Trump Snuffs out GOP Opposition on Same Day Roger Ailes Is Reportedly Bounced

July 18, 2016 may go down as the day modern conservatism changed forever

Less than an hour after the #FreeTheDelegates movement—and therefore any glimmer of possibility for Project #NeverTrump—got strong-armed into oblivion by the Republican National Committee, I bumped into National Review Senior Editor Jonah Goldberg and Commentary Editor John Podhoretz in the concourse. (These conventions are nothing if not class reunions for political commentators.) Both writers were charter members of the Conservative Anti-Trump Club (Goldberg: "Well, if this is the conservative movement now, I guess you're going to have to count me out," Podhoretz: "he would be nothing less than a disaster"); both have been subject to anti-Semitic slurs from Trump supporters, and both have now found themselves adrift from the party they've long called home.

And yet we were not talking Donald Trump's final, decisive rout of his internal opposition. We were talking about today's other cataclysmic piece of political news on the right: Gabriel Sherman's report in New York magazine that the Murdoch family has decided to part ways with Fox News titan Roger Ailes in the wake of former anchor Gretchen Carlson's sexual harassment lawsuit. Sherman has an axe to grind against Fox and Ailes, but his sourcing is usually pretty good. (In a reaction statement to Politico, 21st Century Fox said "This matter is not yet resolved and the review is not concluded.")

Sometimes the symbolism is too obvious to ignore. Less than 12 months after Donald Trump made the daring, calculated decision to run a campaign not just against the media and the conservative establishment, but against the single most influential and profitable brand in conservative media, both of his main targets suffered life-changing defeats on the first day of the Republican National Convention. Conservatism as we have known it these past 20-plus years will never be the same.

There is no exaggerating the impact and dominance of Roger Ailes on cable news. (Disclosure: I used to work for Fox Business Network, and have never met the man.) There will never be a cable TV executive remotely as successful. Such is his importance that even the Murdoch family—ostensibly his bosses—have been reluctant to tangle with the 76-year-old, for fear of disrupting their single most profitable enterprise. (One of the many category errors that lefties make about Fox News is that it is an expression of Rupert Murdoch's ill will; in fact, it has always been about Ailes.)

Ailes recognized decades before Trump did that traditional media outlets in print and broadcast condescended to, sneered at, and certainly did not intrinsically understand huge swaths of the country, and that a clever broadcaster could leverage the resulting frustration and build uncommon loyalty through a mix of gleeful populism, rhetorical pugilism, and a leg-chair or three. His approach was both shrewd and instinctual, and it changed the face not just of media but of politics. Early telegenic Newt Gingrich and the Republican Revolution of 1994 is impossible to contemplate without the feedback loop of Fox News (UPDATE: Of course, Fox News was founded in 1996, duh!). The "Entertainment Wing" of the GOP became increasingly indistinguishable from the party's talent base (indeed, personnel continue to wash back and forth from Capitol Hill to the Avenue of Americas).

But all that pocket-lining populism over time has built up political expectations that couldn't possibly be met, helping to create Trump's opening as well as some internal divisions and on-air spats over at Fox. It's no accident that Trump is reportedly thinking about launching a TV network should the whole politics thing fall short.

We will hear much this week about dissonances like how the party of free trade is now becoming the party whose nominee describes trade agreements as "rape." But of the many ways that Donald Trump has bent an unwilling host to his will, the fact that he took on the 800-pound gorilla of modern conservatism, and beat it at his own game, may be his most staggering achievement. Two ships are passing in the night, and it's only Day One.

Comments

[Hyperion's Post Brexit Moment]

As bad as Trump may be, does anyone think the GOP has anyone better? I mean besides Rand Paul? Really? All the GOP establishment wants to do is get Hillary or Jeb Bush elected so that they can continue their good ol boys club of stealing from the American tax payers. Fuck them all, straight to hell. Remove money and power from politics, period.

[Dances-with-Trolls]

Remove money and power from politics, period

Runs afoul of one of the Iron Laws. "Money and Power will always find each other."

I guess the trick is to make the government so small that there is nothing to buy, but that isn't going to happen in my grandchildren's time, let alone my own.

[Hyperion's Post Brexit Moment]

I'm all in favor of making government as small as possible. I'm also in favor of making personal profit from serving in public office, for yourself, your friends, your relatives, etc, a severely punishable offense.

