In the first month of the Trump Administration, Democrats seem to be following the old adage of French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau that “generals always fight the last war.” However, usually, the generals won the last war. In this case, Democrats lost both houses and the White House, but doubled down on hyperbolic rhetoric and false claims. The results are predictable: the Democratic Party hit an all-time low in approval, according to a Quinnipiac poll.
President Trump appears to be hovering around an approval rating of 45 percent, with a disapproval rate of 49 percent.
Democrats in Congress have a 68 percent disapproval rate with another 11 percent not offering opinion,” according to Quinnipiac.
For Republicans in Congress, 40 percent approve and 52 percent disapprove. That is the highest approval rate for Republicans in Congress.
I often note that while members of Congress often cite drops in the approval for the Supreme Court, the Court has always been far more popular than Congress.
The low approval is hardly surprising as figures like Hillary Clinton are still driving narratives, including false claims that are insulting to the intelligence of voters. Even Democratic loyalists are criticizing the messaging:
The problem is that these members rely on the same 30 percent of the Democratic base driving these same narratives. For many members, the sole concern is winning their primaries in blue districts. However, replicating the message will likely repeat the results from the last election.
Those members who sought to push the party away from past narratives were attacked, including Democratic Rep. Seth Moulton (Mass.) who was targeted for a possible primary challenge. It appeared to work. Moulton returned to the same hyperbolic language over the Nazi menace presented by the GOP.
The fact is that the party in power often loses in the midterm elections. The question is whether voters will embrace the same messaging rejected two years earlier.
CHAINSAW MASSACRE TO FRAUD-WASTE-ABUSE GO DOGE!
In years gone by a scalpel would have been nice but we have gone far past that and the axe is appropriate. We are not just trying to save the good but now there are portions of the federal government that we need to kill (figuratively) so the will not arise again. The graft and corruption and siphoning off of resources to well connected NGO’s and others has become a major growth industry. It needs to die. The government is a means of service to the people and not a means for personal enrichment for the political class.
I will accept a certain amount of destruction of some good if we accomplish the greater goal of government shrinkage and higher efficiency and efficacy. We can build back.
This behemoth has been allowed to grow unsupervised and with no light on it’s machinations. We need destruction and rebuild with all open to the public far greater than we have now. Hidden usually results in corruption with rare exceptions.
You are right. Bad stuff has gone on way too long, and now, it is going to take drastic action to fix it. Not just true of government, but life in general. Too many drugs and druggies. Too many sexual freaks. Too many virtue signallers. Too many people going to college to get a high school education, or useless degrees. Too many people refusing to get married and raise their children. Too many divorces for stupid reasons. A nation can tolerate a certain amount of nuttiness, but the nuttiness can grow to a point where it overwhelms the productive, working part of society.
I can only hope that cutting off the money supply will end a lot of it, but it will take more, I fear.
It will take prosecution of those that blatantly STOLE our tax dollars and those that blatantly turned bribes and payoffs into book deals, speaking appearances and stock trades in a blatant transformation of a bribe and grift as a legal matter.
GEB,
Well said and I agree. When the main members of a house are too rotted to support the house, sometimes it is better to tear it down and rebuild. Seems our leftist friends want to ignore the rot and let the house fall in on them. And us.
A few years ago, Victor Davis Hanson, described our current President as necessary chemotherapy.
Our nation needs the full gambit of radical surgery, radiation and chemotherapy such as “The Red Devil.”
The patient is not well.
…or the ax as you suggested. 🙂
The shocking thing is that Democrat approval is as high as it is. How can anyone support a party that protests in favor of fraud, waste and abuse when the ruling class has left our children with $36,000,000,000,000.00 of debt; a party that wants to destroy the livelihood of everybody who supports their family working in the oil, gas, coal, refinery, nuclear, pipeline and all related industries, which effectively means they want to destroy the entire economy; a party whose polices and rhetoric are designed not only to sow division with its obsession on race and other immutable traits, but that promotes gender confusion among the youth in schools; a party that discourages or downplays heterosexual family formation and reproduction in favor of endlessly promoting and celebrating homosexuality, transsexualism, cross dressing, killing healthy preborn babies, careerism, etc.
It boggles my mind that a party whose policies are designed to reduce social cohesion and effectively destroy the nation has ANY support.
It’s high because those receiving their cut are Democrats.
“When a vote can be bought by a check in the mail, won’t be too far out for our Nation to fail “
“N’interrompez jamais un ennemi qui est en train de faire une erreur.” — Napoleon
I wish to abolish the Democrat Party, 2 Civil Wars against America are 2 too many!
End Federal Aid to cities, states, non-profits, schools
Ban Public Unions
STOP REWARDING Democrat FAILURE
I’d like to encourage all Dems to continue with their messaging. It’s clear that they know exactly what they are doing. And their polls have to show that it is a winning message for Dem.
