December 4, 2022

"A Massive Fraud of this type and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution."

Wrote Donald Trump, at Truth Social, quoted in "White House rebukes Trump’s suggestion to suspend Constitution over 2020 election" (WaPo).

The post came a day after Twitter’s new owner, Elon Musk, claimed he would expose how Twitter engaged in “free speech suppression” in the run-up to the 2020 election. But his “Twitter Files” did not show that the tech giant bent to the will of Democrats. 

Trump's "truth" is so hyperbolic and disrespectful of the rule of law that it's idiotic clickbait, only worthy of attention because the man is running for President, and apparently, as polls go, the leading candidate. Sorry, I'm not going to spend every day agonizing over that. We will move on... I hope... I trust... He's so over-criticized that I don't see the point of jumping on him one more time. That doesn't work, and it drives some dedicated believers more deeply into his sphere.

I want to move on to the link in the indented quote — on "did not show" — which goes to "Elon Musk’s ‘Twitter Files’ ignite divisions, but haven’t changed minds/The company’s new chief executive detailed Twitter’s decision-making around a controversial story" (WaPo). 

Yesterday morning, I was critical of The Washington Post for not having an article on the "Twitter files," but by the end of the day, they had that. Let's read:

It was billed as a bombshell: Elon Musk, after rifling through his new company’s internal files, would finally expose how Twitter engaged in “free speech suppression” in the critical run up to the 2020 election....

A handful of screenshots from 2020, posted over the course of two hours Friday evening in a disjointed, roughly 40-tweet thread, show the San Francisco company debating a decision to restrict sharing of a controversial New York Post story about the son of then Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden.

The Twitter thread, based on internal communications posted by Substack writer Matt Taibbi, showed the company independently decided to limit the spread of the article, without Democratic politicians, the Biden campaign or FBI exerting control over the social media network. In fact, the only input from a sitting politician that Taibbi noted was from Silicon Valley Rep. Ro Khanna (D), who told Twitter executives they should distribute the story, regardless of the potential consequences for his party....

In the process, Musk took the extraordinary step of promoting the leak of internal company communications to Taibbi, exposing the names of several rank-and-file workers and Khanna’s personal email address....

Musk and Taibbi both tweeted that they would reveal more information in a second chapter Saturday.

Yeah? What happened? I go to Twitter and see that last night Musk tweeted "Looks like we will need another day or so." I hope that means he/Taibbi are trying to incorporate the criticisms of the Friday tweet-dump and will make a clearer, cleaner presentation in Part 2.

Back to WaPo:

Musk [said in a Twitter Spaces audio chat Saturday afternoon] that he shared the documents with another Substack writer, Bari Weiss, and suggested he may share them with the public in the future.

Bari Weiss didn't want to do what Matt Taibbi did?

WaPo proceeds to put the Twitter files bombshell/"bombshell" in context, and I really appreciate this concise summary:

The spectacle capped off another week of chaos at Musk’s Twitter, after the “chief Twit” spent Friday afternoon meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron and batting back reports about the rise of hate speech on the Twitter platform. He also attracted attention for suspending the rapper Ye, who had tweeted the image of a swastika combined with the Star of David. And the relaunch of a paid check mark system expected for Friday was delayed again, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the decision.

I still hadn't seen that swastika-with-a-Star-of-David image, and WaPo didn't reproduce it. I had to go looking and found it — here — at The Times of Israel. I had thought the swastika was stamping out the star, but I see that the 2 symbols have been interwoven in a way that makes it even harder to see how the image could be adjudged a direct incitement to imminent violence, which was Musk's reason for suspending Ye. 

From WaPo:

During the Twitter Spaces, Musk said, “I personally wanted to punch Kanye,” explaining how Ye’s swastika post was incitement to violence. He said he made the decision to suspend him.

So Musk is allowed to explicitly refer to violence — punching — but Ye gets suspended based on Musk's stretched inference. And are we still supposed to be celebrating Musk as a hero of fairness and freedom?

Musk’s “free speech” agenda has defined his tumultuous takeover of Twitter, as he has argued since the early days of the deal that the platform serve as a “de facto town square” where people are “able to speak freely within the bounds of the law.” He has asserted that the company has a “strong left wing bias.” And in recent days, he has granted amnesty to a number of previously suspended accounts, including far-right influencers and people associated with the QAnon extremist ideology.

Though Musk has said he agrees with some Democratic Party and some Republican policies, he increasingly appears to be courting the GOP. In the run-up to the midterm elections, he encouraged his millions of followers to vote Republican. And he recently said he would lean toward backing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) in a potential 2024 presidential bid....

Yes, hold Musk's feet to the fire — metaphorically only! — if he wants to be the Czar of Free Speech. He'd better be scrupulously viewpoint neutral. It's got to be about our freedom, not his power and wealth.

Taibbi said that he had to “agree to certain conditions” in exchange for the opportunity to cover the files in a message to his Substack subscribers....

What were the conditions? Maybe Bari Weiss can tell us. 

The next section of the WaPo article recounts the Taibbi thread in detail and adding context. I'm not going to quote all of that. There's also, at the very end, a little bit about the response.

Tucker Carlson called it “one of the most extraordinary moments in the history of social media,” and the New York Post called it a “Hunter Biden laptop bombshell” in a headline....

But not everyone bought the "bombshell" spin.

161 comments:

narciso said...

They already have unlawful incarceration bills of attainder mandatory application of untested therapeutics

rhhardin said...

Tucker Carlson is unwatchable. It's all argument by fake laugh.

Gahrie said...

Cognitive dissonance is a bitch.

Mr Wibble said...

Twitter's own statements to the FEC claim that they decided to censor the Hunter Biden laptop because the FBI had warned them about a "hack and leak" operation targeting Hunter. We now know that they did so in spite of violating their own internal rules regarding such matters, and despite the fact that within 24 hours they knew it was not hacked materials.

The FBI may not have directly told them to do so, but it gave them just enough cover to do so, and it did so by lying. There was no hack and leak operation.

Mr Wibble said...

This goes back to the idea of taking Trump seriously versus literally. From what I see, he looks like he's trying to set the narrative of 2024 as a do-over of 2020. If Biden drops out, Trump will claim that it's because Biden knew he couldn't win in a legitimate election. If Biden stays in the race, then the question for swing voters will be, "do you think you made the correct choice in 2020, or do you want to go back and change your mind?"

FunkyPhD said...

So no Democratic officials were involved in the discussions. But the story was still deep-sized, and the Post suspended for reporting the truth. Twitter played the role of the knights who offed Thomas Becket when the king asked, “Will no one rid me of this troublesome priest?”

mezzrow said...

1. Cruel neutrality. Keep your eyes on the prize.
2. Does the bird app become another version of MSNBC's "bombshell of the week" revue? No shortage of material out there.
3. If so, what effect will that have? Will the media minions simply leave it to the prole chasers and Elon, while sniping from their legacy ivory towers?
4. Stay tuned. Engagement numbers are key to the health of the Twitter enterprise.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

It DID happen.
The Biden family used Joe's VP status to enrich themselves with American tax dollars washed clean thru Ukrainian energy company.
and more.

The leftwing press continue to hide.

rhhardin said...

It sounds like Trump doesn't realize that if you win by fraud, in the American system, you won. He had thought that there was a final constitutional check in confirming the electoral votes, and probably there was, but it was too kludgy to go along with for everybody else. So Biden won. Trump was outsmarted.

Temujin said...

"But his “Twitter Files” did not show that the tech giant bent to the will of Democrats."

One word: "Handled."

The story is still not being allowed any air. It's being shut down, trashed, and for the most part, ignored. Just as the laptop was done- by agreement within the media- going into that election. The 'story' remains the selling of access to Joe Biden by Hunter and his partners, which included Joe's brother, James. The Biden's, including The Big Guy, received millions in payments from the CCP, Ukrainian 'business' partners, and even the Mayor of Moscow (who, one would suspect, was fronting for Vladimir). This is the story.

Neither the Source of All News- the NY Times, nor the Voice of Washington DC- WaPo, has yet to interview Tony Bobulinski. But that's OK. Neither has the FBI, which has sat on Hunter's laptop for a couple of years now.

