"The Twilight of the Liberal Left:" A Liberal Bemoans the Catastrophic Failure of the Anti-Trump "Resistance"

These are dark times for the liberal-left--for its media organs, politicians, writers, and thought leaders. Eight years ago, Trump could be dismissed as an aberration. The anti-fascist industry boomed. It was easy, since Trump did not win the popular vote, to call him illegitimate....
Why didn't they listen? This is the anguished cry of the liberal media critic who was sure the New York Times, despite its anti-Trump alignment, had perniciously normalized Orange Man. This is the cry, too, of the Times opinion page, of elite academia, of the Atlantic set, of the staffers at the Washington Post who longed for a Kamala Harris endorsement, and the many ponderous New Yorker writers with their grayish, interchangeable prose. This is the cry of a Democratic National Committee so sure, after the 2022 midterms, there was nothing more to do than call Trump a fascist ten thousand additional times--if only then, those dolts in Bucks County would listen....

The fading reality TV star he once mocked at that Washington dinner will be, barring a health crisis, a two term American president. Whereas Obama, eight years on, has plainly left little to the Democratic Party, Trump has thoroughly immolated and rebuilt the Republicans in his image. He is as consequential as Reagan and Nixon, and he might loom in American life just as long. The Trump era began when he descended the golden escalator in the middle of 2015 and it might not end until 2028. The next Republican to run for president will not be able to do it without Trump's firm endorsement. His is a cult that is now far too large to be called one.
Now, for the Democrats, it is all wide open. There will be no one anointed in 2028. Instead, there will be a long, bloody fight for the nomination, and that is democracy. The liberal-left resistance, meanwhile, will have to stagger into a future they failed, over and over again, to head off. No movement, perhaps, has accomplished less. No movement has done so little to reach what was supposed to be an existential goal. Trump, eight years into the resistance, is at his apogee. The editorial boards and NGO bosses and magazine writers and braying congressmen and MSNBC panelists must contend with this bare, inarguable fact. The electoral map ran blood-red. How? Why? It was the racism of an Arab majority city voting for Trump, the white supremacy of the Bronx, New York's poorest borough, deciding Trump needed more of its vote than ever before. Pundits prattle about misinformation, as if all the voters were toddlers who needed to be bolted down and told why Brat Summer was so vital for the future of the republic. There are calls now for a feminist Joe Rogan, as if the actual Rogan did not already endorse a Democratic presidential candidate in 2020. The liberal-left reaps what it sows. It was not merely Trump that was chosen. It was the not-Democrat, the option that wasn't in power. A vote is a middle finger aimed to the sky. In the heat of all this, the liberal-left will have to recalibrate or dissolve. Radical chic is fading. The Hitler analogies are played out. So are the speech wars. They will have to, somehow, consider material conditions. This is never easy if you've never lived anything close to a precarious life. Harder, still, if you've allowed condescension and indignation to become the pillars of a worldview. The smug never inherit the Earth. If only the Bible printed this, or someone took it to cable television in time. Much grief could have been saved.

Via Ed Morrissey, the liberal progressive Wall Street Journal declares that the global progressivism movement is over.

This past year showed that the progressive politics that dominated most industrialized countries over the past two decades or more is shifting to the right, fueled by working-class anxieties over the economy and immigration, and growing fatigue with issues from climate change to identity politics. ...
Part of the shift is the normal pendulum of politics swinging back and forth between established parties on the left and right. The difference this time is a strong strain of populism and a growing rejection of traditional parties.
In country after country, many working-class voters--especially those outside the biggest cities--are signaling the same thing: They mistrust the establishment--from academics to bankers to traditional politicians--and feel these elites are out of touch and don't care about people like them.
Years of increased migration and trade, coupled with low economic growth, have led to a backlash and a rise in nationalism, where people want more of a sense of control, political analysts say. The rise of social media has exacerbated divisions and led to an upsurge in antiestablishment parties.

That's not really true. Marxism is Dracula; you can stake it in the heart, but it will always arise from the grave again.

I'm suspicious of voices on the left claiming that the insane authoritarianism of the past ten years is "over." I think they want you to believe it's over. But what they intended to do is distance themselves from it, but then simply change the wording and drop the most egregious 10% and ram the other 90% of it down your throat via a quickie rebrand.

Posted by: Ace at 05:15 PM

Comments

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1 Yo!

Posted by: L - Rooster one day, feather duster another at December 30, 2024 05:17 PM (NFX2v)

2 Read the content. Rookie mistake.

Posted by: Tonypete at December 30, 2024 05:18 PM (WXNFJ)

3 They're fucking liars.

Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory, red heifer owner at December 30, 2024 05:20 PM (dR6yv)

4 I'm suspicious of voices on the left claiming that the insane authoritarianism of the past ten years is "over." I think they want you to believe it's over. But what they intended to do is distance themselves from it, but then simply change the wording and drop the most egregious 10% and ram the other 90% of it down your throat via a quickie rebrand.

Me, too.

Posted by: L - Rooster one day, feather duster another at December 30, 2024 05:20 PM (NFX2v)

5 Milei shows the way--you must utterly obliterate the deep state apparatus and demonstrate that life goes on just fine, indeed much better, without it.

Posted by: Angzarr the Cromulent at December 30, 2024 05:24 PM (XMwZJ)

6 Huh. It's almost like the far left isn't the majority it thinks it is.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at December 30, 2024 05:25 PM (OX9vb)

7 👉 Ha Ha

Posted by: Skip at December 30, 2024 05:26 PM (fwDg9)

8 This is like the moment when your cellmate, Bubba, tells you, "Prison sex doesn't count."

Posted by: Dr. Bone at December 30, 2024 05:28 PM (rl6EB)

9 Socialism is defeated!

Time to pass a $6 trillion omnibus and give Congress a raise!

Posted by: Speaker Mike Johnson at December 30, 2024 05:28 PM (h7lhS)

10 It won't be over until the Democrat Party is proscribed and a whole lot of Leftists are condemned to Canal duty. It's not a case of "at your feet or at your throat," but "six feet under you or six feet over you."

They ain't gonna be quitting, or changing.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at December 30, 2024 05:29 PM (BI5O2)

11 A pox on all their houses.

Posted by: Ben Had at December 30, 2024 05:29 PM (XTmTf)

12 Most of the purpose of "woke" is just to distract you from real problems we are experiencing. It was a time waster/time suck. It was almost universally issues that are "perennial".

Time spent on talking about woke bullshit is time NOT spent on energy, immigrations drugs, monetary policy, wars, etc.

Allt he things they don't solve aren't being solved because the solution is too painful...for them.

Posted by: El Mariachi at December 30, 2024 05:30 PM (ARlwA)

13 There's a whole other aspect to progressivism. They went and conditioned their base to seek out and acquire victimization. If you win or dominate, the concept is diluted. You don't get to display your own personal suffering and pain. They have taken Beta to a whole new level. I work with people like this, and not just a handful either.

It explains the self-help and coping groups set up at universities, and internally within our freaking government agencies. These people want to keep losing so they can display their dismay and pain to the rest of us (as if it's important).

Posted by: Orson at December 30, 2024 05:31 PM (dIske)

14 Burn, baby, burn.

Posted by: Field Marshal Zhukov, now, where does a war hero get some lubrication around here? at December 30, 2024 05:32 PM (wBaIH)

15 One of the problems is that conservatives don't understand what winning is. Part of the reason folks call the GOP the Loser Party.

They feel guilty if they get their way.

"Wow, that never happened before, it must have been a mistake"

People need to get over it.

Posted by: pawn, RIP Vic at December 30, 2024 05:32 PM (QB+5g)

16 Leftists don't quit

Posted by: Skip at December 30, 2024 05:33 PM (fwDg9)

17 I think they want you to believe it's over. But what they intended to do is distance themselves from it, but then simply change the wording and drop the most egregious 10% and ram the other 90% of it down your throat via a quickie rebrand.

