The NYT asks a panel of political writers (along with other questions), in
"He Has Nothing Else': Our Writers on Trump and the 2024 Election." From the answers:
David Brooks He makes the right enemies. He brought us peace and a good economy.
Frank Bruni It’s an age of rage, and no candidate will tap into that as shamelessly and with as little regard for the consequences as the madman of Mar-a-Lago....
Ross Douthat Some day [sic] the world will end in fire, some say in ice. From what I’ve tasted of desire, I hold with those who favor fire. But if it had to perish twice, I think I know enough of hate to say that for destruction ice is also great and would suffice. MAGA!...
Jonathan V. Last “I am your retribution” works pretty nicely....
Daniel McCarthy Trump delivered on Roe and judges, he reformed and cut taxes, he advanced Middle East peace, he started no wars he couldn’t finish, he toughened attitudes toward China, he restrained immigration, and he was a great jobs president. He’s proven he can win, and he does what Republicans are elected to do.
Posts
84 comments:
"Put a thorn in the paws of everyone in the establishment. Vote Trump"
"Put a burr under the saddle of everyone in DC. Vote Trump."
"Make everyone in power scratch mosquito bites and poison ivy 24/7/365. Vote Trump."
"Voters can nullify the will of the oligarchs and dark money pools. Vote Trump."
"Wipe that smug look of media commentators' faces. Vote Trump."
"Today is a good day to die. Sparta!"
"He brought us peace and a good economy."
He did, which is what I want in a President.
"Daniel McCarthy Trump delivered on Roe and judges, he reformed and cut taxes, he advanced Middle East peace, he started no wars he couldn’t finish, he toughened attitudes toward China, he restrained immigration, and he was a great jobs president. He’s proven he can win, and he does what Republicans are elected to do."
Except build the wall, drained the swamp, and made better personnel decisions. I was going to add "driving his enemies before him and hearing the lamentations of the AWFLs" but that wouldn't be fair...he continues to deliver on the "lamentations of the AWFLs" part.
Go soak a cork, Bruni!
He can self finance. He will see to its that all documents are declassified so no one can ever be prosecuted for that again, seeing as how there is no point to having any laws about that in the first place. He will make Kari Lake his VP and she is better looking Han Mike Pence.
Ooh, ChatTY, and 1-2, perhaps 3/5 right.
"It’s an age of rage"
Well, when you consider that Trump brought us peace and a good economy, you can see why, right?
This question certainly exposes the shallow and motivated thinkers. Some people have no intellect and react to everything with a knee jerk reflex rather than thought.
The same pitch that MAD magazine used for Alfred E. Neuman For President: "You could do worse...and you always have!"
Let's try the historical approach?
He was the last president of the American Republic.
Yes:
"He brought us peace and a good economy. "
"No war"
"Ended illegal entrance into the nation"
"Biden brings us millions of illegal entrants, crippling inflation, highest tax hikes in the history of our nation, pain, suffering... all while the FBI and the media cover for his past international money family money laundering and influence peddling for massive family grift."
Don't:
boo hoo me me me Trump. Send money. crap on Ron DeSantis instead of Lovely Hillary, or crook Biden, or swamp, or FBI etc..
Support His Presidency or We'll Kill This Dog.
Consider what we now KNOW, not suspect, happened to sabotage his first term in office. Justice and above all equity demand that he has a second term as reparation.
3 out of 5 "political writers" can't even articulate a real reason for voting for Trump? Not that I ever thought their writings were worth reading, but this can't make them look good right? I could articulate reasons for voting for anyone that was in the last democratic race, including Clinton - and I dislike all of them more than I dislike Trump. How can you be that out of touch with approximately half of the country.
McCarthy left out "he gave us energy independence, low inflation, a stronger military, and lifted median Black household incomes to their highest levels on record and pushed Black unemployment rates and poverty rates down to their lowest levels." *
But all those mean tweets---
*ref: https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2020/11/01/donald-trump-african-american-black-economic-progress-vote-column/6081310002/
Brooks, amazingly, is not bad, but I like Podhoretz: "Trump is an unworthy vessel chosen by God to save us from the evil on the left."