Look- we're not fighting communists anymore. We, as free Americans, aren't fighting an external totalitarian state. Our totalitarians are all around us, right here among us. The media and our Government work overtime to distort information, misinform, censor, and finally- threaten. This is very real. It's happening in front of every one of us right now.

The arguments made by those masquerading as Professional Journalists, or thought leaders, are incredible to watch, read, and listen to. They are arguing FOR censorship, for refusing to shine a light on the facts. Show the facts, instead of covering and tossing out insults. Show the damned facts.

There is not grey area here. Everyone of us sees what is happening. Even those doing the bidding of the Government see what they're doing. They see what they're doing and yet, they continue to obfuscate and censor. Well..this is how you lose a country. This is how you stir people to revolt.

tim in vermont said...

I can forgive and have forgiven the imperfect Trump a lot, but this is pretty indefensible. Which is a shame. My intention now is to never vote again. Obviously the forces that have subverted our democracy are too powerful to be overcome. Money never sleeps, and they have the money.

Ballot harvesting is just a way for rich white liberals to supplant any authentic leadership from appearing in poor districts by simply going in there and buying up the ballots that are mailed to every address that ever housed, or purportedly housed, a registered voter. Campaigning and persuasion are over. They are pointless. Republicans got 5 million more votes than Democrats in the mid-terms, but the Democrats used precise targeting techniques to blunt the wave and keep the Senate.

In 2020 "just 44,000 votes in Georgia, Arizona and Wisconsin separated Biden and Trump from a tie in the Electoral College." - NPR. It's not hard to see that the suppression of the factual story of Joe Biden's Ukrainian corruption cost Trump the election.

Big Tech Billionaires and the FBI, DoJ, CIA, and producers and purveyors of war materiel now own our democracy. It's a joke. and Trump is no longer up for the fight.

Breezy said...

Twitter “handled” some requests from the Biden campaign, so WaPo is not being truthful.

So irksome that we don’t get a fuller version of events from any of these so-called news sites. Nor Twitter. Stop with the drip drip and lay it all out fully and honestly. We’re not idiots. Same for Meta and Google. Come clean and repent, then do better. Enough of this gross manipulation on all sides.

Left Bank of the Charles said...

“And are we still supposed to be celebrating Musk as a hero of fairness and freedom?”

Still?

“Trump's "truth" is so hyperbolic and disrespectful of the rule of law that it's idiotic clickbait, only worthy of attention because the man is running for President, and apparently, as polls go, the leading candidate.”

It’s also worthy of attention because of Trump’s plot to replace electors and incite the January 6 attack on the Capitol.

tim in vermont said...

"There was no hack and leak operation"

That's right, the FBI knew that the laptop was out there, knew it was genuine, and knew it was not hacked, because they had possession of a copy of it for a year prior to the story coming out. The FBI lied. The censorship was based on an FBI lie.

Michael P said...

"The FBI didn't specifically tell Twitter to censor the story about Hunter Biden's laptop. Only the FBI's former general counsel did."

Is that the hill the WaPo is going to die on?

Heartless Aztec said...

Coyote bombshells. Either they go off prematurely fizzle out and dont exode at all. And the road runner zooms by... Meep, meep.

Richard said...

To t,ake Trump literally, for the sake of argument, he's too late. If he's right about the election, the Constitution, and its subsidiary laws, has already been suspended.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Temujin 7:52

BOOM. That right there should be a column in the NYT and the WaPo.

BIII Zhang said...

Abraham Lincoln also suspended the Constitution.

He's got a pretty large memorial in Washington, DC and is uniformly celebrated.

Jamie said...

"But his “Twitter Files” did not show that the tech giant bent to the will of Democrats."

This statement presupposes that the "tech giant's" will was not pre-bent toward the Democrats. If Twitter was already being run and overwhelmingly staffed by activist Democrats (which, patently, it was), then that's the story - not whether Democrat lawmakers or the DNC came along and twisted their arms.

It would be amazing to me that the WaPo apparently didn't understand what the story is, if it weren't that the WaPo is also run and overwhelmingly staffed by activist Democrats, based on what they do and don't say.

Dave Begley said...

I’m finished with Trump, his nuttiness and drama.

Ron the Second is my man.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Joe Biden, his son and his brother should all be investigated and indicted.

Instead - they are celebrated.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Ot:
New Washington Post Communications Chief Moonlights as Board Member of Far-Left Activist Group

Bob Boyd said...

WaPo is saying Twitter did the reasonable thing out of an abundance of caution. Let's say, for the sake of argument, that's true. Well, what about now?

Does it not matter that now we know there was no Russian interference that resulted in the 2016 outcome? So why hasn't that been an important story at the WaPo?

Though it may be hard to quantify, there's no question the suppression of the laptop story affected the outcome of the 2020 election. That decision was made after the feds, with full knowledge of what was on the laptop and that it was real, issued a warning to social media about incoming Russian interference that was wholly and knowingly false after the laptop story started to break. Why aren't these intrepid journalists investigating and demanding answers about that?

Do we not now know the laptop is and always was completely genuine? Why has the WaPo not extensively investigated and reported on the whole outrageous laptop story of corruption at the highest levels?

Regardless of the intentions of the staff at Twitter, this document release screams for answers to these and other questions. Instead, the WaPo is changing the subject to Kanye West.

John henry said...

Where can I find the the full text of what our president emeritus said?

I do not trust WaPo characterization.

If the full text is in the article perhaps you could append it to the post, Ann.

I call bullshit absent the full text.

John Henry

John henry said...

Where can I find the the full text of what our president emeritus said?

I do not trust WaPo characterization.

If the full text is in the article perhaps you could append it to the post, Ann.

I call bullshit absent the full text.

John Henry

AMDG said...


tim in vermont said...
I can forgive and have forgiven the imperfect Trump a lot, but this is pretty indefensible. Which is a shame. My intention now is to never vote again. Obviously the forces that have subverted our democracy are too powerful to be overcome. Money never sleeps, and they have the money.

Ballot harvesting is just a way for rich white liberals to supplant any authentic leadership from appearing in poor districts by simply going in there and buying up the ballots that are mailed to every address that ever housed, or purportedly housed, a registered voter. Campaigning and persuasion are over. They are pointless. Republicans got 5 million more votes than Democrats in the mid-terms, but the Democrats used precise targeting techniques to blunt the wave and keep the Senate.

In 2020 "just 44,000 votes in Georgia, Arizona and Wisconsin separated Biden and Trump from a tie in the Electoral College." - NPR. It's not hard to see that the suppression of the factual story of Joe Biden's Ukrainian corruption cost Trump the election.

Big Tech Billionaires and the FBI, DoJ, CIA, and producers and purveyors of war materiel now own our democracy. It's a joke. and Trump is no longer up for the fight.

12/4/22, 7:53 AM

________________

1. In 2018 Democrats flipped several California House seats due to harvesting. Republicans adopted the same tactics in 2020 and won them back. There is no reason why they can!t do the same thing in places where harvesting is permitted.

2. Trump lost in 2020 because, for four years, he alienated college educated white voters. The rules of the game are still that you must get more votes than the other guy. Trump does not seem to understand this.

Gusty Winds said...

"disrespectful of the rule of law"

It's nice to pretend we still live under the rule of law in the United States.

Let's move on from the organized 2020 coup, which destroyed government of the people, by the people, and for the people. Well at least the majority of the people which is really the whole point.

Maybe it'll just fix itself.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

I have liberal neighbors who moved here from NY city during the planned-demic. anyhow - they told me they don't want Biden or Trump.

clues.

AMDG said...

I would love to hear Trump explain how all of this is supposed work.

Mr Wibble said...

Let's move on from the organized 2020 coup, which destroyed government of the people, by the people, and for the people. Well at least the majority of the people which is really the whole point.

Maybe it'll just fix itself.


The way to return to normalcy and decency is to destroy all social institutions and all social capital in a deranged crusade against a political outsider, all while covering up that your candidate is a corrupt, slimy pervert with a screwed-up family.

Mr Wibble said...

I have liberal neighbors who moved here from NY city during the planned-demic. anyhow - they told me they don't want Biden or Trump.


And yet, they'll march into the voting booth and vote for Biden again, and then complain about the results. Because, they're morons.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

"The New York Post in October 2020 obtained Hunter Biden’s laptop, complete with endless references by the criminal, crack-addled, degenerate, alcoholic son himself to his role as bagman for his demented father.

