I will say this - having taken to writing myself, without benefit of Don's years of experience doing it - the work of sifting through all the info coming at you in order to decide what to write next is hard enough, and then actually writing something people wish to read is even more difficult. Nothing easy about it. Especially writing a column a day - even with this most depressing of topics.
But if you want to be less depressed on this topic search out some stories coming out of UT -Austin and Southern Cal (yes even in California). The protestors are finding that there are other less fertile places to spew their hate.
May I suggest, Tmitsss, that are beloved and fearless leader is probably on a roll The moment his feet touch the ground or certainly by the time he has his first cup of coffee. I will catch up with my reading responsibilities for today later. Later, Gators.
It is a brilliant column, which deserves a note about the concept of leadership and the frivolous underbelly of America..
Most in America are frivolous as you state. I believe the reason is true leaders are very scarce in this world. We can go for days - weeks - months - and never engage with one. A leader isn't a title one gets for their positional responsibilities. Leadership is living a life where those observing them form a perception of leadership that energizes a desire to follow it. As a perception, it can't be measured, trained, or mimicked by practicing a few trait-based behaviors. It exists solely in the minds of those who recognize it in others. It can't be trained or copied (Universities who do leadership training get cross-eyed over this statement).
I believe all of us on this site consider Don a leader, and we love Trump because HE is a leader.
If it could be "copied (i.e. trained in the executive suite)" every politician running for office would be doing it. It can't. It is in the genes and gifted by God. It is an emotive perception, not a behavior.
04/25/24: Thank you. Behavior emanates solely from character. The Swamp HATES Trump because he stands in contrast to the clowns propped up by public relations voodoo gimmicks. In a sense, he is the king revealing that those around him have no clothes.
Does everyone remember that old aphorism about, "When they came for the Jews... I did nothing... then they came for me"? Well, it's ironic, isn't it, that many of those same people, like Goldberg, Kristol, etc. had nothing bad to say when "they" came for the Trump supporters and Trump himself. In fact, many of them cheered and jeered when The State came for Trump personally. Bad Orange Man, they all said. And again they cheered when all those nasty, dirty "insurrectionists" of January 6 were rounded up, held without bail, deprived of legal counsel, tried in kangaroo courts and imprisoned. Now those same people are yelling bloody murder because "they" are coming for THEM! The irony fairly explodes! Why did it take so long for such people to decide tha enough was enough? It goes to show the truth of another old aphorism, the one having to do with shoes not pinching until put on the other foot. Well, as the wise old philosopher John McClane once said, "Welcome to the party, pal."
While they've been gunning for Trump since he came down that escalator--remember, after Trump was sworn in--they went and got Gen. Michael Flynn (ret) first. The Deep State had been using lawfare against Trump for 4 years by the time the Jan 6 kerfuffle occurred.
The Mueller investigation was a Lavrentiy Beria attempt ("show me the man, I'll show the crime") to stifle Trump--and it mostly worked. Mueller operated under the pretense of investigating a hoax started during the 2016 campaign, and no one has paid a price for the hoax (Hillary campaign, Democrat party, Perkins Coie law firm, FusionGPS, etc.), much less the sham of the Mueller investigation.
The crisis--or problem--runs a little deeper than another aphorism, "what's good for the goose is good for the gander."
Everything run against Trump, from the "collusion" to the "insurrection" has been invented, fabricated by his opponents and amplified by an unrelenting "independent" legacy media--with an institutional bureaucratized Deep State providing cover.
The intra-left skirmish over the antisemitic among their partisans is really small potatoes compared to the continuing destruction of our constitutional republic. Remember, the issue (antisemitism) is never the issue. The issue is the revolution.
Don't think for a minute that this skirmish is anything other than a hiccup on the road to the revolution. There could be a 1968 Chicago repeat at Chicago 2024, but that too was just a hiccup on the road to today.
To be fair, you’re injecting religion into something where it shouldn’t be. The people who came after Trump and continue to persecute him and his associates and the January 6 hostages were not defined as an ethnic group or a religious group. They are defined as ruling class elite jerks attacking regular Americans. So I have no problem with you saying that Jonah Goldberg or Bill Kristol are assholes because as a rule Never Trumpers tend to fit that profile. But most of them aren’t Jews. Most Never Trumpers are Christians or atheists and/or Leftists. I’m not defending these guys because I think they are wrong about most of their politics, and these problems with our deteriorating society affect all Americans. And these guys didn’t help. But their religion had nothing to do with it. As far as them now saying enough is enough and encouraging the rest of the crap, yes they are total hypocrites.
I think I must disagree w you Tanto. We moved away from a very Jewish area (‘burb of DC) and the hatred that that population has for Trump makes the air in that county unbreathable. Im the major exception but most Jews are rabid never Trumpers, and the irony is that they don’t even truly know why.
I understand. I’ve seen it as well. It’s completely irrational and it’s a mental health issue. But I’ve seen the same thing in all kinds of people. It’s a libtard phenomenon, not a Jewish phenomenon. Jews who aren’t Democrats, and there are more than you think, don’t feel that way.
Roger that. I am a Jew who definitely doesn't think like leftists think. 😊 (I was a Delegate for Trump from MD in 2020. I applied to be one from FL just last week but I am not 'known' enough here since we haven't been here long enough)
And yes it definitely IS a total mental illness! It's just aggravating that the VAST MAJORITY of the Jewish voting demographic (much like the black demographic) have been suckered in for so long. So it kinda is a little bit a Jewish phenonemon. I am dearly hoping a critical percentage wake up in time for this election or we're all screwed.
Goldberg is a fool. Commies, which is what the people are who he has helped demonize Trump and Trump supporters, will cut your throat. They are at war with the rest of us. We need to fight back. We aren’t fighting hard enough. We repeatedly send bums and patsies to Congress and then are surprised when they don’t perform. Look at Mike Johnson. “Well he’s a nice guy. They are bullying him.” Uh, what?
This isn’t the time or the place to find this out, if it’s true, which I doubt.
I don’t think most Americans secretly want to be Nazis. These protests are orchestrated, amplified, and used by a small group of powerful bad actors for propaganda and psychological purposes. At the same time if America won’t defend its borders, won’t stand up for fair elections, and tolerates the degradation of the rule of law, I seriously doubt America is going to protect its Jews. But you need to understand, they are coming for ALL of us who disagree with their Commie garbage.
