Below is my column in the New York Post on the growing hysteria among press and pundits proclaiming the imminent end of democracy if Kamala Harris is not elected. The predictions of mass roundups, disappearances, and tyranny ignore a constitutional system that has survived for over two centuries as the oldest and most stable democracy in the world. More importantly, the public appears to agree that democracy is under threat but appear to hold a very different notion of where that threat is coming from.
Here is the column:
“Democracy dies in darkness” is the Washington Post’s slogan, but can it handle the light?
The Post has been doggedly portraying the election between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris as a choice between tyranny (Trump) and democracy (Harris). Yet when it commissioned a poll on threats to democracy shortly before the election, it did not quite work out.
Voters in swing states believe that Trump is more likely to protect democracy than Kamala Harris, who is running on a “save democracy” platform.
The poll sampled 5,016 registered voters in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
When asked whether Trump or Harris “would do a better job” of “defending against threats to democracy,” 43% picked Trump while 40% picked Harris.
Notably, this was the same result when President Biden was the nominee. While over half said that threats to democracy were important to them, the voters trusted Trump (44%) more than Biden (33%) in protecting democracy.
Even with the slight improvement for Harris, the result was crushing for not just many in the Harris campaign but the press and pundits who have been unrelenting in announcing the end of democracy if Harris is not elected.
Former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) has declared with authority that either you vote for Harris, or this “may well be the last real vote you ever get to cast.”
I have long criticized the apocalyptic, democracy-ending predictions of Biden, Harris and others as ignoring the safeguards in our system against authoritarian power.
Nevertheless, Harris supporters have ratcheted up the rhetoric to a level of pure hysteria. Recently, Michael Cohen, a convicted felon and Trump’s disbarred former lawyer, told MSNBC that if Trump wins the election, he will “get rid of the judiciary and get rid of the Congress.”
Recently, MSNBC host Al Sharpton and regular Donny Deutsch warned viewers that they will likely be added to an enemies “list” for some type of roundup after a Trump election.
MSNBC host Rachel Maddow also joined in the theme of a final stand before the gulag: “For that matter, what convinces you that these massive camps he’s planning are only for migrants? So, yes, I’m worried about me — but only as much as I’m worried about all of us.”
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) was quick to add her own name to a list that seems to be constantly updated by the media. She told podcast host Kara Swisher, “I mean, it sounds nuts, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this guy threw me in jail.”
On ABC’s “The View,” the hosts are becoming indistinguishable from tinfoil-hatted subway prophets. Whoopi Goldberg even explained how Trump is already committed to being a dictator who will “put you people away … take all the journalists … take all the gay folks … move you all around and disappear you.”
Of course, assuming that Cohen is wrong that there will be no courts after a Trump victory, this would require federal judges to sign off on the rounding up of MSNBC personalities, all gay people, all reporters, and, of course, Whoopi Goldberg.
All that is required is for over two centuries of constitutional order to fail suddenly, and for virtually every constitutional actor in our system to suddenly embrace tyranny.
Those pushing this hysteria often curiously cite the January 6 riot as proof that the end is near. Yet that horrible day was the vindication, not the expiration, of our constitutional system. The system worked. The riot was put down. Congress, including Republicans, reassembled and certified Biden as the next president.
In the courts, many Trump-appointed judges ruled against challenges to the election.
Our system was put through a Cat 5 stress test and did not even sway for a moment.
Nevertheless, the same voices are being heard on the same media outlets with doomsday scenarios.
Former Acting US Solicitor General Neal Katyal told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” ominously, “We are looking at a very possible constitutional crisis and one that’s going to make January 6, 2021, look like a dress rehearsal. And this year, the rogues have had four years to go pro and perfect the big lie.”
In other words: Be afraid, very afraid.
Then, in a New York Times column, Katyal lays out scenarios premised on a complete breakdown of the oldest and most stable democratic system in history.
It is like telling passengers on an ocean liner that we will all drown and then whispering that this is “assuming the crew intentionally scuttles the ship, all bulkheads and sealed departments fail, and every lifeboat and life preserver is discarded.”
But then we are all going to die.
The only way to avoid that watery grave (with the death of democracy itself)? Vote Democratic.
