Cornhead on Vivek
Commenter “Cornhead” (aka Dave Begley) is a huge Vivek fan. He’s said as much in many comments here.
And I’m not. I think Ramaswamy is callow, arrogant, and unaware of the many things he doesn’t know and yet thinks he knows. That doesn’t mean I disagree with everything Vivek proposes – not by a longshot. But I agree with some part of all the GOP candidates’ proposals.
However, I’m posting this link to Cornhead’s report on his most recent attendance at a Vivek event.
I also think there’s zero chance that Vivek will get the nomination; I’ve said many times that I think it will be Trump. But might Vivek become his VP choice? I doubt it. Two egos that big probably couldn’t get along.
Neo:
Thanks for the link!
I think you live somewhere near N.H. Drive over and see him and make your own judgment about Vivek. It would be fun!
Ramaswamy says a lot of the right things, but I have a funny feeling that if he was getting close to the prize, the GOP establishment would kneecap him. If that failed to get the job done, he’d get the full Trump treatment from both parties, the deep state, the leftist establishment media, and all the rest. If that still didn’t work, expect criminal indictments on inflated charges and/or an invented sex scandal.
Is Ramaswamy too glib?
Neo rejects him with “I think Ramaswamy is callow, arrogant, and unaware of the many things he doesn’t know and yet thinks he knows.”
Is he? Or is his merely a young, bright thinking, and ambitious man?
Although — unlike Cornhead, I haven’t followed his campaign closely — I don’t find the negatives she does.
Perhaps some illustrations are in order?
Not that I think he has much of a chance, but I think Vivek has a better chance of getting the nomination than Trump. Trump goes to prison the beginning of March, which means states can come up with some reason to keep him off key primary ballots in order for Haley to win. If that doesn’t work, they will just not nominate him at the Republican convention. The tea leaves have been pointing for some time that Haley will be the nominee, which is truly a brilliant strategy. For one, the election won’t need much, if any, “fortification” for Biden to win, and no one will question the results. Secondly, if booting Trump off the ticket upsets people enough to react, the government can finally make it official and designate all Trump supporters as a terrorist organization.
We need, in a president, both smarts and wisdom (in addition to many other desirable qualities). Ramaswamy’s got the smarts, in spades.
I want wisdom as well. Wisdom usually is accompanied by experience / seniority, but then we have the appalling example of Joe Biden, who, even before his slide into dotage / senility, never evidenced any wisdom that I could discern — only an overinflated regard for himself.
I want wisdom borne of experience. Let’s check in on Vivek in a decade or so.
For me, I find that all of the Republican* candidates have their selling points and their drawbacks. If that’s mealy-mouthed, so be it. It’s what I’m finding. Given that humans are humans, I guess that’s even the way it ought to be.
* there is no way in heaven or on earth that I can consider supporting a Democrat. Those people are utter poison to our national interest and health.
M J R:
Vivek and I are alums of Jesuit high schools. I gave him the “official” book on wisdom: The Art of Worldly Wisdom by Baltasar Gracian, S.J. I given away this book to over 100 people. One of the last ones being to a NE S. Ct. Justice.
MJR: Wisdom (or if you prefer, good judgement) comes from experience. And experience is what you get from bad judgement.
so am I class of 1988, our most infamous alum, is the reason the campus was relocated to Miami, the fact that the pols don’t mark him at about 4th place, is not encouraging about the sampling,
I too have been rooting for Vivek since he appeared on the political landscape. I particularly like his vision of a unifying identity as Americans. Also I like the idea of a businessman with a strong appreciation of capitalism and the ability to articulate those principles in a way that younger generations can relate to. I feel like he could be the crossover candidate to bring in those younger generations on the other side. He always seemed ready to debate ideas in a respectful manner. That changed during the debates. I can see why Neo used callow and arrogant. This is great experience for him but now don’t think he’s ready. Consider though what a breath of fresh air and wonderful contrast to the same old same old stodgy political figures in the GOP.
Neo, I am with you 100%. Shallow and Callow.
I agree that Ramaswamy is callow, arrogant, and unaware of the many things he doesn’t know and yet thinks he knows.
And, yet…
Every time I read something that he has said, I agree with it. Maybe not firing every second federal employee, but the concept is sound. Seriously, not literally.
callow, arrogant, and unaware
Pretty much my take, but I start with “glib”. I thought he was interesting in the beginning, but there isn’t any depth to his thinking. His outstanding quality is making Trump sound like an intellectual.
more often then not, so attacking tiktok the platform is not the problem, as much as the content, or the fact that youths have been so woefully undereducated or miseducated re critical issues, thats why the letter to bin laden had any effect,
by comparison, Haley doesn’t seem to have considered many issues except at a superficial level,
But might Vivek become his VP choice? I doubt it. Two egos that big probably couldn’t get along.
