Politics

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.