It’s A Wrap

Last one of the year, people. And what a year it’s been; but hey, let’s not get into that now. To help us put a bow on 2020, we asked our official election law analyst, John Yoo to stop by to delve into the latest suits filed and what options are left (hie National Review piece published earlier this week worth reading before you listen to his segment). Then, we wanted to end things on a happy note, so we asked our podcasting colleague Arthur Brooks, host of Ricochet’s Art of Happiness podcast to help us reset our attitudes and psyches for 2021. We also asked to give some TLC to a certain misanthropic member of this crew. Did it work? Only time will tell. Finally, we do some spelunking of bad Christmas tunes (and some good ones, too) courtesy of Lileks Post of The Week winner @cliffordbrown. Also, are people with grad degrees doctors? What say you?

Thanks for sticking with us through a turbulent and yes, often contentious year. We very much appreciate the listens and your feedback. We wish everyone a happy and healthy Christmas break and we’ll see you back here on January 8th.

Music from this week’s show: Baby It’s Cold Outside by Ella Fitzgerald (feat. Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five)

Subscribe to The Ricochet Podcast in Apple Podcasts (and leave a 5-star review, please!), or by RSS feed. For all our podcasts in one place, subscribe to the Ricochet Audio Network Superfeed in Apple Podcasts or by RSS feed.

Please Support Our Sponsor!

ExpressVPN

Now become a Ricochet member for only $5.00 a month! Join and see what you’ve been missing.

There are 114 comments.

Become a member to join the conversation. Or sign in if you're already a member.
  1. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    Taras (View Comment):

    Blue Yeti (View Comment):

    Taras (View Comment):
    Yoo is aware that opposing the stolen election narrative is — comfortable, not likely to result in his colleagues turning their backs on him. While supporting that narrative might put him beyond the pale.

    So he gratefully embraces his comfy conclusions and doesn’t dig any deeper. As I have pointed out more than once, he doesn’t appear to be very well informed on the issue of election fraud, or on the facts of the 2020 election. Maybe he doesn’t want to know … ?

    Yes, John’s grasp of the facts and legalities concerning the election pale in comparison to those towering intellectual jurisprudence and complex election law experts Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, and Lin Wood. John definitely has one thing going for him those guys don’t: He was right.

    P.S. How’d those crack lawyers actually do for the President? Has any one seen any Kraken roaming around lately? Because I was promised Kraken…

    Also, in your German villager analogy, are you actually comparing the people who believe there was “massive fraud” to holocaust victims? If so…..wow.

    “Wow”, indeed — talk about Reading Incomprehension!

    Just pointing out that sometimes people go to great lengths not to know something uncomfortable or unpleasant. And for a great many people the idea that the election may have been stolen is very uncomfortable and very unpleasant. (Another analogy I’ve used is the wife who refuses to see that her husband is molesting her child.)

    Which for Biden may not be all that far off the mark.

    Setting aside all the sneering, you seem to think that it’s a choice: either John Yoo is right, or Giuliani-Powell-Wood. (This is known as the Fallacy of the Excluded Middle, or the False Dichotomy.) They might all be wrong, perhaps in different ways.

    I don’t give Yoo too much credit for predicting the courts will not overturn the election, since I’ve been saying the same thing all along, and I am no legal expert. Once illegal ballots are cast, the only remedy is to re-run the election, and the courts simply aren’t going to order that. The way I like to put it is, Joe Biden stole the election fair and square.

    If Yoo supported the stolen election narrative, what might be the consequences to him? Well, if a future Republican President nominates him for a high position, with the Senate in Democratic hands, this would probably be enough to block him.

    And, tenure is not invincible.

    • #91
  2. Blue Yeti Admin
    Blue Yeti
    @BlueYeti

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Which for Biden may not be all that far off the mark.

    Setting aside all the sneering, you seem to think that it’s a choice: either John Yoo is right, or Giuliani-Powell-Wood. (This is known as the Fallacy of the Excluded Middle, or the False Dichotomy.) They might all be wrong, perhaps in different ways.

    I don’t give Yoo too much credit for predicting the courts will not overturn the election, since I’ve been saying the same thing all along, and I am no legal expert. Once illegal ballots are cast, the only remedy is to re-run the election, and the courts simply aren’t going to order that. The way I like to put it is, Joe Biden stole the election fair and square.

    If Yoo supported the stolen election narrative, what might be the consequences to him? Well, if a future Republican President nominates him for a high position, with the Senate in Democratic hands, this would probably be enough to block him.

    And, tenure is not invincible.

