They've cast Trump as the hero.
Yes, even that David Brooks piece is about Trump — "What If We're the Bad Guys Here?"
What does he mean "we"? He means "we anti-Trumpers," the people who see themselves as "the good guys, the forces of progress and enlightenment."
I ask you to try on a vantage point in which we anti-Trumpers are not the eternal good guys. In fact, we’re the bad guys.... Trump understood that it’s not the entrepreneurs who seem most threatening to workers; it’s the professional class.... If distrustful populism is your basic worldview, the Trump indictments seem as just another skirmish on the class war between the professionals and the workers, another assault by a bunch of coastal lawyers who want to take down the man who most aggressively stands up to them. Of course, the indictments don’t cause Trump supporters to abandon him. They cause them to become more fiercely loyal....
As the sociologist E. Digby Baltzell wrote decades ago, “History is a graveyard of classes which have preferred caste privileges to leadership.” That is the destiny our class [the professional class] is now flirting with. We can condemn the Trumpian populists all day until the cows come home, but the real question is when will we stop behaving in ways that make Trumpism inevitable.
They have made Trump the hero. And they don't know how to stop.
Posts
110 comments:
In a world….
Two days in a row with a slyly subversive headline. Interesting. Maybe there’s a mole.
I’ve been told y’all.
The indictments are undeclared political contributions.
Introducing Trump the Transfigured.
The JC overtones are hinge moments?
I could be wrong about that… I’m just spitballing here.
Trump sells newspapers.
Biden does not.
Did Brooks really ask Are we the baddies?
Trump understood that it’s not the entrepreneurs who seem most threatening to workers; it’s the professional class.
David Brooks said this?!
David Brooks, nominal Republican, uses the language of neo-Marxism to make his point to his fellow anti-Trumpists. He's not even talking to the left. Good Lord. I've been reading a lot lately about the Marxist roots of wokeism, critical theory, and its enforcement arm DEI, and stroking my chin and nodding along sagely: "Mmm, yes, indeed. I see the throughline. How subtle, how insidious."
And then THIS. About as subtle as a kick in the teeth. Or, you know, a boot stomping on a face, forever.
They were warned of this in 2016. They lacked self-awareness and laughed loud and long about the the notion of Trump's campaign let alone his win.
So now, a good seven years later, the rise of self-awareness begins? They spent 2020-2023 in deep denial, in putting puppet Biden out as a mock alt-Trump. Imitation was the sincerest form of flattery.
What if, indeed, Mr. Brooks.
One might say that the "bad guy" was inside you all along.
Can't-get- the- damn- banana- out- of-the-damn-jar!
Ya think, Dave?
The NYT published the following after news of Devon Archer's testimony broke (paraphrased):
"It's long been known that Joe Biden talked to Hunter's business associates."
NYT readers claim to be the elite; the fact that their most revered newss source had the temerity to publish this Orwellian rewrite and that many readers will echo it shows who the true rubes are.
“the good guys, the forces of progress and enlightenment."
The good guys gave us:
1. Record inflation;
2. 100,000 dead from ChiCom fentanyl;
3. 6m illegal aliens;
4. Billions to Ukraine;
5. Unprecedented ChiCom spying on us;
6. Covid lockdowns;
7. Mandated wearing of worthless masks;
8. Banning perfectly good light bulbs;
9. The coming ban on gas stoves and ICE vehicles;
10. Net zero carbon prices on electric utilities which will triple our electric rates;
11. The tribalism of CRT; and
12. The racism of DEI.
The so-called forces of progress and enlightenment are complete idiots who will destroy America
On a tangent of David Brooks;
If all these indictments of Trump were some super-genius way of illustrating to conservatives how an unjust legal system can be used on them to keep them oppressed, as is the argument of CRT in large; then perhaps there is a message to be learned.
However, when the potentially oppressed see you wielding authority in a manner that obviously benefits you ("Let's not even discuss Hunter Biden because that's 'disinformation'") and obviously disadvantages the oppressed ("Let's event new legal theories to show how Trump is guilty of everyday crimes"); then the oppress are going to reach a certain conclusion. How they act on the conclusion is all that remains to be seen, but you can be sure the concept of trust in the authority is entirely gone.
When even David Brooks is saying this, you know that it's bad.
I suspect that a lot of the political establishment, right and left, are realizing just how disastrous the course that they've set actually is. The problem is that they spent six years- actually decades, really- burning through the very political and social capital which they would now need, all in order to avoid the short-term consequences of prior bad decisions. They whipped up utter hysteria among the left over Trump, and as a result, they can't back down. Doing so would guarantee that the progressive base turned on them.
The Fugitive starring Donald Trump as Dr. Richard Kimble, Jack Smith as Lt. Philip Gerard and Joe Biden as the One Armed Man.
The professional class is more egotistical and narcissistic than Trump!
I ask you to try on a vantage point in which we anti-Trumpers are not the eternal good guys. In fact, we’re the bad guys....
It's just this (lack of) war and that lying son of a bitch, Trump!
They have made Trump the hero. And they don't know how to stop.
Well, when Trump hate is the glue that holds you together.....
I have Biden worshiping family members who have been bombarding themselves around the clock with CNN's coverage of the indictment. I've noticed that the more they listen, the more let down they seem. I think the worst thing that could happen to the Democrats right now is for Trump to drop dead or be assassinated.
Good heavens! Has David Brooks been reading my comments here?
Brooks feigns objectivity but then in the last paragraph reveals himself.
"Are Trump supporters right that the indictments are just a political witch hunt? Of course not. As a card-carrying member of my class, I still basically trust the legal system and the neutral arbiters of justice. Trump is a monster in the way we’ve all been saying for years and deserves to go to prison."
