Posts Tagged ‘election 2024’

DeSantis Trump and the Fauci Card

Posted: February 20, 2023 by datechguy in election 2024
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Clarissa Saunders: Diz, Don Quixote with bill will get to his feet in a minute and speak two important words: “Willet Creek”. When that happens, the sliver knight will fall off his tightrope and puss will jump outta his boots.

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington 1939

In a campaign with a lot of memorable moments one moment during the 2016 campaign stood out to me.

It happened on May 16th 2016 on Morning Joe, the Panel was discussing Trump and Women and the attacks the Clinton campaign was making on him and they turned to Donny Deutch who said something that ended the conversation quickly:

Here’s the tennis game, Donald Trump kissed a woman in a bathing suit. Trump hits back: Tell me about the president’s relationship with a guy named Jeffrey Epstein. That’s your tennis match.

I was watching when he said those critical words and wrote about the reaction:

two things become immediately clear.

Everybody at the Table knows who Jeffery Epstein is, and what the story is

Nobody at the table wanted to talk about it

And elaborated further:

Mind you Trump hasn’t even bothered to say a word about Epstein yet and the table does its best to spin this in a different direction, but the very fact that Trump is who is forced MSNBC to deal with the story even if most of dealing with it was talking about Trump’s willingness to go there.

Take a look at the set of dejected faces on that video, remember those faces are being broadcast on MSNBC to liberal viewers who would never do a web search of the words “Jeffery Epstein + Bill Clinton”

This was written in May of 2016 when Jeffrey was still free as a bird and the thought of not killing himself wasn’t even in his mind.

Bottom line the mere mention of Epstein was something the left/media was desperate to avoid during that campaign.

And that brings us to election 2024 and Trump vs DeSantis.

For move than half a decade the MSM/Left has tried to link Donald Trump to something remotely Epsteinish and despite their best efforts they have failed miserably. Nor do I expect Ron DeSantis to join in such an effort if he decides to run, but while there is nothing Epstein like in his past to use against Donald Trump there is a name, known to all Americans that Ron DeSantis can deploy at any time if he wants to give Donald Trump fits in a GOP primary:

That name is Anthony Fauci

During the COVID crisis Donald Trump repeatedly deferred to Anthony Fauci rather than firing him. He allowed Fauci to advance policies that hurt the American public both physically and psycologically. We as a nation are still recovering and counting the costs of the reign of terror that Anthony Fauci let loose upon us with little restraint from the President. It was the single most critical mistate of his four years in office.

Now in fairness this was to be expected, at least early on. Donald Trump grew up in an era where Doctor’s were respected, where the Hippocratic Oath still emphasized “Do no Harm” and the science of virus and medicine was not something that was within Trump wide range of expertise. It is possible, even probable that Donald Trump could not picture a medical Doctor deceiving the public during a time of crisis to advance an agenda.

There are a ton of people, particularly in the medical field who lost their jobs because of the policies that Anthony Fauci pushed. There are people who have lost loved ones due to the policies that Anthony Fauci pushed.

It would take very little effort for Ron DeSantis to link Trump and Fauci and the Donald knows that. It’s no coincidence that he no longer pushes the COVID Vaccine at rallies as he discovered quickly.

To say this would be disaster for Trump in the primaries is the understatement of the year, this is why the attempt to play hardball with DeSantis is at best foolish and at worst reckless.

So what should Trump DO about a potential DeSantis run? Well I have a thought on that but that’s for another time.

Donald Trump is either Getting Bad Advice or Ignoring Good Advice in DeSantis Attacks

Posted: February 19, 2023 by datechguy in election 2024, elections, elections, politics, primaries
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The first primaries and caucus’ for the 2024 presidential election are just under a year away but Donald Trump is wasting no time going after who would be his strongest potential rival for the GOP nomination, the very popular and successful governor of Florida Ron DeSantis.

For the last couple of week’s both Donald Trump himself and Team Trump have thrown mud everything from claiming DeSantis was a big fan of lockdowns (he wasn’t) to claiming George Soros endorsed him (he didn’t). None of this is a surprise, Donald Trump has always fought like a Democrat against potential rivals/ You might recall he used similar tactics against Ted Cruz in the primaries and frankly went so far that I had to think long and hard before endorsing him before the GOP primary. You might also recall that there was a big fuss concerning Ted Cruz’s speech at the convention because of these tactics.

In the end Cruz ended up supporting him and when Trump, to a lot of people’s surprise and delight, turned into not only the most conservative but the most successful president of the 21st century we all cheered. It was however his failure to address the issue of voter fraud (something I warned him about five days after the 2016 election) that cost him him re-election in 2020.

Now comes another GOP primary and the Democrats who were happy to promote him in 2016 are again convinced that Trump is their best shot in 2024 to keep power after putting the country through two of the hardest years it’s faced when not fighting a world war (I don’t count Ukraine as US troops are not actively fighting on the ground). Furthermore as Demonstrated by their love affair with Mitt Romney they will never fail to promote the message of any member of the GOP who targets his own party.