There is, however, some good news in all of this: Despite years of alarmist predictions from Biden, Harris, the press, and pundits, the public is not buying it.
It is not because they particularly like Trump. Many of his supporters seem poised to vote for him despite viewing him as polarizing and, at times, obnoxious.
No, it is because the American voter has a certain innate resistance to being played as a chump. Many of the same figures claiming that democracy is at stake supported ballot cleansing to remove Trump and others from the ballots. They supported the weaponization of the legal process in New York against Trump. Likewise, as Harris insists that she is the only hope for fundamental rights, many cannot fail to notice that she is supporting an unprecedented system of censorship that one court called “Orwellian.”
None of this means that the choice between Trump and Harris is easy. However, Harris’ claim to be the only hope for democracy is proving as tin-eared as running on pure “joy.”
Voters are clearly demanding more than a political pitch of abject fear mixed with illusive joy.
Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro professor of public interest law at George Washington University and the author of “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage.”
See below as Dennis McInliar, the demented draft dodger, claims that Hitler spoke English.
Jonathan: How do we know DJT is a fascist? There are lots of indicia. For starters, John Kelly, retired Marine General and DJT’s chief of staff, said his former boss fits “into the general definition of fascist”. Kelly says on several occasions DJT told him Hitler did a lot of good things and wants loyal generals like those of who served Hitler. Former Joint Chiefs Mark Milley and 13 former aides have said the same thing. These are people who worked with DJT on almost a daily basis.
For some on this blog and elsewhere the statements of Kelly, Milley and others close to DJT are insufficient to establish DJT is a fascist. So here are a comparison of statements by Hitler and DJT himself that that provide further proof:
Hitler: I will get rid of the “communist vermin”
DJT: I will get rid of the “communist vermin”
Hitler: I will take care of the “enemy within”
DJT: I will take care of of the “threat from within”
Hitler: Hitler: Jews and migrants are “poisoning the Aryan blood”
DJT: Migrants are “poisoning the blood of our country”
Hitler: “One people, one realm, one leader”
DJT: “One people, one family, one glorious nation”
DJT sees himself in the mold of Hitler and other authoritarian leaders like Russsia’s Putin and Orban in Hungary. He promises to suspend the Constitution–to deport millions of immigrants, whether here legally or not, to silence the press and prosecute and put in prison his political “enemies” and “vermin” like Adam Schiff and Nancy Pelosi–following the example set by Hitler.
And what is DJT’s response to the charges of John Kelly and others? He calls Kelly a “degenerate” and a “low life”. That’s how Hitler referred to his political opponents. For the supporters of DJT all this evidence of his fascist views don’t matter. For them all of DJT’s statement are just “political hyperbole” that should not be considered seriously. That’s what many Germans said in the early 1930s about Hitler. They mistakenly didn’t take Hitler and the Nazi party seriously. Will the MAGA supporters of their leader wake up in time to prevent the rise of fascism in our country? We’ll find out on Nov. 5.
Gee Dennis
I don’t recall Trump being a fascist in his first four years. What I recall is the non-stop subversion of his term from day one. Before he could be sworn in they were already in on an impeachment. HRC had already launched her little Russia collusion plan. Obama had already tapped his campaign office and colluded with the FBI to pursue Andy’s plan. That smells like some good old fashioned tyranny from a bunch of progressive Marxists trying to continue their “fundamental “ change of OUR Constitutional Republic. Look at your own Democratic Party if you want to see tyranny, you won’t find it in the MAGA movement.
Dennis does not even know or care what “facist” actually is.
I am going to ignore left/right – as idiot left wing nuts seem to think that Musolini, Franco and Hitler (and Perone) were on the far right.
Fascism is a form of socialism. The NAZI’s are “national socialists”.
Fascism has private ownership of the means of production,
But NOT free markets.
Businesses are owned privately but are driven by the demands of the state – not the market.
Individual liberty is an anathema to Fascism
Limited government is an anathema to Fascism.
Contra Dennis Fasicsm is a direct competitor to communism – hence the antagonism.
fascism is the Redskins and Communism if he Cowboys – bitter rivals.
It is NOT an ideology or system of government radically at odds with communism.
It is just another form of socialism.