"It’s an age of rage, and no candidate will tap into that as shamelessly and with as little regard for the consequences as the madman of Rehoboth."
Fixed it for you.
Bruni projecting again. When I look around the United States, the passionate intensity is all, literally all, on the Left. The Right lack all conviction, and it is why many in the GOP seem to want to let Trump to his fate, believing that act of contrition and obeisance will save them.
It's quaint that there are people here who don't realize that they are going to do the exact same thing to any and all Republicans that they have done to Trump. At the Tony Awards, somebody just got a standing ovation for trashing DeSantis.
If they *don't* hate a certain Republican, no way will I vote for that person.
He has a genuine love for America, respects the US Constitution, and seeks to enhance the liberties of all US citizens.
Frank Bruni It’s an age of rage...
As usual Frank is half right. The half I quote. Biden has raged from the oval office and various podiums since he started campaigning, yelling "extreme MAGA" this and that talking about "bulging veins" on Nazis as he demonstrates with his doll hair-covered bulging forehead veins. But Frank only has eyes for Donald, who has demonstrated more humor than most presidents, even if it juvenile at times.
What about rage in the streets? Is that a Trump thing Frank? Or are the D party shock troops (Antifa, BLM, unions, rent-a-mobs, snowflake college students) known for raging and firebombing and general mayhem? Who started the fight with parents in Glendale last week, Frank?
“Elevator Pitch”?
Ok, Boomer.
The best argument for Trump is that he’s limited to four year at this point. Assuming he lives.
It’s the best argument for Biden, too.
HBTPFH: "Send money. crap on Ron DeSantis instead of Lovely Hillary, or crook Biden, or swamp, or FBI etc."
Yeah, that darn Trump just wont criticize Hillary or Biden!
Yes lasses and laddies, welcome to the next Team DeSantis talking point...apparently from some fictional universe where Trump doesnt blast dems.
Good luck with that one.
Brooks said something decent about Trump? Quick, get me a non-Bud Lite; I'm suffering the vapors.
David Brooks and Daniel McCarthy at least know the rough temperature of the electorate.
JVL sold out his principles for a NYT gig. I guess that paid off.
crap on Ron DeSantis instead of Lovely Hillary, or crook Biden, or swamp, or FBI etc..
It's not just your weird hatred for Trump that sets you apart Hooker. It's your dishonesty in repeatedly framing the primary as if it is the general. Is Desantis your hero talking about Hillary, or the Swamp or the FBI? You know why Donald is concentrating fire on the #2 Republican in the polls. You know. You just want to bitch about Trump so you can sound like all the progressives on here. A lot like Frank Bruni aren't you? Who does the Floridian flameout concentrate his fire on? You know it's Trump. Why aren't you bitching about Desantis ignoring crooked Hillary?
Among all the good reasons already articulated above, for me the pitch is obvious. It's the same reason I voted for Trump reluctantly in 2016, and enthusiastically in 2020.
"F--- all of you bastards, each and every single one of you."
"You," of course, being the uniparty establishment, the deep state, the media, the Hollywood celebrities, the intelligentsia, etc.
Brooks finally got it right. Peace and Prosperity. Enemies of the left.
"Except build the wall, drained the swamp, and made better personnel decisions."
Boy, some people just aren't satisfied.
He did a lot in four years while being constantly hounded by the media lapdogs, democrats, and the deep state that wants to continue raiding the treasury, ending with the Covid plague out of China, funded by the U.S.
Impeached twice, indicted numerous times, accused of sexual assault by a woman who can't remember when it happened, in a place that never could have happened, which she never told anyone about or reported elsewhere.
(One small thing he did that could have had massive consequences was to stop the U.S. from giving subsidies to China that allowed them to ship products to U.S. homes for absurdly small postage. My son ordered knick-knacks that came from China for which they paid under a buck to send. Wanna bet Biden reversed that process?)
Ride Space Mountains demand for perfection, the notion that Trump does what is expected by the people he represents goes along way to restoring the democratic values our republic was founded on.
