The Greatest Week

A debacle in Iowa, a triumphant State of The Union speech, a rip-off, a socialist, a small town mayor with a big win — you name it, we discuss it on this week’s edition of The Big Show, aka The Ricochet Podcast. To help us sort through it all, we’ve got the great Deb Saunders, White House correspondent for the Las Vegas Review Journal, and Mr. New Hampshire himself, Michael Graham (listeners, please send him some decaf– he needs it). Also, come on down, Ricochet member @nohaaj! You’ve got the highly coveted, much sought after Lileks Post of The Week.  Finally,  a White House speechwriter reviews the SOTU speech, another Long Poll Question®,  and we close with another edition of What Are You Watching? What are you watching? Let us know in the comments.

Music from this week’s show: My Generation by The Zimmers

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  1. Miffed White Male Member
    Miffed White Male
    @MiffedWhiteMale

    Percival (View Comment):

    Now where why would I get decaf? Huh? Where Why?

    • #31
  2. Hartmann von Aue Member
    Hartmann von Aue
    @HartmannvonAue

    Well, can one not be a malignant narcissist and also be a patriot? I think Donald J. Trump is probably sincere in his patriotism and also in his  more recent professions of faith. He has a foul past, sure, as did Kennedy, Johnson, Clinton, et alia.  Our Presidents are not saints and we have known that for a long time. We want character to count, sure,  but the choice between “person with sleazy character who at least protects our interests”  and “person with sleazy character who aims to politically destroy us” is quite easy. 

    You raised a good point about the turn-out for the Democrats’ primary in Iowa. I am hoping that this bodes well for the GOP in November. 

    “70,000 votes over three States”… better than under 550 in one state. And those poll numbers are in spite of 93 to 97% unfavorable coverage on network news- all of the major networks except Fox have been uniformly arrayed against him.  Let’s wait and  see what Nate Silver is saying a week before the election….hahahaha. 

    And let’s hope Trump does exercise better self-restraint rhetorically in the next days and weeks. It is quite possible to verbally incinerate the Ds without vulgarities and to hammer them without being crass. The art of doing so can even be fun. 

    The Long poll: A. Unless they somehow turn sane between now and November and the Trump campaign falls off of a cliff. Both have to happen. If the Ds only recover a small amount of sanity …or what passes for it among them…. and the Trump campaign keeps dealing with the same level of Trump’s manifest deficiencies with no loss of his virtues as a candidate, that will not be enough. 

     

    • #32
  3. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    FWIW

     

     

     

    • #33
  4. Percival Thatcher
    Percival
    @Percival

    kedavis (View Comment):

    On the other hand, “42 rods to the hogs-head” could be a measure of gas mileage…

    I saw 42 Rods to the Hogshead open for John Lee Hooker at the Rum Boogie Cafe in ’85, but they were 28 Rods to the Tierce back then.

    • #34
  5. JuliaBlaschke Lincoln
    JuliaBlaschke
    @JuliaBlaschke

    Blondie (View Comment):

    Rob, don’t try to feed me the line that the Republican Party has ever been for small government. Before Trump we had 2 Bushes. Neither did anything to help curb spending. They only time there might have been an inkling of spending cuts was when Newt was speaker. The house could have tried to do things the first 2 years of Trump, but NO! We can’t work with that icky man and make him look good. Ok, end of rant.

    So spending is bad unless it is Trump. Then it is good.

    • #35
  6. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    What decade should we start being genuinely conservative?

    • #36
  7. Blondie Thatcher
    Blondie
    @Blondie

    JuliaBlaschke (View Comment):

    Blondie (View Comment):

    Rob, don’t try to feed me the line that the Republican Party has ever been for small government. Before Trump we had 2 Bushes. Neither did anything to help curb spending. They only time there might have been an inkling of spending cuts was when Newt was speaker. The house could have tried to do things the first 2 years of Trump, but NO! We can’t work with that icky man and make him look good. Ok, end of rant.

    So spending is bad unless it is Trump. Then it is good.

    Not sure how you get that from what I wrote. My point is nobody has made any effort to seriously curb spending including Reagan, as @rufusrjones pointed out. 

    • #37
  8. Patrick McClure Coolidge
    Patrick McClure
    @Patrickb63

    Mitt’s motivation? He hates Trump and knew his vote didn’t matter. Additionally he really doesn’t want another term as a Senator.

    • #38
  9. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    Blondie (View Comment):
    Not sure how you get that from what I wrote. My point is nobody has made any effort to seriously curb spending including Reagan, as @rufusrjones pointed out. 

    The time to do it was right after the Soviet Union fell. The whole West had a 10 year window. The problem is you can’t get reelected if you do it. Now we are getting populism and socialism shoved down our throats.