I would note that While Hitler and the Nazi’s were racist and xenophobic, that is NOT actually an identifying attribute of fascism. The Italian fascists were NOT xenophobic or racist. Jews as an example made up a larger proportion of the Italian fascist party than the general population. Further until the collapse of Musollini’s govenrment and Hitler moving German Troops into Italy to restore Musollini to power, The Italian Fascists absolutely refused to cooperate with Hitler in the “final solution”. there was no persecution of Jews in Fascist italy until Musollini ended up being a german puppet and German Soldiers were deployed througout Italy.
Fascism is a form of socialism that is very nationalistic, leaves the means of production in private hands, but answering to government, not markets.
While Communism (as practiced in the USSR and CCP) are international, and the means of production are within the state.
One needs to be careful with terms – because socialism is just the generic term for all somewhat collectivist government.
While technically communism means something very specific that never was even close to acheived by the USSR or CCP.
Fascism and Communism – as practiced differ only in the national/international focus, and in the ownership of the means of production.
Both oppose all forms of individual rights, and BOTH require command of the economy by government in some form.
You’re wrong, and a fascist apologist.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_racial_laws?wprov=sfla1
Idiot!
Dennis – what absolute nonsense.
First – the most simple way to identify where someone is Fascist is by their political values.
Fascism is a specifics ideology, with specific beliefs.
It is a form of Collectivism, Socialism.
As Musollini the founder of Fascisim defined it.
Facism is
Everything inside the state
nothing outside the state
nothing against the state.
That is an absolue anethema to every form of Conservative or republican EVER.
So NO Trump is NOT a Facist in any way shape or form.
The other related claim of left wing nuts is that Trump is a threat to democracy.
That is absoluely positively completely True.
Trump and MAGA and Republicanism is a HUGE threat to the efforts of the left throughout US history to turn the US from Government for the purpose of protecting individual rights into as close to a pure majoritarian democracy as possible.
Trump is more than a “threat” to that – he is intent on undoing large portions of that.
Majoritarian democracy is tyranical and itself arguably fascist.
Most of this country – outside those on the left take Trump Extremely seriously.
They did so in 2016, but they do so even more in 2024.
The look at what they see under Biden/Harris and they do not like it and they want it gone.
They look on what they saw under Trump and they want that back.
They look at the Biden/Harris platform and policies – and they do NOT want those.
They look at Trump’s platform and policies – and they want those back.
This is VERY serious for most americans.
As to your idiocy that Trump is somekind of “threat”.
Will Trump use government power to go after political enemies ?
Most of us doubt it – there is only so much Trump can accomplish in 4 years and seeking retribution will come at the expense of establishing his legacy.
But lets assume that Trump does.
Adam Schiff has been caught cheating on his taxes, and committing mortgage fraud.
Will the american people rise up against Trump if th Trump DOJ spends the next 4 years going after Schiff ? No!
Most of us will think – it could not happen to a more deserving guy.
The country as a whole will Yawn if Trump does to his political enemies what They did to him.
Turn about is fair play.
What is it that you are affraid Trump is going to do as president ?
Go after his political enemies ?
No one will care – you normalized that.
Do you really think that the country is going to be up in arms if the Trump DOJ goes after Schiff, Swalwell, Pelosi, left wing nuts in DOJ/FBI ?
What is it that you are affraid Trump is going to do as president ?
What other “totalitarian” things might he do ?
End the war in Ukraine ? End the violence in the Mideast ?
Who is going to be upset by that ?
Lets presume as you have repeatedly claimed – but has never happened, that Trump’s children start profiting at the government trough. Not exactly sure how a bunch of Billionaires are going to spend alot of time and effort making a handful of millions selling influence in the way Hunter did.
You have ranted about Kushner’s multibillion dollar deal with the Qatari’s. but that is not for influence, that is for taking Billions of dollars of Qatari oil money and investing it to make even more – the US govenrment and influence pedaling are nowhere to be seen, and Kushner standard to make an order of magnitude more on that deal than Hunter Did shilling for Burisma or the CCP – so exactly why should Eric or DonJr or Jared look to follow in Hinter’s shoes when they can rake in far more by continuing to do the same things they did when DJT was not in power.
But lets say that Kushner makes 20M on the side influence pedaling for Qatar.
You have already normalized that.
