Ricochet is the best place on the internet to discuss the issues of the day, either through commenting on posts or writing your own for our active and dynamic community in a fully moderated environment. In addition, the Ricochet Audio Network offers over 40 original podcasts with new episodes released every day.
The Autopsy Begins
Fascist? What Fascist? There is No Fascist.
Thanks a lot, Kamala. Here we sit, just weeks away from the ascendance of Orange Hitler, the forever destruction of ‘Our Democracy’ and the end of the Republic, and the best you can manage is:
Earlier today, I spoke with President-elect Trump and congratulated him on his victory. I also told him that we will help him and his team with their transition and that we will engage in a peaceful transfer of power.
Want a detailed analysis of Tuesday’s red wave but don’t know whose take to take to the bank? Why not give a listen to the guy who boldly predicted the results? That’s right, our own Henry Olsen got it about as right as could be! So this week’s episode is an all-rant breakdown of who voted which way, why they went there, and what to expect from voters and the parties beyond 2024.
P.S. Henry’s off next week, but be sure to stay subscribed to Beyond the Polls (or hop on if you haven’t already), because we’re taking this podcast to 2025!
Israel Post-Election
I’m an American, and I’m probably pretty typically American in my America-centric perspective. I think we’re a uniquely great, albeit imperfect, country and a great force for good in the world, and I’m very glad that I was fortunate enough to be born here and not in some third-world hellhole or, say, France.
I have a soft spot for the Anglosphere (excluding Quebec, but that’s another story), and particularly for Britain and Australia, but no nation other than my own is quite as dear to me as Israel.
“The View” Cost Harris the Election
Despite the show’s raging Trump Derangement Syndrome and strident support of both Biden and Harris, the signature moment of the Harris campaign occurred on The View. During a sugar-coated interview, Harris was unable to muster a response to a simple question: “Would you have done something differently than President Biden?”
Let’s go to the videotape (go forward to about 1:10). In response to the request for something she’d have done differently she stumbled, hesitated, and declared, “There is not a thing that comes to mind.”
NY State is not all blue
I live in Orleans County, between Buffalo and Rochester. Here are the numbers from yesterday, from a truly excellent local news website, orleanshub.com:
Donald Trump won a commanding victory in Orleans County with 70 percent of the vote – 12,432 out of 17,780 ballots cast.
Trump’s Victory in Two Graphs
I’ve done some analysis on the exit polls, comparing the results of Trump/Harris 2024 with Trump/Biden 2020. I’ve come up with two graphs that you may find interesting.
Both graphs show Trump’s increased or decreased margin of victory for various groups, with a positive number indicating that Trump did better among that group, and a negative number indicating that he did worse. As an example, Trump’s margin of victory changed by -5% (i.e. it decreased) among white voters, who he won by a margin of 12% in 2024 (55%-43%) and won by a margin of 17% in 2020 (58%-41%)
DOJ to Drop Lawfare Cases?
Jack Smith is reportedly in discussions with the DOJ to drop the two federal lawfare cases against Trump. Less than 24 hours after Trump won, the cases are going away. What a coincidence! Could it be that they are no longer necessary, that they failed to serve their purpose, so there is no need to waste any more time on them?
Trump announced his candidacy for the 2024 nomination on November 15, 2022. Smith was appointed as special counsel on November 18, 2022. Three days later. What a coincidence!
The NPC VP: Naked and Afraid
Welcome back to my life everyone.
I just watched Harris’ concession speech and it seems to me that she is as relieved as the rest of us that she lost. Did you feel that too? There are some people, I think, that have this thing in them. People who are working on, but never completing, a novel. People who have done half of a PhD (or EBD – Everything But Degree). That is, people who get involved just enough to claim an awesomeness ultimately thwarted by circumstance. If only…
About Last Night
Random thoughts about the Trump victory:
1. I am way too damn old to stay up until 4 am. Whatever Florida does now should be done everywhere. After closing out the editor’s election thread at 3:30, my youngest started texting me from the middle of the Atlantic wanting to know what was going on. (Thanks, Elon… I think.)
The Three Historians: Niall Ferguson, Victor Davis Hanson, and Andrew Roberts
Welcome to this week’s special Election Day coverage episode! Of The People and Generally Irritable with Ericka Redic are teaming up together to provide on the ground interviews, live election coverage, and surprise special guests for this 2-hour special.
Brash, irreverent, and mostly peaceful!
A Modest Suggestion on Dealing with Civil Servants
Everyone is calling on Trump to drain the swamp. I want him to do so. But while he can replace those who serve at the pleasure of the president, I am sure many of those with civil service protection will be able to retain their jobs due to the difficulty of firing civil servants (an oxymoronic term, in my opinion, as few are civil and many believe they are our masters, not our servants).
So how to deal with them? Especially those in regulatory agencies that will try to block Trump’s agenda.
For our many regular listeners who were not able to join us last night for our live taping of this special mid-week episode that included Scott Johnson and (very late) John Hinderaker (hence the “Five Whisky Happy Hour”), much of what we talked about has been overtaken by subsequent vote counts and other results. But we did have a number of questions and issues that should still be of interest even after the dust settles today, such as why the polls were wrong again, what’s wrong with the exit polls, why the legacy media looks increasingly mediocre as well as biased, why the big winner of this election cycle—and an important harbinger for the future—is Joe Rogan.
On the Power Line main site for this episode over-eager listeners will be able to listen to a bonus “overtime” recording where we brought in a number of listeners to comment widely on a number of things, some of them beyond just the election.