    As someone who (also) works at an academic institution, I can assure that while it’s not ironclad, it’s pretty darn close. And John Yoo remaining on ensconced on the faculty of <checks notes> U Cal Berkeley — arguably the most Progressive academic institution in the country (maybe the world!)– for over a dozen years now is the best argument I can think of for demonstrating that it is as close to invincible as possible. 

    • #92
  3. Blue Yeti Admin
    Blue Yeti
    @BlueYeti

    Taras (View Comment):
    Just pointing out that sometimes people go to great lengths not to know something uncomfortable or unpleasant. And for a great many people the idea that the election may have been stolen is very uncomfortable and very unpleasant. (Another analogy I’ve used is the wife who refuses to see that her husband is molesting her child.)

    Yeah, most of us are fine to consider the idea that the election was “stolen” but we want to see some actual evidence before we jump on board that claim. The evidence presented –witnesses with constantly changing stories, theories that were easily explainable (“I went to bed on Tuesday night and Trump was winning and when I woke up on Wednesday he was losing — STOLEN ELECTION!”), and of course the clown car that was the Trump legal team, never met the standard needed to change the results. I know, I know — you think it was an open and shut case and the rest of us are just Biden lackeys or sheeple who can’t see what you see.

    I do believe that mail in voting regulations need to be looked at closely and the balloting process made more secure. Because mail in and early voting is here to stay. We’re not going back to the previous way now.

    It is weird that here in CA, we’ve had mail in voting for (I think) 8 years now and the Republican Party has never challenged it once. They have (correctly) questioned the ballot harvesting process, but that’s not the way the majority of mail in voters here cast their ballots.

    • #93
  4. Fresch Fisch Coolidge
    Fresch Fisch
    @FreschFisch

    @jameslileks

    James you mentioned rockabilly and discussed great Christmas music. About 10 years ago I saw the Brian Setzer Christmas Tour.

    What a show! I couldn’t stop smiling for a week. This CD always gets repeated playtime this time of year. 

     

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_7AvrTnMpY&list=PLCjCY_uSXhGeUU9b9D0OyWTGdxcSaNzpG&index=2

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXH7SSZFdH4&list=PLCjCY_uSXhGeUU9b9D0OyWTGdxcSaNzpG&index=5

    • #94
  5. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    Fresch Fisch (View Comment):

    @jameslileks

    James you mentioned rockabilly and discussed great Christmas music. About 10 years ago I saw the Brian Setzer Christmas Tour.

    What a show! I couldn’t stop smiling for a week. This CD always gets repeated playtime this time of year.

     

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_7AvrTnMpY&list=PLCjCY_uSXhGeUU9b9D0OyWTGdxcSaNzpG&index=2

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXH7SSZFdH4&list=PLCjCY_uSXhGeUU9b9D0OyWTGdxcSaNzpG&index=5

     

    The “classic rock” station that I listen to, has been adding occasional Christmas tunes, and sometimes what they play is from the Brian Setzer Orchestra.  Good stuff!

    I also have had this one for years, surprisingly fun.

     

    • #95
  6. Taras Coolidge
    Taras
    @Taras

    Blue Yeti (View Comment):

    Taras (View Comment):
    Just pointing out that sometimes people go to great lengths not to know something uncomfortable or unpleasant. And for a great many people the idea that the election may have been stolen is very uncomfortable and very unpleasant. (Another analogy I’ve used is the wife who refuses to see that her husband is molesting her child.)

    Yeah, most of us are fine to consider the idea that the election was “stolen” but we want to see some actual evidence before we jump on board that claim. The evidence presented –witnesses with constantly changing stories, theories that were easily explainable (“I went to bed on Tuesday night and Trump was winning and when I woke up on Wednesday he was losing — STOLEN ELECTION!”), and of course the clown car that was the Trump legal team, never met the standard needed to change the results. I know, I know — you think it was an open and shut case and the rest of us are just Biden lackeys or sheeple who can’t see what you see.

    I do believe that mail in voting regulations need to be looked at closely and the balloting process made more secure. Because mail in and early voting is here to stay. We’re not going back to the previous way now.

    It is weird that here in CA, we’ve had mail in voting for (I think) 8 years now and the Republican Party has never challenged it once. They have (correctly) questioned the ballot harvesting process, but that’s not the way the majority of mail in voters here cast their ballots.

    “It is weird that here in CA, we’ve had mail in voting for (I think) 8 years now and the Republican Party has never challenged it once.”  Motto of the California Republican Party:  “Republicans Democrats can approve of!”  