Brooks has not been paying attention for the past 7 years. He's emblematic of the elitist view that the left will never give up. This elitism is for offer to the non-elite if they will only repeat it mindlessly and thereby considering themselves elite by association.
What if Obama is the real power behind the scenes.
Obama’s formative Alinsky theories do line up rather nicely with what Trump is going through.
I don’t think Biden is instructing anybody on anything.
https://twitter.com/notoagenda21/status/1630047483610136577?s=46&t=VX4S-gjuq5nKM-bW4zL54w
Yeah I do wonder how a New York Democrat became the hero for a bunch of flyover types.
Presumably because at one point he didn't actually dismiss them as "flyover types"
Brooksie should head over to a Home Depot and get himself centered by extracting his pointed head from his rear exhaust portal.
“Professional class” is a term Vivek Ramaswami uses. Maybe David Brooks has been listening to him. Welcome back from the land of the “baddies” David Brooks.
"“the good guys, the forces of progress and enlightenment."
The good guys gave us:"
Begley, the fault is process not substance. Policy differences always existed. It is the hubris that is driving all our problems - the belief that "we alone" know what is true, what is right, and what is best, and because we are so smart and so sure of ourselves, the force of government must be used to enact our righteous policies. Couple that with a strain of neo-puritanism even to the degree of believing in tait by association, and you get where we are.
But I note that this hyper-hubris is unfortunately not confined to the left. It is the common plight of almost all of us.
Brooks has never in his life seen a cow come home.
The Running Man (1987) with Trump as Ben Richards and Melania as Amber Mendez. That game was rigged, too, with the system protecting its own. And David Brooks as Pee Wee Hermann doing a Damon Killian impersonation.
Could you imagine if any good/nice people ended up voting for Trump?
"As a card-carrying member of my class, I still basically trust the legal system and the neutral arbiters of justice. Trump is a monster in the way we’ve all been saying for years and deserves to go to prison."
What Brooks seems to be implying here is quite remarkable. It's the idea that, because so-called "neutral arbiters of justice" have decided that Trump is a monster, that's good enough for Brooks. In other words, Brooks and other loyal members of his "class" should simply go along with what's happening to Trump and not apply their own critical thinking skills. Talk about submission to a totalitarian mindset! Not sure I had much respect for Brooks before, but I certainly lost any that I had.
Remember how blacks rallied around Bill Clinton during the Lewinsky saga? It's because they identified with the plight of a man they perceived as being singled out and persecuted for relatively minor crimes that other people routinely get away with.
I wouldn't be surprised if these prosecutions against Trump ultimately enable him to gobble up another ten percent of the black vote.
taint by association?
As posted last night by Lem and others:
3/17 - Hunter admits laptop
3/18 - Trump indictment news
6/8 - FBI doc alleges Biden bribe
6/9 - Trump indicted
7/26 - Hunter plea deal collapses
7/27 - Trump indicted
7/31 - Devon Archer testifies
8/1 - Trump indicted
"ADDED: It's aaaaallllll about Trump"
Can we just call that "Chuck-bait" from now on?
It's all Trump Trump Trump all the time anyway.
Ever watch PBS "news"? laughable.
and if the media mention Biden, it's an approve talking point about how swell he is.
You know the kind of person who when their dumped by their boyfriend or girlfriend and then for years talk about nothing but their ex?
Yeah. Me too.
Just tell them to calm down.
Meade - thanks for that. wow.
He got one thing wrong. The greatest F U in human history is the mob left foisting crook Biden on us.
Trump makes Rachel Madddow very rich.
Once again, I can't believe that no one posted this link.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToKcmnrE5oY
They (The corrupt left and the corrupt media... the corrupt FBI) have given a total and complete pass to crook Joe and his family.
The toxic poisonous crook Joe Biden - a husk-puppet who barely knows where he is - runs the show. Well, at least gets away with bribery and influence peddling for personal profits - selling his seat of power to corrupt nations. Forcing those nations to pony up millions or else...
He - the real Crook in this madness, is Protected by the elites and loyal followers of the left who refuse to care... all is forgiven by the Maddow acolytes. Because Trump hate sells.
My opinion of the collective left cannot go any lower.
I just don’t understand the Brooks types. What exactly have they done that they are bragging has been good for the American people? Or is that the point? They are so sure of themselves because they have their hands on the levers of power? Spiteful little people who take pleasure in the suffering of those without power lurching from one misguided, failed policy to the next. Sure, we were wrong about masks and lockdowns. Sure we overstate AGW and waste trillions on its policies that could be used to help Americans in need. Sure we’re killing millions in a pointless war in Ukraine, but Putin insulted our view of world order. Sure our president is a crook who sold out American policies to Ukraine and China, our greatest enemy. Sure we refuse to actually improve race relations in America because we only care that blacks vote for our politicians. But we just know we’re the good guys. I wonder what level of hell Dante reserves for them?
btw- What Trump said at J-6, as he spoke to his supporters, as it pertained to Pence - at most - was stupid. What Trump said about Pence having the power to overturn a crooked election...? Dumb.
Certainly not a crime. Of course not a crime. Just stupid and inaccurate. Even if Pence secretly (like most of us) thinks the election was rigged in targeted precincts in targeted states - he holds no power to change that.
rehajm said...
Did Brooks really ask Are we the baddies?
Well, yes. However, he walked it back.
"Are Trump supporters right that the indictments are just a political witch hunt? Of course not. As a card-carrying member of my class, I still basically trust the legal system and the neutral arbiters of justice. Trump is a monster in the way we’ve all been saying for years and deserves to go to prison."
He threatens their privelege - so he's got to go. But then...
