"What he cares about is saying and doing whatever it takes to fulfill his desires and thirst for power, including destroying democracy if necessary. Treating him as anything other than a depraved authoritarian is not only wrongheaded, but helps his cause by legitimizing him as a reasonable choice for voters. And that’s exactly what Welker did."
I'm reading "How not to interview Trump/Kristen Welker's tenure as 'Meet the Press' moderator got off to an inauspicious start," by Aaron Rupar.
We're supposed to believe that other politicians don't say "whatever it takes to fulfill [their] desires and thirst for power."
I don't like the way the abnormalization of Trump has come at the cost of stifling our capacity to critique other politicians. The others may be more "normal" than Trump, but since when is a "normal politician" a genuine policy wonk who's dedicated to telling the truth and serving the people?
I watched the entire interview with Trump — video, transcript — and it seemed to me that Trump was heavily immersed in policy. His haters act as though it's a matter of principle to refuse to engage on the substance at all. Ironically, they are making it easier for him to win on the merits.
Stop dehumanizing him and answer him! The abnormalization strategy reinforces a suspicion that you don't dare argue substance.
Watching the interview, I wrote down the time stamp 17:43. I wanted to remember where it was that I said out loud, "He's going to win."
It was right when he said: "It's sweet. It's the finest. We have the best." Context:
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
But I would get inflation down, because drill we must. We will be drilling for oil. We are going to become, again, energy independent. We are going to reduce our debt, because we’re also going to become energy dominant. You know, we were ready to go dominant within a matter of months. We would have been making so much money. We have more oil, I call it liquid gold, under our feet than any other country — Saudi Arabia, Russia. There’s no country with more — and it’s sweet. It’s the finest. We have the best. You know, we’re taking it from Venezuela. You know what it is? Tar.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Are you —
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
It’s the worst.
Posts
126 comments:
Trump may embellish, but he always tells the truth unlike almost all politicians.
The only authoritarian thing Trump ever did was the COVID shutdown in March of 2020, and I ripped him for it at the time in these very threads. I am still waiting for anyone on the Left to point out an actual Trump policy that was authoritarian- they can't point to the COVID shutdown because they supported that policy and still do.
Aaron Rupar is a nidgit. What else is new?
I see Aaron Rupar on twitter from time to time. I've never been impressed. Nor am I here.
"The first thing to understand about Trump is that [insert self-serving unimaginative nonsense]"
If you're going to put yourself out there as someone with deep insights, who people should turn to for the inside scoop on how to do something, you need to do better than simply regurgitating the conventional wisdom of every Trump-hater of the last 10 years. Nobody needs to look to Aaron Rupar for that bit of advice.
"He doesn’t give a rip about policy."
Right, middle east peace, energy independence, border wall. Those aren't policies.
Why not, you ask?
Because Trump cares about them and Aaron Rupar says Trump doesn't care about policy.
Oh.
Stop dehumanizing him and answer him! The abnormalization strategy reinforces a suspicion that you don't dare argue substance.
Suspicion? Suspicion? Suspicion?
The Democrats have been demonizing Republicans for sixty years precisely because they are either unable or unwilling to argue substance.
The Democrats have been pushing climate change hysteria for fifty years because they are unwilling or unable to argue substance.
When was the last time anyone on the Left argued the substance rather than make an emotional appeal? Dukakis?
"...a depraved authoritarian..." Do they not realize that the current administration (and their allies in Congress, the judiciary, and the bureaucracy) look far more 'authoritarian' than Trump ever did? Donald Trump never threatened to take away my gas stove.
When--if ever--does a critical mass of those with Trump Derangement Syndrome say "I was wrong"? We've now seen how delirious Joe 'governs' and only those deep in denial can defend him.
I still hope that both Biden and Trump go away before the election...
Because Welker’s approach was so feeble, footage of Trump lying was broken up with shots of her back in the studio trying to clean things up with fact-checks she was either unwilling or unable to provide in real time.
The jumps back to the anchor desk with Welker announcing from on high the spin against trump rang so hollow. It was jarring.
"...I don't like the way the abnormalization of Trump has come at the cost of stifling our capacity to critique other politicians."
Bingo. But why are we surprised that this is happening? Trump is the "contrast agent" in this idiotic morality play. Anybody else (well, at least anybody else who is a Democrat) looks like the picture of normalcy, and we are foolish or malign if we try to criticize THEM. They're NOTHING like that horrible Orange Man!
"... but since when is a "normal politician" a genuine policy wonk who's dedicated to telling the truth and serving the people?"
If they keep repeating the lies, the sheep will believe them.....It's like they live in a different universe.
I couldn't read it. Her questions are so boring. She's not looking to inform us. The Left wants a gotcha. (Look at the comments on the Rupar piece.) Because Welker didn't humiliate him, she's blown the interview in their eyes.
The quote you pulled about sweet oil is a fantastic answer. If Rupar would stop foaming at the mouth he might recognize what policy looks like.
His haters act as though it's a matter of principle to refuse to engage on the substance at all.
I don't think this is a characteristic of just "Trump haters," although on the Venn diagram that circle is almost completely enclosed by the circle I think this statement does describe.
I think this statement describes the progressive left. "I won't dignify that with an answer" is the polite version of "Racist/Something-phobe!" which is the shorthand version of "To engage with them is to platform them, which is to do violence to black/brown/yellow/indigenous/gay/trans/queer/female/fat/neuro-divergent/differently abled/whatever bodies. So NEVER ENGAGE! If you engage, you are fighting on their ground, accepting their rules of engagement!"
This guy said it straight out: "Treating him as anything other than a depraved authoritarian... helps his cause by legitimizing him."
I really think most of them believe it. I'm sure there are the Alinskys (and I'll do Obama the honor of including him among those in the know) who know that what they're doing is avoiding having to debate the merits of their position, but I think most who are using this shutdown tactic truly believe that they're doing so for the good and moral reason that, if they don't shut down the other side before merits are discussed, someone is going to be harmed. (The secret part, I think, is that they believe one harmed group will be the poor stupid rubes, who can't possibly know what's good for them and will happily vote for, what was Taibbi's thing, the Insane Clown President unless they're prevented.)
"Stop dehumanizing him and answer him!"
They can't. They can only repeat what they've been told.