Brooks and McCarthy gave sensible answers, no doubt through gritted teeth. Ross Doughnut confirmed he's a clown. But we all know that. I mean, what an absurd answer. Thanks for sparing us the wisdom of David French.
As stated, Trump gave his peace and prosperity, and will do so again. He won't let 4 million illegal immigrants walk accross an open Southern border. He will rein in the deep state and will appoint good judges. And he wont start WW III over Ukraine. Or go war with Iran or North Korea.
On the other hand: Mean Tweets! And Mitt Romney will be sad, and will cry if Trump is re-elected. Rod Dreher would stay in Hungarian exile - I mean, the vulgarity my dears!
Instead of asking the house conservatives, the Times could have actually found a Republican operative. They're in the phone book. Anyway, I am pleasantly surprised that the nonsense of Bruni, Douthat, and Last were book ended by some real answers by Brooks and McCarthy.
We should elect him to show that in modern America anyone can be elected President, regardless of the color of his (or her) skin.
His opponents are just chrysophobic.
"We can't let the Democrats get away with how they've acted for the last fifty years."
Tregonsee said...
"Consider what we now KNOW, not suspect, happened to sabotage his first term in office. Justice and above all equity demand that he has a second term as reparation."
It's time to have a national conversation about reparations. Perhaps California can lead the way.
Trump may suck, but the Biden administration is a sucking chest wound.
I suggest commenters to try Biden’s elevator pitch:
I only have to be a figure head. As long as the big guy gets his cut, I’ll let our glorious bureaucracy run as it wishes. This leverage decades of putting the right people into unelected and unaccountable positions. That is democracy at work.
@Leland
Guys like Brooks and Douthat consistently keep making this false equivalency - that dedication to Trump and voting for Trump somehow means that lots of those people don't think he's an oaf sometimes or aren't willing to hold him accountable. I could never be personal friends with a guy like Donald, I've worked with and met too many of them. No man is perfect. No man is an island. Trump has made mistakes, many mistakes. It's about the overall Trump picture being more than the sum of its parts.
The message and the philosophy of "America First" and "Make America Great Again" are sound. Allowed to operate in a vacuum free from the ravages of leftism and liberal entropy it would've transformed this country into something better for everyone in the span of 4 years. Sadly, we don't live in that vacuum.
"How can you be that out of touch with approximately half of the country."
Progressives typically lack the ability to understand opposing viewpoints, which is why their preferred debating tactic is censorship. It's been noted elsewhere online (maybe here, too- I don't know) that conservatives are more able to accurately understand and describe progressive arguments than progressives are when describing conservative arguments.
We have not yet begin to fight - MAGA
(Remembering the words of American Naval Captain John Paul Jones fighting the British Navy, during the Revolutionary War)
"Commanding the 42-gun USS Bonhomme Richard in the North Sea, [Captain John Paul] Jones took on the superior 44-gun British frigate HMS Serapis. The two vessels exchanged gunfire for about three hours, but realising that he could not win a battle of big guns Jones decided to lash his ship and Serapis together.
His attempts left the Bonhomme Richard burning and sinking, causing the British to call out asking if he was ready to surrender. Jones reportedly and famously replied: “I have not yet begun to fight!”
Serapis was soon badly damaged when a grenade caused a gunpowder explosion and it was the British who were forced to surrender.
https://www.onthisday.com/articles/i-have-not-yet-begun-to-fight
We have not yet begin to fight - MAGA
(Remembering the words of American Naval Captain John Paul Jones fighting the British Navy, during the Revolutionary War)
"Commanding the 42-gun USS Bonhomme Richard in the North Sea, [Captain John Paul] Jones took on the superior 44-gun British frigate HMS Serapis. The two vessels exchanged gunfire for about three hours, but realising that he could not win a battle of big guns Jones decided to lash his ship and Serapis together.
His attempts left the Bonhomme Richard burning and sinking, causing the British to call out asking if he was ready to surrender. Jones reportedly and famously replied: “I have not yet begun to fight!”