[John]

Just make a couple of simple rules. Whenever someone leaves government service, they are taxes at a 95% rate on all income in excess of the highest income they had in the five years before entering government service. Put an end to this revolving door horseshit. Then make all income above $250,000 from all sources including your spouse taxable at a 95% rate while you are in government service. No getting rich on the side when you are in government.

[Hyperion's Post Brexit Moment]

I was formerly against term limits, but now I'm for it. 4 years in public office and you can never run for or hold public office again, ever, for life. Also make cronyism a felony. If we don't do this, we're never going to fix this shit.

[John]

I would be okay with that. I am at the point that I am ready to abolish elections for the House of Representatives and just do it by lot. Just pick someone from the voter rolls once every two years and let them serve. Make it like jury duty. It couldn't be any worse and would likely be a lot better.

[Bgoptmst]

Yup. Simply yup.

[ant1sthenes]

Glad to see I'm reaching people.

[Inigo Montoya]

Term limits, shmerm limits. Doesn't go far enough. I'm at the point where I'm thinking Sharia Law solutions are in order for the political class.

Examples: steal from the treasury (which includes expensing your family ski vacations, pork barreling, pay-to-play, etc.) = get your hands literally chopped off.

Get in bed with a crony (regulator rent-seeking, contributions to your "charity," high-paid lobbying job lined up when your term ends, etc.) = voters get to actually chuck you off a roof.

Commit adultery (adulterating the Bill of Rights by gutting various amendments like the 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 5th) = get stoned, and not in the pleasant sense.

Maybe Sharia isn't all that bad in and of itself, the problem is it is applied to all the wrong cases.

[Suicidy]

Is this a good time to discuss my plan to euthanize all the progressives?

[JFree]

Even if you want to capture excess or cronyist wealth, the WORST way to do so is via the income tax. Americans are so freakin stupid on this. Switzerland actually understands this - how true wealth ticks - and gets taxes from the wealthy without punishing income. Tax WEALTH - at 0.5%/year. You can eliminate cap gains and estate taxes (which are both a bit of BS) - and still end up with a progressive tax revenue system with income tax capped at about 10% or so.

Beyond a certain point, the truly wealthy don't need income. Their income depends mostly on tax holidays and loopholes available to no one else.

[OneOut]

Yes. Ted Cruz is infinately better.

A strict Constitutionalist who lived up to every campaign promise he gave Texas voters.

He promised he would do away with the IRS and based on his track record I believe him.

[LaraGriffin]

My co-worker's step-sister made $14200 the previous week. she gets paid on the laptop and moved in a $557000 condo. All she did was get blessed and apply the guide leaked on this web site.. Go Here.... http://www.trends88.com

[John]

As has been pointed out on here numerous times, these people did the same thing to Paul in 2012. So it is a bit hard to have much sympathy for them. Moreover, when during the entire 8 years of Obama did they ever show this kind of backbone? Never that I can remember. They never so much as stopped one of his cabinet appointments in the Senate. So their appeals to principle and conscience right a bit hollow.

Beyond that, I understand that the primary voters vote for delegates not candidates. But they vote for delegates on the promise that that delegate will then support a particular candidate. How can you run promising to vote for a candidate and then claim some kind of right of conscience to vote against that candidate at the convention? If you hate the guy, what were you doing claiming to be on his slate of delegates in the first place?

The whole thing is pathetic.

[Suthenboy]

^This.

If the 'conservatism' we have known for the last 20 years is gone I say good riddance.

[VG Zaytsev]

Yep.

[Bgoptmst]

The thing that gets me is evidently the Republican Party has come to mean neo-con. Also, fiscal conservatism has come to mean corporate welfare and corporate welfare only. Hard for me to get behind either concept.

Also, I don't particularly care if you marry a dude, a dog, or your TV.

You can smoke weed while your at and I'm still not offended.

You can be a dude, marry a dude, become a chick and use a dudes bathroom ... still don't care.

[Inigo Montoya]

This is why I came to hate the conservatives just as much as I hate the progs.

When did it become about bathrooms instead of budgets?
When did opposing terrorism come to mean opposing any remaining shred of liberty or privacy?

I know, I know...it was never actually about cutting waste or combating terrorists. That's just lip service, much like the progressive phoney lip-service for "tolerance" or "belief in science."