I’m not sure the President and VP need to get along. The VP is a nothing position, aside from being first-in-line to the presidency. Vivek’s main attraction to Trump is that he seems broadly supportive, and Trump hasn’t taken offense to his being in the race, in contrast to DeSantis. I think Haley is a more likely choice, if she doesn’t keep shooting herself in the foot, even though they are at odds on foreign policy.
Cornhead (1:40 pm) said: “Vivek and I are alums of Jesuit high schools. I gave him the ‘official’ book on wisdom: The Art of Worldly Wisdom by Baltasar Gracian, S.J.”
I am not familiar with the book, but it sounds to me as though it certainly would not hurt if he finds time to read it. Alas, reading is not the same as acquired experience. It just seems to me that Ramaswamy can do with some seasoning. Again, let’s check in on Vivek in a decade or so.
Sgt. Joe Friday (1:44 pm) said: “Wisdom (or if you prefer, good judgement) comes from experience. And experience is what you get from bad judgement.”
No disputing that. Yes, one gets deeper experience in the school of hard knocks than in the school of cushy knocks. (Been there, done that, bought the tee shirt [smile].)
Folks, first off, trust me — no one at this point has ANY IDEA who will get the real push when the primaries roll around. Seen WAAAAY too many with an obvious front runner just up and go SPLAT before the first Super Tuesday.
Yes, Trump, as the “semi-incumbent” has by far the best chance, but… the guy IS 77 ffs, and even though he seems to be in ok shape, that’s posdef into the zone where ANYTHING can happen inside of a few minutes — a stroke, a heart attack, whatever… and he’s done.
As to Vivek — honestly, Neo, I’d like to see you do a dissection of what you don’t like about him.
I suspect he knows less of his ability than he thinks — for example, saying he’d send the military to the borders, there IS actually honest question about that being legal, for reasons referred to as the “Posse Comitatus Act”
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In the United States, a federal statute known as the Posse Comitatus Act, enacted in 1878, forbids the use of the US Army (and consequently its offspring, the US Air Force), as a posse comitatus or for law enforcement purposes without the approval of Congress.
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Unless Vivek also gets a landslide in both houses, he’s not getting permission. And either way, he’d need it, something Cornhead doesn’t call attention to, assuming he does realize it.
I do think that Vivek is angling for the Veep position, by being “Trump 2.0”, in terms of his being an attack dog, given what he did vs. Haley and Christie. I’m open to that, we do need someone who lacks timidity in both positions.
OBloody:
Much of his foreign policy, for example, something over which a president has a lot of power. I think he has zero chance of being nominated, though, so it doesn’t interest me to do a lengthy and detailed analysis.
Vivek thinks we are undergoing an invasion. The Army would be to protect the border; not law enforcement.
He said he would do that right away and as Commander-in-Chief. Who stops him? A federal judge in Hawaii?
He has a law degree from Yale. When his dad was going to law school at night, he sat in the back and listened. And then debated his dad on the drive back to Cincy.
I don’t see populism mentioned above, so I’ll do it here. Haley and Christie strike me as throwbacks to the Bush era and before uniparty. If either of those two show up on the general election ballot, a significant portion of MAGA Nation will either pass or vote for someone else.
Here is Vivek Ramaswamy’s closing statement. I find nothing here with which I disagree.
https://www.vivek2024.com/
But even if Vivek is entirely sincere, I’ve yet to see him explain exactly how he’d effectively address the issues he rightly describes. Nor does his website offer an explanation.
A President is mostly limited to executive orders when they lack a supportive Congressional majority. Such orders can easily be reversed by their successor.
Plus, Trump demonstrated just how easily a President can be neutered. The Deep State, a decisive congressional majority & the mass media are united in their opposition to any President who does not support their agenda. A gullible, ignorant public enables those entities to prevail.
Upon what basis might we assume that either Trump or Ramaswamy would manage to accomplish any more than Trump did in his first term?
The national rot is far too widespread and deep for any white knight to reverse it. Our cultural cancer has metastasized too far.
All a white Knight can do is slow America’s march toward the gallows that awaits. Of course, that rests upon the shaky assumption that an honest election is still possible and that, the Deep State won’t simply decide that its time to remove them. “Deranged, mentally disturbed, lone wolf” gunmen are easily found.
I am, like Cornhead, impressed by Vivek’s intellect and his speaking ability. He’s very intelligent and has done a lot of deep thinking about the problems facing this country.
His solutions seem extreme and may be unattainable, but he’s at least willing to propose solutions.
