Generic Current President

Bodyslamming, Trump in Europe, the great Mollie Hemingway (you are hereby ordered to buy her new Encounter Broadside Trump vs. The Media right now), the lies we tell ourselves about terrorism (thanks John Kluge), and Peter Robinson once hung out with Roger Moore. No, we didn’t know that either. Happy summer, everyone.

Music from this week’s podcast: Nobody Does It Better (The Spy Who Loved Me) by Carly Simon

The all new opening sequence for the Ricochet Podcast was composed and produced by James Lileks.

Yes, you should absolutely subscribe to this podcast. It helps! And leave a review too! And for Peter’s sake: JOIN RICOCHET TODAY. 

Hill, @EJHill.

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There are 86 comments.

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  1. Dirtbag43 Coolidge
    Dirtbag43
    @Dirtbag43

    TURN ROB’S MICROPHONE UP!  Geez what am I paying $2.50/mo. for with sound quality like this!?

    Partially joking guys, thanks again for an intelligent 60 or so minutes of sound.  Although Peter’s weird chauvinistic defense of Gianforte’s violent behavior left me a bit flabbergasted.

    I want to push back on the point made about historical violence and the precedent for modern bombings.  It seems a little too broad to essentially say “well approximately since the French Revolution things have been pretty rough so now is no different.”  That misses the salience of one major development–the suicide bomber.  Although the Japanese had their kamikazes, the world had really never seen such a weapon until Ayatollah Khomeini “blessed” the tactic in the 80’s after it proved effective in driving US forces from Lebanon.

    When I first saw the title I expected it was a reaction to McConnell’s comment about Trump’s presidency being “indistinguishable” from a Rubio or Bush presidency.  For some reason I can’t imagine Bush elbowing the leader of Montenegro quite so aggressively…

    Peace and Happy Memorial Day!

    • #61
  2. Bryan G. Stephens Thatcher
    Bryan G. Stephens
    @BryanGStephens

    Rob is often hard to hear.

    • #62
  3. You ain't no Eric Hoffer Inactive
    You ain't no Eric Hoffer
    @You aint no Eric Hof

    Aaron Miller (View Comment):
    I see conflicting accounts of the Montana reporter incident. So much is commonly exaggerated these days. Does “body slammed” refer to him merely being pushed hard toward the floor? Does “hands on his neck” refer to hands briefly on his collar during the shove, rather than any real danger of strangulation? Did the politician grab the back of the neck — a great way to control someone without threatening injury? Or was he genuinely violent?

    It_does_not_matter.  You are not allowed to do any of what you just described.  Pushing someone hard toward the floor is illegal; it’s assault.  Grabbing somebody by the collar, no matter how briefly, is illegal.  It, too, is assault.  According the Black’s Law Dictionary, assault is “the threat or use of force on another that causes that person to have a reasonable apprehension of imminent harmful or offensive contact; the act of putting another person in reasonable fear or apprehension of an immediate battery by means of an act amounting to an attempt or threat to commit a battery.”

    Okay?  Every single account of the incident conforms to the common legal definition of assault.  We’re done here.  It does not matter that the reporter might be an annoying poopy head, or that the assaulter is a big Montana man.  This is the first rule of conduct that we teach_to_children, for crying out loud.

    • #63
  4. You ain't no Eric Hoffer Inactive
    You ain't no Eric Hoffer
    @You aint no Eric Hof

    And come on; if this had been a reporter from Breitbart being assaulted by a Democrat politician, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation.  Give me a break.

    • #64
  5. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    You ain't no Eric Hoffer (View Comment):
    Every single account of the incident conforms to the common legal definition of assault.

    Actually, no. Look at the definition you posted. Every description is of battery. Did he say he was going to do it before he did? Or did he just start the beat down? Putting a fist up to a guy’s nose is assault. Hitting the guy’s nose with your fist is battery.

    • #65
  6. Ario IronStar Inactive
    Ario IronStar
    @ArioIronStar

    filmklassik (View Comment):

    Ario IronStar (View Comment):

    Well, @filmklassik, your position does have the virtue of being honest. One can debate whether your position is more principled than prissy. Be that as it may, although you clearly impugn all levels of support for Trump as at best booboisie, at least you don’t stoop to the Nordlinger level of comparing him and his supporters to Nazis (unless I missed it).

    I doubt Jay Nordlinger has done that either. Is there a vocal minority of racists within the Trump camp? Of course there is. Just ask Ben Shapiro, whose volume of antisemitic hate mail reached epic proportions when he started his nightly jeremiads against the Donald. But that doesn’t mean the typical Trump suporter bears any love for David Duke or Richard Spencer. (Hard to imagine anyone less Nazi-like than Dennis Prager).

