What Does Trump's Post-Election Behavior Tell Us About American Politics?

Also: Thanksgiving tips and reasons for gratitude, from The Reason Roundtable

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What Does Trump's Post-Election Behavior Tell Us About American Politics?

It's been a bad few days for Donald Trump's lawyers, court cases, and political party. But has it been bad for the rest of us as well?

That's the question dominating the second half of this week's Reason Roundtable. The first 30 minutes are all about this year's COVID-tainted Thanksgiving—recipes, serving strategies, tips for sidestepping political conversations, and grisly family traditions (including a "Cranberry Man" you cannot unhear). We also describe what we're thankful for, in a very on-brand way.

Speaking of which: Got questions for Roundtable podcasters Nick Gillespie, Peter Suderman, Matt Welch, and Katherine Mangu-Ward? Please email them to [e-mail] before December 1, and we will tackle them during our annual Webathon, which begins at the end of this month. You'll be glad you did!

Audio production by Ian Keyser and Regan Taylor.

Music "Pizzi Waltz" by Kadir Demir.

Relevant links from the show:

"A Scathing Ruling Against the Trump Campaign Highlights the Gap Between Rudy Giuliani's 'Massive Fraud' Claim and His Legal Arguments," by Jacob Sullum

"Senator Pat Toomey (R-PA) Statement on Court Ruling in Trump v. Boockvar Is Worth Reading," by Jonathan H. Adler

"Sidney Powell Now Claims Election Conspiracy Involved Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders," by Robby Soave

"Perils of Trump's Conspiracy-Mongering About the Election," by Ilya Somin

"Can We Please Be Done with This Already?" by Sasha Volokh

"'This Election Is a Joke,' Insists Libertarian-Leaning Congressman Andy Biggs," by Matt Welch

"As Trump's Election Conspiracy Theories Get Crazier, Some Republicans Are Finally Backing Away," by Eric Boehm

"Voters Wisely Chose Divided Federal Government," by Steven Greenhut

"The Voters Eschewed Extremism on Election Day," by Veronique de Rugy

"New York's COVID-19 Microcluster Whac-A-Mole Game," by Josh Blackman

"Andrew Cuomo's Emmy Award for His COVID-19 Briefings Is a Disgusting Prioritization of Style Over Substance," by Christian Britschgi

"More Cops Say They Won't Enforce Coronavirus Curfews," by Elizabeth Nolan Brown

"Why the Hell Don't We Have Enough Damned COVID-19 Tests After 8 Months of the Pandemic?" by Ronald Bailey

"Gavin Newsom's French Laundry Outing Crystallizes the Arrogance of COVID-19 Dictators," by Jacob Sullum

"Another Wave of Business Closures Devastates the Suffering Restaurant Industry," by Christian Britschgi

"Coronavirus Curfews Are Trending Again, Despite Total Lack of Evidence They Help," by Elizabeth Nolan Brown

"Why Libertarians Should Want More Trust in Government," by Nick Gillespie

What are we consuming this week?

Matt Welch

• Spike Jones and His City Slickers

Katherine Mangu-Ward

• Cocktails With Suderman

Peter Suderman

• Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War

Nick Gillespie

• Listening to Ecstasy, by Charles Winninger

---

Comments

[SaulRosenberg]

Everybody is a critic of Trump, but no one here even has the balls to do on one-hundredth of what he did in his life.
Like the olde saying goes "Everyone's a critic: when you are doing something good, everybody wants to bring you down, and that's something I've been told. People want to see you do good, but not too good."

[De Oppresso Liber]

The balls, or the $400 mil from daddy, tax free?

[JesseAz]

He didnt have to make up stories about his life on a libertarian website such as stealing someone's Valor.

[Wearenotperfect]

No but Trump did make up stories. You must be really tired of having to constantly cover for your president.

[Mother's Lament]

Let's explore that accusation for a second.
Give me an example where Trump purposefully and definitively lied. Not just weaselly complaints about when he exaggerated, or misspoke, or was misinformed, or held the wrong opinion or belief, but when actually said something untruthful with purposeful intent to decieve.

Because I can present a shitload of examples where veryimportant journalismers lied about Trump lying (including Sullum, ENB and the entire B-team), but I can't think of any examples from Trump.

[Syd Henderson]

Trump on Putin
“I got to know him very well because we were both on 60 Minutes, we were stablemates,” he said, then he seemed to reference the show’s ratings. “We did well that night.” Putin was on another continent.

He repeated this during one of the Republican presidential debates.

