Tag: politics

Feeling the pressure

I won’t go so far as to say Trump choked, as at least he didn’t apologize or retract his comments about the Mexican judge, but he does appear to be feeling the pressure more than he did previously:

“It is unfortunate that my comments have been misconstrued as a categorical attack against people of Mexican heritage. I am friends with and employ thousands of people of Mexican and Hispanic descent,” Trump said. “I do not feel that one’s heritage makes them incapable of being impartial, but, based on the rulings that I have received in the Trump University civil case, I feel justified in questioning whether I am receiving a fair trial.”

Trump added that he’s “watched as the media has reported one inaccuracy after another concerning the ongoing litigation involving Trump University.” The statement doesn’t amount to a repudiation of his earlier comments, but it shows a tacit acknowledgment that he should tamp down his rhetoric.

Media-to-English Translation: he didn’t give us enough to properly nail him, but we’re going to see what we can make of it anyhow.

It’s tough when you suddenly feel that you’ve got something to lose. Someone in the Trump camp needs to remind him that he’s been at his best when free-wheeling and damning the torpedoes. He can survive any number of PC-violating gaffes, but the one thing that can definitely cost him the election is a failure of nerve.

The challenge is that he’s now got all sorts of advisers who are telling him to tone it down, to play the moderate, and to try to appeal to people who are never going to support him anyhow. He will have to find the self-confidence to blow them off and play the game his way.

Robbed of a good comedy

David French disappoints us all by refusing to be drafted by Bill Kristol:

Here is a sentence I never thought I’d type: After days of prayer, reflection, and serious study of the possibilities, I am not going to run as an independent candidate for president of the United States.

I gave it serious thought — as a pretty darn obscure lawyer, writer, and veteran — only because we live in historic times. Never before have both parties failed so spectacularly, producing two dishonest, deceitful candidates who should be disqualified from running for town council, much less leader of the free world.

Hillary Clinton lies habitually and changes position on virtually every public issue except for her pro-abortion extremism, and she has a suspicious record of making public decisions that favor donors to the Clinton Foundation. Her signal foreign-policy “achievement” was helping launch a war in Libya that not only cost American lives in Benghazi but also helped transform the nation into ISIS’s latest playpen.

To add to all that, she’s in the middle of an active FBI investigation. If I had handled classified information the way we know she handled classified information, my career would already be over, and the single goal of my life would be persuading the prosecutor to reach a lenient plea bargain.

Trump also lies habitually (sometimes minute by minute), and changes position based on his moods. In one breath he claims to support working men and women, and then with the next breath he threatens to destroy our economy through trade wars or by playing games with the full faith and credit of the United States. He believes an American judge — a man born in Indiana who spent months hiding from drug cartels after they’d put a “hit” on him – can’t rule on a case involving Trump University because the judge’s parents emigrated from Mexico.

It’s telling that the best case he can make against Trump is a) to equate the criticism of free trade with lying, b) to equate calling a Mexican a Mexican with lying, and to cry about how many of Trump’s supporters aren’t impressed by his conspicuous virtue-signaling with an African accessory.

The #AltRight isn’t going to have David French to kick around anymore!

Mailvox: forgetting 2008

Nathan thinks the general election is already over:

The game hasn’t changed one bit. When the Gen Election hits Clinton will
know exactly the states where she has to win and she’ll secure them
pretty easily. The game is called Electoral Collage Math. She starts
with NY, CA, IL, NJ, MA and who bunch of others. My bet is that Trump
will find a way to convince himself that he SHOULD win NY and will spend
time there. Meanwhile, Clinton will camp out in places like Michigan,
Ohio, Virginia, NC, AZ, NV and WA.

The poor guy doesn’t get it. He was overmatched the minute he secured the nomination.

Nathan appears to have forgotten that Hillary Clinton was the candidate who failed to understand the rules of the Democratic nomination in formulating her strategy and named a wannabe lawyer with a poli-sci degree from Middlebury and no absolutely experience in the real world her top economic adviser.

Perhaps she’s learned from her past failures, but until we see some evidence, I wouldn’t put too much stock in the competence of the Hillary campaign, much less her overmatching anyone. Especially when one considers how much trouble she is having putting away an ancient Vermont socialist who isn’t even a Democrat, despite having the DNC, the superdelegates, and the media in her pocket. She is an exceptionally bad candidate who has never beaten anyone who didn’t take a fall.