I don't like the way the abnormalization of Trump has come at the cost of stifling our capacity to critique other politicians. The others may be more "normal" than Trump, but since when is a "normal politician" a genuine policy wonk who's dedicated to telling the truth and serving the people?
But the anti-Trump Republicans at The Bulwark, and at The Dispatch, and within the Federalist Society, et cetera, aren't shy about criticizing Democratic politics and Biden. I don't know if you ignore all of them except when perhaps you've seen their content by accident and find something to criticize; but it seems that way to me.
Mitt Romney; Liz Cheney; Adam Kinzinger; and now, Chris Christie Bill Barr, Ken Buck... None of these people shy away from policy debates. They are all conservatives (and therefore perhaps uninteresting or distasteful to you). They have all criticized Biden.
We anti-Trump Republicans like policy, and we like traditional Republican policy; we just think that Biden is the one essential tool to defeat Trump, and that a Trump election in 2024 would be incomprehensibly damaging to the nation.
So Althouse, exactly when the fuck do you get around to acknowledging that Trump tried to subvert his election loss in 2020 and was willing to employ illegal means to do so? Does that mean anything to you at this point? Sorry for the nasty, attention-grabbing language, but I think the upcoming choice is just that stark.
They're not engaging him on substance because his policy prescriptions are very popular.
Secure the border.
Energy independence.
Less regulation.
Bring production jobs back from overseas.
Stay out of wars.
Not on subject, BUT--thank you for reading as broadly as you do. I check your blog a couple of times a day to see what you've read & usually read the sources. Your work is a benefit to folks like me who do not have time or resources to read as widely as you. Thank you.
When will the Never Trumpers and the Dims engage the Bad Orange Man on policy. Well "when" is the 33rd day of February, and "where" is Bossier City Louisiana. If that date and place doesn't come around soon, they won't engage him.
And Louisiana is an interesting metaphor. It was the homeplace of the Kingfish Huey Long.
You have to love a politician who can say High Cockalorum at one end of the state, and on the very next day say Low Cockahighrum at the other end of the state. Unlike most politicians--who actually do say those things and hide it, Huey said and did it and was unabashed about it. That was the secret of his success.
As for "lusting for power", note the fact that good old Joe from Scranton ran for President five times--before the DNC gifted him with the prize.
"including destroying democracy if necessary."
And how will Trump destroy democracy? By winning the Electoral College? Or by rigging and stealing the election like the Dems did last time?
That's just a crazy and fact-free conclusion and speculation about the future.
And, BTW, Aaron Rupar is not a serious person.
His haters act as though it's a matter of principle to refuse to engage on the substance at all.
It's an article of faith that Trump can't be engaged on substance.
The first time around, Trump promised to secure the border, drill for oil and get better terms for trade with China. He got as far as he could with those policies while all the Democrats and half of the Republicans resisted.
The more journalists like Aaron Rupar try to make Trump an unthinkable choice, the more we think electing Trump is a good idea.
We're supposed to believe that other politicians don't say "whatever it takes to fulfill [their] desires and thirst for power."
@Althouse, almost right. You are supposed to believe that Democrats don't say "whatever it takes to fulfill [their] desires and thirst for power."
Ironically, they are making it easier for him to win on the merits.
Is there a reason why it’s bad for him to win on the merits? Have you joined the pack of losers who — lacking in any form of merit themselves — attempt to do away with merit?
Stop dehumanizing him and answer him! The abnormalization strategy reinforces a suspicion that you don't dare argue substance.
“Suspicion” my left buttock! It’s not a suspicion; it’s real.
Rupar is too stupid to know how little people care about what he is paid to think.
Ann can't understand why the Nazi's are dehumanizing Donald Trump?
Hilarious. Trump may be a lot of things but he’s easily the worst authoritarian in recent history. He can’t even top the current Dementia Patient ‘n Chief in that regard.
Meat for the pound.
Aaron Rupar is a left wing hack who will say or do anything to injure his political enemies. And to be sure, he views everyone in public life as either a friend or an enemy. He knows that constant attacks on his enemies will enhance his reputation amongst his friends.
Gee, this is fun.
Rupar is a parody of a journalist. Being "Ruparred" is in the urban dictionary as being someone who has been falsely accused of something by having something you did deliberately taken out of context by some lying journalist. It's all Rupar does.
The only way Trump is abnormal is that he doesn't give us his bullshit in pretty, stylized packages like every other politician.
DJT the Real Estate builder and negotiator has combined living in truth and reality with communication talent and a mind like a steel trap. It’s no wonder that the Destroy America Party has resorted to slandering him and ann indictment circus to supplement paying for fake election mail in vote counts in the swing states.
Ending the Dem mega slush fund operation in The Ukraine will literally save the world economy. ABOUT DAMN TIME. Trump is our weapon of choice. The public seeing the contrast of Trump, Musk and Carlson with the evil anti- American crime family operating the FBI and DOJ hit teams is not going away.
"What he cares about is saying and doing whatever it takes to fulfill his desires and thirst for power,"
What did Trump do while president that demonstrated your claim? A couple of examples would be nice.
"including destroying democracy if necessary."
Like holding political prisoners without trial for years? That sort of destruction?
"Treating him as anything other than a depraved authoritarian is not only wrongheaded, but helps his cause..."
TDS is a mental condition which commonly accompanies a "whatever it takes" attitude allowing the afflicted to ignore reality.
"by legitimizing him as a reasonable choice for voters. And that’s exactly what Welker did."
"Reasonable"? As the meme says: "You keep using that word, I do not think it means what you think it means".
I will not be lectured about normality by someone aligned with the party of John Fetterman. Rupar needs to be institutionalized for his own and the country's good.
The refusal to engage is the modus operandi of the left. Climate change, the Covid vaccine, the 2020 election, even basic human biology are examples of what has already been decided. Anyone taking the other side are obviously evil, fascist, racist and/or stupid and there are no reasons to consider any other opinion.
It's only going to get more entertaining as they realize he's already a 50-50 shot at worst to win and things continue to move (at a glacial pace, true, but he's already at a tie) in his direction. We've moved past the last 2 and 3/4 years of denial stage and are barreling into anger. Will no one rid us of this troublesome Trump? This can't be happening!
"thirst for power"
70 years old when he first ran for office.