So Trump has turned to attacking DeSantis and the Trump hating press/left have been happy to repeat these attacks (What? You thought Meta/Facebook/Instagram let Trump back in because they were scared of the GOP congress? Please!) and will continue to give him such a free reign as long as DeSantis who they fear, is in the crosshairs. Th consistant with DaTechGuy’s 1st Law of Media Outrag with states:

The level of Outrage or interest of the media and their allies on the left concerning any insult or prevarication concerning a person or thing will routinely be equal to the inverse of the degree of the political distance between said media / leftists and and the target of said insult or prevarication at the time it is made.

The question is however: “Does this help or hinder Donald Trump to get the GOP nomination?” In My Opinion it does not for several reasons:

  • DeSantis has been visibly fighting the media/left since the day he was elected
  • He has been public enemy #1 for the left, the woke and the groomers in the press
  • He has managed very public victories such as the one over Disney advancing conservative cause.
  • People keep pouring into his state fleeing from the blue states
  • DeSantis who had won his first election by a squeaker won re-election by a landslide in a year when the rest of the GOP fizzled

and last but not least:

  • Not only are these charges demonstrably false GOP partisans, even those who prefer Trump KNOW they are false

Even worse for Trump DeSantis has taken the exact right tactic to counter said attacks.

  • Pointing to his work
  • Hitting Joe Biden
  • Declining to attack other republicans

Or to put it simply he’s not giving Trump’s attacks the time of day.

Now Donald Trump, despite his vigor is an old man and one thing that’s almost axiomatic is you aren’t going to get a man over 70 to change his nature. If in his gut he thinks this is the way to go it will take a lot of convincing to get him to change course.

All this adds up to a tactic that is not going anywhere nor is likely to go anywhere and even worse makes Trump vulnerable to a simple counter-attack that DeSantas hasn’t used yet, but that’s another post.

Williams vs Musial in Left as Trump vs DeSantis as the Nominee

Posted: February 7, 2023 by datechguy in baseball, elections, politics, Uncategorized
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In the 1985 edition of the Bill James Historical Baseball abstract James ranks the best players at each position based on both “Peak Value” (How they played at their peak) and “Career Value” (How they played over their career). At the position of left field James Ranked Stan Musial as the #1 of all time with Ted Williams 2nd. By the 2001 edition of the book which didn’t have the Peak vs Career editions he had flipped the pair based on his revised win shares formula but back in 1985 he made this argument concerning his choice:

Look I am not saying anything at all negative about Ted Williams. The further we go into the analysis of batting statistics the closer we come to being forced to accept the conclusion that Williams, not Babe Ruth, was the greatest hitter who ever lived. I think he was the second greatest left fielder who ever lived. That’s not critizism.

But if I had to choose between the two of them I’d take Musial in left field, Musial on the basepaths, Musial in the clubhouse and Williams only with the wood in his hands. And Stan Musial could hit a little too.

This is actually one of my pet peeves. I get sick of hearing people say on talk radio, “Aaron Rogers sucks, when talking about Brady or or Lebron sucks when talking about Jordan. One can acknowledge that Brady is better than Rogers or Jordan is better than James without deciding the other stinks.

And that takes us to Trump vs DeSantis.

In one sense this conversation is premature as Ron DeSantis hasn’t announced that he’s running but I’m getting really sick of the “DeSantis sucks” stuff coming out of the Trump camp and the “Trump sucks” stuff coming out of some republicans.

If you look at the data, from the economic numbers to the accomplishments one had to conclude that not only was Donald Trump the best and most effective president of the 21st century so far, but you can make a credible argument that he was superior to Ronald Reagan and the best GOP president since Teddy Roosevelt who I think is the most compatible president to Donald Trump.

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.

I supported Rick Santorum in 2012, in 2016 I supported Ted Cruz over Santorum, not because I thought Santorum was bad but because I thought Ted Cruz was a better choice at the time.

I will happily support either Trump or DeSantis as the GOP nominee but let’s not pretend that either one of them is a bad choice, and let’s stop hitting either as if they are.

Oh and if you claim to be a conservative and say you won’t vote for Trump or DeSantis over a Biden, Harris, Newsom or an Obama then please don’t waste my time with your opinion because you’re no conservative.

If Dianne Feinstein is suffering from cognitive decline and is unfit to serve, then why she still a senator?

Posted: January 29, 2023 by John Ruberry in congress, elections, News/opinion, opinion/news, politics
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Feinstein official Senate photo, retrieved from her website on January 29, 2023

By John Ruberry

Nearly overlooked earlier this month because of the drawn-out vote for speaker of the House was the breaking of seven decades of precedent in the upper chamber of Congress in the election for largely ceremonial post of president pro tempore of the Senate. Largely ceremonial only up to a point, that is. The holder of that position is third-in-line in presidential succession. Every president pro tempore elected since 1949 had been the longest-serving senator from the majority party. The dean of the Senate is 89-year-old Dianne Feinstein, she has been representing California since 1992. But Patty Murray of Washington, who is a relatively spry 72, was elected president pro tempore, which ups her salary a bit and earns her a security detail.