It would be wrong and corrupt, but it would be no worse than what we already have.
What is it that Trump is going to do that is so evil and fascist and totalitarian ?
End EV Subsidies ?
Drill, Baby Drill ?
Build a Wall ?
Stem the flow of illegal immigrants and drugs ?
What Horrible Fascist things Is Trump going to do in 2021 ?
Harris rants that he will give tax breaks to the rich. Even if that proved true – that is NOT Fascism.
And everyone would be celebrating if he managed to restore the economy of 2019.
Personally, I oppose the complicated tax schemes and loopholes that Both Harris and Trump are campaigning on.
I heavily favor Steve Forbes – Flat Tax – no tax on the first 40K of income, 15% with no deductions on everything above.
No tax brackets, no capital gains taxes, no corporate taxes, no EV subsidies, no deductions.
Everyone pays the same tax rate on income over 40K.
But we are not going to get that.
Trump’s economic plan including his tax plans are focused on Incentives that generate a bigger economy and higher stanard of living. And we KNOW that humans respond to incentives.
To the extent Harris is not plagerizing Trump – her plan is about giving freebies to historically oppressed groups – a scheme that will lower standards of living for most.
Further it is Harris’s economic plan that resembles Fascism not Trump’s.
Regardless in Truth the only aspect of Harris’s or Trump’s plan that voters care about is will it cause MY standard of living to rise. We would have communist, socialist, Fascist governments accross the world if they delivered on their promises to raise standard of living – They don’t. We have learned that and most of us will not vote for systems that have failed for 70+ years.
Lets us presume that Trump is elected and he uses the FCC to interfere with licenses of CBS, CNN, ….
How would this be different from the Obama and Biden administrations – and even the DHS, FBI, DOJ interfering with Social Media to the detriment of republicans ?
How would this be different from what LBJ did in the 60’s and that continued through the 80’s ?
Derschowitz, Turley, and other real liberals and libertarians – such as I would go to war against the Trump administration.
But the vast majority of americans would Yawn.
I do not expect this to happen – as Trump has never raised a finger to carry out any such threats.
But few would care if it did. Democrats opened the door to that long ago.
I would note right now the Biden/Harris administration is actively seeking to break up Google, and is threatening Musk and the rest of Social Media with repeal of S302 of the DMCA if they do not censor conservatives to their satisfaction.
Conservatives have threatened to repeal S302 if social media did not QUIT censoring conservatives.
Trump can just continue already existing Biden/Harris efforts, merely changing demands without anyone notinging or caring, and if they did – they would support Trump.
Many of Trump’s statements are political hyperbole.
But that is NOT the real issue.
Contra your claims – they are NOT fascist or even dangerous.
Outside of left wing nuts such as you – americans KNOW what Trump means by “the enemy within”.
And if you cite the statement with context it will be trivial to grasp that.
Your playing this idiots game – find three words in a row of Hitler and Trump out of context and presume they are the same.
Or even where they are actually the same – even in context that they are meaningful.
Most of this country supports efforts to reign in “communist vermin”
So long as those efforts respect individual rights – including those of the communist vermin.
YOU are vermin Dennis – your views and policies are Racist and WORSE. The KKK is less vile than you are.
I still support your right to spew the bile, hate, racism, and vile nonsense that you do.
And after you have done so I will excercise MY right to eviscerate it word by word.
I also support the antidemocratic efforts to preserve the Electoral College, Restore the fillibuster, protect the courts from left wing nut packing. All to STOP your efforts to make this country more tyranicaly democratic majoritarian than it already is or even to reverse as much of thisnonsense as possible and return to the limited govenrment protecting individual liberty that our founders envisioned and that you seek to destroy with tyranical majoritarian democracy.
Very few americans have problems with Trump calling communists vermin.
Frankly few have a problem with Hitler calling communists Vermin.
As evil as Hitler was – Stalin and Mao were each orders of magnitude worse.
Hitler can be unimaginably evil – and still occasionally right.
Lets absurdly assume on Jan 21, 2025 that Trump signs an Executive Order rounding all his political enemies.
That Hillary, Maddow, Beyhar, …. are all drug off to internment in re-eduction camps.
While these is zero possibility that would happen, and negative possibility that the most conservative court in the country would allow it, or that the Military or FBI or local law enforcement would obey such and order.
