Labels mean nothing any longer but that being said, I don't think this would be a conversation with the "left" but rather with neo-liberal Democrats. Many on what used to be the left were the first to call out Russiagate (Greenwald, Mate, Taibbi, et al) as bullshit and moved on to call out the decimation of civil liberties in the alleged service of safety.
Sasha, fairly new subscriber. Conservatarian. You've nailed it, time and again. Trump came from uniparty disgust- a figurehead for people fed up with double standards and elitism. He remains because he uniquely understands this
My brother and I attended the 2005 PGA tournament at Whistling Straits. Tiger's group stepped onto the 9th tee. We watched from the landing area. And suddenly there's Trump with Melania, right in front of us. How he got there without a horde is a mystery, but it didn't take long. The mob descended. He took time to autograph hats, take selfies and chat with every single person. The only person I've seen remotely as attentive is John Daly. That goes for all sports and celebrities (I live in green bay and see plenty in our little town)
Now, I'm no raving Trump guy. But his political success came as no surprise after seeing him up close. He listens and relates to people. It's as simple as that
The elites do not. Worst of all, they have no interest in doing so. And there's the great divide. In a system designed for and of the people, elites flaunt the opposite. The louder the desent, the more tyranny becomes the only option, further pissing off the peasants (see Canada of all places)
The golden ring of course is power. Elites need it. Peasants want protection from it (which makes our Constitution one of the greatest achievements in human history). The only way to rationalize the centralization of the millions of individual decisions we make daily into a handful of beuacrats is superiority, and thus, power. There's no other explanation.
Plumbers fix broken faucets. They know enough that when you can't figure out an app, you give it to your grandkid, not a plumber. Yet the people we elect to "run the economy" know nothing of the sort. They don't have the first clue how to create a job. They will never, ever admit it. Doing so makes the plumber, who hires other plumbers, more accomplished than themselves
Trump loves plumbers. He wants a world run by plumbers..and ditch diggers and people who accomplish. Elites view plumbers as the sneered-upon servant class, whose worth pales in comparison to the associate assistant director of diversity and inclusion at the local community college, whose acomplishments amount to little other than division
That's why they hate him so much. He knows a facade of non- accomplishment mascarading as importance when he sees it. He says so. He threatens the entire system. It's so entrenched, he's personally more of an imagined threat than real. But these past few years demonstrate the lengths people (the uniparty and "elite" class) will go in order to protect power and privilege. Up to and including insanity
The mess will continue. In the long run, though, the plumbers are going to win
Insular, secular Religionists, bereft of reason and meaning, their rage focused on the Anti-Marx and his seraphs. In what manner of ink will the History be written? Aside from that cheerfulness, Mike Hind (3/5) nails it. Thank you.
Trump wasn’t a great president but he was ok. Mid-East agreements, decent economy, slow Covid response but moderately-good on vaccines, Space Force, tax reform, First Step.
It's not entirely new. The left did the same with Nixon for many years.
The common factor is that both Nixon and Trump actually served the left far more effectively than the D presidents. Nixon gave us abortion, affirmative action, environmentalism, and offshoring. Trump gave us lockdowns and muzzles and needles. You'd think these idiots would be GRATEFUL to their best and most loyal servants.
Trump's mistake on the COVID response was putting Pence in charge, and making Birx and Fauci the drivers. 3 politicians running a pandemic response - what could go wrong?
A few months in, he knew he made a mistake but was convinced not to change anything for fear of election consequences. That's where he lost me. I think if he would have come out and said "I made a mistake, I'm fixing it. I don't care if it costs me the election because the country is more important than my re-election." he would have been fine. But just like the left was undermining Trump since before he was elected, there was a large faction on the right that was doing the same.
And Trump did not give us muzzles and needles. The vaccine mandates and most of the mask mandates all came under Biden. Developing a vaccine was a good thing (mostly). Forcing people to participate in a medical experiment was perhaps the worst thing Biden, or any president in history, has done.
Trump is kingmaker: I think R politicians are toadying to him because the number and type of people who vote in primaries is very small, and most fundraising dollars go through him (the Dispatch, a moderate right site that came about because Trump losing is a good part of reality has a really good inside baseball explanation of the funding). Beyond R politicians being cynical, and some of their base believing it, I don’t understand why anyone else is focused on Trump. Trump is a LOSER. More R on the 2020 ticket won than he did. Usually moderates are elected in presidential campaigns In 2016 Trump was the only primary candidate to say on the debate stage Planned Parenthood did some good things. Biden wasn’t anyone’s first choice in the last round, he just seemed electable. Trump will lose a general election (again), so won’t get the primary. I think the progressive Ds talking like this is because they don’t really have anything else to feel good and righteous about.
Logic has become a dirty, white privilege, way of thinking in today's world.
Pavlov would be proud. Join The Resistance: https://yuribezmenov.substack.com/p/how-to-join-the-resistance-tm
I hope this was as satisfyingly cathartic to publish as it was to read
They suck so hard. How do we break them from their state of hypnosis/insanity??