Exactly.

Posted by: Xipe Totec at December 30, 2024 05:34 PM (pohLc)

18 I'm suspicious of voices on the left claiming that the insane authoritarianism of the past ten years is "over." I think they want you to believe it's over. But what they intended to do is distance themselves from it, but then simply change the wording and drop the most egregious 10% and ram the other 90% of it down your throat via a quickie rebrand.

--------------

I'll accept that they are serious when they abandon the trans women crap and tell those men to use men's bathrooms and play on men's teams. If you can't accept the natural order you certainly won't think much about deforming every societal norm.

Posted by: Decaf at December 30, 2024 05:34 PM (unUNN)

19 The price of Liberty is Eternal Vigilence.

Because evil never sleeps.

The Liberals/Progressives/Social Democrats/Commies will be back with a new moniker, snakes with rebranded snake oil.

"Surely you will not die..."

Meet the new lie; Same as the old lie.

Posted by: Minuteman at December 30, 2024 05:35 PM (LaNzR)

20 Meanwhile Iran has arrested and tossed into Evin Prison an Italian journalist.

Some think Sala being arrested is to give Iran leverage as Italy has arrested an Iranian national at the request of the US.

Posted by: Anna Puma at December 30, 2024 05:35 PM (0YHMS)

21 I guess the Commies aren't offering "Change we can believe in" after all.

Posted by: Field Marshal Zhukov, now, where does a war hero get some lubrication around here? at December 30, 2024 05:35 PM (wBaIH)

22 I think we will some plot to stop the inauguration

Posted by: Skip at December 30, 2024 05:36 PM (fwDg9)

23 Leftism is like cancer and rust, it never sleeps.

Posted by: Anna Puma at December 30, 2024 05:36 PM (0YHMS)

24 It's like hearing a serial rapist claim he's found the Lord and changed his ways at a parole hearing.

If you believe that bullshit, you deserve for him to come find you the next day after you let him go.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at December 30, 2024 05:36 PM (BI5O2)

25 It ain't over, like you said it never dies

Posted by: Hatari somewhere on Ventura Highway at December 30, 2024 05:37 PM (NtVYv)

26 The writer still can’t grasp how or why the Dems suck and lost.

It’s all racism, classism and fear of immigrants.

And the Elites are so much better than the dolts living in Red America (and now blue America).

F the Dems. I hope they implode from within.

Posted by: Czech Chick at December 30, 2024 05:37 PM (fpVC1)

27 “ I'm suspicious of voices on the left claiming that the insane authoritarianism of the past ten years is "over." I think they want you to believe it's over. But what they intended to do is distance themselves from it, but then simply change the wording and drop the most egregious 10% and ram the other 90% of it down your throat via a quickie rebrand.”

This. These sadistic ghouls would sell their grandmothers into sexual slavery if it increased their power a hundredth of a percent. What will they do us to keep the huge power they already have?

Posted by: Elric Blade at December 30, 2024 05:37 PM (9MXs7)

28 Leftardism is a mental disease. Some people are susceptible to reality, to others it is simply impossible (and scary) that they are wrong.

Posted by: Xipe Totec at December 30, 2024 05:37 PM (pohLc)

29 Maybe the Barky, Clinton and now Bidens ate gone and they are just going to turn over and start over?

Posted by: Skip at December 30, 2024 05:38 PM (fwDg9)

30 That's not really true. Marxism is Dracula; you can stake it in the heart, but it will always arise from the grave again.
---
That's because Marxism is not a political or economic program, it is a heresy based on greed and envy, and provides an excuse for people to exercise wrath without remorse.

The secular materialists want you to believe that once you defeat "Marxism," you can kick back and pretend it won't come back, and a free live-and-let live world, with low taxes and no moral guardrails.

It's all a lie.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 30, 2024 05:38 PM (ZOv7s)

31 But what they intended to do is distance themselves from it, but then simply change the wording and drop the most egregious 10% and ram the other 90% of it down your throat via a quickie rebrand.

***

The left doesn’t even really do that. They just double-down and push further to the left.

And it works. Look at where we’re at. Even a lot of Republicans want to keep intact most of what the commies have won, like the welfare state, “legal” immigration/replacement of native population, trillions in deficit, gay marriage, etc.

Posted by: Speaker Mike Johnson at December 30, 2024 05:38 PM (h7lhS)

32 a progressive leftist ain't going to change it's spots.

Posted by: Ben Had at December 30, 2024 05:38 PM (XTmTf)

33
But what they intended to do is distance themselves from it, but then simply change the wording and drop the most egregious 10% and ram the other 90% of it down your throat via a quickie rebrand.
Posted by: Ace

Slightly modified DEI

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at December 30, 2024 05:38 PM (63Dwl)

34 I'm suspicious of voices on the left claiming that the insane authoritarianism of the past ten years is "over."

Would the left lie to you?

Posted by: t-bird at December 30, 2024 05:39 PM (uVcOS)

35 But what they intended to do is distance themselves from it, but then simply change the wording and drop the most egregious 10% and ram the other 90% of it down your throat via a quickie rebrand.

Posted by: Ace at 05:15 PM
---
Remember the problem is NEVER, EVER the policy.

The policy is ALWAYS right, 100% of the time.

They just need to find the right "message" to sell their policies to the rubes.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at December 30, 2024 05:39 PM (BpYfr)

36 Maybe the Barky, Clinton and now Bidens ate gone and they are just going to turn over and start over?
Posted by: Skip at December 30, 2024 05:38 PM (fwDg9)
---
Sauron has fallen and the next Dark Lord is yet to emerge.

But one will.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 30, 2024 05:39 PM (ZOv7s)

37 Chuy Johnson is right!

The asshoes are trying to play dead, hoping we'll ignore them until they decide to go on the attack again.

Posted by: Helena Handbasket at December 30, 2024 05:39 PM (YTktQ)

38 Marxism is akin to Islam.

Never their fault. Always the victim of others.

Posted by: Anna Puma at December 30, 2024 05:40 PM (0YHMS)

39 Johnson isn't going to quit lying to us and he's not going to stop promising to release the J6 tapes.

Posted by: torabora at December 30, 2024 05:40 PM (rq6pn)

40 Krushchev said ‘We will bury you.’

Posted by: Eromero at December 30, 2024 05:40 PM (LHPAg)

41 Totalitarianism is always in the wings of any form of government. What it needs, though, is a base to work from. If PDT manages to obliterate some of the mechanisms which would be used to fuel the rise of another totalitarian state then people would get a reprieve for a while.

Posted by: blake - semi lurker in marginal standing (tT6L1) at December 30, 2024 05:40 PM (tT6L1)

42 A H Lloyd, been so forever

Posted by: Ben Had at December 30, 2024 05:40 PM (XTmTf)

43 Marxism is akin to Islam.

Never their fault. Always the victim of others.
Posted by: Anna Puma at December 30, 2024 05:40 PM (0YHMS)
---
I thought you meant that Islam and Marxism are both heresies.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 30, 2024 05:40 PM (ZOv7s)

44 You can't spell Bridge without DEI.

Posted by: Anna Puma at December 30, 2024 05:41 PM (0YHMS)

45 We're going to have to run the Marxists out of the schools before we can fully set the USS United States back on its proper course. The tenured professors who instruct our youth and our K-12 teachers are too isolated from the real world. No economic pressure as long as tuition keeps increasing and as long as Fed Gov and charitable foundations keep funding their crazy pet projects. The tenured Marxists receive little peer pressure, no pressure from the media, and no pressure from the Marxist college administrators the Marxist professors trained.

Posted by: Gref at December 30, 2024 05:41 PM (aBgBM)

46 Lloyd well yes.

But both require a victim mentality.

Posted by: Anna Puma at December 30, 2024 05:41 PM (0YHMS)

47 blake, hugs my dear friend.