It was all right there, on the record, undeniable. So, to stop Trump from being reelected, Democrats demanded that their fellow travelers in Silicon Valley prevent the story about “the Big Guy” from getting out before the election.

Twitter’s multi-millionaire Democrat operatives received their marching orders:

Deny, deny, deny!"

[...]
"The leader of the Twitter coup d’etat against MAGA appears to have been one Vijaya Gadde. Born in India, Vijaya went straight to the Ivy League — Cornell, and then to the even more expensive NYU School of Law.

NYU Law, by the way, is also the alma mater of Colinford Mattis, the equally woke New York lawyer who firebombed an NYPD cruiser during the BLM murder-arson-looting riots of 2020."

Newly liberated Twitter blows lid off Democrat tainting of 2020 election

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

If this statement had not been uttered by Trump, people like Althouse would be saying we need to have a conversation about the kinds of events that would warrant a suspension of constitutional rule.

Jan6, the covid pandemic? You see?

Because Trump suggested the conversation has to be dismissed out of hand.

AMDG said...


Blogger Hunter Biden's tax payer funded Hooker said...
I have liberal neighbors who moved here from NY city during the planned-demic. anyhow - they told me they don't want Biden or Trump.

clues.

12/4/22, 8:47 AM
___________

I think that is probably a position heals by 70% of the country.

The Problem for the Democrats is that their over performance in the midterms has solidified Biden’s position so it will be more difficult to cast him aside if Jill insists that he run again. Does anyone notice how the MSM stories about Biden being too old have stopped?

The problem for Republicans is that if there are several candidates, Trump can get the nomination as long as he gets 30% to 35% of the votes in the primaries. The good news is that Trump has not helped himself with the dinner last week and the bizarre statement yesterday. His unhinged behavior is turning off all people except for the most delusional Trumptards. With any kind of luck that 30% to 35% will erode to 20% to 25%.

I am looking forward to see if the Trump Derangement Syndrome Brigade continues on their quest to paint DeSantis as more dangerous than Trump. The Fat Tub of Goo’s outright rejection of the Constitution (and outright rejection of the he took in 2017) makes that position a little silly.

AMDG said...

The idea that the Post story was spiked due to government actions was always a stretch. The issue there was whether Social Media’s actions constituted an illegal campaign contribution to the Biden campaign.

The issue of social media colluding with the government to censor free expression is more relevant in how dissenting COVID opinions were censored.

Michael K said...

rhhardin said...

Tucker Carlson is unwatchable. It's all argument by fake laugh.


His show is the only thing I watch on Fox. I even subscribed to Fox Nation to watch his interviews. I did not watch his interview with West. I knew West is crazy. Most rappers are. Still, Carlson has many interesting guests and his producers come up with some interesting stories. Some weeks, Conservative Tree House has a video of his monologue every day.

Jupiter said...

"But his “Twitter Files” did not show that the tech giant bent to the will of Democrats."

If the Moon falls into the Pacific Ocean, and the WaPo denies it, did it really happen? (Women and minorities affected most).

MartyH said...

Re: conditions put on Taibbi.

It’s obvious that condition #1 was that he break the story on Twitter. The reasons for this are also obvious. Taibbi may not have been allowed to take copies. Further reporting may be embargoed until after all of the Twitter files are reported on.

As to Bari Weiss, I don’t think she turned it down. She may be reporting on other aspects under similar terms to Taibbi’s. Maybe Greenwald follows Weiss as the next reporter.

I referred to this as a truth and reconciliation process. Investigate and admit yours errors and try to amend your ways going forward.

Freeman Hunt said...

So Trump decided to test his theory that he could do anything and people would still, however reluctantly, vote for him? I won't. I'd not vote before I'd vote for someone who said that.

Jupiter said...

Has anyone ever seen Ross Douthat and David Brooks in the same room?

Robert Cook said...

"I have liberal neighbors who moved here from NY city during the planned-demic. anyhow - they told me they don't want Biden or Trump.

And yet, they'll march into the voting booth and vote for Biden again, and then complain about the results. Because, they're morons."


How do you know they won't vote for a third party candidate? That's what I've done since 1996. Or, they may not vote at all. Or, if they do vote for one of the major party candidates, they will probably do as many others do: vote for the least bad choice. In their case, that might be Biden. That doesn't mean they want Biden, it just means they don't want Trump more. That was the voting motive for most Biden voters in 2020.

What do you suggest they should do, you being (presumably) a non-moron? (Though I suspect you are not a non-moron, given your apparent belief in a "planned-demic.")

MartyH said...

Re: Baria Weiss. Her last authored Tweet was Thursday. She invited Musk to be interviewed on her podcast. Two retweets since then. Maybe she's working on a story...

Mike Sylwester said...

Musk took the extraordinary step of promoting the leak of internal company communications to Taibbi, exposing the names of several rank-and-file workers and Khanna’s personal email address.

The censors' names should be revealed to the public (although not a personal e-mail address).

Drago said...

AMDG: "I am looking forward to see if the Trump Derangement Syndrome Brigade continues on their quest to paint DeSantis as more dangerous than Trump. The Fat Tub of Goo’s outright rejection of the Constitution (and outright rejection of the he took in 2017) makes that position a little silly."

No one has ever tried to "paint DeSantis as more dangerous than Trump".

The same old questions remain that McComnell/Romney-tards never answer.

So lets try one more time (not thst it will help):

How will DeSantis deliver on real deep state reform, economic nationalism policies, economic confrontation of China, stringent border controls including finishing the wall, etc., when the entirety of DeSantis' financial backers and advisors are classic GOPe-ers that oppose ALL of those things.

Maybe today will be the day the McConnell/Romney-tards answer that question.....but dont hold your breath.

And my condolences on the failure of your hero McConnell to deliver another astonishing policy win to Schumer and Team Dem on JCPA. You guys certainly gave it a good try until one of those icky America Firsters raised an objection.

Not to worry: a McConnell "failure theater" democratical win is still in the offing on an Omnibus budget deal and even perhaps a full republican surrender on DACA! So there's lots going on to keep you very excited.

Drago said...

Freeman Hunt: "So Trump decided to test his theory that he could do anything and people would still, however reluctantly, vote for him?"

The rural and multi-ethnic working class voters that know Trump is the only politician in their lifetime that fought for them and who also know the current republican party leadership class hate their working class guts, are not likely to abandon Trump just because some people get uncomfortable at cocktail parties.

And yes, that's probably a rock solid 30-35% of the republican electorate, most of whom would probably sit at home if Trump were not the nominee...

...with one caveat: is there another republican candidate that can convince them that he or she would fight for the populist/working class harder and better than Trump? Doesn't seem like it given the current all GOPe lineup. But perhaps someone will wise up and surprise us.

Drago said...

HBTPFH: "It was all right there, on the record, undeniable. So, to stop Trump from being reelected, Democrats demanded that their fellow travelers in Silicon Valley prevent the story about “the Big Guy” from getting out before the election."

Silicon Valley has lots and lots of GOPe support and will continue to.

Dont believe any fake "threats" from the GOP side about calling into question Big Tech's Section 230 protections. Its just another fundraising ploy.

Fred Drinkwater said...

Yesterday, Vijaya Gadde, former boss of Twitter Truth & Safety (or whatever they called it) was interviewed on NPR. She told a bit of the history of Twitter vs. Fake accounts from Russia, threatening the election with propaganda. This was all passed over as Accepted Truth by the interviewer.

So even that BS is still supposed to be conventional wisdom / truth, today. It's fantasy to believe that any of the folks who perpetrated that, and all the more recent frauds, will ever voluntarily admit any error.

Jersey Fled said...

Whenever I see or hear the phrase "out off an abundance of caution" I brace myself for the almost limitless amount of evil and stupidity that is about to follow.

hombre said...

So, as always, the story for the leftmediaswine is something other than the Biden's corruption. Now it's, "Did Musk make the case for Twitter's suppression of the laptop scandal at the behest of the Democrats/government?"

Another nice diversion.

robother said...

Of course, every one on the Left is being intentionally obtuse about Trump's statement, the pattern we have seen for 6 years. The most reasonable reading is that he is accusing the perpetrators of the Massive Fraud of subverting the Constitution and laws.