Onwards! Dig, dig, dig!
I will believe it when I see some indictments and arrests. The Democrats popped the cherry on a slew of “DOJ standard practices “ in their persecution of Trump. It should now be gloves off for Kash Patel and Pam Bondi to clean out the blatant corruption and bring the Swamp grifters to justice, prior President(s) or not…
I think that’s the faint hope clause that you’re hoping will be brought into play by Patel and Bondi. Special Counsel John Durham, with the reputation he had as a hard nosed prosecutor indifferent to political affiliation of those he investigated and indicted, was the last time I believed there could be accountability.
Durham, for all his reputation, punted. He couldn’t even bring himself to call a spade a spade in his carefully crafted report before existing the wings into retirement.
Not a single one of Professor Turley’s fellow Democrat lawyers from the Washington DC Bar Association who repeatedly committed felonies under Obama, more again under Trump, and then swinging back into action under Biden have ever been indicted as they’ve abused their political offices to work as Democrat police state fascists waging lawfare on many Americans – not just Trump.
If you were in the way of the Democrat Marxist Great Leap Forward on any issue, you were a potential target to at the very least be made an example of. Many of the crimes of these Washington DC Democrat lawyers holding political positions in the DoJ, FBI, etc are now permanently prohibited from prosecution due to statute of limitations – unless they can find a nexus to indict and prosecute under RICO provisions, which I believe is a bridge too far.
And should Patel/Bondi bring prosecutions, where will that be? Right there in Washington DC – where juries nullified the prosecution of a couple of minions used by Clinton/Obama/Biden/the DNC to produce their illegal “Trump-Russia Dossier”. One juror openly said when questioned afterwards that, surely the FBI had more important things to do than prosecute these Democrat operatives for lying to the FBI to push the Democrats “Dossier”.
I would be delighted to see a string of indictments for what I and many other people see as a crime wave emanating from a Democrat operative controlled DoJ and FBI.
But the best that I think I can reasonably believe will happen will be a lot of requests for resignations accompanied by some terminations – at which point they will move into the embrace of the private sector to continue doing there what they were doing in the DoJ and FBI. For far more money…
If the corruption can be evidenced then can’t these career grifters lose their pensions, their perks and ill gotten gains? Perhaps it doesn’t have to be a criminal case but a civil case based on their corrupt actions while serving in government. I saw a long time career State employee lose his pension and his job for being a creeper towards some young lady. It can happen, just have to pursue it.
The standard Durham had to meet was proof of guilty beyond a reasonable doubt to a DC jury.
Trump has brought in a whole crew. They do not have the same goals targets or standards.
They also have the entirety of govenrment as their target zone.
They come up with things like Stacey Abrahms getting government payouts.
Maybe that will lead to prosecutions.
It definitely will justify firings.
Trump did not investigate Abrahms, he went after waste and fraud.
Abrahms is one of many things that showed up.
Trump has also knows the games of the deep state. There will be no FBI directors tyring to blackmail him with pee tapes.
No AG’s recusing themselves.
No Special Counsels.
Trump started the investigation FIRST.
He telegraphed through the campaign he was doing this – so no one is surprised.
People voted for it, or the voted knowing that is what they would get.
Trump targeting the deep state to start – puts them on the defensive and makes it near impossible to shift to offense.
The hunters are now the Hunted.
While some of this MAY lead to top democrats. Trump is Not targeting Biden or Schumer
He is targeting the little known people who enabled the efforts to destroy him.
Exactly who has Trump fired or targeted that people know who they are ?
Trump is not targeting Pro Choice groups, or the ACLU or SPLC.
He is going after people getting governemnt money they should not be,
There is politics in this – But Trump’s attacks are not on the politics.
They are on those politics being paid for by government.
I am not personally sure that Trump is cutting spending because it is a core value, or just because it is a very effective way to put his opponents on their back foot.
Regardless it is going to be damn near impossible for Democrats – even those within the executive to target Trump this time.
They are too busy defending themselves.
Whether Trump is sincere about spending cuts or not – and I hope he is.
Politically this is brilliant.
Van Jones remark that Trump is way smarter than the rest of us rings true.
Trump is operating, ideologically, strategically, and tactically all at the same time.
Even the behavior that most of us are bothered by is an important part of the whole.
If Trump was not attacking he would be defending.
That would radically alter everything.
Trump II is on the offensive.
But instead of targeting his enemies – he has targeted their suplies- their oxygen.
Their logistics.
The result is he has leading democrats defending waste fraud and corruption.
They do not have much in the way of alternative.
John Say
Sounds like they are accumulating evidence of fraud, misappropriation and embezzlement to me too. Pray it happens because nailing some high level hides to the barn is absolutely necessary to stop this unchecked corruption.
