Comments on: A few more thoughts about DeSantis’ candidacy, withdrawal, and endorsement

By: Abraxas

Abraxas — Wed, 24 Jan 2024 19:31:27 +0000

Trump did listen to experts who dissented on COVID, but that was in the face of the overwhelming opposition of the medical establishment and the media. Look at Ivermectin and Hydroxycholoroquine and the lab leak theory. Trump didn’t help himself with his comments about coming up with an injectable disinfectant, but he was run over by the media whenever he suggested anything that Fauci didn’t approve of. Maybe DeSantis would have had the courage to go against the Establishment, but as governor, he had the advantage of seeing how things were going in the rest of the country and makind decisions accordingly. He wasn’t point man for a whole country when the pandemic began.

By: Rufus T. Firefly

Rufus T. Firefly — Wed, 24 Jan 2024 00:35:09 +0000

Lee,

Are you seriously discounting DeSantis because you don’t think he states his opinions and sticks with them?

Is there any opinion Donald J. Trump hasn’t held both sides on in the past 40 years?!

It’s perfectly fine to not like DeSantis and support Trump but pick a reason that is consistent and not hypocritical.

By: Lee

Lee — Tue, 23 Jan 2024 23:03:57 +0000

Ron’s problem was that he was tested and FAILED multiple times–
he failed to express outrage at the lawfare against Trump; he failed to support the political prisoners of J6; he failed on Ukraine, when he changed his position in less than 24 hours after his donors let him know what they wanted: and he failed to connect when he was on the trail.

He needs to decide exactly who he is, what his principles are, and whether he has the ability to be the authentic candidate that voters are now seeking.

People who don’t know who they are can’t connect with voters on the trail.
He may want to be president, but he’s failed to prove he’s up to the job.

A lot can happen between now and 2028.

By: Davemay

Davemay — Tue, 23 Jan 2024 20:55:06 +0000

Bauxite, who told you there was no evidence of fraud? ABC,CBS,NBC,CNN,MSNBC,NPR PBS, The Washington Post, the NYT? Bill Barr? George Stephanopoulos? The people using Lawfare?
We can’t unsee what we’ve seen.

By: Barry Meislin

Barry Meislin — Tue, 23 Jan 2024 20:03:58 +0000

Related?
“U.S., Chinese Researchers Wanted to Engineer Virus Similar to Covid One Year before Pandemic Outbreak, Internal Docs Show”—
https://www.nationalreview.com/news/u-s-chinese-researchers-wanted-to-engineer-virus-similar-to-covid-one-year-before-pandemic-outbreak-internal-docs-show/

By: Rufus T. Firefly

Rufus T. Firefly — Tue, 23 Jan 2024 19:56:24 +0000

Don @ 12:53pm,

Trump is not shy about firing people. You may remember he hosted a TV show on the subject for many years.

Yes, Trump had lousy advisors on COVID, but they were the advisors Trump chose to listen to, just as Trump chose to ignore medical professionals and virologists who were disagreeing with his advisors.

I heard a representative from the WHO or CDC interviewed and asked about the various state Executives. This man was no fan of DeSantis or DeSantis’ actions but he said DeSantis was always amazingly prepared and knowledgeable in all of their meetings. He was astounded at how much research DeSantis had done on virology and pandemics.

Trump agreed with and/or trusted his advisors.

By: Art Deco

Art Deco — Tue, 23 Jan 2024 18:35:30 +0000

Another betrayal courtesy George W Bush:
==
https://amgreatness.com/2024/01/22/three-former-presidents-start-ngo-to-import-illegal-aliens-into-the-u-s/

By: Don

Don — Tue, 23 Jan 2024 17:53:19 +0000

Aside from Kristi Noem, Ron DeSantis was the U.S. chief Executive most open and free, regarding COVID lockdowns and the vaccine. And, while President Trump chastised DeSantis for opening Florida.

I agree with that, although Noem, DeSantis and Trump all faced different situations. Trump had the “medical” establishment that was compromised advising him. South Dakota is one of the best states to be leading in such a situation, Noem had an easier path than DeSantis or Trump.

By: Art Deco

Art Deco — Tue, 23 Jan 2024 17:23:31 +0000

Reagan was hated by the Establishment almost as much as Trump. He chose Schweiker as VP candidate in 1976 to try to placate them. That is why he put Bush in the mix in 1980. That was probably his worst mistake but it took years to see it. I did not like GW Bush in 2000 and even toyed with a vote for Gore
==
IIRC, the idea in choosing Schweicker was derived from old ticket-balancing logic. Schweicker was a liberal Republican who agreed with Reagan on some issues (e.g. abortion). At the time the selection was made, a member of Congress is supposed to have told a reporter for Time “Schweicker? He’s the dumbest guy in the Wednesday club [a small conclave of liberal Republicans in Congress]. He won’t get three votes out of Pennsylvania’.
==
The idea with Bush is that you placate a faction that had a lot of votes. The trouble you get with the Bushes is that while each indvidually has some important personal virtues, the culture of the family at large displays the vices of the patriciate of the northeast. Their belief in ‘public service’ is devoid of content and they tend to equate contention with wrongdoing. The only issue the elder Bush was willing to go to the mat for was…preferential tax rates on capital gains. He was a competitive man for whom issues were fungible. (Mitt Romney’s not much different). They eventually betrayed everyone who ever voted for them.
==
As far as I can recall, corporate types were satisfied with Reagan once he was in office.

By: Abraxas

Abraxas — Tue, 23 Jan 2024 17:02:53 +0000

Republicans left politics as usual a while ago. Part of that is a desire to be entertained, but part is a distrust of conventional politicians. DeSantis lacked charisma, and couldn’t find another way to stand out from the pack of the usual politicians. It may or may not be true that he could have won the general election when Trump couldn’t, but unless Trump faltered terribly DeSantis was not going to get the nomination.

The cast for recent primary campaigns, whether it’s Republicans in 2012 and 2016 or Democrats in 2020, includes a lot of governors, senators, and mayors who might be quite competent, but who don’t manage to stand out and gather followers. Maybe DeSantis deserved to be taken more seriously than the others, but he didn’t manage to make the case.

Most Republicans loved — or at least had few problems with — the first three years of Trump’s presidency. Then COVID came along and everything went to hell. Trump didn’t know how to deal with it, no more than other leaders around the world did. DeSantis may have been right about COVID, but it wasn’t going to be a winning issue for him, in part because Trump had done so much else right, and in part because voters didn’t want to keep hearing about what DJT (and so many others) may have gotten wrong.
__________

All of the “God words” were pulled out in 2020 — honesty, integrity, decency, dignity, experience, competence, compassion — and to what end? To elect and keep in power one of the most incompetent and corrupt administrations in American history. Consequently, it’s natural that many voters don’t trust political rhetoric or politics as usual.

It occured to me the other day that even the “bad guys” in American history thought that they were fighting for “the Soul of America.” If they thought history had an arc, they assumed it would bend their way. “The Fight for the Soul of America” was misdirection, designed to make people think that it was still 1965 and that “white supremacy” was still the enemy. Whether one needed to be a fool to swallow that line four years ago, one definitely needs to be one to swallow it now.