LOTS of leftovers – like after Thanksgiving this Thursday coming up. Why not put them up – make it a “collective” rant? I thought about what each one said, perhaps it will trigger some GREAT comments and ideas! As always with these aggregated posts, some reformating and emphasis mine. This first one mentions the issue I’ve been trying to raise or years: the Culture War
WASHINGTON, District of Columbia — Center for Renewing America president Russ Vought said the reason Republicans are afraid to speak about cultural issues is because of the “cartel”-style leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives. “Cultural issues for decades have just been kind of pushed away, pushed to the side,” the former Director of the Office of Management and Budget in the Trump White House said. “Why? Because they’re existential threats to the cartel.” Speaking on a panel with Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), Vought detailed the backroom, anonymous votes — which he styled the “cartel vote” — that take place so that the House leadership can ensure a win once a measure reaches the floor.
“Being willing to just go fly right into the sun with Walt Disney,” he said of DeSantis taking on the company pushing left-wing propaganda on children. “Most leaders, the cartel in this town, would say, ‘Oh, you can’t touch Disney, it’s Disney!’ But DeSantis went right out, took it right to them, and won 60-40.”
- The Left Excels at Doubling Down – It’s Time for Us to Go Them One Better
All throughout this election season, one thing that was abundantly clear was that even in the face of hard facts and data contradicting their messaging, the Left never wavered and never blinked – they just kept doubling down. Polls indicating that voters cared far more about inflation, energy issues, supply shortages, crime, and education than abortion or climate change did nothing to change their tune. They stuck with their pet causes and narratives and, to some degree, it worked. At a minimum, it appears to have blunted the effects of the much-anticipated red wave.
It would be easy to throw up our hands and wonder why even bother with the political game anymore. But now isn’t the time to disengage. If anything, it’s time to do the exact opposite – take a page from the Left’s playbook and find a way to beat them at their own game. That doesn’t just mean “doubling down” and sticking to the same messaging. It means tripling – or quadrupling – down. The core principles aren’t negotiable, but the strategy is.
This election cycle was the best climate for the Republican red wave. You couldn’t pick a better season for Democrats to get shellacked at the polls. We have rising crime, high inflation, an economic recession, abject incompetence by congressional Democrats, and a White House aloof. Instead, Democrats were able to mount capable defenses of some key districts, stifling Republican efforts to clinch a sizeable House majority. The Senate was more dismal—Democrats are projected to keep control of the upper chamber, even though it looked as if a last-minute GOP surge could knock off Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) in Nevada, one of this cycle’s more vulnerable incumbents, and Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) in Arizona. Both managed to win their respective re-elections.
…The segment hit on the upcoming debate the Republican Party will have with Donald Trump and what to do with him. Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) should not be in the fight for her political life, but she is, with reports that her constituents are getting tired of her mini-Trump antics. The number of split-ticket voters in some crucial races, like Nevada and Pennsylvania, may point to Trump fatigue. It makes no sense for counties of Berks, Beaver, Cumberland, and Luzerne, all Trump country, to vote for Democrat Josh Shapiro in the Keystone State’s gubernatorial contest, but they did; Oz won these areas in the Senate race. Trump endorsed Doug Mastriano for PA’s governorship, who lost handily.
…The White House attempted to use that provision to wholesale cancel student debt for millions of people under the completely arbitrary and unsupported guise of COVID-19 still being a national emergency. The mental gymnastics it took to get there are something and had they been allowed to withstand scrutiny, it would have set a precedent that essentially anything goes no matter the original intent of a law. No doubt, the Biden administration will appeal, but I’m confident the Supreme Court will eventually take this up and put an end to it
That’s not the real story here, though. The real story is how many millions of voters went to the polls during the last election and voted for Democrats thinking they were getting a massive handout from the government. Think about the level of corruption that transpired. Biden gave an illegal order, knowing it was illegal based on past comments, to essentially buy the election. Then, days after the election, that illegal order gets struck down and the White House just stops accepting applications, signaling a surrender on the issue. By that time, though, all the votes had already been cast and it was too late to change anything. The damage was done.
What’s to stop Democrats from making that play every election now? The answer is absolutely nothing, not unless some real sanctions are put in place by the courts.
- Can we overcome the Democrats remaking government to become a virtual husband/Daddy figure? How Conservative Men Can Help Solve The GOP’s Single Women Problem
Last week’s election revealed an ever-deepening divide between the voting preferences of single women and everyone else. Single women broke +37 for Democrats, whereas single men, married men, and married women all favored Republicans. Perhaps “toxic feminism” or “AWFL discourse” is the problem. But whatever the explanation, given the slim margins of the recent election, this is a real issue for Republicans.
Yet the political right ought to be the landing place for women. Those on the right tend to value tradition, order, and the family. Such qualities are good and right in themselves, but also good for women. A single mother without family or community is in a precarious spot, but a wife with children might look to her husband, her parents, or her church community for security.
So how ought men of the right to respond, recognizing that the flight of single women into the party of Drag Queen Story Hour and abortion is a massive problem? Before answering that question, let me make one caveat and then consider a few wrong responses.