    I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: I like David Stockman’s analysis of this history. There is a 90 minute video on a site called real vision. You will have to get a two week pass or something, to see it. 

    The way this works is, you have to do what you can to get past in the next election until the next asset bubble breaks. That is the only way to think about working political power. 

    Anti-Trumpers doing a Ludwig Von Mises impression don’t make a lot of sense to me, but I could be talked out of that.

    • #39
  10. Taras Coolidge
    Taras
    @Taras

    Blondie (View Comment):

    JuliaBlaschke (View Comment):

    Blondie (View Comment):

    Rob, don’t try to feed me the line that the Republican Party has ever been for small government. Before Trump we had 2 Bushes. Neither did anything to help curb spending. They only time there might have been an inkling of spending cuts was when Newt was speaker. The house could have tried to do things the first 2 years of Trump, but NO! We can’t work with that icky man and make him look good. Ok, end of rant.

    So spending is bad unless it is Trump. Then it is good.

    Not sure how you get that from what I wrote. My point is nobody has made any effort to seriously curb spending including Reagan, as @rufusrjones pointed out.

    Reagan’s plan was to slow down the growth of Federal spending just enough so that economic growth would outrun it.  

    Human selfishness is a major reason why capitalism works and socialism doesn’t.  But it’s also the reason why it’s almost impossible to take away government benefits once they’ve been granted.

    Of course, the Democrats and the media screamed “Cuts“!  Cuts, that is, in the projected rate of increase.

    Considering that Reagan was also fighting the Cold War at the same time, he didn’t do too badly.

    • #40
  11. FredGoodhue Coolidge
    FredGoodhue
    @FredGoodhue

    Trump is the guy who said that some people who attended a rally organized by neo-nazis are good people.  Trump’s personal character is that of a disgusting pig.  His policies are, for the most part, good.  But Trump, as a person, is horrible.  

    • #41
  12. Rightfromthestart Coolidge
    Rightfromthestart
    @Rightfromthestart

    I’m still puzzled as to why Rob considers Trump uniquely vile considering what we now know about the Kennedy brothers , LBJ and Clinton,  is his no nonsense talk worse than their actual behavior? 

    Having grown up in working class Park Slope where no one even thought of college and a city union job was high cotton, it’s really odd to think of it’s current reputation as a liberal nut house. The house I grew up in, bought in 1951 for $6000, is currently listed on Zillow at $2.28 million.  

    James missed the perfect acronym for an evil cabal in Iowa , Get Smart’s KAOS. 

     

    • #42
  13. LibertyDefender Member
    LibertyDefender
    @LibertyDefender

    FredGoodhue (View Comment):

    Trump is the guy who said that some people who attended a rally organized by neo-nazis are good people. 

    The implication that Trump meant some neo-Nazis are good people is baldly dishonest.

    Anyone who, three years later, would spread such misinformation would have to be a disgusting pig.

    • #43
  14. Norm McDonald Inactive
    Norm McDonald
    @Pseudodionysius

    Rightfromthestart (View Comment):

    I’m still puzzled as to why Rob considers Trump uniquely vile considering what we now know about the Kennedy brothers , LBJ and Clinton, is his no nonsense talk worse than their actual behavior?

    Having grown up in working class Park Slope where no one even thought of college and a city union job was high cotton, it’s really odd to think of it’s current reputation as a liberal nut house. The house I grew up in, bought in 1951 for $6000, is currently listed on Zillow at $2.28 million.

    James missed the perfect acronym for an evil cabal in Iowa , Get Smart’s KAOS.

     

    • #44
  15. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    delete

    • #45
  16. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    Perfect lol

     

     

    • #46
  17. Goldwaterwoman Thatcher
    Goldwaterwoman
    @goldwaterwoman

    FredGoodhue (View Comment):

    Trump is the guy who said that some people who attended a rally organized by neo-nazis are good people. Trump’s personal character is that of a disgusting pig. His policies are, for the most part, good. But Trump, as a person, is horrible.

    He did not say that at all. Here is exactly what he said:

    “Thank you very much. As you know, this was a small press conference, but a very important one. And it was scheduled to talk about the great things that we’re doing with the secretary on the veterans administration. And we will talk about that very much so in a little while. But I thought I should put out a comment as to what’s going on in Charlottesville. So, again, I want to thank everybody for being here, in particular I want to thank our incredible veterans. And thank you, fellas. Let me shake your hand.

