In particular, the criticism of McConnell and his role in the campaign, and the last two years, is spot on.
While I agree with much of what’s in this article, I do blame Trump for two things. One, when McConnell pulled the funding from Blake Masters’ campaign, Trump should have stepped in with funding, if he’s our national leader. Two, the post-election sniping at DeSantis, the most successful governor of the new generation of conservatives, is childish. This has always been Trump’s Achilles heel, his erratic and self-centered treatment of people who ought to be allies but find they can’t, or don’t want to, work with him.
I noticed the cool guitar in the video, but forgot the maker’s name. Ovation. Strange movie theater showing. Documentary, Casablanca, and Blue Velvet?
Trump just went after Youngkin too. OK, I think Trump has really lost it, can’t control himself. The lashing out is not good. And I voted for him Twice.
Kate, good article by Mollie Hemingway. I agree with her assessment of McConnell but the blame for the abysmal performance of the GOP Senate the last two years has to also be laid at the feet of the many weak GOP senators. McConnell represents their politics.
Hemingway’s quote of Ron Coleman from legal insurrection while grim has to be faced:
“ At no point in US history has every single cultural institution – press, entertainment, academia, unions, public employees, the massive public employee sector, the professions, law enforcement, federal agencies, major corporations, Wall Street, non-profits, mainline Protestant denominations, the military – I could go on – been so profoundly and explicitly aligned the way they have been behind the Left in the last five years.”
It’s not by Hemingway. The author is Seamus Brennan. But Mollie agrees with what he says. I am going to write to Thom Tillis to point out that he needs to work with his new colleague Ted Budd and other new conservatives if he hopes to have support for his re-election next time.
I deeply regret to see Trump spinning out of control, but so it is. Youngkin was out vigorously campaigning for Trump nominees.
As Neo has pointed out, Trump has now entered King Lear/Captain Queeg territory with his attack today on Youngkin. The unfortunate result of this is just giving even more ammunition to the Democrats about the literally crazy GOP, and will probably doom any chance Walker may have had in the runoff. The Ds must be dancing in the streets at this GOP civil war.
I have no clue as to any psychology, but I can’t understand what is motivating him to do this beyond pure narcissism. Much like I can’t understand how PA can vote a mentally incompetent ogre as senator. Are there any sane people left??
Quite frankly, for the MotR voters I know such as my wife, if it was Biden vs Trump right now, it would be Biden in a landslide.
Neo: Thanks for posting that video. In the midst of this terribly depressing time, a reminder that there’s still joy in life is most welcome.
physicsguy, if it’s Trump v. Biden, I’ll vote Trump without hesitation. Biden has been, and probably still is being, corrupt in using his official influence for financial gain. No contest.
Kate, I understand. My point is that more moderate/centrist voters would turn on Trump in an instant given his behavior these past few days. Without them, Biden wins easily. With the media continually providing cover for the crime family in the White House, all that such voters see is the Trump “crazy”. He would be much better than Biden, but he will never get there. He’s a detriment to the GOP now.
So does the GOP nominate him to certain defeat, or go with someone who may actually have a chance??
Josh Hawley, GOP senator from Missouri gets it
“Washington Republicanism lost big Tuesday night. When your “agenda” is cave to Big Pharma on insulin, cave to Schumer on gun control & Green New Deal (“infrastructure”), and tease changes to Social Security and Medicare, you lose,”
Hawley and the new Missouri senator Eric Schmitt will be a dynamic duo.
McConnell is at it again. He wants to hold a leadership vote before the results of Georgia are known.
I am still not counting Masters out. Laxalt will win. It is definitely time to retire McConnell from the leadership. His pulling funds from Masters (and Oz?) to benefit Murkowski was the inexcusable last straw.
Excellent video. Thanks for posting it. There are several videos on that guy’s channel worth watching. Nice people are still around here and there.
@ physicsguy > “I have no clue as to any psychology, but I can’t understand what is motivating him to do this beyond pure narcissism.”
(chosen as a representative example, nothing personal; it’s been a frequent observation around the web – I’ve been reading lots of commentary by pundits and their readers over the last two days)
Trump certainly has plenty of ego, however, I would like to recast the situation not as King Lear, but as simple family dynamics, which I think most people can recognize.
(1) The piling on Trump because about a dozen out of two hundred of his endorsees lost, while DeSantis romped to victory (well-deserved though it was).
Ronnie: I got straight As in my high school classes.
Parents: That’s wonderful sweetheart! Let’s celebrate!
Donnie: I just graduated from college with a 3.9 GPA.
Parents: Why wasn’t it 4.0? And summa cum laude. Why are you such a loser?
(2) Kate (and many others) “(when) McConnell pulled the funding from Blake Masters’ campaign, Trump should have stepped in with funding”
(This example is one from the actual experience of a friend.)
