Four years ago, I was humbled and grateful when President Trump nominated me, along with three federal judges, to be members of the US Sentencing Commission.
The Republican Party should nominate the most conservative candidate THAT CAN WIN.
--William F.Buckley
Bill’s analysis is spot on!
It is not a contradiction to say that Donald Trump was an excellent president, and would be the worst nominee the Republicans could field in 2024. I say that as someone who voted for him twice.
Despite a four year record of economic prosperity and peace, he lost his bid for reelection due to his boorish personal behavior which turned off many independents and moderate Republican suburban voters, particularly women. His 2020 post-election behavior cost the GOP not one, but two senate seats in Georgia.
The Trump brand is now radioactive. While his support was critical to many candidates in 2022 primaries, with the exception of JD Vance in Ohio, it was the kiss of death in last week’s general election. Just ask the top three candidates for statewide office here in Arizona, Kari Lake, Mark Finchem, and Abe Hamedeh, each of whom lost to Democrat mediocrities in this center-right state.
President Trump’s support is a mile deep, but it is an ever shrinking base.
It is time to appreciate all the good he has done to revive the party, and give it a proud populist attitude, but recognize he is not the one to get us to promised land.
Michael McVey -- Just so. Trump has an important message. The elites in this culture are addled at best, not well-disposed toward America, arrogant and dishonest. He was willing to take them on in a way essentially no one else was able or willing to do. And America did well during his Presidency. But he is too given to boorish and juvenile behavior, too self-absorbed, and insufficiently faithful to law and wholesome conventions of conduct. And he's gotten worse with time and age. In other words, for however things might have been in 2016, he has become the wrong messenger for the right message. We have better messengers without anything like the downsides.
While I agree with William Otis that it is in the best interests of both the country and the party for Trump's opponents to work as a team, I must remind him that the one time that his rivals came close to working as a team, when Ted Cruz and John Kasich almost made a deal to target New Mexico and Oregon individually to avoid three-way splits, Trump portrayed this as a corrupt swamp maneuver. He will do the same if other Republicans defer to DeSantis, whether or not justified.
You're entitled to your opinion but you're going to find out the vast majority of the republican base don't agree with you. And I wonder why the establishment thinks insulting our president is going to change any minds? After six years, I would think it would occur to you it just makes Trump more popular. The elites in the republican party have many character flaws. One is they love to lecture us on what's in our best interest, but they never seem to listen. That's why we got Trump in the first place and if he decides to run, he'll easily win the nomination, for a third time.
The Trump coalition has a very different view of what's going on. Every past modern day president has taken declassified documents home. Isn't that a president's prerogative? Obama took hundreds of thousands home and the Archives worked it out with him. And the Archives were working it out with President Trump who only took a few hundred. I can't understand how a judge, like yourself, wouldn't be upset by the way the DOJ and FBI have been using police state tactics on republicans. Coming to their homes in the dead of night with firearms upholstered, forcing the victims out into the street, in their pajamas. All to humiliate and intimidate, while a tipped off press films it all. The FBI had been to Trump's home previously, they were allowed to look at everything they wanted. Why would they need to make a public spectacle of it? And why would they demand not to be filmed? As a Judge, do you agree with that?
And President Trump had absolutely nothing to do with the J6 false flag riot. That's obvious. Again, as a judge, how can you condone the illegal and unethical treatment the J6 political prisoners are being subjected to? And it wasn't an insurrection. How could someone be so removed from reality to think it was? No one was armed. The only people murdered were two protestors. How can you accept all the lies? And whether our elections are free and fair is a huge concern with the citizenry. Why wouldn't a government want to allay those fears? Why wouldn't the government want to be transparent? Why wouldn't they want to release the tens of thousands of video? Instead, those who have questions are being verbally attacked, and in some cases arrested. The authorities are just like Big Brother when they label questions about the 2020 election the big lie. Could you condone that?
I don't remember any of that happening when the disloyal opposition claimed Trump stole the election. That's gone on for six years and there are still some who continue to claim it. And even though, it has been totally debunked, who has ever stepped forward to apologize for their actions against the American people. And how can you be so gullible to believe anything coming from the rag of record? It seems you've concluded Orange Man Bad and work your way backwards. We seen this over and over again. someone attacks Trump and then when he responds in kind, he's the bad guy. I'm amaze at what snowflakes the #neverTrump are. They would rather lose, gracefully, than get their hands dirty defending our Country. Trump did more for America, against more opposition, than any other president. More than the five globalist presidents, combined. And yet the republican establishment supported Hillary and Biden over Trump. They would rather see America fail than Trump and his America first policies succeed.
When you're a conservative nominee for anything (as I was for the Sentencing Commission), you learn to understand that you're going to take a lot of brickbats. That's just life inside the Beltway. But I appreciate your comment.
The Republican Party should nominate the most conservative candidate THAT CAN WIN.
