tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4640470443420164863.post3806373208146907444..comments2024-03-26T10:26:51.288-04:00Comments on Jim Leff's Slog: Midterm ElectionsJim Leffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00007232702717055047noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4640470443420164863.post-18331639023578374572017-01-31T12:21:30.009-05:002017-01-31T12:21:30.009-05:00Expect nothing from GOP. They're hamstrung.Expect nothing from GOP. They're hamstrung.James Leffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03645526020049321126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4640470443420164863.post-6250843598186640802017-01-31T12:09:48.498-05:002017-01-31T12:09:48.498-05:00I hope you overreacted on the next EO--let's s...I hope you overreacted on the next EO--let's see. See the numbers on Trump approval among GOP identified voters, not likely too many legislators are going to put country over party/self unless that swings.JBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14723566542604614352noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4640470443420164863.post-76140442350796868092017-01-31T02:36:54.784-05:002017-01-31T02:36:54.784-05:00Thank you Jim. I'll sleep a little better now....Thank you Jim. I'll sleep a little better now. /hugs my little<br /> daschund. Display Namehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00108173250051938765noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4640470443420164863.post-45637615306283525062017-01-31T01:52:15.906-05:002017-01-31T01:52:15.906-05:00FWIW, I also just posted this to FB (a bit too cha...FWIW, I also just posted this to FB (a bit too chatty for a Slog post):<br /><br />I have this weird feeling that we've reached a tipping point. Not that our cries of anguish have done any good, but the Trump admin appears to be eating itself. The leaks are accelerating wildly. Liars, assholes, and kooks of this magnitude, thrown together on such an ad hoc basis into such a pressurized situation, are never going to play well together, especially under a "boss" viscerally unwilling/unable to foster team harmony.<br /><br />The smart money says Flynn is all but gone, that Priebus is being thrown under a bus, and I don't find it hard to believe, per the following Vanity Fair article, that religious Jew Kushner isn't seeing eye to eye with white supremacist-curious President Bannon (who, among other feats, cajoled The Donald to make a statement for Holocaust Remembrance Day that didn't mention Jews (because, it seems, "All Lives Matter"). Here's the article (which focuses on other points of feuding):<br />http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/01/jared-kushner-ivanka-donald-trump-scandals<br /><br />This is a raggedy collection of hacks, everyone's got a huge ego, no one but Bannon is motivated by real conviction, and I'm getting the sense that team Trump will be the downfall of team Trump (and it may happen sooner than we expect).<br /><br />There's a certain turning point past which Ryan/Mcconnell will feel confident enough to act upon their latent Pence pref. No one knows where that point is, but while I'm no mathematician, I think I can recognize an exponential progression...James Leffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03645526020049321126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4640470443420164863.post-22727686444046707992017-01-31T01:50:56.840-05:002017-01-31T01:50:56.840-05:00Ha. Yeah. Here's the update (which I posted to...Ha. Yeah. Here's the update (which I posted to FB, where the posting circulated a bit):<br /><br />Re: my last postings about tomorrow's leaked cyber security order:<br /><br />I was alerted to this issue by the twitter feed of Louise Mensch, a respected journalist followed and friendly with a wide swathe of even more respected mainstream journalists and political operatives.<br /><br />She seems to be back-pedaling on the seriousness of this particular executive order. It's still bad (it deprecates FBI participation, which is likely the part that had her alarmed), and includes various privacy atrocities. It's certainly not a good thing.<br /><br />....but I may have jumped too soon in ratcheting up my alarm this high. Mensch is one of the 12 or so commenters who's generally been smart and well-reasoned, so I jumped when she did, but I probably should have awaited corroboration (especially since I've been urging people not to freak out over every bit of drama). <br /><br />Stay tuned, and I'm sorry if it turns out that I did jump the gun.James Leffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03645526020049321126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4640470443420164863.post-59758873234238092072017-01-31T01:49:51.068-05:002017-01-31T01:49:51.068-05:00um Jim? Please please tell me you took your most r...um Jim? Please please tell me you took your most recent post down yourself? Was going to comment but it is gone. Display Namehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00108173250051938765noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4640470443420164863.post-66747331650677731252017-01-30T15:02:12.229-05:002017-01-30T15:02:12.229-05:00Sure, but that means we must find/encourage/suppor...<br />Sure, but that means we must find/encourage/support those who lean this way. And hold them to it! Non-capitulated moderate right wingers are desperately looking for a pathway. Let this be it: conciliation. Evan McMullin is trying to foment an indie party based on this [https://standuprepublic.com} and I'm considering supporting. He believes lots of things I don't believe, but, to repeat myself, times like this make me seek coalition with patriots on existential issues. <br /><br />I'm definitely not going to overlook politicians oriented this way because I hate Trump so so so so much that I staunchly stand behind whoever's most stridently anti. That's the cheap way to oppose, and it will clearly be the default. A Michael Moore is absolutely irrelevant at this moment. I don't want to hear a word out of that guy's mouth (though he's as free to speak as anyone). I don't want to keep bouncing between agitated extremes. I want conciliation, and I want it worse than ever. Let's make America great again by making it BORING again. Virtue should triumph not by glittering, but by boring [http://jimleff.blogspot.com/2014/02/a-case-against-empowerment.html}<br /><br />One question is whether the diehard Randians, who want to beat gov to a pulp, and the diehard Trumpians, who want to shake it up and see what happens, are to be in any way accommodated. I think they're both inherently too fanatic and extreme to compromise even if we wanted to.<br />Jim Leffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00007232702717055047noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4640470443420164863.post-5029902122345788102017-01-30T14:46:22.893-05:002017-01-30T14:46:22.893-05:00I actually really like this conceptually, but does...I actually really like this conceptually, but does it make sense as much since these days we have almost complete party-line control? The idea that people in Congress would vote their district rather than their party seems to be dying off, which is a real shame.Richard Stanfordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06736676150561545103noreply@blogger.com