Do you have a comment on David Brooks column about his doubts about Biden winning? Brooks has friends who think Trump is a better executive than Biden. How in the world can any thinking, morally reflective person come to that conclusion?
I know we focus so much on Trump and the cult of personality that seems to surround him. So, here is another question for the pile.
Why do you think so many of the people in his orbit have been willing to throw away their careers, personal lives, and livelihood in support of him? The amount of people who have either been indicted / gone to jail (Michael Flynn, Rudy Guiliani, Mark Meadows, Michael Cohen, Steve Bannon, Roger Stone etc.) for him is staggering. Kelly Ann Conway is divorcing her husband over issues tied to him not supporting Trump (clearly ballooned into something else). Not to mention people who make utter fools of themselves kissing his ass (hi Lindsay Graham!) Do you suspect he has compromising information on these people? Are they just stupid enough to risk it all? Or is it something else?
Chris- Why is Trump an unindicted co-conspirator in the Arizona Fake Elector scheme? The seal has already been broken on indicting him. His Chief of Staff and Attorney are once again indicted. What spared him the same fate in Arizona?
Can you take the “REALLY believe” test? Assign a %true to each sentence in the pair, with the percentages adding up to 100 for each pair. My guesses in (parentheses)
Pair 1:
(a) Trump’s supporters kinda know he’s bullshitting and grifting them, but they love him because he owns the libs (40)
(b) His supporters REALLY believe everything he says (60)
Pair 2:
(a) Trump knows when he tells a lie (35)
(b) He’s so delusional he REALLY believes the stuff that comes out of his mouth (65)
Everyone says Trump can never be jailed for criminal contempt because it will play into his pretending to be a martyr and he'll fundraise off of it. But what other choice is there for his blatant violations of the gag order? The fines won't do it. I think a day or two behind bars might sober him up enough to refrain from doing it again, even if publicly he continues to rail about "election interference."
What is required to vote out the speaker if they call for his ouster? Is it a majority of those voting? A majority of those present? McCarthy was voted out because all of the Democrats voted against him, so it only took a few republicans to kick him out. If the Democrats want to save Johnson but don’t want the ignominy of voting for him as Speaker, can they just vote “present”?
I really enjoy your perspective and your capacity to inject humor into our perilous times. Sometimes keeping track of the news is depressing, but your leaven your comments with some fun, especially about some of our officeholders whose characters deserve rebuke via sarcasm.
Trump supporters say that they can't possibly vote for Biden because his left wing policies will destroy the country. Why don't reporters ask them to state which left-wing policy that Biden has promoted or signed is worse than leading an insurrection and make them get specific? Why do reporters (at least the ones I see on TV) never press them on this issue and just accept it at face value?
Bill Barr endorsed DJT saying, “I think it’s my duty to pick the person I think would do the least harm to the country." Which implies that Bill Barr thinks President Biden is harming the country in such a way that a fascist is the better choice? I read a lot of different news sources, but I don't swim in the propaganda pool. Is the objective reader supposed to understand what Bill Barr (and others) are inferring? Particularly after he got humiliated by name by the person he'd just endorsed?
I'm listening to Trump's lawyer makes his case to the Supreme Court for why a president should be granted full immunity from criminal prosecution for "official" acts during his time in the White House. What could possibly go wrong if the Supreme Court agrees with him, and if Trump then somehow wins the election?
I'm a big fan of your political analysis. I find I get most of my news these days from trusted Substack writers such as yourself. I wish you would dive deeper into policy issues, but I recall you saying that you were not a policy-wonk. I get that, I've only found myself more interested in it since I've become "old" (turning 50 this year, HA!)
I do love the "Lines" breakdowns you do. The mix of humor and fact checking is well worth the price of a subscription. (Hint, hint to anyone who is on the fence.) Would you consider doing this deep dive into other politicians? We get nearly all of Trump's speeches dissected, but to my knowledge, you've only done one on RFK jr (seems about right), and one or two on Joe Biden. I don't recall Biden's breakdown being funny so much as it was informative, but I felt it was important analysis that people would benefit from. Kamala Harris, Mike Johnson, Hakeem Jefferies, Chuck Schumer, and Mitch McConnell would all be prime targets for this deep dive.
If Trump's Jan. 6 trial is clearly going to be delayed till after the election, can Jack Smith release any of the evidence that's not already public? Not sure of the legal considerations, but it seems that voters have a right to see this and make their own judgement if it's not going to go before a jury.
Much has been made of Trump's legal issues (even the possible felony convictions) not making much of an impact on voters, many of whom have already made up their minds about the Orange Julius. At the same time, this upcoming election has all the makings of a very close race. Given that, it seems reasonable that the outcomes of Trump's trials doesn't *have* to make a huge impact--they would only have to change the minds of a small number of undecided voters to cost him the race. Isn't it worth reframing the effect of his trials in that light given this election is likely to be decided by very small margins?
Do you have a comment on David Brooks column about his doubts about Biden winning? Brooks has friends who think Trump is a better executive than Biden. How in the world can any thinking, morally reflective person come to that conclusion?
I know we focus so much on Trump and the cult of personality that seems to surround him. So, here is another question for the pile.