Blakey: I want some candy, but I spent all of my allowance.
Parents: Donnie, you still have some of yours left. Give it to your brother right now.
(3) Ron Coleman – “At no point in US history has every single cultural institution – … – been so profoundly and explicitly aligned the way they have been behind the Left in the last five years.”
Ronnie & Glennie: We got blue ribbons at school field day.
Parents: That’s wonderful, you little darlings! We’re so proud of you!
Donnie: I finished the Olympic decathlon in second place.
Parents: Well, you should have gotten first in all ten events. What’s wrong with you?
* * *
My opinion is that Trump is lashing out, almost certainly counter-productively, for the same reason all the Donnies of the world hit back at their siblings when they get parental approval for far less than he achieved.
It’s not the fault of the two governors that they are being lauded (again, well-deserved) for accomplishments in their states, but that’s not in the same league as being President (just like high school isn’t college).
I’m willing to grant The Donald a little slack after the last seven years of relentless abuse from all corners of the political landscape.
I think it would have been better if conservatives, including his supporters, hadn’t piled onto him immediately, before all of the results are even in, and maybe offered some praise and gratitude before pulling out the belt strap.
However, if he keeps it up, he will just poison the 2024 election for all the potential GOP candidates, so I hope he gets a grip once the very-real sting of the midterms recedes.
AesopFan, fine, but the two governors Trump is zinging did NOT pile onto him.
Plus, if you are the putative leader of the party, and you have a massive super PAC, and one of your own MAGA picks needs advertising $$, and you don’t let go of a penny, are you actually the leader of the party? Or of the country? Wrenching the Senate from Democrat control could have enormous and good consequences for America.
Kate, Formed in September, Trump’s super PAC, MAGA, Inc. spent between $12-$16 million in the last six weeks.
It’s hard for me to see AesopFan’s family dynamics model of Trump.
First, the 3.9 GPA students I’ve known were too controlled for such lashing out.
Second, Trump IMO was lashing out well before he was mistreated. It appears to be his personal style, only now it has been exacerbated and doesn’t seem strategic at all.
I’ve been watching Trump for 6 1/2 years now and I still don’t understand how he works.
Indictments:
1. launched attack ads against the pro-Trump Kelly Tshibaka in Alaska, to boost the campaign of RINO Senator Lisa Murkowski, forcing Alaska’s Republican Party to censor McConnell.
2. defunded the campaign of Trump endorsed senate candidate Blake Masters in Arizona
3. defunded the campaign of Trump endorsed senate candidate Don Bolduc in New Hampshire
4. provided massive amounts of money to the anti-Trump RINO Joe O’Dea, who got trounced by Michael Bennett in Colorado’s senate election.
Banned Lizard:
Rubio and Hawley have launched a campaign against voting too soon for McConnell. See this.
The Senate GOP leadership vote next week should be postponed
First we need to make sure that those who want to lead us are genuinely committed to fighting for the priorities & values of the working Americans (of every background) who gave us big wins in states like #Florida
@ Kate > “AesopFan, fine, but the two governors Trump is zinging did NOT pile onto him.”
I explicitly noted that it was the behavior of the parents, not the siblings, that was the problem.
@ huxley – hey, no analogy is perfect!
“I’ve been watching Trump for 6 1/2 years now and I still don’t understand how he works.”
We’re doing a lot of arm-chair psychoanalysis of Trump here, and I don’t think any of us have a lock on what’s really happening from his point of view.
That’s all.
AesopFan; Kate; huxley:
Trump is a wounded animal striking out at those he thinks threaten him. He has always felt that the best defense is a good offense. I don’t think it’s a lot more complex than that, although I don’t pretend to know.
And by “threaten him” I don’t mean attack him or actually issue threats. I mean are rivals for power and the limelight.
@ Aesop > “I think it would have been better if conservatives, including his supporters, hadn’t piled onto him immediately, before all of the results are even in, and maybe offered some praise and gratitude before pulling out the belt strap.”
A little recursive — but it’s a lead in to this post by Don Surber that JJ linked on another thread from yesterday but I didn’t see until now.
Before I wrote, “Life after Trump,” I should have written this post thanking President Donald John Trump.
Allow me to correct this by quoting one of my dearest and now confused readers. To protect his identity, I will simply call him Mister Jones.
He wrote, “Trump gave us a conservative majority SCOTUS….tax cuts…..lowest unemployment in recorded history, especially for POC….Started no new military ‘conflicts’….Jerusalem embassy….world respect…USA out of climate accords….tough on China…. need I go on? Continue to Refresh the memory? Remind who brought us to the dance?
“Ungrateful bastards. ?Fetterman’s got a legit reason for memory loss.??.”
Surber then gives a very long list of achievements for which he is thankful, which should be referred to often.