Lets presumemiraculously all the other checks on executive powers broke down and this happened.
What those of you on the left are most affraid of is that NO ONE WOULD CARE.
There is zero chance of this happening. It would be unconstitutional, illegal and immoral.
But most of us would have less sympathy than for the US citizens ofjapanese descent that FDT intered.
Trump has promised the biggest deportation of illegal aliens in US history.
And we are likely to see that.
He has also said that he would start with those that are criminal – that is the most critical group.
He has also said that doing that alone would take more resources than ICE has.
At the moment the majority Americans support the mass deportation of anyone here illegally.
But most of us are not stupid – nor is Trump.
If Trump starts deporting families and children – the media will focus on that – if it bleeds and leads.
and Trump will lose support. and Trump is smart enough to know that,
and has already told his supporters that it is not possible to deport most of the people Biden illegally let in.
Presuming That Republicans manage a clean sweep – which is possible, but difficult, it is near certain that some immigration bill will be debated.
We will see things like “remain in Mexico” codified. We will see the construction of the wall funded.
We will likely see permanent prohibitions on citizenship for those here illegally.
We will see more CBP and more ICE.
We will see easier deportation procedures.
We will not see an end to birthright citizenship,
We will not see the funding and resources needed to deport the 10-20M illegals that entered in the past 4yrs.
We will see immigration policy that heavily favors legal immigrants from places like Pakistan, India, China,
people who are doctors, and engineers. We will see a deliberate effort by Trump and the right to inflict on the elites of this country the same nonsense they tried to inflict on the working class.
A more conservative version of “the great replacement”.
One way to fix our colleges is to populate them with the elites of contries that have seen how the left has failed.
How embarrassing to actually write this out loud and publicly
You write like a child.
Abraham Lincoln is quoted as talking about the “Enemy within” way before Hitler. So by your thinking..Hitler was like Lincoln….
Idiocy.
Taking a disgruntled fired employee’s word as gospel proves my point of you being a child….
Read Turley’s latest book on Free Speech to educate yourself next time before embarrassing yourself by making silly claims
John Kelly doesn’t know what the word fascist means. It doesn’t mean bad guy. What a fool.
The Left wails: “Trump is a fascist”
Fascist Italy imposed price controls (through its “Ministry of Corporations”), especially on the production and sale of food.
Fascist Hitler imposed price controls in 1936.
KH wants to impose price controls, especially on the production and sale of food.
Yet again: If you want to know what the Left is up to, listen to what it accuses others of.
Sam,
“If you want to know what the Left is up to, listen to what it accuses others of.”
Absolutely.
But lets try to take Dennis seriously.
What Fascist things is Trump likely to do in 2021 ?
Build the wall ?
Give Tax breaks to companies that invest in the US ?
End the Green New Deal ?
Clean house at DOJ and FBI ?
Deport illegal aliens who commit crimes ?
Stop Government paying for Gender Surgery and Drugs ?
Stop Boys competing in Girls sports ?
Both Germany and Italy before, during, and after Hitler and Mussolini, had parliamentary systems of government. That made it possible for the two dictators to rise to power. The parliamentary members of the National Socialist Party and National Fascist Party (PFN) were diehard members of their parties and supported their leaders without question, rubber-stamping everything. There were no checks and balances on the leaders, making it far easier for them to institute authoritarian rule. In America, we have three branches of government. There is only one party that I have witnessed that nearly to a person supports the will of their party’s president, and it isn’t the Republicans. There is only one party that seeks to pack the Supreme Court, the watertight bulkhead against tyranny, and it isn’t the Republicans or Trump. So please, let’s stop calling Trump a fascist and recognize that it’s the Dems who are projecting and who are seeking to institute one-party rule in America.
And I thought Sarah Palin was dumb.
I knew the Soviet Democrats who thought what Tina Fey said while playing Sarah Palin on SNL was actually said by Sara Palin herself showed they needed to be watered once a week with the rest of the house plants.
Until you found Dennis, Sammy and GiGi…then you found the true meaning of dumb.
* The insurrectionists are democrats. There isn’t a constitutional law they haven’t broken. They drugged and murdered you and continued on their way destroying system after system. They’d say it was without firing a shot but there are plenty of shots fired in Chicago and people perishing. The truth is it was a massacre.