    And I expect Jay knows that.

    Oh, Jay did that.  Anyone who listened to the Ricochet flagship podcast after Trump’s inaugural address knows that.  As does anyone who listed to Need to Know for about a year before that.  Relevant to your comments, anyone who listens to Ben Shapiro knows that, despite his personal revulsion of Steve Bannon, Ben is able to criticize Trump without destroying his credibility by assessing Trump’s political mistakes congruent to the insane and insubtantial denigration of the MSM and establishment Republicanism.  So, if you are hanging your hat on Ben Shapiro for your Trump bashing, you’re barking up the wrong tree.

    But I must emphasize, Jay knows no amelioration when it comes to Trump apologia.

    • #66
  7. You ain't no Eric Hoffer Inactive
    You ain't no Eric Hoffer
    @You aint no Eric Hof

    Arahant (View Comment):
    Actually, no. Look at the definition you posted. Every description is of battery. Did he say he was going to do it before he did? Or did he just start the beat down? Putting a fist up to a guy’s nose is assault. Hitting the guy’s nose with your fist is battery.

    I’m not a lawyer, and I don’t play one in the internet, so fine.  It’s battery.  The fact that we’re splitting hairs over whether a reporter was battered or merely assaulted, and that there’s anyone on the center right who can’t repudiate it without a bunch of ifs and buts is ridiculous.

    If this is acceptable on the right, then what in God’s name remains of the culture to defend from the left?

    • #67
  8. You ain't no Eric Hoffer Inactive
    You ain't no Eric Hoffer
    @You aint no Eric Hof

    Ario IronStar (View Comment):
    Relevant to your comments, anyone who listens to Ben Shapiro knows that, despite his personal revulsion of Steve Bannon, Ben is able to criticize Trump without destroying his credibility by assessing Trump’s political mistakes congruent to the insane and insubtantial denigration of the MSM and establishment Republicanism. So, if you are hanging your hat on Ben Shapiro for your Trump bashing, you’re barking up the wrong tree.

    Total horse hockey.  Shapiro had made every single criticism of Trump that guys like Nordlinger and Podhoretz have.  He’s done plenty of “this doesn’t look good”, and “if true, Trump is in trouble”.  There is no difference between them substantively, except that Shapiro throws more sops to Trumpeters by constantly bashing the MSM.

    Apparently, the critics are right, all that matters to Trump supporters is your level of hostility to the media.

     

    • #68
  9. Oranjeman Inactive
    Oranjeman
    @Oranjeman

    Don’t know if any one has posted this already, but from Steve Coogin’s hilarious Alan Partridge, the beginning of the iconic ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaunC76kPVU

     

    As for best Blofeld … I’ve always been kinda partial to Charles Gray.  He had a charm to him and was definitely the funniest.

    • #69
  10. Miffed White Male Member
    Miffed White Male
    @MiffedWhiteMale

    @jameslileks made a comment during the podcast that he couldn’t reconcile  Trump supporters saying pre-election that they’d hold Trump “accountable”, and the current anti-anti-Trump excusing of all manner of poor behavior.

    I think the reason for the change is that nobody counted on the virulent anti-Trump “resistance” movement that seeks to deny Trump any legitimacy in office.  The anti-Trump “resistance” [and I refuse to use that word without the quotes, because I won’t allow them the moral equivalence to the WWII Anti-Nazi occupation resistance they are seeking] is not just opposing Trump on policy they disagree with, they  are denying the very existence of his administration.  This makes a difference in the need to defend him, even when he does things that would otherwise be indefensible.

     

    • #70
  11. Walker Member
    Walker
    @Walker

    Just finished listening to this very good podcast.  I particularly agree with Mollie Hemingway about the virulent opinions against Trump on the right, and how media and other commentariats needed to hear more (or recognize the legitimacy) from those in the electorate who voted for Trump so that we can move away from the ‘all hate Trump all the time’ coverage.

    Mollie mentioned Brit Hume and Byron York as two journalists who do address their stories objectively and straight.  Again, totally agree.  Unfortunately, some of the podcast feeds you carry (and which I have religiously listened to since the beginning of Ricochet) have a very snarky tone, transferring their contempt for Trump unto his voters (they may not intend to do that, but it’s coming through to me anyway).

    I did not support Donald Trump through most of the campaign, and did not vote for him in the California primary.  However, after getting fed up with the snark from the right (including on such Ricochet feeds as “Need to Know” and Mike Murphy’s sad excuse for a podcast), I began to change my thinking abut Trump and did vote for him in the general (for all the good it did in California, but I took a stand and stand by it).