It's a rare thing to find someone who is left-of-center who will argue in good faith. There are a few, even in the commentariat here, who will, but more often they are closed-minded and don't want to be bothered by the facts.
It's not like they will eventually hit a switch and declare "Trump's gone, we can now lift all the Trump-only Rules for Journalism."
There is no going back. These lines won't be uncrossed. The NYT made the argument in August 2016 that journalists didn't have to treat Trump impartially. Once that precedent was set, it was over. Every non-progressive individual and group is now considered fair game for partisan reporting.
Now they are just making stuff up. This is FUD for women.
Why does Ann-yone read this tripe???
...helps his cause by legitimizing him as a reasonable choice for voters.
Never mind that he won in 2016. Or, was that win not legitimate?
Rupar can't see the plank in his own eye.
"Trump may embellish, but he always tells the truth unlike almost all politicians."
Yes. Guys who "always tell the truth" are constantly paying hush money to porn stars. Because of their truthfulness. Or do we really think he only lies to his wife but not to you? That is precious.
“ I wanted to remember where it was that I said out loud, ‘He's going to win.’”
And then I said, “in a landslide.”
”The first thing to understand about Trump is that he’s not a normal politician. He doesn’t give a rip about policy."
As Althouse points out, during his interview with Welker Trump showed himself to be all about policy. Althouse suggests that hardcore lefties like Aaron Rupar are simply so blinded by TDS that they are making strategic and tactical blunders one after the other. But it dawns on me that there’s another interpretation. What if Rupar thinks that the proper US policies have been already established by Deep State consensus, and rightly so? In that case wouldn’t Rupar really mean that Trump doesn’t give a rip about Deep State consensus policy?
With Trump’s penchant for thinking way outside the box, this must seem like an existential threat to their years of burrowing into the federal bureaucracy.
Is like Rupar still fighting the battle for 2016. Arguing for a path that failed in 2016.
While Trump might be going to jail for arguing 2020.
Oh my goodness.
Norm on Trump
He might have been a viable baby...
I think that Althouse nailed the reason Trump will win. First of all, the Aaron Rupar part is jarring for even her. For those that complain about Althouse being a lefty for once voting for Obama and not being a fan of Trump; recognize that even she knows Trump actually does care about policy. Most of all, she recognizes Trump does because he seems to be the only politician with a better than 1 in 5 chance of winning anything that is willing to talk policy. As many above note: Protected Borders, Energy Independence, Regional Peace, and Criminal Reform are policy. Those, like Rupar and the various trolls of the comments, that tell us “Trump doesn’t care” just piss off people like Althouse. Fine, if Trump doesn’t care, what the hell are you doing about any of those policies? Absolutely nothing beyond lying about Trump.
I just finished a podcast discussing veteran disillusionment on the end of the Afghanistan War. For those pretending this is not an issue and won’t be; you are playing with fire. It is lower down than some of the other policies mentioned, but it is a disaster for Biden that his administration has refused to own. Add in East Palestine and now Lahaina, there is an anger growing and it is among people who are not interested in binary labels. Toss in the immigration crisis now reaching blue cities. People are looking for who will address these things. It isn’t Aaron Rupar.
What to do with a "burden"... burden like Trump?
Meade said...
“ I wanted to remember where it was that I said out loud, ‘He's going to win.’”
And then I said, “in a landslide.”
9/18/23, 2:29 PM
Bookmarked. September 18, 2023.
I watched the entire interview with Trump — video, transcript — and it seemed to me that Trump was heavily immersed in policy.
Really, and the example of being "heavily immersed in policy" is this?:
But I would get inflation down, because drill we must. We will be drilling for oil. We are going to become, again, energy independent. We are going to reduce our debt, because we’re also going to become energy dominant. You know, we were ready to go dominant within a matter of months. We would have been making so much money. We have more oil, I call it liquid gold, under our feet than any other country — Saudi Arabia, Russia. There’s no country with more — and it’s sweet. It’s the finest. We have the best. You know, we’re taking it from Venezuela. You know what it is? Tar.
This is not an example of being "heavily immersed in policy", it is spouting a bunch of bullshit and outright lies. We produce more than other countries (although we have fewer reserves) only because OPEC is keeping oil off the market to support the price. OPEC could crush the U.S. oil industry any time it wanted. And not all our oil is "the finest".
Trump is the first humorist called a depraved authoritarian.
This seems more like a piece aimed at training the new hostess of Meet The Press rather than attacking Trump.
Paint it orange.
The democrat elite crooks and liars are the real authoritarians.
They are a threat to freedom and democracy.
"... but since when is a "normal politician" a genuine policy wonk who's dedicated to telling the truth and serving the people?"
Paul Ryan? He was a wonks wonk. Just a lousy politician.
If DeSantis was ahead of the pack 40 points and ahead of Biden, they would be acting EXACTLY the same way. Have we all forgotten how a perfect Gentleman, Mitt Romney was anally raped by the Dems?
Trump is scary for a couple of reasons. The President get the evidence of all the grift. That's the big problem
Then there is the problem of Trump is actually identifying a problem and attack it with solutions...not policy.
I Still remember early on when Trump was running for Pres. being interviewed about the primaries and the talking head asked something about how was Trump going to get the delegates he needed to grab the nomination? Trump looked confused and said the people would vote for him. The media troll said, 'you know you need to get the most delegates in the primaries, to get the nomination...right. Trump said, Oh, if I need delegates, I'll get the delegates.
Trump is a doer, not White Paper expert.
"Watching the interview, I wrote down the time stamp 17:43. I wanted to remember where it was that I said out loud, "He's going to win."
It was right when he said: "It's sweet. It's the finest. We have the best." Context:"
Maybe. But what he said was absolute nonsense. Our energy production has gone up under Biden, not down. Our "energy independence" was brief period when our consumption was slightly outpaced by our production. The idea oil will pay off the trillions in debt he racked up in his first term is mathematically impossible (he tripled the deficit even before COVID hit). And the claim that our oil is somehow better than the rest of the world's is ridiculous. It was lies from top to bottom. But lies a lot of Republicans like to believe because it means the hard choices -- raising taxes or cutting spending to reduce the deficit; doing something about global warming; having industries beyond plundering out own national resources -- don't have to be made.
If he is re-elected, he will do what he did in his first term: abuse power and line his own pockets while bankrupting the country.