[Suicidy]

Ironically, Hillary is the biggest neo-con in this election. Pure evil too.

[SIV]

Tell us more about Trump's racist newsletters, Matt

[John]

But all that pocket-lining populism over time has built up political expectations that couldn't possibly be met,

Isn't it a bit rich for reason to criticize the GOP for building up expectations that couldn't possibly be met? What happened to reason claiming the GOP was a bunch of sellouts who were no different than the Democrats? Now you tell us that well "nothing more could be done and anyone who expected more was expecting the impossible"?

What expectations have the GOP met period? They have never once reduced the size of government. They were handed the House in 2010 and the Senate and 2014 and couldn't so much as stop Obama from getting a cabinet appointment or a judicial nominee. Just exactly what expectations would they have met beyond abject surrender?

[Dances-with-Trolls]

What expectations have the GOP met period?

I think they exceeded all expectations when it came to performing failure theater.

[John]

The set a gold standard for abject and ignominious surrender. There is that I guess. Is there some kind Quizsling prize that Norway gives for lifetime achievement in treachery?

[Palin's Buttplug]

The GOP won't allow a vote on Merrick Garland.

Which they will regret when Hil-Dog appoints a black bull-dyke feminist in February.

[John]

It is the one time they found a backbone. In an election year when the entire party would have gone insane if they hadn't. Big deal. Meanwhile, they voted to confirm Lynch even though she was a known hack and crook and Obama didn't deserve another AG appointment after Holder.

[Chipwooder]

What difference, at this point, does it make?

[John]

IF Hillary wins, they will roll over and give her whomever she wants. When is the last time a GOP senate refused to confirm a Dem nominee to the court? I can't remember one. Can you?

[Suicidy]

If Hillary is elected, I can only hope it will accelerate the time table on the revolution I've been predicting for some time now. Probably right after she has a major 'let the, eat cake' gaffe (which we all know idps going to happen. Probably several times.).

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

What expectations have the GOP met period? They have never once reduced the size of government. They were handed the House in 2010 and the Senate and 2014 and couldn't so much as stop Obama from getting a cabinet appointment or a judicial nominee. Just exactly what expectations would they have met beyond abject surrender?

They pretty much killed Obamacare by refusing to fund the risk corridors unless they were proven to be budget neutral. That's something of an accomplishment, isn't it?

The mainstream GOP sucks and has never actually been serious about meaningfully shrinking government but there is literally nothing about Donald Trump's platform that suggests he will do the same.

[John]

They pretty much killed Obamacare by refusing to fund the risk corridors unless they were proven to be budget neutral. That's something of an accomplishment, isn't it?

Not really. They have done nothing about the mandates or the taxes that have totally fucked people out of their insurance. They made a little mischief but all that has done is make things worse. And for what purpose? Its not like they will ever force through any real reforms.

And the point isn't whether Trump would do better. He hasn't had a chance yet. These people have. So, they don't have any standing to claim he won't do better.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

They have done nothing about the mandates or the taxes that have totally fucked people out of their insurance.

What, specifically, could they have done about those things? They could have shut down the government, I guess, but Obama was never going to capitulate on his only accomplishment of note.

[John]

Just shut down the government and told Obama to go get fucked. They own the power of the purse. And the government would not reopen until they said so. They also could have refused to confirm any of his appointments or cut the living shit out of his travel budget or done all kinds of things to make his life miserable.

Ultimately, the Congress has the power of the purse. And the Democrats depend on the government more than Republicans. Republicans if they cared and had any balls could wait Obama out of a government shutdown. They just don't care and do nothing but put on a symbolic show of resistance. Why should they care? Doing nothing allows them to blame everything on Obama and avoid any responsibility.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Republicans if they cared and had any balls could wait Obama out of a government shutdown. They just don't care and do nothing but put on a symbolic show of resistance. Why should they care?

I can't count on one hand the number of Republicans in Congress who actually care about spending and limited government and civil liberties. No one who pays attention to Congress could ever have any expectation of the Republican Party being anything else but a party of crony capitalists and sell outs.

But revulsion at this is obviously not what motivates Trump supporters since, again, he's the opposite of principle conservatives like Rand Paul, Justin Amash, Mike Lee and Thomas Massie.

