I remember that “binders full of women” question put to Mitt Romney in the presidential debate. The first thing I thought was what it had to do with anything in terms of governing the country. In my mind, it was “who cares?” but of course it cut Romney off at the knees, which was its true purpose. And Romney was not what you’d call the best GOP candidate in the first place. He collapsed like a cheap suit again and again. His attempt to nail Obama on Benghazi seemed to work for a fleeting second, but his backing off the subject immediately afterward told me all I needed to know about him and the Democrats and how they were more alike in outlook than anyone (especially the national GOP) cared to admit. One reason Trump was such a breath of fresh air was that he saw through the Democrats’ BS and called them out on it every single time. And that changed everything. Trump gave voice to what a lot of Americans knew in their hearts but couldn’t articulate and couldn’t really do anything about: throw the Democrats’ idiocy right back in their faces and force them to defend it.
I think what pissed the Left/Media the most about Trump was they'd already bumped up against 10 on the rhetoric scale for Romney and McCain, and unlike Nigel's guitar, there was no 11 to resort to. That's when they just decided that laws don't matter anymore.
Sasha Stone, once again, presses her finger to the nerve. What a voice.
Also, the link to the Desmet interview: priceless. I'd never heard of the guy before but I ordered his book just a few minutes into the interview, which should not be missed.
But.... for those of us who situate ourselves on the right: if we read Sasha with a sense of triumph then we might be as twisted up as Joy Behar and all the other sad ideological captives of the current mania. Sasha matters because she belongs to that sliver of the population Mattias Desmet describes who don’t just refuse to pretend lies are truths but who insist on saying so - out loud - again and again - to her friends and her own natural allies.
We humans love the adrenaline of righteous indignation. It’s easy to feel. It bonds us to our comrades. How many of us love the truth first and foremost? The place to be brave is with our friends, not our adversaries. Her example should make us very, very uncomfortable, especially if we agree with her.
I thought the democrat were going to “soul search” after trump won in 2016. They didn’t. They became more totalitarian then ever. What will happen if Trump wins in 2024? I can’t imagine this country can handle the Democrat rage. I’m worried about that and pray we get DeSantis instead. But Trump only wants vindication so he will never back down. We’re in scary times
They will try to destroy any elected republican including DeSantis. By the time 2024 comes around the current lunatic party should be in ruins and you sane democrats should be back at the table restoring some semblance of normal. Also, imho, Trump needs to be re-elected for vengeance against the cabal that deformed our 2020 election and purposely denied 50% of the country their vote. They are treating us a conquered people and jailing us without due process. Eye for an eye. Maybe the riots happen, maybe not. We will see in two years.
God wants us to be filled with hope and trust, not fear. He has given us hope through the promise that he can uphold us by his strength today. And he has also promised those who have faith in Jesus Christ for their salvation a life of eternity with him. Be well and God bless you ✝️ 🌹 🥰
Soul searching would require either party to have a soul. Democrats have a corporate soul utterly dependent on the money to win elections then give sweetheart deals back to the same donors.
If DeSantis was going to run in 2024 he'd have to have started campaigning already. Being the President and being a Governor are very different and DeSantis said himself he's busy defending his governorship. The riots were preplanned right after 2016, Trump didn't cause them with Twitter comments, he was victimized. He's a major threat to the globalists. DeSantis and Trump have great respect for each other albeit the news pitting them against each other. I'm afraid of what will happen if Trump is not there. They'll make mincemeat out of anyone else. They have their own puppet President in now, how is that working out? People all over the world are starving and freezing thanks to the left's policies.
God wants us to be filled with hope and trust, not fear. He has given us hope through the promise that he can uphold us by his strength today. And he has also promised those who have faith in Jesus Christ for their salvation a life of eternity with him. Be well and God bless you ✝️ 🌹 🥰
They'll do to DeSantis or any Republican, what they did to Trump, Gov Sarah Palin, even John McCain. Problem is, who they think Trump is (or any GOPer) and who he REALLY is are two different things entirely.
We have to defeat/expose Mainstream media who believe that crap and lie to the people on a daily basis.
My belief is that the Democrats haven't campaigned with the strategy of winning elections by putting a desirable platform together and getting electors to vote for it for thirty years or more. They've turned more and more to figuring out how to play the angles of propaganda and voter laws. It's not even important to follow the election laws, just win at all cost.