"Watching the interview, I wrote down the time stamp 17:43. I wanted to remember where it was that I said out loud, "He's going to win."
It was right when he said: "It's sweet. It's the finest. We have the best." Context:"
Maybe. But what he said was absolute nonsense. Our energy production has gone up under Biden, not down. Our "energy independence" was brief period when our consumption was slightly outpaced by our production. The idea oil will pay off the trillions in debt he racked up in his first term is mathematically impossible (he tripled the deficit even before COVID hit). And the claim that our oil is somehow better than the rest of the world's is ridiculous. It was lies from top to bottom. But lies a lot of Republicans like to believe because it means the hard choices -- raising taxes or cutting spending to reduce the deficit; doing something about global warming; having industries beyond plundering out own national resources -- don't have to be made.
If he is re-elected, he will do what he did in his first term: abuse power and line his own pockets while bankrupting the country.
"Watching the interview, I wrote down the time stamp 17:43. I wanted to remember where it was that I said out loud, "He's going to win."
It was right when he said: "It's sweet. It's the finest. We have the best." Context:"
Maybe. But what he said was absolute nonsense. Our energy production has gone up under Biden, not down. Our "energy independence" was brief period when our consumption was slightly outpaced by our production. The idea oil will pay off the trillions in debt he racked up in his first term is mathematically impossible (he tripled the deficit even before COVID hit). And the claim that our oil is somehow better than the rest of the world's is ridiculous. It was lies from top to bottom. But lies a lot of Republicans like to believe because it means the hard choices -- raising taxes or cutting spending to reduce the deficit; doing something about global warming; having industries beyond plundering out own national resources -- don't have to be made.
If he is re-elected, he will do what he did in his first term: abuse power and line his own pockets while bankrupting the country.
In March Urban Dictionary unveiled the verb "rupar." ""To purposely mislead. To completely mischaracterize a statement or video by omitting context," the definition read."
Rupar is a god to Pattericans!
I hope and expect that Trump wins, and I hope it is the cause of such debilitating mental anguish for the likes of Rupar that they leave for Canada or France or who fucking cares. The news media are the greatest enemies of the America I remember and love, and must be utterly humiliated and defeated and ultimately destroyed.
Everything that Senator McCarthy said about the scum who fancy themselves "elites" in this country has come to pass. They are Communists and enemies, and always were. We need a new McCarthyism, or something even stronger. Trump is too nice a guy to do what I think needs doing, but it will be a good start.
TRUMP OR WAR.
It doesn't take being a fan of Trump (and I'm not, even if I can agree with some of his policies) to realize that a significant amount of charges and claims certain people make about Trump are really things true about those making those claims and those politicians they support.
Objectively, who is doing more to try to save power by destroying elements of democracy in the last few years? Who is in power and how do they use it when they have it in preventing their opponents from being able to express their views? Who overlooks egregious levels of destruction to proclaim a political position while combing through the minutiae of their opponents behavior and hyperbolically using very exaggerated labels like revolution or insurrection.
Charging your opponent with your own behavior is very politically useful, if not socially wise or ethically moral.
"The abnormalization strategy..."
signals that they can't debate him on ideas, on policy, on substance. They can only do "mean girl" denigration campaigns. It's sad.
"Black gold, Texas tea, oil, that is"
Now if they wanted to go after Trump on oil, they should ask him about refining. The US is set up for sour crude and can't really process the sweet oil from North American fracking fields. It will require a build out, that requires a stable policy on domestic oil production to justify the investment.
Trump said:
"And I predicted a lot of markets. I predicted a lot of things, frankly, you know? They say, “Trump was right about everything.” I think that the way it’s going now, you’re going to have to — things are not going, right now, very well for the consumer. Bacon is up five times."
--------------
Well, I paid $2.99 for a pound of bacon at my local Hy-Vee grocery store here in the Midwest 2 days ago, so I'm not sure what universe Trump is talking about. So bacon was 60 cents a pound when Trump was president?
"He doesn’t give a rip about policy."
Yes, he does. And how we know that is that they're trying to convince us otherwise.
Trump is against the Ukraine war and will end it. That's foreign policy.
Trump is against reliance on foreign oil sources and will end it. That's domestic policy.
Trump is against the Deep State spying on the citizens of the United States. That's policy.
Trump is against the Deep State criminalizing protests and creating unregulated fking political gulags in Washington, DC targeting only Republican citizens. That's policy.
Trump is against setting up 20 shell companies to launder bribe money. That's policy.
Trump is against using family members to set up bribery operations. That's policy.
Trump is against unlimited, uncontrolled immigration. That's policy.
What these journalists mean is that Trump is going to UNDO their policies. Not that he doesn't have any. These journalists are lying to the American people and they are a clear and present danger to OUR Republic. Their companies need to be nationalized and broken up so that media conglomeration is no longer possible in the United States.
“Why does Ann-yone read this tripe???”
It’s good to know what lefties are thinking. As a conservative, one of my main complaints about liberals is that they never read and think about criticisms on the right. This blog is a painless way of being exposed to what the NYT and WaPo are writing and what their opinion writers are thinking. My compliments to the chef.
Althouse said...
"Stop dehumanizing him and answer him!"
They can't. It's their passion.
They won't. It's their purpose.
_ _ _
Meade said...
“in a landslide.”
Don't send a landslide to do an earthquakes' job.
The hatred of Trump is disproportional to anything the man has ever done or said. And the sad part about this is that because the hatred is mostly based on little to no substance, it can only grow and metastasize. There is no defense against wild imaginings. Trump didn't do anything that could substantially affect people's lives while he's been out of office. But it is possible, all the same, the hatred of Trump has deepened.
I really feel sad for people with Trump derangement, because it could have a spillover effect making their lives needlessly harder to the point of being miserable.
Some Trumpers seem to derive pleasure in that possibility 🙋🏽♂️. I think that is also not helpful.
"Treating him as anything other than a depraved authoritarian is,...wrongheaded"
I have been watching Trump since 1980 and have never seen any signs of this. He's always just been Donald Trump.
That's what makes these people look insane.
"The first thing to understand about Trump is that he’s not a normal politician. He doesn’t give a rip about policy."