Christians - you are not far behind the Jews on the target list for these creeps. It gives me no pleasure to say it, but it’s reality. The only way to stop these people is harsh punishment and banishing them from positions of power . You’re not up against Barney the Purple Dinosaur. All ideas are not created equal. If you let violent Islamists, Communists, Satanic worshippers run the country, what the hell do you expect? Trump gets it. If you hate Trump, but want to somehow magically save the country with the likes of Mike Johnson and Mitch McConnell , you are delusional. Kiss it goodbye. We have to fight. If the anti-Americanism and the anti-Semites gets worse, I’m not the only one who’s leaving the party horizontally. You shouldn’t be either. It’s our country. And there’s nowhere to go. The rest of the world is not a kinder, gentler place. Believe it or not.
Great comment. Your comment about Mike Johnson is good. He might be a good person, maybe not, but it is only one part of the reason we should be electing people. Vetting of candidates functionally stopped when Obama ran for office. It no longer takes place because there are no more journalists to do so. Instead, we have political party narratives to use to determine the worth of a candidate. So we get people like Johnson, a nice, polite, Gospel quoting guy who has no idea how to LEAD. We voters need to look past the stuff we like in a person and do some digging and thinking about them as a leader or we will keep electing people who let us down or fool us. I have seen so many bright, articulate and good human beings that could not lead a pack of hungry dogs to hot dog stand to save their lives. No more RINOs.
I’ve concluded that initially some good people are elected and are well-intentioned politicians. Then the lettered agencies inform them that they will be framed and destroyed unless they walk in lock step with what the swamp wants. Especially susceptible are people in positions of leadership.
This process will continue until technology advances to create Stepford politicians.
Having worked with some of the Congressional folks as a bit player before I retired, I will replay for you part of what I told my wife when I decided to quit my consulting business one day. What most people see when they look at our government is not what I saw when I worked with some of them. In my business, which was military construction, I saw that most staffers assigned to work with constituents and others couldn't spell "Military Construction" let alone understand it because they had never worked outside of the federal government. So, in that sense, they had never "worked" at all yet here they were writing bills and legislation and trying to inform their principle they worked for. I found both staffers and elected members who would make you a promise or promise to get on board with a project and then forget it in five minutes. Some were better liars than others. Most saw the whole process as a sort of game with the other party instead of work for the American people's interests. Although I have been out of it for quite a while now, I saw members of Congress and the Senate who would likely destroy a fellow member if they went outside the official party agenda. If you were talking about how to save money on a proposed project you lost them, they were simply not interested in saving money from my perspective. After being around them for a while I saw the immense power that comes from elected office and to those who hang onto elected officials. Make no mistake, elected office is about power, both good and bad. So, in Mr. Johnsons case, I see a guy who punched all the right GOP buttons as well as a guy who has a very bright mind. But that is not what it takes to be Speaker, it takes all of that and the ability to LEAD. I have said many times here that too many people mistake being a good manager or very bright for being a good leader. If Mike Johnson has an agenda that differs from his conservative members, he apparently is not sharing that information. Thats part of the reason why you see the dysfunction there today. MTG, for example, is a well-meaning but blunt GOP member who is marginalized by her party because she tells the truth about issues. Washington DC corrupts most that come there unless they are rigid in their foundational beliefs. Being in "the Country Club" that is elected office in DC means you cannot get anything accomplished unless the "club" agrees. But remember, that club is not made up of just elected members, it is also made up of lobbyists, industry reps, political party operatives, and big money interests. It's a very large club and you and I do not belong. Someday, some journalist with a brain will investigate thoroughly Nancy Pelosi and her husband and how they acquired their immense wealth while she was a member. She is just one of many in elected office who know how to use information they get in the course of their work to get wealthy while the rest of us do not. Sorry for the long tirade here but if I learned one thing during my time working on the fringes with Congress it is that they have no clue what is going on in small town America and the people who live there. They see everything thru the prism of DC. When they say "we are doing this for the voter" they mean for THEIR voters and the rest of us will help pay for it. MAGA.
Thank you for your long-winded answer. You rightly understand those who work in the District. They work for themselves essentially. Nothing you said shocks me one bit—only confirms our suspicions.
Our son just returned from a four-month job working for the Senate Judiciary Committee. He says pretty much what you describe. But the staffers he worked with could spell and knew what they were doing—lawyers! With purpose the information he provided assisted the senators better to trade away the truth for their vote. It is only a game and the only rule is, as you say, not to step outside of the official party lines.
Our dear, ideological son gained three valuable bits of self-knowledge: 1) he is incompatible with urban living; 2) he is sickened (literally) knowing how the sausage is made; 3) he refuses to pursue a lawyer’s life after graduation this May although he’s ranked in the top ten of his class at UGA.
At least, he escaped with his soul. It may be singed but not irreparably so.
Ha! A lot of may comments anymore are long-winded it seems. As a civil engineer, I was taught to be as concise but thorough as possible in my writing style but it seems my wife's style has rubbed off on me:) Your son got a million dollars worth of life lessons from his brief but valuable experience with the House. Your right about the staffers too. Many are political science majors or law school grads with no work experience as you say. They feed, literally, on the power their member has and see it as a sort of stature among their peers depending on their members tenure and committee assignments. It is disgusting to see or experience, at least for me. Your son will be a much better person, voter, and taxpayer having worked there. Keep the faith my friend.
So you’re a math guy. Always impressed with men who actually build things. I so enjoy reading life experiences of others roughly our age—late 60s. So be as long-winded as you want to be. I learn so many new insights from you guys and, of course, Mr Surber.
I must add that both of our children have never wavered from that straight and narrow path of seeking to live a virtuous life. It’s a mystery to me how they raised themselves so well. All I can say is that God is good and he gives us the desires of our heart.
I shall be true to keep the faith because there are those who trust me as I know you will also.
Marlan, I think the truth is worse than either of us know. I’m not certain I want to know more. I’d rather nurture my faith than sully myself with knowing the intricacies of DC’s dark deeds.
TM, as always brilliant analysis. DJT woke up those who were asleep. FJB is waking up the rest. Obama and his faceless unnamed coconspirators is behind most of this turmoil, with help from Soros China Qatar etc. Americans used to trust the “R” next to the. Name but now understand that it can mean “D.” Mike Johnson rise to power and lack of political strength now shows he probably like many politicians is being blackmailed (adopted kid?). Most Christians support the Jews in this country. Most Jews here are well armed. The ones who side with the Dems (like meathead et al) will be cannon fodder for FJBs future endeavors. Change will happen soon. Hopefully for the better.
Amen. There is no such thing as the Republican Party - at least what that was once meant to represent. There’s only a Blob in DC that hates America, and Americans, and are only in it for the money and power.
