Subheadline mostly concedes the embarrassing truth: "President Trump visits five states on Sunday while his rival Joe Biden campaigns in Pennsylvania." I say "mostly" because the geographical range of Biden's campaigning is muted by referring to the state, which is rather large, when Biden confines himself to the extreme southeast corner of the place, Philadelphia, which is an easy commute from his home in Wilmington, Delaware.
My screen shot is from the front page. The headline at the article is "US Election 2020: Biden and Trump hit swing states."
I am abstaining in the 2020 election, so I'm about as distanced and cruelly neutral an observer as you're going to get. I care about the quality of journalism, and the main thing I do here on this blog is monitor elite media. I've found the bias in favor of Joe Biden absolutely disgusting. And I believe Biden is a stalking horse for Kamala Harris, whom the mainstream media hasn't subjected to any serious testing.
Stalking horse. Isn't that exactly the right expression? It's literally this:
Posts
124 comments:
Trojan Horse might be applicable.
Exactly. Best analogy yet.
I am neither cruel nor neutral, so I urge you to vote my convictions and keep it to yourself.
serious question
is Jo Biden TRYING to lose? Or does he actually think he's 10 points ahead?
Biden's a stalking horse for Harris, sure, but who is she fronting for? I just can't see Biden voluntarily picking her as his running mate so how and why did that happen? Who's running the Democratic party? Who has the juice to put Harris on the ticket and calling the other ludicrous shots that the Democrats have been making during 2020? Allowing the riots and looting, supporting CHUD, etc. And what's the juice - only $$ and power, or is there blackmail material involved. (Epstein did NOT kill himself.)
The intelligence community? The Chinese or Russians by way of Soros?
Or are they simply insane?
Sorry to hear you aren’t voting in the most important election since 1865.
You’re a grownup who makes your own decisions, but I do not grasp your last paragraph. I don’t understand how you can combine your abstention with the other observations you make.
Biden's mind is criss-crossing. That's about the only thing happening....
I don’t get it. You’re in Wisconsin, where an extra vote for Trump could matter. You “believe Biden is a stalking horse for Kamala Harris” and yet you’re abstaining?
Do you like Harris? Or do you want to see some woman, any woman, as President—even if it’s Harris?
"Biden confines himself to the extreme southeast corner of the place, Philadelphia, which is an easy commute from his home in Wilmington, Delaware."
Yeah, it's like you driving to Mount Horeb.
I am abstaining in the 2020 election, so I'm about as distanced and cruelly neutral an observer as you're going to get.
May I call BS, Madam Professor? I can think of numerous reasons for your self-described neutrality, and not one flatters you.
Maybe the Brits think Delaware is over on the west coast?
Camel A has a cartoon which explains her racist economic policy to pre-schooler children.
This headline is true in the same sense Babe Ruth and I hit 714 Major League Baseball homeruns.
Sadly I’ve come to the same conclusion that a number of other commenters have: that “cruelly neutral“ doesn’t mean what the professor thinks it means for this election.
I believe what Althouse does is monitored "what she believes to have been, prior to the scales dropping from her eyes" elite media.
Or perhaps "formerly" elite media but I think that admits a period after Walter Duranty and before now when news media did a good job.
I doubt such a beast existed.
From Donald Trump's YouTube channel: Here is a premature declaration of victory.
As he says, "They aren't even trying to hide it!". I guess no to the stalking horse?
The posts have been much more valuable to Trump campaign than 1 vote in 150 million. AA not abstainimg.
"I am abstaining in the 2020 election"
Literally the only position that could cost you the respect of all your readers.
“I’m abstaining in the 2020 election.” i believe I will abstain from Ann.
I care about the quality of journalism, and the main thing I do here on this blog is monitor elite media.
Media are a business, and they need audience, which is their product. They sell it to advertisers.
No ideal-journalism force rules that because there's no market for ideal journalism. Think city council meetings.
As it happens, for the left the audience is soap opera women. Analyze their entertainment tastes and you get to the bottom of it.
On the right there's a parasitic market, entertaining itself with accounts of what the left is saying now. Without the left, it couldn't make money either.
It is entirely your business whether you vote for Biden, Trump, or abstain. I do wonder, however, by what mechanism you think you can communicate to the media your disgust of their behavior, if not by voting for the candidate that they have set themselves against. Perhaps when one is partisan enough, an abstention is the strongest possible rebellion?