The View from Europe
This week on The Learning Curve, co-hosts Alisha Searcy of DFER and U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng interview Dr. Helen Baxendale, the chief of staff and vice president of strategy at Great Hearts Academies. Dr. Baxendale discusses how her global educational experiences inform her perspective on K-12 policy and Great Hearts’ mission to integrate the humanities, math, and science for intellectual and character development. She explains how Great Hearts uses classical texts by Plato, Aristotle, and African-American thinkers like W.E.B. Du Bois and MLK to teach justice and democracy amid today’s social divisions. Dr. Baxendale also shares the school’s approach to teacher preparation, navigating regulations, and competing in choice-rich, historically lower-performing NAEP states. She concludes with insights into the importance of the classical liberal arts for preparing students for both higher education and the workforce, and her vision for improving U.S. K-12 outcomes.
Gosh – I wonder if there will be Democrat riots this time?
Any projections on this years riot season? Are you expecting Black Lives Matter style riots in cities across America, destroying entire neighborhoods? Or just some bored Georgetown undergrads throwing rocks at DC police? Will this go on for months, or perhaps just long enough for the news cycle to get the pictures they need? Will Democrat leaders openly encourage death and destruction, like they did with Antifa and BLM? Or will they be more discreet this time?
Hard to say, I suppose. But the only thing that would surprise me is if there were no Democrat riots at all. That’s just how they do politics. Violence is not an unintended consequence of Democrat politics. That’s just how they do politics. They destroy cities and assault bystanders, then scream that Republicans are violent.
The news is getting boring. It’s too predictable.
Better To Win Now than 2020?
Trump was unfocused last time, and did not manage to drain the swamp (and much else besides).
But now he has an executive team of people who have achieved great things through leadership: Elon and Vivek chief among them. I think that, in hindsight, Trump may save America because he lost in 2020, only to win in 2024 with a mandate, and a deep hunger to get the job done. Destroying the Deep State, fixing elections, maximizing cheap energy, restoring pride in American culture and the entrepreneurial spirit…. so very much to get excited about!
We often look at our divisive, shrill, and angry politics as somehow outside of some vague norm, or worse than at any time in our past. Go back to go forward as we look at the Election of 1800 and how two parties reduced themselves to name-calling and lies, and still agreed to the first peaceful exchange of power between opposing parties in history.
Read Jefferson’s First Inaugural: https://tinyurl.com/3ymdeh6d
Post Election Withdrawal
I can see it now: when it’s all truly over (which could be days or weeks from now), what will we rant, complain and protest about? The Progressives have been in our sights for so long that I can’t even imagine a day of not targeting them for their lies and misrepresentations. Every day my husband has rolled his eyes and clucked his tongue about their deceptions, their commitment to deceive the populace. Their hatefulness has been legion, destroying any hope for balance or fairness. I’ve been steeling myself for months to protect myself from their onslaughts and greed. Their determination to take out Donald Trump (perhaps in more ways than one) is despicable and disgusting.
But I’m worn out.
The Election – Pretending It’s Like It Used to Be When People Could Say What They Think
Have you ever felt nudged to write, but the topic you feel inspired to wax prolific about is an incendiary one that will certainly raise the hackles of most readers? That’s me… today. But lest I live with an acute awareness of my own cowardice, I’ll give it the old college try.
I think I might have been a weird kid. After I saw my mother fall apart when JFK was assassinated, politics grabbed my five-year-old imagination. I became obsessed with watching the news, including the unfolding of Johnson’s swearing-in, the funeral procession, and the nightly footage about the war. Later, I would sit on the floor right in front of our Zenith black and white TV to watch the Democrat and Republican conventions with my parents; two people who were never on the same page about anything, let alone politics.
We were taught civics in school, frequently given assignments to read the newspaper and look for articles about the work of the administrations’ various agencies, and then write an essay about it. In fourth grade I dressed like a hippy and protested the Vietnam War because my mother was a Democrat who’d married the wrong man so she started hanging out with young people who were into the 60s scene. I wanted to support her, plus I thought I looked cool in a headband and a fringed leather vest.
The Climate Hoax
One If By Land…
I drink Jim Beam because it’s a cheap, serviceable bourbon and, well, I pour a pretty stiff glass most nights. I went out today and bought something better: If Trump wins, as I hope and expect, then I’ll open this and toast to the Republican victory. If he doesn’t, then the bottle will go back on the shelf until that happy day when Democrats are out of the White House.
They’ve Been Doing This for Decades
I watched this happen twice in Northern Virginia, and I’ve heard it explained before, but this is the first time I’ve seen an expert brief it in a shareable format. And he focuses on Philadelphia, a jurisdiction as shameless as any other. I have been told by Democrats that it is just how business is done. I have been told by Republicans that it would be more harmful to diminish faith in the electoral system than to oppose permanent, systemic voter fraud. Journalists have told me their editor won’t let them, their lawyers won’t let them, or management outright admits the city prosecutors would wage withering lawfare if they did. Factors that have always helped keep “journalism” locked down. It’s part of the “narrative” discipline. The city prosecutors and police objected to me about wasting finite resources needed for the prosecution of violent crimes and gangs on corrupt party operatives and their gang buddies.
Viva Frei interviews Mark Groubert starting at 22 minutes. He is worth a listen. NSFW (they also discuss Bill Clinton). The opening is Viva Frei’s take on the Peanut scandal, and worth a listen.