins to himself.

Are you sure?

There a lots of videos of him 'bothering' young girls and wives. He was on The View and found it impossible to even say he was sorry for making these people uncomfortable.

There's very real evidence that his family has enriched themselves financially using Biden's political power.

He lies - about big things and small things. He's not above destroying a man's reputation to gain a bit of 'voter sympathy' - claiming the man who was in the fatal car accident with his first wife was a drunk driver (zero evidence he was drinking - the investigation concluded Biden's wife was driving distracted.) This man's family had to beg the Biden campaign to get him to stop lying about their dad.





LilyBart said...


It Votes Biden Or Else It Gets the Riots Again

Remember, wherever threats work, they'll be used again and again to control people. Voting Biden won't stop them. They'll keep coming back every time the left wants something the general public is against.

Drago said...

Spiros: "Mr. Trump's foreign policy has been adequate. But he doesn't deserve credit for defeating ISIS.
...
I mean, really, isn't suspicious how rapidly Trump demolished ISIS? He's an ego-driven jerk, he's not a military genius."

Summary:
Trump accidentally becomes a billionaire
Trump accidentally becomes a global brand
Trump accidentally wins republican nomination
Trump accidentally wins Presidency
Trump accidentally defeats coup attempt involving entire US govt (including members of his own party) and at least 5 other state intelligence services
Trump accidentally delivers record economic performance
Trump accidentally delivers new trade deals that were called "impossible" to deliver
Trump accidentally moves embassy to Jerusalem which was called "impossible" to do without alienating Arab world
Trump accidentally delivers peace deal that was called "impossible" and the "experts" couldn't deliver for 70 years


Gee, that Trump guy sure seems "accident"-prone.
Trump accidentally

Bruce Hayden said...

“Joe Biden was born in 1942 and was a recent graduate in 1968, the year I turned 18. 300,000 were drafted that year. Bloodiest year of the war. “

Ditto here. Class of 1968 from HS. I had thought that the highest casualties were the year before, in 1967, but you are correct, highest casualties (almost 17k) were in 1968, the last year LBJ was in office. They then declined steadily while Nixon was in office, dropping into the double digits in 1973.

tim in vermont said...

roesch/voltaire said...
I vote for the man who wears real hair

really? i figured you'd be voting for Joe (plugs) Biden


That’s why I always read gilbar’s comments.

tim in vermont said...

This is the first election in my memory where the presidential candidate of a major party ticket was actually a stalking horse for the Veep, a veep. who was already rejected by her own party for POTUS. The people running Biden really want her in there, which makes me think it’s big California money.

buwaya said...

Weird. Sounds (mostly) to be an exaggeration.

Spain is a vastly bigger economy and there is more in it than Venezuelan money could buy. There is way, way more British and Arab and German money in Spain than the now-done and gone Venezuelan oil bonanza.

Its probable that what became Podemos got funding from Chavez in their early years, when Chavez and co were still throwing petrobucks around everywhere - Cuba, Honduras, Bolivia, Argentina, Ecuador etc. But oil prices crashed in 2014 and that was almost instantly the end of Venezuela buying foreign friends.

Podemos got its big electoral break in the general elections of 2016, where it mainly cannibalized the old socialist PSOE, but that was years after the end of the Venezuelan money spigot. Podemos is a much diminished lot now, the very junior partner in coalition with a recovered PSOE, and in a very fragile minority government to boot.

Its a bit ironic that the only reason the current coalition holds the government is mainly because the RIGHT-wing part (relatively) of the Basque Nationalists supports it. For the purpose of having a government in the first place, after lots of chaos where nobody could form a government at all. Its also ironic that the Covid business pretty much shut down Spanish politics because it wasnt likely back in January that the government would last very long.

Spain is constantly full of rumors of corruption. Corruption (pre-Covid) is the principal subject of political discussion, and the PSOE has an ancient reputation for it (as does the center-right PP to be fair). That some criminal bought his way out of jail and has political protection is no surprise.

The most interesting party in Spain is actually Vox, which gained tremendously in the last elections. It became the third-largest, after the PSOE and the PP (think of them as the Spanish Republicans, which I have always supported). Podemos is actually fourth. In Spanish terms Vox is the slightly fascist, traditionalist, very populist "deplorable" party. Many here would like them. They are rather like current US Republicans, but more loud and proud. Note that democratic Spain has always had a genuine and openly fascist "right". These guys include that tendency these days.

Of course, Spanish politics does not work very well as an analog to US politics. Different culture, different history, different institutions.

Bruce Hayden said...

“Shortsighted- With Democrats winning the presidency every place becomes a Democratic stronghold where they are allowed to happen. If you resist you don't have to go peacefully but you will go...”