Like Trump, he’s very confident and doesn’t back down easily. Both men would benefit from showing a touch of humility from time to time.
I agree he’s probably not going to get the nomination, but I hope he will serve in the Republican administration if it happens. I think he could be put in charge of government policy on climate change. We need someone who is able to sort the wheat from the chaff and explain it to the electorate. I think he could do that and put the lie to the climate cult and MSM’s propaganda.
Cornhead,
The wife and I sent our sons to Jesuit High Schools. I always joke, “If you want your sons to grow up to be atheists, send them to Jesuit schools.” Fortunately it seems our sons resisted their indoctrination. 😉 As adults they are regular Mass attendees.
The ultra Eeyore chimes in.
I have been leery of Vivek since his interview on Hugh Hewitt about 3 months ago when he seemed not to know what the nuclear weapons Triad was. Now it seems he doesn’t know about Posse Comataitus is either. Still leery.
Although most of Vivek’s ideas sound good, his suggestions for a Ukraine deal are presumptive and possibly out of date. The opportunity for a deal may be past – possibly months ago. The game may have shifted to winner take all.
Regrettable and unfortunate, but here we are.
Well if we cant defend the border what is the military good for
There’s been some discussion of Vivek’s company, Roivant, and accusations that it is basically a scam. Here’s a post by a Rumanian woman, now living in the UK, who is a PhD student in genomics, in which she looks at Roivant and explains it in fairly simple terms:
https://www.writingruxandrabio.com/p/what-does-ramaswamys-roivant-do
Based on her twitter feed, she strikes me as an intellectually honest person.
Well if we can’t learn from history why do we bother with a Constitution? Why indeed did the Posse Comaitatus come into being?
Winner take all has been Vlad’s plan from the start, and continues to be. He is just playing a much longer game and plans on the west not having the strength or spine to outlast him. Imperial Russia isn’t a new thing.
Jimmy, although the VP has often been a ‘nothing’ position, to my mind it need not be so. What if Tucker Carlson were Trump’s VP? I’d like to think Tucker would do some pretty interesting footwork for issues Trump wanted investigating. Might help.
I like to say, What if I told you that there’s a candidate out there who’s a scientist, a lawyer, and a businessman, who’s studied our government in detail, who’s an excellent family man, and he’s only 38 years old? Let’s be real – you’d want to vote for him.
I agree with MJR on needing more experience and wisdom, which for the 21st C is why I think the min age for Pres should be 50 or 55; maybe with a max age of 80, pending further medical advances. Ideally someone who has business and govt/executive experience, plus children who are adults so minimal distractions there.
OBH, GB, and others also mention the limited actual powers the Pres has, on the ground domestically. Without a Congress largely oriented to Freedom Caucus views, the hand waving changes the candidates declare are not happening. There is a reason the 1st Article describes Congress, not the Executive branch. It is prime among “equals”. Yes, they are feckless now, but a pres candidate who cannot focus the rest of us on the right congress, too, is whistling past the graveyard.
[Cornhead, did you ask Vivek about the Posse Comitatus angle? Does he appreciate the need for a supportive Congress? And is he helping good candidates achieve those slots? (Not criticizing you, just asking.)]
Maybe I have missed it, but I don’t know of any candidate proposing real measures to address the deficit/debt, specifically the entitlements of SS and Medicare. Where is the “courage” to tell the people what they need to hear, not what they want to hear? Is it fair to call them ALL cowards!? Dropping even a dozen $30B/yr departments does not impact the $2500B gap between revenue and spending. I believe the two biggest “tax loopholes” are for mortgage interest and untaxed health coverage. Who wants to give those up? Increase the tax rates on the “rich” a little, but there is not all that much juice there.
Shadow:
All those things aren’t dispositive. You want to vote for him. Time will tell.
Thank you Neo and commenters (including gloomy Geoffrey) for this interesting discussion! Vivek is certainly livening up the primaries! I still support DeSantis, who is relatively young and has a great track record.
I read the substack piece. The author is clueless. Roivant is a better mousetrap.
“All a white Knight can do is slow America’s march toward the gallows that awaits.”
If you consider Trump to be a white knight, all he did is accelerate the supremacy of the left. Vivek would likely do the same. Frontal assaults by amateurs, even talented amateurs, are bound to fail. The administrative state would eat him alive. Just like it did Trump. Launching a successful start-up is hard. Reforming the permanent government is orders of magnitude harder.
Making progress against the left requires workhorses, not showhorses. Vivek is (or at least has presented himself) as a showhorse. Trump is 100% showhorse.
In DeSantis, we have a successful workhorse running. It amazes me that GOP voters still prefer the showhorses. We’ll live under leftist tyranny, but at least we’ll be entertained on the way there!