The state-by-state demographics are the sole reason for concern, but as others have pointed out, the conventional electoral math no longer applies once whites unite behind a political identity. Will that happen soon enough to elect Donald Trump?

Therein lies the question.

Diversity in action

Diversity has been defined as “chasing down the last white”. Seems fitting these days.

Perhaps the only thing that is funny about the situation is that white liberals think they’ll be spared, because goodthink. But what they don’t understand is that once identity politics take hold, your skin and your appearance is your uniform.

The young white man didn’t understand that you never run from vibrants. Few things embolden them like seeing someone break and run.

I used to wonder why the original SA was formed; one would read about street battles between them and the German communists, but that tended to create an impression of the Jets and the Sharks meeting somewhere at the appointed hour. Now, it is starting to make a little more sense.

Trump as tribal leader

Rod Dreher notes with alarm and chagrin the rise of a white tribal identity:

Yes, Trump’s rise, and his rise as a white identity candidate, is frightening. But he didn’t come from nowhere, nor is he solely the creation of conservatism (indeed, he’s barely a conservative at all). I expect Hillary Clinton to use a lot of unity rhetoric this fall. But here’s the thing: if she wins, I fully expect her to govern as someone who treats my own tribe — conservative Christians — as the enemy. That does not mean I will vote for Trump, or will vote at all. I know conservative Christians who fear and loathe Trump so much that they’re going to vote for Hillary, a candidate they believe despises their kind, for the sake of the common good. I know Christians who despise Trump but who are voting for him, or withholding their vote, because they cannot cast a ballot for a candidate (Hillary) they are certain will name Supreme Court justices who will roll back religious liberty.

The point is that the nation is fractured and fracturing. Both political parties have benefited from the ideological divide they have created, and that historical circumstances have created. What’s new about Trump is that for the first time, many whites are seeing themselves the way Democrats and the liberal media have encouraged blacks, Hispanics, and gays to see themselves: as a tribe.

This is significant, because it means the cuckservatives are beginning to figure out that their position is not merely a losing one, it is entirely untenable. We’ll know that full-blown tribal politics have become the new normal once even white SJWs like John Scalzi suddenly begin claiming that they were white nationalists all along.

Many of them already are, of course, there is a reason why Scalzi chooses to live in a lily-white Ohio town rather than among the various ethnics he professes to love so much. But for now, they still realize some value from pretending otherwise.

This is a very positive development for America, because America is, and always has been, a white Anglo nation. The fact that the political entity has been invaded and that political citizenship has been granted to anyone and everyone with a pulse merely means that the nation has submitted and been oppressed, it doesn’t mean that the nation has been changed in any material manner. Playing word games with definitions is the hallmark of those who stand irretrievably opposed to history, science, and reality, and they always wind up losing in the end.

Those who decry “Trumpism” have it entirely backwards. Trump is merely riding the wave of the rise of the birth of a generic white American identity, which like all such identities, is the result of external pressure rather than internal conviction. And that is why it does not matter what he says or does, because unlike so many of his predecessors on both sides of the political aisle, Donald Trump has aligned himself with the white American tribe.

It is long past time for white Americans to follow the lead of the blacks, the Jews, and the Asians, and allow themselves to be guided solely by the principle: is it good for the whites? Serve the nation, not the empire.

As for those who cry for the empire and fear it will be destroyed, yes, that is exactly what will happen. It is not longer fit for purpose. But it is a little late for tears, as its fate was settled in 1965.

Ladies and gentlemen, your third party candidate!

Bill Kristol’s Israel First party unveils their stealth Trump killer, who we are reliably informed is “an independent candidate–an impressive one, with a strong team and a real chance.”

Yeah, so, about that…. it appears Kristol was talking about David French. National Review’s David French. By whom, we mean this sad sap.

Hi-freaking-larious. In an nationalism-driven election, Israel First is going to try to beat the nationalist candidate with a literal cuckservative. No wonder even the #NeverTrump types are completely underwhelmed.