Posted by: Ben Had at December 30, 2024 05:41 PM (XTmTf)

48 Noone has proven to be the antichrist yet. There's been lots of contenders.

Posted by: torabora at December 30, 2024 05:42 PM (rq6pn)

49 In country after country, many working-class voters--especially those outside the biggest cities--are signaling the same thing: They mistrust the establishment--from academics to bankers to traditional politicians--and feel these elites are out of touch and don't care about people like them.

Because its true. How did Ahnuld put it? "Fuck your freedoms". They do not care if you live or die...but kind of prefer the latter.

Posted by: 18-1 at December 30, 2024 05:42 PM (oZhjI)

50 A H Lloyd, been so forever
Posted by: Ben Had at December 30, 2024 05:40 PM (XTmTf)
---
One cannot help but envy the Grand Master of the Knights of Malta who could, after the Great Siege, offer his sword and helmet as a votive sacrifice to Mary, and know that he would not need them again in his lifetime.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 30, 2024 05:42 PM (ZOv7s)

51 Last paragraph is so VERY true, Ace.

Posted by: GWB at December 30, 2024 05:42 PM (/EwOj)

52 There's a whole other aspect to progressivism. They went and conditioned their base to seek out and acquire victimization.

Posted by: Orson at December 30, 2024 05:31 PM (dIske)

----------------------

With all the adulation for assassin Luigi I think they have changed strategies. They now want to kill anyone who stands in their way. Attempts on Trump are the same.

Posted by: Decaf at December 30, 2024 05:42 PM (unUNN)

53 >>> 31
==
Even a lot of Republicans want to keep intact most of what the commies have won, like the welfare state, "legal" immigration/replacement of native population, trillions in deficit, gay marriage, etc.
Posted by: Speaker Mike Johnson at December 30, 2024 05:38 PM (h7lhS)

Those are several of the reasons the term GOPe has been used frequently for the past several years...

...and why OrangeManBad proposing "heretical" actions like ending the Fed or even *GASP* ending personal income tax REEEEE!!!, let alone achieving such, is a good thing.

Posted by: Helena Handbasket at December 30, 2024 05:43 PM (YTktQ)

54 Sort of unreal for the so-called "anti establishment" types to embrace the establishment. Almost like they were lying and are okay with the establishment, as long as it's made in their image.

Posted by: blake - semi lurker in marginal standing (tT6L1) at December 30, 2024 05:43 PM (tT6L1)

55 Maybe the Barky, Clinton and now Bidens ate gone and they are just going to turn over and start over?

------

The future of the Party now belongs to the Monster Babies. We'll find out which of them is the most cutthroat soon enough. The coming internecine struggle in the Party will be epic, and it will yield brutal new leaders.

And believe me... It won't be reasonable moderates who listen to Pool and Rogan. It will be the power demons who pick their teeth with those people's bones.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at December 30, 2024 05:43 PM (BI5O2)

56 Thanks, Ben and right back at you.

Posted by: blake - semi lurker in marginal standing (tT6L1) at December 30, 2024 05:44 PM (tT6L1)

57 No one has proven to be the antichrist yet. There's been lots of contenders.
Posted by: torabora at December 30, 2024 05:42 PM (rq6pn)
————-

“Fuck you, ya wanker!”

— Johnny Rotten

Posted by: Elric Blade at December 30, 2024 05:44 PM (9MXs7)

58 Dracula? No. That's fiction.

Marxism is like sarcoma. After knocking it back with chemotherapy and radiation therapy, it must be cut out completely. And, like all such cancers, there is a need to cut out the margin, as the roots are microscopic.

And for at least ten years there needs to be extensive scrutiny to make sure it has not reappeared.

I do not believe we should feel sorry for them. Their party members and fellow travelers murdered between 100,000,000 and 200,000,000 humans in just the 20th Century. In the United States, their push for abortions has killed about 60,000,000 more, at least as many as Stalin killed.

There is no reason to allow them to continue killing millions of us.

Posted by: setnaffa at December 30, 2024 05:44 PM (dKSNq)

59 I think we spend far too much time worrying about the fact the left never gives up.

It should be pretty obvious neither do we. Then after beating them down for the most part we go back to living our lives and the left inevitably rises and we have to beat them down again.

This cycle has been playing out for a very long time.

But this is a much different win than a W beating a Gore. The Dem Party is broken and so is their support structure in the media and it's going to take a long time for them to rebuild.

Posted by: JackStraw at December 30, 2024 05:44 PM (LkLld)

60 >>>But what they intended to do is distance themselves from it, but then simply change the wording and drop the most egregious 10% and ram the other 90% of it down your throat via a quickie rebrand.

>Sweet, sweet ass.

Posted by: Bubba at December 30, 2024 05:45 PM (rl6EB)

61 Noone has proven to be the antichrist yet. There's been lots of contenders.
Posted by: torabora at December 30, 2024 05:42 PM (rq6pn)

IMO, he already lived. We will be dealing with his legacy.

Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory, red heifer owner at December 30, 2024 05:45 PM (dR6yv)

62 Leftard thinking; Murder the babies and save the murderers. When you think like that, you are certifiable.

Posted by: Xipe Totec at December 30, 2024 05:45 PM (pohLc)

63 It's always darkest right before it's pitch black...
We hope.

Posted by: DaveA at December 30, 2024 05:45 PM (FhXTo)

64 But both require a victim mentality.
Posted by: Anna Puma at December 30, 2024 05:41 PM (0YHMS)
---
Only because that is what the present culture values. Previously Islam and Marxism were triumphalist. "We will bury you!" "God is with us!"

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 30, 2024 05:45 PM (ZOv7s)

65 I'm suspicious of voices on the left claiming that the insane authoritarianism of the past ten years is "over." I think they want you to believe it's over. But what they intended to do is distance themselves from it, but then simply change the wording and drop the most egregious 10% and ram the other 90% of it down your throat via a quickie rebrand.

There will always be those who hunger and thirst for power over others. This is why the price of freedom is eternal vigilance.

Posted by: And a buck-o-five at December 30, 2024 05:46 PM (iDVa5)

66 With all the adulation for assassin Luigi I think they have changed strategies. They now want to kill anyone who stands in their way.
Posted by: Decaf at December 30, 2024 05:42 PM (unUNN)

That’s not new. The left has always wanted to murder counterrevolutionaries.

Posted by: Nuke the Hippies! at December 30, 2024 05:46 PM (h7lhS)

67 The medical office that introduced me to the phrase "no-surprise billing" has surprised me for a second time. This time for a lab that happened to someone else.

Posted by: BourbonChicken at December 30, 2024 05:46 PM (lhenN)

68 Saying things like "The left never quit" is defeatist talk.

It's fatalism.

If you want to win you have to "FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT!"

This has just happened. Someone just showed you what it takes to win.

Are you willing to commit? Or is it just inevitable that our kids will become "slaves".

Time to Man Up. folks.

Posted by: pawn, RIP Vic at December 30, 2024 05:46 PM (QB+5g)

69 Noone has proven to be the antichrist yet. There's been lots of contenders.
Posted by: torabora at December 30, 2024 05:42 PM (rq6pn)
---
There have been lots and there will be more.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 30, 2024 05:47 PM (ZOv7s)

70 JackStraw, 2 years in a rebuilt economy is going to make the leftist orthodoxy even more irrelevant.

Posted by: Ben Had at December 30, 2024 05:47 PM (XTmTf)

71
Krushchev said ‘We will bury you.’
Posted by: Eromero

He had a really big shoe.

Posted by: Ed Sullivan at December 30, 2024 05:48 PM (63Dwl)

72 The smug never inherit the Earth.
Posted by: Ace

I was feeling pretty smug about this, and then.....

Posted by: mikeski at December 30, 2024 05:48 PM (DgGvY)

73 Saying things like "The left never quit" is defeatist talk.

It's fatalism.