I am a registered Independent, but in actuality I am a Conservative, meaning, they who choose to uphold, preserve and protect the Constitution of the USA.
We need a new party, if we ever get the chance to make that happen. Right now, it’s not looking good.
Well said and you are spot on Tanto. These Communists will burn the country to the ground & exterminate those who refuse to toe the line, just to keep power. They are playing for all the marbles. The GOP isn’t, if they are Republicans or Democrats who ran & voted somewhat conservatively a few times just to fool us.
The Republicans are looking for the nickel in the corner of a round room most of the time, when they aren’t patsies or accomplices for the Democrat crime machine. Pretty pathetic and the timing could not be worse.
Lucianne Goldberg died on October 26, 2022. The following day, October 27th, the L.com staff posted this message:
"In that part of her world this site became her home, her community, and her voice. She also wanted Lucianne.com to endure and she made arrangements that it would do so -- just as it has for the past 25 years. The same loyal staff, the same policies, and the same principles. (And before you ask, her son Jonah will not be involved. She loved her son without reservation, but they saw politics differently from time to time. So, we've worked it out. The Lucianne.com team will stay on and Jonah will stay out of it.)
I’ve been posting on Lucianne.com since almost its beginning though under a different screen name. That day was one of two where I felt the intense loss of a friend I had never met. The other one was Rush. I so wish that they were still with us to continue the fight but it helps to know that they’re watching over us from above.
In 2001 Lucianne posted Shortcuts, which have morphed into Must Reads. She posted them early each morning, which meant they were posted before the Towers were attacked. In retrospect, that first Shortcut of 9/11/2001 was eerie: “Troubled Skies: We begin the morning with one of our spy planes shot down over Iraq and Russian war planes buzzing our planes over the Pacific. Watch for calls today for no more Mr. Nice Guy. It’s time already.”
By Wednesday, the Short Cuts had changed: “Wednesday, Sept. 12th, 2001: AN HOUR BEFORE DAWN and this gigantic engine of a city that never sleeps is trying to. It has never been so quiet here. There is no traffic. We are sealed off from the world. The tunnels and bridges are closed. People streamed out of the city yesterday and today will not be permitted back in while workers try to determined the enormity of what has happened. The death and suffering has just begun.”
My favorite tidbit appeared on Thursday: “The nightly news showed Clinton on the street here in New York. He was in front of Curry in the Hurry on Lexington Avenue miles from the scene or carnage. He had his arms around a comely, crying brunette holding a picture of a missing loved one. He was feeling her .....pain. Doing something for himself, not New York. Sorry, that may be crass but my loathing for his man requires medication. What, dear God, is he doing here in the first place?”
Her older son, Josh, worked at the site: “It is morning now and Josh has not returned from the "hole" where the biggest job is sorting body parts. Matching a leg to another leg, a hand to an arm. If he finds something he gives it to a medic who takes it to be logged. He and thousands are working like this hour on end.” Josh died in 2011 following injuries resulting from a fall.
I got through those first couple of weeks reading Lucianne's Short Cuts before anything else. For several years you could access those incredible Shortcuts from 9/11 in her archives. But no longer.
Columbina is becoming the sh-thole Gaza is, right now in the middle of the turning sh-thole of a City NYC, and State NY already is. Rats have scurried to other states with their liberal BLM-death fleas to spread their mental plague….
Not to mention wealthy and middle class Jews (esp. in NYC, Hollywood) who, like my own parents, are knee-jerk Democrats and traditionally fund their campaigns.
They’re being funded by a vast plethora of Islamic orgs. as well as all the usual foundations and suspects, Soros being one.
There’s nothing “grassroots” about them. They are a very calculated effort by some of the worst and most dangerous characters in the world, in their attempt to tear down this country from within. Those mush-for-brains American kids have chosen to be anarchists aligning with the worst possible bunch of people on earth. The Jews are their symbol and target for hatred, but this is in reality a war against Western civilization itself, and all that goes with it.
It's spring break without the beach for many of them. Stupid just goes with the territory at their age. The school leaders, that's a different story. Remove their federal funding ASAP, rescind their student loans, prohibit student loan forgiveness and prohibit federal employment.
I believe it’s many people and organizations. Ford Foundation types, big tech, WHO, WEF, central banks, pharma, CPUSA, etc. They truly believe we are useless eaters and must trim the population down to 500,000,000 so they can enjoy the resources. The majority of the half billion will be workers in all fields who will farm, build, repair & serve the “elite”.
Yes and he has been kicked out of several countries, Hungary being one, because he keeps destabilizing the country and the currency. His son is worse. They should have both been sent packing yrs ago.
What a strong clear essay on the nature of this struggle. Thank you. Podheretz was dead right. It’s the nature of evil to never give up and use any tool, however small, available to advance the effort to overcome good. Civilization has to be defended every damned day. Goldberg seems not to really believe that, despite real time evidence. It’s not an academic (or literary) exercise. He will not be one of the insiders when they are ready. They are coming for him too, and only coincidentally because he is Jewish. It will just be a handy explanation.
Great essay. Too bad Goldberg made it necessary and timely.
Don hit on something that most people don't. This is a WAR. The best warriors have one trait, they are BADASSES. Patton was not a nice guy. Mattis was called Mad Dog for a reason. He replaced a brigade commander on the march to Baghdad because he was moving too slow. Being a nice guy is not a requirement for wartime leadership.
it looks like surber misses his old friend goldberg. i have a couple of those too. even when i was banned by lucianne.com for life i still enjoyed jonah but when he turned on trump i thought he made a mistake....a mistake many on the right have and continue to make. now comes november and it's looking grim to say the least. another fix just as in 2018, 2020 and 2022. the left are better at this game of politics than the right and that's no secret. think abortion and woke. they know how to use the carrot on a stick and they're very good at it. as an aside.....jonah is looking more like karl marx and/or frederick engels all the time.
never negotiate with tyrants. neville chamberlain showed the world the truth of that in 1938.
Great poll this morning. Never would have thought of moving Columbia to Gaza. May they at least open a branch there.
Thanks for the Alan Sherman (Copelon) reference. He was a big part of my childhood.
Thanks for the reminder that they always come for the Jews first. [After Oct 7 I heeded Prager’s plea, and put a mezuzzah (sp?- did I get enough z’s in there?) on my Goy front door.]
Thanks for the history lesson from the Civil War. I’ve anxiously awaited, for quite some time, for a research paper profiling FBI agents. Love to know how they’ve recruited to be the Gestapo they’ve become.