But, like Althouse, I am weary of the back-and-forth of Trump's social media triggering predictable MSM shock and dismay, with his (intentionally?) careless verbosity. Driving clicks is the method and the madness he and Ye share.

Mr Wibble said...

given your apparent belief in a "planned-demic."
------

Show where I said anything about a planned demic, you lying subhuman sack of shit.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Drago - for the last time.

Trump will hand 2024 over to Biden. It's over. You're whining in the wind.

Holy Trump can't fight for the working class in Ye-nutter loserville.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Robert Cook -
"How do you know they won't vote for a third party candidate?"

I don't know. They didn't tell me and I didn't ask. but I agree with your take. They will probably vote for Biden, even though they are less than thrilled.

Bob Boyd said...

Is DeSantis running for President?

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

AMDG -

I agree with your analysis. I'd add a few thoughts involving strategy:
1) The collective powerful left/media elite WANT Trump again. Trump is good for their business.
He's lightening-rod central. The left are thrilled to make everything about Trump - and Trump is happy to oblige them.
Trump, with his almost daily dick-stepping moves, elevates the left. He can make Crook Biden seem like the sane choice to that 70% - that's a bigly accomplishment.

2) The collective powerful left/media elite WANT Trump in the primary game, so THEY (the left) can game the system. Bonus - Trump will soil the other younger, brighter up-and-coming future electables. Again- this is a win-win for Trump's ego, and the left.
Trump gets off crapping on his own team. (while he plays soft-ball with Hillary)

Trump is the one who should step aside. At this point, he is a leftist asset. But he will not.
why? EGO, trumps.

Lurker21 said...

Trump is in a hole and he keeps digging. Or he's a stuck record playing the same few notes over and over again.

It makes me curious about his "big league" (not "bigly") comeback from bankruptcy all those years ago. Did he do it by just repeating the behaviors that made him bankrupt, or was he able to change or shift his methods to get out of that hole?

It would be fair to ask Biden voters if they got what they wanted in 2020 -- if Biden really was the lesser of two evils. Unfortunately you would need a New Trump to get a different answer from them, and Trump is too old to change now.

hombre said...

Okay. The Democrats, media and big tech rigged the 2020 election. We know it. They know it. Everybody with a brain knows it.

It's done! Can we please move on. It's now just a distraction being used by the aforementioned to good effect.

Suspend the Constitution? Really? Move along.

Big Mike said...

"A Massive Fraud of this type and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution."

Nope. The elections of 1876 and 1960 were even more crooked, but like them the election of 2020 goes into the record book as being over and done with. Donald Trump could readily position himself to take back the White House in 2024 if he focused on regular reminders of how Joe Biden is screwing up, and how the Social Security COLA does not really cover the increases in costs of what older people need to buy -- food, gasoline, etc. Are terrorists using the weaponry left behind in America's tail-between-our-legs abandonment of Afghanistan? Someone like Donald Trump would have the platform to point that out, assuming it's happening (and that's a pretty fair assumption).

But no, it's endless "I was robbed." Well, a better campaign -- and keeping his thumb on Birx and Fauci -- could have made it that much more difficult to rob him. Here's a case in point. Two years ago I saw many, many campaign commercials blaming COVID-19 -- not just the lockdowns, but the disease itself -- on Trump's administration. It would have been easy to counter them, especially since the initial responses from mouthy Joe Biden and his buddy Nancy Pelosi to Trump's actions were to accuse him of xenophobia for trying to restrict travel from China. He could have created a commercial showing him at the end of his State of the Union message saying how his administration "was keeping on eye on" the disease in China, then handing his text to Pelosi and she rips it up. Then show her and Joe with their public pronouncements about Trump being out of line trying to restrict travel from China. I think it would have worked.

But he didn't defend himself. And he lost. I don't know if Ron DeSantis is the ideal candidate or whether there's someone else out there with a better chance to win, but I do know that Trump regularly cuts his own throat. It's his throat to cut, but I won't help him do it.

Chuck said...

One might easily think that we’ve reached “end stage Trumpism.” But there’s little evidence to suggest that. He’s a declared candidate for President with legal defense, financial, and personal pathology reasons to continue that campaign.

Althouse may well have decided that Trump has lost his interestingness, but consider what the next two years hold. Trump criminal indictments, a Trump rape trial, a legal dissolution of the Trump Organization, and then a long-running Washington comic opera with the House Freedom Caucus controlling a few levers of power, like the House Judiciary Committee. Launching themselves into every legal case against Trump and turning all of it, plus the 2024 presidential campaign, into a Trump War.

One thing I’ll say about Trump’s calling for “ the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution…” It pleases me immensely that it, at long last, confirms new meaning for the phrase, “Trump Derangement Syndrome.”

Perhaps it would be better to rethink it as, Trump’s Derangement Syndrome.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Trump's "truth" is so hyperbolic and disrespectful of the rule of law that it's idiotic clickbait, only worthy of attention because the man is running for President, and apparently, as polls go, the leading candidate. Sorry, I'm not going to spend every day agonizing over that. We will move on...

So the host changes from analyzing Trump language to just wishing him away. Every Democrat president in my lifetime has said as much or worse about my side, my candidates. I think of the most “hyperbolic and disrespectful of the rule of law” events in recent memory and the knowing exploitation of COVID to terrorize Americans, impose tyranny, create chaos and lawlessness, overturn 100 years of public health planning and most importantly overturn nationwide election laws as an “emergency response” when it was really a hyperpartisan tech-financed coup.

Trump has not raised an army he raised a rhetorical point. Like all of Trump’s known public negotiations his opening “offer” is an exaggerated “ask” to try and set the terms of the debate. Let me offer the transliteration as, “Democrats broke all the rules to win so we need to suspend those rules until we review the play” just like we do for baseball and football plays, which are not anywhere near as important as The Franchise. Instead of engaging with the rhetoric Althouse takes the Standard Progressive approach of ignoring the message (“this is fucked up so let’s fix it”) to attack the messenger as “outside the mainstream” — the exact same thing the DNC-Media has said about every Republican nominee my whole freaking life.

Douglas B. Levene said...

You should go to Powerline and read the comments there on Hindraker's post about Trump's rant about the Constitution. It's quite extraordinary how far some people will twist themselves to defend Trump's comments. In any event, so far as I can tell, Trump's complaints boil down to "the media and big tech companies were biased against me, so the election was unfair and I should get a do-over." That's all he's saying. It's almost funny in a macabre kind of way.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Trump should leave the GOP - right?
Trump is too good for it. Right? He's too enlightened and super-caring.

Trump should run third party. Right, ever-Trumpers? Why should Trump taint himself with the stink of the evil GOPe?

Bob Boyd said...

The left doesn't have a problem with what Twitter did or with what the feds did or what Hunter and Joe may have done. They would enthusiastically embrace much worse. To them the ends justify the means.

What's the difference between a good guy and a bad guy? The bad guys believe the end justifies the means.

Now here comes Trump saying basically the same thing. Shit.

Earnest Prole said...

Where can I find the the full text of what our president emeritus said? I do not trust WaPo characterization.

Take Trump’s quote below, paste it into Google image search, and you’ll get a screen shot of Trump’s full text.

"A Massive Fraud of this type and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution."

RMc said...

And yet, they'll march into the voting booth and vote for Biden again, and then complain about the results. Because, they're morons."

How do you know they won't vote for a third party candidate?


Because nobody votes for third-party candidates for president, ever. (At least not in sufficient numbers to make a difference.)

Inga said...

“Trump's "truth" is so hyperbolic and disrespectful of the rule of law that it's idiotic clickbait, only worthy of attention because the man is running for President, and apparently, as polls go, the leading candidate.”

“It’s also worthy of attention because of Trump’s plot to replace electors and incite the January 6 attack on the Capitol.”

It’s worthy of attention because it so clearly displays his megalomania. There are people even here in this thread that would vote for a megalomaniac to “own the libs” and to live out some sick fantasy they envision for the US.

Drago said...

HBTPFH: "Drago - for the last time.

Trump will hand 2024 over to Biden. It's over. You're whining in the wind.

Holy Trump can't fight for the working class in Ye-nutter loserville."

Trump isnt going anywhere. So, now that that's settled, lets move on to the next level.