Doing nothing allows them to blame everything on Obama and avoid any responsibility.

A pretty solid plan since Obamacare is imploding and his foreign policy is a failure. This would have been the cycle to get an actual fiscal conservative and foreign policy realist in office if that was really what Republican voters wanted. But no, the morons in the GOP base blew this opportunity by ignoring Rand Paul and Ted Cruz and nominating an unelectable populist demagogue instead.

[John]

The morons in the GOP blew it because they blew all of their credibility with voters on the economy and immigration. You could have had Rubio had he not proven to be a complete crap weasel the moment he took office on immigration.

And the reality is international trade isn't working as advertised. People who lose their jobs are supposed to be reabsorbed into the economy at lower wages but wind up better off because consumer goods are cheaper. It hasn't worked that way. Things are epicly bad for the middle class. You can't just tell them to go fuck themselves because you like your cheap shit. You can try it but when you do you will end up with someone like Trump cleaning your clock because you have effectively told half of your supporters to go fuck themselves.

The GOP has only themselves to blame for Trump. They could not put forward a better option or give his supporters any reason not to vote for them. They are as intellectually bankrupt as the Democrats.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Things are epicly bad for the middle class. You can't just tell them to go fuck themselves because you like your cheap shit.

My amount of sympathy for them is limited considering they're the ones who enable government to grow bigger and bigger and fuck up more things.

And no, I'm not compromising on the one great thing about the last century, which is globalization and the most dramatic increase in human well-being in the history of our species. This is fundamentally an issue of their values being incompatible with my values. I can only reason with them and when that fails I give up.

[John]

I don't care what your sympathy is. They vote. And "shut the fuck up and go live on the dole" is not an answer.

Beyond that, globalization is great for you. At what point are your principles just a rationalization for getting what benefits you? It is easy for you to talk about how great globalization is, you benefit from it and will never pay any price for it. That is okay. You have a right to act in your own self interest. The problem arises is when you pretend everyone else is supposed to happily pay the price for your benefit.

Maybe globalization isn't so great? Fifty percent of the working age population isn't working. And it is not because many of them don't want to work. It is because they can't get a job. If you are over 35 and lose your job in this economy, you are fucked. Forget it, no one will hire you. And if you are out of work more than six months, forget getting another job no matter how old you are.

Things are a complete fucking mess for most people in this country. I am not globalization is the cause of all the problems. It is not. But maybe we all should at least be open to questioning our assumptions. Maybe we have been wrong about some things. I say that as someone who has been a total globalist my entire adult life. And in the last six years things have gotten to the point that I can no longer accept my former assumptions as the gospel truth anymore. Life isn't as simple as I thought it was.

[Suicidy]

The recent FBI Clinton investigation proved that the system is broken and there is no more rule of law. So just do whatever you need to do to get ahead. Fuck laws and regulations.

[You Sound Like a Prog (MJG)]

Sticking with globalization is a huge political mistake, and the GOP deserves to get battered for ignoring "the middle class."

But shutting down the government until Obama capitulates to a simple majority is no political problem.

[John]

Mpg do you ever have a point?

[MJBinAL]

You also need to consider that your cheap shit, is not as cheap as you think. If, those workers displaced do NOT go to other jobs but rather become part of government dependency, then you paid for the guy who built you DVD player, and via taxes, you paid the guy who WOULD HAVE built your DVD player.

So your cheap shit, was actually partial paid for by taxes. You might well say that is the fault of those that insist on a welfare state, and many of us might agree, but in the world we have, "free trade" is a fraud.

I would love to see a 30% tax on both imports and exports replace the personal income tax.

[MJBinAL]

The folks supporting Trump, support him BECAUSE he is not a politician. Rand and Cruz were never going to get many of these folks because deserve it or not, they are established politicians.

To a great extent, this is the result of the GOP working like hell to kill the Tea Parties and the Ron Paul brigade. Those folks thought that if they started electing people who said they would carry out small government policies that it would get done. They found that the GOP subverted some ,froze the others out and cooked the rules to make sure they would never get in again.

So, the folks said, said "Fuck You That's Why" and a pox on all your houses. The greatest thing going for Trump was that he was not, and is not, one of them.

Everyone hates Trump it seems, but it seems like a good time to show folks why the Imperial Presidency is a bad idea. Further, maybe Congress will decide they would like to be in charge again.