"I am abstaining in the 2020 election, so I'm about as distanced and cruelly neutral an observer as you're going to get."
You keep telling yourself that. You need a tag for neutrality bullshit.
"I care about the quality of journalism"
Yeah, you and a dozen other nice women.
"I've found the bias in favor of Joe Biden absolutely disgusting."
We appreciate the blog and everything, but in the US of A there's one way to show disgust at the side that's disgusting.
"And I believe Biden is a stalking horse for Kamala Harris, whom the mainstream media hasn't subjected to any serious testing."
It's terrible! It's so sad! Bad, bad media. Of course, you still have a way to help prevent the bait and switch entirely.
When I went to bed last night, it was nearing 11pm. A huge crowd was still gathered in Opa-Locka, FL waiting for Pres. Trump to arrive for his 5th rally of the day.
And he does not hold small, place card holder rallies, where 25 people sit in spaced circles, or where 25 cars are huddled in a semi-circle ready to honk their horns at the next big Biden statement. Trump rallies, as you know, are attended by thousands, anywhere from 20,000 to 60,000. And unlike Biden, who mumbles for about 20 minutes, Trump speaks for an hour, or an hour and a half.
Trump apparently arrived at 11:30PM. I was in bed by then. Biden was in his 5th hour of sleep by then. Kamala was up watching replays of herself giving speeches. Trump has more fight and energy in him than I've had in 20 years. We'll not see the likes of him again.
I've found the bias in favor of Joe Biden absolutely disgusting.
Yet you're going to reward it by abstaining.
I've found the bias in favor of Joe Biden absolutely disgusting. And I believe Biden is a stalking horse for Kamala Harris, whom the mainstream media hasn't subjected to any serious testing.
The prof keeps listing the reasons it’s imperative to vote for Trump, and then says she’ll refuse to do it.
I'm curious as to why you are abstaining? Would you mind sharing with your readers, as I value your opinion.
The last line of Harris’s little cartoon says it all “Equitable treatment means we all end up at the same place.”
Kamala Harris is the reason to vote for Trump. Every eighth grader should read "Harrison Bergeron" by Kurt Vonnegut, and when I taught 8th grade, I made sure all of the ones I taught did. Harris is all-in for communism. No conspiracy theories needed. Either that or she's too stupid to watch and understand her own tweets. I don't know who is behind her and supports her, but it doesn't matter. The intentions are clear.
"I don’t understand how you can combine your abstention with the other observations you make."
Especially since Trump, as a matter of policy, is less objectionable to Althouse than other Republicans. I mean, what has he done that she thoroughly dislikes?
OK, Trump is uncouth. OK, there's ACB. Is that enough not to issue at least a protest vote against the Dems, and prevent all-Dem control in DC, now that Althouse clearly sees them and their MSM allies for who they are?
A vote for Hill, I got. Abstention I don't get.
She’s abstaining because no matter how evil the democrats are, she’s a democrat. And Trump isn't nice. How hard is this to understand?
There's a Women for Trump yard sign spotted yesterday leaning in a heavy wind.
"Media are a business, and they need audience, which is their product. They sell it to advertisers."
US news and opinion media are not a normal business, and few really made money at it in the last 20 years. In the broadcast days TV news was always a loss leader of sorts. Newspapers have been uneconomical since they lost large chunks of their ad revenue to the internet. Current ad revenues for all newspapers in print or online, as well as cable news, I am convinced, is largely in the form of surreptitious subsidies from businesses doing "image advertising", but are actually political contributions.
Their business model is now entirely as a political arm of the large entities that own them. They are purely political tools and their costs are absorbed as business expenses for the larger entity, just as are the costs of lobbying.
LOL. And Biden got top billing to boot.
Courage, Ann. Please get out and vote.
Gee, don't you wonder sometimes which candidate the elite media favor?
Hahahahaha.
Sorry to hear you aren’t voting in the most important election since 1865.
1864.
I'm not going to make a dramatic empty threat about "abstaining from Althouse" over what seems to be your declaration not to vote in 2020 but I'm deeply disappointed about that. I was really looking forward to your explanation of why you chose the candidate you did for whom to cast your ballot. Did someone "win" you over or did someone lose you? I guess it could be argued that it takes courage on your part to go public with not voting. Obviously, it's a free country...but, then again, that's the point. It is a free country and informed people have a civic obligation to vote for the candidate/party who are most likely to keep it a free country. You should vote for keeping your blog free of censorship. You and your blog have a lot at stake.
rhhardin remains wrong about the market for Leftist Collectivist news media.