"But there’s a larger context here. As the sociologist E. Digby Baltzell wrote decades ago, “History is a graveyard of classes which have preferred caste privileges to leadership.” That is the destiny our class is now flirting with. We can condemn the Trumpian populists all day until the cows come home, but the real question is when will we stop behaving in ways that make Trumpism inevitable."
They hate, they know they hate, but they can't stop hating because it's core to their self-image.
Without that hate of the 'populist' movement, they're like everyone else, not special at all - and that's something that they can't comprehend or tolerate.
"the good guys, the forces of progress and enlightenment."
Huh? Is he even allowed to say that? Progress and enlightenment are just tropes of convenience here, since everyone knows that the enlightenment was a patriarchal and racist project, and progress brought us climate change.
"the real question is when will we stop behaving in ways that make Trumpism inevitable"
How is that a question? The answer is never. Trumpism solidifies their class rule. Opium of the people and all that. As we can see on this very blog: it's hard to put down the pipe. Even the handwringing about Trumpism is part of class rule: we care about those people! we are not trying to act all superior all the time! in "our democracy," we are all in it together!
Kate said...
Brooks has never in his life seen a cow come home.
However, if he's very fortunate he may some day soon be able to see some chickens coming home to roost.
Back in that old, familiar saddle, lined with profits.
Trump impeachment over the phone to the Ukrainian President needs to be vacated. It's obvious that the Biden family was as crooked as he thought and he was right to make inquiries as to that corruption. Also,
"Media Talking Points About The Biden-Forced Firing Of Ukraine’s Prosecutor Are Laughable"
https://thefederalist.com/2023/08/03/media-talking-points-about-the-biden-forced-firing-of-ukraines-prosecutor-are-laughable/
"The Donald" in THE TRIALS AND TRIUMPHS OF TRUMP.
Boffo Boxoffice!
Sequel: MAGA RESURGENT (And The Comeback Kid).
Part 3: ALL FOR ONE AND ONE FOR ALL.
Spinoffs
BROOKS AND CROOKS
THE SQUAD SQUASHED
SUPREMES JUSTICE
THE OLD GREY LADY AIN'T WHAT SHE USE TO BE
WASHINGTON 'POST TIME' STUMBLE
BLM BLACKBALLED
CHINESE FIRE DRILL
ANTIFA UNMASKED
You can imagine the plots yourself.
Then, after a good run, we come to the fork in the road.
And as Yogi Berra advised, we take it.
They have made Trump the hero. And they don't know how to stop.
Yup. And what neither Brooks nor the rest of the elitists get is that people look at what’s going on with the prosecution (and maybe persecution) of Trump, with all his resources, then what could they do to me? And Trump gets another supporter.
For those trying to wriggle past the paywall, Power Line Blog reprinted Brooks’s column in full with his permission. I haven’t made up my mind whether Brooks wrote that “Trump is a monster in the way we’ve all been saying for years and deserves to go to prison,” because he really believes that. Or does he have to include something along those lines because otherwise he’d be fired from the Times? Fool or coward, he’s one or the other (if not both).
It’s a bit worse than Brooks thinks, though. The children of the affluent can spend four years getting a degree in partying and still expect a good job, while the children of the working class face a bleak choice between incurring six figure debts or not getting that college degree. Griggs belongs in the same trash can as Roe. That’s only a start, but it would be a good start.
Once again, we see the New York Times readers who cannot and will not see the truth.
I'm really angry at all the Gaslighting by the Left. The MSM is treating this as NORMAL. It is NOT normal, this is INSANE.
The USA is not a bannana republic. Sitting Presidents don't have their DoJ indict former POTUS to prevent their running against them in the next election. That's not who we WERE.
Nixon wouldn't even go after LBJ, even though LBJ had Nixon's plane bugged and his phone tapped. Not to mention having the IRS go through Nixon's tax returns. Or LBJ helping to steal the 68 election.
Biden is to blame. This belligerent, crooked, dumb asshole thinks its OK to destroy Republicans by any means neccessary. His whole MO is show zero respect for anyone who challenges his power. And the NYT's and the MSM go along with it.
And I don't appreciate the way the DC Republicans, especially the Senators, think this is just fine and they're going to silently approve.
Fuck you Mitch and Mittens. I don't give a rats ass if you "Win back the Senate". And I hope you like 4 more years of Biden.
Mike Pence is a fecking liar. He lied to us, and now wants us to vote for HIM?? He can go to hell with the Clintons, the Obamas and the Bidens.
"Pence has repeatedly maintained he lacked the constitutional authority to send the elections results back to the contested states for review and insisted he saw no evidence of voter fraud swaying the outcome of the 2020 election, a point Smith notes early in the indictment.
The former vice president's own words prior to the events of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, however, seem to contradict his post-vice-presidency narrative.
Video footage from a public address less than one week prior to the electoral certification on Jan. 6, 2021 shows Pence expressing concerns about election irregularities in the contest and vows to hear the objections of his supporters during the certification process, seemingly suggesting he held a belief in his authority to do so.
"I know we all got doubts about the election. I share the concerns of millions of Americans about voting irregularities," he told supporters on Jan. 4. "I promise you this Wednesday. We'll have our day in Congress. We'll hear the objections. We'll hear the evidence.""
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2023/08/mike_pence_no_surprises.html
"Will Smith charge Hillary Clinton?
She serially libeled Trump as an “illegitimate” president.
Clinton hatched the Russian collusion hoax, and bragged she joined the “Resistance” to continue her attacks on an elected president.
How about destroying evidence?
Trump was also indicted for allegedly attempting to erase video material from his own cameras in his own house.
Yet Hillary Clinton with impunity eliminated subpoenaed communication devices and thousands of emails.
Two Trump aides and Trump himself are indicted for supposedly stonewalling federal investigators by claiming either amnesia or ignorance.