The threat is that there will be riots if Trump wins. My point is that that is a meaningless threat to much of the country. But you are probably right that they are more likely to expand under Biden/Harris, than under Trump,nw here his DOJ is actively involved in arresting rioters.

Rory said...

"Lady, you either vote for absolute corruption or a chance to redeem."

We know the DNC and the Clinton campaign promoted Trump in 2016, so the first reform that should have occurred was the Democrat cleaning their own stable of shit. Biden's nomination is the certain sign that they didn't do anything along those lines, and the people pulling strings in 2016 are still in charge.

Ambrose said...

"Lady, let me mansplain it to you...."

hombre said...

Where are the erudite refutations of her points made? The cited comments are typical ad hominem responses to facts by the lefties.

Ad hominem responses and anger are the antidotes to cognitive dissonance.

Michael K said...

Thanks, buwaya.

holdfast said...

Trump defeated ISIS by telling military leaders to stop pussy-footing around and kill ISIS. An 8 year old child could have come up with that cunning strategy. But Obama couldn't.

It was literally that simply. They just had to get rid of the excess ROEs (not all ROEs - you need some) and political restrictions of the Obama era. Although, TBF, those rules and restrictions had helped to make ISIS fat and complacent, which made things even easier when Trump unshackled the military.

tim in vermont said...

"Of course, Spanish politics does not work very well as an analog to US politics”

Just start with the label “Republicans."

Stephen said...

Some how I knew when I read Pletka's column, I knew that Professor Althouse would put it up.

First, Pletka pointedly does not say that she voted Democratic in 2016. She simply says that she did not vote for Trump. The only fair inference is that she voted for Johnson, an option that is not available this year.

Second, Pletka is a pretty hard core conservative--a strong supporter of the Iraq War, a former Jesse Helms acolyte, a climate change denier, and a colleague and co-host with Hugh Hewitt, a Trump apologist. Since she is pretty hard right, we have to take her claim that a Biden victory will result in rule by the hard left with a grain of salt.

Finally, that claim is not very plausible on its face. Biden was the strongest candidate on the moderate path in the primaries, and the party rallied to him, from both right and left, because it believed he would win. His closest advisors are all Democratic party centrists of long standing. He will continue to rely upon them: there is no likelihood of his becoming a pawn for AOC, a first term Representative. If he wins the general, it will be because he has been able to forge a broad coalition, running from center to right, sufficient to overcome Trump's electoral college advantage. He will owe debts to all parts of that coalition, and not just to the left. Just as important, if the Democratic party is able to gain control of both Houses of Congress, that will be because of success in states and districts that are purple rather than red, and they will insist on legislation that preserves their electability.

So, as I read this column, it is a right winger looking for reasons to vote her right wing preferences, not a moderate assessing what both candidates bring to the table. Could that describe Professor Althouse, as well?

LilyBart said...


It seems that both Harris and Biden are agreeing with her: Harris referred to a "Harris Administration with Joe Biden" yesterday, and today Biden calls it a "Harris Biden Administration".

We ALL KNOW IT! Good that its all in the open now!

MadisonMan said...

Hitler was defeated once, and We the People will defeat Trump and the rest of the GOP's Hitler's again.
This really devalues Hitler's evil.

Rusty said...

Blogger roesch/voltaire said...
"I vote for the man who wears real hair and keeps his sins to himself"
So that's a "no" for plugs then. Trump will be glad to hear it.

Gk1 said...

I am starting to be reminded of the 2002 Governor's race, Gray Davis v Bill Simon"

Greg, you also can't overlook Kerry vs. GW Bush in 2004 as an analogy well. Biden-Harris is following the same strategy of thinking everyone sees things exactly as they do, therefore you can't lose because all of the right thinking people will reject the republicans. I have a lot of democratics friends and neighbors in for another sobering election.

In 2004 I still lived in the inner sunset of San Francisco and can still vividly remember someone staggering from a bar at 11:30pm at night shrieking "FUCK FUCK FUCK!!" when Nevada and Arizona projected returns came cascading in.

The next day my co-workers were convinced Bush "stole" the election using Diebold voting machines and because the exit polls on the eastern seaboard showed Kerry comfortably ahead. So ipso facto, Bush stole the election because there was no other explanation (other than tabulating the real votes that is)

Rick said...

wendybar said...
They are the Radicals they are warning us about, and they are blind to it.


There's a way to tell whether people who call themselves liberals are blind to leftist extremism or if they support it but are unwilling to admit it. When leftists advance their plans do they argue against them or do they lib-splain trying to pretend the left's positions aren't as extreme as they seem.

This describes essentially all "liberals" which is why Althouse, the true liberal, takes so much flak from them.

I'm Full of Soup said...

