The Elizabethan Era?

Let’s just disclose this right upfront: we had some pretty big technical issues during the production of this show (Skype went down during the Andy McCarthy segment — Andy is preparing a criminal complaint against them on our behalf) and James Lileks could not get his computer to recognize his mic (he blames a cheap Chinese dongle — oh, the humanity), so apologies, this is another Lileks-defecient show (kudos to @hangon for winning the Lileks Post of The Week honors for his post The New Energy Economy: An Exercise in Magical Thinking). That said, as previously mentioned, we’ve got the great Andy McCarthy (you must buy his new book Ball of Collusion: The Plot to Rig an Election and Destroy a Presidency) on all of the legal machinations around impeachment, and political consultant to the stars (and NR contributor) Luke Thompson on why Trump did nothing wrong in his phone call with Zelensky and some expert analysis on the Senate races coming up next fall. Also, Peter Robinson is worried about Liz Warren; and finally, does the window seat control the window shade or should there be darkness throughout the cabin? We hash it out, but tell us your thoughts in the comments. Special note to Ricochet members: don’t forget to vote in this week’s Long Poll to the right (or below if you’re on a mobile device) of this post. What? You’re not a member? JOIN TODAY.

Music from this week’s show: Shot With His Own Gun by Elvis Costello

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There are 111 comments.

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  1. Jdetente Member
    Jdetente
    @

    Gary Robbins (View Comment):

    The Democrats are giving us a gift. Will we be wise enough to seize the opportunity to nominate someone else? It is not for nothing that we have been known as the “stupid party.”

    There is no doubt Republicans (I can’t say we since I left the part more than a decade ago) are known as the “stupid party”…but it’s not because they refuse to primary Trump. Conservatives and right of center people constantly fall for these false scandals and outrages. We give oxygen to lies and obfuscations because many of us believe in a moral good and do not want to be lumped in with Trump’s unsavory character. This is a mistake. Reagan is gone. That party is gone and will never return. Something new has to take its place. Trump represents a transition. A placeholder to stem the tide for another 5 years. If we fall for this horse manure about Ukraine or Russia or whatever fantasy concocted to undermine the 2020 election we are only dooming ourselves. We should resist these manipulations with every fiber of our being. In the end, they may very well find something legitimate against Trump…and if that happens buckle up for Elizabeth Warren.

    • #91
  2. Full Size Tabby Member
    Full Size Tabby
    @FullSizeTabby

    Queen Elizabeth is already (even though she hasn’t been nominated by the Democratic Party, let alone been elected President of the United States) demanding that corporate CEO’s endorse her proposals to destroy capitalism. Wall Street Journal. Might be behind paywall. Granted, Queen Elizabeth’s demand is in response to the CEO’s foolishly putting out a “Business Roundtable” statement that itself demonizes the principles of capitalism. But still, issuing edicts to private citizens is what totalitarian dictators do, and tells us much about what at Warren presidency might look like. 

    • #92
  3. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    RufusRJones (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):

    RufusRJones (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):

    RufusRJones (View Comment):

    If a Democrat gets POTUS, the ACA will force single-payer.

    Eight years of voting on the repeal of the ACA and nothing.

    That much socialist control of the healthcare system is going to be a very bad situation one way or another.

    They would probably have to control the Senate too.

    What I’m saying is the GOP has to keep doing something to slow the ACA down. I get that I’m not being very specific.

    All of those liars in the senate and the house. They should have just stood down if they didn’t have a plan. They could have waited another year.

    But really, ACA could be gone if not for that lout McCain.

    This is what gets me. The people that hate Trump have all of this stuff in their heads about how politicians ought to be and whatever.

    They had eight years to fix this situation. Eight years to get ready. And then nothing. Trump is not the problem. He is the symptom.

    Indeed, many of the (nominal) Republicans who loathe Trump, are the same people who lionized McCain as some kind of great “statesman.”

    Although it was more common for those on the left to praise McCain’s so-called “statesmanship,” just because he often went along with them.  But of course when he ran for president, suddenly he was Hitler, just like any other Republican candidate.

    • #93
  4. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    Jdetente (View Comment):
    Reagan is gone.

    And of course, By the standards of earlier times, Reagan was “soiled” too.  He was divorced.  If he had tried to run for president much earlier, he would have been considered unelectable for that reason alone.

    • #94
  5. Taras Coolidge
    Taras
    @Taras

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Jdetente (View Comment):
    Reagan is gone.

