Yesterday I watched the GOP debate till 3 am (my rundown here) and after getting my 1999 LeSabre inspected by a kid younger than the car and having lunch with DaWife got home with just enough time to watch the Tucker Carlson interview with Trump. Here are my thoughts:
The opening question concerning skipping the debate was a tad obvious but what was less obvious and less expected was his question about the decline of TV in general. This is a subject that has large cultural significance and it reminds one that Trump was very popular on TV for many years and is a expert on the subject. His commentary there had little to do with the election 2024 but was very fascinating concerning how the medium works.
It didn’t take long for me to conclude that Trump was exactly right strategically in skipping the debate and doing this interview instead. Not only for the sake of avoiding questions and attacks that he might not want to deal with but because of how comfortable he was in the format. I thought it was much better than a rally speech in the sense that he was in the position to expand on some subject and give some excellent insights on several subjects. It’s an appealing side of Trump that he would be wise to use more often.
I think the single biggest moment from the interview was Trump explaining to Tucker why the the indictments have not hurt and in fact have helped his poll ratings, noting that “The American people get it”. One does not have to have Trump as their first choice for the nomination to notice that the prosecutions of him are prosecution, particularly compared to how the Biden’s are treated.
A close second was his line about the Biden admin going after gas stoves etc etc. The “Let people buy everything.” should be adopted by every GOP candidate running for any national office there is. It’s a landslide maker that perfectly encapsulates the frustration folks have with the appliance Nazis out there
If I had to name the single biggest contrast between this interview and the debate it’s that Tucker gave Trump had a chance to hit Biden in detail while the Fox team seemed to do their best to shield him. Trump went in heavy on the corruption of the Biden while the GOP candidates strained to get in a few words on a subject ignored by the hosts.
His case against Biden and his noting of little things that give the game away were very significant and that’s why I suspect there is no way Joe Biden will debate him or any GOP candidate in a general election race.
All in all I think it was a good exercise for Trump but about 5 minutes after it was done something hit me square in the face. Tucker Carlson gave him time to answer and the conversation was good but there were two words that I didn’t recall hearing in those 45 minutes:
“COVID” and “FAUCI”
It would seem inconceivable to me that a subject that took up a full quarter of his term as president was ignored by Tucker Carlson and didn’t rate a question. I suspect this was not an accident and might have even been a condition of the him getting the interview.
I found the omission glaring because sooner or later he’s going to have to answer questions on that subject and I also suspect it’s one of the reasons why the administration would prefer to run against Trump because neither COVID nor Fauci are subjects that the left in general and Joe Biden in particular want to talk about and as long as Trump is the guy he’s running against he won’t have to .
Update: Played the interview again for DaWife and she says she heard Trump say the word COVID in reference to Biden having an excuse to stay in the basement so I stand corrected but again there was no conversation about the COVID response of the Trump administration
All in all I’d still say it was a good job by and for Trump and a smart move, but I think in the end he ends up in a GOP debate, perhaps not the next one or the one after that but when there are only two or three opponents left I don’t think the “duck and cover” will work in the long term for him, but we will see.
Yesterday I had expected to be home in time to watch the GOP debate live because thanks to BidenomicsTM there has not been enough work at work for full 8 hour days but as two people were on vacation and two more had left finding other jobs I ended up working a full shift and getting home at 1:00 am after dropping off my car at the garage for a pre-inspection checkup didn’t get to see the GOP debate till 1:05 which meant a long night and given the repairs and inspection this morning for my 1999 LeSabre (it passed) I’ve not had time to comment till now.
The first thing that jumped out at me was Nikki Haley who much to my surprise sounded like the credible presidential candidate and make several excellent points, particularly on the fact that there was absolutely no chance of passing a national abortion ban. She seemed ready to showcase herself as a credible alternative to Donald Trump and without a question accomplished that mission. The proof will be if Trump comes after her.
There was a lot of speculation that everyone would be targeting Ron DeSantis but that wasn’t the case. DeSantis made his points very well and seemed to spend his time focusing on the failures of the Biden administration (something that it seemed to me the moderators were doing all they could to avoid dealing with that subject). While Haley was the star there is no question DeSantis did what he wanted to do which was make the case that he had produced and would continue to do so. Ed Morrissey put it best:
We're at the end of the debate; just final summations now. I'm very stunned that no one really went after DeSantis; he did a good job tonight being above the fray of the other fights as a result.
This reality is likely why the Trump campaign has apparently invested plenty of time claiming this was all bad news for the Florida governor. The facts alas don’t match with that rethoric.