Ha! Now this lady is what I would call the new WOKE!

Greg The Class Traitor said...

Gk1 said...
Me: I am starting to be reminded of the 2002 Governor's race, Gray Davis v Bill Simon"
Greg, you also can't overlook Kerry vs. GW Bush in 2004 as an analogy well


I'm conceding the Left's belief that Trump is not liked. I think that Trump might actually lose a "recall" election, even one that was done as part of an electoral college.

My point is that the Dems don't get to do a recall, they have to put up a candidate. And they're refusing to do so.

Which to my mind means they have almost no chance of winning. Because they're not offering a candidate. They're not offering a platform. They're offering "I'm not Trump, except for the parts that the voters like".

And the voters aren't that dumb

Greg The Class Traitor said...

Stephen said...
Biden was the strongest candidate on the moderate path in the primaries, and the party rallied to him, from both right and left, because it believed he would win.

Hey fat, I'm going to challenge you to a pushup contest, to show how much smarter I am than you are.

Joe Biden was dragged across the South Carolina finish line by Jim Clyburn. Nothing he did was involved with that.

Then someone got Mayor Pete and Senator Amy K to drop out before Super Tuesday, and endorse Biden.

The only thing Biden accomplished during the Primaries was to wander around, insult people, and generally spark some sympathy for the poor demented man who for some reason was being pushed to humiliate himself running for office.

"I'm going to end all petroleum production in the US" isn't moderate, it far left lunatic. But Biden promised it during the primary. The Democrat Party Platform isn't moderate, either. And that's what the Democrats will inflict on us if they get power

tom said...

@Greg The Class Traitor said: "Another part of that definition is NOT "one man, one vote, once". A Left wing controlled "Living Constitution" Supreme Court is the diametric opposite of respect for democracy, and allowing people to have votes that matter."

No. One man one vote is pretty much the definition of Democracy. Democracy and the rule of law often require other institutions - or at least it might be a good idea to temper Democracy with various non- or semi-democratic institutions like the SCOTUS or Senate, but to define "Democracy" as "the filibuster" is ludicrous. That's not democracy, that's Senate tradition. Maybe it's a good thing, maybe it's not. But democratic it ain't, small d or no.

Greg The Class Traitor said...

tom said...
@Greg The Class Traitor said: "Another part of that definition is NOT "one man, one vote, once". A Left wing controlled "Living Constitution" Supreme Court is the diametric opposite of respect for democracy, and allowing people to have votes that matter."

No. One man one vote is pretty much the definition of Democracy.


I'm sorry, Tom, but are you ignorant, or just really stupid?

"One man, one vote, once". As in, you get to vote once, then never again, because the scum you voted into office destroy the democracy.

Which is what the Democrats are planning on doing.

Do learn how to read before you pretend to respond to my posts.

hstad said...

9/15/20, 9:41 AM
Blogger Spiros said..."...Mr. Trump's foreign policy has been adequate. But he doesn't deserve credit for defeating ISIS..." 9/15/20, 9:41 AM

I'm sure that if ISIS had resurfaced you'd be blaming President Trump. I called B.S. on your comments.

Elaine, I'm a Vietnam Vet and wasn't proud to fight in a war which was a lie promulgated by a Democratic President - LBJ.

Tina Trent said...

Pletka isn't a hardcore conservative. AEI is a typical lying libertarian outfit hellbent on flooding the borders with illegal and legal immigration to lower wages, at the cost of creating a permanent dependency society carried on the backs of the working and middle classes via property taxes, medicaid, medicare, and social security taxes.

That's a lot of things, but it sure as heck isn't conservative.

M said...

The rabid anti Trumpers keep going on about his “lies” but even as someone who doesn’t like him personally I don’t see that he lies anymore than any other politician. Obama was a prolific liar. Clinton lied whenever he opened his mouth. The Bushes were less practiced but still lairs. So spare me “he’s a liar”.

As for grabbing pussy Trump isn’t a rapists like their old God Clinton. He isn’t a pedophile or likes to OD his black gay rent boys like so many of the Leftist elitists friends. Again this is projection.

The rabid, histrionic anti Trumpers are mad because he is trying to dismantle the Mandarin system that gives their pathetic lives meaning and employment. How many Union teachers would have a job in the public sector? How many government employees, contractors or tax subsidized “non profits” who are in the position of distributing taxpayer largess to the masses would have a job if Americans were not battling illegal aliens and worker visas for jobs in their own country? My cousin is a district manager for Texas state unemployment offices. She has NO interest in seeing immigration controlled to improve citizens employment prospects. That would greatly limit her career, income and status. She spends a lot of time on European vacations and skiing trips. She doesn’t have family money and her husband is a teacher. I wonder where all that vaca cash comes from?