Go along get along got us $37T in debt and a minority group of mentally and emotionally disturbed people running OUR government.
AI Overview
“Under color of authority” is a legal phrase that means to act as if you have the authority to do something when you don’t. It’s a form of abuse of power that violates someone’s legal rights.
Examples of actions under color of authority:
Excessive force
False arrest
Fabricating evidence
Deprivation of property
Failure to protect someone from harm
Falsifying records
Unlawfully confiscating property
Sounds like the Democrat playbook…
The standard Durham had to meet was proof of guilty beyond a reasonable doubt to a DC jury.
John Say, you can dance around that flagpole all day, but excuses for Durham punting instead of indicting don’t wash. He wasn’t a rookie prosecutor and these aren’t complex felonies.
The serial perjury and uttering of false documents to FISA judges and courts by Obama’s Attorney Generals and FBI Directors was there, as just one example; the elements of those offenses were satisfied in black and white.
Each time they specifically swore that the required Woods Procedures had been through that group at FBI headquarters and had been applied to the evidence before they brought it to the courts. Each time they specifically swore they were unaware of any potentially exculpatory information concerning the evidence they put before the court. Both of those statements under oath were lies – you can find the affidavits they signed for those courts online to download and read for yourself.
That’s not just my speculation that these should have been dead bang prosecutions. That’s also the analysis of multiple former federal prosecutors who read through the three Inspector General’s reports and the hearings into those warrants. I think they have sufficient background to determine whether there was enough evidence to indict the Attorney Generals and FBI Directors and lawyers who repeatedly committed those crimes.
This isn’t about a cop allegedly perjuring himself in court that he smelled alcohol on a driver’s breath and used that as his probable cause.
Due to the “two hop rule” that defines the range of those FISA counter-espionage warrants, by using those illegally obtained (and later declared unlawful by the judges who issued them), THOUSANDS of Americans were deprived of their civil rights through color of law as the feds searched through all the communications of anyone within the two hop rule hoping to find somebody who had something that could be used to take out Trump.
Perhaps Durham thought he simply couldn’t win any trial of an Obama Attorney General or FBI Director in front of a Washington DC jury, so why bother wasting taxpayer dollars on futile prosecutions.
If he couldn’t get a change of venue to go around such a polluted jury pool, then just be honest about it and say so – or refuse the Special Counsel appointment in the first place instead of partaking in a multi-million dollar charade.
Beyond that, in the carefully crafted report Durham wrote at the end of his tenure of Special Counsel, he couldn’t even bring himself to flat out call a spade a spade. He was really no different in that respect than the earlier Special Counsel Robert Mueller – one of the felons who perjured himself to those FISA courts – saying at the hearings on his report that it “wasn’t in my purview” to even investigate where and who the apparently mysterious “Trump-Russia Dossier” came from.
Telling Americans “nothing to see here; move along now” isn’t going to work. And this reluctance to take action is not how you build trust in the criminal justice system, nor the DoJ and FBI.
“John Durham”
Someone no doubt had “the goods” on Durham. Not surprising, he had been “playing the game” in Connecticut (a particularly corrupt, dirty, albeit low-profile, state) for more than 40 years prior to being hand-picked for the investigations to which you refer. Jeffrey Epstein had a sizable number of “contacts” in Connecticut, who knows, maybe there was some kind of embarrassing connection.
” It should now be gloves off for Kash Patel and Pam Bondi”
I suggest they begin with some really low-hanging fruit form the list of Biden’s last minute pardon recipients. Arrest and charge some of the ba$tard$, and let the courts contend with the issue of the validity of pre-emptive pardons.
I’m down with that and as Trump found out, Statutory limitations can be modified retroactively to support whatever you want! Fuggem
If it weren’t for their propaganda wing, the Democratic party wouldn’t have a heartbeat. Actually, this version of their party wouldn’t have come into existence without it. Damn, as I keep pulling this thread, I would argue this massive, abusive and corrupt government wouldn’t exist without the protection of the legacy media.
Following the money
Traveler, absolutely. Perhaps follow the Quid Pro Quo covers it all.
Excellent – but this is so much more sophisticated than just that.
In 2016 and since – Trump proved he had read Alynsky’s rules for radicals – because he has been using them against the left successfully since.
Everytime I think I understand Trump’s strategy and tactics – another layer unfolds.
His CAMPAIGN attacks on spending, Waste and Fraud, his bringing in Musk is not just about a conservative ideological objective.
This is also his effective root to take out his political enemies.
He is not going after Clinton or Schumer, or Biden, or Obama.
He is going after their logistics.
He is also going after the democratic minions that leaked him onto his back foot in his first term,
by hitting them first – by putting them on the back foot.
Many of us did not understand and still do not why Trump did not engage in mass firings in his first term.
He is doing so now.
He promissed this and he is delivering. But he is also sending a message – go after me and your gone.