Why do you think so many of the people in his orbit have been willing to throw away their careers, personal lives, and livelihood in support of him? The amount of people who have either been indicted / gone to jail (Michael Flynn, Rudy Guiliani, Mark Meadows, Michael Cohen, Steve Bannon, Roger Stone etc.) for him is staggering. Kelly Ann Conway is divorcing her husband over issues tied to him not supporting Trump (clearly ballooned into something else). Not to mention people who make utter fools of themselves kissing his ass (hi Lindsay Graham!) Do you suspect he has compromising information on these people? Are they just stupid enough to risk it all? Or is it something else?
What is up with Bill Barr?
Chris- Why is Trump an unindicted co-conspirator in the Arizona Fake Elector scheme? The seal has already been broken on indicting him. His Chief of Staff and Attorney are once again indicted. What spared him the same fate in Arizona?
Can you take the “REALLY believe” test? Assign a %true to each sentence in the pair, with the percentages adding up to 100 for each pair. My guesses in (parentheses)
Pair 1:
(a) Trump’s supporters kinda know he’s bullshitting and grifting them, but they love him because he owns the libs (40)
(b) His supporters REALLY believe everything he says (60)
Pair 2:
(a) Trump knows when he tells a lie (35)
(b) He’s so delusional he REALLY believes the stuff that comes out of his mouth (65)
Everyone says Trump can never be jailed for criminal contempt because it will play into his pretending to be a martyr and he'll fundraise off of it. But what other choice is there for his blatant violations of the gag order? The fines won't do it. I think a day or two behind bars might sober him up enough to refrain from doing it again, even if publicly he continues to rail about "election interference."
What is required to vote out the speaker if they call for his ouster? Is it a majority of those voting? A majority of those present? McCarthy was voted out because all of the Democrats voted against him, so it only took a few republicans to kick him out. If the Democrats want to save Johnson but don’t want the ignominy of voting for him as Speaker, can they just vote “present”?
I really enjoy your perspective and your capacity to inject humor into our perilous times. Sometimes keeping track of the news is depressing, but your leaven your comments with some fun, especially about some of our officeholders whose characters deserve rebuke via sarcasm.
Trump supporters say that they can't possibly vote for Biden because his left wing policies will destroy the country. Why don't reporters ask them to state which left-wing policy that Biden has promoted or signed is worse than leading an insurrection and make them get specific? Why do reporters (at least the ones I see on TV) never press them on this issue and just accept it at face value?
Bill Barr endorsed DJT saying, “I think it’s my duty to pick the person I think would do the least harm to the country." Which implies that Bill Barr thinks President Biden is harming the country in such a way that a fascist is the better choice? I read a lot of different news sources, but I don't swim in the propaganda pool. Is the objective reader supposed to understand what Bill Barr (and others) are inferring? Particularly after he got humiliated by name by the person he'd just endorsed?
I'm listening to Trump's lawyer makes his case to the Supreme Court for why a president should be granted full immunity from criminal prosecution for "official" acts during his time in the White House. What could possibly go wrong if the Supreme Court agrees with him, and if Trump then somehow wins the election?
Why doesn’t the media ask set up questions for Trump? Such as, “Which is your favorite bible verse; Mathew, Mark, Mary or Luke?” As a set up?
He doesn’t know a damn thing about the Bible except the price tag of his own creepy book, and I’ll bet he says “Mary,” because he lovvvves the women.
Just a thought.
Chris, any comments on Robert Karan’s WaPo piece yesterday and his points that Trump’s “people” really no longer want to live under our Constitution?
Chris,
I'm a big fan of your political analysis. I find I get most of my news these days from trusted Substack writers such as yourself. I wish you would dive deeper into policy issues, but I recall you saying that you were not a policy-wonk. I get that, I've only found myself more interested in it since I've become "old" (turning 50 this year, HA!)
I do love the "Lines" breakdowns you do. The mix of humor and fact checking is well worth the price of a subscription. (Hint, hint to anyone who is on the fence.) Would you consider doing this deep dive into other politicians? We get nearly all of Trump's speeches dissected, but to my knowledge, you've only done one on RFK jr (seems about right), and one or two on Joe Biden. I don't recall Biden's breakdown being funny so much as it was informative, but I felt it was important analysis that people would benefit from. Kamala Harris, Mike Johnson, Hakeem Jefferies, Chuck Schumer, and Mitch McConnell would all be prime targets for this deep dive.
If Trump's Jan. 6 trial is clearly going to be delayed till after the election, can Jack Smith release any of the evidence that's not already public? Not sure of the legal considerations, but it seems that voters have a right to see this and make their own judgement if it's not going to go before a jury.
Much has been made of Trump's legal issues (even the possible felony convictions) not making much of an impact on voters, many of whom have already made up their minds about the Orange Julius. At the same time, this upcoming election has all the makings of a very close race. Given that, it seems reasonable that the outcomes of Trump's trials doesn't *have* to make a huge impact--they would only have to change the minds of a small number of undecided voters to cost him the race. Isn't it worth reframing the effect of his trials in that light given this election is likely to be decided by very small margins?