I noticed that when Trump first ran in 2015. Trump's seemingly nebulous pro-life stance. My biggest fear at the time was that Pelosi and the democrats would trick him into accepting their agenda by boosting his outsized ego. And then it came to pass that either they didn't trust they could pull it off, or they saw Trump as the formidable opponent he is, and decided early on that blocking anything he might want to do for 3 years and ultimately getting rid of him in 4 years was their best option.
So, where does that put the democrat's agenda in their list of priorities?
Second to having their guy in power first and foremost.
Damn. Greg was right! Being “ruppared” is in the Urban Dictionary!
If you ever say 'destroy' and 'democracy' in the same sentence you are a fucking retard.
I had a buddy of mine ask me a "political question" this weekend. The question was whether I thought that it was possible for an authoritarian dictator to take over the US government.
I said, (rather carefully because I wasn't sure where he was coming from and really wasn't interested in having that "Conspiracy Nut" thing where I detail what the Biden Administration has been doing) "Absolutely; the Founders wrote the Constitution explicitly to try to prevent it, but it's human nature and our Constitution seems to be under attack these days." I also said--"Look at Venezuela and Argentina. It could happen."
Turns out he was talking about Trump. I said that even if he wanted to Trump couldn't do it, because he never controlled the apparatus--the CIA, FBI, Military, Press--needed to do it. This didn't register--at all. He said Trump tried to take over the country on January 6. I said--"Right. And nobody even brought a pistol. Funny about that."
The conversation ended at that point. The idea that someone other than the Bad Orange Man (or Putin) could be engaged in "anti-democracy" behavior is something that simply cannot be contemplated.
Aaron Rupar would fit right in on the View. Ignorant and opinionated all day long.
Gasoline at the Mobil station down the hill from me in Glendale California was $6.799 a gallon this afternoon. In the last month of the Bad Orange Man's term regular gasoline in Los Angeles was well under $3 a gallon.
My wife and I ate at a new pizza place in Glendale on Friday night. Two medium pizzas, one salad and one diet coke --and the bill was $87.
And Lone Justice--you may be able to buy bacon for $2.99 a pound at a Hy Vee market in the Midwest--yesterday. But I pretty much haven't seen bacon in Southern California below $4 a pound at any time in the last ten years--and it's now up to $8--for 12 ounces.
Tell me life is better now under Bidenomics.
"abuse power and line his own pockets while bankrupting the country."
How can you tell what the Democrats are doing? Listen to what they accuse their opponents of.
JIM: "Aaron Rupar would fit right in on the View. Ignorant and opinionated all day long."
So true.
Ignorant. Far left. Such a huge liar that his name is synonymous with the purposeful and malicious editing and video splicing to create fake quotes and videos which is now commonly referred to as "Rupar-ing".
Interestingly, as Rupar has risen as a go to liar for the left, he became a favorite link guy for LLR-democratical Cbuck.
Which surprises no one no doubt.
"Fine, if Trump doesn’t care, what the hell are you doing about any of those policies? Absolutely nothing beyond lying about Trump."
Two things- Doing nothing is still a policy and lying about Trump's policies is way to avoid talking to people about theirs.
Rhetorical question: Why might someone not want to talk about what they plan to do with the power they acquire upon assuming office?
LLR lonejustice: "Well, I paid $2.99 for a pound of bacon at my local Hy-Vee grocery store here in the Midwest 2 days ago, so I'm not sure what universe Trump is talking about. So bacon was 60 cents a pound when Trump was president?"
LLR lonejustice coming in hot to try and deflect away from Biden-flation.
Covering for the dems and attempting to deflect democratical failures onto republicans and Trump in particular is one of the key tasks pursued by the Althouse blog troll brigade of fake LLR republicans every single day.
Amusing at first, their efforts now are ever more pathetic and the blog post equivalent of a primal scream from DNC HQ.
I can only imagine their behind the scenes handwringing and angst at the utter failure of their efforts. But lets face it, with a "Field General" like LLR-democratical Chuck, failure was guaranteed from the outset.
LLR-democratical Chuck: "But the anti-Trump Republicans at The Bulwark, and at The Dispatch, and within the Federalist Society, et cetera,..."
LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
Sweet Jesus! LLR-democratical Chuck really is trying to pull off a switcho-chango Jedi Mind Trick back to 2015 pretend republican/conservative status!!
Our adoring Maddow/Schiff/Pelosi/Whitmer fanboy thinks he can pull it off!
Well, I am betting e's got LLR lonejustice and LLR Rich aboard the Billy Kristol "republican" train...(wink wink)
If actual history is our guide, ad isn't it usually (?), the only remaining question is which young children of conservative politicians will LLR-democratical Chuck develop an..well...seemingly "unhealthy" obsession with.
If you are a conservative politician with a young child, pray it isnt yours.
And if you are a black conservative with a solid military record as well, heads up.
Because Chuck really hates that.....
It's an article of faith that Trump can't be engaged on substance.
When Trump is wrong, he's wrong...and when he's right, it doesn't matter, because he's still Trump.
Stop dehumanizing him and answer him!
LOL! Are you sure you didn’t want to bang a shoe on the table while shouting that demand, Mr. Khrushchev? ;-)
The abnormalization strategy…
Strategy? He dehumanizes and abnormalizes himself!
Engage on substance? This is a guy who said windmills cause cancer and that ingesting disinfectants would cure a viral disease! There’s no way you can take anyone who says things like that seriously.
He even caused a diplomatic crisis by getting offended at finding out Greenland wasn’t for sale!
Policy? He’ll support whatever policy was pitched by the last person to flatter him! He’s that transparently incapable of substance and his mental disorders that make it so are a feature, not a bug. It takes some weapons-grade misdirection and inability to read people not to see that.
At one point I thought wanted to be Trump’s lawyer. But now I know better. You want to be his mommy.
People talk about Trump lying, but normal politicians never tell the truth. You never catch one admitting they are wrong. They only ever admit they _were_ wrong if they need to for some purpose now.
They never tell the truth.
Mike lies: Our energy production has gone up under Biden, not down.
