Mad Dog did not see the entire 90 minutes of the Trump show at the White House, but what he did see confirmed his impression that we are not sending our best people to tilt with Trump.
The PBS reporter asked him if his use of the word "Nationalist" meant that he had "emboldened" White Nationalists and that "some people" thought he had.
Of course, Trump is not quite bright enough to dismember that sort of questioner but he did trot out an answer which will make sense to a lot of people in Red States who do not consider themselves racists, and who resent being called racist, and he said the question was racist.
What he could have said was, "I cannot help how other people react to the word 'Nationalist' but I know what I mean when I use it and it's not 'White Nationalist.' If 'some people' hear racial overtones in that word, that's their problem. But you can take this PC stuff to an absurd level: Suppose I said I believe in a democratic process to govern: Would that mean I've switched parties?"
Far too many questions are "qualitative" in nature and Trump will trounce you if you remain vague. Every question directed to him should be numbers based, not a "feeling" or an "implication" or a "isn't that racist" or "isn't that 'misogynistic?' Start with the specific and eschew the judgmental, the slogan.
"Do you consider the current caravan an infestation?"
Then "What is the breakdown of MS13, ISIS, and under 18 year olds among that caravan?"
Let him make up some numbers, or more likely he'll backtrack and say, "Well, some of them" or "I've heard." Then you can get back to the "So why do you say it's an infestation."
So far our "professional" journalists look like a bunch of amateurs.
But the one thing all the reporters missed, is that from the President's point of view, he really did have a good night. He had a good night because all that mattered was controlling the Senate. He could care less about the House--except for investigations.
The reason the Senate is all that matters is the same reason the electoral college matters--it is the one place in the government which games the system so the "people" cannot rule but the moneyed aristocracy can maintain control over the unwashed masses. It's where the system gets rigged. As a UNC professor cited by Thomas Edsall noted:
Voters cast 44.7 million votes for Democratic Senate candidates and 32.9 million votes for Republican Senate candidates — in other words 57 percent of Senate votes went for Democrats.” Despite this huge gap — Democrats won 11.8 million more votes than Republicans — “there will be at least a two-seat gain for Republicans.”
So Trump was right. He won on Nov 6 because he almost had to win; the system was stacked and rigged by our founding fathers who were at pains to ensure the empty, low population states (slave states in those days) could keep control of their slaves, their cotton and their land, while the huddled, hard working masses in the cities, those immigrants and low life, were kept under control. Still works that way today.
Which is why the rich get richer, the poor get poorer and nothing changes. The system is rigged, always was.
As Edsall's article notes:
Democrats scored significant wins Tuesday in 2018 legislative elections — but it was hardly a blowout. Republicans continue to have a robust advantage in legislative and state control, as they have since 2010. Democrats won five legislative chambers from Republicans as well as moving the Connecticut Senate from tied to their column. That’s a shift of only six chambers, well below the average chamber switch of 12 in election cycles all the way back to 1900.
The Blue Wave never happened because the rules of the game would never allow it, as Edsall notes:
If there is one thing the election underscores it is how malapportioned America’s representative institutions are. President Trump, of course, won the presidency while losing the popular vote by millions in 2016. Democrats in 2018 managed to eke out a 35-seat pickup while winning a national popular vote margin that is apparently going to be over 7 percentage points. A 7-point victory almost always produces a wave election type margin when translated into seats. But not this year.
The game is rigged, as Bernie has said.
Amy Walters of the Cook Political Report showed some charts on the PBS News Hour which revealed the problem: In Indiana, a Deep Red state, the usual shift of young voters and educated voters toward Democrats did occur, but in deep red states that shift is not large enough to change the outcome. Red states are red for a reason: The voters there are true believers, and even if the red state gives the GOP a victory by 51-49%, they take all the electoral votes and the two Senate seats.
In Blue states, or formerly Blue states, (WI, MI, PA, OH) there is a soft Democratic vote which can go red when things are right. And if you lose each of those states by just a few votes, it's winner take all and the electoral college shifts massively to Red, and even if the Democrats win NY, CA and the Pacific Northwest by 20 million votes, the total electoral vote stays red.
The problem is quantifiable. The solution is more difficult.