I have a mezuzah on my Catholic front door frame too and we fly the Israeli flag every day next to the American flag on our front porch. I also wear a Star of David alongside the Cross on a necklace. I stand with Israel. Always.
Lucky you are. One of my sons lives in Idaho and enjoys his 2nd Amendment rights very much. Idaho, at least for now until the California transplants screw it up, is a very good place to live if you value small government and freedom.
J. E. Hoover led them; in a flower print dress and heels. He kept his seams straight but didn’t shave his legs: their culture one of leashed machismo. Dressed in suit and tie, but black leather underwear, his agents went forth…….
I like many of you, was in college in the 60's. I understand why so many kids are protesting. Also, as a young officer we trained for riot control. Wedge formation, guard stomp, ID the leaders in the back of the rioters. A small percentage of demonstrators are the leaders and provide logistics and keep the crowd growing. Those need to be identified and removed. The rest are just there for fun and for the hell of it, something exciting to do rather than study for finals. There's always something to protest but the antisemitism is a new one for the libs. It's caught many Jews off guard. The are some Jewish kids in the crowd supporting Hamas. There were Jews that supported the Holocaust too..... Go figure.
You are being too gentle with the NT entities Don but perhaps subscribe to the honey versus vinegar theory.I find it a little mystifying these protests are allowed to continue on campuses but get near shmucky"s house and arrests are the order of the day.Now the prosecution of pro-PDJT attorneys has spread to 5/6 more states in an all out lawfare war on the American people opposed to socialism.If one is a PDJT supporter they better be working and praying overtime for a MAGA 2024 victory via landslide numbers to overcome the cheat.Gaza City needs about 5/6 IVIES so send them all .Lead on Poca-Man.
I lived thru the hippie movement. They were trying to save the country, well, most were. Didn’t agree with them at the time but I understood their message. But the Hamas protests are far, far different. Either American education has reached a point where we are graduating totally ignorant people and these mush-head protestors are just completely uninformed about their message and goals, or they have completely lost their little silver-spoon entitled, Gucci shoe minds. Regardless, I wonder if any of them, even one, has incurred the wrath of their parents for their shocking ignorance and been cut off from further financial support? I guess I would feel a minuscule better about humanity if I thought at least some of the parents were not on board with it. I cannot believe we are at a place in our history where so many privileged young people are so blatantly wrong. Are their parents all-in with this anti-human and utterly disgusting display of hatred? If so then God help us.
Read that some parents were present at the protests doling out food and sundries for their spawn.
The 60’s protests were also fueled and instigated by Communist/Marxists, laying the foundations in the university systems for where we’ve come to today. Not so much about “saving America” at all.
Their parents were probably 60s demonstrators too. Might run in the family. Parents are also very liberal. That's how the kids got into Columbia in the first place. Take away their school loans so the parents have to pay. No loan forgiveness ever too. No government jobs either. Red states could do that right now. You can't get in the military if you've got a criminal record so the die is cast.
Dennis, you’re probably right. I just find it terribly sad that so many kids who have the world by the tail can be so ignorant and wrong. They don’t seem to understand what anti-American means. If they understood how lucky they are to be attending an elite school while so many other bright kids cannot do the same, I don’t see how they could protest for hate. Maybe we are close to our Roman moment today.
Many have probably never been disciplined. Pain is a great teacher. I told you guys before that as a young lad that I whizzed on an electric fence. Never did that again!
Columbia, and all edu orgs, should lose their tax exempt status if they have less than 30% Republican professors and Trustees on their Board.
Real Diversity, like the US Congress, and inclusion, are good. It’s Equity that’s terrible, when based on taking from those who did earn it and giving to those who Didn’t Earn It.
Tom Grey, you probably should change that Republican professors & trustees to Conservative, there are way too many who call themselves Republican who are really RINOS
Thanks for thought-but can you name 3 RINO professors, or even one?
Registration as Republican and being known as such is so much more than what we have. Neither Conservative not Leftist is on the ballot in the USA, nor Progressive.
Why 30%, why not 50%? Problem is, there are a lot of people who call themselves Republican but aren’t. CNN has a few, as do other media outlets. Some are in Congress. We call them RINO’s.
30+30+40=100, so 30% Rep & 30% Dem are both less than “independent”/ non-aligned.
The problem in edu orgs is that they have been discriminating against Republicans for decades, and they like their Dem bubbles.
There’s lots of flavors of Republican, including silly Never-Trump folk who are yet, at 80 or even just 50% supporting Republican positions, nevertheless far better than wokists.
And The Donald is unlikely to be so politically important in 2028 & after, but Reps as professors and on the Board of Trustees will always be important.
30% quota is feasible and desirable—if you have a better idea with better reasons I’d be happy to evaluate it.
Weak is exactly right. The Romney's, McCain's and GWB's of the pundit right. Nobody plays offense on our side. It's like trying to hold a two goal lead after the first 10 minutes of a hockey game. You're gonna lose.
When Don is on a roll it is a beautiful thing.
It's sad that there are so few like Don. This is easy stuff to write about. There's almost too much material. Pretty depressing.
I will say this - having taken to writing myself, without benefit of Don's years of experience doing it - the work of sifting through all the info coming at you in order to decide what to write next is hard enough, and then actually writing something people wish to read is even more difficult. Nothing easy about it. Especially writing a column a day - even with this most depressing of topics.
But if you want to be less depressed on this topic search out some stories coming out of UT -Austin and Southern Cal (yes even in California). The protestors are finding that there are other less fertile places to spew their hate.
Don’t say that, sir! We don’t want 50 less- capable copycats. They will dilute the Surber brand.
May I suggest, Tmitsss, that are beloved and fearless leader is probably on a roll The moment his feet touch the ground or certainly by the time he has his first cup of coffee. I will catch up with my reading responsibilities for today later. Later, Gators.
Amen
04/25/24: This is a BRILLIANT column. America The Frivolous ignores Don Surber at its peril.
It is a brilliant column, which deserves a note about the concept of leadership and the frivolous underbelly of America..
Most in America are frivolous as you state. I believe the reason is true leaders are very scarce in this world. We can go for days - weeks - months - and never engage with one. A leader isn't a title one gets for their positional responsibilities. Leadership is living a life where those observing them form a perception of leadership that energizes a desire to follow it. As a perception, it can't be measured, trained, or mimicked by practicing a few trait-based behaviors. It exists solely in the minds of those who recognize it in others. It can't be trained or copied (Universities who do leadership training get cross-eyed over this statement).
I believe all of us on this site consider Don a leader, and we love Trump because HE is a leader.