This question remains unanswered by the entirety of the McConnell/Romney-tards:

How will DeSantis deliver on real deep state reform, economic nationalism policies, economic confrontation of China, stringent border controls including finishing the wall, etc., when the entirety of DeSantis' financial backers and advisors are classic GOPe-ers that oppose ALL of those things?

I guess we'll just have to keep waiting for an answer while McComnell continues to sell out the republican base with his pal Schumer.

Dude1394 said...

Clever, you “cover” the facts in front of you that the fbi/dnc was supported by Twitter to get Biden elected.

But throw in a shiny new bone with trumps tweet so you could get outraged about that and “handle” the Twitter leaks. Fools and useful idiots jump at the shiny new bone.

wendybar said...

"So Biden won."


FRAUDULENTLY. He didn't REALLY win. America LOST.

Brian McKim and/or Traci Skene said...

Taibbi? Weiss? What of poor Miranda Devine? Her NYP was unfairly banished due to her story.

As for DJT, he's negotiating. You'll should know this by now.

Drago said...

I also wanted to congratulate Earnest Prole. The very very very "republican" Lt Gov of GA coming out last week publicly declaring he would not be voting for Herschel Walker had to be a very proud moment for all GOPe-ers.

Again, kudos.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Trump's complaints boil down to "the media and big tech companies colluding with the FBI and 51 retired Intelligence Operatives were used against me, so the election changes made without judicial review were unfair and I should get a do-over."

FIFY

Yancey Ward said...

LOL! WaPo is lying outright. The data disclosed in the Taibbi thread demonstrated with no doubt that the Biden Campaign was making requests of Twitter that were being immediately "handled" by the Twitter staff. Now, I don't see this as Twitter bending to pressure- they would have done all this anyway since all of them were working to get Biden elected. The entire company was donating illegally to the Biden campaign in-kind contributions to get the dementia patient elected.

And note- this is the last batch to drop on even this particular issue- even worse is coming when the e-mails drop where Twitter was censoring people at the request and demand of officials from the Biden Administration following January 20th 2021.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Drago - Is DeSantis running?

Surely DeSanctamonious knows to get out of the way of the holy and precious all-caring all-knowing billionaire working class Trump-Ye-Fuentes Train.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Twitter hired James Baker as general counsel after he engineered the dirty injection of the “secret bank server” BS into RussiaGate so no other “link” with Biden Admin or Deep State need be established. Baker is the epitome of inside man or back channel buddy, whichever you need. (Assuming “you” are a loyal party member.)

Douglas B. Levene said...

It's worth pointing out that for most of US history, an extremely partisan press was the rule, not the exception. The idea of the press as neutral reporters caught on briefly in the 20th century but we're now back to the historical norm. If the GOP wants to win elections, it has to learn how to live with this reality instead of just whining about it. Of course it's important to point out the bias as a way to fight back. But it's ridiculous to complain that such bias amounts to fraud or makes elections invalid. No, it doesn't. If you lose, you lose, and the fact that you couldn't overcome the media's biased reporting is just tough. Try harder next time.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Trump should leave the wretched horrid GOPe. He's too good for it! Chamber of Commerce can eat Trump's dust. Man.

Trump should start the Trump-YE billionaire Party (or the YE, formerly a billionaire,...Party.)
Working class, baby - all the way. They care.
Please, working class suckers - donate today!

mccullough said...

Stories about stories about stories.

Hunter Biden is a Cokehead with no skills who received tens of millions of dollars from foreign companies — Ukraine and China among them.

This is the foundation story of all the other stories.

Hunter Biden is a bag man for Joe Biden.

Joe Biden is corrupt and should be in prison.

He also won’t acknowledge or reach out to his bastard granddaughter.

So he’s not only corrupt, he’s a piece of shit.

Freeman Hunt said...

"just because some people get uncomfortable at cocktail parties."

Abandoning the principle of the rule of law is hardly equivalent to making people uncomfortable at cocktail parties. No one who makes a statement like that should be anywhere near the government.

DeSantis 2024.

Laurel said...

Seriously, people!

Am I the only one who read Trump’s words as:

“A massive fraud of this type and magnitude allows [i.e., is responsible for what amounts to ] the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution.”

He’s not calling for the abolishment of the Constitution, he’s saying this fraud NEGATES “all rules, regulations, and articles, EVEN those found in the Constitution.”

How can any election be decided by voters deliberately lied to by the political apparatus at each and every level?

And you R’s here: why in the HELL do you STILL accept the deliberate deception by apparatchiks HOSTILE to your very existence?

Grow a brain, will ya?

Joe Smith said...

If you don't think this is a huge story then you are very, very stupid.

The feds KNEW that the laptop was real. Any rookie IT manager could have told you that.

But instead of keeping quiet, they put their thumb on the scale by preemptively warning Twitter of 'possible' Russian disinformation.

The same with the 50 intelligence agents bullshit. It has 'all the earmarks of Russian disinformation' was a just plausible deniability.

They also knew FOR A FACT that the laptop was real.

They were all spinning it because it had the possibility of knocking Biden out of the race.

How fucking convenient.

But wait, you say; it was all Trump's people!

You mean the same guys who plotted for years, lied to judges, and did everything possible to get him thrown out of office? Those guys?

If you don't think that there is a deep state intent on keeping power then again, you are a moron...

D.D. Driver said...

If this statement had not been uttered by Trump, people like Althouse would be saying we need to have a conversation about the kinds of events that would warrant a suspension of constitutional rule.

That would be a very short fucking conversation?

"When should we suspend this Constitution?"

"Never."

"Agreed. The Packers sure suck this year, huh?"

dwshelf said...

People still misread Trump.

Imagine some facts. Don't challenge them yet. You'll see that later.

Imagine that the election was in fact fraudulent. Imagine that the hard truth just now came out. What should be done?

One of the thing that might be done is to redo the election right here and now, as ordered by the Supreme Court. Does the constitution say that? No, but as we've heard, the constitution basically says what the SC says it says, and extraordinary events prompt extraordinary solutions. That's the space Trump is in.

Now did anything we see here contain any hard proof of any such fraud? Not even close, but that's a matter of opinion. If you run it through some dark filter, it might be seeable. That's the space Trump's in, but very few of Trump's supporters follow him there.

So it's not like he just wants to overthrow the constitution. It's that he's a bit demented in his view of what happened in the election.

Narayanan said...

I find it is interesting that Professora is both for/against such juridication = USSC pronouncement.

- since as far as adherence to so called Constitutional norms with respect to electoral process is to be juridically decided

Drago said...

HBTPFH: "Drago - Is DeSantis running?"

I believe he is and that's why $200M+ was routed to his governor's race campaign after DeSantis met with his GOPe-er staff the week of the FBI raid on Mar a Lago.

HBTPFH: "Surely DeSanctamonious knows to get out of the way of the holy and precious all-caring all-knowing billionaire working class Trump-Ye-Fuentes Train."

You are simply not that bright of a guy which is why this question remains unanswered by the McConnell/Romney-tards, like yourself:

How will DeSantis deliver on real deep state reform, economic nationalism policies, economic confrontation of China, stringent border controls including finishing the wall, etc., when the entirety of DeSantis' financial backers and advisors are classic GOPe-ers that oppose ALL of those things?

I'll keep asking while McConnell keeps selling out the republican base with his dem/GOPe allies.

Drago said...

Freeman Hunt: "Abandoning the principle of the rule of law is hardly equivalent to making people uncomfortable at cocktail parties. No one who makes a statement like that should be anywhere near the government.

DeSantis 2024."

I believe the point being made is that the democraticals have destroyed the rule of law while the GOPe-ers spend all their time wringing their hands kvetching about Trump with half the elected GOPe-ers supporting the dems behind the scenes.

Maybe you'd care to answer the question asked daily about DeSantis that causes all the respectable McConnell/Romney-tards to flee the room screaming?

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Laurel - you might be correct about what Trump intended. But once again, because Trump is an inarticulate buffoon - it didn't come out that way. Yet again - Trump hands a nicely formed cudgel to the media.

wendybar said...

Laurel said...
Seriously, people!

Am I the only one who read Trump’s words as:

“A massive fraud of this type and magnitude allows [i.e., is responsible for what amounts to ] the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution.”

He’s not calling for the abolishment of the Constitution, he’s saying this fraud NEGATES “all rules, regulations, and articles, EVEN those found in the Constitution.”

