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The Joy of Red on Red
The saving grace of the 2016 Presidential election for conservatives is Hillary Clinton’s candidacy and subsequent nomination for the Democrats. By contrast, Donald Trump is so adept at distracting attention from his blatantly superior policy positions with (let’s call them) his personality warts that conservatives are often at each others’ throats defending and attacking him. With Hillary, at least, everyone can pile on with joy when her corruption is exposed (excepting, of course, those conservatives who have actually endorsed Clinton).
So I am hoping at least that the entire Ricochet cosmos is enjoying those zany but adorable couples, Hillary and James and Huma and Tony starring in the latest hit comedy remake of The Honeymooners (“to the moon, Hillary!”). (Perhaps there is a more current metaphor).
Let me make a few observations.
First, Comey’s letter to Congress that went public last Friday is at least potentially lethal and everyone on the Left knows it. At least ten percent of the voters in the middle who think Karl Marx is a crank and who have never heard of Friedrich Hayek are thinking: “she’s going to be under continuing FBI investigation through the first year of her Presidency? That’s not good.”
If Comey had just left things open back in July – without holding a gala press conference to announce that Hillary was cleared of all criminal charges (which is what most people heard him say) – that would not have been so bad as first saying she’s cleared and now on the eve of the election saying that New Evidence Has Been Found!
It’s as though Comey let Hillary pull herself off the ropes and stagger to the middle of the ring before he unloaded on her with a roundhouse right. There’s that delicious moment when the crowd gasps as her eyes glaze over and the knees just buckle. So far the count is only at two. And Hillary has shown a remarkable capacity for pulling herself off the canvas. But she hasn’t moved yet.
Now, the Clinton campaign and their media surrogates (i.e. everyone) are frantically trying to assemble a strategy. Their first instinct was to demand that the FBI immediately release everything that they have. I’m not sure how that would work out for them. Surely this would only be a sane strategy if you assume that the FBI could not possibly release everything that quickly, because if they could it would be like the mother of all Wikileaks.
But that little “show us whatcha got” ploy aside, the main message of the campaign and the left as a whole quickly fell into place over the last two days…and that is, of course, that we need a hastily arranged crucifixion of James Comey. Either through his maniacal, secret right wing sympathies or through being duped by career, right wing FBI agents who hate Hillary, Comey has sinned grievously by bringing this whole mess up again right now.
So we have HuffPo stories such as: Dozens Of Former Federal Prosecutors Sign Open Letter Criticizing James Comey, and Talking Points Memo articles (did anyone know that Josh Marshal was still around?) excoriating Comey as follows:
At best, Comey combined extremely poor judgment with a decision to place a near absolute priority on protecting himself from criticism over carrying out his professional and ethnical obligations.
This is the basic Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, kill the messenger tactic.
I am not sure this is going to work either.
That is not to say that I know what I would do if I were in Hillary’s shoes right now. But screaming at Comey now seems to be no better than screaming at Julian Assange and the Ruskies for providing all the Wikileaks material. The average middle of the road voter may not be well-informed but he or she is at least curious. They’re going to think: “What’s all this Wikileaks stuff that Hillary is blabbing about?” It’s the same issue with Comey.
This pitfall in the strategy seems to have occurred to the ogres at Media Matters. And here the story gets particularly sweet because it is so satisfying to watch the Left eat their own. Media Matters said:
Over the past two days, The New York Times has devoted five of its six above-the-fold articles to FBI director James Comey’s letter to congressional leaders indicating that the Bureau is reviewing additional “emails that appear to be pertinent to the investigation” of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s use of a private server as secretary of state. By providing such prominent coverage, the Times has indicated that the letter is news of the highest possible significance — in spite of the Times’ own reporting that FBI agents have yet to read the emails and determine if they are significant and the letter “did not reopen” the investigation.
Or to put is more simply: “Pinch! For God’s sake Shut.Up! Shut up will you! SHHHHH!!!”
It is not clear that – especially in light of the market mini-crash following the release of the letter by Republican staffers – the media could possibly have arranged a giant silent treatment for the whole affair. But now that they have set off the sirens themselves they are in a heap a’ trouble.
I can’t understand why so many people are talking about how they can’t wait for the election to be over. As far as I am concerned this has been a roller coaster ride for the ages!