    Recently, after hearing one of the Ricochet feed podcasts from NR’s “The Editorial Board”, I reached the last straw with NR, and cancelled my subscription — for a magazine I have religiously subscribed to for over 20 years.  As Mollie stated on this podcast, it’s perfectly okay to oppose the policies and positions from this administration, but you all need to “curb your” antipathy for the guy.  The “never Trumpers” have really turned me off.  And, registering my dislike of those voices sadly means not listening to certain podcasts, and cancelling my subscriptions to their magazines.

    I continue to enjoy and listen to the flagship podcast and the Harvard Lunch Club.  I also listen to Commentary and the GLOP Culture podcast — until the snark comes back into the conversation — then it’s ZIP!  As for “Need to Know”, National Review and the Weekly Standard feeds — and their host Michael Graham:  buh bye!

    I’m not proposing “purity” or pro-Trump all the time, but just a humble request that the dripping sarcasm and snarky tone cease!

    attn, post-script:  Dennis Prager has an interesting article on this very subject which is worthy of your attention.

     

    • #71
  12. Walker Member
    Walker
    @Walker

    Outstanding!  You mirror my thoughts to a T!  :)

    Miffed White Male (View Comment):
    ….the reason for the change is that nobody counted on the virulent anti-Trump “resistance” movement that seeks to deny Trump any legitimacy in office. The anti-Trump “resistance” … is not just opposing Trump on policy they disagree with, they are denying the very existence of his administration. This makes a difference in the need to defend him, even when he does things that would otherwise be indefensible.

     

    • #72
  13. Walker Member
    Walker
    @Walker

    You ain't no Eric Hoffer (View Comment):

    ,,,,,

    Apparently, the critics are right, all that matters to Trump supporters is your level of hostility to the media.

    Not really.  I read newspapers pretty extensively — both left, ultra left, and WOW!! as well as the less read conservative papers. However, all you need to do is to look at the front page headlines, and compare them on any given day to coverage under the previous 8 years, and it doesn’t take a brain surgeon to see how virulently anti-Trump the media has become.  There’s a reason it’s now called “Trump Derangement Syndrome”, and unfortunately, it seems to have affected some of the Washington right wing establishment as well.

    Salena Zito is probably the best journalist who takes an honest look at “Trump country” and shows the respect that these hard-working Americans deserve.  That’s the kind of coverage that Mollie Hemingway may be referring to.

    • #73
  14. Blue Yeti Admin
    Blue Yeti
    @BlueYeti

    Walker (View Comment):
     

    attn, post-script: Dennis Prager has an interesting article on this very subject which is worthy of your attention.

    Dennis Prager and Pat Buchanan will be the guests (in different segments) on this week’s Ricochet Podcast.

    • #74
  15. You ain't no Eric Hoffer Inactive
    You ain't no Eric Hoffer
    @You aint no Eric Hof

    Walker (View Comment):
    There’s a reason it’s now called “Trump Derangement Syndrome”, and unfortunately, it seems to have affected some of the Washington right wing establishment as well.

    Yes, there is; it was a handy shorthand left over from the GWB years, when the media was worse to the Republican president than they are now.  Did we all forget when celebrities were out there calling the guy a terrorist?  When some peace award winner got up and said “I don’t deserve this, because I’d really like to kill George W. Bush.”?  Remember how he was an illegitimate president because the Supreme court put him into office?  Am I the only one who remembers the shrieking horror the media was exhibiting nearly every day for 8 years of his presidency?

    And I don’t remember there being any shortage of criticism of GWB from the right.  There conservative peanut gallery was never in love with him on domestic policy, and as Iraq turned into a train wreck, he had almost no friends in the media anywhere.

    This isn’t new.  This is what the media does to Republican presidents, both the MSM and the conservative media, for the last 20 years or so.  Deal with it.  Trump can nullify the power of a thousand Bill Kristols by getting down to business and seeing a real agenda for the Republican party.

    • #75
  16. Miffed White Male Member
    Miffed White Male
    @MiffedWhiteMale

    You ain't no Eric Hoffer (View Comment):
    Yes, there is; it was a handy shorthand left over from the GWB years, when the media was worse to the Republican president than they are now.

    No they weren’t.

     

    • #76
  17. You ain't no Eric Hoffer Inactive
    You ain't no Eric Hoffer
    @You aint no Eric Hof

    Walker (View Comment):
    Salena Zito is probably the best journalist who takes an honest look at “Trump country” and shows the respect that these hard-working Americans deserve.

