Archive for 2016

PAUL RAHE: The Return Of Andrew Jackson. “If you want to get a proper sense of the significance of what happened yesterday, just look at the vote in Washington DC. In our nation’s capital, according to Real Clear Politics, Hillary Clinton won 92.8% of the vote and Donald Trump, 4.1%. . . . I can remember back in 1980 when Ronald Reagan came to DC. His arrival and the formation of a new administration was like the arrival in a country of a foreign army. The Donald’s takeover will be an even more dramatic event. It will be as if William Jennings Bryan had won in 1896. The only analogue that I can think of is the inauguration of Andrew Jackson. But he had already had a long career in public life — most notably, as the general victorious at the Battle of New Orleans and as a United States Senator. Trump has no such pedigree — though, like Jackson, he is a hero to the excluded.”

PAST PERFORMANCE IS NO GUARANTEE OF FUTURE RESULTS:

● “We have proof, in exit polls, that white women will pawn their humanity for the safety of white supremacy.”

What Happened on Election Day, The New York Times, yesterday.

Due to the double standards being played by the mainstream media, the Clintons have been able to hide their racist skeletons.  The Clintons’ “Birth of a Nation” tactics have gone unnoticed by many White people, but best believe that African-Americans peeped it in South Carolina and definitely in Pennsylvania as we witnessed Hillary chant over and over again to her predominately White audience “he’s not one of us”and “I will fight for you.”   Well, people here’s the iceberg to HRC’s already sinking Titanic:  The United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC). The UDC is a neo-Confederate organization that is affiliated with white supremacist groups including: the Council of Conservative Citizens and the League of the South, to name a few.  The organization was formed in 1894, and limits its membership to white women who are related to Confederate veterans of the “War Between the States.”  Now how are the Clintons affiliated with them? Oh, they’ve  just only written letters lavishing praise upon the organizations values and ideology for more than 10 years!!  I can’t believe this woman has audacity to say she’s more electable.

The Clintons’ Link to White Supremacist Group-UDC, the Daily Kos, May 8, 2008.

An unhinged tirade by Air America Radio host Randi Rhodes has led to an unprecedented suspension from the network, according to its new management and several left- wing websites. This is a breaking story with details still emerging.

In a rant so salty it could make a sailor blush, Rhodes repeatedly called Hillary a “big f***ing whore”, to both cheers and jeers from the audience. The afternoon drive talker was there on behalf of Air America at an event sponsored by the local affiliate.

In addition, Rhodes referred to former Democrat vice presidential candidate [and Hillary campaigner in ’08] Geraldine Ferraro  as a “David Duke in Drag”.

Randi Rhodes Suspended; Calls Hillary ‘Big F—ing Whore,’ NewsBusters, April 3, 2008.

If Hillary pulls it out in Pennsylvania, and she could, and if she follows it up in Indiana, she can make a credible case that she deserves to be the candidate; these last primaries will show which of the two Democratic candidates is better at overcoming the bias of a vast chunk of the population that has never in its history had to vote for anyone but a candidate who could have been their father or their brother or their son, and who has never had to think of the president of the United States as anyone other than someone they might have been had circumstances been just slightly different.

Hillary’s case is not an attractive one, because what she’ll essentially be saying (and has been saying, although very carefully) is that she can attract more racist white male voters than Obama can. Nonetheless, and as I said, she has a case.

—Nora Ephron, “White Men,” the Huffington Post, April 20, 2008.

— Father Micheal Pfleger, in Obama’s Trinity United Church, circa 2007-2008. In May of 2008, CNN reported that “Obama has known Pfleger for more than 20 years.”

CRYING WOLF: 9/11 Truther Van Jones, Trump supporter clash over Jones’ fear of internment camps on air at CNN.

Flashbacks:

● VP Biden Says Republicans Are ‘Going to Put Y’all Back in Chains.’

—Jake Tapper, ABC News, August 2012.

● Former Al Gore advisor Naomi Wolf at the Huffington Post: Sarah ‘Evita’ Palin to Usher in Rovian Police State.

NewsBusters, September 22nd, 2008.

American Prison Camps Are on the Way.