Then we get to the second Trump-Clinton: Trump said, "I don’t know Putin. I think it would be great if we got along with Russia because we could fight ISIS together, as an example. But I don’t know Putin."

So he knows Putin when it's convenient for him.

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[Chipper Morning Wood--------------------------------------------------------------------------]

It's not possible to argue facts with you retards. If someone posts a link about one of Trump's lies, you will attack the source and say it's not credible. If we go straight to the source and show you two of Trump's tweets that say the exact opposite of each other (there are legions of examples), you will either say he was kidding or meant something else, or totally ignore the issue and bring up something Obama or Biden said. So why bother. Best to just to amused at your delusions.

[John el Galto]

"Trump’s tweets that say the exact opposite of each other"

He's just trying to make your head explode. Seems like it's working.

[SQRLSY One]

Yes, making people's heads explode is what we should ALL aspire to, in our leaders! Our now-thank-Government-Almighty-fading-away POTUS did His VERY BEST to make people's heads explode, EVERYONE'S heads that is! But He failed! I, for one, still have my head! I have't become a TrumpTard yet! Never will!

Maybe next time around, you weasels can put your weasel-weight behind Alex Jones, and HE can make EVERYONE'S heads explode, to your eternal satisfaction! Alex for POTUS! Slogan: Jonesing for Jones!

Heads exploding! What ALL benevolent and wise people should aspire to! (So say evil assholes, at least).

[SQRLSY One]

Scanners, the movie, 1:29 into this clip...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YI3NoBeNwfk

THIS is what the ideal POTUS does to people! In the minds of evil-worshipping TrumpTards such as John el Diablo, at least!

(I'm felling kinda sick, now, after watching that! I think I'm gonna go to the John and make a John el Diablo).

[Paul McCartney]

If someone posts a link about one of Trump’s lies, you will attack the source and say it’s not credible.

"You can't argue with people who don't uncritically accept everything they are told by the New York Times!"

Projection is the process of displacing one’s feelings onto a different person, animal, or object. The term is most commonly used to describe defensive projection—attributing one’s own unacceptable urges to another. For example, if someone continuously bullies and ridicules a peer about his insecurities, the bully might be projecting his own struggle with self-esteem onto the other person.

[Mother's Lament]

As a welfare sucking socialist you should be the last person squawking about nursing your livelihood from big daddies teats, Jeff.

[raspberrydinners]

Yes, much better to tax the rich less and tax ourselves more to make up the deficit.

[TJJ2000]

"Yes, much better to" ... ONLY TAX for federal delegated powers EQUALLY as instructed by the U.S. Constitution... Of which the Trump Administration undeniably did the BEST job at following the Constitution ever seen in the last Decade.

[Paul McCartney]

Lmfao, it's awesome when you reply to posts addressed to your name on the wrong sock you utter fucking retard.

[Union of Concerned Socks]

Yeah, I never had the balls to fuck a porn star.

[Dillinger]

have faith dude. they're just chicks.

[Chipper Morning Wood--------------------------------------------------------------------------]

That's what SIV always says!

[Chipper Morning Wood--------------------------------------------------------------------------]

Eat a record number of Big Macs?

[JesseAz]

Are you the most mad that he is funnier than you? Be honest.

[raspberrydinners]

You really are pathetic. Quite.

[De Oppresso Liber]

Jesse, there there. Dry those eyes on Rudy's hankie. Make sure it's booger side out.

[SQRLSY One]

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[Paul McCartney]

Tell us more about the Mueller report resulting in Trump's impeachment and criminal indictment for conspiracy with Russia.

[dafel52744]

I get paid over $190 per hour working from home with 2 kids at home. I never thought I'd be able to do it but my best friend earns over 15k a month doing this and she convinced me to try.........EARN DOLLARS.

[Dillinger]

I can't imagine any of you at the Roundtable would act one bit different if your oval office was at stake.

[Chipper Morning Wood--------------------------------------------------------------------------]

I've never heard that particular euphemism before.

[SQRLSY One]

I have been know, from time to time, to drive my stake through an oval orifice, yes...

Don't try this trick at home! If you MUST insist on trying such foolishness, watch out for bear traps, and for bandersnatches!

[Dillinger]

I typed orifice and erased it because too easy good catch

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

What does the media's pre-election behavior tell us about American politics?

[Don't look at me!]

Maybe everyone will wake up to the fact that all politicians and those who support them are terrible people.

[IceTrey]

It's a lesser of two evils thing. The left has gone full commie. Trump might be a crony capitalist but at least he's a capitalist.