In terms of entertainment Chris Christie was the primary source of it spending all his time throwing punches at Ramaswamy as there was no Trump to attack while occasionally touting his record as a conservative governing a deep blue state (a record that wasn’t as bad as people remember it to be) Ramaswamy handled it well and make me smile by forthrightly calling climate change BS and speaking truths concerning Ukraine and other subjects that were being dodged. I thought he acquitted himself well.
Most of the rest of the field was invisible, Tim Scott particularly, although he did better than Hutchinson & Bergum who showed they didn’t belong on that stage. As for Mike Pence he kept talking about the achievements of the Trump/Pence admin which is a legit move and was rather adamant that despite the Biden admin making a point to pass a law preventing a VP to reject electors after the fact (a point he never mentioned btw) he in his opinion had no authority to reject the electors in 2020. I think he’s dead wrong but I also think he actually believes he believes that
Finally several quick thoughts:
I think the debate moderation demonstrated little difference between Fox & the rest of the MSM
It’s apparently still possible to have an actual debate about substance, at least without Trump
The whole Trump “counter programing” plan really doesn’t work when in a streaming era
It seemed to me Youtube did all it could to steer people to the spin rather than the debate
When the first round of debate cuts come half of those candidates should be gone
I’ve yet to watch the Trump interview I’ll do so tonight when I get home from work
I suspect Trump will reverse his no debate position once the field is down to 3 or 4 but we’ll see
Apparently Hurricane Hillary caused flooding at Dodger Stadium an excellent reminder that while God promised not to end the world by flood he gave no such assurances for Chavez Ravine.
Might I suggest that LA operate a program to make sure there are at least 10 faithful devout Catholics in the city at all times (Any Biden or Pelosi doesn’t count).
The Diocese of Worcester, which is about 45 miles west of Boston, announced last week that Bishop Robert McManus earlier this summer approved a policy titled “Catholic Education and the Human Person” for all schools under its jurisdiction starting this fall.
The policy states: “Pope Francis has repeatedly stressed the importance of a proper understanding of our sexuality, warning of the challenge posed by ‘the various forms of an ideology of gender that denies the difference and reciprocity in nature of a man and a woman and envisages a society without sexual differences.’” …
Students under the policy are expected to act according to their biological sex, including in school sports, uniforms and locker rooms.
He’s going to catch hell here in Massachusetts but he’ll help avoid hell both for himself and those under his charge.
Donald Trump has announced that he will not just be skipping one debate but won’t be attending ANY debates with his GOP rivals.
While many say this is a sound decision as he will not be challenged on things like Fauci (which DeSantis et/al will eat him alive on) the problem here is that if he doesn’t absolutely wipe out his opponents fast then any decision to debate later will look like desperation.
Trump has a pretty good record as president and he should be spending every single day comparing the Trump years to the Biden years. I think making that point bluntly on stage with the rest of the GOP candidates on stage is a winner for him.
If even half of what is being said about the Ukrainian war on the Tucker Carlson show is true the disaster that this war is going to produce is horrifying.
This is yet another cost of the stolen election in the US. If this was Trump’s 2nd term Russia would not be in Ukraine today, but then again lots of elites would not have the graft they have made off of this war.
Cowardice in not stopping the steal has incredible costs and will continue to cost more.
It has taken less than a week for the governor of Hawaii to blame the fires in Maui on climate change.
What’s really amazing about this is that compared to Biden words in Maui he sounds sane.
But the craziest thing about it all is that I suspect when November 2024 comes along Hawaii will still vote for the left because they’re rather risk being burned out of house and home than vote for a republican or even worse a conservative.
Thus the word of the LORD came to me: Son of man, I have appointed you a watchman for the house of Israel. When you hear a word from my mouth, you shall warn them for me. If I say to the wicked man, You shall surely die; and you do not warn him or speak out to dissuade him from his wicked conduct so that he may live: that wicked man shall die for his sin, but I will hold you responsible for his death. If, on the other hand, you have warned the wicked man, yet he has not turned away from his evil nor from his wicked conduct, then he shall die for his sin, but you shall save your life.
Ezekiel 3:17-19
One the most important pf all the virtues is courage, without courage no other virtue can exist. Courage manifests itself in many ways but one of the least appreciated but most important is to see things as they are and be willing to say aloud the truth, even if it’s a painful truth that you wish wasn’t so.
Well it’s time to speak a painful truth to supporters of President Donald Trump.
Let me start by stipulating the following
Donald Trump is one of the best presidents we have ever had. By the ranking I made the day Biden came in Trump is in the top four presidents who have ever held the office. Since that day revelations on Fauci & COVID bring his rating down but the revelations of the degree that he was was undermined from within make his accomplishments even more impressive so at of now it’s a wash.
I have made it clear for a while that I believe election 2020 was stolen. To me this is confirmed by
The stops of the counts in several states
The efforts to hinder and/or stop examination of ballots and counts in question
The actions to censor those who said it was stolen so
The persecution of both Donald Trump and those who support him by this administration and by this justice department and FBI is both a national and an international disgrace.