I'll add, that diplomacy hasn't been practiced in Congress since 2006 when Nancy and Harry attained power. You might recall that Nancy proclaimed that the Bush Presidency ended that day. I think the last substantial diplomatic piece of legislation was the No Child Left Behind act that Kennedy and Bush pushed through.
Anymore if a bill makes it through Congress, it's either a routine spending bill both sides wants, or it's a scorched earth party line vote. More likely it's a backdoor maneuver through the regulatory agencies or courts. Nancy and Harry destroyed bi-partisan legislating. Thank God our SDCOTUS is trying to nail shut the back door.
I agree and also am beginning to think that the Democratic Party will self-destruct due to its ever increasing momentum for more and more specific identity groups (who almost by definition seek to separate themselves from all others).
I read this and I hope the N.Y. Post or other publications are going to reprint it like they do at times. Your voice is clear, intelligent and precise, Sasha. It's a pleasure to read not just because I agree with it -- it's a pleasure to read because it's intelligently written.
I agree the pendulum is swinging -- as you know I thought abortion was going to kill the chances of getting some of these woke hucksters out of office -- I'm hopeful that the trend and tide is turning back to where it was before someone leaked that decision.
Here in N.Y. I'm very hopeful we're going to get a Republican governor. I know Brooklyn is going to do everything it can to stop that, but there's still a lot of pissed off people in my state who see what the Democratic policies have done to NYC and the surrounding areas. If we don't fight back at the polls now, it's never going to happen.
This isn't about abortion rights. This isn't about systemic racism. This is about what kind of country you want to live in. Do you want to feel safe and have laws matter or do you want this free-for-all to continue? I know where I stand. I'm a temporary Republican this Nov. 8th. I want a message sent to the Twitter hive. And then I want Elon to complete the purchase of that toxic mess and watch the chaos ensue. That platform is deciding more things in our country than it deserves the right to and it needs to stop. Once we all turn on social media and begin speaking to one another again, we might actually work together on making our communities and country a better place to live for everyone.
I read an article saying that even CT was in play. And a large part of it is the ads that they are seeing out of the NY market. It's so wild to me that this would even be a thing.
Sasha, I just can't see the left allowing the Republicans to take their power. They have committed Mafia level crimes. They are evil, not stupid. I will hold by breath until November 8th is over.
I’m not worried about the state of democracy, given that we are allowed to have different preferences for who runs the government and how. I am worried that thatDems seem to be okay with voter fraud and keep trying to find ways to have more of it. Most REPs I know just want clean and fair elections, regardless of who wins. It’s really about the fairness aspect. The Dems only seem to care about fraud when their candidates lose. (Remember 2000 and 2016)…And they’ve lost their minds on the culture stuff.
A lot of us voted for the Donald because both parties have failed us bigly. And the GOP was dumb enough to allow enough of its party members to get disgruntled with the ‘official’ party positions on a lot of issues. Don’t say it’s a big tent, if some of your members really aren’t wanted in the tent. Not my fault the GOP mostly went around ignoring and disparaging many of their own voters for years. Culture matters to people.
If all you’ve got is vote Dem or else, then I’ll choose ‘or else’ at this point. The GOP isn’t the only ‘or else’ choice either. If I don’t vote for a Dem it doesn’t mean democracy is dead or dying. Freedom doesn’t mean agreeing with your neighbors 100% of the time. Geez. The Dems need to get over themselves. The arrogance is just gross at this point.
Go Sasha! I have learned so much from your insights. The organized, clear and comprehensive way you explain complex trends really helps me better understand the world. Ty.
It’s baffling that anyone listened to these people, much less the legions they put together online. I’m all for social experimentation, but the issue is how to unwind the lunacy after we let it spiral like this. Voting is the only resource left.
"America continues to fracture, not Left or Right, not Blue or Red but real-life America vs. America online"
I have never thought of it this way, appreciate the insight!
Republicans may not represent your values, but we WILL provide a safe and free environment to nurture them and prosper. In the end, that is really what Trump did, among others like DeSantis.