Here is the EIA's (Biden Administration) own data:
https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained//us-energy-facts/charts/primary-energy-production-by-major-source-history.csv
If you download the file and look at the real data (you have to sum it up for all energy sources), you'll see the 3.5 quadrillion BTU from 2019 to 2021. You can claim, but what about 2020, that is less than 2021? But the US didn't need to produce as much energy in 2020 than it did in 2019 because of the pandemic, so it didn't. You can point to the 2022 data and say "but that's up 4 quadrillion BTUs", but do you see that data is listed as preliminary data? It also assumes the US gained 1.3 quadrillion BTU from NG plants, 1.3 quadrillion BTU from crude oil and 1.1 quadrillion BTU from alternative energy sources. But our stock of natural gas is 400 BCF less than the August 2021 (https://ir.eia.gov/ngs/ngs.html). Our crude oil production capacity is down (as noted in the comments of a thread earlier today). And the gain in renewables is double any previous year's gain? That's odd, because the IRA is only a couple years old, and it takes 5 years to startup a newly designed facility. That's before you talk to anyone in the energy business about the lack of "shovel ready" renewable projects. Then there is the question if the renewable numbers are average load or peak load, as most renewable power sources are not reliable producers (no sun or wind, no energy).
But if you want to believe that we actually can produce more energy today than the last day of Trump's administration; then just know it has been done by spending down our reserves by nearly half of what they were under Trump. Reserves in both raw materials and money. The rate of spend is so much that we will barely not run out if we only maintain the rate of drawdown to date. What the EIA data suggests in the positive (we produce more, yeah!) is that the rate of drawdown is increasing. Oh, and the price of crude is up $25 from Jan 2020 (pre-pandemic) prices.
I didn't know this until doing the research today. I used EIA data plus my own knowledge of the industry to understand the future outlook. I wouldn't have looked into this, except Trump brought it up.
I appreciate Althouse writing this post.
The failure of the Aaron Rapur and the Left to answer Trump on the ISSUES, is shared by GOPe and the Mainstream Media. They believe in certain policy positions, and the aren't going to give one Goddamn inch, and they aren't interested in debate.
Look at Romney. What did he do in his retirment speech? Did he address the issues he disagees with Trump or Hawley on? Was there any good faith attempt to argue his positions were better? No. he just attacked Trump and Hawley as "Populists" and "Demogogues" and "Isolationists". And "conspiracy theorists" and "cowards/liars" who "know better" but are "pandering the worst instincts". So support everything Romney and GOPe and the NYT/Wapo believe or you're fake, a demogogue, or a Fool. Without any irony Romney described his positions as "The wise ones".
The Left/The Power elite/GOPe do NOT care if people are hurt by their policies. They do NOT care if people have legitimate opposing views. They do not care to have an honest debate, and if any politican (like Trump) rises up and tries to address their concerns, they will call him names, lie about him, investigate him, try to jail him, and refuse to treat him with any respect. Even if he is supported by half the country and was POTUS for 4 years.
This is unheard of in American history - at the federal level. NO ex-POTUS has EVER been treated like this. But all the conservative dumbasses have gotten over their initial shock and now treat it as NORMAL. Hey, lets let the D's choose who the R's can run for POTUS. Politics is all a game. Politics is just a debate. Who cares if Leftw wants a one-party state. Nothing bad will happen. Just watch football and have a beer.
Acting like everything Trump said or did was irrational and crazy worked for them before. I can see why they would try it again even though we have seen a president with all feebleness and affinity for non-sequiturs they accused Trump of having.
Paddy O - well said.
Elliot wrote, “Trump may embellish, but he always tells the truth unlike almost all politicians.” Huh. Are you including among his truthful statements his November 2020 claim that ”millions” of votes had been “altered?” He’s never offered any proof that even a single vote was altered.
Wow, for a guy who didn’t care about policy, he sure got a lot of policy decisions right. In fact, if this were just about policy, I’d vote for Trump every election.
Our energy production has gone up under Biden, not down.
@Mike, I decided to research your claim, and your DNC talking point is a bit more nuanced than you imply. According to the US Energy Information Administration, monthly crude oil production was 8.74 million barrels per day in January 2017, the month Trump was inaugurated. By the end of Trump's term in office the US was producing 12.48 million barrels per day, 12.58 mbd, 12.805 mbd, 13.00 mbd, 12.98 mbd, and 12.85 mbd. That last number is for January 2021. Starting the month after Biden was sworn in the US oil production started to tail off, so that by the following May production was down to 9.71 mbp, or roughly 3/4 of what it had been in Trump's peak month. After years of production hanging around 10 to 11 mbd, starting last September crude oil production began to rise again to levels comparable to peak production in the final months of Trump's term of office.
So, first of all, you're giving us a misleading picture, and, second, as of June US oil production still lags behind the best months of crude oil production under Trump's final year.
If he is re-elected, he will do what he did in his first term: abuse power and line his own pockets while bankrupting the country.
You wouldn't happen to have a link to something approximating proof of this allegation, would you?
How long before Chuck starts condoning physical threats to Donald Trump? Not long, I’d bet. Chuck has exactly that sort of criminal mind. Look at his tacit support of Biden. Let’s bookmark Chuck’s slide into criminal despondency.
Chuck wrote: “We anti-Trump Republicans like policy, and we like traditional Republican policy; we just think that Biden is the one essential tool to defeat Trump, and that a Trump election in 2024 would be incomprehensibly damaging to the nation.“
Bookmarked!
I am not an expert, but I was a geologist and have worked in petroleum, and I did just a bit of digging. Please check my work if you're inclined; I'm going to say some things here that I believe are correct.
According to this, Mike is sort of right about US energy production's going up under Biden - with two big footnotes:
1. It's at just about the same level as it was in 2018, so the actual increase is from 2020, when we all know that energy production and consumption fell off pretty hard thanks to COVID.
2. Oil production is down and coal is way down; the growth has been in natural gas, which is a good thing both from an environmental perspective and because we have so very, very much of it.
A third footnote:
3. Oil production going down isn't such a fantastic thing while we are still geared primarily for gasoline-powered vehicles, and also while we still rely so heavily on petroleum products that aren't found in natural gas for plastics and fertilizer and so forth.
And a fourth:
4. Gasoline prices are still high, which is largely driven by the global market (and some by taxes); word is that OPEC doesn't like Biden because of his relative friendliness with Iran, and they've been throttling their production, which keeps those prices up. So, if the US were to ramp up our domestic production, we would have an effect on that global market and hence on our own domestic prices.