Let me also stipulate that when it comes to the candidates I see Trump and DeSantis the way I would look at Ted Williams and Stan Musial in picking a starting left fielder for a team:
One can see this, acknowledge this and even assert, as I do, that the 2020 election was literally stolen from him, and still decide that DeSantis is the better choice in 2024. That’ doesn’t mean that Trump is a bad choice it just means that you think DeSantis is a better one.at this time.
On the other hand if you look at the data, again from the economic numbers to the accomplishments and conclude that Ron DeSantis is not only the most effective and successful GOP governor currently in office but that he is likely the best GOP governor that we’ve seen in the 21st century and I don’t think it’s close.
One can see this, acknowledge this and even assert that he would make an excellent president and still decide that Donald Trump is the better choice for 2024. That doesn’t mean DeSantis is a bad choice, it just means you think Trump is a better one at this time.
My purpose is to defeat the Democrat agenda by electing a republican to the white house in 2024 and it is not to re-elect and avenge or defeat and humiliate President Donald J Trump.
If I can defeat the Democrat Agenda by embracing and nominating Donald Trump as the GOP candidate in 2024 I will do it.
If I can defeat the Democrat Agenda by rejecting Donald Trump and nominating someone as the GOP candidate else I will do it.
and if I can defeat the Democrat Agenda by having a long primary with a drag out fight between Trump and DeSantis or another candidate and then standing by the winner who survives the test for the nomination whoever he or she is I will do that too.
That is how this election should be looked at by any person who wants the Democrats stopped, any conservative who decides to sit out the election if Trump is the nominee or decides to sit out the election if Trump is NOT the nominee is going to end up with the Democrat agenda that they rightly deserve and will have the added pleasure of knowing that they inflicted it upon themselves.
You have been warned.
With all those things stipulated the time has come for me to endorse Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida both for the GOP nomination and for President of the United States
I have been leaning toward Ron DeSantis for a while, his record of acomplishments in Florida doesn’t need to be reiterated but for the record:
He was one of the first governors to push back at the foolish COVID rules
He has fought the good fight on school reform and education reform
He has fought back on the culture wars protecting children
He has fought back against Woke corporations like Disney one of the most influential donors in the state when everyone (including Trump) advised against it AND WON!
He has fought back on illegal immigration and exposed the left’s false compassion with things like the plane to Martha’s Vineyard and the various Bus Trips.
He has fought back against every media narrative that has been used against him.
He has refused to be intimidated by anyone
Despite incredible pushback he pushed forward voting reforms that made many of the tactics that the left has used to steal elections, tactics that were once common in parts of Florida, practically obsolete.
And just this week he replaced a Soros DA who refused to enforce the law
All of these are positive reasons to endorse him but I’ve held back because I’ve wanted to see how he handles himself on the national stage both in dealing with the incessant attacks from the Trump camp and from the MSM. The national stage is different than a state stage and until I was sure he could stand up under attacks at least as well as Trump I thought I should hold off making a final decision between him and Trump, but something happened last Tuesday , something that reminded me of what I saw at the rise of Scott Brown. Something that Trump supporters won’t like, but need to acknowledge as an unpleasant reality.
I headed off to my mechanic last week to schedule a day for my 1999 Buick LeSabre. He is a one man operation who has been in place for decades with a large and loyal blue collar clientele. He talks to everyone and everyone talks to him.
While I was there the subject of the economy came up. We both bemoaned how things were [In fact while I was tying this paragraph I got a call that a fellow I was giving a lift to work was just laid off.] His other customers say the same. Then he dropped what was a bombshell to me.
We talked about the upcoming election and he told me in no uncertain terms that many of the blue collar voters who frequent the place, voters who had voted for Trump before have told him in no uncertain terms that they were sick of him and would not vote for him, PERIOD. These were folks who didn’t like Biden and commiserated with him at the state of the country under him but still said if Trump was the nominee he doesn’t get their vote. He argued with these folks, bluntly asking: “You mean you’d rather the country go to hell than vote for Trump?” To a man their answer was “Yes”
Again, these were blue collar people, the type of people who elected Scott Brown in 2010, people who supported Trump in the past, people who hated Biden and what he had done to the country but decided they hated Trump or perhaps the circus that comes with him even more.
We talked about how this was crazy, how this was self destructive and that they were screwing themselves but in the end our arguments meant nothing because for these people feelings and emotion trumps reality.
And that when it hit me, if a percentage of the blue collar folks we need to win are saying that in this small auto repair shop I suspect it is being said (or left unsaid) all over the nation.
And thus I return to the bottom line for 2024.
