Recommended by Ricochet Members Created with Sketch. A Teachable Moment

 

One line of NeverTrump thinking has it that a big Trump loss would be an opportunity for the GOP to learn to stay away from all “Trumpy” mistakes in the future. That may be at least partially right. I’m not a big fan of Trumpiness myself if “Trumpiness” means Twitter trollery and lying about paying off porn stars and whatnot.

But I happen to think that America and the Democrat party, in particular, could really do with the teaching opportunity of a big Biden loss. But what lessons about Nice Guy from Scranton Who Rides the Amtrak could America stand to learn? Well, gee–the real problem is knowing where to start. Here are a few; I suggest that the Ricochetti add the rest in comments:

Don’t have a Big Tech censor.

Don’t have the media cover-up genuine scandals.

Don’t have double standards on credible sexual assault allegations.

Don’t support plagiarists.

Don’t be too friendly with the socialists in your own party.

Don’t fail to criticize violent revolutionary movements.

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  1. Judge Mental Member

    Don’t graft yourself and each and every member of your family into being millionaires.

    • #1
    • November 1, 2020, at 1:17 AM PDT
    • 17 likes
  2. Arahant Member

    Judge Mental (View Comment):

    Don’t graft yourself and each and every member of your family into being millionaires.

    Also grafting oneself to horrible regimes, such as Xi’s CCP.

    • #2
    • November 1, 2020, at 1:19 AM PDT
    • 14 likes
  3. TBA Coolidge
    • #3
    • November 1, 2020, at 2:55 AM PST
    • 3 likes
    • This comment has been edited.
  4. Saint Augustine Member
    Saint Augustine

    Don’t try to pack the Court. Don’t even think about it.

    • #4
    • November 1, 2020, at 4:06 AM PST
    • 14 likes
  5. Percival Thatcher
    PercivalJoined in the first year of Ricochet Ricochet Charter Member

    Actually do something that you have promised to do, such as revitalize the country’s military, or move the US Embassy to Jerusalem, or control the border, rather than throw a hissy fit if someone else does so.

    Push back on the dimwitted narratives of our utterly partisan media. If you can’t convince them, confound them. Remember that being cordial to these fools is a tactic, not a requirement.

    • #5
    • November 1, 2020, at 4:12 AM PST
    • 22 likes
  6. JoelB Member

    How about walk the conservative walk and not just talk the conservative talk. This applies to both parties.

    • #6
    • November 1, 2020, at 4:56 AM PST
    • 10 likes
  7. Mim526 Member

    **Tongue-in-cheek levity alert**

    SUBJ: Rejection Letter

    Sorry, Joe. We must inform you that your services as POTUS will not be required. After narrowly dodging Crooked Hillary and her bag man Billy last election, we felt a tri-polar crook affectionately known across electronic devices as Big Guy was one crook too far. Please contact the Fourth Estate should you need their further assistance obfuscating in your employment search.

    Sincerely relieved,

    Ugly Chump Americans

    • #7
    • November 1, 2020, at 4:59 AM PST
    • 16 likes
    • This comment has been edited.
  8. Eridemus Coolidge

    How about not being hypocritical with non-existent reasons for inviting and even incentivizing (free health care) hoards of aliens without any vetting of whether they will contribute shared values or needed skills? If the Central Americans and Puerto Ricans (by caravans or Island loads) were most likely to vote Republican, we all know expanded immigration wouldn’t even be an issue.

    • #8
    • November 1, 2020, at 5:02 AM PST
    • 8 likes
    • This comment has been edited.
  9. KevinKrisher Coolidge

    There are only three pieces of advice that apply to everyone in every situation: Be responsible. Be brave. Be kind.

    • #9
    • November 1, 2020, at 5:07 AM PST
    • 8 likes
  10. 9thDistrictNeighbor Member

    I don’t think the democrats would learn a lesson from any outcome. They have been plowing ahead on the local level with leftist prosecutors, council members, mayors, etc. Only now have they become so brazen with traveling Antifa mobs and molotov cocktails. The underbelly of the hard left will kick all of the aging democrat pols to the curb soon enough. 