This is one of the best synopses that I've read in recent memory about the collective, self-induced nightmare on the left. The truly sad thing is that, when Democrats lose control of Congress in the mid-terms and eventually the White House in 2024, they won't do any soul-searching about the cause. They'll blame anything other than their ridiculous leftward drift: It must be the knuckle-dragging philistines voting against their self-interest; it's racists; it's Russia, Russia, Russia; it's misogynists; it's GOP cheating; blah, blah, blah. I agree with your assessment that it's reality vs. leftists online. The fundamental problem for them is that their policies are horrible and only cause chaos. The American people will tolerate chaos when it's in the national interest for a short time but, eventually, when they can't pay for groceries or gas or college education, the party in power is going to fall. I don't care how much you fear climate change or reduced access to abortion; eventually, kitchen table issues win.
Leftists refuse to analyze failure of their policies, because they have only the best of intentions. The ideas can never be wrong, there is always an external reason why the policy failed. Socialism hasn't failed - it just hasn't been properly implemented. The Great Society didn't fail- we just haven't spent enough money. Actual results mean nothing to them, because their ideas can never be wrong.
Ah yes, the moral high ground, upon which D's built this POS we now face. Every single policy amounts to taking from one, giving to another, using gov't force, rationalizing with virtue. Minus virtue, it's 3rd party theft. The entire platform always has been and forever will be false virtue. It's nothing but a power grab. The underlying assumption is that this benevolent 3rd party knows resource allocation better than individuals. If you asked 1,00 people which party is better equipped to make decisions with their earnings, how many are going to willingly hand over their labor to Joe Biden or what's her name? Good God, they can't run a popsicle stand.
R's are FINALLY starting to understand it. Expose the premise for the fraud it is, the house of cards collapses. You don't argue about the windows on the top floor. You go after the foundation. D's placed everything on an ant hill. How in the hell has it taken so long for R's to get this?
They've been on the losing end of it for better than half a century. Moral high ground, the way we're discussing it here in political terms, exists in perception, not reality. My belief system informs me that life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, without a lot ,government interference in daily lives, are virtuous aspirations. Because R's stand more in tune with this American idea, I perceive more virtue with R's than D's (especially lately). Unfortunately for me, because of the way virtue is sold to the public,, I hold a minority opinion. Virtue is in the eye of the holder. Add those holders together to get a prevailing public opinion
I agree R's fall far short in the virtue department, much of their own doing by presenting weak candidates. More than that, though, D's view and employ virtue much differently than R's do. R's (in theory- admittedly a big one in many cases) advocate for preservation of individual liberty and freedom. Such policies focus (or should) on allowing self-actualization. It doesn't need to be "sold". Domestic non-intervention, let's say. They often don't, but that's not my point.
D's policy, conversely, almost always requires domestic intervention. Most people cringe when you're after their wallet. So virtue is used as the rationalization. Virtue isn't the goal; it's a selling tool. In order to actualize ideas, the proposals must have more "virtue" than the status que. This is what R's miss. Virtue means something different to D's. They have to have it. Not actual virtue. Perceived virtue. D's create virtue because they have to
D's like centralizing power. Our great nation came about with the opposite intention. So they take an issue like climate change and, using the virtue of "Save the planet or we'll all die in 12 years!!!", they pass green new deal-lite masquerading as inflation reduction. The virtue turns religious. Look at what that one "virtue" has done- demonized fossil fuels, which impacts everything we buy. Not just in transportation costs, but in raw material for millions of products. I know first hand, as a business I own uses plastic, with petroleum as a base product. It's been a two year nightmare trying to simply acquire material. It impacts our ability to get around, with this no gas car thing in CA. The great irony, of course, is that our switch to natural gas (oh God, not fracking!) dramatically lowered emissions, as has plastic. It's lighter, thereby increasing fuel mileage in cars, and it's reusable, in the form of returnable containers, to mention only two of millions of examples
So if the virtue of "saving the planet!!!" were really the goal, they're doing it wrong. But of course it isn't. They don't want virtue (doing things that actually help), they want control and power. "Virtuous" legislation is merely a means of acquiring it
It also happens to be a catch-all defense mechanism. Any opposition immediately turns into an "ism" People feel every right to play those cards because....they're virtuous
Back to your point- not only do R's do a terrible job of using real virtue to push and defend their ideas, they don't recognize their opponents using it. They've ceded virtue for decades, fighting over the drapes when they be focused on the foundational flaw- false virtue. Meanwhile, they stand there holding the ones that make America so unique - individual freedom and liberty
Great summary Ms. Stone. Unfortunately, my suspicion is many conservatives are going to be very disappointed on the morning of 9 November. Democrats learned a lot about being unprepared for unexpected events in 2016. They will never make that mistake again. Early voting allows Democrats to track where elections stand before election day and how many ballots need to be "harvested". Some Dems will have to be sacrificed to make the election look legit. That will not be the case. Case and point: Kari Lake, under no circumstances will be allowed to win. She represents everything they fear: MAGA. Hobbs doesn't debate or engage Lake. Why? She's been the AZ Sec. of State. She knows how the big steal works. Prepare to be disappointed.