    They’re great people. Great people. But we’re closely following the terrible events unfolding in Charlottesville, Virginia. We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides, on many sides. It’s been going on for a long time in our country. Not Donald Trump, not Barack Obama, this has been going on for a long, long time. It has no place in America. What is vital now is a swift restoration of law and order and the protection of innocent lives. No citizen should ever fear for their safety and security in our society. And no child should ever be afraid to go outside and play or be with their parents and have a good time.

    I just got off the phone with the governor of Virginia, Terry McAuliffe, and we agree that the hate and the division must stop, and must stop right now. We have to come together as Americans with love for our nation and true affection– really, I say this so strongly, true affection for each other. Our country is doing very well in so many ways. We have record — just absolute record employment. We have unemployment the lowest it’s been in almost 17 years. We have companies pouring into our country, Foxconn and car companies and so many others. They’re coming back to our country. We’re renegotiating trade deals to make them great for our country and great for the American worker.

    We have so many incredible things happening in our country, so when I watch Charlottesville, to me it’s very, very sad. I want to salute the great work of the state and local police in Virginia. Incredible people. Law enforcement, incredible people. And also the National Guard. They’ve really been working smart and working hard. They’ve been doing a terrific job. Federal authorities are also providing tremendous support to the governor. He thanked me for that. And we are here to provide whatever other assistance is needed. We are ready, willing and able. Above all else, we must remember this truth: No matter our color, creed, religion or political party, we are all Americans first. We love our country. We love our god.

    We love our flag. We’re proud of our country. We’re proud of who we are, so we want to get the situation straightened out in Charlottesville, and we want to study it. And we want to see what we’re doing wrong as a country where things like this can happen. My administration is restoring the sacred bonds of loyalty between this nation and its citizens, but our citizens must also restore the bonds of trust and loyalty between one another. We must love each other, respect each other and cherish our history and our future together. So important. We have to respect each other. Ideally, we have to love each other.”

    • #47
  18. Hartmann von Aue Member
    Hartmann von Aue
    @HartmannvonAue

    Goldwaterwoman (View Comment):

    FredGoodhue (View Comment):

    Trump is the guy who said that some people who attended a rally organized by neo-nazis are good people. Trump’s personal character is that of a disgusting pig. His policies are, for the most part, good. But Trump, as a person, is horrible.

    He did not say that at all. Here is exactly what he said:

    “Thank you very much. As you know, this was a small press conference, but a very important one. And it was scheduled to talk about the great things that we’re doing with the secretary on the veterans administration. And we will talk about that very much so in a little while. But I thought I should put out a comment as to what’s going on in Charlottesville. So, again, I want to thank everybody for being here, in particular I want to thank our incredible veterans. And thank you, fellas. Let me shake your hand.

    They’re great people. Great people. But we’re closely following the terrible events unfolding in Charlottesville, Virginia. We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides, on many sides. It’s been going on for a long time in our country. Not Donald Trump, not Barack Obama, this has been going on for a long, long time. It has no place in America. What is vital now is a swift restoration of law and order and the protection of innocent lives. No citizen should ever fear for their safety and security in our society. And no child should ever be afraid to go outside and play or be with their parents and have a good time.

    I just got off the phone with the governor of Virginia, Terry McAuliffe, and we agree that the hate and the division must stop, and must stop right now. We have to come together as Americans with love for our nation and true affection– really, I say this so strongly, true affection for each other. Our country is doing very well in so many ways. We have record — just absolute record employment. We have unemployment the lowest it’s been in almost 17 years. We have companies pouring into our country, Foxconn and car companies and so many others. They’re coming back to our country. We’re renegotiating trade deals to make them great for our country and great for the American worker.

     

    Thanks for posting this. 

     

     

    • #48
  19. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    For those that are interested, Larry Elder works tirelessly at correcting misconceptions about Republican leader’s rhetoric. 

    • #49
  20. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    Bishop Wash (View Comment):
    What about malarkey? 

    I have heard that somewhere before.

    • #50
  21. Goldwaterwoman Thatcher
    Goldwaterwoman
    @goldwaterwoman

    Hartmann von Aue (View Comment):
    Thanks for posting this.

    It was my pleasure as I get so annoyed that the talking heads have so taken his remarks out of context. He was maligned only because he refused to call out certain right wing groups, but the truth of it, for anyone with half a brain, was that it was a genuine attempt at conciliation for all sides.

    • #51
  22. Gary Robbins Member
    Gary Robbins
    @GaryRobbins

    JuliaBlaschke (View Comment):

    Rob, I completely agree with you and I believe there are many who feel the same. I’m still waiting for Trump to control himself for long enough for me to be able to hold my nose sufficiently to vote for him. He would win that majority of the popular vote easily if he would simply cut out the disgusting behavior.