    • #10
    • November 1, 2020, at 5:25 AM PST
    • 8 likes
  11. Podkayne of Israel Member

    How about “Stop assuming you are always the one teaching and not the one who requires the “teachable moment”.

    • #11
    • November 1, 2020, at 5:46 AM PST
    • 28 likes
  12. Bill Nelson Member

    Don’t care about the democrats. I oppose the dislike of big tech, Twitter is free to censor anything they wish. Fine by me if someone likes socialism, we should not suppress political ideas. If you dislike socialism, beat it at the ballot box.

    If you want to teach democrats a lesson do it by making arguments that win support from all people.

    • #12
    • November 1, 2020, at 5:50 AM PST
    • 2 likes
  13. Ron Selander Member

    Bill Nelson (View Comment):

    Don’t care about the democrats. I oppose the dislike of big tech, Twitter is free to censor anything they wish. Fine by me if someone likes socialism, we should not suppress political ideas. If you dislike socialism, beat it at the ballot box.

    If you want to teach democrats a lesson do it by making arguments that win support from all people.

    “teach democrats” ?
    That is really funny!

    • #13
    • November 1, 2020, at 6:43 AM PST
    • 7 likes
  14. KevinKrisher Coolidge

    Podkayne of Israel (View Comment):

    How about “Stop assuming you are always the one teaching and not the one who requires the “teachable moment”.

    Socrates said that his wisdom consisted of knowing how much he had yet to learn.

    • #14
    • November 1, 2020, at 7:07 AM PST
    • 8 likes
  15. Percival Thatcher
    PercivalJoined in the first year of Ricochet Ricochet Charter Member

    Bill Nelson (View Comment):

    Don’t care about the democrats. I oppose the dislike of big tech, Twitter is free to censor anything they wish. Fine by me if someone likes socialism, we should not suppress political ideas. If you dislike socialism, beat it at the ballot box.

    If you want to teach democrats a lesson do it by making arguments that win support from all people.

    The tech giants shouldn’t be able to pick between being publishers (with the responsibility of curating content) and being platforms (without that responsibility, but theoretically without that power) depending on which one is legally convenient. They shut down the social media conduit for a paper that is 119 years old because it disagreed with whatever the voices in little Jackie Dorsey’s head were telling him at the moment.

    (And Jack … the last guy who tried to present himself in public with a beard that looked like that was John Brown. It made him look demented. Just sayin’.)

    • #15
    • November 1, 2020, at 7:30 AM PST
    • 18 likes
    • This comment has been edited.
  16. Jon1979 Lincoln

    We actually saw this in the 1972-76 period following Nixon’s 49-state landslide over McGovern. Even with Nixon being taken down in the wake of Watergate, the progressives weren’t able to regain their grip on the party in the ’76 primary season, because not only were some of the party leadership afraid of a re-run of ’72, but many of the primary voters also didn’t want to go through the same debacle, and that’s how Carter ended up being nominated.

    That should be the lesson Dems take, if Trump vastly over-performs the poll numbers on Tuesday. But in this era of woke social media and angry advocacy journalism, you could see the situation where pols like Chuck Schumer or even Nancy Pelosi get the message about backing off the hard-core progressive positions, but the cancel culture SJWs and many of the media in their progressive bubbles won’t, and will demand the Democrats triple and quadruple down on their message. Anything less would be seen as surrender to the fascistic, Handmaid’s Tale of unprecedented horror in human history that is Trump’s America.

    • #16
    • November 1, 2020, at 7:33 AM PST
    • 5 likes
  17. The Reticulator Member

    The GOPe has learned nothing from its loss in 2016. Are Democrats any more teachable than that?

    • #17
    • November 1, 2020, at 7:52 AM PST
    • 16 likes
  18. Goldgeller Member

    I’d add that it is shocking the extent to which Joe is willing to make fun of citizens who criticize him. So I’d add:

    Stop claiming the ability to determine who is and is not black based on whether they vote for you or not.

    Do not call people at townhalls fat and dumb.