There may be wailing and gnashing of teeth among those fired and the left. But those still in government have their heads down.
They are NOT seeking to attract attention. They are scared of Trump, they are scared of DOGE,
They are not likely to be coming after Trump, that will cost them their job – quickly.
This also means that the leading lights of the democrats have been maneuvered into defending waste fraud and corruption.
There is criticism of democrats by some for not atleast tepidly working with Trump to cut spending.
But I do not think they can. Look at what DOGE is exposing – Sinecures and grift for the entire middle management of the democratic party.
Musk is funding things that are offending lots of americans. But the people receiving the money are the democratic clerisy.
Democratic politicians have little choice but to try to stop this. Not only the government workers, but the NGO’s they are paying are the soldiers of the democratic party.
Further though Republicans could be more supportive – Trump has done this at a time when the risk to Republicans is low.
One of the problems the left has failed to grasp about its complete take over of institutions, is that
When govenrment is 70:30 democrat – enough of the waste and fraud and corruption involves republicans that it will be very hard to gtet GOP politicians to go after waste fraud and corruption – because some of them will be caught up in the dragnet.
No politicians is going to sacrifice themselves and their staff to get twice as many of those in the other party.
When the institution becomes 95:5 – then it is no longer protected. Mutually Assured destruction does not work.
Democrats and democrat controlled institutions are ESPECIALLY vulnerable – because they are MASSIVELY dominated by democrats.
Trump has also worked out something else.
One of the problems with Govenrment has been the relentless force to grow government. Any expansion of government that gets in, can never be gotten rid of.
Trump has managed to invert that. While Trump has tepid support in congress. Most importantly he does NOT face congressional opposition.
We have these constitutional debates over what Trump is doing here and whether he can do it.
The obvious answer is OF COURSE HE CAN. We can debate the powers of the constitution until we are blue in the face.
Though I think they favor Trump’s actions,
In the end Trump does NOT need the support of congress to act. he just needs them not to actively oppose.
I harp on the standing issue. I think it will be pivotal. As we are seeing – even few activist democrat judges want to get too far out over their ski’s When Congress is not challenging the presidents use of executive power.
While there are some conservative legal scholars seeking to reverse or limit past SCOTUS decisions like Humphries executor or Nixon impoundment. I strongly suspect SCOTUS will not do that.
What is will do is dismiss cases for lack of standing.
The courts can duck the question of whether the president has the power to do something.
When the question is about whether a power requires congresses blessing, and congress has CHOSEN to sit on the sidelines.
Constitutionally the president has enormous power – so long as he has the consent of congress – and silence is consent.
Deciding these cases on standing allows he courts to duck the constitutional issues.
And Roberts particularly will duck all hard decisions if he can.
I am only covering a few layers of this.
The left has ranted about Trump’s remarks about Gaza, Greenland, Ukraine, Panama, …..
But the FACT is these have WORKED.
Purportedly world leaders were abandoning Trump.
Quite likely they hate him.
But possibly kicking and struggling – they are still getting on board.
There near certainly will be some kind of peace deal in Ukraine.
Walz, Vance and Rubio are wrong – Trump is not the only one who can bring peace.
But he is the only one willing to do what it takes.
If Europe thought that Putin was actually a threat – european Troops would have been in Ukraine two years ago.
Europe has the power to get a peace deal.
They have the power to get the peace deal Ukraine wants.
All they have to do is commit their own people to fight and die for Ukraine.
Because they wont – it is Trump that has leverage with Russia.
No matter what deal Trump works out in Ukraine – A better one is possible, but ONLY if Europeans are willing to put skin in the game.
And their not.
it is highly likely european leaders hate Trump – he is exposing their impotence.
But they are going to go along BECAUSE they are impotent.
There will be some peace deal in Israel.
I have no idea what it will be.
But Hamas does not even have a footstool at the negotiating table.
Again we were told Trump’s remarks alienated the arab nations.
yet things are still moving forward,
Trump’s remarks exposed to the Arab nations the same sort of political realities he has made Ukraine and Europe face.
The palestinians are YOUR problem.
The peace process can end and Israel can go back to turning Gaza to dust. The left and many world nations can whine and whimper.
But no one can stop israel. Any peace deal MUST meet Israeli needs.
My point is that most everything Trump does works on many levels.
Another example is that if China threatens Taiwan the US will “invade” Panama and take over the canal in a heart beat.
Trump is trying – and succeeding in doing that – the Chinese positions that threatened to chock the canal in a war have been eliminated.
Trump already got what he wanted.
Bondi should focus on taking down ActBlue. It is a tailor made RICO case and would profoundly cripple the left at least for the next presidential election. Those big foreign donors were running their dark money through ActBlue, then allocating it to millions of unsuspecting donors.