This is what I keep reminding myself. Personally, I'm shocked that the Rep Gov. candidate in my state is within the margin of error in recent polling. And polling around the demented abortion proposal is tightening up as well. But it's all abortion, all the time in political ads these days. (Groan) It's going to be all about turnout and having overwhelming numbers to overcome any fraud that the Dems will try in the election. Detroit hasn't had clean elections for years, so that's a known. But because Detroit didn't turnout when Engler was running against Blanchard back in the day - we ended up with Engler (who was super conservative) for three terms. So, the question (as always) is how many dead people are going to vote in Detroit and what's the actual turnout? Michigan typically doesn't elect conservative Republicans for state-wide office. We are a blue state that way. Moderate Republicans, yes. Conservative Republicans, no. But are enough people willing to over look that because we had a gov who imposed super strict lockdowns, is just wrong on abortion, and we are done with the Trump vs Whitmer show.
I'm definitely in the "don't count your chickens until they are hatched" camp. 8-)
I remember that “binders full of women” question put to Mitt Romney in the presidential debate. The first thing I thought was what it had to do with anything in terms of governing the country. In my mind, it was “who cares?” but of course it cut Romney off at the knees, which was its true purpose. And Romney was not what you’d call the best GOP candidate in the first place. He collapsed like a cheap suit again and again. His attempt to nail Obama on Benghazi seemed to work for a fleeting second, but his backing off the subject immediately afterward told me all I needed to know about him and the Democrats and how they were more alike in outlook than anyone (especially the national GOP) cared to admit. One reason Trump was such a breath of fresh air was that he saw through the Democrats’ BS and called them out on it every single time. And that changed everything. Trump gave voice to what a lot of Americans knew in their hearts but couldn’t articulate and couldn’t really do anything about: throw the Democrats’ idiocy right back in their faces and force them to defend it.
And to think, Romney was cast as a racist misogynist.
I think what pissed the Left/Media the most about Trump was they'd already bumped up against 10 on the rhetoric scale for Romney and McCain, and unlike Nigel's guitar, there was no 11 to resort to. That's when they just decided that laws don't matter anymore.
the left has considered every republican since Eisenhower to be Literally. Hitler. It is just boilerplate at this point.
Anytime you can throw a Nigel amp analogy you will succeed!
Sasha, you nailed it.
You collect so much amazing information from more sources than I could find If I looked all day every day.
And you thread it all together to create an amazingly clear and powerful argument that goes beyond many other analysts.
By the end of your pieces I’m left thinking, “This is so obvious. I must forward this article right now.”
You rock.
Occam's Razor always seems to win :-D.
Sasha Stone, once again, presses her finger to the nerve. What a voice.
Also, the link to the Desmet interview: priceless. I'd never heard of the guy before but I ordered his book just a few minutes into the interview, which should not be missed.
But.... for those of us who situate ourselves on the right: if we read Sasha with a sense of triumph then we might be as twisted up as Joy Behar and all the other sad ideological captives of the current mania. Sasha matters because she belongs to that sliver of the population Mattias Desmet describes who don’t just refuse to pretend lies are truths but who insist on saying so - out loud - again and again - to her friends and her own natural allies.
We humans love the adrenaline of righteous indignation. It’s easy to feel. It bonds us to our comrades. How many of us love the truth first and foremost? The place to be brave is with our friends, not our adversaries. Her example should make us very, very uncomfortable, especially if we agree with her.
I thought the democrat were going to “soul search” after trump won in 2016. They didn’t. They became more totalitarian then ever. What will happen if Trump wins in 2024? I can’t imagine this country can handle the Democrat rage. I’m worried about that and pray we get DeSantis instead. But Trump only wants vindication so he will never back down. We’re in scary times
They'll turn DeSantis into the next Nazi and riot anyway.