If it could be "copied (i.e. trained in the executive suite)" every politician running for office would be doing it. It can't. It is in the genes and gifted by God. It is an emotive perception, not a behavior.
04/25/24: Thank you. Behavior emanates solely from character. The Swamp HATES Trump because he stands in contrast to the clowns propped up by public relations voodoo gimmicks. In a sense, he is the king revealing that those around him have no clothes.
Shrugged,you nailed it and may I add character is what you do when no one is looking.
Does everyone remember that old aphorism about, "When they came for the Jews... I did nothing... then they came for me"? Well, it's ironic, isn't it, that many of those same people, like Goldberg, Kristol, etc. had nothing bad to say when "they" came for the Trump supporters and Trump himself. In fact, many of them cheered and jeered when The State came for Trump personally. Bad Orange Man, they all said. And again they cheered when all those nasty, dirty "insurrectionists" of January 6 were rounded up, held without bail, deprived of legal counsel, tried in kangaroo courts and imprisoned. Now those same people are yelling bloody murder because "they" are coming for THEM! The irony fairly explodes! Why did it take so long for such people to decide tha enough was enough? It goes to show the truth of another old aphorism, the one having to do with shoes not pinching until put on the other foot. Well, as the wise old philosopher John McClane once said, "Welcome to the party, pal."
While they've been gunning for Trump since he came down that escalator--remember, after Trump was sworn in--they went and got Gen. Michael Flynn (ret) first. The Deep State had been using lawfare against Trump for 4 years by the time the Jan 6 kerfuffle occurred.
The Mueller investigation was a Lavrentiy Beria attempt ("show me the man, I'll show the crime") to stifle Trump--and it mostly worked. Mueller operated under the pretense of investigating a hoax started during the 2016 campaign, and no one has paid a price for the hoax (Hillary campaign, Democrat party, Perkins Coie law firm, FusionGPS, etc.), much less the sham of the Mueller investigation.
The crisis--or problem--runs a little deeper than another aphorism, "what's good for the goose is good for the gander."
Everything run against Trump, from the "collusion" to the "insurrection" has been invented, fabricated by his opponents and amplified by an unrelenting "independent" legacy media--with an institutional bureaucratized Deep State providing cover.
The intra-left skirmish over the antisemitic among their partisans is really small potatoes compared to the continuing destruction of our constitutional republic. Remember, the issue (antisemitism) is never the issue. The issue is the revolution.
Don't think for a minute that this skirmish is anything other than a hiccup on the road to the revolution. There could be a 1968 Chicago repeat at Chicago 2024, but that too was just a hiccup on the road to today.
That is perfect, Steve.
That is a fabulous point!
You’re referring to Pastor Neimoller’s poem from WWII and it’s 100% on point.
To be fair, you’re injecting religion into something where it shouldn’t be. The people who came after Trump and continue to persecute him and his associates and the January 6 hostages were not defined as an ethnic group or a religious group. They are defined as ruling class elite jerks attacking regular Americans. So I have no problem with you saying that Jonah Goldberg or Bill Kristol are assholes because as a rule Never Trumpers tend to fit that profile. But most of them aren’t Jews. Most Never Trumpers are Christians or atheists and/or Leftists. I’m not defending these guys because I think they are wrong about most of their politics, and these problems with our deteriorating society affect all Americans. And these guys didn’t help. But their religion had nothing to do with it. As far as them now saying enough is enough and encouraging the rest of the crap, yes they are total hypocrites.
I think I must disagree w you Tanto. We moved away from a very Jewish area (‘burb of DC) and the hatred that that population has for Trump makes the air in that county unbreathable. Im the major exception but most Jews are rabid never Trumpers, and the irony is that they don’t even truly know why.
I understand. I’ve seen it as well. It’s completely irrational and it’s a mental health issue. But I’ve seen the same thing in all kinds of people. It’s a libtard phenomenon, not a Jewish phenomenon. Jews who aren’t Democrats, and there are more than you think, don’t feel that way.
Roger that. I am a Jew who definitely doesn't think like leftists think. 😊 (I was a Delegate for Trump from MD in 2020. I applied to be one from FL just last week but I am not 'known' enough here since we haven't been here long enough)
And yes it definitely IS a total mental illness! It's just aggravating that the VAST MAJORITY of the Jewish voting demographic (much like the black demographic) have been suckered in for so long. So it kinda is a little bit a Jewish phenonemon. I am dearly hoping a critical percentage wake up in time for this election or we're all screwed.
Bulvan is one Yiddish word.
Schmuck is another.
Jonah Goldberg is the latter.
Goldberg is a fool. Commies, which is what the people are who he has helped demonize Trump and Trump supporters, will cut your throat. They are at war with the rest of us. We need to fight back. We aren’t fighting hard enough. We repeatedly send bums and patsies to Congress and then are surprised when they don’t perform. Look at Mike Johnson. “Well he’s a nice guy. They are bullying him.” Uh, what?
This isn’t the time or the place to find this out, if it’s true, which I doubt.
I don’t think most Americans secretly want to be Nazis. These protests are orchestrated, amplified, and used by a small group of powerful bad actors for propaganda and psychological purposes. At the same time if America won’t defend its borders, won’t stand up for fair elections, and tolerates the degradation of the rule of law, I seriously doubt America is going to protect its Jews. But you need to understand, they are coming for ALL of us who disagree with their Commie garbage.
Christians - you are not far behind the Jews on the target list for these creeps. It gives me no pleasure to say it, but it’s reality. The only way to stop these people is harsh punishment and banishing them from positions of power . You’re not up against Barney the Purple Dinosaur. All ideas are not created equal. If you let violent Islamists, Communists, Satanic worshippers run the country, what the hell do you expect? Trump gets it. If you hate Trump, but want to somehow magically save the country with the likes of Mike Johnson and Mitch McConnell , you are delusional. Kiss it goodbye. We have to fight. If the anti-Americanism and the anti-Semites gets worse, I’m not the only one who’s leaving the party horizontally. You shouldn’t be either. It’s our country. And there’s nowhere to go. The rest of the world is not a kinder, gentler place. Believe it or not.
Excellent column.
Great comment. Your comment about Mike Johnson is good. He might be a good person, maybe not, but it is only one part of the reason we should be electing people. Vetting of candidates functionally stopped when Obama ran for office. It no longer takes place because there are no more journalists to do so. Instead, we have political party narratives to use to determine the worth of a candidate. So we get people like Johnson, a nice, polite, Gospel quoting guy who has no idea how to LEAD. We voters need to look past the stuff we like in a person and do some digging and thinking about them as a leader or we will keep electing people who let us down or fool us. I have seen so many bright, articulate and good human beings that could not lead a pack of hungry dogs to hot dog stand to save their lives. No more RINOs.