“Any peace deal MUST meet Israeli needs.”
Amen. Those who will not be happy are those who have sided with the same terrorist organizations that killed Americans. That group is mainly filled with those who know little about events in the Middle East yet think they do because they listen without question to pundits who cannot defend their positions.
Olly, you are not alone in asserting that the Democrat Party of today came about when the legacy media decided to ally themselves with the party. Absent the guardrails of a skeptical media, the Dems were free to evolve into the leftist authoritarianism revealing their true nature. They discarded debate in favor of the division of identity politics and pursued disqualification of their opposition. They went too far but they still haven’t recognized that. Rather than moderate their policies they seem to believe they can continue to deceive the electorate to regain power.
Good to know, Tub. Whoever thought it was a good idea to allow the media to “endorse” politicians, parties, or government? Sure, they should be free to write positively about them. But it seems to move into the realm of political activism, using their influential position to effect elections.
Good point tub
You have to admit Olly, from promoting the Russian Collusion hoax to Hunter Biden’s Bribe Rides on Air Force Two, to Cocaine found in the White House, it really shows how valuable a truly committed partisan media can be. Joseph Goebbels must be spinning in his grave. Greg
Absolutely skyraider. The Blob and it’s supporting bureaucracy grew as a result of the legacy media being the only game in town. But the rise of alternative sources of information has enabled a rapidly growing awareness of what the true nature of our government is. We were always led to believe that low trust of government was a bad thing. I actually believe the lower the number the better. These people are not our friends. They are an unfortunate product of our sinful nature. Ultimately, they have one purpose and that is the security of our natural right to life, liberty and property. How well they do that is the only reliable measure of government performance. Trusting government by any other performance measure is the path to serfdom.
Olly, perhaps the situation is this:
Does the Marxist Mainstream Media work to serve the theology of the Soviet Democrat party and their party idiologues like Obama, Pelosi, Schumer, etc?
Or instead, do the Soviet Democrats serve the Marxist Mainstream Media as the use and abuse the First Amendment in their mission to make America what they believe it should be – if only the clueless proletariat would just quit voting the wrong way.
I don’t actually believe the Democratic party is collectively smart enough to do that. What’s being exposed is a party whose entire political strategy appears to be rooted in a quote attributed to Alexis de Tocqueville: The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public’s money. It takes relatively few smart people to pull this off. And they aren’t the one’s in Congress. After what we witnessed in the last administration, they aren’t necessarily in the White House either. They are the people that put people in those offices to do nothing more than what you can find in a pimp in or drug dealer. Is it a Marxist, Soviet, Socialist enterprise they’re running? Perhaps because it’s “government” we look for those labels. But it really is nothing more than a criminal syndicate operating under the color of government. And now that a bright light is shining on the waste, fraud and abuse, the entire operation is crumbling before our eyes.
“Is it a Marxist, Soviet, Socialist enterprise they’re running? Perhaps because it’s “government” we look for those labels. But it really is nothing more than a criminal syndicate operating under the color of government. ”
That raises an interesting question. Has there ever been a government that publicly embraced Marxist-type collectivism that was run by people who actually believed in those principles, rather than cynically selling that to their public and exploiting the belief in their propaganda?
It is essential to understand that the relationship between Democrats and Republicans in Congress was not always modeled after the zero-sum game theory in which one side wins at the expense of the other. That sort of relationship guarantees friction, animosity, conflict, and discord. The solution or antidote to the zero-sum game theory is the “prisoner’s dilemma,” a concept developed at the RANBD Corporation 75 years ago. Here, prisoners have a choice: either cooperate for their mutual benefit or oppose each other for small gains, reverting, in a sense, to the zero-sum metric.
It becomes obvious then that for our political system to work optimally it should be modeled after the prisoner’s dilemma. Republicans and Democrats do best when they cooperate in the interest of their constituents. That is not occurring at present. Trump is disrupting the present system and giving us a chance to move away from the zero-game ethos and hopefully toward the more cooperative and mutually beneficial theory. We, the people, can reinforce this by demanding future politicians of both parties do not run on how much they differ but, instead, on how much they are willing, if elected, to work with the “other side” for the benefit of the people.
By the way, this is not alien to American politics but was the typical form of politics practiced in the first half of the 20th Century. It got us through the Great Depression and helped us win two world wars. Later, this coalition resulted in the great civil rights movement of the 1960s. There’s much to be said for the prisoner’s dilemma.
“Here, prisoners have a choice: either cooperate for their mutual benefit or oppose each other for small gains, reverting, in a sense, to the zero-sum metric.”
If we were starting with a Federal government with only those powers that are clearly authorized by the Constitution, I think the “zero-sum” metaphor would be a feature, not a bug… Unfortunately, we are in a position where we need an activist Fedgov to pare itself back to anything even reasonably close to that status, after which it needs to fade into passive mode to deny later versions of itself the power to again adopt a Liberty-destroying expansiveness. You will need to pardon me if I am somewhat skeptical of that dynamic as a realistic possibility.