The point is to control information flows so that billionaires are able to capture the government regulators and increase their own wealth and power.
That means the constraints are gone.
And only increasing big government expansion matters.
The goals are control and power.
Profit matters not at all.
------
As for all of you asking form more from a Althouse: stop it.
She has every right to do whatever she wishes with her vote and her conscience.
She owes nothing to any of us, save Meade with whom she exchanged an oath.
Oh that Trump is such a man holding super Covid spreaders and spewing more lies and BS than usual, what’s not to like.
Not voting for Biden is a perfectly fine choice.
Abstention clear. To get credibility while minimizing and defending Trump. She does not expect you, dear reader, to abstain.I
Meanwhile, the polls never narrowed. So if Biden loses, looking will take a bit black eye. Will it ever recover? 48 hours.
Abstention clear. To get credibility while minimizing and defending Trump. She does not expect you, dear reader, to abstain.I
Meanwhile, the polls never narrowed. So if Biden loses, looking will take a bit black eye. Will it ever recover? 40 hours.
I was visiting my parents this weekend. My mom is a retired nurse who was the director of nursing at a nursing home for 30 years. We were watching the news and Biden was talking. She said out of the blue that “he has dementia.”
If one leans that way and one does not like Trump, then not voting is a responsible move.
I don't get the effort by some here to shame Althouse into voting. She's opted to be an election observer; we've chosen to be participants in democracy. Are you really disappointed that someone with such a cavalier attitude regarding the responsibilities of citizenship is not voting? We should all just be thankful that she has chosen to be a non factor in the down ballot races as well. I'm sure Meade will do his duty for the household.
It is pretty funny that the commentators here haven’t convinced Ann to vote for Trump. I guess you all aren’t nearly as persuasive as you think. Sad.
I've read your blog for years and years. I kept reading when I knew I would disagree with your vote. I have always appreciated your opinions and insight, especially on Supreme Court rulings.
I absolutely cannot understand your reason for abstaining. I cannot. Abstaining is a vote for the media to continue to bulldoze the public, if nothing else. Abstaining is saying, "I see what you are doing, and I condone it."
I'm not voting for a boyfriend. I'm voting for someone who has done what he said he would do. I am sorry you are abstaining.
At the end of the movie adaptation "The Godfather," the Corleone Family kills the heads of the four families that went to war against the Corleones several years before.
The original novel has a more subtle climax. Only two of the heads are killed, the others are spared. As you work your backwards to try to figure out why they were spared, you reach a telling point: Cuneo and Stracci joined the fight only after the Corleones killed a police captain, which rained down hell on all the families. The Corleones understood that Cuneo and Stracci were neutral as to the dispute over the drug trade, and were only in the fight because the Corleones had violated the established norms of the families.
We have similar dual conflicts today: one ideological, over the role of government. The other is over how you make the argument. One side considers it a fault not to inject politics into every interaction - it fouls visits to restaurants, sports, entertainment, tries to push people out of jobs or out of business. The same side sees no moral imperative to follow the law - it frames, it entraps, it leaks, it riots, it blocks highways, it assaults. Neutrality in the political fight while ignoring these violations of civilized norms is not true neutrality. In fact, it's a thumb on the scale in favor of the barbarians.
If Biden has to spend a whole day campaigning a Philadelphia this late in the election cycle, he’s lost the rest of the state. There are two places you don’t campaign: places where you are going to win handily, and places where you have no hope (e.g., Hillary in Arizona). What these have in common is that there are few persuadable voters that you can move from “undecided” to your side. That Biden’s advisers have him campaigning hard in a city that hasn’t voted Republican in ages suggests either that they are politically unastute, or else that they think a normally deep blue city is actually in play this year.
It reminds me of Walter Mondale campaigning hard in Minnesota during the last week of the ‘84 campaign just to hold his home state against Reagan. Biden isn’t anywhere near Mondale blowout territory, but he’s lost Florida and if he loses Pennsylvania, it’s pretty guaranteed that he’ll lose Ohio, too and then the path to 270 gets pretty tight.
"I am abstaining in the 2020 election"
Coward. At least write in Kanye for me.
