Reading Erick Erickson’s occasional missive on how “God has this, don’t worry,” and then to read the following ca sometimes jar one’s teeth in one’s head:
2024 began as a referendum between two deeply disliked men, one of whom is an incumbent with a bad economy and his predecessor who had a great economy until a global pandemic undid it. 2024 is ending with everyone remembering they hate Trump and not knowing who Kamala Harris is. Trump can still win it, but he seems intent on reminding people they do not like him while ignoring Harris’s record. His latest comment won’t cost him the election. They will just keep him from gaining ground and rebuilding momentum less than 100 days before the election.
It’s a stampede of six-legged horses, isn’t it?
- Polls show Biden is not disliked, but instead old enough that people began to worry that he couldn’t do the job. It’s an illustration of the tragedy of growing old.
- OK, he may have Trump right as being disliked, but the MAGA base might argue it. Or they might not.
- The fantasy that we exist in a bad economy that, until this last month, had a record setting low unemployment rate continues; meanwhile, third party evaluators see the United States as having a world-leading economy.
- Trump didn’t rescue the economy from disaster in 2017, but rather rode a roaring economy, inherited from Obama, while boasting he’d created it. Obama, cleaning up after the Republicans as usual, gave him a lovely gift.
- Erickson skips the question of Federal debt, which jumped under Trump and his 2017 “tax reforms”:
What’s that you say, Biden’s debt went up, too? Yes, that’s right! Cleaning up after the Republicans’ clownish behavior, aka Gingrich’s Don’t let them have a victory!, of the previous four years is an expensive business, not in the least helped with “holding the line on taxes.”
- Trump can still win it, really? We’re not talking about a judicious, mature man. We’re talking about a demented narcissist, with acting skills, intent on preparing himself for becoming God’s favorite. while grooving on the adoration of crowds who mistake his actions as that of a successful businessman … which he isn’t. Meanwhile, the general electorate becomes more and more uneasy about him, the disaffected young voters have become fascinated with Harris, the VP selection process of the Democrats heightens the anticipation, while the Republicans have lost that focus, and Republican donors are supposedly yammering for a do-over on the pick, Senator J. D. Vance, whose views on various issues appear to be calibrated for winning nominations from the weirdo-right, not independents.
- And, finally, Trump has assumed the mantle of yesterday. He talks about migrants taking Black jobs, not understanding the segregational aspect’s assumptions are outdated and racist. He still whines about his 2020 loss to Joe Biden, still trying to convince anyone that Biden cheated. He projects his own inclinations on Harris, such as outright cheating and stopping at nothing – see Jan 6, 2021 – to win, rather than letting voters decide who’s better. He lacks a fundamental understanding of why things work the way they work. There’s a reason why his mentor, Roy Cohn, is despised rather than worshiped, and it has nothing to do with Cohn’s supposed sexuality. Some Americans believe Trump is the right way to go, and some of that is due to blunders by the Left.Meanwhile, Harris has sought, and perhaps successfully assumed, the mantle of a bright future. From the economy to justice, she represents what appears to be a way forward that seems, especially to the younger voters who, despite their inexperience, think they see the injustices of today mirrored in the eyes of Mr. Trump and his supporters. There is something to be said for the judgement of those lacking investments in the current societal order.
I do feel sorry for Erickson, because his own misjudgment towards abortion makes the idea of compromise, of even switching sides, completely repugnant. Does he fail to see the utter lack of virtue in Mr Trump and his allies? I would certainly hope so.
But he doesn’t seem to get it. Once in a while he expresses disgust, but that’s about it.
