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Andy McCarthy returns to help us get through the shocking discovery that maybe it’s possible that the Bidens are a little bit not entirely 100 percent ethical. This week we’ve got money laundering, not one but two prostitutes; there’s another big chapter in the border crisis, and a good samaritan being charged for trying to protect New Yorkers on the increasingly infamous subway.
And as if our hosts are going to talk about American cities two weeks in a row without having a word about architecture… Pshaw!
Song of the week:
- Sound clip is an exchange between Donald Trump and Kaitlan Collins from the CNN town hall.
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When Peter said he was going to tell a brief story about New York, Rob and James both should have yelled “Fifty Bucks says it’s not!”
That would’ve been hypocritical of me, considering my 47 minute concluding speech on the necessity of big cities.
But you didn’t claim it would be short, did you? Peter did.
The observation that decline is a choice is certainly true but misleadingly simple. It reminds me of when I tried to put down linoleum in the kitchen of a small apartment I rented some three decades ago. The area was pretty small. A cinch, right? The instructions outlined three steps. The first: “Prepare the surface.” These three little words ended up extracting a weekend of toil as I struggled—with grossly inappropriate tools—to strip away the numerous levels of old linoleum that had adhered to the floor like layers of cement in an effort to make the surface as smooth as possible. Once all that was done, cutting and laying down the linoleum was a breeze. So, what’s the first step in stopping decline? Agreeing on the surface.
Peter, McCarthy doesn’t need to pass more toothless legislation. He needs to impeach people and use the power of the purse to accomplish things.
Peter, is this what you were looking for from Florida?
DeSantis War Room 🐊 on Twitter: “DESANTIS: “I’d shut down the border immediately. Why are we letting this happen to our country? It’s hurting people!” “Americans are dying” https://t.co/b58bS10P6p” / Twitter
I agree with Rob that decline is a choice. And that if there’s a will, it’s not that hard. But why are voters, and I include the majority that don’t vote, continuing to choose – that’s Rob’s phrasing – to decline?
In New York City, only 26.5% of voters voted in the primary city-wide, and 23.3% voted in the general election in 2021. I don’t know what Manhattan’s voting rate was – they elected Alvin Bragg – but it’s probably similar. Not voting is a choice.
And when I saw how Lori Lightfoot in Chicago was kicked out, but then a candidate just as bad was elected (turnout 30%), I don’t want to live with these people.
James lives in Minneapolis, and the last election actually had a high turnout at 69%. But they re-elected their mayor. Same ‘ol, same ‘ol. I read a lot of the Power Line blog, and both John Hinderaker and Scott Johnson are from Minneapolis and talk about the politics there all the time. It’s grim.
And again, I don’t want to live with these people, James, John, and Scott excepted.
James talks about how the cities aren’t that bad. He had a good experience in a recent visit to Chicago. I have read similar things about Seattle – the big city I’m closest to; Portland – as bad a reputation as it has, there apparently are pockets of good zones there, even in downtown; and Los Angeles. So, I wasn’t surprised with James’s comments. But it doesn’t take long, especially if you take a wrong turn, to run into tent camps, stink and other filth.
These conditions, in these cities, have lasted through at least 2-3 election cycles, and depending on the city, even more. Decline is what they are choosing, again and again.
I don’t want to live with these people.
I did a quick scan of the post you linked to, and no, repeated impeachments without actual removal from office is a waste of time. The first time it was used in modern times (Bill Clinton) resulted in a lot of coverage, but after that, the decline was precipitous.
I agree with that. Unlike repeated impeachments without removal, this could be effective, and it’s very constitutional. But we continue to elect people who don’t have the stones to use the power of the purse to effect significant change when given power.
Some analogies don’t work. First, cities are BIG, not small. Second, in the above analogy, you’re trying to deal with a problem. With the big cities, no one of significance is trying, or they’re deliberately making it worse.
I don’t know that the power of the purse would accomplish much either, in the current world. The Republicans would get blamed for money not being spread around, and would likely get turned out at the next election.
Wasn’t it a Democrat who said never let a good crisis go to waste? Peter is right on in pointing out the missed opportunity we have with the void in Dem leadership right now that we could and should be taking advantage of. Are we just destined to forever be playing catch up with the party on the left?
In a previous post, I talked about repeated election cycles that keep the same behavior in place in the cities.
The power of the purse is the only practical constitutional tool because it only requires a majority of one house of Congress to say no.
Yet, even then, nationwide – the voters aren’t backing members who attempt to do this very thing.
The weakening of legislative bodies hasn’t occurred in a vacuum.
And the saying goes, power abhors a vacuum. If our legislatures, especially Congress, don’t take their power back, we risk a dictatorship of governors and presidents. And unelected (or elected) courts are a poor alternative. It’s easier for a president to ignore the courts, it’s probably going to happen soon given present trends, than it is an elected legislature.
People want to blame Trump for this, but actually, what Trump has done has been tried by Democrats as well. And I include January 6th. Democrats have done similar acts at various state legislatures before January 6th occurred, and it seems to be escalating lately.
From the Wikipedia article I linked to, you have to go down a ways to reach this:
@jameslileks do you know Paul Walsh at the Star Tribune?
Hey I might be an idiot but how can I WATCH the livestream of podcasts as a Ricochet member if I want to?
Hi, Greg. The day before we record (usually Thursday, occasionally Wednesday) I post a notice to all members which will appear at the top of your screen when you login. It’ll have a brief description of the guest joining, intended topics, day and time (almost always on Friday at noon Eastern/11 a.m. Central/9 a.m. Pacific) along with a link for the webinar.
Hope to see you there next week.
Samuel, thanks. Is the video recorded? Is there a way to watch last Friday’s show? This is silly I wanted to see what Chicago hat Andy McCarthy was wearing!
And welcome to the comments, Greg!
Sure. Just sent you an email. The video isn’t edited but it’s all there, including Andy’s cap.
I do; he’s one of the few who comes in every day. Mans the scanners and wires.
And gets himself published too, on occasion.
Practically daily if not more, since he’s feeding the breaking news to the ever-rapacious maw of the website.
Oh, I thought you meant he was mostly supervising other peoples’ content, not creating his own.
Rahm Emanuel – Obama’s Chief of Staff