"I am abstaining in the 2020 election, so I'm about as distanced and cruelly neutral observer as you're going to get." -- Althouse
Good, one less Biden vote.
is the abstention based on "neither meets my standards"?
-if so, has voting been a rare occurrence?
-has 'lesser of two evils' been a basis now abandoned?
-have there always been acceptable candidates in the past voting?
-is this the first time sitting it out?
-could it be like "I'm taking my ball and going home" because it's not going my way?
I've found the bias in favor of Joe Biden absolutely disgusting.
Then don't abstain from voting. Use your vote to express dissatisfaction with the candidate the biased media is trying to foist on the country. Abstaining from using your political voice guarantees the people with their hands on the scales in the news media will think the propaganda works.
I’m interpreting AA as engaging in a cruelly neutral artistic endeavor here. I can’t believe she wouldn’t take the opportunity to prevent Joe from realizing the DNC-Media’s evil plans.
AllenS said...
"I am abstaining in the 2020 election, so I'm about as distanced and cruelly neutral observer as you're going to get." -- Althouse
Good, one less Biden vote.
-----------
This maybe a window into the 2020 election: Lower turnout than anticipated. Dem's and Dem leaning Indy's choosing not to vote rather than vote for Biden.
Meanwhile, the polls never narrowed. So if Biden loses, looking will take a bit black eye. Will it ever recover? 48 hours.
Is this another case of dementia? No wonder readering is a Biden voter.
A real Cop Out (can I use that word?). Abstaining is really a good option this election. By not voting for one you vote for the other.
The media has a lot of ways of lying. Omission of fact, distortion of fact - these are just two.
Does anyone trust them these days? They only advocates for their own views now.
You might want to submit a ballot, even a blank one, just to make sure that someone else does not un-abstain for you.
I Have Misplaced My Pants said...
You’re a grownup who makes your own decisions, but I do not grasp your last paragraph. I don’t understand how you can combine your abstention with the other observations you make.
11/2/20, 5:49 AM
I don't either, but Althouse's decision is preferable to the one made by Andrew Sullivan and Sam Harris. They agree that the media manipulation and censorship is terrible and Biden is a horrible candidate, but hey, Orange Man Bad so they're still voting Dem.
Harris, Mr. Rational Atheist, says Trump is just like Hitler, only worse.
Althouse ought to vote for Trump/Pence as a peaceful protest against "journalism" as practiced this year. She can still be cruelly neutral about the candidates.
I believe Biden is a stalking horse for Kamala Harris, whom the mainstream media hasn't subjected to any serious testing.
Hell, the media hasn't tested Biden, let alone Harris!
Known Unknown said...
"I am abstaining in the 2020 election"
Coward. At least write in Kanye for me.
Hello!
Isn't Meade 35 years old (or older?)
Isn't Meade a Natural Born Citizen ?
Hasn't Meade never been Impeached from a Federal Office? (confusing double negative!)
Didn't Meade, give ME! cool Rat stickers?
Do NOT! throw your vote away! Give It To Meade! he deserves it!
Personally, I would prefer you abstain than vote for Biden. Either way, it's none of my business. My daughter voted for the first time. I assume she checked Biden, because Trump is eviscerated in what she consumes, but I didn't ask. Not my business and will only cause conflict. I wish people here would back off from commenting on your vote, but also, their treatment of you is not my business.
Relevant to this post: The BBC picked one of the frailest Biden pictures I've seen. He looks like he needs a nurse to come over and fix his mask.
Big Mike said...
That Biden’s advisers have him campaigning hard in a city that hasn’t voted Republican in ages suggests either that they are politically unastute, or else that they think a normally deep blue city is actually in play this year.
OR! Poor Jo Biden's Nurse (excuse me! DOCTOR) won't let him go very far from his bed.
Since his "rallies" aren't Really "rallies" (not announced, no one allowed in), but are just staged Photo Ops, it doesn't really matter WHERE he holds them
Your abstention is a data point: one thoughtful Hillary voter moving halfway to Trump,
It is pretty funny that steve uhr here haven’t convinced Ann to vote for Biden. I guess you all aren’t nearly as persuasive as you think. Sad.
Ann,
Get up tomorrow morning and vote based 100% on policy!!!
Why I’m Casting My Presidential Vote Based 100% On Policy and You Should Too!
Rory @ 8:21. Nice analysis! It's another way of saying that, with the Left, the end always justifies the means. There is no moral code, written or unwritten. Barbarians, indeed!