It doesn’t change his conclusion that it’s time for Trump to step aside, but he should have done the gratitude thing first — and then discussed the problems.
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Via Mollie Hemingway, an interesting and, I think, insightful look at what happened:
https://amac.us/the-absurdity-of-the-blame-trump-campaign/
In particular, the criticism of McConnell and his role in the campaign, and the last two years, is spot on.
While I agree with much of what’s in this article, I do blame Trump for two things. One, when McConnell pulled the funding from Blake Masters’ campaign, Trump should have stepped in with funding, if he’s our national leader. Two, the post-election sniping at DeSantis, the most successful governor of the new generation of conservatives, is childish. This has always been Trump’s Achilles heel, his erratic and self-centered treatment of people who ought to be allies but find they can’t, or don’t want to, work with him.
I noticed the cool guitar in the video, but forgot the maker’s name. Ovation. Strange movie theater showing. Documentary, Casablanca, and Blue Velvet?
Trump just went after Youngkin too. OK, I think Trump has really lost it, can’t control himself. The lashing out is not good. And I voted for him Twice.
Kate, good article by Mollie Hemingway. I agree with her assessment of McConnell but the blame for the abysmal performance of the GOP Senate the last two years has to also be laid at the feet of the many weak GOP senators. McConnell represents their politics.
Hemingway’s quote of Ron Coleman from legal insurrection while grim has to be faced:
“ At no point in US history has every single cultural institution – press, entertainment, academia, unions, public employees, the massive public employee sector, the professions, law enforcement, federal agencies, major corporations, Wall Street, non-profits, mainline Protestant denominations, the military – I could go on – been so profoundly and explicitly aligned the way they have been behind the Left in the last five years.”
It’s not by Hemingway. The author is Seamus Brennan. But Mollie agrees with what he says. I am going to write to Thom Tillis to point out that he needs to work with his new colleague Ted Budd and other new conservatives if he hopes to have support for his re-election next time.
I deeply regret to see Trump spinning out of control, but so it is. Youngkin was out vigorously campaigning for Trump nominees.
As Neo has pointed out, Trump has now entered King Lear/Captain Queeg territory with his attack today on Youngkin. The unfortunate result of this is just giving even more ammunition to the Democrats about the literally crazy GOP, and will probably doom any chance Walker may have had in the runoff. The Ds must be dancing in the streets at this GOP civil war.
I have no clue as to any psychology, but I can’t understand what is motivating him to do this beyond pure narcissism. Much like I can’t understand how PA can vote a mentally incompetent ogre as senator. Are there any sane people left??
Quite frankly, for the MotR voters I know such as my wife, if it was Biden vs Trump right now, it would be Biden in a landslide.
Neo: Thanks for posting that video. In the midst of this terribly depressing time, a reminder that there’s still joy in life is most welcome.
physicsguy, if it’s Trump v. Biden, I’ll vote Trump without hesitation. Biden has been, and probably still is being, corrupt in using his official influence for financial gain. No contest.
Kate, I understand. My point is that more moderate/centrist voters would turn on Trump in an instant given his behavior these past few days. Without them, Biden wins easily. With the media continually providing cover for the crime family in the White House, all that such voters see is the Trump “crazy”. He would be much better than Biden, but he will never get there. He’s a detriment to the GOP now.
So does the GOP nominate him to certain defeat, or go with someone who may actually have a chance??
Josh Hawley, GOP senator from Missouri gets it
“Washington Republicanism lost big Tuesday night. When your “agenda” is cave to Big Pharma on insulin, cave to Schumer on gun control & Green New Deal (“infrastructure”), and tease changes to Social Security and Medicare, you lose,”
Hawley and the new Missouri senator Eric Schmitt will be a dynamic duo.
McConnell is at it again. He wants to hold a leadership vote before the results of Georgia are known.
I am still not counting Masters out. Laxalt will win. It is definitely time to retire McConnell from the leadership. His pulling funds from Masters (and Oz?) to benefit Murkowski was the inexcusable last straw.
Excellent video. Thanks for posting it. There are several videos on that guy’s channel worth watching. Nice people are still around here and there.
@ physicsguy > “I have no clue as to any psychology, but I can’t understand what is motivating him to do this beyond pure narcissism.”
(chosen as a representative example, nothing personal; it’s been a frequent observation around the web – I’ve been reading lots of commentary by pundits and their readers over the last two days)
Trump certainly has plenty of ego, however, I would like to recast the situation not as King Lear, but as simple family dynamics, which I think most people can recognize.
(1) The piling on Trump because about a dozen out of two hundred of his endorsees lost, while DeSantis romped to victory (well-deserved though it was).
Ronnie: I got straight As in my high school classes.
Parents: That’s wonderful sweetheart! Let’s celebrate!