—The far left Alternet Website, October 8, 2006.

A TRAIN WRECK WORSE THAN OBAMACARE? The Spectacular Institutional Failure Of The Democratic Party.

Writers and analysts, those of us at TAI very much included, have spent the last several months writing about what seemed like the spectacular institutional failure of the Republican Party, which allowed its presidential nomination to be seized by someone whom its elites considered thoroughly unqualified for the highest office in the land. Party institutions were once strong enough to influence the outcomes of their nomination processes—to serve as gatekeepers and ideological enforcers. But the Republican Party apparatus was weak, distrusted, and vulnerable to a populist takeover. The institutional Democratic Party, meanwhile, was able to capitalize on its organizational and financial reach to clear the field, control its primary, and guide voters toward the ultra-establishment choice.

But insofar as you consider the election of Donald Trump a great failure on the part of the nation’s political elite, last night’s electoral earthquake highlights the fact that the Republican Party is not the only institution that was negligent. In a well-functioning democracy, when one party offers the nation a candidate with the highest disapproval ratings in modern history, the opposition party would put forward a candidate who can defeat him. And on this front, the Democrats failed almost methodically. . . .

Donald Trump won the Republican nomination because the GOP elite’s control over their party was weak. But he won the presidency because the Democratic elite’s control over their party was strong—strong enough that Hillary Clinton could feel confident going on a Wall Street speaking tour in the run-up to her campaign, strong enough to shield her from real scrutiny in the primaries, strong enough to keep to keep Joe Biden out of the race.

The election of Donald Trump can only happen in a country where many institutions are deeply, deeply broken. This is the culmination of a cascade of failures across broad swathes of the elite. The question now is whether the Age of Trump will mark the beginning of reform and renewal, or merely an acceleration of a long decline.

Our elites aren’t elite, but they are elitist. That’s the problem.

NUCLEAR COUNTER-STRIKE ON HARRY REID: Dirty Harry Reid threatened to nuke Republican filibusters of a President Hillary Supreme Court nominee. And in 2013 Dirty Harry actually limited Republican filibusters.

In 2013, Senate Democrats changed the filibuster rules on most of Obama’s nominees, allowing their approval by simple majority but left the 60-vote hurdle intact for Supreme Court nominations.

Scott Walker is recommending the Republican Senate eliminate the filibuster for Trump’s Supreme Court nominees. Nuclear counter-strike, Harry. It’s what happens when you start nuclear war.

SINCE 1968 MAINSTREAM MEDIA BIAS HAS BEEN AMERICA’S MOST GRAVE STRATEGIC WEAKNESS:
America’s enemies exploit this bias in favor of Democrats, especially in war time when a Republican is president.

PER GLENN’S PREVIOUS POST (8:47 AM): And yes, America’s enemies include Democrat street thugs like Robert Creamer. It appears the mainstream media is protecting him. So Creamer is exploiting mainstream media disinterest.

HOWIE CARR: Winners And Losers. “Loser: Mitt Romney, maybe the biggest next to Hillary. Had a temper tantrum about Trump, who then proceeded to carry Mitt’s real home state, Michigan, something Romney could never come close to doing in 2012.”

SO BEFORE THE ELECTION THE PRESS WAS ALL “IF TRUMP LOSES, WILL HIS SUPPORTERS ACCEPT IT LIKE GOOD AMERICANS, OR REACT LIKE VIOLENT REDNECKS?” And now that he’s won: Tens of Thousands Protest Trump Election Victory, 124 Arrested.

Will anyone blame Hillary for her campaign’s fear-mongering rhetoric that incited this reaction? And is Jan Schakowsky’s (D-IL) husband Robert Creamer involved in promoting violence post-election the way he was when he was working for Hillary’s campaign?

Flashback: Dem Operative Who Oversaw Trump Rally Agitators Visited White House 342 Times. I mean, maybe this stuff is all spontaneous, but once you’re caught stirring up violence against your opponents, it’s hard to escape suspicion when it happens again.

OH, GOOD GRIEF: UM-Flint offers students ‘safe spaces’ and counseling in wake of Trump win.