Notes:
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Programming note for this week’s Harvard Lunch Club Political podcast. Our guest will be writer and businessman Conrad Black, Trump defender and founder of the National Post among his many other accomplishments. The show will be released on Tuesday evening November 1, rather than our usual Monday evening. (We will be out Trick or Treating the night before). Please check it out.
Published in Elections, Politics
Colin Powell is rethinking right now. (Just a guess)
The main effect will be to solidify the GOP behind Trump and suppress democratic turnout.
The big unknown is the effect om black and Hispanic voting.
The reason we want it to be over is because its showing the world that democracy is an inept tragedy. You watch the global regime change the next four years and see if you enjoy that roller coaster.
Lock her up!
Enjoyable Mike. I’m not as confident about our candidates policies and abilities but I am sure happy watching her squirm. Even this one has to be covered and I’d love to see an editor weigh in on it. This IS Watergate and found potentially by accident. How are these not amazing times?
I’m thoroughly enjoying the show, too!
Many hoped for the day that the felonious left would begin devouring itself. Make some popcorn! At this late stage, many are also seeing that Trump isn’t such a loon, after all. And the near-sighted, pseudo-intellectual “conservative” punditocracy, along with the ruling “elites” of both parties better start spinning their Rolodexes. Quaint concept, eh?
Trump may be poor material for a metrosexual PC environment, but his policy prescriptions are essentially sound. He knows what he can do immediately from an administrative position, and has a laundry list prepped for the professional cowards in Congress to work on. They obeyed Barry, so why would they not help Trump save our republic?
The only troubling aspect of this high drama is that HRC, aka Satan, may not last through the electoral process. It’s too late for the Dems to pull the plug, but if she pulls it, unwillingly or not, the election will be undefined. I want her to remain viable at least until Trump can trounce her soundly and fairly, then move to Pennsylvania Avenue. I still predict a huge landslide for him.
After that point, I really don’t care about her or her family’s extensive crimes. They’re not going to live long enough to enjoy their ill-gotten gains anyway. Chelsea the toady factotum will live in infamy under a name equated with loathsome, mendacious, treasonous, greedy and bullying behavior.
Orville’s best, with butter please!
Yes! Amazing!
This makes Watergate seem tame. That event was primarily a political attack on a Republican president that was so crooked that even HRC got fired for participating a bit too eagerly. Nixon had faults, but his biggest ones were having the temerity to be popular enough to win a true landslide, and opposing the left, so he had to go.
There are no accidents in DC, just the slime trails behind the grubs like HRC, Lynch and Comey.
From ESPN Gameday this past Saturday ….
This part is too funny! It is like a kid who is desperately trying to find out exactly what his parents really know before admitting to doing something wrong while the parent just tells them to “fess up”. Really uncomfortable for the kid and obviously for HRC as well.
It always irritates me when the players on Mrs R’s favorite college football team engage in chest thumping and other antics after a good sack or other good defensive play. They’re losing valuable seconds they could use to prepare their minds and bodies for the next play, which all too often results in a great pass or something that leaves them flat-footed.
The Gannett newspaper in my region (i.e., the Clinton campaign office) is pushing all articles about the FBI’s decision from the angle of the evil mean reactions from Republican and Trump to a “nothing to see here” routine and non-consequential investigation.
I did too, until I heard Bill Belichick (of all people) castigate his Patriots for not showing emotion. I think it was back in the 2004 season. Football is a game of emotion; because the athletes are so big and so strong, the physical contest is almost always at equilibrium, and who wins is determined by who wants it more. Belichick wants his guys to be emotional, play emotional, and when you make a great play you should show it.
I assume the strategy thinking is that the FBI isn’t likely to release everything that quickly. But, they could be thinking that even if it does all come out, there will be so much dirt that the effect will be diluted because 1) the Republicans won’t be able to focus enough on specific aspects to get a clear message about anything specific enough to get the attention of the still-uncertain voter, or 2) if the Republicans do focus on a specific aspect, we can always find a basis to criticize their focus on any one specific aspect.
Great post. I look forward to the reach, depth, and depravity of the Clinton criminal enterprise being exposed over the course of her four year term as president. What a pity the republicans couldn’t have nominated someone capable of beating her and minimally qualified to be president. If she were defeated, we might actually see her locked up.
Couldn’t we at least install bars on the White House windows to keep those people who are outside safe?
Trey Gowdy on Morning Joe this morning was questioned along these lines:
What’s more important? Clinton’s emails or Russian collusion with the Trump campaign attempting to influence the election?