Number 6: Thank you for a cogent and polite response. I tend to agree. Your explanation is better suited for the real world of what we have whereas mine was more theoretical. There indeed may be times when the defects are so numerous and so evil that the entire enterprise must be dismantled and replaced. We may be at or heading for that time. Fortunately, I think Trump for all his bravado and brashness is the perfect instrument for the change that’s needed. His bull-in-the-China-shop approach infuriates traditional politicians but appeases the average citizen’s desire for fair and honest government. As Elon Musk said the other day when asked if he was on Putin’s payroll “Putin can’t afford me!” Shakespeare was correct; there is much truth in jest!
In this respect, Trump is leveraging the same strategy as Marx/Engels did for support.
1. Go to the masses and essentially say: “Here’s how you were screwed, and for how much, and these are the self-appointed elites who did it to you”.
2. Human envy and outrage: “Look at how much money their special interest groups and friends at home and abroad got from your taxes, and look at how little they gave you”.
And in pointing that out Trump and his instrument Musk don’t even have a necessity to lie while presenting that message.
Anon: There is no exclusive right to the concept; perhaps Marx/Engles used it. Many rulers have used this approach over the years, and even Bill Clinton warned us that the “era of big government” is over. Whether used for good or evil, the approach works. In this instance, we have a better chance of it working for good because Trump was elected by a majority of voters to make these changes and to break these rice bowls in the process. It wasn’t precisely Marx and Engles who created evil systems but those who came after them and were evil. They perverted whatever good Marx and Engles were seeking at the time. I would add one more datum to this discussion. The folks in the days of Marx and Engles did not have the benefit of the Internet and social media. They only had their leaders and an occasional pamphlet or newspaper to tell them what was happening around them. Today’s electorate is far more erudite in this respect and can smell a fraud a mile away. Thank you for your comment.
I thought the “prisoner’s dilemma” was straight out of criminology and regular policing: a Faustian offer made to two or more criminals under arrest. Whoever is the first to agree to fink out the others by providing the necessary evidence to satisfy all the elements of the crimes under investigation would be released or sentenced on far more minor charges – everybody else bears the full brunt of the justice system. No cooperative choices being part of the offer.
That aside, the issues that prevent the voters of America from demanding better politicians are many, but here are a couple:
1. It is hard to be out of the mainstream and get elected. To run for higher office these days takes serious money. The majority of that money comes in large sums from a small number of businesses, NGOs, unions, and from those already in power, like McConnell and how he used Republican resources to get Lisa Murkowski reelected in Alaska over the Republican nominee.
Donations gleaned from the voters who will actually vote are generally one or two figure donations and time consuming to collect. The result is that it is difficult to win against an opponent with far, far greater sums of money from a few wealthy special interests.
2. The Marxist Mainstream Media is ALWAYS going to be putting their fingers on the scales in influence operations. Before, during, and after elections. They never stop the messaging, whether it’s election season or not – they are always preparing the ground for the next election.
As are the communications branches from the war rooms of entities like public sector unions, Planned Parenthood, George Soros types, etc. Under the barrage of lies and disinformation, it is very hard for a “new” type of politician to win the trust and the votes needed to win their race.
For now, Democrats aren’t truly unhappy with their policies and platform: they’re unhappy that too many of the politicians running on that platform failed to get elected. There is nothing to indicate they are unhappy with election winners like “moderate” Senator Mark Kelly.
Anon: “Each age thinks its own eternal,” says the sage. But is it? Probably not. I would caution against too much pessimism and recognize, as you do, that some jobs will be taken by those with specific skills or talents. As a kid, I dreamed of playing second base for the NY Yankees, but alas, the only way I ever got to make it to Yankee Stadium was to buy a ticket (or sneak in after the 4th inning when the ticket guys went off duty). At first, our founders wanted to give the vote only to land owners on the assumption that someone with more skin in the game has more to lose and, therefore, will be cautious in running the county. The “average” person back then was almost illiterate and unschooled.
John Dewey, the great American philosopher and reformer of education in the first half of the last century, was stridently anti-communist and believed that our democracy, an “ethical” form of self-governance, relied on an educated population. It should not go unnoticed that today’s enemies of America have heavily infiltrated our educational systems to undermine our democracy and principles. Even so, I would not write off all Democrats as evil or dishonest. I’m sure some are not like this, but perhaps they fear reprisals for speaking out. So they remain silent for now. All things considered, I still believe Trump gives us the best chance we have had in this century to make America great again. So, too, do the 77.3 million people who voted for him. Let’s pray they are correct. Thank you for your comment.