Precious college snowflakes at the University of Michigan-Flint can get the help they need following Hillary Clinton’s stunning presidential loss.

Students will be able to visit “safe spaces” and receive “counseling” for all their election-woe needs, according to an email sent to the UM-Flint community obtained by the Washington Examiner.

“The sun came up today after a really tough election. It has been a long process with lots of very strong and divergent opinions, and it will take some time to understand all this means for our community,” the email, from Chancellor Susan Borrego, began. “Now it is time to listen, learn, and come together. The power of our democracy has been our ability to choose our leaders and then unite around common purpose.”

“UM-Flint has always been and remains a place that welcomes and provides opportunity for everyone regardless of status, identity, or background. We are committed to these values and to our mission to advance knowledge and provide an outstanding education that transforms the life path of our students,” it continued. “This will continue to be a place where each of you is valued and where you can thrive.”

Students had already planned a “vigil” for the campus Wednesday night, and the email added that there would be additional support for those traumatized by Donald Trump’s win. UM-Flint’s Ellen Bommarito LGBTQ Center, Women’s Educational Center and Intercultural Center will provide “safe spaces” for anyone suffering from election loss.

The email also noted that counseling is available. In addition, next Tuesday the “Diversity Council” will hold a “Post-Election Conversation.”

Maybe I should have tagged this “higher education bubble update.”

SEEN ON FACEBOOK:

kellyanne

I do think that Kellyanne Conway accomplished perhaps the biggest turnaround in campaign-management history, and I don’t think Trump could have won without her. But, you know, you’re not a real First Woman if you’re not also a Democrat, because sexism.

EVERGREEN:

screen-shot-2016-11-10-at-8-07-13-am

MERRICK GARLAND DIES ON BASE: Now It’s Trump Who Can Recast the Supreme Court: Election results end hopes for Obama’s long-languishing pick Merrick Garland.

Senate Republicans held a Supreme Court seat vacant for the next president. Now that it’s President-elect Donald Trump and a Republican majority in the Senate, what happens next?

The election results end the hopes for President Barack Obama’s long-languishing pick for the Supreme Court, Judge Merrick Garland, since Republicans still control the Senate’s confirmation process. Donald Trump released a list of 21 potential Supreme Court nominees who were generally met with approval by conservative lawmakers, and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky will continue to hold the high court seat vacant for a Trump pick.

At stake is the ideological balance of the Supreme Court for decades.

A Trump win eliminates the potential for the first liberal majority since 1970. In addition to the current vacancy, three justices are older than 78 and could leave the court during the Trump administration — meaning Trump would be able to recast the Supreme Court for a generation with his choices.

Trump said repeatedly in stump speeches that preventing liberal justices from being appointed to the court was a reason conservatives should vote for him, particularly on gun rights.

“They’ll respect the Second Amendment and what it stands for, what it represents,” Trump said during a debate.

That sets up a major confirmation fight for more than just Trump’s choice to fill the seat of the late Antonin Scalia, the reliably conservative justice who died Feb. 13. That pick would likely come early in 2017. Democrats are unlikely to forget the GOP’s historic stonewalling of the Garland nomination for what would be nearly 300 days — and are equally unlikely to help confirm a nominee they fear could undo court rulings on key issues such as abortion rights.

Two thoughts: (1) I’ll bet Harry Reid regrets announcing that he was going to go nuclear on Supreme Court nominations once Hillary was President and Dems controlled the Senate; and (2) Would Democrats really try to block America’s first openly gay Supreme Court nominee?

Related: Scott Walker: It’s Time To Kill The Filibuster. “The last time Republicans had total control of government, under Bush, they squandered it. . . . Reid blazed and re-blazed this trail, and there’s every reason to think his lefty disciples will follow his advice and get rid of the filibuster themselves once they have a chance down the road to do so. Why should the GOP protect the Democrats’ minority leverage now when there’s every reason to think Dems won’t repay the kindness in 2020 or whenever they’re back in the majority? That’s where the prudential argument breaks down. It’s worth thinking hard about saving the filibuster if you can count on the other party to save it too. When you can’t, and the GOP can’t thanks to Reid, why not take advantage of your political strength and do away with it now yourself?”