Docu-Gate

Some quick thoughts on Biden's ILLEGAL possession of classified documents.

First, what a fool.

Secondly, the media has been trying desperately to claim this isn't at all like Trump, but it is from a criminal perspective. Trump may have been a bigger ass about it and tried to claim he was being persecuted, but the underlying crime is the same. That's bad for Biden.

Third, if the left hadn't tried to destroy Trump over this, this would not be a scandal. Biden would have returned the documents and it would have been swept under the rug. But after all the self-righteous venomizing against Trump, there are too many words of condemnation to let this pass.  And finding the documents in his garage makes it impossible to claim someone from his office did it by mistake.

Fourth, I still don't know why Trump kept the documents he did, but my suspicions are not good. Most of the documents he kept were stupid or ego related. But there are some key ones related to French nuclear technology which only seem valuable if they are being sold. I am not saying that's the case, but that is my suspicion. Now Biden has documents related to Ukrainian security. Huh. Why have those? Well, my suspicion: we know that Hunter got a huge bribe from the Ukrainians when Biden was VP. The bribe came through a Ukrainian oil company. My guess is that they're related. My guess is that these were part of that deal. I guess we'll see how hard they try to avoid looking into that.

As an aside, Ukraine and France both have some of the more impressive spy agencies out there. We could be seeing some of their best work here.

Fifth, Special counsels are a mixed bag. On the one hand, it's a way to defuse things politically. It's like sending something to committee to keep from having to make a decision. On the other hand, special counsels tend to get obsessed. Ultimately, this may be very bad for Biden.

Sixth, Biden's comment about his corvette being in a locked garage is yet more proof that he's too far gone to defend himself. Once he goes off the teleprompter, it's dementia time.

Thoughts?

Here's the Thing

I really didn't want to go too deeply into the current idiocy, but I thought it was worth making one more point. This is for you to think about... (I apologize in advance for the swearing).

I begin with the following assumptions about you (and me):

(1) You are rational.

(2) You believe in conservative ideas of small government, economic and personal freedom balanced with responsibility, and that traditional values are important for societal cohesion and raising the next generation to be happy and successful.

(3) You understand that the United States is a two party system and that the Republican Party is the one that is closest to what you believe and therefore must be supported, even if imperfect, and steered to where it represents us best.

If you don't believe these things, then go away. I. don't. want. you. here.

Now, based on those assumptions, let me point out two separate but related thoughts. First, the more I think about it, I really do think it would be best for McCarthy to make a deal with the Democrats. I think that is a golden opportunity to rid the party of the types who scare the public and who mislabel their paranoia as conservatism, and to cleanse the party's image after a decade of hijacking by hateful assholes who hate everything and anything and want to see the country burn. Unfortunately, I don't think McCarthy has the balls to do this right -- that is, to stand up and make a huge, proactive deal about it -- but I think it is the best course and I will hope he has it in him. You may disagree, and I'm cool with that. I think it's true though. Feel free to explain your rational reasoning if you think I'm right, I would love to hear it.

Either way, of all the options available, the least palatable one is to give concessions to the freak faction and let them hold sway over the party. It's time for that sh*tshow to end.

My second point: I'm done with the freaks, and you should be too. They are not conservatives. They don't understand conservatism, and they don't care about it. They are paranoids and exploiters of paranoids who live in a world of imaginary conspiracies, self-aggrandizing fantasy, idiocy and lunacy. They don't support the GOP and never will. They want to destroy it to get money and adulation from other paranoids. They are using you and the GOP to jerk themselves off and enrich themselves.

Anyone who would humiliate their party, as these twenty assholes are doing right now, is not trying to help the GOP, they are trying to destroy it. They want the drama. Again, they are using the party you need to bring about conservatism to jerk themselves off. It is a tool for them, that is all. If you doubt me, tell me what conservative principle they are standing up for right now? Even dumbass Marjorie Green understands this -- look at her statement about this being about Gaetz and Boebort demanding perks.

Now think about this...

Matt Gaetz is quoted as saying that he doesn't care if the Democrats get the speakership so long as it's not McCarthy. Does that sound like someone who truly has the GOP's best interests at heart? No, that is a child who is threatening to take his ball home if he doesn't get what he wants and what he wants is drama and perks. He doesn't give a rat's ass about conservatism, if he even knows what that is.