If you want to win you have to "FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT!"

***

Naw, it’s simply a fact. Nobody is advocating not fighting; we’re saying the fight is never over.

Something something.. price of freedom is eternal vigilance..

Posted by: Nuke the Hippies! at December 30, 2024 05:48 PM (h7lhS)

74 Saying things like "The left never quit" is defeatist talk.
------

No it isn't. It's realism. It's in no way defeatist. It's the opposite. It's a recognition that there is no living with them and they need to be put down with extreme prejudice, once and for all.

Don't stop til every regime figure is terrified to leave his far flung bolt hole for so much as a pint of milk, lest he be discovered.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at December 30, 2024 05:49 PM (BI5O2)

75 The guy who wrote it says that Obama was the Micheal Jordan of the Dems. The people on that left say "yes Obama was the "GOAT" . Rational people think "thank God there was only one of him".

Posted by: Smell the Glove at December 30, 2024 05:50 PM (MLa3L)

76 ...but then simply change the wording and drop the most egregious 10% and ram the other 90% of it down your throat via a quickie rebrand.

Half will try this. The other half will follow Marx and accept the two steps forward, one step back doctrine. Both are why it is essential to be absolutely ruthless in tearing out the Leftist rot, exposing it, defunding it, and throwing it out.

Posted by: Diogenes at December 30, 2024 05:52 PM (W/lyH)

77 The next Republican to run for president will not be able to do it without Trump's firm endorsement. His is a cult that is now far too large to be called one.

Funny how the left likes to call Trump supporters cultists, yet their behavior regarding their icons:
Black Jesus, mmm, mmm, mmm.
RBG votive candles
Women should suck BJ Clinton's dick
Mamala...

are normal behaviors. Not cult-like at all. No sireee...

Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at December 30, 2024 05:53 PM (ynpvh)

78 Slightly modified DEI
Posted by: Bertram Cabot,

EID - al-nope
EDI - Murphy uses this one.
IDE - too programmy
IED - already blown
DIE - we're trying

Posted by: DaveA at December 30, 2024 05:54 PM (FhXTo)

79 Saying things like "The left never quit" is defeatist talk.

Posted by: pawn, RIP Vic at December 30, 2024 05:46 PM (QB+5g)
---
No, it is a truth that bears repeating, because in 1989, we thought Communism had lost and the Good Guys had won.

And we turned our military into sexual day camp, decided that orthodox Christianity was bigoted and wrong, and that would basically live our lives through weird inner goddess bullshit.

But the Great Enemy was still there, changing, evolving, and for a long time, we lost the very words to even describe evil. How fast did we move from "tolerance" to "Christians shouldn't be able to run for public office"?

We won't be fooled again. Now is the time to sharpen our swords, put on the armor of God and give the beast a few more slashes.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 30, 2024 05:54 PM (ZOv7s)

80 I was watching a video by a leftwing guy trying to understand Trump and populism. And I give him credit, he tried. But it would appear one of the core disagreements between the left and the right is the forum don't think the society is particularly corrupt, that government is pretty effective, and that times are really good.

And, if you are a member of the inner party and really even the outer party that's true. For the most part your Bidenbux, and most of these people are ultimately being paid by the taxpayer, have kept pace the Bidenflation. Crime hasn't affected you much. And you can say what you want without fear of being cancelled...well as long as you repeat what the FNM tells you to say.

Posted by: 18-1 at December 30, 2024 05:54 PM (oZhjI)

81 I missed out on the Speaker thread and would just like to point out the following. Speaker Johnson is feckless and goes along with any idiocy until forced to do the right thing. I think that is why Trump supports him, he can be brought to do the right thing.

Posted by: Decaf at December 30, 2024 05:54 PM (unUNN)

82 Funny how the left likes to call Trump supporters cultists, yet their behavior regarding their icons:
Black Jesus, mmm, mmm, mmm.
RBG votive candles
Women should suck BJ Clinton's dick
Mamala...

are normal behaviors. Not cult-like at all. No sireee...
Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at December 30, 2024 05:53 PM (ynpvh)
---
The Enemy loves to blaspheme the sacred.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 30, 2024 05:55 PM (ZOv7s)

83 If conservatives weren't typically passive by nature, how do you explain where we are today?

People are letting people get away with literal murder in the name of something or other.

Posted by: pawn, RIP Vic at December 30, 2024 05:55 PM (QB+5g)

84 >>JackStraw, 2 years in a rebuilt economy is going to make the leftist orthodoxy even more irrelevant.

That's my hope, Ben Had. But hope we also take this opportunity to really go after things like the schools and idiotic social policies, particularly those that have been targeting children.

Leading children into things like pornography and hating their identity and pretending mutilating them for some social status points is just flat out evil and is destroying our culture. Tear out every bit of their poisonous ideology and make it that much harder for them to rise again.

Posted by: JackStraw at December 30, 2024 05:55 PM (LkLld)

85 Yeah - the most amazing thing about the collapse of "The Resistance" was after Trump was elected in 2016, "progressive" media outfits had massively increased ratings, and money poured into them.

Now? They are cutting salaries and engaging in mass layoffs.

Posted by: The ARC of History! at December 30, 2024 05:55 PM (uxCna)

86 His is a cult that is now far too large to be called one.

The left acknowledges Trump is different from most Republicans.

A fair analysis then, before claiming Trump is a cult leader, would be to look at what Trump does differently then most other Republicans.

And the answer is simple - he mostly does, or at least tries to do, what the voters want. A politician doing what the electorate wants...and in turn becoming popular? I mean...that's what all politicians are supposed to be doing.

Posted by: 18-1 at December 30, 2024 05:56 PM (oZhjI)

87 78 Slightly modified DEI
Posted by: Bertram Cabot,

EID - al-nope
EDI - Murphy uses this one.
IDE - too programmy
IED - already blown
DIE - we're trying

Posted by: DaveA at December 30, 2024 05:54 PM (FhXTo)

Hah!

Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at December 30, 2024 05:56 PM (ynpvh)

88 R A W S G L 🌎 B A L @RawsGlobal 1h
🚨#NEW: A state-sponsored actor in China hacked the U.S. Treasury Department, gaining access to the workstations of government employees and unclassified documents, the Biden administration said on Monday. - NYT

Posted by: andycanuck (hovnC) at December 30, 2024 05:56 PM (hovnC)

89 YD brings to mind the scene in "Inglorious Bastards" where Aldo says you're gonna wanna take off that natzi uniform. Leftist need to be branded no differently than a branded L on their forehead.

Posted by: Ben Had at December 30, 2024 05:57 PM (XTmTf)

90 The guy who wrote it says that Obama was the Micheal Jordan of the Dems. The people on that left say "yes Obama was the "GOAT" . Rational people think "thank God there was only one of him".
Posted by: Smell the Glove at December 30, 2024 05:50 PM (MLa3L)

To the extent "the left" is corporatists, globalists, and other assorted wealthy anti-freedom elitists, sure. Bobama is the greatest.

Because he was the most easily controlled, and yet he looked all smooth and smart to the idiots who supply the votes.

Obviously exponentially better than the two who ran for that office after him.

Posted by: BurtTC at December 30, 2024 05:57 PM (p5WGS)

91 Don't stop til every regime figure is terrified to leave his far flung bolt hole for so much as a pint of milk, lest he be discovered.
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at December 30, 2024 05:49 PM (BI5O2)
---
Even better: teach them the Word of God, show them the evil of their ways and how there are betting things than nose rings and hopeless rage.

They want us dead, but we ultimately want to save them from themselves. We must be vigilant, but cannot become like them.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 30, 2024 05:57 PM (ZOv7s)

92 If conservatives weren't typically passive by nature, how do you explain where we are today?

Remember that clerk that wouldn't sign off on gay marriages, you know, because legally she wasn't allowed to?

Not only did "right wing" politicians line up to screw her over, the people in her state did little to support her.