One happy thought: Chris Kobach got beat in Kansas.
The PBS reporter asked him if his use of the word "Nationalist" meant that he had "emboldened" White Nationalists and that "some people" thought he had.
Of course, Trump is not quite bright enough to dismember that sort of questioner but he did trot out an answer which will make sense to a lot of people in Red States who do not consider themselves racists, and who resent being called racist, and he said the question was racist.
What he could have said was, "I cannot help how other people react to the word 'Nationalist' but I know what I mean when I use it and it's not 'White Nationalist.' If 'some people' hear racial overtones in that word, that's their problem. But you can take this PC stuff to an absurd level: Suppose I said I believe in a democratic process to govern: Would that mean I've switched parties?"
Far too many questions are "qualitative" in nature and Trump will trounce you if you remain vague. Every question directed to him should be numbers based, not a "feeling" or an "implication" or a "isn't that racist" or "isn't that 'misogynistic?' Start with the specific and eschew the judgmental, the slogan.
"Do you consider the current caravan an infestation?"
Then "What is the breakdown of MS13, ISIS, and under 18 year olds among that caravan?"
Let him make up some numbers, or more likely he'll backtrack and say, "Well, some of them" or "I've heard." Then you can get back to the "So why do you say it's an infestation."
So far our "professional" journalists look like a bunch of amateurs.
But the one thing all the reporters missed, is that from the President's point of view, he really did have a good night. He had a good night because all that mattered was controlling the Senate. He could care less about the House--except for investigations.
The reason the Senate is all that matters is the same reason the electoral college matters--it is the one place in the government which games the system so the "people" cannot rule but the moneyed aristocracy can maintain control over the unwashed masses. It's where the system gets rigged. As a UNC professor cited by Thomas Edsall noted:
Voters cast 44.7 million votes for Democratic Senate candidates and 32.9 million votes for Republican Senate candidates — in other words 57 percent of Senate votes went for Democrats.” Despite this huge gap — Democrats won 11.8 million more votes than Republicans — “there will be at least a two-seat gain for Republicans.”
So Trump was right. He won on Nov 6 because he almost had to win; the system was stacked and rigged by our founding fathers who were at pains to ensure the empty, low population states (slave states in those days) could keep control of their slaves, their cotton and their land, while the huddled, hard working masses in the cities, those immigrants and low life, were kept under control. Still works that way today.
Which is why the rich get richer, the poor get poorer and nothing changes. The system is rigged, always was.
As Edsall's article notes:
Democrats scored significant wins Tuesday in 2018 legislative elections — but it was hardly a blowout. Republicans continue to have a robust advantage in legislative and state control, as they have since 2010. Democrats won five legislative chambers from Republicans as well as moving the Connecticut Senate from tied to their column. That’s a shift of only six chambers, well below the average chamber switch of 12 in election cycles all the way back to 1900.
The Blue Wave never happened because the rules of the game would never allow it, as Edsall notes:
If there is one thing the election underscores it is how malapportioned America’s representative institutions are. President Trump, of course, won the presidency while losing the popular vote by millions in 2016. Democrats in 2018 managed to eke out a 35-seat pickup while winning a national popular vote margin that is apparently going to be over 7 percentage points. A 7-point victory almost always produces a wave election type margin when translated into seats. But not this year.
The game is rigged, as Bernie has said.
Amy Walters of the Cook Political Report showed some charts on the PBS News Hour which revealed the problem: In Indiana, a Deep Red state, the usual shift of young voters and educated voters toward Democrats did occur, but in deep red states that shift is not large enough to change the outcome. Red states are red for a reason: The voters there are true believers, and even if the red state gives the GOP a victory by 51-49%, they take all the electoral votes and the two Senate seats.
In Blue states, or formerly Blue states, (WI, MI, PA, OH) there is a soft Democratic vote which can go red when things are right. And if you lose each of those states by just a few votes, it's winner take all and the electoral college shifts massively to Red, and even if the Democrats win NY, CA and the Pacific Northwest by 20 million votes, the total electoral vote stays red.
The problem is quantifiable. The solution is more difficult.
One happy thought: Chris Kobach got beat in Kansas.
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