Something about our crude being "better" - sweet crude is "better" because you don't have to deal with the sulfur. (We're not the only country that produces sweet crude.) But our own Gulf Coast refineries are tooled for sour crude (e.g., from Venezuela) and we don't have enough sweet-crude refinery capacity to handle all that we could produce. So some of our own refineries would have to be retooled, which is not trivial, in order to refine everything we could produce. This isn't necessarily a problem, as other countries are set up to refine sweet crude and crude is regularly shipped all over the place. But it does mean that we can't just drill more and keep all that we produce - it has to be refined, somewhere.
However, our distributed petroleum production gives us an advantage when it comes to ramping up production quickly.
A mixed bag, IOW. And Biden has not been a friend to domestic petroleum production or we'd see our energy production overall growing beyond 2018 levels. But we knew he would not be that friend - he told us that. The fact that his administration doesn't have a feasible plan to replace the reliable energy sources we use primarily with sources that are intermittent and only up to 13% (a record, btw) of total production right now - well, that's a separate question.
"but do you see that data is listed as preliminary data?"
If it works anything like employment numbers do, it'll be quietly revised to a lower number in a few months. Nobody in the MSM will notice.
It’s always a hoot when prognoids accuse Trump and his supporters of being Nazis , authoritarians and fascists when he speaks of MINIMIZING government power and intrusion int people’s lives, and MAXIMIZING personal freedoms.
Sheesh. I’d say they are morons, but I suspect it’s just purposeful deception.
I think several of us have used the same source to point out the flaws in Mike's statement about our energy production under Biden. Rach of us came at it from a different angle (I looked at the total production and made some observations about the mix and the time period being examined; Leland looked at production vs drawdown from reserves; and Big Mike looked at specifically petroleum production). The government's own data support our conclusions more reliably than Mike's.
Mike seemed to be making a simplistic assertion that because 2022 total energy production exceeded 2020 (which ignores Leland excellent points about how renewables are being measured - peak or average - and about how supply and demand works), Biden is a domestic energy-friendly president. This is clearly not true either from the facts on the ground or from what he himself told us all his priorities would be.
Actually his policy instincts were good.
Produce more O&G, have $2.00 gasoline.
Build the wall, keep the border under control.
Have NATO countries pay a higher share of their defense costs.
Appoint over 200 judges.
No new wars.
Iowan2 said: "Then there is the problem of Trump is actually identifying a problem and attack it with solutions...not policy."
The 'Policy' with our Political Elite is to 'manage' problems - not solve them. In the '70s we had a problem with energy. Like a good politician, Jimmy Carter tried to 'manage' the problem - government restrictions on oil use, 55 MPH speed limit, all that good stuff. But he also approved the Alaskan Pipeline, that's been flowing oil for decades down. So - he 'managed' the problem, but also took a long-term view to solving it.
He wasn't a great President, but he's looking better in hindsight.
Trump's also a problem solver - and this drives the Policy wonks who are dedicated to MANAGING the problem into a frothing hatred. Their main policy is "Thou Shalt Not Do Anything That Will Change Any Aspect Of The Problem".
Look at how we 'managed' NK. Look how we 'managed' the Afghanistan war for 20+ years. Look how they're dealing with CAGW - going with visible temporary solutions (wind and solar) that can't keep the lights on instead of going for the long-term steady power from nuclear. (At least some in government are starting to realize that people without power get PEEVED at the people who gave them the unreliable systems.)
Solving the problem just isn't something DC does any more.
rcocean said "The Left/The Power elite/GOPe do NOT care if people are hurt by their policies."
No - they don't. The Policy Makers aren't visible - it's not the elected pols who have to vote for or against - it's their staff and the appointed heads of agencies. They'll do what they think 'best' for the country, because they're not getting any meaningful feedback on how people take their pronouncements. AC efficiency, forcing EVs on the country, demanding more and more mileage from gas vehicles, wanting to ban gas stoves - they don't CARE whether the people WANT that - they're going to be forced to accept it.
Gee. I'm trying to think of another country that had the same sort of thing. The folks making the rules and imposing the taxes didn't care what the people thought. They were just peasants, you know? If they were important, they wouldn't have been peasants. They were disposable. They had to follow the rules - or else. The Aristocrats knew what was best for the state, for the people. Who cared if they were poor and hungry, as long as it didn't affect the Aristocracy?
And then the French Revolution hit.
I'm hoping we don't go that route.
Biden has us involved in a war with a huge oil producer, all the while draining our SPR to levels last seen 40 years ago. Great strategery.
Meade said...
“ I wanted to remember where it was that I said out loud, ‘He's going to win.’”
And then I said, “in a landslide.”
Good to read since over the years Meade has been consistently wrong about everything.
Blogger Elliott A. said...
" Trump may embellish, but he always tells the truth unlike almost all politicians."
For starters -6'3" , 215. Some "embellishing".
Love him or hate him, and I'm a Trump guy, he says what he means and means what he says. I love that his internal filter is real. I've never heard him use an analogy which is very much in his favor IMHO.
There's no bullsh@t with him. You know where you stand good or bad. There are some things I really don't like about him, but they don't outweigh the good I see. I love his no BS honesty. That's a guy I trust. Did he make mistakes the first time around, of course. Has he learned from those mistakes? I can't say and can't read his mind but something tells me that the second time around will be very different.
Leland, Jamie,
I appreciate your recitation of actual data, but *please* don't say "because of Covid/due to the pandemic"--that lets the evildoers off the hook.
It was the totalitarian, unconstitutional government overreaction and power grab that caused these effects.
I hope I never have my own entry in the dictionary:
rupar
To lie with impunity; a brazen statement with a focus on misleading, usually with intention of a predetermined outcome.
Chuck said...
“So Althouse, exactly when the fuck do you get around to acknowledging that Trump tried to subvert his election loss in 2020 and was willing to employ illegal means to do so? Does that mean anything to you at this point? Sorry for the nasty, attention-grabbing language, but I think the upcoming choice is just that stark.
9/18/23, 12:47 PM”
Chuck, exactly where do you get off speaking that way to her? You are a rude egocentric pig who has been banned here so many times that your comments are routinely automatically caught and suspended in the Google spam net. You would be wise to begin every comment by politely thanking her for taking the trouble to fish them out and publish them. Your boring humorless comments really don’t deserve anyone’s attention at all. But I suspect you already know that, don’t you?