This is an awesome column!
Labels mean nothing any longer but that being said, I don't think this would be a conversation with the "left" but rather with neo-liberal Democrats. Many on what used to be the left were the first to call out Russiagate (Greenwald, Mate, Taibbi, et al) as bullshit and moved on to call out the decimation of civil liberties in the alleged service of safety.
Sasha - you are right on point AGAIN. We appreciate you
Sasha, fairly new subscriber. Conservatarian. You've nailed it, time and again. Trump came from uniparty disgust- a figurehead for people fed up with double standards and elitism. He remains because he uniquely understands this
My brother and I attended the 2005 PGA tournament at Whistling Straits. Tiger's group stepped onto the 9th tee. We watched from the landing area. And suddenly there's Trump with Melania, right in front of us. How he got there without a horde is a mystery, but it didn't take long. The mob descended. He took time to autograph hats, take selfies and chat with every single person. The only person I've seen remotely as attentive is John Daly. That goes for all sports and celebrities (I live in green bay and see plenty in our little town)
Now, I'm no raving Trump guy. But his political success came as no surprise after seeing him up close. He listens and relates to people. It's as simple as that
The elites do not. Worst of all, they have no interest in doing so. And there's the great divide. In a system designed for and of the people, elites flaunt the opposite. The louder the desent, the more tyranny becomes the only option, further pissing off the peasants (see Canada of all places)
The golden ring of course is power. Elites need it. Peasants want protection from it (which makes our Constitution one of the greatest achievements in human history). The only way to rationalize the centralization of the millions of individual decisions we make daily into a handful of beuacrats is superiority, and thus, power. There's no other explanation.
Plumbers fix broken faucets. They know enough that when you can't figure out an app, you give it to your grandkid, not a plumber. Yet the people we elect to "run the economy" know nothing of the sort. They don't have the first clue how to create a job. They will never, ever admit it. Doing so makes the plumber, who hires other plumbers, more accomplished than themselves
Trump loves plumbers. He wants a world run by plumbers..and ditch diggers and people who accomplish. Elites view plumbers as the sneered-upon servant class, whose worth pales in comparison to the associate assistant director of diversity and inclusion at the local community college, whose acomplishments amount to little other than division
That's why they hate him so much. He knows a facade of non- accomplishment mascarading as importance when he sees it. He says so. He threatens the entire system. It's so entrenched, he's personally more of an imagined threat than real. But these past few years demonstrate the lengths people (the uniparty and "elite" class) will go in order to protect power and privilege. Up to and including insanity
The mess will continue. In the long run, though, the plumbers are going to win
Insular, secular Religionists, bereft of reason and meaning, their rage focused on the Anti-Marx and his seraphs. In what manner of ink will the History be written? Aside from that cheerfulness, Mike Hind (3/5) nails it. Thank you.
Trump wasn’t a great president but he was ok. Mid-East agreements, decent economy, slow Covid response but moderately-good on vaccines, Space Force, tax reform, First Step.
It's not entirely new. The left did the same with Nixon for many years.
The common factor is that both Nixon and Trump actually served the left far more effectively than the D presidents. Nixon gave us abortion, affirmative action, environmentalism, and offshoring. Trump gave us lockdowns and muzzles and needles. You'd think these idiots would be GRATEFUL to their best and most loyal servants.
Trump's mistake on the COVID response was putting Pence in charge, and making Birx and Fauci the drivers. 3 politicians running a pandemic response - what could go wrong?
A few months in, he knew he made a mistake but was convinced not to change anything for fear of election consequences. That's where he lost me. I think if he would have come out and said "I made a mistake, I'm fixing it. I don't care if it costs me the election because the country is more important than my re-election." he would have been fine. But just like the left was undermining Trump since before he was elected, there was a large faction on the right that was doing the same.
And Trump did not give us muzzles and needles. The vaccine mandates and most of the mask mandates all came under Biden. Developing a vaccine was a good thing (mostly). Forcing people to participate in a medical experiment was perhaps the worst thing Biden, or any president in history, has done.
Trump is kingmaker: I think R politicians are toadying to him because the number and type of people who vote in primaries is very small, and most fundraising dollars go through him (the Dispatch, a moderate right site that came about because Trump losing is a good part of reality has a really good inside baseball explanation of the funding). Beyond R politicians being cynical, and some of their base believing it, I don’t understand why anyone else is focused on Trump. Trump is a LOSER. More R on the 2020 ticket won than he did. Usually moderates are elected in presidential campaigns In 2016 Trump was the only primary candidate to say on the debate stage Planned Parenthood did some good things. Biden wasn’t anyone’s first choice in the last round, he just seemed electable. Trump will lose a general election (again), so won’t get the primary. I think the progressive Ds talking like this is because they don’t really have anything else to feel good and righteous about.
The Dispatch is moderate left, not moderate right.