Because dont want a marius a sulla or caesar because we have right concerns about standing armies but repelling invasions is a thing
Pretty arrogant to run for president with so little prior involvement in party building. Usurpers are widely loathed in both parties.
I firmly believe we need an outsider. The Uniparty has served us so well .
I’m going to see Vivek on Thursday in CB. I don’t think I’ll tell him what neo thinks of him.
Cornhead. Baltasar Gracian Is new to me. He’s been widely translated and has had editions out by Penguin, one imprint of lasting relevance. Another intriguing title by him is “How To Use Your Enemies.”
Bauxite avers that all Trump “did is accelerate the supremacy of the left.” False. He revealed it.
TJ:
Get the Christopher Mauer translation from 1991 or 1992. The best! Widely available used on AMZN. Use the neo portal.
Oh, noes! The Uniparty!
Could be worse, a politician with a unibrow, or Hillary in a unitard. Call me an optimist.
those are the choices, what did the Bush’s give us, these wayward medici’s what did 20 years of foreign adventures win us, an ounce of security,
He’s very smart and quick verbally. He also says a lot of the right things. I agree with him on most things, but don’t really trust him (although I’d vote for him if it came down to it).
He was making comments on the American Revolution, basically correct but he didn’t seem to grasp that the Revolution started April of 1775 and the Declaration of Independence was July of 1776. It wasn’t initially a war of independence (although many may have wanted that from the beginning). He needs more depth and more knowledge.
}}} Vivek thinks we are undergoing an invasion. The Army would be to protect the border; not law enforcement.
I can’t argue it either way, but I believe the general rule is, the US Army cannot be deployed on US Soil. This is why each of the State-run National Guards exist. There are some applicable rules if the guard is being overwhelmed, which is where the governor can request assistance from the Army — but this means it would require permission from the governor of each state they were to be deployed in**. So, again, this suggests he would not be able to just “do it” on his own orders.
My own suspicion is that there will be a major court case required either way. Some state is going to challenge it, and, unlike the 2020 election results, pretty much everyone on the planet and their unconcieved children will “have standing” to raise an issue. :-/
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** Recall Katrina and New Orleans — Bush could not just send in US troops even to assist (e.g., not for law enforcement), until it was ok’d by the governor of Louisiana — who dithered on it, thus delaying physical aid — which the merdia attempted to blame Bush for.
This is not intervening in thr country but preventing invasion
@ David Foster > “There’s been some discussion of Vivek’s company, Roivant, and accusations that it is basically a scam. Here’s a post by a Rumanian woman, now living in the UK, who is a PhD student in genomics, in which she looks at Roivant and explains it in fairly simple terms:”
An interesting post, and I think the character of Roisvant is fairly presented (assuming the author’s facts are valid), so I also think it’s important to give her conclusion, although she has some personal issues about the choices of drugs Roivant’s subsidiaries decide to champion:
@ Cornhead: I don’t think the author is “clueless,” she seems to me to be withholding judgment on whether Roivant is a better mousetrap or just a different one.
ee cervantes can’t distinguish between the National Guard and the US Army (Navy, Air Force, or Marines) because reasons. There is a reason Posse Comitatus was enacted; IIRC it was a reaction to the use or abuses by the US Army during Reconstruction.
History has its uses.
It’s been a while since I viewed this video so I don’t remember if Lt Col Moran gives a take on Posse Comitatus but he does do a really good job of describing in some detail the legal interactions between the Guard, Reserve, and Active Duty forces, Federalization of the Guard, and so on. Plus his accent is just great! For background he is an American citizen by birthright IIRC. One parent was an Irish national so he grew up in Ireland, served as an enlisted trooper in the Irish Army, then emigrated to the US and became a US Army armor officer. He served in Iraq (OIF, IIRC) and then transitioned to the Texas National Guard.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAsZz_f-DUA
As I recall, Posse Comitatus prohibits the use of the US military only in *law enforcement* operations. National Guard units are still part of the combined forces of the United States DoD so they would still likely be prohibited from actually enforcing immigration law though they could provide various support functions. Even NG units ordered to the border by state officials can’t enforce immigration law because that is a Federal responsibility.
going around in circles, our military is supposed to be to repel foreign invaders, not engage in military expedition, that have had diminishing returns, to be charitable,
I was wrong about a couple of things after reviewing the video. Lt Col Moran does cover Posse Comitatus in some detail, though he spends more time on the distinction between Title 10 (Regular) and Title 32 (NG) forces. NG units, because they are ultimately commanded by their states governor, do have state police powers but the prohibition on enforcing Federal law would still stand.