Serapis was soon badly damaged when a grenade caused a gunpowder explosion and it was the British who were forced to surrender.
https://www.onthisday.com/articles/i-have-not-yet-begun-to-fight
Telling, that only 2 of the 5 could bring themselves to answer the question. 3 of the 5 would rather make a public ass of themselves than (even hypothetically) say anything positive about Trump.
Also NYT
Poland invades Germany in 1938
Their sources were Germany
Drago,
I receive the nearly constant Trump screeds against DeSantis, while emphasizing how much of a lead has.
It's..lame...and helpful to Dems.
I'll vote for him, but he needs to reign in his bullshit.
By the way, Trump's campaign should sit big boy down and get him to pivot on the Covid mess he enabled.
I'd say someone had to memorize a poem when he was in school and picked Frost's "Fire and Ice" because it was short and still repeats it all these decades later because he thinks it sounds deep.
DeSantis actually is talking about the Swamp and Corporate SJWs.
Original Mike said...
"He brought us peace and a good economy."
"He did, which is what I want in a President."
Except of course for those two years when we couldn't leave home, the economy crashed, and he told us to inject bleach.
walter: "Drago,
I receive the nearly constant Trump screeds against DeSantis, while emphasizing how much of a lead has.
It's..lame...and helpful to Dems.
I'll vote for him, but he needs to reign in his bullshit."
Walter, the claim being asserted was Trump only criticizes DeSantis and not the dems (Hillary / slow Joe).
That is, of course, moronically ludicrous.
And Trump, like all candidates, each with his or her strengths and weaknesses, isn't going to change one iota.
And Trump clearly isn't going to stop going after his primary opponents, particularly the one that has been pushed forward by some of the GOPe/globalist forces that helped undermine Trump's presidency and are attempting to throw him in prison based on lawfare hoaxes...again.
Politics aint beanbag.
walter: "By the way, Trump's campaign should sit big boy down and get him to pivot on the Covid mess he enabled."
Why would he do that?
Are you even bothering to pay attention to what the republican primary voters are showing you?
Covid policy is one of Trump's weakest areas so he isnt going to voluntarily jump back into that, obviously, and the republican base voters, the most anti-vax voters there are, have clearly made a judgement to let Trump slide on the entirety of the deep state "health" services lying to him and setting him up.
You may disagree with that, but those voters, a majority, dont care.
And given we are now at an existential inflection point in the survival of our constitutional republic based on the weaponization of our govt against Trump and conservatives, that block of primary voters appear much more focused on that higher priority.
Of course, you are free to try and alter that base voter priority trajectory....if you can.
Good luck!
Gunner: "DeSantis actually is talking about the Swamp and Corporate SJWs."
DeSantis' talking about the swamp was one of the weakest statements offered by the declared active candidates, excluding newly minted democraticals Asa Hutchinson and Chris Christie.
And that was of a piece with DeSantis' delayed and weak comments after the corrupt raid on MAL and his immediate walkback on his originally quite reasonable comments on Ukraine.
Guess what? People notice that kind of thing. Just ask Scott Walker what that's like.
"Except of course for those two years when we couldn't leave home,"
Your state's governor is responsible for that, not Donald Trump.
"the economy crashed,"
See above.
"and he told us to inject bleach."
That never happened. Nobody sane thinks it did.
Mason G: "Progressives typically lack the ability to understand opposing viewpoints, which is why their preferred debating tactic is censorship."
Progressives are incapable of understanding opposing viewpoints even exist.
Which is why they lash out violently and incoherently while screaming about how conservative speech is "violence" while their actual violence is just "speech".
Yes, I get that Trump doesn't change...and his "base" is cool with that.
IF he's avoiding the covid mess, took him a helluva long time to arrive at that..promoting the jabs when he didn't have to.
And then he throws out this half-measure anti-big pharma promise without addressing things when a pivot is very possible, as you just layed out. But his ego is too fucking big and he's far from nimble.
I wasn't long ago he was hob-knobbing with the J&J CEO extolling how the guy made a lotta money.
Yay!! Taking it to 'em!
