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Jonah invites Steve Hayes back onto the Remnant to unveil The Dispatch, their long-teased new venture, of which Jonah is the editor-in-chief and Steve is the CEO. They also discuss the unfolding Ukraine drama and the recent news about the Kurds.
Shownotes
–More about The Dispatch in Axios
–Advice to a Friend on Choosing a Mistress
-Follow Andrew Egger (@EggerDC) and Declan Garvey (@declanpgarvey)
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I don’t tweet. But Trump has been brilliant in using tweets to attack his perceived enemies.
Those guys made the bulk of their money from books, speeches/lectures, and TV appearances (and in Buckley’s case, some of it was inherited). Their actual businesses were not anywhere near the kind of money the founders of Uber and WeWork (your examples, not mine) made.
Not to mention that both Kristol and Buckley’s media companies existed in a very different media environment. People starting one of these things today are doing it for the mission than anything else. Like us, I suspect Steve and Jonah also just wanted to work for themselves at this point in their lives. That’s part of it too.
But that’s part of the point right there. I don’t think Trump is disqualified for office because of personal merits. (At least, not the ones shown so far.) Jonah obviously does. And I doubt you could find anyone on Ricochet who would say that Jonah’s opposition to Trump isn’t mostly personal. At least not anyone who regularly hears/reads what Jonah says/writes about Trump.
All of which could help get a Democrat elected in 2020!
Good plan!
Fact check: I’m on Ricochet and I do not think Jonah’s opposition to Trump is mostly personal. In fact, I know it isn’t because I’ve has many one on one conversations with him about it. But sure, a lot of people believe that Presidents ought to set an example in terms of public behavior and ethics. And have some sense of the Constitution and the history of the country. I understand that these days this is a controversial way if thinking, but I guess we’re just kooky that way.
But the point is that both Uber and WeWork are – and always have been – losing money. And yet the FOUNDERS and upper-muckety-mucks of both got rich from investors etc.
There is no Conservative media analogue to Uber and WeWork because there is no VC/big bank money in this space and two, because there is no big exit available. The company at the top of the food chain in our vertical is Fox News and they have not made a single acquisition in the history of that company. Not one.*
So again: NO ONE IS DOING THIS TYPE OF THING TO GET RICH.
I’m gonna go watch the Dodgers-Nats game now.
*Actually, they did make one: the WSJ, but that was NewsCorp, not Fox News and the WSJ was most certainly not a digital media start up.
“The 11th Commandment”? Are you aware of what you did just now? Your argument is predicated not on the value of core Conservative principles — far from it — but on the implicit assumption that an idea having to do with Republican Party loyalty (Republican Party loyalty!) … advanced by a wise and respected former President … somehow supersedes those principles.
As if a test of whether or not one is a “true Conservative” is the degree to which one believes that Reagan was speaking the political equivalent of ex cathedra — as if Reagan was the GOP’s pontiff or something. Which isn’t merely wrong, it’s crazy. And you know who’d agree with that assessment? The Gipper.
Conservative values have nothing — bupkis — to do with party and elections. They exist independently of those things. Which comes as a relief to traditional Conservatives at a time when the historic vessel for Conservatism in this country — the GOP — is in the midst of flying off the rails.
How many people get to have one-on-one conversations with Jonah? But to the extent that your argument might be true, it says that Jonah isn’t doing a very good job with his writing and podcasts. Because my point was for people who hear and read what Jonah says and writes. Not what they might conclude from “many one on one conversations with him.”
Also if we’re going with the “anonymity of the internet” etc I could easily argue that what Jonah writes and says “publicly” is more reflective of his true beliefs than what he says to another person one-on-one.
You think Reagan would be okay with referring to the president who nominated Gorsuch and Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, for example, as “loathsome,” “unfit,” etc? That sounds to me more like “80% friend” than “20% enemy.”
Jonah has said countless times publicly that he likes the judges, many of the policies, and the President’s attacks on political correctness. Maybe add a new tab to your spreadsheet?
My conversations with him are remarkably similar to his work. Hard to tell the difference, actually. Weird.
Well, maybe do it as a Long Poll or something. Not that I think it would be very accurate, especially depending on how the question was asked and the possible answers, it might at least be entertaining. But to the extent Jonah supports any of Trump’s policies/actions – and often he doesn’t even give Trump credit because he believes someone else behind the scenes was actually responsible – I find it still greatly outweighed by personal animus, even disgust.
He doesn’t give Trump credit? Uh, yes he does. But you’re way too focused on the critiques to hear or read them. Try harder. They’re there.
P.S. You’ve been very critical of the Long Poll since we started it. That’s fine — It’s your opinion. But it’s hilarious to see you advocating for one now.
Dodgers 3 Nats 0 Bottom 3rd
I didn’t say that Jonah NEVER gives Trump credit. But he often does dismiss or downplay Trump’s role in it, instead ascribing true/primary credit to others.
Regarding the poll, you can call that “advocating” if you want, but what I actually said was “Not that I think it would be very accurate, especially depending on how the question was asked and the possible answers, it might at least be entertaining.”
