Full text of an oped 30 days ago at WSJ Incompetent Elites Make Trump Look Appealing His supporters don’t love everything about him but are sick of being disdained and misgoverned. Democrats and traditional Republicans are flummoxed. How are 4 in 10 of our fellow citizens ready to vote for Donald Trump? Democrats deplore Trump supporters as racists who must be saved from their ignorance. Traditional Republicans dream that some policy plan or another attack on Mr. Trump’s character might sway his voters.
As a Trump-agnostic observer from across the pond, it seems to me that his appeal is that he comes across as a combative outsider who refuses to play by the rules of what so many across the Western world increasingly see as a political stacked deck. Secondly the fact that he has triggered Trump Derangement Syndrome in the millions of the Lefty-sheep-dipped graduate class who now control all the levers of power in America (and the Western world as a whole)....this must have enough appeal to compensate for the more annoying aspects of his personality. The only politician I have admired in my six decades of adult life was Margaret Thatcher. I don't think history will be as kind to Trump's as to her memory but I can see that maybe, in some inchoate instinctive way, the 40% or so of Americans who voted for him in 2020 could see that he was just what Western liberalism needed. Because like Mrs Thatcher, whatever else he is, at least he's not an 'insider' of the group-thinking lefty liberal establishment that has now got a monopoly over every Western institution. And like Mrs T he won't back down and tango dance with the awful MSM. https://grahamcunningham.substack.com/p/mrs-thatcher-and-the-good-life
Yes, this. I often wonder why Trump supporters didn't get behind Vivek (and no, it's not anti Asian racism). He has largely the same platform, and is just as snarky and insulting to the elite as Trump is. He's also much, much smarter and "cleaner" and thus more electable. But as you mention, he's not nearly as angry as Trump. And Trump supporters like to have the visible anger, and they like it delivered without the sometime smarmy intelligence of Vivek. It just resonates. And Trump Derangement Syndrome is a big factor too. Sure there'd be a Vivek Derangement Syndrome but it would have been half hearted and largely confined to Twitter. It doesn't provide the red meat Trump supporters need.
Yes very perceptive comment I think. Sadly for Vivek, I suspect that - for non-graduate people who are sick to the back teeth of our Western managerial establishments - intellectual sophistication can get lumped in with being perceived as a smart-arse....and hence a vote loser.
All of this is nice, but the man did not concede, so either you believe the election was stolen, and then Biden is an usurper, or the election was fair, and Trump is an aspiring usurper.
Well, the 2020 election is history. Filibustering on the issue "the man did not concede," is rather pointless. Usurper--illegal seizure--aspiring or otherwise, doesn't fit the bill when campaigning to contest the office in the next election.
Not a bad attempt but it still talks about us like we are lab rats and morons. I'm a top 5% earner with a top 1% IQ and voting for Trump in 2020 was a no brainer. I'll share why someone who isn't the 'hayseed' these grotesque hacks hate would readily support Trump. The real question is why anyone who actually loves liberty and our nation would support the Dems and the Globalist, Neo-Con, Neo-Liberal Republicans? A few points in response to this piece.
1. The 2020 election was stolen. Those of us who bothered to keep track of the actual court cases and hearings and legislatures and various actions on elections have all the proof we need now. Just 'drop boxes' alone and how they were managed has been found to have been illegal in key swing states where Dems did massive ballot harvesting based on drop boxes. Forget the dozens of findings of fraud in swing states, the CFTC dumping 400 million focused on literally running the elections in key Dem, swing electoral districts and finally the way the social media companies suppress conservative voices. Then there is 2000 Mules and subsequent cases on Texas, Rhode Island, New York and elsewhere show massive ballot harvesting in illegal ways at scale. Some of us noticed that counting was stopped only in swing states where Trump was winning, and this was done so the Dems could figure out how many fraudulent ballots they had to count. And finally, those who did this had the gall to write an article in Time Magazine bragging how they 'fortified' the election. Don't you dare call me an 'election denier', it's not December 2020 when we didn't have all the evidence together. If you don't realize that election was stolen by the Dems, you are just uninformed at this point.
2. The federal govt has ginned up a fake threat narrative about the Right and under the ridiculous rubric of 'Domestic Violent Extremism' are suppressing our voices and oppressing us in our workplaces, schools and govt institutions. And be clear - anytime one of us is subjected to say a rainbow flag in a school or govt building or workplace, we are being suppressed and oppressed. Why are our embassies flying the rainbow flag during the obscenity called "Pride Month". The FBI and other intel agencies are tracking us, pretending there is a huge White Supremacist threat when in fact, according to multiple whistleblowers they have ginned massive numbers of fake cases to provide the basis for their faux righteousness. We believe that if the Dems get into power they will make being conservative itself a crime of sorts.
3. We are insolvent as a nation and a financial and currency crisis unlike anything this nation has seen is on a hair trigger. The meltdown could begin any moment and only MAGA people are talking about it honestly. If you are unaware how debt service and managing our debt will cost 1 trillion in the current fiscal year, you are asleep. We will have a 2.5 trillion deficit this year - when there is no 'crisis'.
4. Non-interventionism - The article got it wrong. We didn't want to 'win' in Afghanistan and Iraq, we now realize two things. One, Al Qaeda attacked us cuz of our bloody history in THEIR NATIONs. Two, the exact wrong reaction was to further spread our imperial, militaristic reach around the world. This made us also look hard at NATO and Taiwan and ask why is our federal govt making promises to these nations to defend them or arm them to the teeth at least? Same with Israel or Ukraine? We have also learned how our rabid, out of control CIA, arm in arm with our Marxist State Dept have been throwing 'color revolutions' all around the world without bothering to ask us if we wanted them to do that. We see how we cause wars and aren't a stabilizing influence in the world at all.
Short version? We've noticed that we start wars every 2-3 years and have thrown 80 coups since 1945 and we don't want our nation doing that. Period.