Feinstein reportedly declined to run for president pro tempore.

Concerns about Feinstein’s mental acuity go back to 2020, when she praised then-Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Lindsay Graham (R-SC) when the confirmation hearings for Amy Coney Barrett concluded. “This has been one of the best set of hearings that I’ve participated in,” she told Graham before hugging him, “I want to thank you for your fairness.” 

Personally, I think Graham did a decent job during those hearings, but Feinstein overlooked–or should I say she couldn’t remember–that during the Donald Trump presidency it was the duty, in the eyes of the Democrats’ hard-left base, for every Democratic member of Congress to RESIST Trump and the Republicans.

Shortly afterwards, Feinstein stepped down as the ranking Democrat of the Judiciary Committee.

Last spring, her hometown newspaper, the San Francisco Chronicle, spoke to members of the House of Representatives and the Senate, as well as ex-Feinstein staffers, about her mental state. And all of them, anonymously, told the Chronicle that because of memory issues, Feinstein appears unable to serve as senator.

More bluntly, in my words, it looks like Feinstein can’t do her job.

“I have worked with her for a long time and long enough to know what she was like just a few years ago: always in command, always in charge, on top of the details, basically couldn’t resist a conversation where she was driving some bill or some idea. All of that is gone,” a California House Dem admitted to the Chronicle about Feinstein. “She was an intellectual and political force not that long ago, and that’s why my encounter with her was so jarring. Because there was just no trace of that.” 

The same article offered up this damning quote, “There’s a joke on the Hill, we’ve got a great junior senator in Alex Padilla and an experienced staff in Feinstein’s office,” a former staffer said.

Last year the New York Times described an experience that will be familiar to anyone who has witnessed a friend or relative suffering from cognitive decline.

One Democratic lawmaker who had an extended encounter with Ms. Feinstein in February said in an interview that the experience was akin to acting as a caregiver for a person in need of constant assistance. The lawmaker recalled having to reintroduce themself to the senator multiple times, helping her locate her purse repeatedly and answering the same set of basic, small-talk questions over and over again.

Tellingly, a visit to Feinstein’s Senate website offers up a photo of her that appears to be a couple of decades old. That’s the pic you see in this entry. Click here for a more recent photograph.

This month, two Democratic southern California members of the House, Katie Porter and Adam Schiff, announced they are running for Feinstein’s seat–her term expires in 2025. Schiff, who repeatedly lied about having evidence proving Trump-Russia collusion, claims he informed Feinstein of his intentions. Believe that if you want to. 

Other candidates are expected to declare their candidacy. Feinstein hasn’t said anything yet, but she’s expected to announce that she will not be running for reelection. 

Clearly, Feinstein should have resigned for health reasons at least three years ago. 

One way to minimize the chances of having senators–and House members–suffering from cognitive decline is to enact congressional term limits, even though that may mean amending the Constitution. Besides, serving in Congress should be a highlight of someone’s career–not the entire career.

Feinstein’s sad situation is not unique in Washington. Two Republicans who served with Feinstein, Strom Thurmond, who ended his 48 years in the Senate at 100, and Thad Cochran, who resigned after 39 years in the Senate, suffered cognitive challenges late in their careers, as well as one Democrat, Robert Byrd–he died in office when he was 92.

For five months in 2001, at the age of 98, Thurmond was president pro tempore. And when Byrd died, he was president pro tempore of the Senate. Hey, hats off to the Democrats for bucking tradition by electing Murray over Feinstein for that post.

Besides congressional term limits, America also needs smarter voters. Although by all accounts Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) is a healthy 89-year-old man. Last year he was just elected to his eighth term. Grassley is a former president pro-tempore.

Having wiser and less selfish members of Congress is probably too much to hope for.

Mental issues can burden younger persons too.

In Pennsylvania, 53-year-old Democrat John Fetterman, who suffered a stroke last year, successfully ran out the clock in his successful Senate election, despite speaking struggles in his few public appearances and a disastrous debate performance. 

Joe Biden turned 80 last year and he’s expected to run for reelection. Biden has had many mental miscues in his two years at president. But that’s a problem well worth another discussion.

Please don’t call me ageist. If heart ailments, cancer, accidents, or infectious diseases don’t conquer me first, I am certain that one day I will suffer from cognitive issues. 

UPDATE February 14: Today Feinstein announced that she won’t seek reelection. Call me ableist, agist, or whatever. But Feinstein should have quit at least two years ago. She can still resign.

John Ruberry regularly blogs at Marathon Pundit.

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