Then there are people like Tucker Carlson. For years now, Carlson has attacked the GOP. No matter what the GOP does, he attacks. Does that sound like he wants to make the GOP better or is he using it as a punching bag to make money on you? Why mention Carlson? Because yesterday, he gave an explanation for his failure in predicting a red wave. He said that he misjudged the election because he hates the Democrats so much that it interfered with his judgment. Ok, fine. But here's what caught my attention. When explaining why he was blinded to reality, he said: “I wanted [to see the Democrats lose] so much, not because I like the Republicans — I really dislike them more than I ever have — but I dislike the other side more.” This is what I'm talking about again. There is no subtlety or context in this thought. This is not a man who says, I support the GOP but I wish they were more X or Y. He simply dislikes them. He even says this gratuitously; i.e. there was no reason to even mention the GOP to explain his hate for the Democrats. In other words, he went out of his way to throw that into his explanation so you didn't get the wrong idea and think he actually liked the GOP. This is not a man you should trust or consider an ally. He is anti-GOP, not work-with-the-GOP. This is not constructive. So when he tells you, here's what the GOP should be done, you are getting advice from a man who hates you. Is that smart?

Let me give you one last example of who these people are. There was an idiot who left an anonymous comment here, which I deleted, in which he countered my suggestion by attacking Mitch McConnell on a personal level. Think about that. McConnell has nothing to do with this situation, yet that is his defense -- smearing Mitch McConnell. That person is someone who is so twisted with his own hate of the GOP that he can't even respond rationally. That's not someone you can work with and it's not anyone you want on your side. That is what I'm talking about. It's time to turn our backs on these bigots and fools and nutjobs. They are not our friends or allies and they never will be.

That is why I think McCarthy needs to strike and the rest of the party needs to start getting rid of them. You saw the way MAGA candidates under-performed non-MAGA Republicans by 5%, that's GOP voters sending a message. They want these people gone. Here's the chance, Kevin.

Finally, on a person level, I ask that you think about this. Can you really support people who hate you and are using the things you believe in for their own twisted purposes? Don't support them. Tell your friends why they shouldn't support them too. And watch for people who do this. They will give themselves away through genuine disloyalty which they will justify in the name of purity.

House Cleaning

I got an email asking me if there's a way out of this for the GOP, and I figured I'd answer this with a post. The answer is: yes, several. One involves the "Freedom Caucus" giving in, which won't happen. Another is McCarthy giving in, which apparently won't happen. The "Freedom Caucus" also could choose to abstain, giving the Democrats the win. That actually seems right up their alley. Another involves Democrats abstaining and letting McCarthy win without them. That is probably how this ends.

That said, there is another way this could go which actually presents a tremendous opportunity for the GOP if they choose to grab it.

Here's the thing. Remember these facts:

(1) This is a rump Congress. Nothing will happen because the Senate is deadlocked and Democrat-controlled and Biden runs the White House as a leftist factory of hate and paranoia. So GOP control means very little. The only power they really have is investigative power and the power to send pointless bills to the Senate to die. So power is not an option.

(2) Biden plans to blame the GOP for all his failures because they control the House. He can't do that unless they actually control the House.

(3) The image problem the GOP faces is that it's seen as scary because it has a lot of crazy members. The Lauren Boeberts and Matt Gaetzs are the very crazies that scare people.

Given that, it seems pretty obvious that McCarthy should make a deal with the Democrats. Either some grand unity thing where they split committees and influence, or he can find five swing-district Democrats desperately looking for bipartisan cred. Either way, he trades committee seats for votes. Then he announces to the public that they intend to reach across the aisle in a bipartisan manner and work with the Democrats in this time of Biden-policy-created crisis to solve the nation's problems.

Then comes the Machiavellian part. McCarthy excludes every one of the twenty from any committee seat and never lets them introduce legislation -- those are seats he trades to Democrats. Not only is this hardball old-school-Democrat style, but he sells it to the public as a means of cleaning the GOP of its ranks of cranks and election deniers. Not only does this solve his problem but it recasts the GOP as centrist, which plays well almost everywhere... and the places where it won't hurt aren't places that will vote Democratic no matter what. So there's little harm.

Will talk radio howl? Of course, but they will howl no matter what. They make money selling fear and purity.

Will the GOP lose some voters? Sure. But there are vast more numbers to gain. Don't forget, Reagan threw out the racists in the early 1980s and the GOP dominated until Clinton moved to GWB's right and got a huge assist from H.Ross Perot.

Won't this result in Democrats getting their policies in place? Well, that's already happening. It's been happening for years. And these 200 GOP House members voting for McCarthy are hardly liberals or RINOs... those are long gone. So I wouldn't worry about that.

Thoughts?

(As a quick aside, McCarthy basically is a Freedom Caucus guy. He's parroted all their views. That might give you a clue about what is going on and whether this is about conservatism or cynicism.)

And 2023 Begins Like 2022

McCarthy lost the speaker vote, at least the first one. Ho hum. Same circus. Same clowns. I don't really have any comment because conservatism doesn't really have a dog in this fight. Conservatism no longer exists in the GOP. It is frustrating both as a conservative and an American, but it's become so common that I think I'm numb to it. I'm hoping that one of the governors who will run in 2024 can revive it, but we'll see. Sorry to be so depressed, but our politics has become depressing.