    By all means, let all Republicans imitate the ones in California and become powerless losers.  I have this mental picture of California Republicans on their hind quarters with tongues hanging out, begging the Democrats for table scraps.

    One of the things that makes democracy work (to the extent that it does) is that you can’t get cretins to the polls.

    But the Democrats have figured out that with mail ballots they can make sure that a ballot is submitted in the name of every cretin, even if somebody else has to apply for, fill out, and mail the ballot.  As long as the same operative signs the application and the ballot envelope, it will even pass strict signature verification — not that Democrats will agree to strict signature verification.  (“You demand that minorities to know how to sign their names, you racist!”) 

    No, I don’t think it’s “an open and shut case”, though I’ve not seen a good counterargument to the case that votes cast by ineligible voters in swing states were more than enough to give the election to Biden.

     

    • #96
  7. Taras Coolidge
    Taras
    @Taras

    Blue Yeti (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Which for Biden may not be all that far off the mark.

    Setting aside all the sneering, you seem to think that it’s a choice: either John Yoo is right, or Giuliani-Powell-Wood. (This is known as the Fallacy of the Excluded Middle, or the False Dichotomy.) They might all be wrong, perhaps in different ways.

    I don’t give Yoo too much credit for predicting the courts will not overturn the election, since I’ve been saying the same thing all along, and I am no legal expert. Once illegal ballots are cast, the only remedy is to re-run the election, and the courts simply aren’t going to order that. The way I like to put it is, Joe Biden stole the election fair and square.

    If Yoo supported the stolen election narrative, what might be the consequences to him? Well, if a future Republican President nominates him for a high position, with the Senate in Democratic hands, this would probably be enough to block him.

    And, tenure is not invincible.

    As someone who (also) works at an academic institution, I can assure that while it’s not ironclad, it’s pretty darn close. And John Yoo remaining on ensconced on the faculty of <checks notes> U Cal Berkeley — arguably the most Progressive academic institution in the country (maybe the world!)– for over a dozen years now is the best argument I can think of for demonstrating that it is as close to invincible as possible.

    @blueyeti — You’re an academic on the West Coast?  How come I’m not surprised …

    Having a few well-behaved token conservatives on the staff is useful to any left-wing university.  If the Republicans are in power, Marx forbid, somebody might have to lobby them on the university’s behalf.

    A conservative heavyweight was visiting a liberal university and, to show they weren’t all left wingers, they trotted out two conservative faculty members. But, the heavyweight recalled, the same two faculty members had been trotted out to him on a previous visit, a quarter of a century earlier.  Privately the two men told him that coming out of the closet had caused their careers to stagnate and, if they could do it over, they wouldn’t.

     

    • #97
  8. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    Blue Yeti (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Which for Biden may not be all that far off the mark.

    Setting aside all the sneering, you seem to think that it’s a choice: either John Yoo is right, or Giuliani-Powell-Wood. (This is known as the Fallacy of the Excluded Middle, or the False Dichotomy.) They might all be wrong, perhaps in different ways.

    I don’t give Yoo too much credit for predicting the courts will not overturn the election, since I’ve been saying the same thing all along, and I am no legal expert. Once illegal ballots are cast, the only remedy is to re-run the election, and the courts simply aren’t going to order that. The way I like to put it is, Joe Biden stole the election fair and square.

    If Yoo supported the stolen election narrative, what might be the consequences to him? Well, if a future Republican President nominates him for a high position, with the Senate in Democratic hands, this would probably be enough to block him.

    And, tenure is not invincible.

    As someone who (also) works at an academic institution, I can assure that while it’s not ironclad, it’s pretty darn close. And John Yoo remaining on ensconced on the faculty of <checks notes> U Cal Berkeley — arguably the most Progressive academic institution in the country (maybe the world!)– for over a dozen years now is the best argument I can think of for demonstrating that it is as close to invincible as possible.

    I can think of at least one alternative argument.

    • #98
  9. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    Fortunately, ballot harvesting and everything related to it is getting a massive light shined on it. This is a massive deviance from rational governance.

    • #99
  10. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    RufusRJones (View Comment):

    Fortunately, ballot harvesting and everything related to it is getting a massive light shined on it. This is a massive deviance from rational governance.

    But will it make a difference?  The left thinks ballot harvesting is just fine, because it helps them get what they want.

    • #100
  11. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    kedavis (View Comment):

    RufusRJones (View Comment):

    Fortunately, ballot harvesting and everything related to it is getting a massive light shined on it. This is a massive deviance from rational governance.