That tact is exactly what James Comey did 245 times while under oath before Congress.
What do former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, former Director of the CIA John Brennan, and former interim FBI Director Andrew McCabe all have in common?
All three admitted they flagrantly lied either under oath to Congress or to federal investigators.
The three were never indicted for their false and perjurious testimonies."
https://amgreatness.com/2023/08/03/two-sets-of-laws-for-two-americas/
Critter:
I just don’t understand the Brooks types. What exactly have they done that they are bragging has been good for the American people? Or is that the point?
I wish they would be held to answer for this. Otherwise, we are left with what else seems obvious, the indictment is to hide their failures. Because we know this week that the US Treasury rating just dropped, which simply means other treasuries have less trust in our ability to meet obligations. That’s not Trumps fault. Crime is rising in every major city, but these cities are run by the same type of prosecutors cheering the indictment of Trump. Even blue states are starting to bemoan unchecked immigration and higher levels of homelessness, because they are now being made to experience it. That is some what DeSantis and Abbott’s fault, but only in making these blue states live their expressed morality. And a 500ml bottle of water in California (and many other places) sales for $1.99 per 500ml, which is about $15 gallon. Even in California, gasoline is only $4.89/gal.
But hey, how about a front page spread in NYT that Trump is bad and is being indicted.
Trump is a hero. A flawed hero, but a champion of the forgotten men and women of America's working class. He is pro-strength, but anti-war.
For that, the self proclaimed "enlightened" elite hate him. Enough to release a virus upon the world, lock us down, throw out bullshit death numbers, and shove a dangerous experimental "vaccine" up America's ass while denying people cost effective treatments...promoted by Trump.
Trump exposed their ridiculous war mongering corruption for all to see.
Well except for college educated white women who can't see anything past abortion and tranny shows for children. These might be the dumbest, most self centered group of people on the planet.
wendybar said...
"I [Mike Pence] know we all got doubts about the election. I share the concerns of millions of Americans about voting irregularities," he told supporters on Jan. 4. "I promise you this Wednesday. We'll have our day in Congress. We'll hear the objections. We'll hear the evidence."
Video footage was all over twitter yesterday as "Judas" was trending #1. Pence had the authority to send the electors back to the five corrupt states. His recent claims of "doing his duty" are all bullshit. He is a sell out, neocon, GOPe coward.
Mike Pence knows the 2020 election was fraudulent.
"Trumped" up charges. Argue the legitimacy all you want, the Trump being charged brings it to mind. And that they are seeking to disrupt the election using novel, untried theories to indict give credence to the idea they can't compete in the field of ideas. In fact, until they lost control, you weren't even allowed to joke about what they are now prosecuting/persecuting on.
It has often been said that nothing furthers a cause more than creating martyrs for it. This is only approximately correct. What strengthens the cause of the persecuted faction is not the martyrdom of its adherents, but the fact that they are being attacked by force, and not by intellectual weapons. Repression by brute force is always a confession of the inability to make use of the better weapons of the intellect— better because they alone give promise of final success. This is the fundamental error from which Fascism suffers and which will ultimately cause its downfall.
Mises, Ludwig von. Liberalism (1927)
"Will Smith charge Hillary Clinton…”
He punch her too?!?!
"Even if Pence secretly (like most of us) thinks the election was rigged in targeted precincts in targeted states - he holds no power to change that."
If you read the actual constitutional provisions for selecting the president, no congressperson has the written right to object to an electoral vote, either, and they do it on occasion. The certificates are opened and counted by the President of the Senate in the presence of a joint session of Congress. That is it- just opening and counting the votes. If Pence had decided to put Biden electors into the Trump column, that doesn't violate any law whatsoever. Of course, Congress is there counting with him and will object and over-rule his count, even though that also isn't in the Constitution.
"Pence had the authority to send the electors back to the five corrupt states."
He had the right to try to do that, not the actual power to enforce that right- still rests with the Congress sitting that day.
Here's the reason the indictments are not decreasing Trump's popularity. Remember the Tweet: “In reality, they’re not after me, they’re after you. I’m just in the way."
Every thinking non-Democrat knows this to be true.
Evidently, scumbags like QuidProJoe, Garland and Smith think if they continue to pile it on, the assault will gain credibility. Perhaps, but the opposite may be true. The phony Jan 6 indictment is a transparent, shameless move to get Trump in front of a corrupt Obama judge and a biased DC jury. The amoral Dem base doesn't care, but most of the normals do.
> Meade said...
https://twitter.com/notoagenda21/status/1630047483610136577?s=46&t=VX4S-gjuq5nKM-bW4zL54w
which is a clip of Michael Moore's 2016 film “Michael Moore in Trumpland”.
I was struck by how much Moore's voice sounds like Bobby "The Brain" Heenan, something I never noticed. If Moore had only referred to all of the Joe Blow, Steve Blow, et ceteras, as "Humanoids" he'd have sealed that association. The Humanoid reference is and was an effective mockery of elitist outlook that is at issue on this post. I don't think Brooks "as a a card-carrying member of [his] class" would get the mockery.
"Yeah I do wonder how a New York Democrat became the hero for a bunch of flyover types."
By acting like a "pro wrasslin'" style "heel." He says anything and everything to arouse the animal passions of his audience, anything as long as it is theatrical and bypasses the rational part of the mind. Without his ever being aware of it, he is operating intuitively according to one of the dictums of the The Church of the Sub-Genius: "Act like a dumbshit and they'll treat you like an equal."
“We now have the ability in this case to issue our own subpoenas, and we will re-litigate every single issue in the 2020 election in the context of this litigation,” Lauro added. “It gives President Trump an opportunity that he has never had before, which is to have subpoena power since January 6 in a way that can be exercised in federal court.”