    And of course, By the standards of earlier times, Reagan was “soiled” too. He was divorced. If he had tried to run for president much earlier, he would have been considered unelectable for that reason alone.

     Some years back, The Week ran a column by the sinister-looking David Corn, to the effect that Republicans shouldn’t run on family values because two of their recent nominees — Ronald Reagan and Bob Dole — were “divorced men”.

    In reality, Corn was exploiting an ambiguity in the English language.

    Bob Dole actually had divorced his first wife.

    Ronald Reagan was divorced by his first wife, against his will.  Jane Wyman married Reagan when he was a young star on the rise, and divorced him when his movie career was circling the drain in the late 1940s.

    I explained Corn’s deception to Bill Falk, the editor of The Week.  He was reluctant to believe me until I sent him pages from a hostile biography of Ronald Reagan, which confirmed Jane Wyman divorced him, and not the other way around. 

    Nonetheless, Falk refused to print any kind of correction or explanatory note. 

    • #95
  6. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Indeed, many of the (nominal) Republicans who loathe Trump, are the same people who lionized McCain as some kind of great “statesman.”

    Although it was more common for those on the left to praise McCain’s so-called “statesmanship,” just because he often went along with them. But of course when he ran for president, suddenly he was Hitler, just like any other Republican candidate.

    Also, it is impossible to get a Republican McCain fan to explain in plain english why McCain advanced the ball conservatively for them. Happens every single time.

    Question: why does that happen? 

     

    • #96
  7. MISTER BITCOIN Inactive
    MISTER BITCOIN
    @MISTERBITCOIN

    Annefy (View Comment):

    MISTER BITCOIN (View Comment):

    Wolfsheim (View Comment):

    I confess to having been flabbergasted by the seriousness with which Peter Robinson and Rob Long seem to take Elizabeth Warren. Yes, there is the old saw “No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public.” But so gullible is it surely not…

    I do not live in the United States and have not spent enough time there to understand the bizarre politics of the country, but I do see the most discouraging extent to which the media control the narrative. Still, my impression is that Americans make up in common sense what they often woefully lack in factual understanding.

    I would hazard another factor: Hillary Clinton was defeated not only by her own ineptitude (and blatant dishonesty) but also by her image as the sort of woman even women dislike. My guess is that millions of voters who have never heard of Pow Wow Chow, EW’s plagiarized cookbook, will nonetheless think to themselves: “She’s just like my old primary-school teacher. Ugh! Better Trump!”

    I agree that Trump should not underestimate Warren just like Hillary underestimated Trump.

    I completely forgot about that cookbook. It’s a terrible title, very juvenile title.

    I think Warren thinks that the Cherokee controversy is behind her but she is being naive.

    Scott Brown attacked her fake background in 2012 Senate race.

    And https://twitter.com/va_shiva Dr Shiva gave her a run for her money in 2018 (the fake Indian running against the real Indian …)

    Highly recommend his twitter feed. The dude is scary smart.

    inventor of email? Dr Shiva?

    fake vs real indian… Hilarious!

     

     

    • #97
  8. MISTER BITCOIN Inactive
    MISTER BITCOIN
    @MISTERBITCOIN

    Gary Robbins (View Comment):

    Annefy (View Comment):

    Gary Robbins (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Gary Robbins (View Comment):

    Unfortunately we look destined to run a candidate with a massive disapproval rate against Warren. You thought 2018 was bad? 2020 looks to be a massacre on the scope of 1974, 1964 or 1932.

    It seems maybe Ed Koch had a point. If the voters fire Trump – and elect a socialist – they deserve to be punished.

    Trump is a big government Republican who has $1 Trillion Annual Deficits. The Republican Party needs to run a limited government conservative, not a populist.

    Candidate suggestion?

    Mark Sanford, who is running. Ben Sasse or Nikki Haley who are not running.

    mark sanford? the guy who went missing in argentina with his mistress?

     

    • #98
  9. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    MISTER BITCOIN (View Comment):

    Gary Robbins (View Comment):

    Annefy (View Comment):

    Gary Robbins (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Gary Robbins (View Comment):

    Unfortunately we look destined to run a candidate with a massive disapproval rate against Warren. You thought 2018 was bad? 2020 looks to be a massacre on the scope of 1974, 1964 or 1932.

    It seems maybe Ed Koch had a point. If the voters fire Trump – and elect a socialist – they deserve to be punished.