The "elite" media are... not. Mainly, not "to be trusted".
My guess about Ann's abstention: Biden has lost her but Trump hasn't won her (though she finds him entertaining). And I also guess that it doesn't matter much to her which of the two wins.
Going to the bathroom probably seems like a journey of a thousand miles to Biden as he makes it 30 times a day.
I've found the bias in favor of Joe Biden absolutely disgusting.
If you find it disgusting, why aren't you punishing it by voting for Trump, and encouraging everyone else to do the same?
Come on, guys- Althouse lives in Madison, Wisconsin. If I lived in Madison, Wisconsin and had a hugely read blog under my real name, I wouldn't broadcast a Trump vote either.
I am abstaining in the 2020 election, so I'm about as distanced and cruelly neutral an observer as you're going to get.
Most of the time you can tell when someone says "Thank you for your service" and they mean it.
And you can tell when they don't mean it.
Freedom just doesn't mean much to many people.
There are rumors going around that Trump will refuse to concede defeat if he wins tomorrow.
I would like to point out that the election results are being delayed so the Democrats can canvas the voter rolls and keep a list of people that did not turn in a ballot.
And fill out a ballot for them like they did in the Orange county districts in 2018.
It is called vote harvesting.
Biden isn't fit to be President. How can he travel and stay awake during all his foreign travels? Look for Harris to be come President before 2022 comes around.
Blogger Big Mike said...
Biden isn’t anywhere near Mondale blowout territory, but he’s lost Florida and if he loses Pennsylvania, it’s pretty guaranteed that he’ll lose Ohio, too and then the path to 270 gets pretty tight.
If PA is close, then OH is pro-Trump and out of reach for Biden.
Looking at the early voting numbers, either "registered Republicans" are voting massively for Biden, or he's losing GA, FL & NC.
Toss PA into that mix, and I don't see any reasonable path to victory for Biden.
And Biden at 41% in the DMR poll says Biden's losing the entire Upper Midwest.
Anyone who could vote for Hillary, has already gone over the edge. That Althouse is merely claiming neutrality instead of supporting evil is a step in the right direction. Hopefully, there are millions like her.
Althouse wrote: "I care about the quality of journalism, and the main thing I do here on this blog is monitor elite media."
The elite media went nonstop downhill ever since reporters became journalists.
"Biden's a stalking horse for Harris, sure, but who is she fronting for? I just can't see Biden voluntarily picking her as his running mate so how and why did that happen?"
Biden and Harris are "fronting" for the corporate interests, just as is Trump and all Democrat/Republican candidates for the White House in every election. Why did Biden pick Harris? She appeals to significant demographic segments of the electorate. C'mon...this stuff is elementary. Are you really so puzzled?
"You’re a grownup who makes your own decisions, but I do not grasp your last paragraph. I don’t understand how you can combine your abstention with the other observations you make."
Why? It appears she does not think either candidate should be the president. I agree with her, but I did vote yesterday, just not for either of these wretched candidates.
Big Mike makes the point I find most telling in the campaign strategies- where the candidates have gone in the last week. I think it is really, really simple- if Biden really were ahead by even 5 points nationally (not to mention the ridiculous 10 point lead polls), he would spend all of his time in the most marginally Republican states plus all the states with incumbent Republican Senators that are polling under a 5% lead- not spending the entire weekend before the election in Philadelphia and Detroit. If the polls were correct, Biden would be camped out in Florida and North Carolina almost full time with frequent side trips to Iowa, Maine, Arizona, Colorado, Montana (he can skip Georgia since both Senate races are likely to to a runoff anyway).
Anyway, I have made my predictions here already. I will be watching the margins in Indiana and Kentucky (Trump will win both handily, but the margins will tell you something). Additionally, when Virginia starts counting, you can watch the margins there, too- Trump has not campaigned in Virginia at all, so Biden should win the state by 10+ points if the polls are right- I will be comparing specific counties in the state with their 2016 totals. Finally, Florida will likely finish off the analysis- if Biden wins Florida, the election is over- you will be able to tell if Biden is winning Florida about 90 minutes after the polls close. If Trump looks like he is winning Florida, then the margin matters, and you can compare specific counties with 2016 to determine if Trump's margin is going up or down. I will probably make a final call on the election here in these threads around 11 p.m. But note that I was wrong in 2016 when I called the election for Clinton when it became obvious she had won Virginia- I was just blindsided by Trump's strength in PA, WI, and MI.