Now flail in the dust…
The polls opened and I voted in person early. It was busy. Now watching movies, reading books and tuned out of the 24-7 news cycle. There is a pitched desperation in the tone which usually indicates panic.
If Kamala wins and the house and senate go Republican, she can still do damage but it will be more difficult. If Trump wins, the summer of love thugs will hit the street and we will witness the true colors of the radical left. This time, Trump will have some experience in just how corrupt the system really is.
He won’t try to blow up the system. She and her handlers will try. Either way, this country is facing some hard times in the near future and it will not be pretty. We will run out of money and things will become even more challenging and more dangerous.
Prof. Turley,
The choice between Trump and Harris is extremely easy,
It may also be painful for some.
But that does not change that it is easy.
The choice is both easy and painless.
HARRIS.
Harris = national suicide. Sometimes “suicide is painless” (MASH) but in this case it won’t be.
Whew! Thanks for the timely reply. For a second there, I thought that you’d lost your mind.
Hogwash!
Looks like the Iranian hackers are back again.
Upstage, you should run to tell Darren again
and DO something about these IMPOSTERS
it’s NOT “marvelous” or “Sane and normal”
Here, Lawn Boy exposes himself again by indicating that he has been here a long time, since “Darren” hasn’t been for a while.
Kamala says that she will appoint a Republican to her cabinet. I wonder who she has in mind. Liz Cheney is out of a job right now so you can bet she’s on the short list. Now that she’s unemployed just like Kamala she will say and do anything to gain dishonest employment. Once upon a time Liz Cheney was singing a different tune.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9pUPxe1Lxcg&pp=ygUebGl6IGNoZW5leSBhdHRhY2tzIEhhcnJpcyAyMDIw. Politics makes strange scoundrels.
Then there’s Trump, a complete d-bag sleazy liar. But you love it. Go figure.
^ idiot ^
* The left suffers from a core belief that all problems are caused by white men. They fear them and that belief and fear created hard hate. The platform is simply hate. It’s defensive. They win battles but know they’ve lost the war. That breeds self defeat and hopelessness. It acts out as violence. The Nazis motivation was the same. They actually feared Jewish people.
“Then there’s Trump, a complete d-bag sleazy liar. But you love it. Go figure.”
Feeling that bro love for President Daddy-Daughter Inappropriate Incest Showers? No sleaze there? Or writing checks to cover The Crackhead Kid’s underage Russian whores, drugs, and personal porn channel? Fondling other peoples’ children in public in the White House?
He won your vote when he told you he graduated with two degrees, at the top of his class? After turning down an appointment to the Naval Academy to play football beside Roger Staubach?
Then cleared away any misgivings you had by assuring you that when he was the Vice President, he didn’t know any of his family’s customers from Communist China or Russia – and certainly didn’t know their names, much less meeting with them socially nor in the Vice President’s office.
Yup… go figure.
I’m not sure you actually know what sleazy or a liar looks like. You had the eight years of the Obama/Biden presidency before Trump even ran for office to figure it out. And eight years with BJ Clinton before that.
ATS – why should anyone pay the slightest attention to anything you say about Trump or anyone else ?
Everyone here KNOWs who the complete -bag sleazy liars are.
You have spent a decade crying liar, liar, everyone knows the liar is you.
The demonic, dark soul of the Democrat party faithful shine so clearly in the day and night.
“All that is required is for over two centuries of constitutional order to fail suddenly, and for virtually every constitutional actor in our system to suddenly embrace tyranny.”
*******************************************
“The special information which lawyers derive from their studies ensures them a separate station in society, and they constitute a sort of privileged body in the scale of intelligence. This notion of their superiority perpetually recurs to them in the practice of their profession: they are the masters of a science which is necessary, but which is not very generally known; they serve as arbiters between the citizens; and the habit of directing the blind passions of parties in litigation to their purpose inspires them with a certain contempt for the judgment of the multitude. To this it may be added that they naturally constitute a body, not by any previous understanding, or by an agreement which directs them to a common end; but the analogy of their studies and the uniformity of their proceedings connect their minds together, as much as a common interest could combine their endeavors.