    Trump is a big government Republican who has $1 Trillion Annual Deficits. The Republican Party needs to run a limited government conservative, not a populist.

    Candidate suggestion?

    Mark Sanford, who is running. Ben Sasse or Nikki Haley who are not running.

    mark sanford? the guy who went missing in argentina with his mistress?

     

    That’s not really the worst of it (him), either.  But I no longer try to disabuse the Sanford-deluded.  It always turns out to be hopeless.

    • #99
  10. Kevin Inactive
    Kevin
    @JaredSturgeon

    Gary Robbins (View Comment):

    I think Luke was quite accurate around the 50 minute point when he noted that Arizona and Texas have huge suburban populations, which is quite problematic. . That’s where the Republican Party was slaughtered in 2018. We shall see what happens.

    But Arizona’s congressional delegation (Senators and Representatives) is majority Democrat for the first time since the 1964 election. Texas 12 term Representative Pete Sessions not only lost, but lost badly in suburban Dallas District 32. There is a chill wind blowing.

    They are turning purple because of illegal immigration and changing demographics as well as refugees from CA that are transforming AZ.  Democrats got that right.  

    • #100
  11. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    Kevin (View Comment):

    Gary Robbins (View Comment):

    I think Luke was quite accurate around the 50 minute point when he noted that Arizona and Texas have huge suburban populations, which is quite problematic. . That’s where the Republican Party was slaughtered in 2018. We shall see what happens.

    But Arizona’s congressional delegation (Senators and Representatives) is majority Democrat for the first time since the 1964 election. Texas 12 term Representative Pete Sessions not only lost, but lost badly in suburban Dallas District 32. There is a chill wind blowing.

    They are turning purple because of illegal immigration and changing demographics as well as refugees from CA that are transforming AZ. Democrats got that right.

    This isn’t really my bag, but it’s really important to get into the weeds about why the GOP lost in some areas in 2018. Devan Nunes has had some brutal analysis about California that you’re never going to hear in the media or from people that blame Trump. It’s a complicated subject.

    • #101
  12. Kevin Inactive
    Kevin
    @JaredSturgeon

    I wholehearted agree Warren is a tougher presidential candidate than many think.  I would take her very serious, but she also has some serious flaws.

    We now know the “whistleblower” is just a democrat operative who collected intelligence into a hit piece that was then massaged into a complaint by experts.  It blows my mind that I now believe in a “deep state”, something I would have laughed about 5 years ago.  

    I continue to be disappointed that the best we have to offer for leadership of the US is a leftie academic with no leadership experience and a crazy businessman.  The twilight of America on full display.  

    I hope Romney primaries Trump as the one true conservative so Romney can be beat down and disappear and maybe the whole concept of conservatism can die.  Tradition is great but we have been unmoored by just being leftists 20-50 years behind.  We need more serious principles of government that we can articulate.  The modern conservative is a radical lefty socially in 1960 on most issues except abortion.  I want something more stable in my politics but also something more nimble than pining for the good old days that will never return.  The American appetite for their neighbors money is unquenchable so at this point best we can do is manage the coming chaos of demographics, disintegrated families, etc without basing our decisions on what worked last generation.  

    • #102
  13. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    Kevin (View Comment):
    I hope Romney primaries Trump as the one true conservative so Romney can be beat down and disappear and maybe the whole concept of conservatism can die. Tradition is great but we have been unmoored by just being leftists 20-50 years behind. We need more serious principles of government that we can articulate. The modern conservative is a radical lefty socially in 1960 on most issues except abortion. I want something more stable in my politics but also something more nimble than pining for the good old days that will never return. The American appetite for their neighbors money is unquenchable so at this point best we can do is manage the coming chaos of demographics, disintegrated families, etc without basing our decisions on what worked last generation.

    It’s hard to argue with this. We are also running out of money.

    “Conservatism is just progressivism going the speed limit.” — Michael Malice

    Government Is How We Steal From Each Other™

     

    • #103
  14. Miffed White Male Member
    Miffed White Male
    @MiffedWhiteMale

    Kevin (View Comment):
    The modern conservative is a radical lefty socially in 1960 on most issues except abortion.

    Great observation.