Laura Ingraham Verified account ‏@IngrahamAngle
Kristol’s pick! That would be the same David French who defended Kevin Williamson?

Byron York Verified account ‏@ByronYork
My sense is much of the commentary isn’t really about David French. More about implausibility of choice after so much hype.

David Burge ‏@iowahawkblog
I think David French would be a better prez than Trump/Hillary/Bernie, but then again so would Fat Bearded Libertarian Guy in Thong

Ben Shapiro Verified account ‏@benshapiro
Trumpsters are going to have a rough time convincing people that it’s somehow David French’s fault if their man doesn’t win.

A.J. Delgado ‏@AJDelgado13
I only know that David French name bc I think i’ve seen it in a few NRO articles I hated…

Ed Morrissey Verified account ‏@EdMorrissey
The “major figure” for an indie bid is … @DavidAFrench? I like and respect David, but this can’t be right.

Ricky Vaughn ‏@Ricky_Vaughn99
DAVID FRENCH FOR PRESIDENT: “We must secure the existence of our people and a future for our wives’ sons.”

 “I gather Donald Trump said I’m a loser. I’ve won some and I’ve lost some, but one thing I’ve always tried not to be is a roaring jackass.”
– Bill Kristol

Can’t say that anymore, Billy. Do you hear that sound? That is the ENTIRE INTERNET laughing at you. Even Susan Estrich, the architect of the Dukakis debacle, is shaking her head and wondering what planet you think you’re orbiting.

Anyhow, I think concerns about the potential effects of a third-party candidate on Trump’s prospects can be safely dismissed now.

The backfire

Republican establishment snobs, and those who lick their loafers, can’t seem to grasp that the more they sneer at Donald Trump, the stronger Trump’s support becomes:

If I hear one more of my conservative/libertarian “high IQ” colleagues (many of them long-time friends) denigrate Trump as stupid, racist, sexist or (I kid you not)  not “really” successful–I may puke.

One certainly may oppose Trump’s policies on a principled basis.  But to hear the right-of-center intelligentsia (who may be well-educated and perhaps even have high IQs, but are not necessarily intelligent) denigrate the presumptive GOP nominee–selected by We the People–using the same leftist tactics used to denigrate George W. Bush and many other conservative standard-bearers, is nauseating.

These “high IQ” members of the GOP intelligentsia simply cannot hide their disdain for ordinary Americans’ selection of a GOP nominee, yet they simultaneously claim that the GOP represents ordinary Americans’ values. The GOP intelligentsia is behaving like a delusional narcissist, reveling in its (false) superiority over the little people.

Actions have consequences. Faithlessness begets the loss of credibility. And the more those who urged dubious conservatives to swallow their doubts and dutifully line up behind George W. Bush, John McCain, and Mitt Romney bluster and posture about how they are going to support Hillary Clinton or Bill Kristol’s Israel First third party, the less anyone is going to listen to them.

I merely jest, of course. Bill Kristol’s third party isn’t going to be called Israel First. I understand Likud USA will the actual name.

Why Jonah hates Milo

It’s not the plot of a new gay teen drama on Nickelodeon, it’s merely Caleb Q. Washington explaining the intergenerational conflict within the Right:

Liberal Fascism attacked left-wing identity in its very title and cover. It was an attack that demanded rebuttal by the left. In effect, it benefited from the forces which people like Milo Yiannopoulos and, dare I say it, Donald Trump, have explicitly made use of for their advantage.

If The Tyranny of Cliches had been re-titled, and I’m just spit-balling here, “The Left’s Biggest Lies” with a cartoon of Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama dressed as Pinocchio, it might have been more of a success.

Milo Yiannopoulos, on the other hand, has risen to prominence (eclipsing Goldberg’s Twitter follower count this spring) by harnessing these very same forces to his benefit. Milo first came to my attention when he dropped the first supportive piece on GamerGate from any well-known news outlet.

The political genius of this was entirely lost on the rest of the right. Becoming the champion of gamers against the worst elements of the left, he forced people on the left to defend their most despicable elements, stay silent, or join him. It forced the left to fight on its own turf.

He’s done the same thing with the zaniness on college campuses. With his speaking tour, Milo has repeatedly stirred controversy. This has led to forcing people on the left to distance itself from the worst of the craziness in a way no other conservative has done.