A portion of the tastes and of the habits of the aristocracy may consequently be discovered in the characters of men in the profession of the law. They participate in the same instinctive love of order and of formalities; and they entertain the same repugnance to the actions of the multitude, and the same secret contempt of the government of the people.”
~”Democracy In America,” Alexis de Tocqueville (1831).
“None of this means that the choice between Trump and Harris is easy.” – JT
Oh for me it is. I didn’t think it would be and it wasn’t for a long time, I was not a fan of President Trump. But I didn’t hate him either. Just didn’t think much of him. I called him “Tweety”.
But as this election approached and I watched as they just “appointed” Harris the democratic nominee and as I’ve lived now 4 years under Biden’s awful rule, watching the blood money flow to the Ukraine as he brings us to the brink of global nuclear war, as I literally starved under Biden, relegating myself to 1 meal a day the past year and a half due to the crushing prices of meat in the stores and the cost of fuel.
When Trump was President, a 1 gallon bottle of Bar Oil cost me 9 bucks at Tractor Supply.
Today it costs me 9 bucks at the same store for a QUART.
The gallons 20 bucks.
A bottle of Husqy 50:1 mix for the saws to treat 1 gallon was about $2.50 and Briggs & Stratton was $1.49. Now the Husqy’s 8.99 and Briggs and Stratton is 5.49.
Who can live in this economy? I can’t. I’m literally starving under the Biden administration.
Under Trump I could at least afford to eat a few times a day and put fuel in the saws and the truck.
Another 4 years of this nonsense and I’m gonna have to sell a kidney.
So yea, I thought it was going to be a hard decision to vote for Trump.
Turn’s out its easy as pie.
Chris,
I don’t really believe that JT believes the choice between Kamala and Trump is the least bit difficult. He cares too much for the Constitution, the common law, and our liberties to know that Kamala is no sane choice.
Yup I already figgered the same. But I think he’s talking to a wider reach of readers who may include some fence sitters still. He’s not writing just about his own thoughts, he’s writing to his readers.
Chris,
Yes, to his readers, but he is also in academia where some truths may never be forgiven.
be that as it may be, ….so what is your point?
My point is that like everyone else in academia he likely has to be careful how he makes his points on some topics. Consider Roland Fryer, Amy Wax, Ilya Somin, etc. As I said, some truths are unforgivable in the current rotten state of the academy.
yes, agreed but I’m asking what does your point have to do with my comment?
Did you think me oblivious to this easily deduced elephant in the room?
Apart from your initial JT quote you only spoke of yourself and didn’t mention the elephant even though you saw it. The less obvious presence is why he may have treaded water on this issue. It is a disgrace that good people in academia or professions need to watch what they say and how they say it lest the “studies” furies descend on them. As for my initial remark I only said what you noticed but didn’t say. The JT quote implies that he thought it was a difficult choice and I doubt it really is for him but for ‘reasons’ it is likely prudent not to be too emphatic.
Has zero to do with my comment. Your lecturing me on something that because I didn’t mention it apparently I need educating on it or it needs to be pointed out omits the fact that it has nothing to do with my comment.
Again he’s writing to his readership. His self censorship is a different issue altogether and one he writes about prolifically.
I would have to be completely braindead to be unaware of this regularly blogged about issue.
One other thing I noticed. Bar oil used to be thick, now its like 10w30. They’re thinning it out to make it go farther.
Just like paper towels in the store are getting cheaper, thinner, smaller roles same price.
Everything costs more and you get less. They’re breaking the back of the working class problem is its never the working class we hear from in these blogs and such. Its people who have the time.
The working class doesn’t, they’re out you know, … working.
Nah, they’re lazy. We gave them the best K-12 education in the world, which was free. And they pissed it away by not showing up for class and preparing themselves for white collar well paying jobs in engineering, medicine, law, business, computer science, etc. Instead, the only “skill” they have is cleaning hotel rooms, waiting tables or driving trucks. We need those jobs filled, but any American who enters adulthood only able to cut down trees… needs to stop blaming Mexicans or China. They need to look in the mirror and admit, they should have hit the books and gotten good grades in pre-calc.