I’ve concluded that initially some good people are elected and are well-intentioned politicians. Then the lettered agencies inform them that they will be framed and destroyed unless they walk in lock step with what the swamp wants. Especially susceptible are people in positions of leadership.
This process will continue until technology advances to create Stepford politicians.
Having worked with some of the Congressional folks as a bit player before I retired, I will replay for you part of what I told my wife when I decided to quit my consulting business one day. What most people see when they look at our government is not what I saw when I worked with some of them. In my business, which was military construction, I saw that most staffers assigned to work with constituents and others couldn't spell "Military Construction" let alone understand it because they had never worked outside of the federal government. So, in that sense, they had never "worked" at all yet here they were writing bills and legislation and trying to inform their principle they worked for. I found both staffers and elected members who would make you a promise or promise to get on board with a project and then forget it in five minutes. Some were better liars than others. Most saw the whole process as a sort of game with the other party instead of work for the American people's interests. Although I have been out of it for quite a while now, I saw members of Congress and the Senate who would likely destroy a fellow member if they went outside the official party agenda. If you were talking about how to save money on a proposed project you lost them, they were simply not interested in saving money from my perspective. After being around them for a while I saw the immense power that comes from elected office and to those who hang onto elected officials. Make no mistake, elected office is about power, both good and bad. So, in Mr. Johnsons case, I see a guy who punched all the right GOP buttons as well as a guy who has a very bright mind. But that is not what it takes to be Speaker, it takes all of that and the ability to LEAD. I have said many times here that too many people mistake being a good manager or very bright for being a good leader. If Mike Johnson has an agenda that differs from his conservative members, he apparently is not sharing that information. Thats part of the reason why you see the dysfunction there today. MTG, for example, is a well-meaning but blunt GOP member who is marginalized by her party because she tells the truth about issues. Washington DC corrupts most that come there unless they are rigid in their foundational beliefs. Being in "the Country Club" that is elected office in DC means you cannot get anything accomplished unless the "club" agrees. But remember, that club is not made up of just elected members, it is also made up of lobbyists, industry reps, political party operatives, and big money interests. It's a very large club and you and I do not belong. Someday, some journalist with a brain will investigate thoroughly Nancy Pelosi and her husband and how they acquired their immense wealth while she was a member. She is just one of many in elected office who know how to use information they get in the course of their work to get wealthy while the rest of us do not. Sorry for the long tirade here but if I learned one thing during my time working on the fringes with Congress it is that they have no clue what is going on in small town America and the people who live there. They see everything thru the prism of DC. When they say "we are doing this for the voter" they mean for THEIR voters and the rest of us will help pay for it. MAGA.
Thank you for your long-winded answer. You rightly understand those who work in the District. They work for themselves essentially. Nothing you said shocks me one bit—only confirms our suspicions.
Our son just returned from a four-month job working for the Senate Judiciary Committee. He says pretty much what you describe. But the staffers he worked with could spell and knew what they were doing—lawyers! With purpose the information he provided assisted the senators better to trade away the truth for their vote. It is only a game and the only rule is, as you say, not to step outside of the official party lines.
Our dear, ideological son gained three valuable bits of self-knowledge: 1) he is incompatible with urban living; 2) he is sickened (literally) knowing how the sausage is made; 3) he refuses to pursue a lawyer’s life after graduation this May although he’s ranked in the top ten of his class at UGA.
At least, he escaped with his soul. It may be singed but not irreparably so.
Ha! A lot of may comments anymore are long-winded it seems. As a civil engineer, I was taught to be as concise but thorough as possible in my writing style but it seems my wife's style has rubbed off on me:) Your son got a million dollars worth of life lessons from his brief but valuable experience with the House. Your right about the staffers too. Many are political science majors or law school grads with no work experience as you say. They feed, literally, on the power their member has and see it as a sort of stature among their peers depending on their members tenure and committee assignments. It is disgusting to see or experience, at least for me. Your son will be a much better person, voter, and taxpayer having worked there. Keep the faith my friend.
So you’re a math guy. Always impressed with men who actually build things. I so enjoy reading life experiences of others roughly our age—late 60s. So be as long-winded as you want to be. I learn so many new insights from you guys and, of course, Mr Surber.
I must add that both of our children have never wavered from that straight and narrow path of seeking to live a virtuous life. It’s a mystery to me how they raised themselves so well. All I can say is that God is good and he gives us the desires of our heart.
I shall be true to keep the faith because there are those who trust me as I know you will also.
I fear you are correct Sophie.
Marlan, I think the truth is worse than either of us know. I’m not certain I want to know more. I’d rather nurture my faith than sully myself with knowing the intricacies of DC’s dark deeds.
TM, as always brilliant analysis. DJT woke up those who were asleep. FJB is waking up the rest. Obama and his faceless unnamed coconspirators is behind most of this turmoil, with help from Soros China Qatar etc. Americans used to trust the “R” next to the. Name but now understand that it can mean “D.” Mike Johnson rise to power and lack of political strength now shows he probably like many politicians is being blackmailed (adopted kid?). Most Christians support the Jews in this country. Most Jews here are well armed. The ones who side with the Dems (like meathead et al) will be cannon fodder for FJBs future endeavors. Change will happen soon. Hopefully for the better.
Amen. There is no such thing as the Republican Party - at least what that was once meant to represent. There’s only a Blob in DC that hates America, and Americans, and are only in it for the money and power.
I am a registered Independent, but in actuality I am a Conservative, meaning, they who choose to uphold, preserve and protect the Constitution of the USA.
We need a new party, if we ever get the chance to make that happen. Right now, it’s not looking good.
I stand with you, Tanto.
Really well said, Tanto. Yes, Trump gets it.
I learn stuff here every day except Sunday. I never knew schmuck was yiddish!
Well said and you are spot on Tanto. These Communists will burn the country to the ground & exterminate those who refuse to toe the line, just to keep power. They are playing for all the marbles. The GOP isn’t, if they are Republicans or Democrats who ran & voted somewhat conservatively a few times just to fool us.
The Republicans are looking for the nickel in the corner of a round room most of the time, when they aren’t patsies or accomplices for the Democrat crime machine. Pretty pathetic and the timing could not be worse.