I do not see Trump as any worse that the other choices, and better than most.

[aftertouch]

Just shut down the government and told Obama to go get fucked. They own the power of the purse. And the government would not reopen until they said so.

Speaking of which, our beloved Gov. Terry McAuliffe owes Ted Cruz a fucking fruit basket.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

both have been subject to anti-Semitic slurs from Trump supporters, and both have now found themselves adrift from the party they've long called home.

But remember, the Trump movement isn't racist and anti-Semitic. We can't conclude anything from the fact that his most rabid followers are anti-Semites.

[John]

Some of Obama's most rabid followers are black nationalists who want to make war on white people. Is he responsible for the views of the New Black Panther Party? By your logic it would seem he would be.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Some of Obama's most rabid followers are black nationalists who want to make war on white people. Is he responsible for the views of the New Black Panther Party? By your logic it would seem he would be.

His most rabid followers are white progressives and mainstream black Democratic party activists.

Here's an interview with former Black Panther leader Larry Pinkney calling Obama a sell-out unworthy of being president.

[John]

They were not saying that in 2008 and 2012. Was Obama supposed to renounce them? Show me where you have ever held a Democrat responsible for his most rabid supporters. If you can't do that, then you can't do it here or at least can't do it with any credibility.

[Palin's Buttplug]

You're right.

Black militant types despise Obama for being too "white".

See Cornel West, Tavis Smiley, Black Panthers, etc.

[John]

Again, they loved him in 2008 and 2012. I never heard Geoff demand he disavow himself from them. And we all know Reverend Wright loved him now don't we.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Obama ignores them. They can't stand that.

[Hyperion's Post Brexit Moment]

We can't conclude anything from the fact that his most rabid followers are anti-Semites.

Links?

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Just about every time someone in the media attacks Trump, this follows.

[John]

So people say mean things about journalists and we are supposed to give a shit. What is Trump supposed to do? What could Trump say short of "I guess all of the things the media say about me are true" that would satisfy the media?

Democrats say horrible things, many of them anti semetic and often racist when it is a black conservative journalist, all of the time. I have never heard you or Matt demanding any Democratic politician disavow that. So sorry, you don't get to play that game now.

[Hyperion's Post Brexit Moment]

Really? That's not what I'm looking for. Where's the links proving Trump is an anti-semite? I'm not looking for left wing race card shit.

[arbitrary wavefunction]

His daughter just converted to Judaism. But you can totally tell how upset he is about that. He hates teh Jews and has stormfront followers and put a star over money. DO YOU SEE?! NOW DO YOU SEE?!

[Hyperion's Post Brexit Moment]

No, that's sarcasm, yes?

[arbitrary wavefunction]

/sarc

[Hyperion's Post Brexit Moment]

Ok, (:

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

I never said Trump was an anti-Semite, I said he was running a campaign designed to appeal to anti-Semites and his followers are proof of it. There's a substantial difference between the two.

[John]

What about it is designed to appeal to anti-Semites? Al you have is the fact that a few nuts on storm front like him. Okay, what exactly did Trump do to design his appeal to them?

Moreover, why they fuck would he? You do realize that the only anti Semites in any number in this country are on the left? For every storm front nut case, there are like a hundred BDS idiots and Muslims who are just as hardcore anti-Semites as any one on storm front. What exactly did he have to gain from this?

Can't you just say you disagree with Trump? Why do you have to make up shit? It doesn't help your case. It just makes you look like a nut.

And is Obama responsible for the love he gets from the BDS people? Trump is responsible for storm front.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

What about it is designed to appeal to anti-Semites? Al you have is the fact that a few nuts on storm front like him. Okay, what exactly did Trump do to design his appeal to them?

His biggest appeal is that he's "anti-PC". Which gives cover for people to express repugnant ideas since if you object to someone suggesting Jews have too much influence over the media or that Mexicans are inherently lazy and prone to criminality you're just being a PC faggot.

Political correctness and being opposed to bigotry are two separate things but apparently not in Trump's America.

[John]

Moff, that is ridiculous. His appeal is anti PC. But you have lost your mind if you think that is some kind of a cover to be an antisemite. Again, most anti Semites today are on the left not the right. I don't understand why you have this fanatical desire to believe this? Why is it not enough just to disagree? Your arguments are ridiculous.