True they will but if Trump wins it will be a full on riot. I’m worried
They will try to destroy any elected republican including DeSantis. By the time 2024 comes around the current lunatic party should be in ruins and you sane democrats should be back at the table restoring some semblance of normal. Also, imho, Trump needs to be re-elected for vengeance against the cabal that deformed our 2020 election and purposely denied 50% of the country their vote. They are treating us a conquered people and jailing us without due process. Eye for an eye. Maybe the riots happen, maybe not. We will see in two years.
God wants us to be filled with hope and trust, not fear. He has given us hope through the promise that he can uphold us by his strength today. And he has also promised those who have faith in Jesus Christ for their salvation a life of eternity with him. Be well and God bless you ✝️ 🌹 🥰
Soul searching would require either party to have a soul. Democrats have a corporate soul utterly dependent on the money to win elections then give sweetheart deals back to the same donors.
If DeSantis was going to run in 2024 he'd have to have started campaigning already. Being the President and being a Governor are very different and DeSantis said himself he's busy defending his governorship. The riots were preplanned right after 2016, Trump didn't cause them with Twitter comments, he was victimized. He's a major threat to the globalists. DeSantis and Trump have great respect for each other albeit the news pitting them against each other. I'm afraid of what will happen if Trump is not there. They'll make mincemeat out of anyone else. They have their own puppet President in now, how is that working out? People all over the world are starving and freezing thanks to the left's policies.
God wants us to be filled with hope and trust, not fear. He has given us hope through the promise that he can uphold us by his strength today. And he has also promised those who have faith in Jesus Christ for their salvation a life of eternity with him. Be well and God bless you ✝️ 🌹 🥰
They'll do to DeSantis or any Republican, what they did to Trump, Gov Sarah Palin, even John McCain. Problem is, who they think Trump is (or any GOPer) and who he REALLY is are two different things entirely.
We have to defeat/expose Mainstream media who believe that crap and lie to the people on a daily basis.
My belief is that the Democrats haven't campaigned with the strategy of winning elections by putting a desirable platform together and getting electors to vote for it for thirty years or more. They've turned more and more to figuring out how to play the angles of propaganda and voter laws. It's not even important to follow the election laws, just win at all cost.
I'll add, that diplomacy hasn't been practiced in Congress since 2006 when Nancy and Harry attained power. You might recall that Nancy proclaimed that the Bush Presidency ended that day. I think the last substantial diplomatic piece of legislation was the No Child Left Behind act that Kennedy and Bush pushed through.
Anymore if a bill makes it through Congress, it's either a routine spending bill both sides wants, or it's a scorched earth party line vote. More likely it's a backdoor maneuver through the regulatory agencies or courts. Nancy and Harry destroyed bi-partisan legislating. Thank God our SDCOTUS is trying to nail shut the back door.
I agree and also am beginning to think that the Democratic Party will self-destruct due to its ever increasing momentum for more and more specific identity groups (who almost by definition seek to separate themselves from all others).
I read this and I hope the N.Y. Post or other publications are going to reprint it like they do at times. Your voice is clear, intelligent and precise, Sasha. It's a pleasure to read not just because I agree with it -- it's a pleasure to read because it's intelligently written.
I agree the pendulum is swinging -- as you know I thought abortion was going to kill the chances of getting some of these woke hucksters out of office -- I'm hopeful that the trend and tide is turning back to where it was before someone leaked that decision.
Here in N.Y. I'm very hopeful we're going to get a Republican governor. I know Brooklyn is going to do everything it can to stop that, but there's still a lot of pissed off people in my state who see what the Democratic policies have done to NYC and the surrounding areas. If we don't fight back at the polls now, it's never going to happen.
This isn't about abortion rights. This isn't about systemic racism. This is about what kind of country you want to live in. Do you want to feel safe and have laws matter or do you want this free-for-all to continue? I know where I stand. I'm a temporary Republican this Nov. 8th. I want a message sent to the Twitter hive. And then I want Elon to complete the purchase of that toxic mess and watch the chaos ensue. That platform is deciding more things in our country than it deserves the right to and it needs to stop. Once we all turn on social media and begin speaking to one another again, we might actually work together on making our communities and country a better place to live for everyone.
