And the right defines the debate once again.
I've got to ask you, when was the last time the Democrats put the fear of God into the heart of the Republicans? Not in DECADES!
So let me get this straight. A student breaks a window in high school, they're called to the principal's office and the kid tells the official he'd better not be punished, because if they are, all the bullies and ne'er-do-wells are going to break every window in the building. AND MORE!
Or the teenager gets in trouble, and when his parents say they're going to ground them, or take away their phone, the child says to think about it, because... I'm not exactly sure what. Run away from home? Kids are running BACK home these days. The idea of hitting the road with your thumb out and your wallet empty? NO WAY!
The only place this paradigm works is in the Mafia. You'd better stay silent because otherwise...we're going to kill not only you, but your entire family. Are the Republicans the Mafia?
Well, one thing about the Mafia, they don't believe in the rules unless they can twist them to their advantage. Interesting parallel.
But the Mafia, despite "The Sopranos" and other productions, is a mere shadow of what it once was, as a result of law enforcement. Because if you break the law you should be penalized, right?
WRONG according to Trump and the bozos supporting him. They're not focusing on the merits of the case, they're just saying that Trump should be inviolate and if he's brought up for prosecution, BEWARE!
Well, four Oath Keepers were just convicted the other day. They face years in prison. And when it gets serious, that's when the middle class gets out. As for the lower classes... Many don't even vote. The participants in the 1/6 fracas had money, some flew in on private jets. It's one thing when it's fun and games, it's quite another when you risk jail, which goes on your permanent record.
At the end of the day people only care about themselves. Just like Donald Trump!
Now the scary thing is DeSantis is fading in the polls. And it looks like Trump might very well be the candidate.
But I've got to ask you, has the majority of American voters not gotten the message? That he's a crook, a grifter? The wheels of justice turn very slowly, but at least they're turning. This is a great American moment. Elizabeth Holmes didn't get away with her crimes and hopefully Donald Trump won't either. Oh, he's entitled to a trial, but he should be brought to trial. Martha Stewart went to prison for tax evasion and David Crosby for dope, who says if you're famous you're immune? Donald Trump and the Republicans, but not most Americans.
So in 2016 Hillary Clinton was portrayed as a bad candidate and although people knew Donald Trump from "The Apprentice" and endless self-hype, they really didn't know him. They wanted to throw a spanner in the works. They wanted change, because the old system wasn't working for them. I'll admit it, even I thought Trump was intelligent. But I was disabused of that notion almost instantly. He's a rich boy who skated on the money and power of his father, Trump is a terrible businessman, who doesn't read, barely works, can't grasp the issues and is ultimately a buffoon.
Oh, I know the right has its knickers in a twist right now, but we've seen the movie, and most people agree with me. Even worse, after 1/6, they're fearful if he does get elected, he'll never leave. And when it comes to the climate and foreign relations... This guy is just looney tunes, to our collective detriment.
But everybody pontificating on radio and television, in the newspaper, has a flaw... THEY DON'T INTERACT WITH THE RANK AND FILE! I'm astounded how out of the loop these people are. Their idea of talking to the right is talking to elected officials and rich Republicans. As for the hoi polloi, they're clueless. They might read some poll, but actually interacting with them?
I INTERACT WITH THEM EACH AND EVERY DAY!
That's right, my inbox is filled with right wing tripe literally every day. And I once made the mistake of responding, gently, pointing to an article and Wikipedia debunking the position proffered, and now that person sends me the same tripe EVERY DAY!
What you've got to know about the right is they're active. They're playing gotcha 24/7. If they encounter something they don't agree with, they push back. A Democrat will sit in the recliner, turn on streaming television and forget about it, feeling powerless all the while. But the right? It's been trained not to give an inch, and to do its best to gain ground while it's at it.
As for the Fox/Dominion suit... It hasn't penetrated the right wing base at all. They're unaware of it. Or have some cockamamie excuse, like Dominion was woke.
Now the Democrats could all line up and hammer this story, and then the media would report it and... Believe me, if Biden and the Democratic senators hammered Fox's faux pas each and every day, the right wing media would be forced to report it, and the audience would ultimately get the message, But the Republicans employ this strategy, not the Democrats.
As for the vocal right... I hear from them far in excess of the left. It's not easy to wake up the left. I have to print something truly heinous by a right winger before the left weighs in. But then the left far outweighs the word of the right.
Are you getting this? IT'S A VOCAL MINORITY!
And I hate to employ Spiro Agnew's term, but I will, the silent majority is anti-Trump.