The goal is to win, without the votes of people like this in states that aren’t already deep red we don’t win.
Yeah it’s unfair how Trump has been treated, yes it’s unfair that the last election was stolen from us, yes he did a great job as president and his list of accomplishments are something to sing about, it’s unfair that we have to operate under these circumstances, and it’s unfair that we have to take irrational hatred into consideration when making a choice, but you know what, we’re conservatives and we know Life Isn’t Fair.
We don’t need to like or be liked by these irrational people, we don’t need these people to agree with us, but if we want to win we DO need these people to vote with us come election day 2024.
Say goodbye to the SCOTUS 6-3 rulings that have hampered the left (including Dobbs) because once a 2nd Biden admin replaces an Alito or a Thomas you can bet your bottom dollar John Roberts will start voting with the left again faster than you can say “old yellowstain”.
Say goodbye to any chance of the border being made secure.
And say goodbye to the restoration of equal justice under the law because if you think the FBI, Justice Department and various agencies are persecuting conservatives for their views now, imagine how it will be when they see there are not only no consequences for doing so but are backed up by a newly re-elected Biden Admin.
And let’s be blunt about another fact of life: Where does Donald Trump expand his vote count over 2024 with? What voter will he get this time that he didn’t get the last time around?
As I’ve already noted Ron DeSantis has more than proven himself as an excellent conservative choice, both on the social and the fiscal conservative front. Not only will he draw conservative votes but because he fought back against Fauci and Biden he can expand his base with those hurt by those decision, something that Trump who kept Fauci on the payroll and pushed the fast-tracking of the vaccines AND did so with the carrot of no liability can’t. In fact Trump history with the vaccine is something that every single GOP candidate for federal office will be hit with if he is the nominee. That’s going to cost us seats nationwide that a DeSantis nomination will not.
The single best argument against Donald Trump as the GOP nominee
Bottom line DeSantis draws votes that Trump can’t and doesn’t lose votes suffering from Trump fatigue and proved this by turning his squeaker election the first time around into a landslide, a landslide that came not despite his strong conservative record but BECAUSE OF IT. No matter how much you might dislike those voters who reject Trump this ability to expand one’s electorate is in fact a feature, not a bug but not as big of a feature as the fact that the left (and the Lincoln Project crowd) are scared to death of him.
We’re conservative we deal with facts. These are the facts, and these facts need to be put before GOP voters NOW before the voting begins and before all the lesser candidates dogpile on DeSantis which for most if them is the only reason they are in the race at all. There is no time to wait on this.
So for all these reasons, I Pete DaTechGuy now officially endorse Ron DeSantis for the GOP nomination and throw this blog behind his campaign and if you want us to win in 2024 I urge you to join me in doing so. This puts me on the opposite side of people I like, such as Don Surber who literally wrote the books on Trump and sites like Citizen Free Press who are invaluable conservative reads.
I suspect this will lose the blog more than a few fans and will generate cries of “RINO!” which is ironic given I’m the guy who in 2016 re-endorsed Trump right after the Billy Bush take came out when everyone and I mean everyone was running for the hills. It might even cost us a bit from the already depleted Tip Jar but this is no time to worry about that, I want us to win and the reality is what it is and the time to say this is NOW when it can make a difference and at a time when people are pushing the “campaign trouble” narrative it a case that needs making and if this advice isn’t taken then at least i’ll know that if the worst does come it will not be because I was silent.
You have been warned.
Closing thought: I’m convinced that if we nominate Donald Trump we will lose but if my advice is ignored and he wins the votes to be the nominee I will support him in the general election and make the best possible arguments for Trump (there is no lack of good arguments for his re-election) to convince those Blue collar folks to abandon their irrational hatred and vote for him, even though I think said effort is doomed to failure. After all with God all things are possible.
Important note: This is my own endorsement, I have not consulted any of my writers on this and it’s very possible that one or more or even all of them will disagree with me. They are welcome to do so and if they want to make the case that I am wrong here at the blog, they are welcome to do so as well.
Update: It’s been a while since my last Instalance. Thanks Glenn. Yup we’re still here after 15 years lost domain and banned youtube account not withstanding. Take a peek and see that the writers and I are still at it. You can find my old Youtube stuff at Rumble here and if you still like what you see after all these years please consider hitting DaTipJar as the Biden economy has not been so good to the blog and my employer is cutting hours.
Update 2: I was looking at the comments at Instapundit and it seems a lot of people there are taking my endorsement of DeSantis about as well as YouTube took me saying election 2020 was stolen.
Update 3: Two things:
in update 2 I meant to say “election 2020, not 2022 fixed
I work Sundays from 3:30 to midnight and have no net access I also moderate all comments so if you post a comment after 2:30 PM EST I won’t even see it till about 1 AM.
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