5. Our entire education system has been overtaken by radical Neo-Marxist, Crit Theory peddling revolutionaries. From kindergarten to grad school. That BS is infecting the rest of the world with Queer Theory for elementary schools and Critical Race Theory etc. Whiteness is now openly demonized by our news media, and we are then dismissed as whiners when we notice. There is active discrimination against white men in corporate hiring, as recent whistleblowers from IBM and others have shown conclusively. Same is happening at our universities, SCOTUS recently confirmed our nations universities are engaging in wildly illegal discrimination to achieve their Marxist outcomes.
I’m an attorney in Arizona and I have been practicing law for over 41 years. I’m politically neutral. I can only speak definitively as to the Arizona election in 2020. The election mechanisms were run by Republicans, especially in the largest county where I live, Maricopa (Phoenix/Scottsdale/ Mesa) where 70% of the voters live. Trump lost while down ballot Republicans won. Suburban voters and independents like myself simply wouldn’t vote for Trump, even though we voted for the rest of the Republicans on the ballot, including my Republican Congressman. We were sick of Trump and his chaos and incompetence (never built the wall, never did infrastructure, never did his repeal and replace). Maybe that was a mistake, but that is the reality. There was no fraud that could be proved even remotely in court. It was BS allegations which changed repeatedly but all with no proof. And in 2022 all the normal Republicans easily won statewide office (such as Kimberly Yee for Treasurer with 55% of the vote) while Trumpster Keri Lake lost for Governor while Republicans kept control of the legislature. It’s not complicated. The independents and traditional conservatives don’t want Trump and this election fraud BS. If a normal conservative Republican ran for President in 2024 they would win easily in Arizona. Trump may win Arizona in 2024 but it will be close because of his BS, especially about election fraud. That’s reality, whether you like it or not.
Of course, I was not speaking narrowly about Arizona. There are tremendous concerns about Maricopa county that are ongoing. You keep emphasizing Republicans but in fact RINOs are as dead set against Trump as lying, thieving Dems. And now we have proof the head of the AZ GOP offered to pay Kari off to not run for senate - and these are my 'trusted' agents who will investigate all this thoroughly? I'm curious, do you even know what CFTCL is? Did you watch 2000 Mules? Fyi, if you are going to cite BS articles that claim to debunk 2000 Mules don't bother, their research and analysis is bullet proof, I work in tech and know statistical analysis. It's horrifying. Just on these two counts, how can you not be alarmed? Pile on top of that that the Time Magazine article on how so many institutions and people collaborated to "fortify" the election - and you have no concerns? Add to that Googles documented search engine manipulation and suppression of conservative thought, with Google leadership stating they would double down to prevent Trump's re-election?
None of this concerns you? Try to remain rational when you reply, I do realize TDS is a serious condition...
I believe I already clearly addressed the issue. If you allege fraud you must prove it in a court of law. No proof of fraud was produced in court in Arizona in any case. I’m an attorney. We require actual provable evidence admissible in court. Allegations, movies, vague statements and concerns do not constitute provable evidence. A number of attorneys making false unprovable allegations of fraud in court regarding elections have had their legal licenses suspended or revoked and justifiably so. You are entitled to your opinion but mere opinions or allegations are irrelevant in a court of law.
You want to discuss Arizona, I'm citing broader facts and issues. I get it, you don't really know anything about this. You are just focused on a tiny subset of issues in AZ that aren't nearly as settled as you claim. Move along, you are useless to speak with. Unless you are going to focus on CFTCL, as a starting point. Fyi, they have been banned legally from repeating what they did in 2020 by several states, are you even aware of this? Fyi, I'm not a court of law here - i'm having a conversation about real issues and facts. Try and respond to what I have to say, not with your feral obsessions, k?
So you've got nothing more than your pedantry on narrow AZ issues? This isn't a court room, you arrogant windbag. And be clear, many courts are corrupt wrt Trump as well. The behavior of the FBI, DoJ and our own courts under Trump greatly reduced my faith in all of them. But hey, you are some genius hotshot lawyer, here's a list of the 28 unique cases Trump could not get a substantive hearing on after the theft of the 2020 election. Be honest, look at each one and tell me that this is appropriate. I dare you to do so. Tell me the inability to get a hearing on the substance of any one of these claims doesn't trouble you at all. https://thefederalist.com/2021/03/11/courts-repeatedly-refused-to-consider-trumps-election-claims-on-the-merits/
Yes Will. And it makes me sad. I count John as a good friend. We both fly gliders (aeronautical sport). I do say that, contrary to the common caution, one must talk about politics (and religion) to really understand one's friends.
Seeing the increasing destruction going on in the world (Putin's hegemony; Zionist hegemony; to name only two) I feel it is vital for all rational-thinking people to become vocal. Note that Anti-Zionism (objecting to forced displacement of Palestinian people) has no connection to Anti-Semitism (persecution of Jewish people).
You too for that matter. I'll debate you live any time. Come on, I'm so dumb and crazy, you should be able to show me up easily. Let's do it and upload it here. I dare you.
You haven't offered an argument you babbling fool. You presume superior knowledge or standing based on nothing. As I said, I'll debate you live anywhere, any time. Send a link and the time and I'm there. We'll upload the video here and let the folks here decide who's got a better handle on things. One quick question for you: Why did counting stop at roughly the same time in swing states only on election eve in 2020? Never seen before in my life. If one is doing voter fraud at scale with ballot harvesting, one needs to know just how many fraudulent ballots to shove through.
According to the Economic Policy Institute, “a top 5% earner” made $335,891 in 2021. For 2024, the figure is likely close to or over $400,000.
If you’re making this much money as “earnings,” then the American political economy is working really, really well for you. Indeed, your affluence likely provides you with outsized influence in that system. And you should be heavily invested in its ongoing stability.
Most Americans would therefore wonder why you would choose to write such an unhinged anti-American screed as a comment to a Substack article.
You really should stay in your lane and focus on economics. This would be more persuasive if you could explain how Trump’s announced economic policies of more tax cuts and more tariffs is the right policy mix for the next four years. You are long on grievance and short on solutions, just like Trump.
