I didn’t get the chance to go down to DC and observe the “Hands Off” protest; I was told by the missus I had more important things to do, like change out the toilet in the bathroom. The scuttlebutt was that it (the protest not the toilet) was largely composed of Boomers juiced up on too much MSNBC and who felt that dismantling government was akin to fascism. I think I made the right choice on missing it as the new toilet looks great
A lot of people like to poke fun at the Democrats right now. Pick an issue on which 80% of the country agrees, like banning trans-identifying men from women’s sports, or deporting illegal alien gang bangers, and the Democrats will unerringly pick the side of the other 20%.
Just a few weeks ago, James Carville was saying that the Democrats need to start getting closer to the 80%. Carville likes to play the “senior statesman of the Party” act; LARPing the “wise southern grandpa on the porch” bit on CNN, providing home-spun wisdom to the younger folks, all gussied up in his LSU gear.
I remember just the other week he said the best way for the Democrats to handle Trump was to lay a bit low and allow Trump to expend his energy. Then once that energy was gone and the honeymoon was over (like it eventually is with all administrations), go after him — but just don’t do stupid stuff for the sake of doing stuff.
That’s a smart idea and plays in what those HR training seminars keep telling me is tapping into your emotional intelligence. The Democrats lost an election, their version of Lex Luthor/The Legion of Doom is back in the White House, and they are understandably hurt and frustrated. Count to 10 and calm down. Let the political environment come to you. Just don’t keep picking the 20%.
Now it seems someone got to Carville they same way they got to Schumer, because now he saying this:
“Democratic strategist James Carville on Friday compared law firms that signed a deal with President Trump to Nazi regime “collaborators” in Europe. Several firms tied to past investigations of the president have agreed to forgo diversity, equity and inclusion hiring practices in line with Trump’s executive order and donate millions to causes of his choice through legal aid.
“Maybe you need to go in history and see what happened in August of 1944, after Paris was liberated. They didn’t take very kindly to the collaborators,” Carville said in a Friday recording of his “Politicon” podcast.“No, it was not a very pretty sight in the streets of Paris. I’m not saying that these people should be placed in pajamas and have their heads shaved, marched down Pennsylvania Avenue, and spit on. I’m not saying that. But I’m saying that, that did happen,” he added.”
Nazis? Collaborators? “I’m not saying that, but I’m saying that, that did happen”? Ummm… Carville does know that a lot of Nazi collaborators, even in Paris, got a lot more than just a walk of shame, but were tried and often imprisoned if not executed. Those were the lucky ones, others just were lynched.
Carville knows the rules when it comes to political communications. He’s an establishment guy, the face of the Clinton run to the middle in 1995-96. He knows the “Nazi collaborator card” isn’t a finely-tooled metaphor.
Maybe Manchin and Sinema left town just in time.
Well, the dems laying low doesn’t get Skeletor on the TV 3-5 times a week, a lot of mileage from saying one semi-cogent thing 30+ years ago; “It’s the economy, stupid.”. Not that he was ever known for nuanced discourse.
When Trump started pulling security clearances in law firm sized lots, I’m betting more than a few managing partners started seeing visions of repossessed Gulfstreams and their pictures on billboards next to “We Make Them Pay”. We have yet to see a reckoning on all the outright lies served up and swallowed whole by the FISA courts. I’m betting it’s on the agenda.
I’m also pretty sure the usual suspects on the far left are trying to gin up a “Summer of Rage”. They might find it goes a little different when the DOJ isn’t faced into a corner with their fingers jammed in their ears. We may be seeing a collision between 501(c) and RICO.
I had a nifty image I traded of trump as lex luthor with various members of the Legion of Doom but the file size was three MB.
To the point of a Republican doj and mostly peaceful protests Bondi didn’t waste any time and slapping some pretty serious charges on those who are fire bombing Tesla sites
Haven’t seen a whole lot of stuff like that since then.
One reason Carville is so interesting here is that he operates as a symbol. He is part of the moribund Clinton faction of the party and is known to history as the man who halted the march of history. While the first two years of Clinton represented Hillary Care and the dream of nationalized health care, Carville and a few others pivoted the administration toward the center after the disastrous 1994 Election.
It was there at the center where the Democrats would remain until 2008 when Obama began his fundamental transformation of America.
The Democrats now face the same series of choices as they did in 1995; whether to pivot to the center or dig in.
The ugly truth of politics is while we admire true believers, their strong belief systems make them politically impotent; they need allies and those come from the less ideologically pure parts of the polity. It takes a special historical moment for the stars to align and have both momentum and wide support for change – we see that moment now.
The problem for the Democrats is that they are still partying like it’s 2020-21; it’s still the Summer of Floyd, COVID, DEI, and Jan. 6 and the world is the Left’s oyster, The truth is that they are reduced to their ideological core, that 20% , and even many have drifted away – nobody wants to be associated with losers. In a real sense they have fallen into, Wile E. Coyote style, into their trap they set for Trump in order to isolate him
Midterm elections have a different dynamic than presidential ones and the last four times a party held both the WH, House, and Senate they lost the House at the next midterm. The margin in the House is razor thin and fortune favors an out party that is opportunistic enough. That was Carville’s idea. Carville’s problem is that unlike 1995 there is no acknowledged leader of the Democrats to effect such a strategy.