- Nothing to see here, just political double-talk; move along. Oh, and he’s supposed to work at counting votes: Top Maricopa election official launched PAC in 2021 to stop Republican candidates who questioned 2020 election
Arizona’s Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer created a political action committee in 2021 to defeat Republican candidates who questioned the integrity of the 2020 presidential election, the Post Millennial revealed. In November 2021, Richer admitted ownership of the PAC and spoke with the Arizona Mirror about why he started Pro-Democracy Republicans of Arizona. He said he hoped the committee would help elect Republicans who support “peaceful transitions of power.”
Sure. Bridge to sell ya, too!
The PAC’s website, which includes little information, states that it is “fighting to keep our democratic institutions alive” by supporting “pro-democracy Arizona Republicans.” The website says, “The Arizona election wasn’t stolen. We Republicans simply had a presidential candidate who lost, while we had many other candidates who won…The 2021 article about Richer in the Arizona Mirror noted that it is rare for an election official to get involved in campaigning for elections that they will also be responsible for overseeing.
- Yes, it’s The View but what a whopper!: They lie, and nobody cares but us
…But The View gets a lot of views, and as with late night hosts who spread disinformation behind the mask of telling jokes, nobody can or does hold them to account for being liars. And they aren’t only stupid, they are liars and propagandists. They serve a purpose in the media ecosystem, training their viewers to hate and be scared of anybody who opposes The Narrative™. They often know that what they are spewing is false, and know they will not be held to account.
Citing ZERO EVIDENCE, Sunny claims the GOP's official position is to raise the voting age to 28.
Literally, no one in a position of influence in the GOP is arguing for that. There was no correction by ABC News. pic.twitter.com/najKP6wb3j— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) November 14, 2022
Don’t ignore that second clip, because something very interesting struck me as I watched it. Sunny Hostin didn’t accidentally make her comment about Republicans plotting to raise the voting age to 28–an impossibility because the voting age is actually set in the Constitution by the 26th Amendment–she was reading from a script. Watch the clip. This was no slip up. It was planned.
It’s in the same vein during Obamacare during the ad where Granny was being rolled off the cliff in her wheelchair if it wasn’t enacted. Or taking Social Security away. Or any other number of things that he Dems KNOW aren’t true but say it anyways (like here Belknap County when the Democrat Citizens for Belknap/aligned squish Republicans claimed that Conservatives wanted to sell of Gunstock ski area – nothing but a like).
…Now lest you think that Sunny Hostin really is nothing but an idiot and made a mistake, she is not the only one to advance this claim. It literally is a talking point being put out over the newswires and being picked up and repeated by others. The news and entertainment world has been sent out to promote an almost, but not completely obvious lie.
It is not a completely obvious lie because the low information voters to whom it is directed are utterly clueless about how the Constitution works. Just as they bought the lie that Joe Biden could wipe away student loan debt with a wave of the hand, they are also being told that new elected Republicans are the ones now preventing it. They don’t know about courts, constitutional limits to power, or any of those complicated concepts. They never learned it in school because systemic racism and trans ideology were their curriculum.
…In the wake of the red hole that was supposed to be a red wave (which Sarah and others, including me on Twitter, told you wasn’t going to happen), there has been the usual finger pointing and a lot of chatter about how to re-arrange the deck chairs on the Titanic. Equally unsurprising is that the never-Trumpers and those who really didn’t like such a man but rode the train anyway types have declared a Trump-DeSantis fight and you must choose your side now!
… But, no, that would be uncivil and rude and worst of all it would have upset a lot of gravy trains that depend on the status quo. If you are interested in why many of us feel that there were things that needed investigation (and prosecution), read this post, then this post, and finally this post from Larry Correia. There is a lot more out there, but that’s a good start.
If you really want freedom, good (and limited) government, here’s a few suggestions:
First, don’t fall for and join in on the new urgent “thing” and declare your undying loyalty to it or whatever part of it is demanded. Not now, not later, as there are going to be many things as distraction.
Second, secure the vote. This really has to be done on the state (and local) level, and if you look at the states where that was done… Outside of those states, I think it may already be too late and I expect to see more Federal electioneering and attempts to force states to insecure the vote. All in the name of saving “our democracy” of course.
Personally I would love to see one day, limited/no mail, go back to absentee with valid reason, ID required, no same-day registration, LET THE MILITARY VOTE AND ACTUALLY COUNT THAT VOTE, and if I could sneak it in no straight party voting allowed. It will take good state-level leadership, with the support on the national leadership. Oh, and don’t forget, same-day vote tally. This third-world weeks-long bullshit has to go.
Third, this leads us to the need to change the leadership….
When a party goes leftist and captures all the cultural organs too, as has happened in the US with the Democrats, what results is a constant indoctrination session, plus voting rules that make a comeback from the other party well-nigh impossible.
…Conservatives believe in democracy/republicanism as a process that is not just a means to an end but a good in and of itself. But that’s only true if both sides believe it and play by the rules. For much of its history, most of America (not every city or every state, but most) played by those rules and agreed on and respected those rules. That is no longer the case, I’m afraid.