Donnie: I just graduated from college with a 3.9 GPA.
Parents: Why wasn’t it 4.0? And summa cum laude. Why are you such a loser?
(2) Kate (and many others) “(when) McConnell pulled the funding from Blake Masters’ campaign, Trump should have stepped in with funding”
(This example is one from the actual experience of a friend.)
Blakey: I want some candy, but I spent all of my allowance.
Parents: Donnie, you still have some of yours left. Give it to your brother right now.
(3) Ron Coleman – “At no point in US history has every single cultural institution – … – been so profoundly and explicitly aligned the way they have been behind the Left in the last five years.”
Ronnie & Glennie: We got blue ribbons at school field day.
Parents: That’s wonderful, you little darlings! We’re so proud of you!
Donnie: I finished the Olympic decathlon in second place.
Parents: Well, you should have gotten first in all ten events. What’s wrong with you?
* * *
My opinion is that Trump is lashing out, almost certainly counter-productively, for the same reason all the Donnies of the world hit back at their siblings when they get parental approval for far less than he achieved.
It’s not the fault of the two governors that they are being lauded (again, well-deserved) for accomplishments in their states, but that’s not in the same league as being President (just like high school isn’t college).
I’m willing to grant The Donald a little slack after the last seven years of relentless abuse from all corners of the political landscape.
I think it would have been better if conservatives, including his supporters, hadn’t piled onto him immediately, before all of the results are even in, and maybe offered some praise and gratitude before pulling out the belt strap.
However, if he keeps it up, he will just poison the 2024 election for all the potential GOP candidates, so I hope he gets a grip once the very-real sting of the midterms recedes.
AesopFan, fine, but the two governors Trump is zinging did NOT pile onto him.
Plus, if you are the putative leader of the party, and you have a massive super PAC, and one of your own MAGA picks needs advertising $$, and you don’t let go of a penny, are you actually the leader of the party? Or of the country? Wrenching the Senate from Democrat control could have enormous and good consequences for America.
Kate, Formed in September, Trump’s super PAC, MAGA, Inc. spent between $12-$16 million in the last six weeks.
good grief
https://freebeacon.com/democrats/warnocks-church-faces-subpoena-threat-as-georgia-runoff-campaign-kicks-off/
It’s hard for me to see AesopFan’s family dynamics model of Trump.
First, the 3.9 GPA students I’ve known were too controlled for such lashing out.
Second, Trump IMO was lashing out well before he was mistreated. It appears to be his personal style, only now it has been exacerbated and doesn’t seem strategic at all.
I’ve been watching Trump for 6 1/2 years now and I still don’t understand how he works.
First things first. The Case Against Mitch McConnell For Leader
Indictments:
1. launched attack ads against the pro-Trump Kelly Tshibaka in Alaska, to boost the campaign of RINO Senator Lisa Murkowski, forcing Alaska’s Republican Party to censor McConnell.
2. defunded the campaign of Trump endorsed senate candidate Blake Masters in Arizona
3. defunded the campaign of Trump endorsed senate candidate Don Bolduc in New Hampshire
4. provided massive amounts of money to the anti-Trump RINO Joe O’Dea, who got trounced by Michael Bennett in Colorado’s senate election.
Banned Lizard:
Rubio and Hawley have launched a campaign against voting too soon for McConnell. See this.
Nice to see some backbone from Senator Rubio.
@ Kate > “AesopFan, fine, but the two governors Trump is zinging did NOT pile onto him.”
I explicitly noted that it was the behavior of the parents, not the siblings, that was the problem.
@ huxley – hey, no analogy is perfect!
“I’ve been watching Trump for 6 1/2 years now and I still don’t understand how he works.”
We’re doing a lot of arm-chair psychoanalysis of Trump here, and I don’t think any of us have a lock on what’s really happening from his point of view.
That’s all.
AesopFan; Kate; huxley:
Trump is a wounded animal striking out at those he thinks threaten him. He has always felt that the best defense is a good offense. I don’t think it’s a lot more complex than that, although I don’t pretend to know.
And by “threaten him” I don’t mean attack him or actually issue threats. I mean are rivals for power and the limelight.
@ Aesop > “I think it would have been better if conservatives, including his supporters, hadn’t piled onto him immediately, before all of the results are even in, and maybe offered some praise and gratitude before pulling out the belt strap.”
A little recursive — but it’s a lead in to this post by Don Surber that JJ linked on another thread from yesterday but I didn’t see until now.
https://donsurber.blogspot.com/2022/11/thank-you-donald-trump.html#more
Surber then gives a very long list of achievements for which he is thankful, which should be referred to often.
It doesn’t change his conclusion that it’s time for Trump to step aside, but he should have done the gratitude thing first — and then discussed the problems.