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Quote of the Day: Farewell, TWS
In honor of the departed Weekly Standard, I wanted to share a favorite quote from one of their finest writers, Matt Labash. He wrote this during the 2008 Democratic Presidential Primary.
“As one who was never terribly enamored of Hillary Clinton’s personality to start with, I grudgingly admit to enjoying her recent near-tears transformation. Plenty of critics concede her rarely seen emotion was heartfelt, but also that it was due to the 20-hour-day rigors of the campaign trail, making her perhaps the only candidate ever to win the New Hampshire primary because she needed a nap. Still, it was refreshing to watch her punch through the icy crust of her own phoniness, so that the molten core of artificiality could gush forth.”
Every magazine of any persuasion should be in a bidding war for his prose.
Published in General
Good comparison.
Like any analogy, it breaks down if pressed too hard. Weekly Standard’s workers regarded their nominal customers as actual customers in the conduct of the business–just not with respect to their financial strategy. In contrast, Facebook: Facebook’s User::Meatpacker:Meatpacker’s Hog.
I am not going to get behind Trump. I am working for the Reagan Restoration.
It’s not happening until after all of the Western debt markets collapse. There are just too many structural problems. You can’t get a Republican with any power to actually think like that or do anything like that, anyway.
The other thing is, I’m not sure Reagan was that big of a deal. He gave Volker the green light to stop inflation. The tax code was overhauled. Then a big demographic bubble shot through. That’s all very good, but you can’t get Republicans to stop spending or win a war. Reagan spent like crazy. It’s the system. It’s the way central banks operate. Reagan wanted to overhaul the Fed but there was just too much on his plate, and the guys that were around him at the end sabotaged it. That’s the problem. Conservatism can’t work under this financial system.
Get a pass to Real Vision and watch the David Stockman interview. What is he wrong about?
Watch any interview or speech of Representative Massey from Kentucky. Or watch this with Rep. Ken Buck
Thank you so much. It was well worth the listen. It is unfortunate that Ken Buck couldn’t win a majority in the Senate race in purple Colorado. (He could win in a redder state.) Ken Buck is a great fit for his congressional district, CO-4.
Gary: Just my opinion. Idealization is not the way to think right now. This is why.
A great column titled “Conservatism needs a new Weekly Standard untainted by Trump.” The closing paragraph:
“The Weekly Standard was run for most of its history by Bill Kristol — a good friend who is gifted with an ironic disposition and a cheerful temperament. While he is a well-known conservative, Kristol is hardly doctrinaire. He opened the Standard to all sorts of viewpoints — many of them entirely apolitical — and then led it into fierce, principled opposition when Trump seized control of the right. I devoutly hope a new Standard will arise to lead the Republican Party out of the moral and political oblivion to which the president is consigning it.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2018/12/14/conservatism-needs-new-weekly-standard-untainted-by-trump/?utm_term=.385f23c8e55b
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A) Max Boot is a big government warmongering loon. B) when Jonah Goldberg or Kevin Williamson or even David French criticize Trump they don’t sound like a psycho like Kristol.
Unlike the de-platforming and blacklisting they championed against economically viable voices on the Right.
Another good column titled “Is the Weekly Standard’s end proof there’s no room for Never Trumpers in today’s conservative media?” The closing paragraphs:
“A robust magazine for Republicans that operates as more than a rubber stamp on Trump’s ideas could theoretically sharpen conservatives’ arguments and policies in ways that could be rare when intra-tribal debate is absent.
“It also sends a message there may be no room for them in the GOP unless they are “true believers” — something that did not appear to be the case during the 2016 presidential campaign but increasingly seems to be true two years later.
…
“Whether the work that conservative thinkers loved to read in the Weekly Standard will find a place in other publications is obviously to be determined. But what is clear is with this magazine’s shuttering, conservative media just got Trumpier, and that will likely affect how readers on the right view the world.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2018/12/14/is-weekly-standards-end-proof-theres-no-room-never-trumpers-todays-conservative-media/?utm_term=.97aed9000d6f
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Gary I have a question for you: What if that’s true? What does it mean?
Do you really think these people are against big government? Do you really think they get how dysfunctional it is? What do you think Rick Wilson cares about? Or Steve Schmidt? Or Max Boot?