Does anybody but me remember John Cameron Swayze hopscotching the world for headlines on the Camel News Caravan?
I don't agree with abstention, but that's me.
Our hostess announced long ago that Biden repeating the Charlottesville lie was "disqualifying".
I respect that. Especially since she has, not once, tried to back pedal on that position.
Meanwhile she apparently finds Trump's policies or demeanor too uncouth to support.
Her choice.
Do not listen to these people who want you to vote, Althouse. Stay out of this, and don't vote.
Like The Angry White Man in '94, The Abstaining Matron may be an archetype of '20. Althouse as thought leader.
Don't blame me. I voted for Nobody. Bumper Sticker
I didn't find this in Bezos' store.
"Anyone who could vote for Hillary, has already gone over the edge. That Althouse is merely claiming neutrality instead of supporting evil is a step in the right direction. Hopefully, there are millions like her."
I agree. When I gave up shooting up heroin, I had to take baby steps and cut myself down to 3 shots a day for the first 4 years.
In August of 2019, I told my husband that if the establishment/media's preferred candidate couldn't swing it on her own, they would make her Biden's VP. It was easy to see his decline back then and it has only worsened. Where I was mistaken was the belief that Warren was the preferred candidate.
So, now I'm left speculating what the over/under is for how long he lasts (assuming he wins) before the 25th amendment is used or he steps down on his own. The only barrier to this would be Jill Biden who might pull an Edith Wilson.
"Literally the only position that could cost you the respect of all your readers."
Not from this reader. Abstaining from voting or voting for a third party candidate are entirely acceptable and rational choices for those who find the major party candidates unsuited for the office. Voting for a candidate one finds objectionable--just somehow "less" objectionable for the other candidate--is the cowardly choice many Americans make every four years, and produces our string of terrible presidents going back decades.
I respect our hostess's decision to publicly proclaim her voting intention.
I didn't vote in 2012...Bary or Pierre...yuck
I voted for Nadar in 2000 The Chimp or The Chump ...yuck
Trump is the Champion of the American People who seek congruence between the espoused principles of our founding documents and forces in government.
I will be voting proudly for the 2nd time in CCP ifornia for Donald John Trump.
Get that man on Rushmore.
Interesting, Sara. I thought it was obvious that the preferred candidate was Harris all along, but I would never have guessed that Biden would be the chosen stalking horse in that scenario. I still don't quite believe it.
It will be interesting to see what cabinet a President Biden would choose or, more likely, have chosen for him. You can't shove Biden aside using the 25th Amendment without the consent of the cabinet itself. Biden and his closest aides will probably resist choosing D.C. pols for the positions since they are the most likely to use the 25th to get rid of him, but then the Senate still has to confirm Biden choices.
I basically don't think Biden makes it out of the 1st year without being forced to resign.
"Trump rallies, as you know, are attended by thousands, anywhere from 20,000 to 60,000."
Yep...Super spreader events! The herd culling itself...it's nature's way!
What WisRich said.
AA is proof that voter suppression works, and it makes me happy. Dems SHOULD be too disgusted by Biden to vote.
Yancey Ward said...
if Biden wins Florida, the election is over- you will be able to tell if Biden is winning Florida about 90 minutes after the polls close. If Trump looks like he is winning Florida, then the margin matters, and you can compare specific counties with 2016 to determine if Trump's margin is going up or down. I will probably make a final call on the election here in these threads around 11 p.m.
But will our hostess still be up to moderate your posts so the rest of us can see them?
Biden supports the two-state solution: Delaware and Pennsylvania (incidentally, our two first states.
You can love Biden or hate him or run away when you see him coming, but it's nice to see Pennsylvania getting some attention and love. Philadelphia always seemed like the Rodney Dangerfield of American cities. No respect. Pennsylvania was always getting outshone by Massachusetts and Virginia or California, New York and Texas. The Delaware Valley was settled by shy and humble Quakers who didn't toot their own horns and let other states walk off with all the prizes. Pennsylvania's only president was James Buchanan, arguably the worst of them all.
"Come on, guys- Althouse lives in Madison, Wisconsin. If I lived in Madison, Wisconsin and had a hugely read blog under my real name, I wouldn't broadcast a Trump vote either."
Well said, considering it is highly probable that in Madison, any avowed Trump supporter would have his property destroyed and be subjected to harrassment, if not to outright physical harm.