[Sidd Finch v2.01]

Which gives cover for people to express repugnant ideas since if you object to someone suggesting Jews have too much influence over the media or that Mexicans are inherently lazy and prone to criminality you're just being a PC faggot.

Both of those ideas are defensible. Calling them "repugnant" makes you a "PC faggot."

[Sidd Finch v2.01]

Yea. Trump proposes limiting immigration which predictably led to Jewish journalists comparing him to Hitler which predictably led to 4channers tweeting Happy Merchant memes at them. The plan was genius in its simplicity. I'm not sure what it achieved beyond lulz and 117 votes, but it was definitely the campaign design.

[Suicidy]

The most rabid followers of the progressives are the greatest anti Semites of all.

[MJBinAL]

Bull Shit.

There are very few true Anti-Semites. But it does give you a slur to throw about.

[John]

Trump figured out that in most of the country neither Republicans nor conservatives were very popular. So the more they screamed he wasn't one of them, the better he did. It is really that simple. The conservatives pissed away their brand looking the other way as the GOP stole and ran one big government crap weasel after another. No one gave a shit when they claimed "conscience" over Trump, because they had already sold their virtue supporting Bush, Dole. McCain and Romney.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Wow, these idiots at the RNC are talking about BENGHAZI! BLOOP! DERP! - no wonder ABC, CBS, and ABC aren't carrying this bullshit.

But The Bachelorette is on instead.

[Hyperion's Post Brexit Moment]

Hi shreek and AddictionMyth, you've already proven you're retarded, no work left to do. BLOOP, DERP, BONK, BLEEP!

RETARD ALERT RETARD ALERT RETARD ALERT RETARD ALERT RETARD ALERT RETARD ALERT RETARD ALERT RETARD ALERT RETARD ALERT RETARD ALERT RETARD ALERT RETARD ALERT RETARD ALERT RETARD ALERTRETARD ALERT RETARD ALERT RETARD ALERT RETARD ALERT RETARD ALERT RETARD ALERT RETARD ALERTRETARD ALERT RETARD ALERT RETARD ALERT RETARD ALERT RETARD ALERT RETARD ALERT RETARD ALERTRETARD ALERT RETARD ALERT RETARD ALERT RETARD ALERT RETARD ALERT

[Palin's Buttplug]

Look, you moron. If I were to make a second account up I would find a better handle than "Addiction Myth".

[Hyperion's Post Brexit Moment]

LOLOLOLOLOOL, you are soooo fucking lame. Everyone here knows you are AddictionMyth. And no, you couldn't do better, because you're a r-r-r-r-r-retard. BLONK, BLOOP, BINK, FONK, DERP, BLOOP! LOLOLOLOOL...

[Suthenboy]

Well, I for one, am convinced. I mean, why would a cokehead ever choose a name like that?

[Suicidy]

PB, your life has no value, and you commit treason with every breath you take. So perhaps you should breathe no more. Go drink some Drano (off brand drain cleaner works too) and let nature take its course.

I'm sure your family could use an early Christmas present.

[arbitrary wavefunction]

The Bachelorette has a far broader audience than party platforms or a completely uncompelling nomination process.

[Playa Manhattan.]

Sup, bro?

Another 52 week high today. I'm getting fatigue from these.

[Palin's Buttplug]

$3.95? You're close to a double.

I bought a lot of PGNX a while back and it will move big tomorrow. Bought some puts today in case it moves down.

[Playa Manhattan.]

More than double. I bought at 1.80. I dumped and re-bought, but that wasn't part of our bet, But nothing after Jan '16 was. It's past cup and handle now, and I'm riding the breakout.

I'll sell at 20, no sooner.

[wareagle]

Meanwhile, we have the Dem nominee, a woman whom the FBI Director says can't be trusted with national security secrets. 320-million and these are the choices. But there is this: a Trump win means that the media would return to actually doing its job as watchdog and Congress would mysteriously rediscover concepts like accountability and transparency.

[John]

Look wareagle. Hillary is a criminal guilty multiple felonies likely to and including bribery and outright treason. Sure she is wrong, but bribery and treason are wrong within the normal parameters for people like Matt. Suggesting that a judge who is a member of LaRaza might not give a fair hearing to a Republican Presidential candidate running on closing the borders is not. That is worse than treason. That is RACISM.

