Now I see what you mean about the Hinderaker quote (when I agreed with him I wasn’t really noticing every little detail; what I mainly agreed with was the idea that Obama would have won anyway, even if the scandals had come out, and that Obama and his aides made great efforts to make sure they didn’t come out, because of their fear about their effect on the election).

But perhaps what Hinderaker was actually meaning was that, although Obama would have still won even if the scandals had come out before the election, the fact that they were suppressed prior to the election contributed to Obama’s win because that made his win easier. In other words, Obama’s win probably would have been by a narrower margin if the scandals had been divulged prior to the election, although he still probably would have won.

I repeat for emphasis my earlier quote from Hinderaker:
‘John Hinderaker writes (my edits): “I still don’t think the (election) result would have been different. … But the cumulative effect of multiple, mutually reinforcing scandals is hard to predict. … Without doubt, that effort helped to bring about the president’s re-election.” ‘
Does he say that the scandals (“effort”) would have or would not have affected the election? Says “No” in the 1st part, but then, “without doubt,” “Yes” in the 2nd.

I know you’re an intelligent man, but your obtuseness on this issue is puzzling.

What matters in the moral or the legal sense, and/or what should matter in any sense to people who are aware of history, tyranny, the constitution, and who are thinking straight, can be (and in this case, IMHO, unfortunately is) quite different from what did matter in the electoral sense to a particular population at a particular time (i.e. a majority of the American voters, 2012).

Of course I care about the rule of law immeasurably.

But I am a realist, or try to be. What I saw in the last election convinced me that Obama has enough supporters that absolutely do not care about such things, and that’s why he won. Whether I’m correct in that analysis I cannot know, but that is my best analysis of the situation.

What is the blog for? To express my opinions and analyses and to provide a forum for others to discuss the issues (including things that have nothing to do with politics, at times). But I also believe it to be possible that some of what I write (and what other bloggers write) will help people who are on the fence, or just starting to think about these things, or searching for discussions on them, to think more clearly about them and understand them better, and perhaps (if they have been liberals or liberal-leaning moderates) to change the way they look at them.

Neo agrees.

John is a highly-credentialed lawyer. Neo was, if memory serves, law-trained. The issue is not just one of “scandals”. It is one of ILLEGALITIES, you Lawyers.

You cannot have it both ways. Either the coverups, lies, illegalities made no difference, or they “helped to bring about the president’s re-election.”

If they made no difference, what is the point of these blogs??

I do not care about individual surmises, guesses, predictions, ego-boosting self-back-pats. I care about the rule of law.

🙂 Yeah, and the horse they road in on. I remember the weathermen; I was in my early twenties during their days of infamy. A bunch of pampered punks with protection from their daddies’ connections. If this (including their wicked stepchild) is the best and bravest they have to lead their minions into battle, they are FUBAR.

Andrew McCarthy is among the most insightful and knowledgeable of commentators.

“The elitists in DC will burn down my house over my creaky dead body.” parker

And they shall be happy to do so, if and when that time may come. Remember Ayers’ and Dornyn’s speculative 25 million American executions to fundamentally transform America into Amerika?

Not too mention Homeland Security’s ammo purchases, assault vehicle purchases, etc.

Then there’s the US Army’s ‘unofficial’ declaration that Christian Evangelicals and Catholics are domestic extremists equivalent to Hamas and Hezbollah. And the Pentagon announcement that it may court martial soldiers who share their Christian Faith, including BTW chaplains.

Plus the Army Re-Education Camp Manual “Not Intended For Public Release” for Domestic Internment Camps, should they be needed…