Yancey Ward 11:02
Thank you.
"Even if Pence secretly (like most of us) thinks the election was rigged in targeted precincts...."
For all the certainty (by some) of election-rigging, there remains years later an utter bankruptcy of evidence sufficient to prove it. Really hard wishful thinking, dogged obstinacy, and passionate pronouncements do not make a reality out of delusion.
Here is the relevant part about the January 6th session of Congress lifted directly from the Constitution itself:
The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by Ballot for two Persons, of whom one at least shall not be an Inhabitant of the same State with themselves. And they shall make a List of all the Persons voted for, and of the Number of Votes for each; which List they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the Seat of the Government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the Presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the Certificates, and the Votes shall then be counted.
That is it. The people who wrote that wrote that clause did so with the assumption that at that point in the process, the electors had been properly selected by their respective legislatures by the methods proscribed by those same legislatures. The process, as written in the Constitution, was meant to be purely ceremonial, with Congress itself getting involved in selecting the President only if no candidate gets a majority of the electors after the count.
Of course, the 1876 election upended all of this. That Congress couldn't agree on which electors to accept for some states- Democrats controlled a majority of the House seats, but not a majority of the House delegations. Had the proper procedures been followed, Hayes would surely have won in a Congressional delegation vote. The Electoral Count Act of 1887 attempted to codify the certification and counting process, trying to make sure that when the certificates reach the stage of the ceremonial count, there aren't competing slates that Congress is forced to accept or deny. However, I see nothing in that act, either, that denies Pence the right to try to object to a particular slate, only that Congress has the power to overrule such an attempt, same as it would with any representative's attempt to object to a slate or particular electoral vote.
Trump's quest to win the presidency that way was quixotic, but not illegal under either the Constitution or the Electoral Count Act of 1887.
What Trump said about Pence having the power to overturn a crooked election...? Dumb
IF he had said that yes it is dumb. I heard John Eastman articulate the argument and that is a misstatement of it. The VP is the one designated in the Constitution to "certify" that the states have properly sent the electors to be counted. Pence did have the constitutional power to send it back to the states or hold off until recounts were complete. The proof is the Democrat Congress that changed the law to take that role AWAY from the VP, which Joe signed into law. It had never been tested and approved by the Supreme Court but it was arguably much closer to the framers' intent than the BS charges Smith has conjured out of thin air.
For Pence to say without evidence that Trump wanted him to VIOLATE the constitution rather than try a legal theory that seemed plausible, if not a sure win, is just bullshit and shows he'd rather play progressive word games than let it play out. Legal minds can disagree, that's what we have a SCOTUS to decide ultimately. Just like the "alternate electors" gambit, which was successful for JFK in 1960, not successful for Gore in 200 or Clinton in 2016. It was not a tack that Trump "made up" but a way disputed elections have been handled as needed for the last 64 years. Those guys in MI just indicted did nothing wrong, it's just more of the same criminalize what Trump does BS that will eventually be sorted out, although not before it has affected the upcoming election.
And that's the whole point. Which is why every non-progressive should be hoping Trump wins his cases.
Now I see I'm late to explain that.
Regarding Brooks's column--the issue is not that they are the elite; the problem is that they are so self-serving, using government power and access to constantly feather their own nests. The Trump indictments are an obvious example of this.
Moreover, the real sub-text of almost every column that David Brooks writes is: We are the Elite.
Wow Gusty that's a helluva quote (10:30 a.m.). I'm even more disgusted at Pence now.
For Meade ( who should know better) and all the rest, here is the simplest way to create a link to a web page that I have found.
An example.
An interesting hypothetical is this- what if the Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Georgia, and Arizona legislatures had voted to send a slate of Trump electors to meet, vote, and be certified by the legislatures outside the procedure that existed prior to election day, and those certificates arrived in D.C. to be counted on January 6th along with the Biden electors from each state? Which gets counted, and who makes that decision to count one but not the other? The Electoral Count Act of 1887 tries to answer that question procedurally by giving priority to the original slate, but the Constitution itself invests the legislatures, and the legislatures alone, the power to choose electors for a given state. Can the Electoral Count Act of 1887 be used to prevent a state legislature from changing its elector selection process after election day, but before January 6th?
Apropos of David Brooks.
One of the reasons that I have not been a prolific published writer is that, despite verbal fluency and a brain full of thoughts, I cannot bring myself to put something before the public unless it says something new, in a way that is both coherent and useful to my intended audience. For me, that's not easy.
Brooks has made himself into a successful pundit by casting aside my inhibitions. His columns are often incoherent, and useful only to himself and to those who benefit from calling his substandard mewlings "conservative".
"we anti-Trumpers," the people who see themselves as "the good guys, the forces of progress and enlightenment."
“I'll stare directly at the sun but never in the mirror“ - AntiHero - 40 weeks in the billboard charts.
Robert Cook said...
"Even if Pence secretly (like most of us) thinks the election was rigged in targeted precincts...."
"For all the certainty (by some) of election-rigging, there remains years later an utter bankruptcy of evidence sufficient to prove it. Really hard wishful thinking, dogged obstinacy, and passionate pronouncements do not make a reality out of delusion."
Like everything else in life. Vote fraud may be low, but it is never zero.
They didn't cast Trump as the hero - we did
Yancey said...
Can the Electoral Count Act of 1887 be used to prevent a state legislature from changing its elector selection process after election day, but before January 6th?
remember the "National Popular Vote Interstate Compact" ?? states passed laws, stating that their electoral votes would go to whichever presidential ticket wins the overall popular vote in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The compact is designed to ensure that the candidate who receives the most votes nationwide.
