Tonight’s Postmortem

Well, a significant amount time was wasted by panelists talking over one another.

Burgum was straightforward in pointing out that some things aren’t the business of the federal government. Christie talked about how to use federal assets within constitutional limits, but even he suggested the need for at least one federal law to address a non-federal problem.

The South Carolinians did not come off well. Tim Scott’s lack of executive experience showed in his answers. Nikki Haley stuck me as abrasive.

Mike Pence is past his sell-by date.

Ramaswamy seems to have a lot of good ideas that aren’t well integrated politically. As Bismarck noted, politics is the art of the possible. Some of the things Ramaswamy wants to do aren’t doable, at least in the short run.

I don’t think DeSantis hurt himself, but I also don’t think he helped himself either.

So who won? Burgum seemed to be the adult in the room. Christie talked a game that would be good if he can get the voters to trust him. DeSantis didn’t move the needle one way or the other.

Given that the debate was in California, maybe the winner was Gavin Newsom.

Tonight’s Panel Discussion

Some of the candidates for the 2024 Republican nomination for President are getting together at the Reagan Library for a panel discussion masquerading as a debate. I plan to watch it, but rather than soberblogging* as it goes, I’ll present a postmortem afterwards.

Stay tuned.

* Vodkapundit does plan to engage in drunkblogging. His running commentary is often more interesting than the event itself.

In Re Those Indictments

I’ve been subjected to both frivolous civil civil suits and false criminal charges myself, so the Gentle Reader should not be surprised that I oppose what is being done to Donald Trump. However, my being opposed to illegal and unconstitutional acts by a set of politicians should not be seen as support for Trump’s reelection.

Watched the Show Tonight

I fired up Rumble and watched the panel discuss masquerading as a debate.

Here’s my hot take.

Hutchinson came in dead last from my point of view, but he was only slightly behind Burgum. Neither of the candidates from South Caroline (Scott and Haley) nor Pence convinced me they understood that nature of the fundamental changes that must be imposed to reign in the bureaucracy. Christie surprised me by doing as well as he did, but there’s something about him I don’t trust. Ramaswamy seems to be trying to understand the core nature and causes of the nation’s problems, but while he’s identified problems to be solved, I’m not sure he’s headed toward practical, realizable solutions.

That leaves DeSantis. I like what DeSantis has actually achieved in Florida, but I I’m not sure he has the skills to sell his campaign to enough purple state voters to beat the margin of fraud in 2024.

I suppose I’d like to see someone with DeSantis’ record and Reagan’s campaign skills.

Is it 2025 yet?

UPDATE—I voted against Hillary Clinton in 2016 and against Joe Biden in 2020. I had to vote for Donald Trump in order to do so. Trump has never been my candidate of choice in any primary or general election.

The Power To Destroy

I’ve read through the latest Trump indictment, and I generally concur with Jonathan Turley’s analysis—

If you take a red pen to all of the material presumptively protected by the First Amendment, you can reduce much of the indictment to haiku …

There’s no there there.

Donald Trump did not drain The Swamp after winning the 2016 election. He left too many of its denizens in place, and they were better prepared for 2020.

Trump’s real crime against the Deep State was winning in 2016. They intend to destroy him for that, and they will do it out in the open for all to see—pour encourager les autres.

The object of power is power.

The Gathering Storm

My podcasting partner Stacy McCain has a post up about one of our former codefendant’s take on the coming Republican primary season. Stacy notes in a post titled If Trump Has Lost Ace of Spades …

I don’t know, but maybe some of Trump’s more outspoken supporters should think about their toning down their rhetoric just a wee bit, because they appear to be in danger of violating Rule Number One: Never piss off Ace of Spades.

Ace has very good instincts about who is or is not Down For The Agenda. If he ever starts taking shots at somebody, you can bet that sooner or later that person will prove himself to be an unprincipled quisling.

Like Stacy, I’m more-or-less agnostic about who should be the Republican nominee for 2024—in my case so long as the nominee meets William F. Buckley’s criterion of the most conservative candidate who can win. I doubt that Donald Trump is that person because I doubt that he can win another general election.

The next few months are going to be interesting, but not necessarily in a good way,

Through the Looking Glass

This morning, it is starting to feel like everything is backwards. I haven’t finished my first cup of coffee or started on breakfast, and I’ve read a post by Debra Heine over at American Greatness about the Biden White House launching an effort to make Kamala Harris more popular.

As I read her post, I was reminded of Alice’s interchange with the White Queen in Through the Looking Glass.

“I can’t believe that!” said Alice.
“Can’t you?” the Queen said in a pitying tone. “Try again: draw a long breath, and shut your eyes.”
Alice laughed. “There’s no use trying,” she said: “one can’t believe impossible things.”
“I daresay you haven’t had much practice,” said the Queen. “When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day. Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.

It may be that the White Queen is a core Democrat voter.

Going By A Middle Name

Jim Treacher is a pseudonym used by Sean Medlock. However, his full name is Robert Sean Medlock. Like many people, he goes by his middle name. He has a post up about middle names.

So now, every time I need to fill out paperwork somewhere, I have to explain that I go by my middle name. Doctors, dentists, car repairs, insurance, what have you. The routine is kind of annoying, but at this point I’m used to it.

I’m not deceiving anybody by using my middle name. It’s just my name, man. Lots of people go by their middle name.

I sympathize. My full name is William John Joseph Hoge, and I go by my first middle name John socially. Professionally, I use W. J. J. Hoge.

But that’s not what Jim/Sean and I are here to talk to you about. We’re here to comment on a non-event of the 2024 presidential campaign.

This week Nikki Haley announced she’s running for president. I don’t know if she has a shot, but the libs sure seem to think so. They’re already attacking her for … going by her middle name.

Yep. Some pundits are trying to make a big deal out of Nikki Haley going by her middle name. She has since she was a child. Her immigrant parents named her Nimarata Nikki Randhawa and called her “Nikki”—which means “little one” in Punjabi. When she married Michale Haley, she took his last name.

I don’t know that I’ll wind up supporting Nikki Haley for the Republican nomination, but her name won’t be a reason for supporting another candidate.

UPDATE—My podcasting partner Stacy McCain’s full name is Robert Stacy McCain. I’ll bet we wind up talking about this during The Other Podcast tomorrow evening.

The Twenty-Four Hour Rule

I have found it is usually best to wait for a full day to pass before offering any non-obvious comments or attempted analysis about events such as the FBI raid on Mar-a-Largo. Indeed, it may be wise to keep my powder dry until reliable evidence is available, and that may take a while.

UPDATE—The search warrant authorizing the raid is sealed.

Just a Thought

I’ve seen a lot of noise on the Interwebz from Democrat politicians and media types (but I repeat myself) claiming that they know what is better for the citizens of West Virginia than Joe Manchin. They should put their careers where their mouths are, move to West Virginia, and run against him in the next primary. He isn’t up for reelection until 2024, so there’s plenty of time for someone such as Ilhan Omar to work to build a following in the state.

Is This Why Democrats Hate Ron DeSantis?

The Babylon Bee has a story up headlined Bob Dole Switches To Democrat Party, and I have joked that my late father-in-law (who lived in Cook County, Illinois) never voted for a Democrat while he was alive. It’s a running gag that we elderly folks all become Democrat voters when we receive our death certificates.

If Florida’s declining Covid death rate is depriving the Democrats of so many new voters, it’s no wonder the Democrats hate Governor DeSantis.