Trump is the very model of a male leader, tireless, and striving. A man of the people. Palin was the very model of a female leader, tireless, and striving. A woman of the people.
tcrosse said..."Does anybody but me remember John Cameron Swayze hopscotching the world for headlines on the Camel News Caravan?"
Yes, I sure do.
“Their business model is now entirely as a political arm of the large entities that own them. They are purely political tools and their costs are absorbed as business expenses for the larger entity, just as are the costs of lobbying.”
Most are probably more corporate than anything. Be is buying WaPo was really obvious. Amazon spends far more lobbying every year in DC, than he loses on his rag. I am just surprised that the price he paid wasn't really bid up that much by the other tech billionaires. Several others like AT&T and Comcast appear to have picked up their “news” units in order to get the content that goes with it. Digging through who owns what and when is interesting. One of those rabbit holes I found myself sucked down today, despite having more pressing things on my agenda for the day (going to the range, JIC things get violent starting tomorrow, reloading magazines from anti-4 footed predators to 2 footed ones, and measuring for lumber from Home Depot to help store all the stuff that won’t fit in our new house).
Why did Biden pick Harris? She appeals to significant demographic segments of the electorate.
Does she though? Sure, she checks a number of boxes on the Dems' Diversity Bingo Card, but she didn't get any traction in the primaries.
sara said..."So, now I'm left speculating what the over/under is for how long he lasts (assuming he wins) before the 25th amendment is used or he steps down on his own. The only barrier to this would be Jill Biden who might pull an Edith Wilson."
I pretty much agree with you on this, especially the Edith Wilson part. I have read that Dr. Jill's ambition and ego is one reason he continued. But there is one problem for the Dems: I believe the 25th Amendment would require a 2/3 majority to remove Biden. I could see Mitch and the Repubs throwing a wrench into that by not going along.
I am abstaining in the 2020 election,
Which is certainly your choice. But most people wouldn't repeatedly announce it unless they think it's some sort of virtue to sit back and let other people do the heavy lifting.
TYPHOID DONNY. speading the plague! Huddle together folks,spit and drool on each other! BRILLIANT!
Althouse acknowledges that she is abused by her beloved media but won't call the law and so retreats to her abstentious crying room with an ice pack after they punch her in the face for the umpteenth time.
It's a common reaction among women who fear social embarrassment more than their abuser - the mark of a sophisticated, cosmopolitan woman who values the opinions of her peer group, as she perceives them, above all else.
But, it's her vote. She can damn well do as she sees fit if it matches up with her priorities - however illogical and damaging to this great nation such selfish behavior is.
As the sage said, "if you choose not to decide you still have made a choice." Sometimes choosing the lesser of two evils (in your opinion) is better than just spinning the chamber, pulling the trigger and hoping your head doesn't explode.
rhhardin remains wrong about the market for Leftist Collectivist news media.
The point is to control information flows so that billionaires are able to capture the government regulators and increase their own wealth and power.
The causality goes the other way. The business of the MSM and its audience of women comes first. The dems free-ride on their need for soap opera, but the MSM is in charge.
It would have no political free-riding if women didn't vote, and just be soap opera without dems tagging along.
As for lust for power, that's always there, but not an essential part of the news biz.
Perhaps the public and repeated abstention claim is a stalking horse.
So is there some Biden-Harris accord or Harris-Pelosi agreement that Joe steps down or gets the boot after about a year?
Or is there going to be a fight when Pelosi and Harris decide Joe's incompetent and Joe doesn't want to go?
People who really know Kamala and her lack of public appeal may be wanting and hoping that Joe sticks around for as long as he can -- but people who really know Joe and his condition may be wishing he'll leave ASAP.
Blogger MountainMan said...
I pretty much agree with you on this, especially the Edith Wilson part. I have read that Dr. Jill's ambition and ego is one reason he continued. But there is one problem for the Dems: I believe the 25th Amendment would require a 2/3 majority to remove Biden. I could see Mitch and the Repubs throwing a wrench into that by not going along.
Yep. As Kurt Schlicter pointed out a couple of weeks ago, it does take a 2/3 vote, the GOP will have the votes to stop it, and therefore will have the ability to negotiate with Jill.
I'm guessing Jill really wants to travel around the world on Air Force One, and will probably be willing to trade a lot to get it.