I suspect when Trump comes for illegal alien protecting leftwing pols we will see very, very different reactions from leftists...

Posted by: 18-1 at December 30, 2024 05:58 PM (oZhjI)

93 With all the adulation for assassin Luigi I think they have changed strategies. They now want to kill anyone who stands in their way.

Yeah, I fully expect that we will soon see the resurgence of Red Brigades-style urban terrorism, with much of the Left cheering them on.

Posted by: The ARC of History! at December 30, 2024 05:58 PM (uxCna)

94 Our Economy is well beyond the bend.

No amount of stimulus based growth is going to help us do anything but kick the 55 Gallon Drum down the Road.

Posted by: garrett at December 30, 2024 05:58 PM (UE/EX)

95 >>>I'm just here for the gloating.

Where's the Pied Piper when you need him?

Posted by: Comrade Flounder, Disinformation Demon at December 30, 2024 05:59 PM (Kv1BN)

96 I thought that idiot Massey was going to nullify the election and make Grassley president. Dirtbags unite.

Posted by: Going deep. Out. at December 30, 2024 05:59 PM (fFYnV)

97 The guy who wrote it says that Obama was the Micheal Jordan of the Dems. The people on that left say "yes Obama was the "GOAT" . Rational people think "thank God there was only one of him". /i]

Here is a fun one. So Obama was a great political leader right? And his signature issue was...healthcare/insurance.

Ok lefties how many of you think we have a great healthcare/insurance system. Oh...none of you do? But you GOAT gave us this system. Surely you must at least like it...right?

Posted by: 18-1 at December 30, 2024 05:59 PM (oZhjI)

98 82 Funny how the left likes to call Trump supporters cultists, yet their behavior regarding their icons:
Black Jesus, mmm, mmm, mmm.
RBG votive candles
Women should suck BJ Clinton's dick
Mamala...

are normal behaviors. Not cult-like at all. No sireee...
Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at December 30, 2024 05:53 PM (ynpvh)
---
The Enemy loves to blaspheme the sacred.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 30, 2024 05:55 PM (ZOv7s)

Sacraments of the Left and the Cargo Cult of the Carbon Apocalypse.

Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at December 30, 2024 06:00 PM (ynpvh)

99 "The Dawn of this" and the "Twilight of that" should be put on hold until January 21, 2025.

Posted by: mrp at December 30, 2024 06:00 PM (rj6Yv)

100 With all the adulation for assassin Luigi I think they have changed strategies. They now want to kill anyone who stands in their way.

That was already the junta's answer back when Trump destroyed Biden in the debates remember?

Posted by: 18-1 at December 30, 2024 06:00 PM (oZhjI)

101 >> >>>I'm just here for the gloating.

Hide yo Wife!

Hide yo Kids!

Hide yo Gloats!

Posted by: garrett at December 30, 2024 06:00 PM (UE/EX)

102 Our Economy is well beyond the bend.

No amount of stimulus based growth is going to help us do anything but kick the 55 Gallon Drum down the Road.
Posted by: garrett at December 30, 2024 05:58 PM (UE/EX)

I think we should keep paying $1.4 trillion in interest costs on the Federal debt alone. Totally sustainable.

Posted by: Nuke the Hippies! at December 30, 2024 06:00 PM (h7lhS)

103 88 R A W S G L 🌎 B A L @RawsGlobal 1h
🚨#NEW: A state-sponsored actor in China hacked the U.S. Treasury Department, gaining access to the workstations of government employees and unclassified documents, the Biden administration said on Monday. - NYT

Posted by: andycanuck (hovnC) at December 30, 2024 05:56 PM (hovnC)

At some point these behaviors (under a normal patriotic administration) would be considered acts of war. Time for a few more Chinese subs (and maybe a carrier) to hit some mines off their coast...

Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at December 30, 2024 06:01 PM (ynpvh)

104 A fair analysis then, before claiming Trump is a cult leader, would be to look at what Trump does differently then most other Republicans.

And the answer is simple - he mostly does, or at least tries to do, what the voters want. A politician doing what the electorate wants...and in turn becoming popular? I mean...that's what all politicians are supposed to be doing.
Posted by: 18-1 at December 30, 2024 05:56 PM (oZhjI)

Except he supports the sex pervert Mike Johnson for Speaker. Which is basically basic Gope.

Posted by: BurtTC at December 30, 2024 06:01 PM (p9ERB)

105 103 88 R A W S G L 🌎 B A L @RawsGlobal 1h
🚨#NEW: A state-sponsored actor in China hacked the U.S. Treasury Department, gaining access to the workstations of government employees and unclassified documents, the Biden administration said on Monday. - NYT

Posted by: andycanuck (hovnC) at December 30, 2024 05:56 PM (hovnC)

At some point these behaviors (under a normal patriotic administration) would be considered acts of war. Time for a few more Chinese subs (and maybe a carrier) to hit some mines off their coast...

Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at December 30, 2024 06:01 PM (ynpvh)

Or better yet, Xi's bank accounts are hacked and the money goes to zero.

Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at December 30, 2024 06:01 PM (ynpvh)

106 >>I think we should keep paying $1.4 trillion in interest costs on the Federal debt alone. Totally sustainable.

You might think you have made a cogent point, but you failed.

Posted by: garrett at December 30, 2024 06:01 PM (UE/EX)

107 Funny how the left likes to call Trump supporters cultists, yet their behavior regarding their icons:
Black Jesus, mmm, mmm, mmm.
RBG votive candles
Women should suck BJ Clinton's dick
Mamala...

are normal behaviors. Not cult-like at all. No sireee...
Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at December 30, 2024 05:53 PM (ynpvh
Witness the requirements for biden administration posts.

Posted by: Eromero at December 30, 2024 06:02 PM (LHPAg)

108 If only there was a word to express the gloating feeling at their self-imploded situation. Something Germanic, I reckon.

Posted by: Count de Monet at December 30, 2024 06:02 PM (Aqu9a)

109 Our Economy is well beyond the bend.

No amount of stimulus based growth is going to help us do anything but kick the 55 Gallon Drum down the Road.
Posted by: garrett at December 30, 2024 05:58 PM (UE/EX)
---
The paper economy has failed, but the real economy is still full of potential. Trump gets this. He knows that slashing government spending will unwind inflation allowing him to surge the 'real' economy, the one where things get made, not ones based on weird GDP calculations.

It's so stupid. Trump started on this, but of course got blocked by his own side. We have huge rusting factories, skilled workers. massive resources, but, you know, Gaia will be angry. Better to let China make all that stuff.

He exposed the lie. This time will be different.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 30, 2024 06:02 PM (ZOv7s)

110 That actually was a well-written piece. Unusually perceptive for a Dem. “Radical chic is fading.” It’s been ascendant as long as I’ve been alive, and I’m impressed that someone who is probably a lot younger than I am can see the change.

Posted by: La Troienne at December 30, 2024 06:03 PM (ObOID)

111 94 Our Economy is well beyond the bend.

No amount of stimulus based growth is going to help us do anything but kick the 55 Gallon Drum down the Road.

Posted by: garrett at December 30, 2024 05:58 PM (UE/EX)

Damn, but that drum is full of shit...hard to kick.

Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at December 30, 2024 06:03 PM (ynpvh)

112 I am under no illusions that PDT has been elected to try and manage the biggest train wreck in history.

Posted by: Ben Had at December 30, 2024 06:03 PM (XTmTf)

113
Twilight of the Odds

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at December 30, 2024 06:03 PM (dxSpM)

114 Good, I'm here in time not to be willowed.

Posted by: Braenyard - some Absent Friends are more equal than others _ at December 30, 2024 06:03 PM (Dng1D)

115 97 The guy who wrote it says that Obama was the Micheal Jordan of the Dems. The people on that left say "yes Obama was the "GOAT" . Rational people think "thank God there was only one of him". /i]

Here is a fun one. So Obama was a great political leader right? And his signature issue was...healthcare/insurance.