Cruz is particularly irked that McConnell pulled $8 million from Blake Masters’ campaign. Masters has said that he would vote against McConnell. Cruz said McConnell would prefer to hang on to his position as minority leader rather than see a GOP majority in the Senate. On the House side, the Freedom Caucus has made it known that it is thinking about finding someone to challenge Kevin McCarthy for Speaker of the House.
And of course, much has been made about the negative impact of Donald Trump on the elections and the developing rift between the Trump and DeSantis camps. While there is a chance The Donald may announce he is not running in 2024, he wouldn’t stage an event to do that. Judging by the number of articles and comments, people seem to be moving in the direction of wanting to thank Trump for his service and ask him to move on.
So while we sweat the results of the last few races and fret about the outcome of the Walker/Warnock runoff, we need to ask ourselves what we do next. Despite factors like inflation, crime, and immigration, much of the country indicated that it prefers the status quo. Perhaps these voters could not bring themselves to admit that they were wrong and wanted to give the Democrats one more chance. Who knows. Republicans remain at a disadvantage when it comes to messaging and money, and sweat equity. Whatever else you want to say about the Left, its people work hard during election season.
Sweat equity – not enough hands and feet off the couch and “into the streets” to do the grunt work. We get outworked all the time which SHOULD be telling us we don’t want it enough.
We can campaign all we want, dethrone McConnell, block McCarthy, and even fire Trump. We can also learn how to maneuver in a world in which balloting has been made so convenient that now it takes days instead of hours to count the votes. But we have to change the game on the ground.
It’s time to change from being reactive/rant-ive, it’s time to be pro-active. But what does that mean and, harder, how to do it?
Project Veritas Action claims that election laws were flouted on Tuesday in Philadelphia by Democratic Party supporters. The group released two videos it said were shot Tuesday by undercover individuals. In one, a man identified as Rudy Stewart hawks pre-printed lists of Democrats, telling passersby, “Anyone need Democratic Party information?”
The video then shows a man later identified as James Harrison being asked by an undercover journalist, “So you’re telling me I should vote John Fetterman? I should vote Joshua Shapiro?”…
As were many, in the run-up to the midterm elections, I was seduced by the great Red Wave. I was even beginning to feel guilty that I hadn’t stayed behind to help—a touch anyway—and had moved to bucolic Tennessee.
I am writing this while much tooth-gnashing is taking place over which party will control Congress, but it doesn’t matter because something else far more important was made clear, if it wasn’t already, and—because of these arduous, monumentally unenlightening—midterms, we are forced to face up to it.
We are now two countries, intractable. We don’t like each other. We don’t want to talk to each other. We don’t even want to be around each other.
The mass internal migrations to red states from blue states of the past decade show this has long been underway. We are a nation of American Refugees, much as we were once a nation of refugees from other countries. (We are also unfortunately an open border country, but what I am recommending would fix that.)…
UPDATE: Wow
Zeldin didn’t win, but he must be the most consequential loser in NYC gubernatorial history. In fact, the New York State flips will likely account for the GOP majority in the House.
No wonder he wants to be the next RNC Chair…
The topic of “candidate quality” has been discussed recently to rationalize Republicans’ poor performance in last Tuesday’s elections. It’s been repeatedly pushed by many on the Right as the main reason for the Republicans’ failure. But blaming “candidate quality” is foolish and an oversimplification. If candidate quality truly matters as much as some have claimed, why do Democrats continue to win elections while nominating low-quality candidates?
Consider Sen.-elect John Fetterman (D-PA). Some have argued that the reason why he won was that his opponent wasn’t a good candidate. This might be true. However, it is important to highlight that Dr. Mehmet Oz graduated from two Ivy League schools — Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and the prestigious Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He was also a former cardiothoracic surgeon. He had flaws but wasn’t exactly a slouch, either. Yet he lost to a guy who had a record of releasing violent criminals back on the street.
…In some areas, candidate quality is so irrelevant that one needn’t be alive to win elections.
Such was the case in Pennsylvania when Democrat Tony DeLuca won reelection as a state representative. DeLuca was an incumbent who served nearly 40 years in office but unfortunately died on Oct. 9 from lymphoma. Clearly, DeLuca was popular in his district. However, it’s hard to fathom that a deceased candidate was better than an alive one. DeLuca still won with 85% of the vote. Again, ideology drove the vote, not candidate quality.
Republican post-midterm elections infighting reaches state of ‘war’
Republicans may have won the battle to retake the House in this month’s midterm elections, but the manner of the win that ultimately resulted in a thinner majority than expected means the GOP is facing new challenges that could threaten its agenda — and they’re coming from within the party.
In the first week back in session, Republicans already experienced intraparty drama and infighting, a result of building tension from the last two years. Relations have been shaky among top Republicans, particularly after former President Donald Trump’s second impeachment that split the party based on who supported the former president’s claims that the 2020 election was stolen.
“You’ve gotta have a war every five or 10 years to get rid of the bad blood,” Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) told Politico, borrowing a line from The Godfather to paint a picture of Senate Republicans. “And then you start over.”