But the right keeps making news and the left stays silent so it looks like the right is making progress.
Yeah, Trump lost, by a lot, in 2020. And his party took a beating in 2018 and underperformed by a ton in 2022. Have you read the analysis? About the Red Tsunami? It was completely bogus, to the degree there were "facts," they were based on bogus right wing polls. Which got Dilbert into trouble. The right is so full of b.s. it's laughable, but they believe it.
But what about Florida? And Texas? And Wyoming?
First and foremost, all this anti-California crap... Yes, housing is expensive in metropolitan California. As are taxes. But you get something for your money. Did you see the letters to the L.A. "Times" from the people who moved to Florida and then moved back to California? I mean if they can ban books, they can start banning people.
As for banning people... Donald Trump single-handedly fanned the flames of antisemitism. Used to be you couldn't say this stuff. Now people say it with impunity. Did you read about the lawsuit from the Fox producer, the one who said Fox's lawyers wanted her and Maria Bartiromo to take the fall, so the boys wouldn't get hurt? Ultimately she switched to Tucker's show, and what did she find?
"Mr. Carlson’s staff joked about Jews and freely deployed a vulgar term for women, according to the complaint.":
nyti.ms/3lANjzx If this were the fifties, any time before the internet era, the Dominion lawsuit would have killed Tucker Carlson, just like Joe McCarthy took his fall.
So let me get this straight. The majority of voters are anti-Trump, Trump's posse has shrunk instead of grown, but we need to be afraid of them, quake in our boots, that they're going to take action and...
Exactly what?
And if Trump isn't taken to trial, in more than one case, his acolytes are going to think they're immune too. They must learn they are not.
God, the U.S. has a crisis of trust and credibility. And what do Trump and his wankers say? YOU'D BETTER NOT TRY AND SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT! Didn't Superman fight for truth, justice and the American Way? The nation is hooked on comic book movies, but even the essence of Superman does not penetrate the public. Everybody's working the edges, seeing what they can get away with. They quote the Constitution until it applies to them, then they've got some lame excuse. They're fighting for freedom, but I can only see an impingement on people's rights, oftentimes by white males with no stake in the game.
The Democrats?
Can you hear the collective sigh?
What's it going to take to motivate the Democrats, to make them rise up and make Republicans fearful. I thought it was Roe v. Wade, but that didn't. Maybe because some people thought it didn't apply to them, even though it did. You guys? That baby is your responsibility too. You grandparents? Get ready for your daughter and the kid to move in, you're going to be full-time babysitters, you may end up being the actual parents!
The draft applied to every young male.
But we don't need no stinking draft anymore. After all, where are we gonna fight? Trump and DeSantis want to put a wall around America and this makes them believe the rest of the world will ignore them, that everything will work out fine. How's this been working for England? Brexit is ruining the economy. The only people still behind it, who put it over the transom, are the yahoos, with little money, who can only feel good by holding on to an ancient dream of England that disappeared years ago.
Let's see, Brexit was supposed to improve the health system, now it's crumbling.
But in the U.S. we've already seen this movie. Trump had his four years. And most Americans declared no mas. So let me see... If Trump gets nominated they're not going to be motivated to vote against him, they're just going to throw their hands in the air and accept him. OF COURSE NOT!
I'm not saying the left should take no action, quite the contrary, rust never sleeps and you must beware, but if an alien came down to Earth and read and watched the news, they'd think the Republicans own this country, and are winning, when just the opposite is true. But the news business loves it. Isn't that the essence of what has come out from Fox in the Dominion suit? Keep the idiots happy, tell them what they want to hear, make 'em angry, to the point they want to fight. Truth? Is that really part of news?
Yes, the news business is guilty.
But we've also lost track of truth. Online you can find material to support any viewpoint. But that does not make it right. Everything is not up for grabs. 1+1=2. Gravity is real. There are facts. But the right says facts are fungible. The most powerful person in America is George Soros and you'd better not pay any taxes because the government wastes the money, especially on the takers and...
Of course we know that it's California and other blue states supporting the red states, but you don't hear Chuck Schumer repeating this ad infinitum. No, he's constantly telling us what he can't do. HUH?
You are not alone. You are on the winning team.
And if we can't believe in the law...
WE'RE SCREWED!
--
Visit the archive:
lefsetz.com/wordpress/ --
Listen to the podcast:
-iHeart:
ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj -Apple:
apple.co/2ndmpvp --
www.twitter.com/lefsetz --
If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter,
www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1 If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters,
Unsubscribe To change your email address
this link 