Why was Medicare Part D passed?
When you refer to “these people” here is their statement of purpose:
“We are a group of citizens united by our deep concern over threats to the integrity of American democracy and the rule of law. With the indictments announced on Monday, the investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller into Russian interference with the 2016 election is now entering a new and critical phase. At the same time, a growing chorus of Republican and conservative voices has started calling for Mueller’s resignation on trumped-up grounds, a move that may be calculated to help justify dismissal of the special counsel and pardons for his targets. In view of these events, we want to come forward and express our strong support for allowing the Mueller investigation to proceed without interference or obstruction. We would regard dismissal of the special counsel, or pardons issued preemptively to anyone targeted by his investigation, as a grave abuse of power that justifies initiation of impeachment proceedings.
“We hereby call on House Speaker Ryan and Senate Majority Leader McConnell to make clear, both publicly and privately, that they support the Mueller investigation and regard any interference with that investigation, including dismissal of the special counsel or preemptive pardons of investigation targets, as completely unacceptable. We further urge all Republican members of Congress to issue public statements on these issues as well. It is morally imperative that the Republican Party and the conservative movement stand as bulwarks of the rule of law, not enablers of its erosion and violation. Now is the time for choosing.”
Count me in on this point of view.
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I hear you about Medicare Part D.
Gary: All Trump did was say he felt bad about Flynn and he fired Comey way after he should have. Now we have a Stalinist inquisition. it’s going everywhere for no good reason. It never even named an actual crime.
All of those people want way more big government then you should. All of them.
You still thought he could get busted for Russia six months ago. What do you expect now?
Trump was legitimately elected. That is just a fact.
Our friend, The Washington Post.
Chris Plante calls it the “Dr. Evil Post”. Bezos is a corporatist- statist. He has no other option.
Gary: I’m not saying Trump is conservative enough. He isn’t. But what do you do given everything? And he beats the crap out of the media. He lets people feel okay for hating cultural Marxism.
How do you get Democrats to vote to the right?
Don’t know for sure. It looks more and more likely every month.
Okay. So what are your arguments against their assertions?
Russia. For what?
One guy wrote a column for Bezos. That is what you’re quoting. The Weekly Standard has weak support for whatever reason. Anschutz shut it down.
Not enough Republicans “think correctly”.
Now what?
That I don’t trust a word they publish. And that’s based on many years of experience with the rag. Reputation counts.
I’ll put you down as a “maybe.” (With thanks to Jeb.)
Tom Nichols is for “strict gun control” and he thinks he’s a conservative.
Mona has written at least four columns that were kooky as hell.
Campaign consultants.
Spare me.
@garyrobbins – I was a big fan of Ronald Reagan, too. He was the first presidential candidate I voted for in the primary against Ford and subsequently 4 years later and 4 years after that. But he’s dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead.Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead.Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead.Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead.Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead.Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead.Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead.Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead.Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead.Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead.Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead.Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead.Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead.Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead.Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead.Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead.Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead.Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead.Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead.Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead.Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead.Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead.Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead.Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead.
Get over it.
PS – Did I mention he was dead?
It’s just shameful that we didn’t take the opportunity of the Trump victory to overhaul the health insurance system in a conservative way. It makes me sick.
The Muller probe was started for what? No stated crime. Now it’s going all over Kingdom come. Stalinist.
What does Nicole Wallace care about?
I’m sure you mentioned Reagan was dead somewhere in your comment. If I could only find where, exactly…..🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔
Labash makes it look so easy doesn’t he? I think it was Hemingway who once said “There’s nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.”
After more than 18 months of SC Mueller we have four Americans guilty. None of the convictions involve Russia. Manafort went to trial and was found guilty of crimes committed before he had any association with Trump or the election campaign. I’m not clear on Cohen but it looks like he entered guilty pleas to lying to Congress and tax evasion and told some other lies about his dealings with Trump as legal counsel and for this last bit of cooperation he got a much reduced sentence for the tax evasion. Papadopoulos and Flynn both entered guilty pleas for lying to federal agents. It doesn’t look as if any of the cooperation from these four leads to anything Russia. Where exactly can you see anything that looks more and more likely every month regarding Russia?