I read an article saying that even CT was in play. And a large part of it is the ads that they are seeing out of the NY market. It's so wild to me that this would even be a thing.
Sasha, I just can't see the left allowing the Republicans to take their power. They have committed Mafia level crimes. They are evil, not stupid. I will hold by breath until November 8th is over.
That NYT poll also showed 59% of people thinking "The mainstream media" is the major threat to democracy, far more than any other major threat, including Trump. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/10/18/upshot/times-siena-poll-registered-voters-crosstabs.html
Wow, I’d say that’s a sign of progress! 😊
I’m not worried about the state of democracy, given that we are allowed to have different preferences for who runs the government and how. I am worried that thatDems seem to be okay with voter fraud and keep trying to find ways to have more of it. Most REPs I know just want clean and fair elections, regardless of who wins. It’s really about the fairness aspect. The Dems only seem to care about fraud when their candidates lose. (Remember 2000 and 2016)…And they’ve lost their minds on the culture stuff.
A lot of us voted for the Donald because both parties have failed us bigly. And the GOP was dumb enough to allow enough of its party members to get disgruntled with the ‘official’ party positions on a lot of issues. Don’t say it’s a big tent, if some of your members really aren’t wanted in the tent. Not my fault the GOP mostly went around ignoring and disparaging many of their own voters for years. Culture matters to people.
If all you’ve got is vote Dem or else, then I’ll choose ‘or else’ at this point. The GOP isn’t the only ‘or else’ choice either. If I don’t vote for a Dem it doesn’t mean democracy is dead or dying. Freedom doesn’t mean agreeing with your neighbors 100% of the time. Geez. The Dems need to get over themselves. The arrogance is just gross at this point.
Go Sasha! I have learned so much from your insights. The organized, clear and comprehensive way you explain complex trends really helps me better understand the world. Ty.
It’s baffling that anyone listened to these people, much less the legions they put together online. I’m all for social experimentation, but the issue is how to unwind the lunacy after we let it spiral like this. Voting is the only resource left.
Excellent essay.
Nov 8 is going to be a bloodbath for the Democrats politically.
You might be right about 2023 being another year of lunacy. It's what these people do. They might want to think hard about trying it again.
"America continues to fracture, not Left or Right, not Blue or Red but real-life America vs. America online"
I have never thought of it this way, appreciate the insight!
Republicans may not represent your values, but we WILL provide a safe and free environment to nurture them and prosper. In the end, that is really what Trump did, among others like DeSantis.
This is one of the best synopses that I've read in recent memory about the collective, self-induced nightmare on the left. The truly sad thing is that, when Democrats lose control of Congress in the mid-terms and eventually the White House in 2024, they won't do any soul-searching about the cause. They'll blame anything other than their ridiculous leftward drift: It must be the knuckle-dragging philistines voting against their self-interest; it's racists; it's Russia, Russia, Russia; it's misogynists; it's GOP cheating; blah, blah, blah. I agree with your assessment that it's reality vs. leftists online. The fundamental problem for them is that their policies are horrible and only cause chaos. The American people will tolerate chaos when it's in the national interest for a short time but, eventually, when they can't pay for groceries or gas or college education, the party in power is going to fall. I don't care how much you fear climate change or reduced access to abortion; eventually, kitchen table issues win.
Leftists refuse to analyze failure of their policies, because they have only the best of intentions. The ideas can never be wrong, there is always an external reason why the policy failed. Socialism hasn't failed - it just hasn't been properly implemented. The Great Society didn't fail- we just haven't spent enough money. Actual results mean nothing to them, because their ideas can never be wrong.
Ah yes, the moral high ground, upon which D's built this POS we now face. Every single policy amounts to taking from one, giving to another, using gov't force, rationalizing with virtue. Minus virtue, it's 3rd party theft. The entire platform always has been and forever will be false virtue. It's nothing but a power grab. The underlying assumption is that this benevolent 3rd party knows resource allocation better than individuals. If you asked 1,00 people which party is better equipped to make decisions with their earnings, how many are going to willingly hand over their labor to Joe Biden or what's her name? Good God, they can't run a popsicle stand.
R's are FINALLY starting to understand it. Expose the premise for the fraud it is, the house of cards collapses. You don't argue about the windows on the top floor. You go after the foundation. D's placed everything on an ant hill. How in the hell has it taken so long for R's to get this?