How can any election be decided by voters deliberately lied to by the political apparatus at each and every level?

And you R’s here: why in the HELL do you STILL accept the deliberate deception by apparatchiks HOSTILE to your very existence?

Grow a brain, will ya?

12/4/22, 1:17 PM

THANK YOU!!! A voice of reason among people who want to go back to the same old same old, caving to the Progressive party. Dumping Trump means they won, and they will do it all over again to whomever the GOPe puts in. They are the same.

Bob Boyd said...

@ Laurel re: 1:17pm

I wish that were true, but look, here is Trump's full "tweet":

So, with the revelation of MASSIVE & WIDESPREAD FRAUD & DECEPTION in working closely with Big Tech Companies, the DNC, & the Democrat Party, do you throw the Presidential Election Results of 2020 OUT and declare the RIGHTFUL WINNER, or do you have a NEW ELECTION? A Massive Fraud of this type and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution. Our great “Founders” did not want, and would not condone, False & Fraudulent Elections!

The way Trump speaks and writes, it's easy for him to be deliberately or unintentionally misconstrued and there have been countless examples of that over the last few years.
But I think it's clear he is saying that, even though there is no provision for a do-over in the law or the Constitution, he is entitled to one and his followers should support that cause.
If he meant something else, he could say so, but he has not done so in over 24 hours of heavy media attention and criticism of this statement.

What binds the all the Trump supporters together is fealty to the Constitution. We've always said, "It's not about Trump."
Anyone who abandons the Constitution, is not one of us. Not even Trump. I hope he realizes this and retracts his statement. In 2016 Trump was all about Make America Great Again. Now I seem to be hearing Make Trump Great Again. Not good.

God Damnit!

Robert Cook said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
gilbar said...

here's a Serious Question... (or, maybe it's a WhatIf; i'm not sure)
What IF; 34 states decide that “A massive fraud of this type and magnitude allows that those 34 states call for a Convention, to work out what to do about it?
Would that be okay?

Robert Cook said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
mccullough said...

Trump lost. He can spend the rest of his life whining about it.

Trump never fired Fauci. He caved to him after it was obvious that Fauci was full of shit, which was obvious during the Fauci AIDS Scare years when Donald Trump was a Democrat.

Trump criticized Kemp & DeSantis for not following the Fauci/CDC guidelines. Jared Kushner is a useless idiot. Trump followed Jared’s advice. Keep & DeSantis didn’t.

Fuck Trump. He’s a whining loser.

Readering said...

Trump will say just about anything to prop up his big lie, we knew that. The immediate problem is for GoP folks pushed to take a position on and respond questions about his insane words.

Howard said...

It's just the desperate bleating of an impotent tub of guts squeezing the last bit of juice from what remains of you people.

We all get it. It hard to admit you fell for him worshiped him, sold out all your values for him. It not like you're alone. Look at all of those self hating Scientology Cucks like Tom Cruz and Will Smith whom claim David Miscarriage is all that.

effinayright said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

It's worth pointing out that for most of US history, an extremely proud and openly partisan press was the rule, not the exception.

There FIFY

Douglas B. Levene said...

"Imagine that the election was in fact fraudulent. Imagine that the hard truth just now came out. What should be done?" This is a good question and there is an answer to it and it's not to shred the Constitution. The only constitutional remedies are political. One is impeachment. The other is to win the next election. To the extent there are legal remedies, they consist of prosecuting whoever committed the fraud. There is no constitutional do-over of the election. That's the remedy of coups d'etat, of extra-legal means to power. Sorry, not interested.

hombre said...

Looking again, I'm wondering if Trump is speaking retrospectively. I don't know the entire context of his remark and I certainly would not expect to get it accurately from WaPo.

Perhaps his intention was to assert that the massive fraud itself "allows for", that is "calls forth" the termination of rules, laws and the Constitution thereby rendering remedial measures ineffective.

That's what happened, isn't it?

However obsessive and boorish Trump can be, it is unlikely he would call for termination of the Constitution. His constitutionalist base would not take kindly to the call.

Douglas B. Levene said...

I used to watch Tucker once in a while. He was very intelligent and clever. I guess he still is, but these days he's just an intelligent and clever propagandist, and that's boring. You can predict every word that comes out of his mouth. So I don't watch him any more.

Drago said...

Notice how closely aligned the Althouse GOPe-ers narratives/talking points are with the Althouse lefties.

That isnt an accident. It's an inevitable consequence of an accelerating party realignment.

Readering said...

The biggest casualty of Musk's weekend operation so far has been the only declared GoP presidential candidate beclowning himself. So I am beginning to think Musk did this as part of his justification for categorizing his terminations of top Twitter executives as being for cause under the terms of the merger agreement.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Bob Boyd - 2:18

Well stated.

Trump and his supporters need to form a 3rd party - a Trump / Trump Trump Trump is god party.
I wish them luck. pffft.

Douglas B. Levene said...

@Gilbar: The short answer to your question is that it doesn't matter why the states want a constitutional convention. Under Article V of the Constitution, 2/3 of the states can call a constitutional convention for any reason they please. Once such a convention is called, it can consider whatever amendments it wants to the constitution. Any amendments approved by such a convention (by majority vote, I believe) must be ratified by 3/4 of the states.

hombre said...

Howard bleated":"... sold out all your values for him."

There you go, Howard. Values voters like you went for cartel enriching open borders, mutilating gender-confused teens, denigrating free speech, savings-eating inflation, late term abortion, fentanyl overdoses, mixed gender bathrooms and locker rooms, forced "vaccinations," a senile grifter in the WH, etc.

We should all be more like you! /s

hombre said...

Looking at Bob Boyd's post at 2:18 containing Trump's full tweet it's obvious that my earlier comment misconstrued his "termination" phrase.

"Terminate" the Constitution to declare him President? That is a clear insult to his base and I hope they take it as such.

pacwest said...

Dumping Trump means they won,

I think this accounts for 50% of the remaining Trump support. 40% because of policy, and 10% just like him poking his finger in the Dems eyeball. Just spit ballin'.



Ralph L said...

It's odd they released the "bombshell" on a Friday night.

pacwest said...

Howard sez... push back on China dumping steel is like engrams somehow. LOL.

hombre said...

Looking at Bob Boyd's post at 2:18 containing Trump's full tweet it's obvious that my earlier comment misconstrued his "termination" phrase.

"Terminate" the Constitution to declare him President? That is a clear insult to his base and I hope they take it as such.

Freeman Hunt said...

Bob Boyd wrote: "What binds the all the Trump supporters together is fealty to the Constitution. We've always said, "It's not about Trump."
Anyone who abandons the Constitution, is not one of us. Not even Trump."

Exactly this.

Freeman Hunt said...

Though I'm not sure it binds *all* Trump supporters together. He has his fanboy contingent. Not sure how concerned they are about abstract legal notions.

AMDG said...

To Drag Queen and the rest of the Trumptard:

I know you are fully committed to your America First Agenda, but how committed are you?

The 2022 DNC MVP, Donald John Trump (AKA The Fat Tub of Goo) cannot win in 2024. The surest way to ensure your agenda never happens is to continue to support Trump.

The fact is you people suck at basic arithmetic. You can never explain how Trump can get to the required number of electoral votes.

Bob Boyd said...

There's not going to be a "new election". Nobody is going to declare Trump the "rightful winner" There's 50 different state elections.
If Trump wants a do-over he can get one in 2024. That's the only do-over he's ever going to get. He should be talking about this fraud in those terms. Not talking about chucking the Constitution. If we do that, we're lost. It plays into the hands of our opponents.
And it just isn't going to happen. We can't even get a fair shake on regularly scheduled, legal, Constitutional election. It's ludicrous.

Michelle Dulak Thomson said...

Drago,

No one has ever tried to "paint DeSantis as more dangerous than Trump".

That's just not so. I remember an NYT opinion piece maybe two weeks ago saying exactly that, including in the headline, and several columnists at the WaPo have said much the same thing. The idea is that DeSantis is more affable, more effective, and generally a lot smarter than Trump, quite apart from having won a massive victory last month in America's fourth (?) largest state.

He shares with Trump a fearlessness when tackling large problems and mighty opponents (COVID, Hurricane Ian, Disney), but Trump has a tendency to muck these things up, and DeSantis does not. Hell, he got Miami/Dade County to vote for him. We can best hope that other Republicans (apart from Trump) get out of his way and allow him to win the primary.