Well, John, this WSJ article of yours does a good job of relating the narrative that the Trump enthusiasts cling to. You fail to mention that the narrative is false. The truth is that the system of governance does not hold the well-being of ordinary folks as an objective. The truth is that the system's objective is to preserve, protect, and advance privilege. Hence we are served the notion that things are great because there may soon be a trillionaire. Ordinary folks are, instinctively, fed up with this nonsense. They are ready to be roused to anger. Mr. Murdoch's propaganda machine, amplified by social media echo chambers, have roused up that anger and handed the reins to Mr. Trump. Don't expect any beneficial result for those unfortunate folks.
It seems that I was addressing my comment to you, John, and to other open-minded observers. The point being, as you say, to understand the Trump-enthusiasm phenomenon. It is clear, as you say, that Trump enthusiasts cling fast to the lies that they are told. Viz that exchange about the flat tire story.
Yes, pointing out false narratives does not affect the conviction of the believers. But failing to point out the falsehoods gives your imprimatur to those falsehoods.
There are several anecdotes about Trump that sum up the man behind the bluster, and I’ll share one:
Before he ran for President, Trump’s limo had broken down on the side of the highway with a flat tire. Two motorists, husband and wife working class folks, pulled over and changed the tire for him. Trump took their names and everyone drove away. As thanks, Trump paid off their mortgage…
I think working class people see this Trump, a guy who will help a little guy out. And they sympathize with him over the people persecuting, er, prosecuting him for petty bullshit. And there are several of us (you try passing engineering at a world-class institution, then be successful enough to retire at 60), who aren’t the halfwits the left tries to tell us we all are (Basket of deplorables, remember?)
If, after the shenanigans of leftists, powerbrokers, and elected official, you don’t want to see things shaken up, I don’t understand why not. Trump got Middle East treaties, closed the southern boarder and oversaw a booming economy, bottled up Russia and countless other things the current President overruled. Now we have chaos…
I find it genuinely disappointing and disturbing that John, once a voice of reason, has allowed himself to become... this. He has become so laser-focused on the (very real) dangers and absurdities of the left that he no longer has the capacity to acknowledge, much less scrutinize and weigh, the dangers and absurdities of the right. The result is that he now sounds like a stereotypical Fox News talking head, not the source of insight he was until only a few years ago. He's abandoned his small government and pro-democracy principles because attacking the left has become the higher -- seemingly only -- priority of his.
While Trump hasn't been formally diagnosed with Narcissistic Personality Disorder, he exhibits and exceeds the criteria plain as day. The problem with narcissists is that they force their opponents to wage war on their terms, just like Trump. Like you explained, Trump excels at getting under the elites' skin, forcing vociferous condemnations. This is part of the narcissists playbook, to force an unhinged response.
The recent Civil trial saw the judge lay the smackdown on this garbage. As such, the best way to handle a narcissist is to be firmly intolerant of childish games. You can't negotiate with a narcissist, and as such, all you can do is give them a constrained option set to choose from.
Narcissists also tend to suffer from puer aeternis, an eternal child with childish and ridiculous behaviors. Why? They hate constraints.
Don't get baited.
"It takes a man to suffer ignorance and smile, be yourself no matter what they say." - Sting
I could never vote for Trump, or Biden or (either) Clinton. But, President Clinton did a pretty good job, balanced the budget (with some smoke and mirrors, but balanced nonetheless), and proved me wrong.
And, I’ve voted AGAINST someone for president every year since I became eligible (1972) … until 2016, 2020, and likely 2024 too. I came close only three times in voting FOR someone (Reagan, 2nd term, George H. W. Bush, both times). Just can’t pull the lever in 2016, 2020 or 2024 for the lesser of two evils, all three, former President Trump, President Biden and Secretary Clinton are crap. If it is Trump and Biden in 2024, count me as an undervote. Hope you all know better than me ...
Weren’t these elites the same people who gave us the companion to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (Health Reform), the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (Pub. L. 111–152), who scored the federal takeover of student loan debt as a health reform “pay for” – saving tens of billions of dollars?
Last I heard, according to news sources, President Biden had decided to transfer $136.6 billion of student loan debt in an attempt to buy 3.7 million votes in 2024. Transferring debts from those who borrowed to go to college, and shifting it to taxpayers – most of whom did not go to college, and others who went to college and successfully financed their education via wages, repaid loans, parental support, etc.
George W. Bush also did some fine vote-buying with Medicare Part D. Others have as well.
I’m all for legal immigration. My mom came over on the boat and landed at Ellis Island in July 1925. She and my maternal grandmother needed a sponsor to be responsible as well as government approval. America was lucky to have her and better for it. The difference is that American should get to decide who is admitted - we should be hyper selective among the tens of millions who want to come here.
Only now, three years and millions of illegal immigrants, and known gotaways later, only as we approach the 2024 election does the Biden Administration admit the border isn't secure, that we have a crisis.
I have family in the military, but luckily didn’t lose anyone in Iraq or Afghanistan. I lost a job during the pandemic, but, avoided that in the Great Recession.
Health Reform was a failure for everyone who doesn’t receive taxpayer financed health coverage – keep your doctor, keep your plan, not add one thin dime to the deficit, and many other lies.
In terms of “Bidenomics”, hell, even an idiot like me can grow the economy and pump up the stock market by adding tens of trillions of government deficit spending. These people in charge (Obama, Trump, Biden) over the past 15-16 years who took our national debt from $12.6 Trillion to $34+ Trillion, that's $22+ Trillion for you economists, and, according to the CBO, they are going to add another $20+ Trillion over the next ten years, and, unless something changes over the next 30 years, by 2054 (I’ll be 102 years old or dead), they project a national debt of $146 Trillion. Remember when then-candidate Obama called President George W. Bush “unpatriotic” for adding $4+ Trillion to our national debt over 8 years (January 2001 - January 2009)?
However, as Stein’s law confirms: “… What economists know seems to consist entirely of a list of things that cannot go on forever, … But if it can’t go on forever it will stop.”
But, for me, most of all, I’m tired of those in the beltway who think they know what I want or what I should want. They are the mandate crew - never mindful of our supposed "federal government of limited powers." It is always "rules for thee, not for me". It is always: "don't tax you, don't tax me, tax that guy behind the tree". It is always: "the best tax is the one I owe and you pay."