    Do not curse out or threaten to fight voters who question your stance on guns.

    Don’t call women lying dogged faced pony soldiers.

    There are a lot of things Biden does regularly that shouldn’t be repeated.

     

    • #18
    • November 1, 2020, at 8:11 AM PST
    • 9 likes
  19. Arahant Member

    Goldgeller (View Comment):
    There are a lot of things Biden does regularly that shouldn’t be repeated.

    Don’t ask reporters if they could pass a drug test, especially black reporters.

    • #19
    • November 1, 2020, at 8:15 AM PST
    • 8 likes
  20. The Reticulator Member

    Goldgeller (View Comment):

    I’d add that it is shocking the extent to which Joe is willing to make fun of citizens who criticize him. So I’d add:

    Stop claiming the ability to determine who is and is not black based on whether they vote for you or not.

    Do not call people at townhalls fat and dumb.

    Do not curse out or threaten to fight voters who question your stance on guns.

    Don’t call women lying dogged faced pony soldiers.

    There are a lot of things Biden does regularly that shouldn’t be repeated.

     

    It reminds me of those yard signs next to Biden signs that say “Unity over Division.” 

    • #20
    • November 1, 2020, at 8:17 AM PST
    • 4 likes
  21. The Reticulator Member

    Arahant (View Comment):

    Goldgeller (View Comment):
    There are a lot of things Biden does regularly that shouldn’t be repeated.

    Don’t ask reporters if they could pass a drug test, especially black reporters.

    Oh? Hadn’t heard about that one.

    • #21
    • November 1, 2020, at 8:17 AM PST
    • 3 likes
  22. Arahant Member

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    Arahant (View Comment):

    Goldgeller (View Comment):
    There are a lot of things Biden does regularly that shouldn’t be repeated.

    Don’t ask reporters if they could pass a drug test, especially black reporters.

    Oh? Hadn’t heard about that one.

    • #22
    • November 1, 2020, at 8:20 AM PST
    • 2 likes
  23. Flicker Coolidge

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    Arahant (View Comment):

    Goldgeller (View Comment):
    There are a lot of things Biden does regularly that shouldn’t be repeated.

    Don’t ask reporters if they could pass a drug test, especially black reporters.

    Oh? Hadn’t heard about that one.

    Here’s the video, and it’s more than just a drug test. He asks the reporter if he’s taking cocaine, and if he’s a “junkie”.

     

    • #23
    • November 1, 2020, at 9:10 AM PST
    • 3 likes
  24. Ekosj Member

    Podkayne of Israel (View Comment):

    How about “Stop assuming you are always the one teaching and not the one who requires the “teachable moment”.

    I went to college with someone who is now a very liberal lefty Democrat Congresscritter. Back in the day they were a leftist, to be sure, but not unreasonable. They were open to reasoned argument, capable of give and take. They could even admit if you had a point. Not too long ago, I sent a real, physical, letter to their office – marked personal – asking where that person had gone. I tried to explain that it was counterproductive to depict half of America as uneducated cretins and unrepentant racists. I received back a handwritten letter saying that I was the one who had surrendered my principles. That I had become a right wing extremist. That if I couldn’t see that these neo- Nazi racists and ignorant religious zealots were a threat to the very fabric of America, I was part of the problem. I wish I had saved it. It was remarkable.

    No, they will never admit that they are the ones in need of a lesson. The hubris is staggering.

    • #24
    • November 1, 2020, at 9:17 AM PST
    • 15 likes
    • This comment has been edited.
  25. Gary Robbins Reagan

    Saint Augustine (View Comment):

    Don’t try to pack the Court. Don’t even think about it.

    Agreed.

    • #25
    • November 1, 2020, at 9:19 AM PST
    • 2 likes
  26. Goldgeller Member

    Arahant (View Comment):

    Goldgeller (View Comment):
    There are a lot of things Biden does regularly that shouldn’t be repeated.

    Don’t ask reporters if they could pass a drug test, especially black reporters.

    Forgot about that one. It takes a lot of stones Biden to do that. Amazing. 