It always amuses that the President’s supporters are fine to overlook Trump’s often wildly imprecise manner of speech, his causal relationship with facts and history, and his (often deliberate) misquoting of his rivals and political enemies. Yet demand total accuracy from his critics. Why are the standards so different?
It’s really fascinating, actually. There must be a psychological term for it. Wish I knew what it was.
Dodgers 3 Nats 1 Top of the 6th
Not sure what you mean. Are you saying that I shouldn’t insist that Jonah be “accurate” about his true attitudes regarding Trump? Or that I shouldn’t complain about the Long Polls not being accurate? Although I don’t see what either really has to do with Trump. Even if you already believe that Trump “lies like a rug,” and even if others already agree, a faulty poll to “prove” it is still faulty.
You could do a “poll” of “What should happen to Trump? A) Burned At The Stake, B) Drawn And Quartered, C) Tarred And Feathered” and no matter what the actual results were or how few people even responded, you could “accurately” state that “Our poll shows that 100% of people believe that Trump should be burned at the stake, drawn and quartered, or tarred and feathered!” So what?
I was referring to the characterization that Jonah (and others) often don’t give credit to or compliment the President. They do — when they agree with him. And they criticize him when they don’t.
Trump hurts himself on a daily basis. He makes off the cuff remarks, and most often Tweets when he should say nothing. It’s a terrible way to run a government.
Your poll question example is silly. The poll questions are meant to capture an opinion in a moment in time. We do not claim that they are scientific to that they mean much beyond how our members respond to fixed questions and answers. We want to make the Ricochet Podcast a bit more interactive and maybe even sell a few memberships in the process. Nothing more to it than that.
Final: Nats 7 Dodgers 3 in extra innings (10) with a grand slam by Howie Kendricks. Great game.
Look, even if you’re correct about Reagan not looking favorably on Jonah’s comments (which is impossible to know for certain, but whatever), since when did “What would Reagan say?” become the “What would Jesus do?” equivalent of Conservative thought? That’s gotta be one of the most ridiculous propositions I’ve ever heard.
Jonah believes deeply in core Conservative values, and he wants the GOP to embody those values, or come as close as it can. And when it doesn’t, he says something. It’s not complicated.
And it’s not like he spares the rod with the Left, either. Are you kidding me? My God, read his books sometime. Read his books! Each one is a veritable ode to Conservatism. Max Boot, Jennifer Rubin and David Frum would surely burn their hands if they touched them.
I think most often when referring to Reagan on these threads, after Gary Robbins has brought in the Reagan shrine, it’s usually to point out that many who worship Reagan ignore things that would be… inconvenient.
That’s like what Yeti said earlier about one-on-one conversations with Jonah. But it’s not my fault if his (Jonah’s) speaking on podcasts and/or short-form writing on web sites isn’t as fantabulous as his books may be. And I suspect a lot more people hear and read him on podcasts and web sites and editorial columns etc, than read his books. Which suggests that he needs to do better at the forums where more people encounter him, rather than “blame the audience” or whatever it might be called.
But you’ve heard from members who were quite clear about how they (arguably mis-)interpreted the limited options in previous polls (and the current one really isn’t any better) and thus demonstrate that the “results” you get are essentially meaningless. As with the example I gave.
If electing a Democrat in 2020 would end the Trump reign of terror in the Republican Party by hammering a wooden spike into Trumpism’s heart, that would be the strongest reason for me to vote for a Democrat for President for the first time in 48 years.
I think that I would choose B. If Trump is tarred and feathered, he would still be alive. If Trump were burned at the stake, then there would be the possibility that he could still be alive. (Trump is as durable as Rasputin.) But if Trump were literally drawn and quartered into four separate pieces, he would clearly be dead.
Whoa! What a result in the game. And to think that I spent time mucking around in politics tonight!
I encourage you and everyone to make the trip to Simi Valley to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. There was a time when a strong conservative Republican was inspiring and inclusive and brought out the best of us. We can do that again.
I completely disagree with this. He is way too fluent in and supportive of the Austrian view of economics.
I agree with this completely.
I like Jonah Goldberg and Steve Hayes. If they spend a lot of resources analyzing the structural problems of this country and the world that interfere with conservative and libertarian policy success, that would be great.
What bothers me is the ‘this is bad because Trump did it’ mentality. Neither Goldberg nor Hayes seemed interested in why the Hell we had soldiers in Syria in the first place, and what their job was, and under what conditions they might be withdrawn. It was just mentally lazy Trump hatred.
The Trump haters want to define ‘conservative’ as ‘classical liberal.’
That doesn’t make sense. ‘Classical liberal’ is a deceit. It is Libertarianism by a different name. A classical liberal believes that liberty — freedom — leads to virtue, if not in the individual, in the aggregate. It is a trust that world can, and will, under proper constraints, reward us for our good behaviour.
Ain’t going to happen.
Of course, it would be the end of America as we know it. But what do you care? You’ll have your white whale, cap’n. And we’ll all drown.