     

    • #104
  15. The Gold Tooth Member
    The Gold Tooth
    @

    Please don’t stop labeling the podcasts with the episode number. Indeed I’d like it a lot if you required all podcast titles to begin with the EN. The reason is that the (admittedly fairly ancient) Logitech Squeezebox devices I use to listen to podcasts list the episodes in alphabetical order, and this order cannot be changed on the devices themselves. Titles starting with the EN automatically sort themselves into the correct order (the latest one at the bottom of the list), which means I don’t have to go to the web to look up the name of the latest episode as is necessary with podcasts that don’t use the EN in the title.

    • #105
  16. Blue Yeti Admin
    Blue Yeti
    @BlueYeti

    The Gold Tooth (View Comment):

    Please don’t stop labeling the podcasts with the episode number. Indeed I’d like it a lot if you required all podcast titles to begin with the EN. The reason is that the (admittedly fairly ancient) Logitech Squeezebox devices I use to listen to podcasts list the episodes in alphabetical order, and this order cannot be changed on the devices themselves. Titles starting with the EN automatically sort themselves into the correct order (the latest one at the bottom of the list), which means I don’t have to go to the web to look up the name of the latest episode as is necessary with podcasts that don’t use the EN in the title.

    Despite what Rob says, we have no plans to stop using episode numbers where appropriate.

    Apple does not allow us the include the number in the episode title. Does your device allow them to be sorted chronologically? That makes the most sense. 

    • #106
  17. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    Blue Yeti (View Comment):

    The Gold Tooth (View Comment):

    Please don’t stop labeling the podcasts with the episode number. Indeed I’d like it a lot if you required all podcast titles to begin with the EN. The reason is that the (admittedly fairly ancient) Logitech Squeezebox devices I use to listen to podcasts list the episodes in alphabetical order, and this order cannot be changed on the devices themselves. Titles starting with the EN automatically sort themselves into the correct order (the latest one at the bottom of the list), which means I don’t have to go to the web to look up the name of the latest episode as is necessary with podcasts that don’t use the EN in the title.

    Despite what Rob says, we have no plans to stop using episode numbers where appropriate.

    Apple does not allow us the include the number in the episode title. Does your device allow them to be sorted chronologically? That makes the most sense.

    For my own collection, I change the “ID3” (?) tags to be podcast title for “Artist” and the date for “Album.”  That way, the podcasts get properly organized the same as my regular music collection.  Full track names (and the file names on the computer) go Artist (podcast title) – Album (date) – Track Number (blank for most podcasts) – Track Name.  I have a separate folder/directory for each “artist” (or podcast title) and for podcasts I have a sub-folder for each calendar year.

    • #107
  18. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    (Track Name for this particular “episode” would start with “The Elizabethan Era” and sometimes I add guest names or other notes such as the time point when a particular comment of interest was made, to make them easier to find later.)

    • #108
  19. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    RufusRJones (View Comment):

    Kevin (View Comment):

    Gary Robbins (View Comment):

    I think Luke was quite accurate around the 50 minute point when he noted that Arizona and Texas have huge suburban populations, which is quite problematic. . That’s where the Republican Party was slaughtered in 2018. We shall see what happens.

    But Arizona’s congressional delegation (Senators and Representatives) is majority Democrat for the first time since the 1964 election. Texas 12 term Representative Pete Sessions not only lost, but lost badly in suburban Dallas District 32. There is a chill wind blowing.

    They are turning purple because of illegal immigration and changing demographics as well as refugees from CA that are transforming AZ. Democrats got that right.

    This isn’t really my bag, but it’s really important to get into the weeds about why the GOP lost in some areas in 2018. Devan Nunes has had some brutal analysis about California that you’re never going to hear in the media or from people that blame Trump. It’s a complicated subject.

    This is what Nunes was talking about.

     

     

    • #109
  20. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    Nothing new to me.  But I’m not aware of any way to force PRC (People’s Republic of California) to have honest elections.  Not from the outside, on a federal level.  Any such attempt within the state would be doomed because the baddies far outnumber the good guys.

    • #110
  21. SParker Member
    SParker
    @SParker

    Full Size Tabby (View Comment):
    Yes, I think we should consistently remind people that a President Elizabeth Warren will take most of your money and constantly be telling you what to do. 

    Yes, and she will tell people that it’s someone else’s ill-gotten money they‘ll be taking and someone they don’t like that they‘ll be telling what to do.  Getting the pronouns, the targets, and the story right has worked pretty well in the past.  Beating that with a combination of incoherence and playing the same ratty little game doesn’t sound real plausible.  But stranger things have happened.  Recently, too.

    • #111
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