That is basically Matt and a lot of other people in the rightwing media's position.

[aftertouch]

Trump didn't know any of that when he made his comments. Besides, if a judge having political affiliations that are opposite those of one of the parties in a case makes him automatically biased, how can Federalist Society member Clarence Thomas ever vote on a case involving the Obama administration?

[John]

He knew all of that. And the federalist society is not LaRaza. You tell me, do you think that judge will give him a fair hearing? I don't. It is certainly not unreasonable to think he wouldn't.

Beyond that, even if he were wrong, Hillary is guilty of multiple felonies while serving as Secretary of State. That is about a thousand times worse than a Republican who is for closing the borders thinking a Mexican Demcoratic judge might not give him a fair shake in court.

[Suicidy]

One silver lining to a Trump presidency could be prosecution of Hillary, and possibly the Obama administration. I also hope he destroys the stranglehold traitors like Soros have on the media.

[MJBinAL]

You do know that La Raza is a race based group right? And the Federalist Society is a group based on the US founding documents? And you equated them?

[Mr Lizard]

Wow reason writers sure are trying hard not to get disinvited to the cocktail circuit...

[Dances-with-Trolls]

I fully expect that the Democratic part platform will get the exact same treatment.

[arbitrary wavefunction]

Seconded.

[Suthenboy]

It aint just Reason writers. The entire establishment and all of its acolytes and functionaries are losing their shit.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Disclosure: I used to work for Fox Business Network...

We remember.

[Suicidy]

Nothing wrong with that. They give Stossel his own show.

[arbitrary wavefunction]

have been subject to anti-Semitic slurs from Trump supporters

FFS, I have to do this AGAIN?! (admittedly in a slightly different way)

You link a stormfront blog to show who Trump supporters really are? Yeah, it's stormfront that is pushing Jewish conservatives away from conservatism. Because these dudes were huge Trump fans until the stormfront crowd showed up.

These are veterans. They know that no matter what side you choose, there are nasty elements of it.

Other than to attempt to tie Trump to stormfront, what was the point of that post?

[John]

The point of the post was for Matt to feel good about himself. That is the only point I can see. It sure as hell wasn't to convince anyone.

[Ken Shultz]

"Conservatism as we have known it these past 20-plus years will never be the same."

Thank God.

Now can they go back to the conservatism of Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan?

Hell, I'd settle for the conservatism of William F. Buckley.

'cause the conservatism of neconservatism and social conservatism they've had for the past 20-plus years absolutely sucked.

[Suthenboy]

^This x 10

[Suicidy]

I'm hoping for a return to McCarthyism, and a new Red Scare.

[OldMexican sine qua non]

the Murdoch family has decided to part ways with Fox News titan Roger Ailes in the wake of former anchor Gretchen Carlson's sexual harassment lawsuit.

Right. The woman who showed us her knickers every time she uncrossed her legs on camera on Fox & Friends is now accusing Ailes of looking at her bum. Please.

She was a lousy anchor who managed to turn any compelling issue or news into a borefest, especially while waiting for ever for her to make a point.

[John]

You said it Old Mexican. She was awful. The only thing that makes her claim believable is that it is hard to believe anyone would have hired her without the added bonus of a blowjob. If the people at Fox were not expecting sex from her, how the hell did she ever get hired?

[creech]

You know you Would.

[John]

Only if she promised not to talk during the act.

[Suicidy]

Hence the need to keep her mouth full.

[SIV]

both have been subject to anti-Semitic slurs from Trump supporters The Daily Stormer

And the inscription on the base of The Jonah Goldberg and David Podhoretz Were Insulted By Internet Neo-Nazi Trolls Memorial shall read NEVER AGAIN

[Ken Shultz]

"Conservatism as we have known it these past 20-plus years will never be the same."

Isn't that also what they said when Michelle Fields left Breitbart?

[SIV]

Grab its motherfucking arm

[Ken Shultz]

Now that Michelle Fields has left Breitbart, nothing will ever be the same!

[John]

Fields was the first recipient of the lifetime invite to the right parties award.

[SIV]

Has she landed an interview with the GEICO Gecko yet? I'm sure Miss Fields won't just throw softballs like Chelsea Clinton did.

[Crusty Juggler]

Say what you will about Chris Hayes, but he sure did look good as a blonde.