Ok lefties how many of you think we have a great healthcare/insurance system. Oh...none of you do? But you GOAT gave us this system. Surely you must at least like it...right?

Posted by: 18-1 at December 30, 2024 05:59 PM (oZhjI)

We do.--Congress

Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at December 30, 2024 06:04 PM (ynpvh)

116 Their party members and fellow travelers murdered between 100,000,000 and 200,000,000 humans in just the 20th Century
———

That’s not counting their fucking wars. Chew on that for a while

Posted by: Common Tater at December 30, 2024 06:04 PM (XJl7d)

117 Except he supports the sex pervert Mike Johnson for Speaker. Which is basically basic Gope.
Posted by: BurtTC at December 30, 2024 06:01 PM (p9ERB)

***

You wouldn’t happen to have any gay cuck porn, would you? I need to test that my son’s Internet filter is still filtering that gross stuff out.

Posted by: Speaker Mike Johnson at December 30, 2024 06:04 PM (h7lhS)

118 "2 years in a rebuilt economy is going to make the leftist orthodoxy even more irrelevant."

I really hope this happens. I'm way past retirement age and I won't give up for a number of reasons but chief among them is because I still have some influence on the younger ones by leading by example.

Old school is kind of hip now because it's more fun and engaging. Modern society is incredibly soulless and empty.

Posted by: pawn, RIP Vic at December 30, 2024 06:04 PM (QB+5g)

119 Ok lefties how many of you think we have a great healthcare/insurance system. Oh...none of you do? But you GOAT gave us this system. Surely you must at least like it...right?
Posted by: 18-1 at December 30, 2024 05:59 PM (oZhjI)
---
I'm looking forward to Trump introducing legislation to "undo the cruel, CEO-run evil of Obamacare."

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 30, 2024 06:05 PM (ZOv7s)

120 Twilight of the Odds
Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at December 30, 2024 06:03 PM (dxSpM)

Douglas Adams had a thing about the "long dark teatime of the gods" since he apparently had a problem with boring afternoons

Posted by: Kindltot at December 30, 2024 06:05 PM (D7oie)

121 Game over, man! Game over!!

- The Looney Left as Pvt Hudson.

Posted by: Count de Monet at December 30, 2024 06:05 PM (Aqu9a)

122 My conclusion after force-reading that first article: Ross Barkan is a pompous ass who sniffs his own farts. He still thinks Trump is literal Hitler, still hates the mouth-breathing, knuckle-dragging middle class, and still believes American "democracy" needs to be saved from the American people by the elites.

Posted by: Not Enough Lampposts at December 30, 2024 06:06 PM (TBFQi)

123 112 I am under no illusions that PDT has been elected to try and manage the biggest train wreck in history.

Posted by: Ben Had at December 30, 2024 06:03 PM (XTmTf)

My train to Africa! --Joe Biden

Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at December 30, 2024 06:06 PM (ynpvh)

124 I thought that...
Posted by: Going deep. Out. at December 30, 2024 05:59 PM (fFYnV)

No you didn't. That would take some level of intelligence you lack.

Posted by: BurtTC at December 30, 2024 06:06 PM (hNbhv)

125 Here's a clue for them: stop moaning about "my democracy" when you choose your candidate by the most undemocratic means possible. And maybe voters are looking for competence, instead of checking off some DEI list.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at December 30, 2024 06:06 PM (NQtI0)

126 I am under no illusions that PDT has been elected to try and manage the biggest train wreck in history.

Posted by: Ben Had at December 30, 2024 06:03 PM (XTmTf)

My train to Africa! --Joe Biden
Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at December 30, 2024 06:06 PM (ynpvh)

Heh. I bless the trains down in Africa. -- also Joe Biden

Posted by: Count de Monet at December 30, 2024 06:07 PM (Aqu9a)

127 The era of big government is over, right?

This was followed by the era of BIGGER government.

Which I assume they now plan to follow-up with the era of BIGGEST government.

Posted by: moviegique (buy my books) at December 30, 2024 06:07 PM (asXVI)

128 Game over, man! Game over!!

- The Looney Left as Pvt Hudson.
Posted by: Count de Monet at December 30, 2024 06:05 PM (Aqu9a)
---
Hudson had his moments though. Gotta respect that.

He was just short and didn't want to die on this rock. I think a lot of people on the Smart Military Blog agree with that sentiment.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 30, 2024 06:07 PM (ZOv7s)

129 I am under no illusions that PDT has been elected to try and manage the biggest train wreck in history.
Posted by: Ben Had at December 30, 2024 06:03 PM (XTmTf)

That's exactly what this is.

Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory, red heifer owner at December 30, 2024 06:07 PM (dR6yv)

130 You might think you have made a cogent point, but you failed.
Posted by: garrett at December 30, 2024 06:01 PM (UE/EX)

I’m saying the national debt is unsustainable. (To say nothing of all of the other debt our country is awash in.)

Posted by: Speaker Mike Johnson at December 30, 2024 06:08 PM (h7lhS)

131 ***I'm suspicious of voices on the left claiming that the insane authoritarianism of the past ten years is "over." ***
---

They lie.
They have always lied.
They are lying this time.

Posted by: Braenyard - some Absent Friends are more equal than others _ at December 30, 2024 06:08 PM (Dng1D)

132 What is best in life?

Posted by: vmom deport deport deport at December 30, 2024 06:08 PM (7gFa4)

133 The era of big government is over, right?

This was followed by the era of BIGGER government.

Which I assume they now plan to follow-up with the era of BIGGEST government.
Posted by: moviegique (buy my books) at December 30, 2024 06:07 PM (asXVI)
---
But it was true at the time. Not that Clinton wanted it to happen, but the GOP Congress did actually balance the budget and even produced a surplus.

You know who wrecked that? Dubya.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 30, 2024 06:08 PM (ZOv7s)

134 And maybe voters are looking for competence, instead of checking off some DEI list.

It can't be stressed enough that Trump won despite everything thrown at him because the Junta failed at basic government so badly.

Yes it many cases it was intentional - the Junta wanted results that were bad for most people. But the LIVs and normies look at 4 years of constant abject failure and would of course be likely to vote for the opposition.

Posted by: 18-1 at December 30, 2024 06:09 PM (oZhjI)

135 >>The paper economy has failed, but the real economy is still full of potential. Trump gets this. He knows that slashing government spending will unwind inflation allowing him to surge the 'real' economy, the one where things get made, not ones based on weird GDP calculations.

We aren't fixing this without some pain.

If the Economy Surges under Trump 2.0, it will just convince the MMT assholes that they are right and debt and money printing are not a problem.

I have no illusions that they will learn any other lessons.

Spending needs to be cut at levels nobody is going to sign up for, though.

Posted by: garrett at December 30, 2024 06:09 PM (UE/EX)

136 I believe the Left is down, but not out.

Posted by: Don Black. Message: we need more feck at December 30, 2024 06:09 PM (/7KEl)

137 I’m saying the national debt is unsustainable. (To say nothing of all of the other debt our country is awash in.)
Posted by: Speaker Mike Johnson at December 30, 2024 06:08 PM (h7lhS)
---
So what? People act like defaults never happen. Actually, default is the default. And if you owe enough money, the creditors coming to you, begging for mercy.

Trump of all people understands this.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 30, 2024 06:10 PM (ZOv7s)

138 >>I’m saying the national debt is unsustainable.

Indeed.

As is the notion that Low Interest Rates are a weapon to fight Debt, Inflation, Low Employment and any other ill the Economy shows symptoms of.

Posted by: garrett at December 30, 2024 06:10 PM (UE/EX)

139 Resistance .. my ass

Our U.S. Navy has “insufficient gender experts?”