But I got Drago to express something regarding Trump and Covid for a change. So..maybe "the base" isn't so oblivious.
I'm no GOP operative, but if I were I might say...
“Think back to the state of the nation in late 2019, in the third year of Trump’s presidency and pre-COVID. All the Democrat / MSM anti-Trump hysteria at the time notwithstanding, we had:
Low Inflation
Energy Independence
Low Gas Prices
Ample Strategic Petroleum Reserves
A Strong Economy
Ongoing Regulatory Reform
Low General Unemployment
Lowest Black Unemployment in History
Rising incomes among all classes
A Secure Southern Border
No Wars
Now think of what the last three years of the Biden presidency have brought us and decide which record bodes best for the country going forward.”
Except of course for those two years when we couldn't leave home, the economy crashed, and he told us to inject bleach.
Mutaman plays the usual leftist tune. The Chinese virus was aided and abetted by Chinese funding malignant dwarf Fauci. I will grant that Trump should have followed his instincts and opened the economy by Memorial Day 2020. He was right. The rest of his term was m arked by peace and prosperity, in contrast with the Biden junta.
The message and the philosophy of "America First" and "Make America Great Again" are sound. Allowed to operate in a vacuum free from the ravages of leftism and liberal entropy it would've transformed this country into something better for everyone in the span of 4 years. Sadly, we don't live in that vacuum.
He actually came close in spite of the treasonous bureaucracy.
Except build the wall....
======
teacher! teacher!
Trump wanted to put gold plate on wall - sadly not enough gold in Fort Knox secret vaults!!??
"Progressives are incapable of understanding opposing viewpoints even exist."
For most, that's true. And for the few remaining outside the majority, once they receive the latest talking points, all thinking shuts off and they're onboard 100% with The Current Thing.
Example: Conservatives (real ones, not the pretend ones in DC) are "small government, leave me alone" people. Everybody knows this. Yet progressives have no trouble believing that authoritarian fascists are right wing because that's what their leaders tell them.
You can lead a progressive to an idea but you can't make him think.
"David Brooks He makes the right enemies. He brought us peace and a good economy."
What does that even mean, "he makes the right enemies?"
Trump didn't bring us peace; he just didn't start any new wars. He did maintain our 20-year boondoggle in Afghanistan. He could have ended it in his first year in office, shortening the war and reducing the costs in blood and money by four years' worth. But he didn't. He kept us at war.
Trump came into office with a good economy already in place. He didn't come into office and produce a good economy where it had not existed previously, and he didn't markedly improve upon Obama's economy.
walter: "But I got Drago to express something regarding Trump and Covid for a change. So..maybe "the base" isn't so oblivious."
I have written repeatedly that Covid is obviously Trumps weakest policy area and that any attacks against Trump from a more populist direction would be the most effective.
I have also written the only other candidate smart enough and capable enough and clearly free enough to do just that is Vivek and Vivek cleverly markets himself as the "2015 Trump".
So yes, I repeated something I've written many times before.
Walter considers that a Big Win.
walter: "Yes, I get that Trump doesn't change...and his "base" is cool with that."
Yeah, thats not what I wrote.
The base understands that 1 person cannot succeed on all fronts at all times against the dems/deep staters/GOPe-ers.
And all candidates are who they are and since Trump is the only republican candidate/leader that didnt talk down to them and insult them and stick a knife in their back they are sticking with him over your preferred GOPe/globalist hand-picked candidate.
Shocking, I know.
Gunnery Sergeant Hartman: Private Trump is silly and he's ignorant, but he's got guts, and guts is enough in my beloved Corps! Now, you ladies carry on.
Who doesn't want to see the sequel?
It'll be like Rocky 2 and Die Hard 2 combined.
Mason G said...
"Except of course for those two years when we couldn't leave home,"
"Your state's governor is responsible for that, not Donald Trump.
"the economy crashed,"
See above."
Truman: "The buck stops here".
Mason G and the rest of the Know Nothings: "Granted 2 out of Trumps 4 years were really miserable but that was the fault of the governors."