He answered that he wouldn’t choose between the importance of mishandling of classified information or foreign influence in our elections. They’re both important and damaging to our Republic.
But, see what the media did there? These are just emails — pheh, for all we know they’re about yoga and wedding plans. Boooring.
But those exotic Russian spies have been “proven” to be working with Trump’s campaign to get him elected. What does the FBI have to say about that?!
I wish Trey Gowdy had said, “Intentionally exposing our national security secrets to the threat of foreign enemies in order to hide activities from our own government involving foreign money donated to the Clinton Foundation as a money laundering scheme for Clinton’s campaign is very serious stuff. It undercuts the rule of law and our sovereign election process, without which our Republic cannot survive. The FBI is doing its job by continuing its investigation in light of new evidence. But, such is the seriousness of these potential crimes, I’m calling for a special prosecutor to be appointed immediately.”
/drop mic
I just wonder how much will this hurt Clinton at the polls. It seems that Eric Holder is worried about that partially.
Did anyone read his piece in the Washington Post? https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/eric-holder-james-comey-is-a-good-man-but-he-made-a-serious-mistake/2016/10/30/08e7208e-9f07-11e6-8832-23a007c77bb4_story.html?utm_term=.6e72fead46c5#comments
About 50 years ago, Simon & Garfunkel summed up this election so well.
Speaking of songs, @larry3435, here’s my adaptation of lyrics to the Box Top’s THE LETTER
(as sung, of course, by Hillary Rodham Clinton)
Give me a ticket for an aeroplane
Ain’t got time for no fast train
Oh, white house dreams are gone,
I’m-a goin’ home
‘Cause Comey wrote Congress a letter.
Don’t care how much money I gotta spend
Got to get up in the polls again
Glory days are gone, I’m a-goin’ down
Cause Comey just wrote ‘em a letter
Well, he wrote ‘em a letter
Said he couldn’t lie about me no more
Listen mister, can’t you see I got to get back
To my power once-a more
Anyway, yeah!
Gimme a ticket for an aeroplane
Ain’t got time to take a fast train
Huma stored em all, I’m a-goin’ home
Cause Comey wrote Congress a letter.
H/t:@ Larry 3435–you’re right Box Tops did if first, so I changed it. Thanks.
Pretty good. Although I think the Box Tops did the song first.
Not sure about Hispanics, but my (admittedly limited) experience with black voters shows a high propensity towards conspiratorial thinking (something I’ve found with Trumpers as well, broadly speaking) which is how they reject the evidence damning OJ Simpson or Michael Brown. So I expect many of them to simply chalk this up to more lying white men (who are more likely to be GOP).
Unfortunately they are correct. No one has read the emails yet. We have no idea what is actually on them. All we have is suspicions. And while my suspicions likely align with yours, I doubt either of us are unbiased in this matter. The odds of getting a smoking gun before the election is small.
Just did. Thanks. Does resurrecting the greatest political hack to ever serve as DoJ head actually *help* the Hillary cause here? The only people who think that breach of protocol is worse than a reopening of the investigation of Hillary’s possible crimes are the bots who are already dedicated to the Dems.
You just want to be Hillary’s conjugal visitor.
No doubt a certain Carlos Danger has that role locked up already.
Oops. I didn’t realize Mike preferred Carlos.
One more….COM-EY!, to the tune of CALL ME! by Blondie
(Again, as sung by Hillary Rodham Clinton)
Charge me with your charges, baby
Charge me in my car
Charge me with your charges, darling
I know who you are
Come up off your legal pad
I know where you’re coming from
(chorus)
Co-mey, caught me, on the lies
Co-mey, caught me every everytime
Co-mey, caught me off my guard
He can catch me day or night
COMEY!
Huma Abbdin: “I’ve decided to take my husband back…as well as the Fifth”
My, my. Michael Stopa writes with verve. The day is just getting started out here in California, and what better way to begin? Astute analysis, two or three belly laughs, and–oh, how sweet, because how unexpected!–the chance to gloat. Thanks, Michael.
your servant, Sir.
Because one of the operating principles on the cowardly right is “don’t make enemies”. So, obeying Pres. Obama is seen as “reaching across the aisle”; and vigorously opposing the Democrats is seen as “pig headed idealism”. That’s why the best we can hope for is a slowing of the march over the cliff, and not an about face. Until our elected representatives agree that this is a culture war, and not 2 parties that differ on method but not on goals; we will continue leftward, ever leftward.