Careful. Your objectivity is showing. As someone who never liked Trump, I voted for him in 2016 because the alternative was totally unacceptable. Unthinkable, really. I well remember waking up the morning after election day and the sense of relief I felt at learning Trump had won. I was delighted and surprised at how rationale and reasonable many of his administration's policies and actions were- taxes, Israel, Iran, China, Mexico, abortion, defense, bringing back manufacturing, energy. I approved of nearly all, while cringing at Trump being, well, Trump. The unhinged pushback and take-no-prisoners approach to taking him down, even if it meant fabricating collusion hoaxes, made his accomplishments all the more remarkable. If I have to point to a single topic distinguishing Trump from Biden, it would be his attitude regarding our border. Trump was making great strides in securing the southern border and Biden, with one stroke of his pen, undid all of that. We can all see how that has worked out. While I anticipate with dismay the carnival of chaos that will accompany ushering in another Trump presidency, I will not hesitate to grit my teetha and vote for him again if it keeps Biden and his minions out of the WH for four years. I am an educated, moderate conservative, for fiscal responsibility, for a strong military, energy independence, believe in our Constitution and the vision of our founders, and definitely not "woke".
AMEN; on the morning after the 2016 election I was uplifted with the thought that America still had some hope, some small chance to regain her functionality. Not because I like Trump, but because the election result was the will of the people. I doubt that will ever be allowed to happen again.
Yup. I didn’t vote in 2016 for the first time in my life. I found the choice between Trump and Hillary insulting (she being a lifelong criminal). But after 4 years of being POTUS? No problem voting for him in 2020 and now. In fact, the behavior of the kind of lowlifes we see on this thread makes me support him even more more. Give more money. Cuz the opposition is insane, oppressive, dishonest and corrupt. But they cannot see it.
"The beating heart of the Democrat Party are single, mentally ill women on anti-anxiety meds. That is who Democrat leaders are talking to all the time." Thank you. Jesse Kelly.
I would add that Woke is a code word for Communism and the Democrats are happy to be woke. The Democrats are the true cult, believing in masks that don't work, in lockdowns that don't work, in vaccines that don't work, in Remdesivir that enriches Tony Fauci but kills its patients along with ventilators. They believe there was an insurrection when the head of the Capitol Police, Steven Sund, says the Capitol was crawling with government agents on that day who set the whole thing up.
The FBI is quite happy to be Biden's Gestapo.
The Democrats now wonder why people want an alternative to this destruction, lying and Obama's one party state of Fascists, anti-freedom "environmentalists that also believes Americans have too much freedom - the recent Rasmussen Poll on our Big City Leftist "Elites."
Yeah, I am just totally baffled at Trump's popularity.
"Democrats deplore Trump supporters as racists who must be saved from their ignorance."
No, that is just what Rightwing media CLAIM. Democrats have serious policy differences with Mr. Trump and, yes, lament that so many people are willing to support him in his mistaken policies:
a) Border control should be done in accordance with law; intentional cruelty is not only wrong, it is illegal.
b) Borrowing money to reduce the tax bills of high-income people is not a good idea; deficits slow economic growth.
c) Maintaining Ukraine indigence if in the West's interest.
d) Climate change is not a hoax and we need to incentivize investments to reduce net CO2 emissions.
I’ll repost my comment from Prof. Cochrane’s earlier version of this piece…
Cochrane gets Trumpers’ grievances. And he accepts them as legitimate. Necessary but not sufficient.
If Trump’s voters were even marginally rational, Ron DeSantis would now be coasting to the Republican Presidential nomination. Winning elections is only half of politics—the successful politician also has to be able to implement durable change that positively impacts his constituents. Trump is supremely talented, but only as an entertainer and a celebrity.
Trump accomplished almost nothing lasting during his first term. What little survives—judicial appointments and tax reform—was largely the work of the hated Republican “establishment.” But that establishment is gone. Trump “drained the swamp” (at least on his own side of the aisle). His second term agenda is purely personal: staying out of jail and settling scores with enemies.
Irrationally is hardly unique to Trump’s voters. Or Republicans. Or even Americans. But both parties previously insured that effective demagoguery was accompanied by executive talent (cf. FDR, Reagan, Obama). By abandoning our constitutional heritage and radically democratizing our presidential election process, America loses its uniqueness and risks becoming indistinguishable from Argentina.
Trump accomplished almost nothing lasting during his first term. What little survives—judicial appointments and tax reform—was largely the work of the hated Republican “establishment.”
Governance by fiat; Gavin will be glad to have you. And as actually having the legislative branch of government function, well how dare he/they.
Yes. By all means [unashamedly] expand and pack the Supreme Court and, while in a generous state of mind, also do away with electoral vote; hell given the DNC's vision just do away with voting - it will cost less than having ensure "popular vote simple majority". Not to worry though, the grifters will still be compensated as we all know there is a paucity of 501(c)s to uplift and stake and recompense [believers]. When dead people remain - decades after notifications/call outs - on voter roles, even with the long expected cleansing there is an influx of millions "potential voters" when the apply fir IDs and DLs....plausible deniability at its finest.
Diatribe aside, thanks for exquisite gift of why NOT to vote for current admin: apparently governance by joint powers of the three branches is abhorrent to Dems.🙊
As a Trump-agnostic observer from across the pond, it seems to me that his appeal is that he comes across as a combative outsider who refuses to play by the rules of what so many across the Western world increasingly see as a political stacked deck. Secondly the fact that he has triggered Trump Derangement Syndrome in the millions of the Lefty-sheep-dipped graduate class who now control all the levers of power in America (and the Western world as a whole)....this must have enough appeal to compensate for the more annoying aspects of his personality. The only politician I have admired in my six decades of adult life was Margaret Thatcher. I don't think history will be as kind to Trump's as to her memory but I can see that maybe, in some inchoate instinctive way, the 40% or so of Americans who voted for him in 2020 could see that he was just what Western liberalism needed. Because like Mrs Thatcher, whatever else he is, at least he's not an 'insider' of the group-thinking lefty liberal establishment that has now got a monopoly over every Western institution. And like Mrs T he won't back down and tango dance with the awful MSM. https://grahamcunningham.substack.com/p/mrs-thatcher-and-the-good-life
Yes, this. I often wonder why Trump supporters didn't get behind Vivek (and no, it's not anti Asian racism). He has largely the same platform, and is just as snarky and insulting to the elite as Trump is. He's also much, much smarter and "cleaner" and thus more electable. But as you mention, he's not nearly as angry as Trump. And Trump supporters like to have the visible anger, and they like it delivered without the sometime smarmy intelligence of Vivek. It just resonates. And Trump Derangement Syndrome is a big factor too. Sure there'd be a Vivek Derangement Syndrome but it would have been half hearted and largely confined to Twitter. It doesn't provide the red meat Trump supporters need.