[Sidd Finch v2.01]

Re: Daily Stormer. This is hilarious.

[aftertouch]

We will hear much this week about dissonances like how the party of free trade is now becoming the party whose nominee describes trade agreements as "rape."

Is that really a dissonance? Trade agreements aren't usually comparable to free trade.

[John]

I think people like Welch are engaging in a form of magical thinking. The agreements contain the magic words "free trade" and therefore must really make trade freer. It is the only explanation I can see for them defending these agreements.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Except Trump isn't objecting to those agreements because he's in favor of actual free trade, he's proposing the opposite: trade protectionism. Which is worse than NAFTA and TPP.

[John]

No its not. TPP is nothing but cronyism. It is totally anti freedom. Letting transnational unaccountable organizations set our environmental and copyright and business laws in the name of trade harmonization is a hell of a lot worse than a few tariffs.

The entire country was built on tariffs. The US build the largest economy the world had ever seen in the late 19th Century with a brutally protected economy. Tariffs are nothing but a tax. And the economy adjusts to them just like any other tax. Are they ideal? No. But they are not some boogie man people like you have convinced yourself they are. Putting ourselves under the thump of the TPP is a hell of a lot worse. At some point, this is just a religion for some people. You guys can't talk rationally about it. You just have these beliefs and assumption that are beyond question. We might as well be talking about transubstantiation.

[You Sound Like a Prog (MJG)]

You're a joke.

[MJBinAL]

actually, he is correct

[BYODB]

Seriously? Jesus H. Christ John, this is a known fact of economics. Your head is so far up Trumps ass you're wearing his toupee.

[Suicidy]

You do know that not foaming at the mouth and losing your shit over everything Trumo says doesn't mean you're in the tank for Trump, right?

Maybe not.

[BYODB]

And for the record, we have over 10,000 tariffs as is. Trump apparently wants more, although he isn't necessarily willing to say on what goods or from what country even though he strongly implies China would be the target. Insanity? Yes, given that it would necessarily increase the cost of goods. If you're under the impression American industry isn't producing, you would be very wrong. We've never produced more.

[Suicidy]

Threatening China with tariffs to get them to back off on a number of their bullshit protectionist practices designed to crush American competitors is a good idea.

[woodrow]

Matt, your prose is excellent as usual (can politcal commentary be counted as prose?) Yes it can, I think Mark Twain proved it. Also you're inside baseball stuff is probably accurate, I have no way to know.

However, I believe Mike Pence's nomination increases liberty.

Heres how.

Assumptions:
-Pence shores up the base to vote for Trump
-Trump sticks to his rhetoric (he has never mentioned messing with first or second amendments)
-Clinton will continue to actively attack the first and second amendments. (In her party platform)
-the highest liberty is preserving amendmendments one and two

conclusionr

Of the two choices Reason said Pence does nothing for liberty. I disagree. Mike Pence shores up the conservative base for Trump. By making the election of Trump more likely it decreases the chance of Clinton. Clinton will actively attack the bill of rights and free markets. By preventing that, Pence moves freedom slowly forward. By electing trump there is hope for the first and second amendments. With Clinton there is none. Therefore freedom lays with Trump.

:

[

[Johnimo]

Fox News is now "Trump News." They have, in essence, signed their own death warrant. Some of them (are there any with self esteem left?) will be swimming away like rats on a sinking ship.

[Azathoth!!]

Early telegenic Newt Gingrich and the Republican Revolution of 1994 is impossible to contemplate without the feedback loop of Fox News (UPDATE: Of course, Fox News was founded in 1996, duh!).

This wasn't an update--it was an undermining. After posting this you should have just pulled an Emily Litella and said 'never mind' about the whole piece.

The media that helped Gingrich and the Republican Revolution was talk radio--and we all know who that means. And I don't think he's retiring.

[BYODB]

Is it...Pills McGee?

[BYODB]

Much like calling Democrats 'liberal', calling Republicans 'conservative' is something of a joke when neither of the two major party candidates are liberal or conservative, but rather different sides of the same crony capitalist hegemonic coin.

Just because liberal and conservative voters are willing to deny their fundamental beliefs to be on the winning team doesn't make the people they vote for any more liberal or conservative. It just makes them excellent liars.

[fas46024]

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[lukashik]

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