Posted by: SMOD at December 30, 2024 06:11 PM (mSfu2)

140 Which I assume they now plan to follow-up with the era of BIGGEST government.
Posted by: moviegique (buy my books) at December 30, 2024 06:07 PM (asXVI)

How to get there though...

1. War with Russia, China, and Iran?
or
2. Covid 25
or
3. Civil War II... plus war with everybody and an actual deadly version of the Covids.

Posted by: BurtTC at December 30, 2024 06:11 PM (hNbhv)

141 This is why I haven't changed my nic. The stupid party is still in business to feed at the public trough, line their own pockets and run wild with someone else's money.
I agree with Ben Had above. A pox on all their houses.
One thing I have noticed, people still use the words invented by the Left. It's illegal immigration we don't like. Legal is just dandy. Actual refugees is fine, fake ones from Islamist shitholes, not so much. The media is pointing fingers at everyone but not looking in the mirror.

Posted by: Winston, GOPe, McFailure wing of the Uniparty at December 30, 2024 06:11 PM (9c4Eu)

142 137 I’m saying the national debt is unsustainable. (To say nothing of all of the other debt our country is awash in.)
Posted by: Speaker Mike Johnson at December 30, 2024 06:08 PM (h7lhS)
---
So what? People act like defaults never happen. Actually, default is the default. And if you owe enough money, the creditors coming to you, begging for mercy.

Trump of all people understands this.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 30, 2024 06:10 PM (ZOv7s)

The old saying...
If you owe $100, the bank owns you;
If you owe $1M, you own the bank.

Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at December 30, 2024 06:11 PM (ynpvh)

143 One other thing of note that sticks out to me - most of the normies and LIVs I know don't trust the government any more.

This doesn't mean they now delve into politics but they see things like TV ads for boosters and laugh at the stupidity of it.

Part of the left's probably is no one that isn't a kool-aide drinker believes them any more

Posted by: 18-1 at December 30, 2024 06:11 PM (oZhjI)

144 Not that Clinton wanted it to happen, but the GOP Congress did actually balance the budget and even produced a surplus.

You know who wrecked that? Dubya.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 30, 2024 06:08 PM (ZOv7s)

Incorrect. There was never a surplus. The GOP Congress in the 90s did get us as close to a balanced budget as we’ve ever been, but the “surplus” was an accounting fiction. Just look at the size of the national debt in the 90s: increased every year.

You are correct about Dubya.

Posted by: Speaker Mike Johnson at December 30, 2024 06:11 PM (h7lhS)

145 There's an election night 2024 video of Sam Seder's Majority Report coverage on YT. It's kind of sad and pathetic. They drank the kool-aid. They rooted for people that lied, deceived and exploited them their entire adult lives.

They'll be there for the Dems again for the 2028 rodeo.

Posted by: mrp at December 30, 2024 06:12 PM (rj6Yv)

146 >>Douglas Adams had a thing about the "long dark teatime of the gods" since he apparently had a problem with boring afternoons

Also, the unavailability of getting a Pizza Delivered to your Door in London.

Posted by: garrett at December 30, 2024 06:12 PM (UE/EX)

147 139 Resistance .. my ass

Our U.S. Navy has “insufficient gender experts?”

Posted by: SMOD at December 30, 2024 06:11 PM (mSfu2)

makes it sound like it's harder to figure out gender, like with baby chickens...

Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at December 30, 2024 06:12 PM (ynpvh)

148 Re: Sidebar Sasquatch

>Michelle Obama don't truck no Oregon fools filching her beef jerky.

Posted by: Dr. Bone at December 30, 2024 06:12 PM (rl6EB)

149 “The GOP Congress in the 90s did get us as close to a balanced budget as we’ve ever been..”

*ever been in the last several decades.

Posted by: Speaker Mike Johnson at December 30, 2024 06:13 PM (h7lhS)

150 We aren't fixing this without some pain.

If the Economy Surges under Trump 2.0, it will just convince the MMT assholes that they are right and debt and money printing are not a problem.

I have no illusions that they will learn any other lessons.

Spending needs to be cut at levels nobody is going to sign up for, though.
Posted by: garrett at December 30, 2024 06:09 PM (UE/EX)
---
DOGE will operate in a largely pain-free environment. First task: reduce payroll.

Easy: make them all report to work. Huge retirement wave right there.

Next: eliminate all DEI employees. A lot will quit of their own accord.

I could go on, but that will account for a lot of money.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 30, 2024 06:13 PM (ZOv7s)

151
Or better yet, Xi's bank accounts are hacked and the money goes to zero.
Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia)

Good idea!

Posted by: Zero at December 30, 2024 06:13 PM (63Dwl)

152 Eh, the Democrats will find their new Clinton. He will have to be as big a nobody as Clinton or Obama was but he (I say he becuz they're going to go super traditional on their next Clinton) will have to reject all of the following:
We hate America.
We hate white people.
We hate the Middle Class.
We hate the Working Class.
We believe men can become women and vice versa.
We want to cut your child's penis or breasts off.
We want a totally open border.
We want no meritocracy but instead simple racial, religious quotas.
We want gays grooming your children.
We want no punishment for criminals.
We believe that your job is expendable.
We believe in abortion at any time for any reason.
We reserve the right to riot and murder for our wishes, wants, and politics.

That's a loooooong fucking list to reject and not anger and alienate their insanely radicalized voters.

Not sure it is doable, but-

You'll know it's happening if suddenly some governor from some small state or maybe a senator starts using Bill Clinton's playbook.

His first step will be forming some interparty coalition named something like:
The Real Americans Coalition for Restoring the Real America.

Some bullshit like that.

Posted by: naturalfake at December 30, 2024 06:13 PM (iJfKG)

153 151
Or better yet, Xi's bank accounts are hacked and the money goes to zero.
Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia)

Good idea!

Posted by: Zero at December 30, 2024 06:13 PM (63Dwl)

But share a little with me, it's my idea...

Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at December 30, 2024 06:14 PM (ynpvh)

154
Our U.S. Navy has “insufficient gender experts?”
Posted by: SMOD at December 30, 2024 06:11 PM (mSfu2)

__________

Hegseth should, on Day One, fire every single officer, enlisted man, or DOD civilian not 100% committed to the sole purpose of the armed forces: the defense of the United States.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at December 30, 2024 06:14 PM (dxSpM)

155 Hudson had his moments though. Gotta respect that.

He was just short and didn't want to die on this rock. I think a lot of people on the Smart Military Blog agree with that sentiment.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 30, 2024 06:07 PM (ZOv7s)

Agreed. Cpl Hicks and Ripley got him re-focused and he went down fighting valiantly, taking a stack of xenomorphs with him. Hero in my book.

Posted by: Count de Monet at December 30, 2024 06:15 PM (Aqu9a)

156 >>I could go on, but that will account for a lot of money.

I'd be willing to bet we lose more in fighting the inevitable Lawsuits against DOGE than DOGE finds in this entire process.

And Social Security, Medicaid/MediCare and ObamaCare aren't going to affected by the cuts you are predicting.

Posted by: garrett at December 30, 2024 06:15 PM (UE/EX)

157 I’m saying the national debt is unsustainable. (To say nothing of all of the other debt our country is awash in.)
Posted by: Speaker Mike Johnson at December 30, 2024 06:08 PM (h7lhS)
---
So what? People act like defaults never happen. Actually, default is the default. And if you owe enough money, the creditors coming to you, begging for mercy.

Trump of all people understands this.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 30, 2024 06:10 PM

That's the old.....if you owe the bank $1,000 and can't pay it back you are in trouble. If you owe the bank $1,000,000 and can't pay it back the bank is in trouble.

The problem with that philosophy in regards to the US debt is there is no bank. In a default of the US debt the entire country and probably the rest of the world spirals into abyss not unlike Weimar Germany in the 1930s.

Posted by: Mister Scott (Formerly GWS) at December 30, 2024 06:15 PM (Rcnd3)

158 152
...