Michelle Dulak Thomson said...

Mike (MJB Wolf),

Yes, the 19th c. press was eagerly and proudly partisan, while ours is sneakily and shamefacedly so. I, too, prefer the former.

Iman said...

“We should all be more like you [ed: Howard]!” /s

But there should be a limit on how much seed is spent on the floor!

Drago said...

Michelle Dulak Thomson: "Drago,

No one has ever tried to "paint DeSantis as more dangerous than Trump".

That's just not so. I remember an NYT opinion piece maybe two weeks ago saying exactly that...."

The original claim was that I, or others of a like mind on the political horserace, was asserting DeSantis was more dangerous than Trump.

Which is a dumb thing to claim.

We all agree the left will turn anyone nominated into the next hitler, ut thats not what was being bandied about earlier today.

Drago said...

HBTPFH: "Bob Boyd - 2:18

Well stated.

Trump and his supporters need to form a 3rd party - a Trump / Trump Trump Trump is god party.
I wish them luck. pffft."

How about....No.

Now what smart guy? Gonna stamp your feet a bit more?

Just answer the question rocketeer, which I,'ll keep asking:

How will DeSantis deliver on real deep state reform, economic nationalism policies, economic confrontation of China, stringent border controls including finishing the wall, etc., when the entirety of DeSantis' financial backers and advisors are classic GOPe-ers that oppose ALL of those things?

The Question That Never Gets Answered.

Drago said...

AMDG: "The fact is you people suck at basic arithmetic. You can never explain how Trump can get to the required number of electoral votes."

You have been challenged multiple times as to how DeSantis, or anybody else for that matters, can get to the required number of electoral votes....and you have refused to do so.

Why is that? Do you suck at basic arithmetic?

Crazy World said...

It was one of the most extraordinary times in Social Media, never seen anything like it.

AMDG said...

Drag Queen,

DeSantis wins by picking up the 44K votes in AZ, GA, and WI that Trump pissed away. Then he needs to take one of MIchigan, Pennsylvania, Nevada, or New Hampshire..

Now, on to you - can you give a path to a you going to continue to avoid the question?

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Drago - Trump isn't good enough for the horrible GOP. You say so yourself - non stop.

Go take your YE-Trump moron god, and build a different party with it. ..and toss off.

effinayright said...

Iman said...
“We should all be more like you [ed: Howard]!” /s

But there should be a limit on how much seed is spent on the floor!
**************

Maybe we should all refer to Howard as "Onan the Barbarian".

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Drago - anyone will have a better chance at winning over Frump(L)(oser)
Plus - Trump is head of the GOPe -> you hate them.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Drago-
How will Trump deliver on real deep state reform, economic nationalism policies, economic confrontation of China, stringent border controls including finishing the wall, etc., (or making Mexico pay for the wall as was formerly promised - but never happened) ?? oh --when the entirety of Trump's dwindling financial backers and former advisors... won't give him any money?
How will Trump win while his support dwindles to a few nutters and desperate and delusional hangers-on? How will Trump win by calling everyone silly names? How will Trump with with his non-stop dick-stepping daily dose of idiocy? What difference will any of it make if the Dems get their way and Trump is the GOP nominee and they beat him again?

Drago said...

Blogger AMDG said...
AMDG: "Drag Queen,

DeSantis wins by picking up the 44K votes in AZ, GA, and WI that Trump pissed away. Then he needs to take one of MIchigan, Pennsylvania, Nevada, or New Hampshire..

Now, on to you - can you give a path to a you going to continue to avoid the question?"

That's precisely the non-answer "answer" I expected.

Oh, okay. Just like that DeSantis picks up the disenchanted, nominal republican, working class voters that emerged to vote for Trump only (just how is not explained, it never is), and somehow the republican party under the wizened "leadership" of Romney-McDaniel suddenly outperforms the corrupted ballot harvesting by the dems in all battleground states (just how is never explained, it never is), particularly in AZ where the "respectable" McCain-machine GOPe-ers hand-delivered the corrupt dem electoral practices to the incoming all-dem state team.

Wow! How magically wonderful! And such a detailed plan!

Q: How will DeSantis win those states?
Ans: By winning those states! Duh!

I can see why you and HBTPFH have hit it off so well, not to mention your newest allies Howard and Inga.

Since AMDG has certainly set THE "standard" for political analysis (wink wink), here's a comparable-quality answer for the other side:

Trump wins by picking up 44K more working class/cross-over Latino/black male votes in AZ, GA, and WI that the GOPe has pissed away with their dem-lite (but not really "lite") policies that Schumer/Wall Street love. Then he needs to take one of MIchigan, Pennsylvania, Nevada, or New Hampshire.

Bim bam bang finito! Its just that easy!

LOL

I love how AMDG posits himself as the deep thinking political strategos and he coughs up that child-like answer.

Drago said...

HBTPFH: "Go take your YE-Trump moron god, and build a different party with it. ..and toss off."

Lets do this one more time: No.

Now, go home, stamp your feet some more and get your shinebox.

Michael K said...

Blogger Drago said...

AMDG: "The fact is you people suck at basic arithmetic. You can never explain how Trump can get to the required number of electoral votes."


Why do these lefties with Humanities degrees always think they know better?

Michael K said...

How will DeSantis deliver on real deep state reform, economic nationalism policies, economic confrontation of China, stringent border controls including finishing the wall, etc., when the entirety of DeSantis' financial backers and advisors are classic GOPe-ers that oppose ALL of those things?

That is certainly a question for me. I like DeSantis but have my doubts about him.

Hooker is just spewing bile all over the place.

Drago said...

Hunter Biden's tax payer funded Hooker: "Drago - Trump isn't good enough for the horrible GOP. You say so yourself - non stop."

You are bit dense, so I'm assuming you meant to write:
Drago - The horrible GOP isn't good enough for the horrible Trump. You say so yourself - non stop.

However, having written that, its clear to anyone who has been following this blog for any period of time that I've never written anything like that.

HBTPFH gets lots of things wrong. Most of the time hilariously wrong.

My favorite HBTPFH lie/moronic mis-step is his claim the Saudi's are funding the Trump campaign!

That's quite a charge! Naturally, we had to ask HBTPFH: how much have the Saudi's provided to the Trump campaign?

You will not be surprised to hear HBTPFH never provided an answer to that question. We all know why.

Mason G said...

"How will DeSantis deliver on real deep state reform, economic nationalism policies, economic confrontation of China, stringent border controls including finishing the wall, etc., when the entirety of DeSantis' financial backers and advisors are classic GOPe-ers that oppose ALL of those things?"

This is a good question. You'd think somebody would have at least faked an answer by now, wouldn't you?

dwshelf said...

There is no constitutional do-over of the election. That's the remedy of coups d'etat, of extra-legal means to power. Sorry, not interested.

Coups require guns, an organized armed force. What Trump imagines requires a ruling by the Supreme Court. Or maybe a constitutional convention. He's not hinting at all that some armed force should put him in power.

D.D. Driver said...

One of the thing that might be done is to redo the election right here and now, as ordered by the Supreme Court. Does the constitution say that? No, but as we've heard, the constitution basically says what the SC says it says, and extraordinary events prompt extraordinary solutions

But, if you terminate the Constitution, how does the Supreme Court get any power? Can God create a rock so heavy not even he can lift it?

Drago said...

Mason G: "This is a good question. You'd think somebody would have at least faked an answer by now, wouldn't you?"

Yes.

However, apparently this question is such political kryptonite somehow that it has been placed in the Hunter Biden's Laptop category of The Unmentionables by the GOPe-er rocket scientists.

Drago said...

HBTPFH: ",Plus - Trump is head of the GOPe -> you hate them."

Its never wise to post while drinking.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Drago -
Wrong. NO.
I never said the Saudi's are funding Trump's campaign - I said they are funding he and his family.

All while Trump doesn't support his own chosen candidates.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Drago - Trump is the head of the GOP (GOPe) - right?

If not - tell us why not.

Why would Trump seek the GOP nomination - if he and his hangers-on are so filled with rage and hate over it? Time for Trump and his followers to form a new party.
The GOPe is dead!