Yes very perceptive comment I think. Sadly for Vivek, I suspect that - for non-graduate people who are sick to the back teeth of our Western managerial establishments - intellectual sophistication can get lumped in with being perceived as a smart-arse....and hence a vote loser.
Am I right to read a subtext to the reference to Warren Harding?
All of this is nice, but the man did not concede, so either you believe the election was stolen, and then Biden is an usurper, or the election was fair, and Trump is an aspiring usurper.
https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/ekM9jQqXq8D8qa2fP/united-states-2024-presidential-election-so-help-you-god
Well, the 2020 election is history. Filibustering on the issue "the man did not concede," is rather pointless. Usurper--illegal seizure--aspiring or otherwise, doesn't fit the bill when campaigning to contest the office in the next election.
Voting for an aspiring usurper, is giving him the means for future usurpation.
Try a dictionary, you don't appear to know the meaning or use of usurper. Good luck.
Not a bad attempt but it still talks about us like we are lab rats and morons. I'm a top 5% earner with a top 1% IQ and voting for Trump in 2020 was a no brainer. I'll share why someone who isn't the 'hayseed' these grotesque hacks hate would readily support Trump. The real question is why anyone who actually loves liberty and our nation would support the Dems and the Globalist, Neo-Con, Neo-Liberal Republicans? A few points in response to this piece.
1. The 2020 election was stolen. Those of us who bothered to keep track of the actual court cases and hearings and legislatures and various actions on elections have all the proof we need now. Just 'drop boxes' alone and how they were managed has been found to have been illegal in key swing states where Dems did massive ballot harvesting based on drop boxes. Forget the dozens of findings of fraud in swing states, the CFTC dumping 400 million focused on literally running the elections in key Dem, swing electoral districts and finally the way the social media companies suppress conservative voices. Then there is 2000 Mules and subsequent cases on Texas, Rhode Island, New York and elsewhere show massive ballot harvesting in illegal ways at scale. Some of us noticed that counting was stopped only in swing states where Trump was winning, and this was done so the Dems could figure out how many fraudulent ballots they had to count. And finally, those who did this had the gall to write an article in Time Magazine bragging how they 'fortified' the election. Don't you dare call me an 'election denier', it's not December 2020 when we didn't have all the evidence together. If you don't realize that election was stolen by the Dems, you are just uninformed at this point.
2. The federal govt has ginned up a fake threat narrative about the Right and under the ridiculous rubric of 'Domestic Violent Extremism' are suppressing our voices and oppressing us in our workplaces, schools and govt institutions. And be clear - anytime one of us is subjected to say a rainbow flag in a school or govt building or workplace, we are being suppressed and oppressed. Why are our embassies flying the rainbow flag during the obscenity called "Pride Month". The FBI and other intel agencies are tracking us, pretending there is a huge White Supremacist threat when in fact, according to multiple whistleblowers they have ginned massive numbers of fake cases to provide the basis for their faux righteousness. We believe that if the Dems get into power they will make being conservative itself a crime of sorts.
3. We are insolvent as a nation and a financial and currency crisis unlike anything this nation has seen is on a hair trigger. The meltdown could begin any moment and only MAGA people are talking about it honestly. If you are unaware how debt service and managing our debt will cost 1 trillion in the current fiscal year, you are asleep. We will have a 2.5 trillion deficit this year - when there is no 'crisis'.
4. Non-interventionism - The article got it wrong. We didn't want to 'win' in Afghanistan and Iraq, we now realize two things. One, Al Qaeda attacked us cuz of our bloody history in THEIR NATIONs. Two, the exact wrong reaction was to further spread our imperial, militaristic reach around the world. This made us also look hard at NATO and Taiwan and ask why is our federal govt making promises to these nations to defend them or arm them to the teeth at least? Same with Israel or Ukraine? We have also learned how our rabid, out of control CIA, arm in arm with our Marxist State Dept have been throwing 'color revolutions' all around the world without bothering to ask us if we wanted them to do that. We see how we cause wars and aren't a stabilizing influence in the world at all.
Short version? We've noticed that we start wars every 2-3 years and have thrown 80 coups since 1945 and we don't want our nation doing that. Period.
5. Our entire education system has been overtaken by radical Neo-Marxist, Crit Theory peddling revolutionaries. From kindergarten to grad school. That BS is infecting the rest of the world with Queer Theory for elementary schools and Critical Race Theory etc. Whiteness is now openly demonized by our news media, and we are then dismissed as whiners when we notice. There is active discrimination against white men in corporate hiring, as recent whistleblowers from IBM and others have shown conclusively. Same is happening at our universities, SCOTUS recently confirmed our nations universities are engaging in wildly illegal discrimination to achieve their Marxist outcomes.
There, I FIFY...
I’m an attorney in Arizona and I have been practicing law for over 41 years. I’m politically neutral. I can only speak definitively as to the Arizona election in 2020. The election mechanisms were run by Republicans, especially in the largest county where I live, Maricopa (Phoenix/Scottsdale/ Mesa) where 70% of the voters live. Trump lost while down ballot Republicans won. Suburban voters and independents like myself simply wouldn’t vote for Trump, even though we voted for the rest of the Republicans on the ballot, including my Republican Congressman. We were sick of Trump and his chaos and incompetence (never built the wall, never did infrastructure, never did his repeal and replace). Maybe that was a mistake, but that is the reality. There was no fraud that could be proved even remotely in court. It was BS allegations which changed repeatedly but all with no proof. And in 2022 all the normal Republicans easily won statewide office (such as Kimberly Yee for Treasurer with 55% of the vote) while Trumpster Keri Lake lost for Governor while Republicans kept control of the legislature. It’s not complicated. The independents and traditional conservatives don’t want Trump and this election fraud BS. If a normal conservative Republican ran for President in 2024 they would win easily in Arizona. Trump may win Arizona in 2024 but it will be close because of his BS, especially about election fraud. That’s reality, whether you like it or not.