(not necessarily a majority .. Just "the most votes")
It was ALWAYS clear.. That IF a republican won "the most votes", that California and New York and Illinois could just call a special session, and pass a NEW law revoking the compact..
The same would be true for ANY reason..
The ONLY thing, that the Constitution says, is:
IF (and ONLY IF) votes matter, the votes of women and blacks must count too..
19th: The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.
If Votes don't count, you're not denying women.. You're NOT voting
15th The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
If Votes don't count, you're not denying blacks.. You're NOT voting
Absolutely NOTHING in the US Constitution says ANYTHING about HAVING to vote (look it up!)
Some state constitutions might say stuff.. In which case, did any of Those states vote for the compact?
Personally, i HIGHLY doubt that ANY state says you HAVE To vote to assign elector college members.. I'd be glad to be shown different
Blogger Robert Cook said...
"Even if Pence secretly (like most of us) thinks the election was rigged in targeted precincts...."
For all the certainty (by some) of election-rigging, there remains years later an utter bankruptcy of evidence sufficient to prove it. Really hard wishful thinking, dogged obstinacy, and passionate pronouncements do not make a reality out of delusion.
There were valid issues, such as throwing out Republican poll watchers, but Cook is satisfied.
The Extreme Left, like Cook, got what it wanted.
... New York v. United States (1992), Bush v. Gore, and Fitzgerald v. Green (1890) has argued that the federal government would be in violation of the Guarantee Clause* if it required congressional approval of the NPVIC because it would encroach upon state governments' sovereignty over their own legislative processes (i.e. the power of state legislatures to prescribe how presidential electors are appointed under the Presidential Electors Clause) and make state government officials (i.e. presidential electors) accountable to the federal government rather than their local electorates.
the Guarantee Clause* of Article IV, Section IV that states "The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government"
"People of the left did not use to side with aggressive prosecutors. Process used to matter to such people."
-Althouse yesterday
"As a card-carrying member of my class, I still basically trust the legal system and the neutral arbiters of justice."
-Brooks today
"Kill the chicken to scare the monkey."
-Chinese proverb
Pence, Barr and many others are running scared. They know that they would be ruined financially, even if clearly innocent, if they are indicted on similar tissue-thin charges. They are persecuting Trump and implicitly threatening any who defend him.
The fear of a knock on the door in the middle of the night has come to America. Of course David Brooks is on his knees. He's a BOBO, not a profile in courage.
The media was once a bulwark protecting the people from an unchecked, abusive government by exposing and resisting the abusers. Or so it claimed. The Times they are a-changing.
There is only one way to stop this, and you all know what it is.
One of our most noticeable primal instincts is the urge to teach a lesson.
Political correctness, followed by that dreaded Diversity Equity & Inclusion has worked nonstop to subdue/muzzle this instinct.
The election of the wrong candidate every 4 years remains one of the few pleasures where that primal instinct still reins.
Trump is going to be payback for the Covid excesses.
I keep reading that Trump is horrible and did terrible things as a President. What are they, please?
And not just that he's not a Democrat and beat Hillary. It's taken for granted in the liberal media I read (BBC and The Guardian) that he's bad. What did he do? I know he failed the drain the Swamp, but I suspect he had no real idea how deep it was and how much time would be lost to Mueller, and then came the mid terms.
Answers, please, so I can understand.
One of the biggest bullshit narratives is "Trump convinced millions of people the election was fraudulent". Or...he was taking bad advice from his lawyers.
You could see the plan building starting with the April 2020 Wisconsin Supreme Court election where the first COVID bullshit "you shouldn't have to risk you life to vote" was introduced. That was the beginning of the planned massive spike in untraceable and unverifiable Democrat absentee ballot stuffing and harvesting. We saw Madison WI illegally harvest and destroy traceability of absentee ballot in the summer of 2020.
We watched the fraud happen in real time. Knew it was going on as soon as 1) Fox called Arizona for Biden with 11% of the vote in, 2) MI, GA, PA, and AZ all stopped counting votes on election night with Trump having huge leads, and 3) Wisconsin delivering another 3am ballot dump consisting of mathematically impossible numbers in many Milwaukee wards.
When they stopped counting in the corrupt states (well really Democrat controlled metropolitan areas) Trump had already won FL, NC, and OH. It is more likely Trump won in a landslide, that Biden received 81 million legitimate votes.
Trump voters are not a cult following their supreme leader. Trump voters are the largest percentage of Americans who didn't take the poison mRNA vaccine; even though Trump said it was great.
Trump voters are not insecure arrogant sheep like liberals and never-Trumpers. We're ditch diggers.
I’m titling this video : “why I’m voting for Trump”
It’s not new. Some people here may have seen it a dozen times.
To be a bit clearer, the Senators and Representatives of the States had the right to voice their concerns related to the certification of a state's electors. This was done by Democrats in 2004 and 2016, which I know because Sheila Jackson Lee was proud to make her protest of the Texas certification that led to President Bush and President Trump being elected. The President of the Senate, otherwise known as the Vice President, presides over this matter. One of the reasons Ted Cruz was called a conspirator was because he planned, with others, to challenge the certification of electors. What was required, and being asked, of Pence was to call on those making the challenge to be heard. He could have ignored them and gaveled the meeting to a close once the votes were counted.
What Ray Epps did by encouraging marchers to enter the Capitol is disrupt the challenge and prevent it from happening.
If Democrats want to make this a criminal offense going forward, then they are free to change the law, as it seems they may have done. But we have other parts of the US Constitution that make clear you can't then prosecute people for a crime that wasn't a crime prior to the law. If Democrats want to change the Constitution on that matter, give it a go. I'm sure many people would love to indict Sheila Jackson Lee.