    • #26
    • November 1, 2020, at 9:42 AM PST
    • 3 likes
  27. Jon1979 Lincoln

    Goldgeller (View Comment):

    Arahant (View Comment):

    Goldgeller (View Comment):
    There are a lot of things Biden does regularly that shouldn’t be repeated.

    Don’t ask reporters if they could pass a drug test, especially black reporters.

    Forgot about that one. It takes a lot of stones Biden to do that. Amazing.

    You can do it, when you know that the vast majority of the media will never call you on it. It’s the same reason Nancy Pelosi could get so irate with Wolf Blitzer and call him a Republican stooge two weeks ago — they’re so accustomed to the media basically being their public relations people, any even modestly tough questions from an outlet not named Fox News elicits an angry response, because they see those media people as traitors to The Cause.

    • #27
    • November 1, 2020, at 9:47 AM PST
    • 10 likes
  28. Goldgeller Member

    Jon1979 (View Comment):

    Goldgeller (View Comment):

    Arahant (View Comment):

    Goldgeller (View Comment):
    There are a lot of things Biden does regularly that shouldn’t be repeated.

    Don’t ask reporters if they could pass a drug test, especially black reporters.

    Forgot about that one. It takes a lot of stones Biden to do that. Amazing.

    You can do it, when you know that the vast majority of the media will never call you on it. It’s the same reason Nancy Pelosi could get so irate with Wolf Blitzer and call him a Republican stooge two weeks ago — they’re so accustomed to the media basically being their public relations people, any even modestly tough questions from an outlet not named Fox News elicits an angry response, because they see those media people as traitors to The Cause.

    As much as I complain about the MSM, and I do, and I think they’ve gotten worse, at least they do cover Trump. That, by accident, at times help hold him accountable. They will cover for Biden and that will be dangerous. 

    • #28
    • November 1, 2020, at 10:06 AM PST
    • 5 likes
  29. Gazpacho Grande' Coolidge

    Judge Mental (View Comment):

    Don’t graft yourself and each and every member of your family into being millionaires.

    Unless, of course, I get a big heapin’ helping of graft thrown my way.

    Then I’m Grafty Grande’!

    • #29
    • November 1, 2020, at 10:08 AM PST
    • 3 likes
  30. Jon1979 Lincoln

    Goldgeller (View Comment):

    Jon1979 (View Comment):

    Goldgeller (View Comment):

    Arahant (View Comment):

    Goldgeller (View Comment):
    There are a lot of things Biden does regularly that shouldn’t be repeated.

    Don’t ask reporters if they could pass a drug test, especially black reporters.

    Forgot about that one. It takes a lot of stones Biden to do that. Amazing.

    You can do it, when you know that the vast majority of the media will never call you on it. It’s the same reason Nancy Pelosi could get so irate with Wolf Blitzer and call him a Republican stooge two weeks ago — they’re so accustomed to the media basically being their public relations people, any even modestly tough questions from an outlet not named Fox News elicits an angry response, because they see those media people as traitors to The Cause.

    As much as I complain about the MSM, and I do, and I think they’ve gotten worse, at least they do cover Trump. That, by accident, at times help hold him accountable. They will cover for Biden and that will be dangerous.

    Andrew Klavan’s made the point it’s not so much how they cover Trump by itself — it’s how they cover Trump vs. how they covered Obama and how they would cover Biden. Even during the Obama years, much of the media was so in the tank for the Democrats, that every couple of years, when “Saturday Night Live” would do a skit that actually mocked Obama (as opposed to mocking the people against Obama), outlets like CNN or The Washington Post would be out by Sunday morning fact-checking the comedy skit, less anyone watching take away from it the idea that the comedy was based on anything Obama had actually done.

    Other have noted the WaPo was covering up for JFK 60 years ago, but the new media model doesn’t just not work to uncover stuff about its preferred candidates — it rushes to refute stories against those candidates and even supports censorship of media outlets which do report those stories.

    • #30
    • November 1, 2020, at 10:19 AM PST
    • 8 likes
    • This comment has been edited.