“Good to read since over the years Meade has been consistently wrong about everything.“
And here, over the years, I’ve been consistently sticking up for you, Mutaman. Once I even asserted you were a “decent guy.”
Regrettably, I was wrong.
Here's a graph of oil consumed in the US, its country of origin, and sulfur content.
https://kimray.com/sites/default/files/uploads/training-demos/5-chart.jpg
Some observations based on the comments and this graph:
1. The US does not import oil from Venezuela. There are sanctions imposed on the country.
2. The country with the highest sulfur content is Mexico, followed by the US which is from traditional wells, not fracked.
3. Saudi oil has a lot more sulfur than assumed.
4. Capital investment in refineries during the 90s and 00s relies on sour crude. Refiners are reluctant to switch because they can import heavy crude at a lower price. So they export the sweet crude produced from fracking.
5. POLICY would require getting rid of that perverse incentive in point 4 but the Mikes and Rupars of this world would consider that populist (the horror).
https://www.marketplace.org/2022/03/07/why-do-we-import-russian-oil-when-theres-lot-u-s/
Thank you Meade for saying what the rest of us were thinking!!!
chuck - your side - they cheat and lie.
Go F yourself.,.. and .
So Althouse, exactly when the fuck do you get around to acknowledging that Trump tried to subvert his election loss in 2020 and was willing to employ illegal means to do so?
Assumes facts not in evidence...
He says the election was rigged. He's allowed to say that.
Chuck and the Muttman…
*please* don't say "because of Covid/due to the pandemic"--that lets the evildoers off the hook.
It was the totalitarian, unconstitutional government overreaction and power grab that caused these effects.
A fair point!
mishu - the EIA shows Venezuelan oil imports for 2023, and for 2019 back. None from 2020 to Jan. 2023 though, and the 2023 imports are an order of magnitude less by month.
Thank you for adding more fuel to the fire, so to speak!
Maybe Mutaman somehow doesn't realize the connection between our host and Meade? Or needs coffee or another stimulant of choice in order to realize what he's said?
"What he cares about is saying and doing whatever it takes to fulfill his desires and thirst for power, including destroying democracy if necessary."
Rupar's confession by projection.
I don’t understand why anyone would ever read Chuck, much less respond to him. I breeze over anything w Chuck involved, it’s sew obvious and easy to do, like stepping around a briar patch.
Mutaman said...
"Blogger Elliott A. said...
" Trump may embellish, but he always tells the truth unlike almost all politicians."
For starters -6'3" , 215. Some "embellishing"."
Prove you know otherwise.
2.99 for a pound of bacon huh?
Lessee. Aldi's cheapest bacon is 3.99 for 12 ounces. 12 ounces of paper thin bacon. Maybe Aldi's bacon was once 2.99 as well.
Be good to yourself. Your RBT card will buy the 6.00 bacon.
Iman: "Chuck and the Muttman…"
Interestingly enough, compared with LLR-democratical Chuck, Mutaman is the more "conservative" of the two.
"it’s sew obvious and easy to do, like stepping around a briar patch."
Or a dog turd.
Iman said...
Chuck and the Muttman…
Hard up for cash?
Trump's one all-encompassing policy is,"I come first and only, and policy will only serve my wealthy and ego."
Brian said...
"So Althouse, exactly when the fuck do you get around to acknowledging that Trump tried to subvert his election loss in 2020 and was willing to employ illegal means to do so?"
Assumes facts not in evidence...
He says the election was rigged. He's allowed to say that.
Special Counsel Jack Smith acknowledges that Trump is "allowed to say that." Paragraph 3 of the indictment in Case No. Case 1:23-cr-00257-TSC reads:
3 . The Defendant had a right, like every American, to speak publicly about the election and even to claim, falsely, that there had been outcome-determinative fraud during the election and that he had won. He was also entitled to formally challenge the results of the election through lawful and appropriate means, such as by seeking recounts or audits of the popular vote in states or filing lawsuits challenging ballots and procedures. Indeed, in many cases, the Defendant did pursue these methods of contesting the election results. His efforts to change the outcome in any state through recounts, audits, or legal challenges were uniformly unsuccessful.
So there is no doubt; Trump is "allowed" to claim that the 2020 election was rigged. The prosecutor agrees with that. Trump is not being prosecuted for claiming "the election was rigged."
It is a stupid thing for Trump to claim. It is an embarrassing thing for Trump to keep whining about, three years later. It is a false and phony claim. And it is a claim that has been destructive to the national well-being. Trump has single-handedly caused millions of credulous low-information voters to think that their presidential election was rigged. Trump should be ashamed of that. Any public official who has been Trump's accomplice should be ashamed.
But Trump isn't being prosecuted saying stupid and untrue things. As the Special Counsel has said. Trump is being prosecuted for what I wrote to Althouse; trying to subvert his 2020 election loss and employing illegal means to do so.
My question deserves an answer.
Robert Cook said...
"Trump's one all-encompassing policy is,"I come first and only, and policy will only serve my wealthy and ego."
he was wealthyer before becoming president. He'd be even moreso if he never ran. Why do you suppose he ran? You obvious bias asside.
Our energy production has gone up under Biden, not down.
Well, that would certainly explain why I'm paying more than twice as much for a gallon of gas now.
mEADE:
"And here, over the years, I’ve been consistently sticking up for you, Mutaman. Once I even asserted you were a “decent guy.”
Fake news. Link please.
Rusty said...
Mutaman said...
"Blogger Elliott A. said...
For starters -6'3" , 215. Some "embellishing"."
"Prove you know otherwise."
https://news.sky.com/story/donald-trump-now-clinically-obese-but-in-good-health-says-doctor-11637814
Mutaman.
You're giving me 2019 data.
What proof do you have that he weighs more than what has been claimed now? He certainly looks thinner today compared with 2019.
Mike at 3:10 posted the same lie 3 times. This lie that production of oil is at an all-time high under Biden is repeated as often as the claim that there is nothing the president can do about high gas prices, it is all the fault of those damn russians. These statements are as untrue as Kamala saying 'the border is secure', but only slightly less dishonest. My God how stupid are democrats, or how stupid do they think everyone else is?
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