Interesting in that The Hill clip they note the lack of ‘occupy Wall Street’ type protests. Maybe they were paid protesters all along? We all suspected this. And maybe that funding came from taxpayers? And maybe DOGE has already ended it? USAID? Nobody knows…
During major political events like DNC/RNC conventions, ANTIFA, BLM, Pro-Abortion rallies, etc, these organizations always adverise in Craigslist, Instagram, X/Twitter, FB, etc. This was true for ANTIFA BLM anarchist events in Richmond where they brazenly recruited with pay for warm bodies to block interstates and march the streets. Ditto for DNC Convention in Chicago recently where they placed Craigslist ads looking to hire actors. War paint and shrunken voodoo heads on pikes optional
👹🥷🏼
Hard to believe there hasn’t been any FBI interest in investigating the funding sources for this group. I suspect that we’ll find a slew of NGOs, non-profits, and foreign money pouring into this group. It seems odd that when any of them are arrested, it turns out that they reside in some other part of the country and don’t appear to have any visible means of support. Sort of like professional political agitators.
Kristin,
That is an excellent observation!
I also wondered how baskets of rocks suddenly appeared where the “mostly peaceful protests” took place. Who paid the rent-a-thugs?
Is this why there was such a commotion when USAid mismanagement was discovered? Did we get their Queen? Are they playing with knights and bishops?
Democrats frequently compensate protesters and supporters to create the appearance of high numbers at events.
During the early days of Occupy Wall Street, I was in NYC and went to Wall Street specifically to observe the event. It was a left-wing movement, yet many of the younger protesters I spoke to sounded more libertarian than anything else. However, as with many large leftist gatherings, some individuals acted like pigs, and human feces could be found in the streets. In contrast, people consistently cleaned up after themselves at right-wing events I’ve attended.
Whenever I vote, I make it a point to ask those holding signs how much they are being paid. While some Democrats are unpaid when personally invested in a cause, large-scale demonstrations often rely on paid participants to boost turnout. In contrast, I don’t encounter paid Republicans. In some cases, I suspect these paid Democrat efforts are a form of political payback to specific communities.
I always speak to people at such events, left and right, asking them questions and finding out their perspectives and why they were there.
Interesting. I always assume people, if paid, will just lie about it. But, apparently not! I’ll have to ask. I do wonder if USAID was used to fund Democrat protesters, but I bet we will never know.
Some will lie but a lot of people don’t care. They are hired guns without loyalty. I always ask questions. The answers are revealing.
DEMS jumped the SHARK, 2 WHALES and a DOLPHIN
“[T]he Democratic Party hit an all-time low in approval . . .”
Couldn’t happen to a nicer bunch of pathological liars and grifters.
Unfortunately for the D’s, Americans are not as stupid as D’s imagine them to be.
It has been many years since the Ds have lost the majority in all three branches of government, and they apparently don’t know how to handle their frustration. Instead of working with the majority when possible, and offering productive suggestions when indicated, they have chosen instead to engage in name-calling and throwing public temper tantrums. These tactics are no replacement for cogent arguments; they only demonstrate a lack of maturity and self-control.
Democrats consistently fail to meet the low standards that they set for themselves and replace common sense with DRAMA.
You may remember, every time a celebrity makes a political statement, they look like a court jester. So essentially, the Democrats are acting like a bunch of Court Jesters, rather than leaders who know how to govern with common sense ideas.
So lets not throw them a life preserver while their drowning, as it will spoil the fun.
They’re also now being stripped of their control of the unmentioned and unelected fourth branch of government: the bureaucracy and its always upwardly mobile empire building managers and internal politicians.
Breaking that political bureaucracy down and removing all political leanings and activism could be the hardest task for Trump and/or Musk to accomplish.
Congress, in general, is drastically ineffective. However, the Democrats and their messaging is loathsome.
JASMINE CROCKETT SAID she is rooting for CANADA and MEXICO!!!
Move to Crockett’s district, register to vote in droves. She’s an ignorant, violent bully. The democrats are violent bullies with get in their face, burn it down, root for Mexico and Canada.
The kid in elementary school who beat you up in the bathroom and stole your lunch money writ large. No difference
That vicious racist would root for Wuhan Flu and anybody, any country, or anything she perceived to be the anti-Trump, the anti-Republican, or anything other than the totalitarian police state fascist Marxism that she espouses. Canada and Mexico are just what’s handy at the moment.
So stupid on so many levels.
I would not have imagined the political sea change that is now taking place. as possible a decade ago
Democrats have done this to themselves and keep doing so even though it is failing horribly
Four years ago, Mitch McConnell had to step back from being the Senate Majority Leader. There was no vitriol; there were no public temper tantrums. At the time he smiled and said that he would rather be the Majority leader because it was more fun, as he graciously passed the torch to Chuck Schumer. Mr. Schumer could learn much from Mr. McConnell about respect for self and respect for others.