I wonder how much moral high ground the GOP has as well (Neither have the moral High Ground yet both still claim it).
They've been on the losing end of it for better than half a century. Moral high ground, the way we're discussing it here in political terms, exists in perception, not reality. My belief system informs me that life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, without a lot ,government interference in daily lives, are virtuous aspirations. Because R's stand more in tune with this American idea, I perceive more virtue with R's than D's (especially lately). Unfortunately for me, because of the way virtue is sold to the public,, I hold a minority opinion. Virtue is in the eye of the holder. Add those holders together to get a prevailing public opinion
I agree R's fall far short in the virtue department, much of their own doing by presenting weak candidates. More than that, though, D's view and employ virtue much differently than R's do. R's (in theory- admittedly a big one in many cases) advocate for preservation of individual liberty and freedom. Such policies focus (or should) on allowing self-actualization. It doesn't need to be "sold". Domestic non-intervention, let's say. They often don't, but that's not my point.
D's policy, conversely, almost always requires domestic intervention. Most people cringe when you're after their wallet. So virtue is used as the rationalization. Virtue isn't the goal; it's a selling tool. In order to actualize ideas, the proposals must have more "virtue" than the status que. This is what R's miss. Virtue means something different to D's. They have to have it. Not actual virtue. Perceived virtue. D's create virtue because they have to
D's like centralizing power. Our great nation came about with the opposite intention. So they take an issue like climate change and, using the virtue of "Save the planet or we'll all die in 12 years!!!", they pass green new deal-lite masquerading as inflation reduction. The virtue turns religious. Look at what that one "virtue" has done- demonized fossil fuels, which impacts everything we buy. Not just in transportation costs, but in raw material for millions of products. I know first hand, as a business I own uses plastic, with petroleum as a base product. It's been a two year nightmare trying to simply acquire material. It impacts our ability to get around, with this no gas car thing in CA. The great irony, of course, is that our switch to natural gas (oh God, not fracking!) dramatically lowered emissions, as has plastic. It's lighter, thereby increasing fuel mileage in cars, and it's reusable, in the form of returnable containers, to mention only two of millions of examples
So if the virtue of "saving the planet!!!" were really the goal, they're doing it wrong. But of course it isn't. They don't want virtue (doing things that actually help), they want control and power. "Virtuous" legislation is merely a means of acquiring it
It also happens to be a catch-all defense mechanism. Any opposition immediately turns into an "ism" People feel every right to play those cards because....they're virtuous
Back to your point- not only do R's do a terrible job of using real virtue to push and defend their ideas, they don't recognize their opponents using it. They've ceded virtue for decades, fighting over the drapes when they be focused on the foundational flaw- false virtue. Meanwhile, they stand there holding the ones that make America so unique - individual freedom and liberty
Great summary Ms. Stone. Unfortunately, my suspicion is many conservatives are going to be very disappointed on the morning of 9 November. Democrats learned a lot about being unprepared for unexpected events in 2016. They will never make that mistake again. Early voting allows Democrats to track where elections stand before election day and how many ballots need to be "harvested". Some Dems will have to be sacrificed to make the election look legit. That will not be the case. Case and point: Kari Lake, under no circumstances will be allowed to win. She represents everything they fear: MAGA. Hobbs doesn't debate or engage Lake. Why? She's been the AZ Sec. of State. She knows how the big steal works. Prepare to be disappointed.
This is what I keep reminding myself. Personally, I'm shocked that the Rep Gov. candidate in my state is within the margin of error in recent polling. And polling around the demented abortion proposal is tightening up as well. But it's all abortion, all the time in political ads these days. (Groan) It's going to be all about turnout and having overwhelming numbers to overcome any fraud that the Dems will try in the election. Detroit hasn't had clean elections for years, so that's a known. But because Detroit didn't turnout when Engler was running against Blanchard back in the day - we ended up with Engler (who was super conservative) for three terms. So, the question (as always) is how many dead people are going to vote in Detroit and what's the actual turnout? Michigan typically doesn't elect conservative Republicans for state-wide office. We are a blue state that way. Moderate Republicans, yes. Conservative Republicans, no. But are enough people willing to over look that because we had a gov who imposed super strict lockdowns, is just wrong on abortion, and we are done with the Trump vs Whitmer show.
I'm definitely in the "don't count your chickens until they are hatched" camp. 8-)