Is our president emeritus facing a potential death sentence?
One of the crimes PEDJT is charged with is "Conspiracy against rights" 18 U.S. Code § 241 It has not been talked about much though it does appear in may of the articles. It is kind of a funky little law. Among other things it prohibits our President Emeritus from "go[ing] in disguise on the highway" in company with 1 or more other people. It seems to permit him to do it alone, though.
It mainly prohibits him from conspiring against anyone's rights with 1 or more others. It looks kind of ho-hum until you get to this part:
if such acts include kidnapping or an attempt to kidnap, aggravated sexual abuse or an attempt to commit aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to kill, they shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for any term of years or for life, or both, or may be sentenced to death.
Could this be the reason this charge has been filed? Could they torture the case to the point where PEDJT caused Ashli Babbitt's death? If so, could PEDJT be facing a potential death penalty?
It would certainly make entertaining press copy the next time Brandon gets his tit in the wringer. "TRUMP FACING DEATH PENALTY" as a headline would certainly keep Brandon off the front page.
If it becomes a death penalty case, can PEDJT be permitted to remain free on bail? My understand of the law (imperfect as it is) is that bail is forbidden in capital cases.
So it would make a good excuse to lock him up pending trial. "Look folks, my hands are tied. I cannot grant bail even though it looks like I am election interfering. The law is clear."
Perhaps I am reading too much into this. 30-40 years ago I would have trusted a bit more to the good faith of the legal system. They would never do this just because a technicality lets them. Wiser heads would prevail.
30-40 years ago perhaps there was more good faith. And perhaps I was more naive and less cynical than I am today. I can ABSOLUTELY see pedjt being held without bail on a potential death penalty charge if they can't find any other way to stop him.
Lyndon LaRouche and Eugene Debs established that one can run for the presidency from jail. Will PEDJT have to be the one to prove it can be done from death row?
Every time a NYT writer hits 't', it autofills Trump.
Trump brought populist, class consciousness to the Republican party, which is the source of conflict with the party establishment.
Lem the misspeller said...
I’m titling this video : “why I’m voting for Trump”
It’s not new. Some people here may have seen it a dozen times.
I think it is fascinating, how you associate that viedo, which isn't from the U.S., isn't much political, and makes no reference whatsoever to "Trump," with "Why I'm voting for Trump."
Trump said it himself; now while this isn't directly on point, it is illustrative. Here we see Trump, at a North Carolina state GOP rally in June; essentially commenting that his crowds show only a minimal reaction to his talking about tax cuts, but that it was unbelievable to him how they went "crazy" at the mention of "transgender."
Trumpism isn't really about policy and it certainly isn't about any particular partisan politics. It is about a group of guys (overwhelmingly guys, or women who think a lot like the guys I describe herein) who are doing mostly fine financially, who love their Medicare and Social Security, and who are just sort of generally pissed off at a world they see changing around them. For them Trumpism is about the aggression. A fun sort of aggression. A political movement that endorses their flipping off the world. There is of course the basket of deplorables element. There are doubtless elements of homophobia, racism, xenophobia, et cetera. But it is at once more than that, and also less than that. It's really all about the fun of some organized antisocial-isms. Anti-complexity. Anti-nuance. But great boat rallies. boat rallies with Jimmy Buffet on the boat stereo. Even if Jimmy Buffet is an active NeverTrump Democrat. That's TrumpWorld for ya. They're not going to spend too much time thinking it through.
Gusty said One of the biggest bullshit narratives is "Trump convinced millions of people the election was fraudulent".
Yep, it's like Rush Limbaugh repeated a million times: Liberals call the audience mind numbed robots for saying "dittos" but what the listeners are saying is shorthand for "Thank God you are saying what we believe Rush, because no one else in media will say it."
We already know elections are rigged. If you pay attention you hear Democrats tell us so every time they lose. We don't need to hear it from anyone to know it. But we're damned happy at least one or two (if you count Vivek now) Republicans with a national audience can give voice to what we know to be true.
because they played games in fulton and maricopa and five other counties of note,
Chuck, your 2:12 PM comment describes Trumpism and Trumpists so well. You hit all the points, especially the aggression. It seems that “owning the libs” is part of that mindless aggression. These people who want to be described as populists are actually more on the elite end of the spectrum. IMO, the workers who belong to unions, mostly Democrats, are much more representative of the average working person, my observation based on being around both groups professionally and socially for all my adult life.
"For all the certainty (by some) of election-rigging, there remains years later an utter bankruptcy of evidence sufficient to prove it. Really hard wishful thinking, dogged obstinacy, and passionate pronouncements do not make a reality out of delusion."
It’s astounding that there are people who still even after over 60 court cases and numerous state audits, no widespread voter fraud was ever found, yet it is held onto like a mangy striving dog holds on to a bone. That’s one of the reasons that I keep coming back to the realization that this is a true cult.
Cook: "For all the certainty (by some) of election-rigging, there remains years later an utter bankruptcy of evidence sufficient to prove it."
Prove it to whom? Leftwing TDSers living in their Marxist silo? Not Possible.
Violations of the Constitution regarding election law are proven to have occurred in Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. Poll watchers were excluded illegally in several key areas. Hundreds of affidavits alleging irregularities were ignored by courts. And more.
Some evidence is sufficiently compelling that anyone who cares about election integrity is seriously troubled by it. Of course, the problem with integrity for lefties is that it is neutral. That is why they always oppose steps to insure it. They might lose in a clean system.
One of the biggest bullshit narratives is "Trump convinced millions of people the election was fraudulent.”