Lucianne Goldberg died on October 26, 2022. The following day, October 27th, the L.com staff posted this message:
"In that part of her world this site became her home, her community, and her voice. She also wanted Lucianne.com to endure and she made arrangements that it would do so -- just as it has for the past 25 years. The same loyal staff, the same policies, and the same principles. (And before you ask, her son Jonah will not be involved. She loved her son without reservation, but they saw politics differently from time to time. So, we've worked it out. The Lucianne.com team will stay on and Jonah will stay out of it.)
I’ve been posting on Lucianne.com since almost its beginning though under a different screen name. That day was one of two where I felt the intense loss of a friend I had never met. The other one was Rush. I so wish that they were still with us to continue the fight but it helps to know that they’re watching over us from above.
In 2001 Lucianne posted Shortcuts, which have morphed into Must Reads. She posted them early each morning, which meant they were posted before the Towers were attacked. In retrospect, that first Shortcut of 9/11/2001 was eerie: “Troubled Skies: We begin the morning with one of our spy planes shot down over Iraq and Russian war planes buzzing our planes over the Pacific. Watch for calls today for no more Mr. Nice Guy. It’s time already.”
By Wednesday, the Short Cuts had changed: “Wednesday, Sept. 12th, 2001: AN HOUR BEFORE DAWN and this gigantic engine of a city that never sleeps is trying to. It has never been so quiet here. There is no traffic. We are sealed off from the world. The tunnels and bridges are closed. People streamed out of the city yesterday and today will not be permitted back in while workers try to determined the enormity of what has happened. The death and suffering has just begun.”
My favorite tidbit appeared on Thursday: “The nightly news showed Clinton on the street here in New York. He was in front of Curry in the Hurry on Lexington Avenue miles from the scene or carnage. He had his arms around a comely, crying brunette holding a picture of a missing loved one. He was feeling her .....pain. Doing something for himself, not New York. Sorry, that may be crass but my loathing for his man requires medication. What, dear God, is he doing here in the first place?”
Her older son, Josh, worked at the site: “It is morning now and Josh has not returned from the "hole" where the biggest job is sorting body parts. Matching a leg to another leg, a hand to an arm. If he finds something he gives it to a medic who takes it to be logged. He and thousands are working like this hour on end.” Josh died in 2011 following injuries resulting from a fall.
I got through those first couple of weeks reading Lucianne's Short Cuts before anything else. For several years you could access those incredible Shortcuts from 9/11 in her archives. But no longer.
Leave them to enjoy their bigotry and hate together, best in kind contribution to Trump, Republicans, and undecided voters ever.
Columbina is becoming the sh-thole Gaza is, right now in the middle of the turning sh-thole of a City NYC, and State NY already is. Rats have scurried to other states with their liberal BLM-death fleas to spread their mental plague….
Not to mention wealthy and middle class Jews (esp. in NYC, Hollywood) who, like my own parents, are knee-jerk Democrats and traditionally fund their campaigns.
They desperately need to stop voting D.
They usually won’t. It’s a cult mentality. Reason can’t penetrate. It’s emotion and feeling safe in the herd that convinces people in the Left.
Follow the money.
These “protesters “ are funded by someone or something.
Find out who is footing the bill. Go after that entity.
My hunch it is some George Soros operation. Deport that guy!
They’re being funded by a vast plethora of Islamic orgs. as well as all the usual foundations and suspects, Soros being one.
There’s nothing “grassroots” about them. They are a very calculated effort by some of the worst and most dangerous characters in the world, in their attempt to tear down this country from within. Those mush-for-brains American kids have chosen to be anarchists aligning with the worst possible bunch of people on earth. The Jews are their symbol and target for hatred, but this is in reality a war against Western civilization itself, and all that goes with it.
It's spring break without the beach for many of them. Stupid just goes with the territory at their age. The school leaders, that's a different story. Remove their federal funding ASAP, rescind their student loans, prohibit student loan forgiveness and prohibit federal employment.
All part of the well organized global Muslim jihad, Suzie.
Quatar - Hamas headquarters- has been dumping bucket loads of cash on campuses nationwide and administrators have been glad to take it.
5 billion dollars since 9/11.
Not to mention the Demonicrat Party.
Deport? Would you simply deport Satan?
On second thought, God deported Satan. Didn’t He?
I believe it’s many people and organizations. Ford Foundation types, big tech, WHO, WEF, central banks, pharma, CPUSA, etc. They truly believe we are useless eaters and must trim the population down to 500,000,000 so they can enjoy the resources. The majority of the half billion will be workers in all fields who will farm, build, repair & serve the “elite”.
I thought Soros was a Greek and a foreigner. Does he live in the US?
Yes and he has been kicked out of several countries, Hungary being one, because he keeps destabilizing the country and the currency. His son is worse. They should have both been sent packing yrs ago.
I hear his son is dating Huma Abedin - Hillary’s former right hand servant. I can’t imagine what that satanic relationship will produce.
I had forgotten that. Yeah, that would be bad from the get go.
Aah haha!! My family played his record til it was worn out, and we kids would sing this song at the top of our lungs!
Thanks for the memory!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4yFTOvO0utY
Welcome to Camp Grenada Suzeleh..kindly disregard this letta!!
♥️
They used to play it on The Ray Rayner Show in Chicago on WGN TV when I was a kid in the 60’s.
Marvelous song, thanks for the link!
"Liberal Fascism" was an outstanding essay. And now he is on CNN. Fitting.
Trump simply DID what the neo-liberal 'republicans' campaigned on for 35 years but didn't implement.
…which revealed them to be the frauds they always were, just all in on the grift.
Trump’s presidency pulled back the curtain on what a farce our government, and our own party has always been.
No kidding, wonderful lady. Trump's greatest sideshow was simply existing and holding firm which exposed the UniParty for what it is: Evil.
You got that Right!
What a strong clear essay on the nature of this struggle. Thank you. Podheretz was dead right. It’s the nature of evil to never give up and use any tool, however small, available to advance the effort to overcome good. Civilization has to be defended every damned day. Goldberg seems not to really believe that, despite real time evidence. It’s not an academic (or literary) exercise. He will not be one of the insiders when they are ready. They are coming for him too, and only coincidentally because he is Jewish. It will just be a handy explanation.
Great essay. Too bad Goldberg made it necessary and timely.