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Blaming your inability to see Trump's many faults and dick-stepping moves doesn't make everyone around you drunk - it does make you a moron, tho.

Have fun with your loser.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Drago-
How will Trump deliver on real deep state reform, economic nationalism policies, economic confrontation of China, stringent border controls including finishing the wall, etc., (or making Mexico pay for the wall as was formerly promised - but never happened) ?? oh --when the entirety of Trump's dwindling financial backers and former advisors... won't give him any money?
How will Trump win while his support dwindles to a few nutters and desperate and delusional hangers-on? How will Trump win by calling everyone silly names? How will Trump with with his non-stop dick-stepping daily dose of idiocy? What difference will any of it make if the Dems get their way and Trump is the GOP nominee and they beat him again?

Still waiting for your answers. Trump is so amazing on all fronts - so caring - so articulate and persuasive- and effective - with his rallies of stale standup, "little hands" name-calling and other immature, boring and stale nothing-mess - er I mean glory - you should be able to answer all of that with ease.

Drago said...

HBTPFH: "Drago -
Wrong. NO.
I never said the Saudi's are funding Trump's campaign - I said they are funding he and his family."

Nope. You said campaign.

I don't blame you for walking back such a moronic statement. You should just make it a habit to not say so many moronic things.

Drago said...

HBTPFH: "Drago - Trump is the head of the GOP (GOPe) - right?

If not - tell us why not."

Trump is not in elected office.

The policies Trump pushes are not the policies the current GOPe-er leadership advocates and fights for.

The current GOPe-er leadership works closely with the democraticals to advance legislation that serves the democratical purposes.

The portion of the GOP base that supports Trump does not support what the GOPe-er leadership is doing.

The portion of the GOP base that DOES support what the dem-adjacent GOPe-er leadership is doing does not support Trump.

HBTPFH, at this point, I have to ask: are you a 12 year old that has commandeered your parents computer?

Drago said...

HBTPFH: "Why would Trump seek the GOP nomination - if he and his hangers-on are so filled with rage and hate over it?"

To advance the policies he supports.

Do you have any real "big boy" type questions?

Drago said...

HBTPFH: "Blaming your inability to see Trump's many faults and dick-stepping moves doesn't make everyone around you drunk"

I did no such thing.

I can see you are in Complete Make Believe World.

Which explains why you can't address any real world questions and you don't know any basic real world facts, like the fact that McConnell had given O'Dea campaign money during the CO general election.

You are like a child lashing out whenever your ignorance is exposed, which is pretty much all the time now.

Drago said...

HBTPFH: "Still waiting for your answers."

No you aren't. I have answered that question a hundred times. You are simply incapable of internalizing the answer. I suspect that is true for lots of things in your life.

Trump is the only republican Presidential candidate and/or President in the last 40 years to fight for the economic nationalist and america first policies I support. That's it. Just Trump. No one else.

The argument you suckers make is that its DeSantis that can give us all of the Trump policies without the Trump drama.

Great!....if that is true.

So I simply watch DeSantis and his complete GOPe team carefully and I note that none of the DeSantis funders or advisors support ANY of the economic nationalist or America first policies that I support and so the question becomes obvious: How can DeSantis deliver on those policies?

You certainly can't answer that question. But then I remember its you, and you can't answer any questions....because you simply don't know anything.

Drago said...

The way this conversation is going I suspect we'll be seeing more attacks on Melania's looks like the GOPe-ers were launching the other day.

Yes, they were attacking Melania's looks...thus fulfilling one of the other predictions made, which was that "soo" the attacks on Trump and his family by the GOPe-ers would be indistinguishable from what a Howard or lunatic Inga or Media Matters would say.

Well, we have certainly reached that point.

Drago said...

Why is HBTPFH even here posting? Shouldn't he be following the lead of the GOPe leaders in GA and DC and calling people in GA to tell them that republicans shouldn't be voting for Walker, like the GOPe "hero" Lt Gov of GA told everyone last week and McConnell who has criticized Walker publicly multiple times?

Remember, if you aren't careful, some of these candidates might get into office and mess up the next McConnell/Schumer republican-sell-out deal.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Drago -

You do realize Trump just announced he is running for the GOP nomination, right?
Or are you a bad faith/ blind faith idiot?

You are a useless prick. Really - go obsess over someone else. I'm done with you.

GRW3 said...

I clearly remember the Hillary Inc. Group recommending essentially the same thing: As soon as Russian collusion is proved; Trump team should be deposed, and Hillary installed as President. Consider though, the more the officialdom strays from the constitution to ensure "their Democracy", the more appeal the Trump approach will have.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Drago said...

HBTPFH: "Drago -

You do realize Trump just announced he is running for the GOP nomination, right?
Or are you a bad faith/ blind faith idiot?"

Would any thinking person be willing to attempt to parse out just what it is that this HBTPFH is trying to say here? It's completely disconnected from any previous comment.

Like most of what he writes.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Drago - why Ann lets you litter her space is beyond me.

You should toss off to the Trump-Humper Tree House. and stay there. Alas- you prefer to STALK anyone who dares not agree with your every moronic point. Get over yourself.

*fixed

Drago said...

HBTPFH: "You should toss off to the Trump-Humper Tree House...."

No, I'll stay here.

HBTPFH: "...and stay there. Alas- you prefer to stock anyone who dares not agree with your every moronic point."

I "prefer to stock anyone who dares not agree with" me?

Is that english? What are you trying to say? Your incoherent blathering is often baffling.

Monty Python french-soldier voice: Go away or I shall STOCK you a second time, you english bedwetting pig!

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

We shall see if Ann puts up with your behavior.

Drago said...

Person who often litters up Althouse threads: "Drago - why Ann lets you litter her space is beyond me."

Litterer heal thyself, I always say.

Btw, you sound just like a previous lifelong republican ("LLR") poster.

He also had many Althouse blog lefty admirers. Probably because he too was such a "principled republican".

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

We all recall your obsession with Chuck. You were just the other side of his coin. Still are.

Drago said...

Althouse Blog Commissar (self-appointed): "We shall see if Ann puts up with your behavior."

LOL

Go for it Tiger. And while you are at it, get yourself an armband as well. After all, every self-respecting Blog Commissar should have an armband, don't you think?

Oh, and congratulations again! It appears your GOPe god-hero Mitch McConnell is going to attach the completely corrupted JCPA, which creates permanent dem-controlled media cartels that can shut out conservative media, to the Defense Appropriations bill!

What a proud day this is for your GOPe-ers. Next up for your selling-out-the-republican-base strategy: A capitulation on the omnibus budget package AND perhaps even DACA amnesty!

What a tremendous McConnell/Romney/Schumer/Pelosi winning week this will turn out to be. It's a good thing Trump wasn't there to mess up all these cool pro-dem deals, eh Althouse Blog Commissar?

BTW, what color will your armband be? Yellow seems like it might be appropriate. Sell-out Canary Yellow. Sounds about right.

Known Unknown said...

People still don't fucking get Trump.

Art of the Deal. He says outlandish stuff/makes outrageous claims and moves back toward the center but gets a better deal.

Let's face it -- the Constitution is fairly useless. Cities and states run roughshod over amendments, and no one does shit about it.

The Constitution (oh hallowed document) has guaranteed the wonderful government you have today.

Drago said...

Althouse Blog Commissar (self-appointed): "We all recall your obsession with Chuck. You were just the other side of his coin. Still are."

LOL

There is no "his coin". I guess you wanted to toss in something that sounded "intelligent".

I called LLR Chuck out on his transparent pro-dem faux-"principled republican" schtick. And properly so.

I will always call out the faux-"principled republican" losers who are really just about advancing the democratical cause.....just like McConnell is doing now with JCPA...and that he'll do with the omnibus budget package....and then he'll do it with DACA.

And you'll cheer him every step of the way....and then you'll blame Trump for McConnell doing it.

The Permanent GOPe-er "Get Out Of Jail Free Card".

TheOne Who Is Not Obeyed said...

I think it's very precious that Leftists are all up in arms that Trump tweeted about doing exactly what the leadership of the Democrat and Progressives want to do: Throw out the Constitution. Progressives have been upfront about wanting that result at least since Woodrow Wilson.

I know, I know. Pointing out that Progressives are vile, lying hacks is like pointing out water is wet.

But I reserve the right to play Captain Obvious any time I wish.