--William F.Buckley
Bill’s analysis is spot on!
It is not a contradiction to say that Donald Trump was an excellent president, and would be the worst nominee the Republicans could field in 2024. I say that as someone who voted for him twice.
Despite a four year record of economic prosperity and peace, he lost his bid for reelection due to his boorish personal behavior which turned off many independents and moderate Republican suburban voters, particularly women. His 2020 post-election behavior cost the GOP not one, but two senate seats in Georgia.
The Trump brand is now radioactive. While his support was critical to many candidates in 2022 primaries, with the exception of JD Vance in Ohio, it was the kiss of death in last week’s general election. Just ask the top three candidates for statewide office here in Arizona, Kari Lake, Mark Finchem, and Abe Hamedeh, each of whom lost to Democrat mediocrities in this center-right state.
President Trump’s support is a mile deep, but it is an ever shrinking base.
It is time to appreciate all the good he has done to revive the party, and give it a proud populist attitude, but recognize he is not the one to get us to promised land.
Michael McVey -- Just so. Trump has an important message. The elites in this culture are addled at best, not well-disposed toward America, arrogant and dishonest. He was willing to take them on in a way essentially no one else was able or willing to do. And America did well during his Presidency. But he is too given to boorish and juvenile behavior, too self-absorbed, and insufficiently faithful to law and wholesome conventions of conduct. And he's gotten worse with time and age. In other words, for however things might have been in 2016, he has become the wrong messenger for the right message. We have better messengers without anything like the downsides.
While I agree with William Otis that it is in the best interests of both the country and the party for Trump's opponents to work as a team, I must remind him that the one time that his rivals came close to working as a team, when Ted Cruz and John Kasich almost made a deal to target New Mexico and Oregon individually to avoid three-way splits, Trump portrayed this as a corrupt swamp maneuver. He will do the same if other Republicans defer to DeSantis, whether or not justified.
You're entitled to your opinion but you're going to find out the vast majority of the republican base don't agree with you. And I wonder why the establishment thinks insulting our president is going to change any minds? After six years, I would think it would occur to you it just makes Trump more popular. The elites in the republican party have many character flaws. One is they love to lecture us on what's in our best interest, but they never seem to listen. That's why we got Trump in the first place and if he decides to run, he'll easily win the nomination, for a third time.
The Trump coalition has a very different view of what's going on. Every past modern day president has taken declassified documents home. Isn't that a president's prerogative? Obama took hundreds of thousands home and the Archives worked it out with him. And the Archives were working it out with President Trump who only took a few hundred. I can't understand how a judge, like yourself, wouldn't be upset by the way the DOJ and FBI have been using police state tactics on republicans. Coming to their homes in the dead of night with firearms upholstered, forcing the victims out into the street, in their pajamas. All to humiliate and intimidate, while a tipped off press films it all. The FBI had been to Trump's home previously, they were allowed to look at everything they wanted. Why would they need to make a public spectacle of it? And why would they demand not to be filmed? As a Judge, do you agree with that?
And President Trump had absolutely nothing to do with the J6 false flag riot. That's obvious. Again, as a judge, how can you condone the illegal and unethical treatment the J6 political prisoners are being subjected to? And it wasn't an insurrection. How could someone be so removed from reality to think it was? No one was armed. The only people murdered were two protestors. How can you accept all the lies? And whether our elections are free and fair is a huge concern with the citizenry. Why wouldn't a government want to allay those fears? Why wouldn't the government want to be transparent? Why wouldn't they want to release the tens of thousands of video? Instead, those who have questions are being verbally attacked, and in some cases arrested. The authorities are just like Big Brother when they label questions about the 2020 election the big lie. Could you condone that?
I don't remember any of that happening when the disloyal opposition claimed Trump stole the election. That's gone on for six years and there are still some who continue to claim it. And even though, it has been totally debunked, who has ever stepped forward to apologize for their actions against the American people. And how can you be so gullible to believe anything coming from the rag of record? It seems you've concluded Orange Man Bad and work your way backwards. We seen this over and over again. someone attacks Trump and then when he responds in kind, he's the bad guy. I'm amaze at what snowflakes the #neverTrump are. They would rather lose, gracefully, than get their hands dirty defending our Country. Trump did more for America, against more opposition, than any other president. More than the five globalist presidents, combined. And yet the republican establishment supported Hillary and Biden over Trump. They would rather see America fail than Trump and his America first policies succeed.
William Otis is a jackass and it's time to move on. Unsubscribe.
I appreciate the nuance of your reasoning, but you could use a bit more detail there in Step 3.
Heh. I admire your patience.
When you're a conservative nominee for anything (as I was for the Sentencing Commission), you learn to understand that you're going to take a lot of brickbats. That's just life inside the Beltway. But I appreciate your comment.
I dub thee the bard of Powerline.