Of course, I was not speaking narrowly about Arizona. There are tremendous concerns about Maricopa county that are ongoing. You keep emphasizing Republicans but in fact RINOs are as dead set against Trump as lying, thieving Dems. And now we have proof the head of the AZ GOP offered to pay Kari off to not run for senate - and these are my 'trusted' agents who will investigate all this thoroughly? I'm curious, do you even know what CFTCL is? Did you watch 2000 Mules? Fyi, if you are going to cite BS articles that claim to debunk 2000 Mules don't bother, their research and analysis is bullet proof, I work in tech and know statistical analysis. It's horrifying. Just on these two counts, how can you not be alarmed? Pile on top of that that the Time Magazine article on how so many institutions and people collaborated to "fortify" the election - and you have no concerns? Add to that Googles documented search engine manipulation and suppression of conservative thought, with Google leadership stating they would double down to prevent Trump's re-election?
None of this concerns you? Try to remain rational when you reply, I do realize TDS is a serious condition...
I believe I already clearly addressed the issue. If you allege fraud you must prove it in a court of law. No proof of fraud was produced in court in Arizona in any case. I’m an attorney. We require actual provable evidence admissible in court. Allegations, movies, vague statements and concerns do not constitute provable evidence. A number of attorneys making false unprovable allegations of fraud in court regarding elections have had their legal licenses suspended or revoked and justifiably so. You are entitled to your opinion but mere opinions or allegations are irrelevant in a court of law.
You want to discuss Arizona, I'm citing broader facts and issues. I get it, you don't really know anything about this. You are just focused on a tiny subset of issues in AZ that aren't nearly as settled as you claim. Move along, you are useless to speak with. Unless you are going to focus on CFTCL, as a starting point. Fyi, they have been banned legally from repeating what they did in 2020 by several states, are you even aware of this? Fyi, I'm not a court of law here - i'm having a conversation about real issues and facts. Try and respond to what I have to say, not with your feral obsessions, k?
So you've got nothing more than your pedantry on narrow AZ issues? This isn't a court room, you arrogant windbag. And be clear, many courts are corrupt wrt Trump as well. The behavior of the FBI, DoJ and our own courts under Trump greatly reduced my faith in all of them. But hey, you are some genius hotshot lawyer, here's a list of the 28 unique cases Trump could not get a substantive hearing on after the theft of the 2020 election. Be honest, look at each one and tell me that this is appropriate. I dare you to do so. Tell me the inability to get a hearing on the substance of any one of these claims doesn't trouble you at all. https://thefederalist.com/2021/03/11/courts-repeatedly-refused-to-consider-trumps-election-claims-on-the-merits/
Well, if you and Mr. Cochrane believe the election was stolen, the rest of your arguments are unnecessary. That is all to consider.
I only want people to vote in 2024 on this and only issue. Because there is no other.
Wow, so deep and brilliant. Move along, loser.
Thank you, "war for the west", for that long treatise of rambling nonsense.
That's the kind of reader John appeals to now. And John is disturbingly okay with it.
Yes Will. And it makes me sad. I count John as a good friend. We both fly gliders (aeronautical sport). I do say that, contrary to the common caution, one must talk about politics (and religion) to really understand one's friends.
Seeing the increasing destruction going on in the world (Putin's hegemony; Zionist hegemony; to name only two) I feel it is vital for all rational-thinking people to become vocal. Note that Anti-Zionism (objecting to forced displacement of Palestinian people) has no connection to Anti-Semitism (persecution of Jewish people).
I'd particularly love to take you apart in a live debate, you smug mid-wit.
Happy to take the entire lot of you assholes on in a live debate. Just let me know when and where.
You too for that matter. I'll debate you live any time. Come on, I'm so dumb and crazy, you should be able to show me up easily. Let's do it and upload it here. I dare you.
So no facts or contravention of my reasoning? This makes you look like an idiot, not me, Mikey.
"War for the West", let the appearances stand for themselves.
You haven't offered an argument you babbling fool. You presume superior knowledge or standing based on nothing. As I said, I'll debate you live anywhere, any time. Send a link and the time and I'm there. We'll upload the video here and let the folks here decide who's got a better handle on things. One quick question for you: Why did counting stop at roughly the same time in swing states only on election eve in 2020? Never seen before in my life. If one is doing voter fraud at scale with ballot harvesting, one needs to know just how many fraudulent ballots to shove through.
no argument, my friend, just let the appearances stand.
Noticing that you name yourself "War FOR the West" ..... let me ask a couple of questions:
What is your attitude regarding the war in Ukraine?
What is your attitude regarding the war in Gaza?
According to the Economic Policy Institute, “a top 5% earner” made $335,891 in 2021. For 2024, the figure is likely close to or over $400,000.
If you’re making this much money as “earnings,” then the American political economy is working really, really well for you. Indeed, your affluence likely provides you with outsized influence in that system. And you should be heavily invested in its ongoing stability.
Most Americans would therefore wonder why you would choose to write such an unhinged anti-American screed as a comment to a Substack article.
Take your pseudo-intellectual horseshit and shove it deeply up your ass. Move along now, you moronic troll.
Jesus, dude.
Article: great! (Thanks).
Comments: priceless!! 👍
You really should stay in your lane and focus on economics. This would be more persuasive if you could explain how Trump’s announced economic policies of more tax cuts and more tariffs is the right policy mix for the next four years. You are long on grievance and short on solutions, just like Trump.
Would you call Obama "Mr. Obama?"