    Nope.  Nope.  Nope.  I live right smack in the middle of “Trump Country”; known it my whole life.  The last thing Trump Country needs is people helping them to confuse political disagreement with disrespect.

    You’re absolutely right that Trump Country has been treated with either casual disregard or downright contempt by both sides of the political aisle.  That doesn’t make their political decisions correct, and that’s not an invitation to allow them to turn the government into a primal scream.  What these people need is agency, real agency back in their lives, and not to have their worst impulses enabled and apologized for.  I’ll rot in Hell before supporting the Republican party turning my community into the new racial minority neighborhood: an easy source of votes and electoral anecdotes in exchange for policies that encourage indolence and resentment.

    • #77
  18. You ain't no Eric Hoffer Inactive
    You ain't no Eric Hoffer
    @You aint no Eric Hof

    Miffed White Male (View Comment):

    You ain’t no Eric Hoffer (View Comment):
    Yes, there is; it was a handy shorthand left over from the GWB years, when the media was worse to the Republican president than they are now.

    No they weren’t.

    Miffed White Male (View Comment):

    You ain’t no Eric Hoffer (View Comment):
    Yes, there is; it was a handy shorthand left over from the GWB years, when the media was worse to the Republican president than they are now.

    No they weren’t.

    You paid somebody money to make that comment, you know.

    • #78
  19. Miffed White Male Member
    Miffed White Male
    @MiffedWhiteMale

     

    Miffed White Male (View Comment):

    You ain’t no Eric Hoffer (View Comment):
    Yes, there is; it was a handy shorthand left over from the GWB years, when the media was worse to the Republican president than they are now.

    No they weren’t.

    You paid somebody money to make that comment, you know.

    I’m not a podcast member.

    • #79
  20. Walker Member
    Walker
    @Walker

    Knock it off you two!  I am a paid subscriber (one of the earliest ones), but I rarely comment.

    That said, I do agree with one of you who said that while GWB was held in contempt by the media and liberals, the invective was nowhere near what it is now with Trump.  I also remember the media and liberal hatred (but then I repeat myself) of Reagan.   At the time, I was a liberal, and my counterparts were not timid about speaking their minds to a “fellow traveler.”  Fortunately, I grew up.  Sad to say that my colleagues didn’t.  But now, even those in our party are falling in line with the cocktail party literati in the Acela Corridor.  Do they really need love all that badly?  I learned from my parents long ago to spurn that kind of dependency.  Or, as Truman once said, “if you want a friend in Washington, get a dog!”.

    • #80
  21. Vectorman Inactive
    Vectorman
    @Vectorman

    Walker (View Comment):
    Knock it off you two! I am a paid subscriber (one of the earliest ones), but I rarely comment.

    • The early days of Ricochet,
    • the profile page would thus convey
    • your background ways…

    Thanks for entering something on your profile page!

    (If you want real poetry, ask @arahant to finish this for you)

     

    • #81
  22. James Hageman Coolidge
    James Hageman
    @JamesHageman

    Looking forward to the next podcast pic. Who will be bodyslamming whom? What will the covfefe be?

    • #82
  23. Aaron Miller Inactive
    Aaron Miller
    @AaronMiller

    You ain't no Eric Hoffer (View Comment):
    Every single account of the incident conforms to the common legal definition of assault.

    Law and justice are not synonymous. One should worry about legal consequences, but one should not let politicians, bureaucrats, and lawyers define one’s behavior.

    Whether or not pushing or grabbing should be illegal depends on the circumstances. Most Americans live as much according to common sense as as to fear of the law, thankfully. The frequency of litigation in our society is a sickness.

    • #83
  24. Aaron Miller Inactive
    Aaron Miller
    @AaronMiller

    By the way, GCP (Generic Current President) — clever, amusing… but not very helpful. People should consider with each action if President Trump has acted uniquely. But perhaps GCP should only be used when relevant in that way. Otherwise, it just emphasizes your view that Trump is unique and can’t be taken seriously.

    In any case, y’all should have spelled it out before using the abbreviation. I didn’t listen to the podcast immediately after seeing the title, so I didn’t know what “GCP” was supposed to be for a long time.

    • #84
  25. Percival Thatcher
    Percival
    @Percival

    Make America Cofefe Again!

    • #85
  26. Rick Harlan Inactive
    Rick Harlan
    @Rick Harlan

    I used to compare James Lileks to Harlow Wilcox, of Johnson Wax fame. Listening to this podcast a second time, I’ve decided he’s the Gary Kasparov of segues. Harlow was playing checkers, James is playing chess, thinking three moves ahead of his co-hosts.

    • #86
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