“We need those jobs filled, but any American who enters adulthood only able to cut down trees…”
Spoken like the entitled brat you apparently are, like most of your kind. Can’t do the work themselves but disrespect those who do.
I’m pretty good at cutting down my own trees but for high risk ventures I have called professionals. They are actually very good at what they do and it sure beats having several tons of tree cut through the house from peak to foundation.
I hear it all day, everybody’s a tree cutter… yet somehow they still end up calling me.
We just went thru Hurricane Helene here in SC, with massive tree damage. No house or car damage at our house, but a huge old oak was uprooted and fell against another tree. The folks hired to take it down were amazingly skilled and super hard working. Thank you for being one of what I consider an elite group!
Sorry to hear about the loss of the old oak Farm4501 but glad to hear your home and families safe. That was a terrible storm. I’m in Virginia, we got it too. I almost wanted to come down to SC though, I have a brother in Dillon he runs a small trucking company out of there. Fortunately they didn’t have too much damage either but nearby got it bad I heard. God bless.
* it’s known as weights and measures. In the USA what you’re saying is criminal activity. It’s foreign born. Cheats
I fact checked you.
Black Max offered a 1-gallon premium bar and chain oil for approximately $9.94… in 2016 when Obama was president. Source: Black Max.
Black Max offered their 1-gallon premium bar and chain oil for approximately $10.94… in 2020 when Trump was president. Source: Black Max.
Today you can get it for $5.95.
https://zonomall.com/products/black-max-1-gallon-bar-and-chain-oil-393925/?msclkid=5673693f9a511a65c15c0e2576f7d813
I’m not saying you’re lying or stupid or both. I’m just pointing out the facts.
I always think my bar oil with brake fluid. Newer chain saws oilers work better with a more viscous oil and brake fluid has detergent in it that helps keep things clean.
Stihl are the best chainsaws around that I have found.
Traveler, that’s all very interesting but nothing I haven’t heard a 1000 times over the decades, try to keep in mind this is my job. Nothing personal but I’m not in here looking for Harry Homeowners advice on my own job.
Stihl they sell in the stores are crap. Higher end are ok but leak fuel and have fuel compression issues because they ‘re put together in countries that don’t understand German mechanics. I run Echo, have for years, they’re solid, climbing saws are tops especially my 2511t which I’d not leave the ground without, and they won’t break the wallet like new Stihls.
I don’t need some armchair quarterback with a keyboard and propensity for google to “fact check” me based on what he can find at the lowest prices somewhere, I buy the stuff weekly by the gallon.
I gave you real prices from Tractor Supply here in our town. Not some googled crap you pulled out of your rear.
And I’m well aware of prices when Obama was President that’s the point. They were about the same under Trump until the pandemic, then they climbed. But under Biden, they never came back down.
THATS the point.
Clear it up any?
* you’re correct. The USA has a dept of weights and measures probably headed by a female lesbianism with a degree in philosophy. False weights and measures are a crime in the USA. People are paid to check weights and measures at gas stations and products.
I hear you.
* good stats on the gallon to quart. 1lb is now 8oz.
* false weights and measures is a form of theft. If a product is changed the maker must identify it by label. NEW FORMULA for instance will do. As to 1 guart being the new gallon that’s visible. What isn’t visible is not using the gallon quart system of measure. How many liters is that? That too is a trickster tactic. The US still uses gallons. If it’s marked as liters it’s foreign made, imported. Sodas slipped through? In cooking one must now have a digital scale! The recipe weights are grams. Try 124 grams of flour. It’s the drug culture.
Meanwhile, doing what really needs to be done, Israel has created a new opportunity for promotion in the ranks of Hezbollah.
I imagine Kamala and staff will weep and say prayers for him, maybe sacrifice a piglet or two.
https://en.mehrnews.com/news/223492/Hezbollah-confirms-martyrdom-of-Hussein-Ali-Hazimeh
Babylon Bee, the news that is more accurate than NYT or WaPo says that Tulsi Gabbard finally realized she is far too attractive to be a Democrat.
https://babylonbee.com/news/tulsi-gabbard-finally-realizes-shes-far-too-attractive-to-be-a-democrat
Looking at ladies like Hillary, Michelle, Kamala and Barack, I have to agree with The Bee and would add that Tulsi is also too smart and honorable for that coven.