Schumer can’t respect himself or others, the definition of a dick.
HOW can DEMS ratings be so LOW? HOW can it possibly be when they have people so respected as Maxine Waters and Chucky Schumer?
It would seem to me that you are part of the 30% of the Democrats who are stuck fighting the last war and can’t seem to understand that the American people, as a whole, are sick and tired of your old policies and negativity. I will admit that the Trump wave hitting the nation isn’t perfect and that sometimes a meat-axe is not appropriate when a scalpel is needed, but in light of the essential need for this to be done, and the donkey-like opposition the Democrats provide for everything, and the two-year window available (maybe 4, or 8 or 12, but that is not guaranteed), I will cut him plenty of slack. So please just keep that head where is, up your you-know-what, and let the good Professor do his wonderful thing on this blog.
@Wise oldlawyer and @Anon
Our federal government has needed a cleanout for a very long time. Perfection is a nice goal but very good is more than acceptable.
Maybe we can help by giving Democrats bad advice and phony feedback at every opportunity. Give them shovels and encourage that putz Schumer to chant “we will dig.”
You comment ,like a 15 yo karen. Petty. Stupid. grow up.
“Perfection is a nice goal but very good is more than acceptable.”
Jerry Pournelle frequently used a maxim: “Better is the enemy of good enough”. In my idealistic youth, I detested that concept. As I grew older, I began to favor it. I still like it.
Wiseoldlawyer,
Not only their head know where, but keep digging that hole!!
It’s obvious, the Leftards have forgotten the first Rule of Holes! When you’re in one, STOP Digging! SMDH Also, you might say, they are Stuck on Stupid. But, do carry onward, Leftards, don’t let me stop you. By time Trump & Vance are finished with them, they’ll wander in the political wilderness for a generation, or more. 😁
a reptard claiming to know what lefttards think. precious.
When is Prof. Turley going to dedicate a column to criticism of the Trump Administration? Going after Democrats day after day seems like a sideshow.
🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣do read my comment above, Leftard
more leftard. more bay behavior.
I suppose he will, if he finds something to criticize. The Left, which I presume includes you, are in deep denial. This leaves space you ould sail a battleship through for the GOP to solidify its control. What the Left has not yet internalized is that they are facing a 100% different situation than they did in 2017. Then, you had a completely inexperienced President, one who knew no one in Washington, had the completely unrealistic idea (since he was a business CEO) that if he gave an order, it would actually be followed. He also never met a slight insult he would not stop to address. The Dems of 2017-20 could wrap Trump into a pr3tzel very easily.
Not so today. The Dems will find that giving him a 4 year break to reflect, regroup, and plan. The 2025 White House has been incredibly disciplined. There have been virtually zero leaks. All significant cabinet appointments are complete. As much as it irritates the Lefts “Chattering Class”, DOGE is wildly popular out beyond the beltway and faculty lounges – and is fully Constitutional. The Left does not recognize that the political pendulum has swung WAY back toward the middle with astonishing speed. Either they find a lot of what used to be called “Blue Dogs” or they will be left with even less power. Couldn’t happen to a nicer bunch.
“Not so today. The Dems will find that giving him a 4 year break to reflect, regroup, and plan.”
It may turn out that by (arguably) stealing the 2020 Presidential election, the Democrats may have committed political suicide (and, possibly, done us a favor in the process). If Trump had won in 2020, how much of the strategic and tactical improvement that we are seeing now would have been realized? My guess is, not all that much.
There is plenty to criticise but it is all style over substance, which is why Democrats are in trouble.
Many of us think Trump’s style is rough and brash and we would prefer something more polished.
But it is likely that Trump is president specifically because that style gets attention.
Voters respond with I do not like how Trump says things, but I like what he wants to do.
And thus he is president.
So what is this critical column of Turley’s supposed to say ?
John Say,
I would argue that a rough and brash president is what America and the world needs today. VP Vance told the truth and made a grown, German, man cry. Years of speaking politely has not gotten us anywhere.
100%
A pusscake leader like Obama NEVER wins a fight with an opponent that will kick you in the beans. Our enemies were too busy laughing at Biden and bribing him for the US to win at anything. Same for Bath house Barry, they didn’t fear reprisals, they were too busy laughing at them and how stupid Americans can be.
When are Democrats going to quit whining about Professor Turley and explain why Trump/Musk/Republicans ferreting out wasted billions of tax dollars, billions spent on corruption, political favoritism to promote Democrat political futures, etc, is the exact wrong thing to do for ALL Americans? Is exposing and eliminating that a bad thing? Why?
They’re not doing that in perfect enough fashion for Democrats, is that the only defense you have for that waste, corruption, crime and abuse?
You certainly weren’t perfect in how you implemented and carried out that waste,corruption, crime and abuse!