This week’s episode is sans-guests and sans-metaphysics, as Lucretia and Steve kick around the news of the week, which is a mix of the usual ominous portents from Washington, along with some evidence that Democrats are in free-fall with the public.

First up is a look at the egregious Department of Justice letter identifying parents protesting at local school board meetings as a threat to the regime (in an ironic way, the DoJ is right!), wondering just what the federal question under the law is, and noting how this step certifies the open contempt Washington has for local self-government (thank you for your candor Terry McAuliffe!). Then we look at the Ezra Klein NY Times article about Democratic data-maven David Shor, who is trying to warn Democrats that the public is swifty turning against them. Steve offers some historical perspective to show how insane Democrats are in thinking they can govern the country as though they had the same kind of huge and durable majorities that FDR and LBJ had once upon a time.

And this leads into another of our friendly arguments about how to judge Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, who Steve thinks has performed brilliantly in dividing House Democrats and showing that Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi are actually terrible political strategists, while Lucretia is naturally less enamored of this thesis.

And finally, a Lucretia shout out to Andrew Klavan’s new article in City Journal on what lies at the heart of our political divisions of the moment, and what is necessary to fix it.

Exit music this week is “What’s In the News” by MacMillan, Bell, and Alexander.

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There are 11 comments.

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  1. Richard Easton Coolidge
    Richard Easton
    @RichardEaston

    The problem is that the Republicans, when they get the majority in Congress, don’t eliminate the new Democratic programs. ObamaCare has been cut back but many of its destructive elements remain. The Education Department is still there.. NPR and PBS continue to be funded. The march through the institutions continues. As Mark Steyn says, the Ds govern when they have the majority. Rs congratulate themselves for doing minor trimming. The huge bills are destroying the U.S.’s finances. I take no solace in Rs taking the Congress back after this is accomplished.

    • #1
  2. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    Richard Easton (View Comment):
    ObamaCare has been cut back but many of its destructive elements remain.

    They are being so stupid about this it’s unbelievable. I really wish I could force confessions at gunpoint out of these idiots. 

    It’s forcing single payer. Act accordingly.

    • #2
  3. Boney Cole Member
    Boney Cole
    @BoneyCole

    It is interesting that Obama wasted his entire first year trying to pass a carbon tax to raise money for the rest of his projects, health care included.  He was completely defeated on the subject.  He did pass a bunch of emergency stuff for the economic crisis.  Obamacare was the second year. 

    • #3
  4. Dr.Guido Member
    Dr.Guido
    @DrGuido

    Boney Cole (View Comment):

    It is interesting that Obama wasted his entire first year trying to pass a carbon tax to raise money for the rest of his projects, health care included. He was completely defeated on the subject. He did pass a bunch of emergency stuff for the economic crisis. Obamacare was the second year.

    And the economic wizard that he was his first instinct was to look at the disaster of an economy he was sitting on due to the Wall St./Financial collapse and…(wait for it!)…RAISE taxes!

    • #4
  5. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    I have always said that Mark Kelly was a very wealthy, celebrity gun grabber, with an engineering degree. I don’t get why this makes him qualified to start in the Senate instead of somewhere else. 

    • #5
  6. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    At 28:00 and at the end where you talk about the dynamics of discussing public policy with somebody on the left, you guys are dead on.

    This is my new theory.

    For all of the reasons you listed, they are only going to talk to you “tactically”. The objective is to get any kookie collectivist idea over the line. If it has momentum they are for it. If they don’t create more non-public goods, do more central planning, and either invent or freak out about social issues they don’t exist. It doesn’t matter if they studied it, they are for it.

    You are not going to have a policy discussion to increase understanding. They will do anything except try to reach a common understanding. They will give you feedback that doesn’t make any sense like they don’t understand the words, which I suppose you could call gaslighting. They will get emotional. Etc.

    When you talk to a Democrat, adopt this posture in your mind and then stick to policy discussions only. Watch what happens.

    • #6
  7. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    EDIT: this is the wrong video but it’s still pretty close to the point. lol

     

    Some people may find this interesting about the Federal Reserve and the socialists in Congress.

    • #7
  8. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    This is what I was talking about

     

     

     

    • #8
  9. LukeWVa Listener
    LukeWVa
    @LukeWVa

    They were making fun of Ibram X. Kendi.  He is speaking as the headliner at the convention in Boston of the biggest civil defense lawyer group in the country, the Defense Research Institute.  I dropped out of that group several years ago when they paid a credibly-accused rapist (named Clinton) $205,000 to speak at its annual meeting.

    • #9
  10. LibertyDefender Member
    LibertyDefender
    @LibertyDefender

    @53:32 et seq.

    That was indeed a shameless shout out Lucretia, and now I’m ashamed that it took me until today, Monday October 18, to hear it.  However, I think I have a reasonable excuse: I’ve been busy preparing my Fairfax, VA home for sale – I went live on Zillow and Redfin this past Saturday, and Facebook Marketplace today.  I can’t get out of here fast enough.  At least my now-adult children managed to escape the Fairfax County and Loudoun County Public School systems largely intact.

    I am not ashamed to admit that I had let my Ricochet.com subscription lapse, due largely to Rob Long‘s trenchant AntiTrumpism, with a substantial assist from James Lileks‘ penchant for awarding Member Post of the Week to a serial prevaricator who even in 2021 was continuing to repeat the Charlottesville lie.

    But I just reactivated my membership for at least a month, in order to thank Lucretia personally for the shout out – it might be an even bigger thrill than it was to meet Powerline’s own Steve Hayward  and John Hinderaker in person at Rob Long’s ConPodCon – live podcast convention – held at the American Enterprise Institute in 2018.

    • #10
  11. LibertyDefender Member
    LibertyDefender
    @LibertyDefender

    RufusRJones (View Comment):

    I have always said that Mark Kelly was a very wealthy, celebrity gun grabber, with an engineering degree. I don’t get why this makes him qualified to start in the Senate instead of somewhere else.

    I have said, ever since watching Mark Kelly and Gabrielle Giffords interviewed together on 60 Dateline 20/20 Minutes or some such, that Mark Kelly is more properly addressed as Mrs. Gabrielle Giffords.

    • #11
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