His first step will be forming some interparty coalition named something like:
The Real Americans Coalition for Restoring the Real America.

Some bullshit like that.

Posted by: naturalfake at December 30, 2024 06:13 PM (iJfKG)

RACRRA...Hmmm. Sounds like someone wants to start a game of pool...

Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at December 30, 2024 06:16 PM (ynpvh)

159 NOOD Hits

Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at December 30, 2024 06:17 PM (ynpvh)

160 >>> That's not really true. Marxism is Dracula; you can stake it in the heart, but it will always arise from the grave again

There's a deep rot now at the core of every institution. That was the left's great triumph. It will take generations repair if at all and will require in many cases razing things down to their foundation.

Posted by: banana Dream at December 30, 2024 06:17 PM (Y6IkP)

161 TBH I don't expect DOGE or Trump in general to really cut spending. There isn't enough backing for real spending changes to things like SS.

But I do want to see every bit of spending that arguably benefits the left zero'd out. People will vote you out if you talk about cutting SS. If you stop spending money on CPB or hell NIH you aren't losing any votes

Posted by: 18-1 at December 30, 2024 06:17 PM (oZhjI)

162 I'd be willing to bet we lose more in fighting the inevitable Lawsuits against DOGE than DOGE finds in this entire process.

And Social Security, Medicaid/MediCare and ObamaCare aren't going to affected by the cuts you are predicting.

Posted by: garrett at December 30, 2024 06:15 PM (UE/EX)

I'm pretty sure DOGE is already DOA.

They insulted people's sportsball. Which matters more than anything.

Posted by: BurtTC at December 30, 2024 06:17 PM (wlL4v)

163 Or better yet, Xi's bank accounts are hacked and the money goes to zero.
Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia)

Good idea!

Posted by: Zero at December 30, 2024 06:13 PM (63Dwl)

But share a little with me, it's my idea...
Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at December 30, 2024 06:14 PM (ynpvh)

Finder's Fee!

Posted by: Count de Monet at December 30, 2024 06:17 PM (Aqu9a)

164 There is a nood, and is is close tag deficient.

https://acecomments.mu.nu/?post=412985

Posted by: BifBewalski at December 30, 2024 06:17 PM (MsrgL)

165 You know who is even more despondent?

The NeverTrump.

Their entire grift depended upon a ready audience of the left.
Selling them the flim-flam fakery of small-word essays in a thousand variations of "The Conservative Case for [liberal policy]."
It was really a limited audience highly dependent upon a very select few.

It's like that joke about the USDA employee seeing his colleague crying in the hallway. "What's the matter?" he asks. "My farmer died!" he responds.

Posted by: People's Hippo Voice at December 30, 2024 06:17 PM (0awbi)

166 The problem with that philosophy in regards to the US debt is there is no bank. In a default of the US debt the entire country and probably the rest of the world spirals into abyss not unlike Weimar Germany in the 1930s.
Posted by: Mister Scott (Formerly GWS) at December 30, 2024 06:15 PM (Rcnd3)

Also, they’ll never default. It’s impossible. They’ll just keep devaluing the currency until the USD breaks.

Posted by: Speaker Mike Johnson at December 30, 2024 06:18 PM (h7lhS)

167 It's bigger than "the Left" although they're a large part of it.

It's The Borg: the unholy alliance of BigGov, Academia, Media and co-opted companies. They're in retreat and disarray, but often still entrenched. They can still cause lots of damage.

Posted by: Ignoramus at December 30, 2024 06:18 PM (Gqoy+)

168 "eliminate all DEI employees"

What really bothers me is that the obvious solutions are complete fantasy.

Posted by: pawn, RIP Vic at December 30, 2024 06:18 PM (QB+5g)

169 If Trump wants to start the boat rocking, I suggest floating the notion of a Year Long Tax Holiday for US Citizens and Corps.

If running a debt at the current levels is ok, well then... let's play ball.

Posted by: garrett at December 30, 2024 06:19 PM (UE/EX)

170 but the GOP Congress did actually balance the budget and even produced a surplus.
—-

Sure, Jan. USG has run deficits since 1958

The balance sheet looked better, sort of, because they refinanced the entire government debt portfolio to short term T bills.

The whole shootin’ match rolls over every 4 years now. 30 Trillion. LOL

They can save the dollar, maybe, or save the markets. They can’t save both.

Posted by: Common Tater at December 30, 2024 06:19 PM (q0SzP)

171
Agreed. Cpl Hicks and Ripley got him re-focused and he went down fighting valiantly, taking a stack of xenomorphs with him. Hero in my book.
Posted by: Count de Monet
---

So, this thread, all this back and forth is about a movie.
I thought so.

Posted by: Braenyard - some Absent Friends are more equal than others _ at December 30, 2024 06:19 PM (Dng1D)

172 Until they start wracking bureaucracy programs it isn't going to end.

Posted by: Skip at December 30, 2024 06:20 PM (fwDg9)

173 167 It's bigger than "the Left" although they're a large part of it.

It's The Borg: the unholy alliance of BigGov, Academia, Media and co-opted companies. They're in retreat and disarray, but often still entrenched. They can still cause lots of damage.
Posted by: Ignoramus
---

and Banks

Posted by: Braenyard - some Absent Friends are more equal than others _ at December 30, 2024 06:21 PM (Dng1D)

174 My conclusion after force-reading that first article: Ross Barkan is a pompous ass who sniffs his own farts.'

I seem to remember his name being mentioned by the Brattleboro Fart tubing project. Looks like it helped!

Posted by: Someday I'll choose a nick and stick with it. Today is not that day! Dangerous Radical at December 30, 2024 06:23 PM (89Sog)

175 " ... via a quickie rebrand."

Yes. Of Course. The progressives haven't suddenly lost their lust for power. They're just gonna sit back and have a cigarette break. And then get ready for the next time when their opposition gets squishy and a new generation can be treated to "the true meaning of caring".

Posted by: Pussy Galore at December 30, 2024 06:25 PM (MB784)

176 Trump won because too many people were getting crushed by Inflation and were seeing Illegals up close. For them, it isn't academic they way it is for most who post here.

They got off their asses and voted because Trump showed them an alternative to the D party that evicted them and the GOPe that abhor them.

It's a 60% coalition. Governing well will be Trump's best revenge. If he does he'll build on this coalition and pass the baton to Vance of DeSantis or whoever.

Posted by: Ignoramus at December 30, 2024 06:29 PM (Gqoy+)

177 It is our heritage that we continue the struggle of our predecessors to ensure our Republic endures, in whatever fashion.

Posted by: IRONGRAMPA at December 30, 2024 06:36 PM (hKoQL)

178 Going all the way back to Obama: the Lib-Proggs are CERTAIN that they are perfect, their plans are
perfect, their implementation is perfect, etc etc.

The ONLY problem is that we dolts in FlyOverLand are too stupid to understand their brilliance. Our Betters have only one problem, and that's how to explain their 27th-dimensional chess moves to the hoi-polloi whose lives they are 'improving'.

So - NO; they don't have to "reflect on what they
did wrong". They just have to figure out how to use simple-enough words to make their magnificence
comprehensible to us near-simians whose votes they need.

Posted by: Doo-Dah, Doo-Dah at December 30, 2024 07:17 PM (rBQrx)

179 People may be slow to realize the lies of the Left but they realize after awhile that they are lies and only lies. The Left's solutions only create worse problems. Obamacare gave us skyrocketing health insurance costs. Green energy have us raising energy costs. DEI gave us racist quotas. Welfare and equity gave us sky high inflation. Social justice gave us women burning in subways; rampant crime, mass murder.

But the Left changes like a vampire and unless staked through the heart will reappear to infect other victims. And once infected you are doomed. Look at Cuba, Columbia, Venezuela, South Africa, etc.

Posted by: TJ Jackson at December 30, 2024 11:08 PM (bXvrr)

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