Well, John, this WSJ article of yours does a good job of relating the narrative that the Trump enthusiasts cling to. You fail to mention that the narrative is false. The truth is that the system of governance does not hold the well-being of ordinary folks as an objective. The truth is that the system's objective is to preserve, protect, and advance privilege. Hence we are served the notion that things are great because there may soon be a trillionaire. Ordinary folks are, instinctively, fed up with this nonsense. They are ready to be roused to anger. Mr. Murdoch's propaganda machine, amplified by social media echo chambers, have roused up that anger and handed the reins to Mr. Trump. Don't expect any beneficial result for those unfortunate folks.
The point is to understand people first. Telling either side that their narrative is false has been singularly ineffective.
It seems that I was addressing my comment to you, John, and to other open-minded observers. The point being, as you say, to understand the Trump-enthusiasm phenomenon. It is clear, as you say, that Trump enthusiasts cling fast to the lies that they are told. Viz that exchange about the flat tire story.
Yes, pointing out false narratives does not affect the conviction of the believers. But failing to point out the falsehoods gives your imprimatur to those falsehoods.
There are several anecdotes about Trump that sum up the man behind the bluster, and I’ll share one:
Before he ran for President, Trump’s limo had broken down on the side of the highway with a flat tire. Two motorists, husband and wife working class folks, pulled over and changed the tire for him. Trump took their names and everyone drove away. As thanks, Trump paid off their mortgage…
I think working class people see this Trump, a guy who will help a little guy out. And they sympathize with him over the people persecuting, er, prosecuting him for petty bullshit. And there are several of us (you try passing engineering at a world-class institution, then be successful enough to retire at 60), who aren’t the halfwits the left tries to tell us we all are (Basket of deplorables, remember?)
If, after the shenanigans of leftists, powerbrokers, and elected official, you don’t want to see things shaken up, I don’t understand why not. Trump got Middle East treaties, closed the southern boarder and oversaw a booming economy, bottled up Russia and countless other things the current President overruled. Now we have chaos…
Frank Canzolino, kindly refrain from spreading lies (Trump flat tire). <https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/trumped-up/>
Fake news…
Frank, were you there?
If not, then I conclude that you prefer to believe lies.
CornPop was a bad dude…
Frank, you will have to elaborate ....
I find it genuinely disappointing and disturbing that John, once a voice of reason, has allowed himself to become... this. He has become so laser-focused on the (very real) dangers and absurdities of the left that he no longer has the capacity to acknowledge, much less scrutinize and weigh, the dangers and absurdities of the right. The result is that he now sounds like a stereotypical Fox News talking head, not the source of insight he was until only a few years ago. He's abandoned his small government and pro-democracy principles because attacking the left has become the higher -- seemingly only -- priority of his.
It's really sad what's happening.
While Trump hasn't been formally diagnosed with Narcissistic Personality Disorder, he exhibits and exceeds the criteria plain as day. The problem with narcissists is that they force their opponents to wage war on their terms, just like Trump. Like you explained, Trump excels at getting under the elites' skin, forcing vociferous condemnations. This is part of the narcissists playbook, to force an unhinged response.
The recent Civil trial saw the judge lay the smackdown on this garbage. As such, the best way to handle a narcissist is to be firmly intolerant of childish games. You can't negotiate with a narcissist, and as such, all you can do is give them a constrained option set to choose from.
Narcissists also tend to suffer from puer aeternis, an eternal child with childish and ridiculous behaviors. Why? They hate constraints.
Don't get baited.
"It takes a man to suffer ignorance and smile, be yourself no matter what they say." - Sting
I could never vote for Trump, or Biden or (either) Clinton. But, President Clinton did a pretty good job, balanced the budget (with some smoke and mirrors, but balanced nonetheless), and proved me wrong.
And, I’ve voted AGAINST someone for president every year since I became eligible (1972) … until 2016, 2020, and likely 2024 too. I came close only three times in voting FOR someone (Reagan, 2nd term, George H. W. Bush, both times). Just can’t pull the lever in 2016, 2020 or 2024 for the lesser of two evils, all three, former President Trump, President Biden and Secretary Clinton are crap. If it is Trump and Biden in 2024, count me as an undervote. Hope you all know better than me ...
Weren’t these elites the same people who gave us the companion to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (Health Reform), the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (Pub. L. 111–152), who scored the federal takeover of student loan debt as a health reform “pay for” – saving tens of billions of dollars?
Last I heard, according to news sources, President Biden had decided to transfer $136.6 billion of student loan debt in an attempt to buy 3.7 million votes in 2024. Transferring debts from those who borrowed to go to college, and shifting it to taxpayers – most of whom did not go to college, and others who went to college and successfully financed their education via wages, repaid loans, parental support, etc.
George W. Bush also did some fine vote-buying with Medicare Part D. Others have as well.
I’m all for legal immigration. My mom came over on the boat and landed at Ellis Island in July 1925. She and my maternal grandmother needed a sponsor to be responsible as well as government approval. America was lucky to have her and better for it. The difference is that American should get to decide who is admitted - we should be hyper selective among the tens of millions who want to come here.
Only now, three years and millions of illegal immigrants, and known gotaways later, only as we approach the 2024 election does the Biden Administration admit the border isn't secure, that we have a crisis.
I have family in the military, but luckily didn’t lose anyone in Iraq or Afghanistan. I lost a job during the pandemic, but, avoided that in the Great Recession.
Health Reform was a failure for everyone who doesn’t receive taxpayer financed health coverage – keep your doctor, keep your plan, not add one thin dime to the deficit, and many other lies.
In terms of “Bidenomics”, hell, even an idiot like me can grow the economy and pump up the stock market by adding tens of trillions of government deficit spending. These people in charge (Obama, Trump, Biden) over the past 15-16 years who took our national debt from $12.6 Trillion to $34+ Trillion, that's $22+ Trillion for you economists, and, according to the CBO, they are going to add another $20+ Trillion over the next ten years, and, unless something changes over the next 30 years, by 2054 (I’ll be 102 years old or dead), they project a national debt of $146 Trillion. Remember when then-candidate Obama called President George W. Bush “unpatriotic” for adding $4+ Trillion to our national debt over 8 years (January 2001 - January 2009)?