Milo has reaped huge dividends from this strategy, both as a proponent for the right, and personally.

So, why is there conflict?

The simple answer is that Jonah and Milo are avatars for each side of the generational schism on the right. While not an old man himself, Jonah is their representative. The old men on the right seek to hold the line in a conflict of attrition with the left over disputed ground. The young men seek to fight on what the left thought was safe turf.

This brings us to the specific conflict today.

There are two groups of people on the right Jonah, and the rest of the old men revile. The first are agitators who knowingly say extreme things aimed to upset the old men. They are getting trolled, and are looking bad as a result. The whole point of the activity is to make the old men angry, and in their anger for them to act in a way that turns people off from them. It’s a classical rhetorical move explained by Aristotle. They seek to inspire anger in their targets and succeed. The other group are simply people who take a more extreme right-wing view than is considered socially acceptable.

The old men and Jonah Goldberg hate these people more than they hate the left, as they seek a monopoly of right wing though, and Milo Yiannopoulos has no interest in condemning them. He even delivers apologia for them.

This also explains why I am on Milo’s side, despite being of an age with Jonah. Now, I actually like Jonah. I understand him, and I think his Liberal Fascism was a very good and important book. I even paid homage to it with the cover of SJWs Always Lie.

But being an editor at National Review, Jonah has always been allied with the Old Men of National Review, while I have always been Too Extreme for them despite being identified as the most talented right-wing columnist of my generation by Universal Press Syndicate and being signed as a prospective replacement for William F. Buckley by them.

And wow, did that ever fail!

I am middle-aged, but being a game designer, my heart is with the brash young gamers of #GamerGate, not the aging cuckservatives of National Review. I don’t pretend to be with it – I have no idea what the equivalent of early techno in the 1990s might be these days – and considering how long it took me to recover from an intra-club scrimmage with the prima squadra and having to defend 19-year-old wingers, I am VERY aware of my age these days.

But Jonah, Rod Lowry, Rod Dreher, and other 40-somethings need to realize that we are no longer the Young Turks of the Right, and it is time to either get with the #AltRight and support the up-and-coming new guys or wander off into the pastures of political irrelevance.

Disavowing #NeverTrump

Ace of Spades wonders if #NeverTrump “conservatives” were always just Democrats all along:

Please explain to me the continuing hardcore commitment to #NeverTrump.

Is it…

1. Disliking the fact that the Upper Middle College Educated Class controlled the party for decades, and made a sport of ignoring the Working Class, but now the Working Class has reasserted itself and taken over and the members of the displaced Upper Middle College Educated Class just can’t stand not being in a poll position any longer?

2. Showing off to one’s liberal comrades that one isn’t One Of That Kind of Conservative? That is, Virtue Signalling?

3. Attempting to save one’s professional reputation? I get this one myself — someone asked me why I was so anti-Trump, and I said the man was so vulgar, stupid, and crass that he made it necessary to oppose him simply to preserve one’s professional standing.

So I get that idea. I get that idea an awful lot.

But we happen to be talking about the Republic at this point.

One of two people will be president in January — Hillary Rodham Clinton, a sociopath who was a corrupt politician even before she entered politics (remember Whitewater? Her $100,000 cattles future trading) or Donald Trump.

What is the fear, here? That Donald Trump might be nearly as bad as Hillary Clinton certainly will be?

Name one issue on which Hillary Clinton is superior to Trump. The most I ever here is “We don’t know what Trump will do, he could be just as bad as Hillary.”

Oh? He could be that bad?

Look, Drew asked a while ago: What makes obviously liberal-cultural-values Republicans actually Republicans, apart from habit?

Maybe it’s time for the great re-sorting to begin. It’s time for actual Democrats, who are most comfortable with Democrats, and feel the most affinity for Democrats, to make their party allegiance official and simply declare for Hillary Clinton and join the Democratic Party…. all around me I see people who are far too over-proud of their Upper Middle Class Background willing to elect Hillary Clinton just to prove they graduated (or at least attended) college.

No one who votes for Hillary Clinton – or who voted for Barack Obama – can reasonably call themselves “conservative”. What, precisely, do you think you are conserving?