Don hit on something that most people don't. This is a WAR. The best warriors have one trait, they are BADASSES. Patton was not a nice guy. Mattis was called Mad Dog for a reason. He replaced a brigade commander on the march to Baghdad because he was moving too slow. Being a nice guy is not a requirement for wartime leadership.
it looks like surber misses his old friend goldberg. i have a couple of those too. even when i was banned by lucianne.com for life i still enjoyed jonah but when he turned on trump i thought he made a mistake....a mistake many on the right have and continue to make. now comes november and it's looking grim to say the least. another fix just as in 2018, 2020 and 2022. the left are better at this game of politics than the right and that's no secret. think abortion and woke. they know how to use the carrot on a stick and they're very good at it. as an aside.....jonah is looking more like karl marx and/or frederick engels all the time.
never negotiate with tyrants. neville chamberlain showed the world the truth of that in 1938.
Great poll this morning. Never would have thought of moving Columbia to Gaza. May they at least open a branch there.
Thanks for the Alan Sherman (Copelon) reference. He was a big part of my childhood.
Thanks for the reminder that they always come for the Jews first. [After Oct 7 I heeded Prager’s plea, and put a mezuzzah (sp?- did I get enough z’s in there?) on my Goy front door.]
Thanks for the history lesson from the Civil War. I’ve anxiously awaited, for quite some time, for a research paper profiling FBI agents. Love to know how they’ve recruited to be the Gestapo they’ve become.
I have a mezuzah on my Catholic front door frame too and we fly the Israeli flag every day next to the American flag on our front porch. I also wear a Star of David alongside the Cross on a necklace. I stand with Israel. Always.
God bless you, Playswithneedles. We all need to do that.
You win!😊
Part of it for me is that I have Jewish ancestry only two generations back.
Be safe………..and be prepared my friend.
Happily, I live in an area where none of that leftist crap happens and my state just passed Constitutional Carry.
Lucky you are. One of my sons lives in Idaho and enjoys his 2nd Amendment rights very much. Idaho, at least for now until the California transplants screw it up, is a very good place to live if you value small government and freedom.
I have one on my door.
J. E. Hoover led them; in a flower print dress and heels. He kept his seams straight but didn’t shave his legs: their culture one of leashed machismo. Dressed in suit and tie, but black leather underwear, his agents went forth…….
I like many of you, was in college in the 60's. I understand why so many kids are protesting. Also, as a young officer we trained for riot control. Wedge formation, guard stomp, ID the leaders in the back of the rioters. A small percentage of demonstrators are the leaders and provide logistics and keep the crowd growing. Those need to be identified and removed. The rest are just there for fun and for the hell of it, something exciting to do rather than study for finals. There's always something to protest but the antisemitism is a new one for the libs. It's caught many Jews off guard. The are some Jewish kids in the crowd supporting Hamas. There were Jews that supported the Holocaust too..... Go figure.
You are being too gentle with the NT entities Don but perhaps subscribe to the honey versus vinegar theory.I find it a little mystifying these protests are allowed to continue on campuses but get near shmucky"s house and arrests are the order of the day.Now the prosecution of pro-PDJT attorneys has spread to 5/6 more states in an all out lawfare war on the American people opposed to socialism.If one is a PDJT supporter they better be working and praying overtime for a MAGA 2024 victory via landslide numbers to overcome the cheat.Gaza City needs about 5/6 IVIES so send them all .Lead on Poca-Man.
I lived thru the hippie movement. They were trying to save the country, well, most were. Didn’t agree with them at the time but I understood their message. But the Hamas protests are far, far different. Either American education has reached a point where we are graduating totally ignorant people and these mush-head protestors are just completely uninformed about their message and goals, or they have completely lost their little silver-spoon entitled, Gucci shoe minds. Regardless, I wonder if any of them, even one, has incurred the wrath of their parents for their shocking ignorance and been cut off from further financial support? I guess I would feel a minuscule better about humanity if I thought at least some of the parents were not on board with it. I cannot believe we are at a place in our history where so many privileged young people are so blatantly wrong. Are their parents all-in with this anti-human and utterly disgusting display of hatred? If so then God help us.
Read that some parents were present at the protests doling out food and sundries for their spawn.
The 60’s protests were also fueled and instigated by Communist/Marxists, laying the foundations in the university systems for where we’ve come to today. Not so much about “saving America” at all.
Haha— “spawn”!
Their parents were probably 60s demonstrators too. Might run in the family. Parents are also very liberal. That's how the kids got into Columbia in the first place. Take away their school loans so the parents have to pay. No loan forgiveness ever too. No government jobs either. Red states could do that right now. You can't get in the military if you've got a criminal record so the die is cast.
Dennis, you’re probably right. I just find it terribly sad that so many kids who have the world by the tail can be so ignorant and wrong. They don’t seem to understand what anti-American means. If they understood how lucky they are to be attending an elite school while so many other bright kids cannot do the same, I don’t see how they could protest for hate. Maybe we are close to our Roman moment today.
Many have probably never been disciplined. Pain is a great teacher. I told you guys before that as a young lad that I whizzed on an electric fence. Never did that again!
Been there !
Columbia, and all edu orgs, should lose their tax exempt status if they have less than 30% Republican professors and Trustees on their Board.
Real Diversity, like the US Congress, and inclusion, are good. It’s Equity that’s terrible, when based on taking from those who did earn it and giving to those who Didn’t Earn It.
Tom Grey, you probably should change that Republican professors & trustees to Conservative, there are way too many who call themselves Republican who are really RINOS
I fully agree that actual conservative is better.
Thanks for thought-but can you name 3 RINO professors, or even one?
Registration as Republican and being known as such is so much more than what we have. Neither Conservative not Leftist is on the ballot in the USA, nor Progressive.
Perfection is the enemy of feasibility.
Why 30%, why not 50%? Problem is, there are a lot of people who call themselves Republican but aren’t. CNN has a few, as do other media outlets. Some are in Congress. We call them RINO’s.
30+30+40=100, so 30% Rep & 30% Dem are both less than “independent”/ non-aligned.
The problem in edu orgs is that they have been discriminating against Republicans for decades, and they like their Dem bubbles.
There’s lots of flavors of Republican, including silly Never-Trump folk who are yet, at 80 or even just 50% supporting Republican positions, nevertheless far better than wokists.
And The Donald is unlikely to be so politically important in 2028 & after, but Reps as professors and on the Board of Trustees will always be important.
30% quota is feasible and desirable—if you have a better idea with better reasons I’d be happy to evaluate it.
higher ed. k-12 and the nba.....birds of a feather.
Weak is exactly right. The Romney's, McCain's and GWB's of the pundit right. Nobody plays offense on our side. It's like trying to hold a two goal lead after the first 10 minutes of a hockey game. You're gonna lose.
MAGA is a populist movement. Not a Republican Party movement. The Republican Party died after Ronald Reagan.