However, as Stein’s law confirms: “… What economists know seems to consist entirely of a list of things that cannot go on forever, … But if it can’t go on forever it will stop.”
But, for me, most of all, I’m tired of those in the beltway who think they know what I want or what I should want. They are the mandate crew - never mindful of our supposed "federal government of limited powers." It is always "rules for thee, not for me". It is always: "don't tax you, don't tax me, tax that guy behind the tree". It is always: "the best tax is the one I owe and you pay."
John,
Careful. Your objectivity is showing. As someone who never liked Trump, I voted for him in 2016 because the alternative was totally unacceptable. Unthinkable, really. I well remember waking up the morning after election day and the sense of relief I felt at learning Trump had won. I was delighted and surprised at how rationale and reasonable many of his administration's policies and actions were- taxes, Israel, Iran, China, Mexico, abortion, defense, bringing back manufacturing, energy. I approved of nearly all, while cringing at Trump being, well, Trump. The unhinged pushback and take-no-prisoners approach to taking him down, even if it meant fabricating collusion hoaxes, made his accomplishments all the more remarkable. If I have to point to a single topic distinguishing Trump from Biden, it would be his attitude regarding our border. Trump was making great strides in securing the southern border and Biden, with one stroke of his pen, undid all of that. We can all see how that has worked out. While I anticipate with dismay the carnival of chaos that will accompany ushering in another Trump presidency, I will not hesitate to grit my teetha and vote for him again if it keeps Biden and his minions out of the WH for four years. I am an educated, moderate conservative, for fiscal responsibility, for a strong military, energy independence, believe in our Constitution and the vision of our founders, and definitely not "woke".
Rick
"Careful. Your objectivity is showing"
That's is a wildly arrogant way of praising yourself because someone else agreed with you.
Interesting interpretation of my comment. To each his own.
AMEN; on the morning after the 2016 election I was uplifted with the thought that America still had some hope, some small chance to regain her functionality. Not because I like Trump, but because the election result was the will of the people. I doubt that will ever be allowed to happen again.
Amen to Richard Bosshardt; Will snuck in ahead of me.
Let me once again emphasize: this is the kind of reader you now appeal to John. Do you really not recognize the change?
Yup. I didn’t vote in 2016 for the first time in my life. I found the choice between Trump and Hillary insulting (she being a lifelong criminal). But after 4 years of being POTUS? No problem voting for him in 2020 and now. In fact, the behavior of the kind of lowlifes we see on this thread makes me support him even more more. Give more money. Cuz the opposition is insane, oppressive, dishonest and corrupt. But they cannot see it.
"The beating heart of the Democrat Party are single, mentally ill women on anti-anxiety meds. That is who Democrat leaders are talking to all the time." Thank you. Jesse Kelly.
I would add that Woke is a code word for Communism and the Democrats are happy to be woke. The Democrats are the true cult, believing in masks that don't work, in lockdowns that don't work, in vaccines that don't work, in Remdesivir that enriches Tony Fauci but kills its patients along with ventilators. They believe there was an insurrection when the head of the Capitol Police, Steven Sund, says the Capitol was crawling with government agents on that day who set the whole thing up.
The FBI is quite happy to be Biden's Gestapo.
The Democrats now wonder why people want an alternative to this destruction, lying and Obama's one party state of Fascists, anti-freedom "environmentalists that also believes Americans have too much freedom - the recent Rasmussen Poll on our Big City Leftist "Elites."
Yeah, I am just totally baffled at Trump's popularity.
"Democrats deplore Trump supporters as racists who must be saved from their ignorance."
No, that is just what Rightwing media CLAIM. Democrats have serious policy differences with Mr. Trump and, yes, lament that so many people are willing to support him in his mistaken policies:
a) Border control should be done in accordance with law; intentional cruelty is not only wrong, it is illegal.
b) Borrowing money to reduce the tax bills of high-income people is not a good idea; deficits slow economic growth.
c) Maintaining Ukraine indigence if in the West's interest.
d) Climate change is not a hoax and we need to incentivize investments to reduce net CO2 emissions.
I’ll repost my comment from Prof. Cochrane’s earlier version of this piece…
Cochrane gets Trumpers’ grievances. And he accepts them as legitimate. Necessary but not sufficient.
If Trump’s voters were even marginally rational, Ron DeSantis would now be coasting to the Republican Presidential nomination. Winning elections is only half of politics—the successful politician also has to be able to implement durable change that positively impacts his constituents. Trump is supremely talented, but only as an entertainer and a celebrity.
Trump accomplished almost nothing lasting during his first term. What little survives—judicial appointments and tax reform—was largely the work of the hated Republican “establishment.” But that establishment is gone. Trump “drained the swamp” (at least on his own side of the aisle). His second term agenda is purely personal: staying out of jail and settling scores with enemies.
Irrationally is hardly unique to Trump’s voters. Or Republicans. Or even Americans. But both parties previously insured that effective demagoguery was accompanied by executive talent (cf. FDR, Reagan, Obama). By abandoning our constitutional heritage and radically democratizing our presidential election process, America loses its uniqueness and risks becoming indistinguishable from Argentina.
Trump accomplished almost nothing lasting during his first term. What little survives—judicial appointments and tax reform—was largely the work of the hated Republican “establishment.”
Governance by fiat; Gavin will be glad to have you. And as actually having the legislative branch of government function, well how dare he/they.
Yes. By all means [unashamedly] expand and pack the Supreme Court and, while in a generous state of mind, also do away with electoral vote; hell given the DNC's vision just do away with voting - it will cost less than having ensure "popular vote simple majority". Not to worry though, the grifters will still be compensated as we all know there is a paucity of 501(c)s to uplift and stake and recompense [believers]. When dead people remain - decades after notifications/call outs - on voter roles, even with the long expected cleansing there is an influx of millions "potential voters" when the apply fir IDs and DLs....plausible deniability at its finest.
Diatribe aside, thanks for exquisite exam
Diatribe aside, thanks for exquisite gift of why NOT to vote for current admin: apparently governance by joint powers of the three branches is abhorrent to Dems.🙊