    I agree.  Any of the other 16 Republicans in 2016 would be rolling to a smashing victory, and a filibuster-proof Senate, and we would have never lost the House.

    Trump had a very good week.  But he forced most Republican Senators to walk to plank for him.  

    Congress ultimately has the power of the purse.  After Nixon, Congress passed the War Powers Act, and the Impoundment Act.  If Trump wins, I see the Democrats passing riders to appropriations allowing for Congress to stop emergency orders by non-filibustered majority votes.

    Trump made his impeachable call on July 25, 2019, one day after Mueller’s terrible appearance before the House Judiciary Committee, when Trump was very full of himself.  I predict that Trump will be committing further impeachable acts and/or having multiple affairs now that he has this “victory.”

    • #52
  23. Gary Robbins Member
    Gary Robbins
    @GaryRobbins

    James Lileks (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):
    I don’t care for Bond movies but wasn’t the furnace-under-the-boardroom thing actually more parody from Austin Powers? Or did a Bond movie actually do it first?

    Sort of. In Thunderball the seat is wired to electrocute the SPECTRE executive who failed his job.

    Janes, we can count on you for these references!

    • #53
  24. Gary Robbins Member
    Gary Robbins
    @GaryRobbins

    Patrick McClure (View Comment):

    Mitt’s motivation? He hates Trump and knew his vote didn’t matter. Additionally he really doesn’t want another term as a Senator.

    Is it possible that Mitt was following his conscience?

    • #54
  25. Gary Robbins Member
    Gary Robbins
    @GaryRobbins

    FredGoodhue (View Comment):

    Trump is the guy who said that some people who attended a rally organized by neo-nazis are good people.

    Get ready to duck.  The Trumpist Bernie Bros will be coming after you.

    Trump’s personal character is that of a disgusting pig.

    This is a pretty incontrovertible truth.

    His policies are, for the most part, good.

    This is also true.

    But Trump, as a person, is horrible.

    This is also true.

     

    • #55
  26. Gary Robbins Member
    Gary Robbins
    @GaryRobbins

    LibertyDefender (View Comment):

    FredGoodhue (View Comment):

    Trump is the guy who said that some people who attended a rally organized by neo-nazis are good people.

    The implication that Trump meant some neo-Nazis are good people is baldly dishonest.

    Keep telling yourself that.  

    • #56
  27. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    Gary Robbins (View Comment):
    Any of the other 16 Republicans in 2016 would be rolling to a smashing victory, and a filibuster-proof Senate, and we would have never lost the House.

    I have no idea how anyone is as comfortable as you are talking about elections and the electorate.

    Gary Robbins (View Comment):
    Congress ultimately has the power of the purse.

    What DECADE should we start being conservative?

    Gary Robbins (View Comment):
    If Trump wins, I see the Democrats passing riders to appropriations allowing for Congress to stop emergency orders by non-filibustered majority votes.

    Can anyone else endorse this?

    Gary Robbins (View Comment):
    Trump made his impeachable call on July 25, 2019, one day after Mueller’s terrible appearance before the House Judiciary Committee, when Trump was very full of himself. I predict that Trump will be committing further impeachable acts and/or having multiple affairs now that he has this “victory.”

    There are plenty of lawyers that say it wasn’t an impeachable call. i.e. David Rivkind. The whole thing should have been left as oversight

    My last highlight of your post is just as dependable as your Russia analysis. 

    The other thing is both Bidens broke the law. Joe can’t do anything that even looks like he’s using government resources to favor his family. That is the way the law is written. Hunter had to register as a foreign lobbyist. They are both criminals. That gives Trump a ton of latitude with his language. That’s just for starters.

    I’ve done this before with Gary and now he’s going to tear me apart.

     

     

    • #57
  28. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    Gary Robbins (View Comment):

    Patrick McClure (View Comment):

    Mitt’s motivation? He hates Trump and knew his vote didn’t matter. Additionally he really doesn’t want another term as a Senator.

    Is it possible that Mitt was following his conscience?

    David Rivkin tore him apart on Steve Bannon’s podcast.

    • #58
  29. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    I’ll tell you something else, too. Neither Vindamin or cimirella are whistle blowers under the law. People keep using that term informally but at the most it’s disputable under the law because Trump has control of the unitary executive. They need to hold hearings and talk about it but I just don’t see it. They should’ve gotten cover from the New York Times and the Congress person and cut a book deal.

    • #59
  30. Max Ledoux Coolidge
    Max Ledoux
    @Max

    At this point, anyone who perpetuates the lie that Trump said “Neo-Nazis are good people” is, well, lying. Trump literally said, “I’m not talking about the Neo-Nazis.” So stop spreading this lie.

    • #60
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