    But will it make a difference? The left thinks ballot harvesting is just fine, because it helps them get what they want.

    Time will tell. It’s obviously not very logical unless you are totally unproductive, don’t own anything,  and don’t care about the future of the country. 

     

    • #101
  12. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    Government Is How We Steal From Each Other™

    • #102
  13. Blue Yeti Admin
    Blue Yeti
    @BlueYeti

    Taras (View Comment):

    You’re an academic on the West Coast? How come I’m not surprised …

     

    I’m staff, not faculty. Not an academic. Sorry to ruin your surprise. 

    • #103
  14. Henry Castaigne Member
    Henry Castaigne
    @HenryCastaigne

    Blue Yeti (View Comment):

    Taras (View Comment):

    You’re an academic on the West Coast? How come I’m not surprised …

     

    I’m staff, not faculty. Not an academic. Sorry to ruin your surprise.

    That’s not that much of a difference Yeti. 

    • #104
  15. Blue Yeti Admin
    Blue Yeti
    @BlueYeti

    Henry Castaigne (View Comment):
    That’s not that much of a difference Yeti. 

    It’s a huge difference. I’m not subject to any of the litmus tests or the internal politics that faculty members are. I also (mostly) work remotely, which lessens my involvement/participation even more. 

    • #105
  16. Taras Coolidge
    Taras
    @Taras

    Blue Yeti (View Comment):

    Henry Castaigne (View Comment):
    That’s not that much of a difference Yeti.

    It’s a huge difference. I’m not subject to any of the litmus tests or the internal politics that faculty members are. I also (mostly) work remotely, which lessens my involvement/participation even more.

    Mind if we call you “Bruce” just to keep things clear?

    • #106
  17. Blue Yeti Admin
    Blue Yeti
    @BlueYeti

    Taras (View Comment):

    Blue Yeti (View Comment):

    Henry Castaigne (View Comment):
    That’s not that much of a difference Yeti.

    It’s a huge difference. I’m not subject to any of the litmus tests or the internal politics that faculty members are. I also (mostly) work remotely, which lessens my involvement/participation even more.

    Mind if we call you “Bruce” just to keep things clear?

    I have no idea what that means. 

    • #107
  18. Bishop Wash Member
    Bishop Wash
    @BishopWash

    Blue Yeti (View Comment):

    Taras (View Comment):

    Blue Yeti (View Comment):

    Henry Castaigne (View Comment):
    That’s not that much of a difference Yeti.

    It’s a huge difference. I’m not subject to any of the litmus tests or the internal politics that faculty members are. I also (mostly) work remotely, which lessens my involvement/participation even more.

    Mind if we call you “Bruce” just to keep things clear?

    I have no idea what that means.

    • #108
  19. Henry Castaigne Member
    Henry Castaigne
    @HenryCastaigne

    Blue Yeti (View Comment):

    Taras (View Comment):

    Blue Yeti (View Comment):

    Henry Castaigne (View Comment):
    That’s not that much of a difference Yeti.

    It’s a huge difference. I’m not subject to any of the litmus tests or the internal politics that faculty members are. I also (mostly) work remotely, which lessens my involvement/participation even more.

    Mind if we call you “Bruce” just to keep things clear?

    I have no idea what that means.

    Nor I. I’m glad it’s not just you. 

    • #109
  20. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    Bishop Wash (View Comment):

    Blue Yeti (View Comment):

    Taras (View Comment):

    Blue Yeti (View Comment):

    Henry Castaigne (View Comment):
    That’s not that much of a difference Yeti.

    It’s a huge difference. I’m not subject to any of the litmus tests or the internal politics that faculty members are. I also (mostly) work remotely, which lessens my involvement/participation even more.

    Mind if we call you “Bruce” just to keep things clear?

    I have no idea what that means.

     

    The video version is arguably better.

    • #110
  21. spaceman_spiff Member
    spaceman_spiff
    @spacemanspiff

    There are many Christmas songs I love. This one transcends them all.

    • #111
  22. ThomasMcInerny Coolidge
    ThomasMcInerny
    @ThomasMcInerny

    EJHill (View Comment):

    Your video teaser:

     

    • #112
  23. ThomasMcInerny Coolidge
    ThomasMcInerny
    @ThomasMcInerny

    God bless you and keep you all.

    • #113
  24. ThomasMcInerny Coolidge
    ThomasMcInerny
    @ThomasMcInerny

    ThomasMcInerny (View Comment):

    God bless you and keep you all.

    Always a better ending…….

    • #114
Become a member to join the conversation. Or sign in if you're already a member.