"...most people wouldn't repeatedly announce (they're abstaining) unless they think it's some sort of virtue to sit back and let other people do the heavy lifting."
Hahahaha! Really? Filling out a ballot is "heavy lifting?"
Refusing to vote expresses the voter's real opinion; voting for a candidate one finds terribly lacking (or just terrible) is simply accommodating the expectations of others, an act of subjection.
"...most people wouldn't repeatedly announce (they're abstaining) unless they think it's some sort of virtue to sit back and let other people do the heavy lifting."
Hahahaha! Really? Filling out a ballot is "heavy lifting?"
Refusing to vote expresses the voter's real opinion; voting for a candidate one finds terribly lacking (or just terrible) is simply accommodating the expectations of others, an act of subjection.
Criss-crossed the living room.
"As the sage said, 'if you choose not to decide you still have made a choice.'"
Yes, the same choice as Melville's Bartleby: "I prefer not to." Saying "no" is a valid and powerful act.
"Sometimes choosing the lesser of two evils (in your opinion) is better than just spinning the chamber, pulling the trigger and hoping your head doesn't explode."
How? Why? If one votes for the lesser of two evils, one has still voted for an evil, and has therefore ratified and helped enable whatever evils are to come.
I think there should always be a "None of the above" option in every election, at least, in every major election, and if sufficient percentage of voters select that option (relative to the percentage of votes gained by the candidates), none of the candidates win office and the race must be started over with different candidates presenting different policy proposals.
I'm a kindly neutral personality. I'll vote for Trump though as I think his admin will allow kindly neutral personalities to survive. AOC won't.
In these hot potatoe times famous communicators be neutral hosts. Let the people decide.
Ivanka Trump will be the first woman POTUS.
Did someone "win" you over or did someone lose you? I guess it could be argued that it takes courage on your part to go public with not voting. Obviously, it's a free country...but, then again, that's the point. It is a free country and informed people have a civic obligation to vote for the candidate/party who are most likely to keep it a free country. You should vote for keeping your blog free of censorship. You and your blog have a lot at stake.
George Carlin disagrees. I too do not vote.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeMGqTwWA6U
"Hahahaha! Really? Filling out a ballot is "heavy lifting?"
When the stakes are high which in fact I think they are, yes it is. Regardless, metaphor is lost on Cook when he chooses not to recognize it; e.g. imagining the lesser of two evils meaning literally evil. Who isn't evil in Cook's mind? I've waited in vain for years for him to tell me who in his world is worthy.
Cook, I love you as a commentator, but your above it all nobody's pure enough act has grown very old with me. Come down among us and do the legitimate hard work of choosing among the imperfect available choices that matter.
"I think there should always be a "None of the above" option in every election, at least, in every major election, and if sufficient percentage of voters select that option (relative to the percentage of votes gained by the candidates), none of the candidates win office and the race must be started over with different candidates presenting different policy proposals."
If believing in such unworkable pipe dreams satisfies you so be it. You ignore that we just experienced a "none of the above" election just four years ago. Nominating Trump was as much a repudiation of establishment Republicanism as much as a counterpoint to the Democrats. That's how "none of the above" manifests itself in American politics. Voter revolt forcing the parties to evolve. Third party splinter voting is completely futile in America's winner take all electoral system.
Biden's comments about the oil induistry on the 10/22 debate all but guaranteed that Trump wins a majority of the white working colass vote in Pennsylvania.
He can only mitigate this in Philly (where he was doing worse than Hillary Clinton 2016 as late as last week).
It is Philly or bust.
If you deign to vote 3rd party you can support a principled female candidate,Jo Jorgenson. Better than a blank spot, which is so uncreative. Oh, that will show them!
MountainMan: That's good to know the 25th amendment is a high bar to reach. Without the 25th, it would be easy enough for him to become gravely ill and no longer able to fulfill his duties, giving him an honorable excuse to step down. The outstanding issues surrounding Hunter could be brought to the fore and used against him, also.
Yancey Ward: I suppose Harris would be a more reliable tool for the DNC establishment. At the time, Warren seemed to be the sweetheart. Biden has the name recognition and would be more easily controlled than other candidates; both helpful qualities if you want to win the election and slide in a person who could not be elected on her own merits. Most people seem to assume Biden won't last; why are they not upset that, if Biden wins, their votes will have been subverted?
If the people being floated for cabinet members are installed, the economy is going to stall.
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