All that the people who fervently believe the 2020 election was all legal and aboveboard, the simple minimum that they must do to convince me that they’re right and I’ve been wrong, is to prove to me that after the ballot counters got the Republican poll watchers out of the building, they correctly counted all legal and only legal ballots. So far the responses to my challenge have fallen into one of three categories:
(1) Silence. Knowing that they can do no such thing they simply ignore my challenge. (This is the largest group, of course.)
(2) Bluster. How dare I impugn the integrity of the election officials and/or the transparency of the process?!? (What integrity? What transparency?)
(3) Legal pettifoggery. The courts rejected Trump’s claims, so deal with it. (As though rejection by cowardly judges afraid of bad press is the same as Trump being wrong.)
After the election Althouse herself argued that even if the election was stolen, it is important for the losers to accept the results for the sake of our democracy (or words to that effect). This was back before Democrats made “our democracy” a synonym for “the current interests of the Democrats.” At the time I felt that she had a point, though I wondered whether she would offer the same advice to Democrats if they thought they’d been cheated. Now I think Trump is right to fight, and Althouse is wrong. Part of that is the way the Biden administration has ridden roughshod over the rights and interests of the middle class, and part of of it is my recognition that liberals, bring not nearly as intelligent as they think they are, will not stop their relentless assault on the middle class until bullets are flying. And that terrifies me. Not because I think my side would I in ecessary lose, but because the consequences are impossible to foresee.
LLR-democratical and Violent Homosexual Rage Rape Fantasist Chuck: "Trumpism isn't really about policy and it certainly isn't about any particular partisan politics. It is about a group of guys (overwhelmingly guys, or women who think a lot like the guys I describe herein) who are doing mostly fine financially, who love their Medicare and Social Security, and who are just sort of generally pissed off at a world they see changing around them. For them Trumpism is about the aggression. A fun sort of aggression. A political movement that endorses their flipping off the world. There is of course the basket of deplorables element. There are doubtless elements of homophobia, racism, xenophobia, et cetera. But it is at once more than that, and also less than that. It's really all about the fun of some organized antisocial-isms. Anti-complexity. Anti-nuance. But great boat rallies. boat rallies with Jimmy Buffet on the boat stereo."
LOL
You would think 8 straight years of hilarious cult-like worship of the far left democraticals policies and politicians, the astonishingly explicit homosexual rage rape of Rod Dreher post made by Chuck, the over the top defense by Chuck of the Lincoln Pedophile Project...AFTER they had been completely exposed as cover up artists for pedophilic behavior, on top of Chuck's explicit endorsement for the radical sexual grooming of children policies of the dems and Chuck's bizarre and often sick obsession with the underage children of conservative politicians, would provide sufficient insight into this sick puppy's worldview to say: that's it!
But then he pens a screed like the one above which is so disturbingly disconnected from reality that it must, it simply must, take its rightful place in the Chuck Pantheon of Disordered Mental Meanderings.
And we wont even bother to include Chuck's violent musings and daydreaming of physical violence against conservative women and his schizophrenic and creepy behavior towards Althouse!
For all the certainty (by some) of election-rigging, there remains years later an utter bankruptcy of evidence sufficient to prove it
... except for little things like the suppression of the news about The Laptop, as one example. Remember that? Remember the poll that came out after the election, when a little bit of laptop news was finally allowed into the mainstream, and an election tipping percentage of voters said that it would have changed their vote if they had known about it?
Election-rigging comes in many guises, Cook. You can strawman all you like about the silly Trumpists who think Dominion's voting machines tipped the whole thing to the time of millions of votes (when we all know it was about 42,000 votes that actually mattered, in only five states), but do you have an answer for the Twitter and Facebook files?
Mike Wolf - google the transcript of Trump's J-6 comments.
Trump said:
"I hope Mike is going to do the right thing. I hope so. I hope so.
Because if Mike Pence does the right thing, we win the election."
Not illegal - but not correct.
I especially like the video footage of capital police marching the animal skin guy into the rotunda.
Insurrection!
Ray Epps is a dirty FBI creep. That the corrupt media circles the wagons around him - proves it without a doubt. He is on video saying "You must go into the capitol"
Cook - we have proof your precious Crook Democrat pile of hot garbage Joe Biden is corrupt.
There is no doubt about it. The corrupt hack press say the same thing. "There's no proof!"
Bullshit. There's boatloads of proof.
Mike (MJB Wolf) said...
"We already know elections are rigged."
But we just can't prove it.
You people won’t be able to lie and distract forever, nutaman. There will be a reckoning for you pansies.
Mike (MJB Wolf) said...
"We already know elections are rigged."
But we just can't prove it.
What's the standard of proof? It seems to me that if it's something like "winning in a court of law," you have to try the question, not just throw it out on the basis of standing out the like. If it's something like "a full and complete audit," you have to allow that. If it's something like "statistical analysis," your side loses. If it's something like "so many people were voting AGAINST Trump that Biden won," you have to ask people if that's what they did.
It’s astounding that there are people who still even after over 60 court cases and numerous state audits, no widespread voter fraud was ever found, yet it is held onto like a mangy striving dog holds on to a bone. That’s one of the reasons that I keep coming back to the realization that this is a true cult.
We watched you steal it in real time. The true cultists are the ones who continue to deny what we all saw with our own eyes.
utaman said...
Mike (MJB Wolf) said...
"We already know elections are rigged."
But we just can't prove it.
Not given a chance to prove it, rather. Texas, for example, sued in the Supreme Court and was turned down for no "standing!" Where is a state to go for "standing?" The Biden regime has attacked every lawyer who tried to help Trump. John Eastman, former Dean of a law school is now under attack by the left wing CA Bar for advising Trump.
is-the-trump-indictment-barred-as-double-jeopardy/
he can amble walk instead of race!!!
They can defeat Trump, but what inevitably comes after Trump if they do?
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