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Somebody Kill Me
First of all, congratulations are in order. Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have all but clinched the nominations of their respective parties and have done so abiding by the rules.
Having said that, somebody kill me.
Barry Goldwater’s presidential campaign slogan was “A choice, not an echo.” Today the presidency has boiled down to a Clinton-Trump undercard that doesn’t even seem to qualify as an echo. As Nick Gillespie put it, at this point he’d settle for a wind chime.
In a February column George Will memorably described the Democratic Party as “clinging to Hillary Clinton like a shipwrecked sailor clinging to a spar.” Less than three months later and the only positive coming from the Republican Party’s nominee is that America’s energy needs can now be met by harnessing the power of progressive schadenfreude.
Every now and then progressives (as in this article in The Atlantic) will float the blatantly unconstitutional idea of compulsory voting. If it isn’t clear to you that not voting is clearly a constitutionally-protected form of political speech, maybe the Clinton-Trump undercard will change your mind.
“But Trump can win!” my fellow travelers say: like it’s a good thing. Then again, maybe it is a good thing. I don’t know, I just… don’t… know anymore.
I peruse the internet for a glimmer of hope and can do no better than the latest installment of the always-wrong Hugh Hewitt’s Brokering A Convention series of blogposts. In part III of this establishment wet dream, Hewitt has Kasich inviting Ted Cruz and Cruz’s father for a sit-down. Kasich proceeds to condescend to Cruz that he (Kasich) is the only one who can defeat Hillary. And what is the source of Kasich’s incredible unbeatability in a general election? Reduced to plain English, the similarity of his policies to Hillary’s.
The latest unseemly installment has Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan solemnly calling on delegates in Cleveland to do their patriotic duty by nominating… South Carolina governor Nikki Haley. Nikki Haley. Who does Hewitt imagine as her running mate, Eric Cantor?
Sounds like a plan. The implausibility of it all rivals unscrambling the eggs in the Middle East. Wait – that is our Middle East policy.
Meanwhile, self-styled “center-right” individuals and institutions like John Podhoretz, Michael Medved and The Weekly Standard like to characterize Tea Party crazies like me as wanting to elect members to Congress in order to “do nothing.” For the record, we don’t want Congress to do nothing: we want Congress to undo things. Undo the individual mandate. Undo sanctuary cities. Use the power of the purse. Forget about “winning” for a moment: how about a candidate who promises to undo so much government meddling in markets that we become bored with unprecedented prosperity?
Would such a candidate win? Probably not. But at least we could have an actual national debate about the role of government and the fact of American Exceptionalism. Maybe in some awesome parallel universe Bernie Sanders and Rand Paul clinch the nomination of their respective parties.
Instead we’re going to send a crony capitalist from New York to the capital of crony capitalism, Washington DC.
And that’s regardless of which one wins.
Published in General
Good points, my favorite being that Hugh Hewitt is always wrong. Need to remember that next time he suckers me with an “open convention.” I may just stick to the Aftershow from now on.
As for the picture, it’s just another piece of evidence for my theory that the fix is in. Trump, Democrat that he is, helps the otherwise sure loser Hillary to win, destroys the GOP in the process, takes his brand to a whole new level, and ensures crony-capitalist opportunities beyond even his wildest dreams of avarice. They win. America loses.
C’mon, prove me wrong.
Do me first.
(thanks)
Mike,
That’s it. That’s the Platform!!! Cool.
Regards,
Jim
Gunning for Rob’s job at NR, I see.
You need to talk to this guy in New York from my neighborhood. He takes Visa.
It’s fiction, not a reflection of Hugh’s politics or recommendations.
Notice how it looks like she is trying to push it back, a little?
You know, polls show that Illegal Immigration isn’t even in the top three issues for GOP voters ((sarcasm alert)
That picture is of the past. The picture of the Clintons and the Trumps, although taken in the past, is a picture of our near future.
They’re probably thinking that they snatched victory from the jaws of defeat.
Rubio has that “What could possibly go wrong?” expression.
Hillary forgot to wear her push up bra so Trump isn’t interested.
Donald more like it.
No one has an issue of being photographed with Democrats: the issue is that this is a photograph that consists exclusively of Democrats.
In Washington, doing “nothing” means leaving Leviathan in place.
Sure – just like The Old Man And The Sea is fiction!
Every time I see Rubio at that podium, he reminds me of a sailor straight out of boot camp meeting his first three card monte hustler on Fisherman’s Wharf.
There was a candidate that was promising to undo a lot of things. Unfortunately, he couldn’t seem to get enough votes.
Exactly. A vote for Trump is a vote for a Democrat with an R stuck after his name and vote for Hillary is a vote for a Democrat with D stuck after her name. #HillaryisTrump#TrumpisHillary.
I love the picture!!! If I were to run for President, my campaign would consist of pictures like yours with a voice over Clinton and Trump wrong for America.
The picture looks like it is celebrating the Democrat’s President and Vice-President candidates. The Clinton Trump ticket. If I were to run I would illustrate all the similarities between Clinton & Trump. Ads showing them both praising Planned Parenthood with a voice over C & T wrong for America!