Carville’s “Nazi collaborator” was the 21st Century podcast equivalent of Hirohito’s 1945 surrender broadcast. He’s giving in to the mob. Even he, now a has-been, won’t rush to occupy the space needed
Carville’s comment about the law firms seems to forget the fact(I think) that legal talent knows no fealty, and will honor the one who signs the paychecks regardless of political bent. There are exceptions, a few of which were likely in the Oval back in ’94 recommending different tactics/strategy than that proposed by the political chiefs.
The mid-term elections outcome will likely depend on the economy, just as did the recent election. The economy along with the border, the middle east, and the condition of POTUS’ brain power or lack thereof.
Seems to me the D’s liked the KoolAde, and drank lots of it. I am not too sure the flavor they chose was palatable to the electorate. I still think die-hard D’s will vote for their candidates even as they search for a job, cannot afford food and rent, and are unable to purchase the China output due to ‘circumstances’ they seem to approve of. They did so last election, but came up a bit short, with the possible addition of an incompetent candidate that received no votes before being installed to the ticket adding to the reason for their loss. Terrible policies and a non-candidate candidate add up to a shortfall in votes.
Skeletor is interesting to watch as he pronounces on the national scene and the D party prospects, but I am not too sure the party is listening, and am also not sure he has his fingers on the pulse of the political scene or the party itself. Seems they have moved on. They won in ’92 because of a 3rd party run that siphoned off enough votes that the core D voters who could never vote for a R were enough to defeat the R candidate. They (D’s) were expected to lose when the convention was over, but Perot torpedoed GHWB’s run. Carville was successful then, but he had somewhat handicapped opposition.
“Perot torpedoed GHWB’s run.”
I think that is a myth. Look at the actual numbers of votes cast. In 1984, President Reagan won with 54.5 Million votes. When GHW Bush ran and won in 1988, the number of people who voted for him dropped significantly to 49.9 Million. Even with Reagan’s aura upon him, millions of citizens had severe doubts about GHW Bush.
By 1988 those increasing doubts resulted in GHW Bush dropping to 39.1 Million, and thereby losing to Clinton who got 44.9 Million votes. Lots of people did not vote for GHW Bush because of his failings. Note that when Dole ran in 1996, he got 39.2 Million votes, barely more than GHW Bush four years earlier.
In 1988, Ross Perot got 19.7 Million votes. Add that to GHW Bush paltry 39.1 Million votes and we get a total “Not the Democrat” vote of 68.8 Million votes — far outpacing even President Reagan’s 1984 total of 54.5 Million votes. The conclusion is clear — there are millions of citizens who are Contingent Voters. They will never vote for a Democrat, but they may vote for a Republican if he is clearly a non-RINO outsider like Reagan or Trump; they may vote for a 3rd Party outsider like Perot, but not for a RINO insider like GHW Bush.
If the Institutional Republicrats wanted to win, the course of action would be obvious — always nominate an opponent of the DC Swamp. But the Institutional Republicrats ARE the DC Swamp.
My apologies — it was 1992 (not 1988) when GHW Bush got 39.1 Million votes.
Further apologies, it was 1992 when Perot got 19.7 Million votes.
“millions of citizens had severe doubts about GHW Bush.”
Not least GHW Bush who seemed to go through the campaign in his sleep; as if he couldn’t conceive of anyone voting for anyone else. Or, his heart just wasn’t in it any more. Never figured it out. Of course, he’d just “won” a “war”, so maybe he felt entitled. Forgot how that worked for Churchill.
If generals always start out fighting the last war, politicians are always lost in the last campaign.
I suffered through the first Bush presidency and I’m pretty sure he would have lost regardless of Perot. I recall that polling after the election indicated this rather thoroughly. But I also recall that the GOP establishment quickly started blaming Perot for the loss, foreshadowing the endless excuse-mongering of the party that eventually led to its destruction by Donald Trump.
Shrug. In my view people voted for Bush the first time because they thought they were getting a third term of Reagan, Instead, they got… George Bush. It didn’t go well. He infamously signed a statement put before him acknowledging that he had broken his no new taxes pledge- which was astonishingly stupid- and he also failed to solve the problem in Iraq- which was also astonishingly stupid- until it became catastrophic.
I’m not a fan.
By the way, anyone know if he ever recalled where he was during the Kennedy assassination?
About Carville, after the 2020 election I heard people suggesting that we needed a “truth and reconciliation” committee to go after Trump supporters. I expect the intent would have been to ensure that no Trump supporter would have ever been able to run for office and thereby threaten the regime, because otherwise there was no reason to bother with any sort of commission. That obviously never happened. But today it sure is nice for Carville to drop the pretense and rather openly call for violence against his political opponents instead of trying to hide the threats in legal-sounding bovine excrement.
I’m sure this will end well, with no problems at all.
None!
Well now, this doesn’t seem to match the narrative. If the “left” manages to unleash the whirlwind, are they stupid and arrogant enough believe they can control it.
https://nypost.com/2025/04/13/us-news/pennsylvania-governor-josh-shapiros-home-set-on-fire-by-arsonist-while-josh-shapiros-family-slept-cops/