Michael K said...
" The Chinese virus was aided and abetted by Chinese funding malignant dwarf Fauci. "
Its never Trump's fault, its always the fault of the people he appointed.
Drago,
As a constituent, prod him to do better.
Shocking, you know.
And I already said I'd vote for the fucker. But you are never content with a lesser of evils.
All in or GOPe whatever whatever...
And speak for yourself vs invoking a Borg base.
Bill Peschel it is sadly so. Of course Trump built more wall along the border than any other president and with zero help from GOPe. More than any of the guys running against him. No help from the same Rove Romney republicans who always hated us actual voters. Yet they’re lining up behind Desantis and putting special counsel Smith on their Christmas card lists. Puzzling.
Props to Mason G for pushing back on the BS tide. Sadly truth is not a leftist value.
"...and he told us to inject bleach."
When you lie to make your point, you don't have a point. But some idiots will believe you.
I you don't know you are lying, you are the idiot.
Trump and his loyal Trump-can-do-no-wrong worshipers, hate DeSantis first.
How dare anyone point out Trump's flaws. Heretic! The biggest Trump-flaw being that he DID NOT DRAIN THE SWAMP.
(as promised)
Corrupt FBI, crook Biden and lovely Hillary - a distant second.
walter: "Drago,
As a constituent, prod him to do better."
I dont waste time on fools errands.
Walter: "And I already said I'd vote for the fucker."
I dont care.
Walter: "But you are never content with a lesser of evils.
All in or GOPe whatever whatever..."
I have made it quite explicit that if a more articulate and acceptable (policy wise) candidate appears with the political warrior ability to passionately fight and is willing to give it to the dems the way the dems and dems/GOPe give it to us shows up, I would be most pleased to give that candidate serious consideration.
And note: I am particulary focused on economc nationalist, fair trade and foreign affairs policies.
I like Vivek greatly across the board,on every policy and cultural front, but he needs a bigger platform to launch from. That will come in time I believe. At this point in time he would be too easy to Romney-fy.
But I am happy for you that you have found the candidate Ken Griffin and the Bushes and Rupert Murdock and Paul Ryan have decided to hand to you.
Congratulations.
walter: "And speak for yourself vs invoking a Borg base."
Physician heal thyself.
And "borg base"?
Gee, its inexplicable why you DeSantis-ites have failed to move the polls in your direction.
Let me guess, when you walk into a Walmart, can you just "smell the Trump voters" too?
Gee, why wont those horrible deplorables just do what their betters lecture them to do?
Mason G: "Example: Conservatives (real ones, not the pretend ones in DC.."
Careful now.
Walter is going to tell you to speak only for yourself and not for the republican base "Borg" (as Walter refers to the horrible deplorables).
And how dare you impugn the DC types?
That's gonna be alot of demerits om the Walter Borg/Deplorable Fault Tracking Sheet.
mutaman-
Truman: "The buck stops here".
As much as the left dislikes it, Trump was not the dictator they really wanted him to be. Doesn't stop them from lying about it, however.
Mason G and the rest of the Know Nothings: "Granted 2 out of Trumps 4 years were really miserable but that was the fault of the governors."
Yes, the state governors are responsible for their decisions, not Trump.
Here's a list of things taken from a post above. Tell me which ones you consider to be miserable:
He gave us energy independence, low inflation, a stronger military, and lifted median Black household incomes to their highest levels on record and pushed Black unemployment rates and poverty rates down to their lowest levels.
I'll wait... maybe.
"Sadly truth is not a leftist value."
No, but these are...
"Whatever it takes."
"Win at all costs."
"It worked, didn't it?"
"The ends justify the means."
"Gee, its inexplicable why you DeSantis-ites"
Classic.
walter: ""Gee, its inexplicable why you DeSantis-ites" Classic."
And That's All Folks!
Mason G said...
" As much as the left dislikes it, Trump was not the dictator they really wanted him to be. Doesn't stop them from lying about it, however."
Accepting responsibilities for ones actions does not equate to being a dictator.Guess they didn't teach you that at Trump University.
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