[Wearenotperfect]

It tells us that politicians are cry baby sore losers, some more so than others.

[Paul McCartney]

We'll have to see if Trump spends the next 4 years on a media campaign to have Joe Biden impeached on the basis of an oppo dossier commissioned by the RNC after illegally spying on his transition team to know which is which, I suppose.

[JesseAz]

What does reasons new flood of Biden warning articles that were mysteriously missing prior to an election tell us about theirs?

[creech]

Pretty much everything I know about bad Biden proposals comes from Reason. You certainly did see it in the MSM.

[Nardz]

Leftists do not believe in inalienable rights and are malicious totalitarians.
Act accordingly.

[Rev. Arthur L. Kirkland]

Open wider, bigoted clingers.

[Union of Concerned Socks]

You clever dick, you

[De Oppresso Liber]

^ dweeb

[Paul McCartney]

Fuck around and find out you stupid motherfucker. I've given you the open invitation dozens of times.

[Cal Cetín]

Since the arc of history seems to be bending toward Biden, I guess the next step for the Democrats, after January, is to hold Congressional hearings exposing the conspiracy theories surrounding this election.

Bring in all the witnesses who claim the Dems cheated and expose them as liars.

Honorable Republicans will of course be compelled to shamefacedly admit that this was the cleanest, most honestest election in American history.

Reputable journalists, including those who went into it expecting to find fraud, will come back to report there was no such thing and it was all squeaky clean.

Exposing the phony conspiracy theories will at least do justice to history and show to any unbiased person that Dems are honest.

I'm sure the Dems will get right to work on that investigation.

/sarc

[Outlaw Josey Wales]

OJ will champion the cause. After he catches the killer of course.

[Rev. Arthur L. Kirkland]

The Trump administration just acknowledged a transition is appropriate and to begin immediately.

Backwater bigots, superstitious slack-jaws, poorly educated clingers, disaffected incels hardest hit.

[Titus PUllo]

Janet Yellen? Seriously...she is an dolt who gets on her knees every morning for some Keynsian "stuff"

[De Oppresso Liber]

Like deficit spending to heat up the economy? Trump is a big fan of Keynesian policy.

[Cal Cetín]

Come on, Rev, time to refute the conspiracy theories about the election by holding a full investigation. Get your most impartial investigators and most incorruptible journalists on the case.

The result would be a detailed, point-by-point refutation of all the fraud claims. The clingers wouldn't believe it, of course, but the swing voters would.

What better way to heal?

[Lord of Strazele]

The states run the elections and there are plenty of Republicans running those state legislatures so have at it. I wonder how the close to 80 million Biden voters will feel about you Republicans trying to disenfranchise them?

[Cal Cetín]

But don't you see, since there's been no cheating and the Dems' behavior was impeccable, the investigation will vindicate them, not disenfranchise their voters!

https://reason.com/podcast/2020/11/23/what-does-trumps-post-election-behavior-tell-us-about-american-politics/#comment-8601499

[Cal Cetín]

I'm wondering how my idea for an inquiry by "impartial investigators" and "incorruptible journalists" will lead to mass disenfranchisement. What are you worried about?

[Rev. Arthur L. Kirkland]

I hope investigations occur. Mostly because they could generate some disbarments or prosecutions for falsification to authorities, or destroy some reputations that deserve it.

They should not interfere with the transition in the reality-based world, however.

[Titus PUllo]

And Biden's first picks are the same old same old..Janet "I failed basically economics while dreaming of giving old pedo Keynes oral", a globalist running State who can't wait to get young American Christians killed for Goldman sachs and wait for it...a liberal art major who couldn't pass physics 101 running "climate change."...yep same old liberal art ivy league elites...and they will care about middle America? And who votes for these parasites? Those that benefit from their policies..govt workers, govt contractors, and people who get a check..

"Choose your State"....every Red county in a deep Blue State should be able to leave..Western PA and Western NY can join Ohio, same for rural MI, WI, MN, IL and so on...freedom...

[Sarah Palin's Buttplug 2]

No administration was ever more Keynesian that Trump/Powell/Mnuchin and their $3.1 trillion handout of future taxpayer money and the trillions the Fed/Powell larded up on - and Powell was Trump's handpicked helicopter giveaway Fed Chair.

[Chipper Morning Wood--------------------------------------------------------------------------]

That's Congress' fault, duh!

[TJJ2000]

And 87% written by [D] Congressmen. Wonder why lefties are such partisan hacks.. Oh yeah; they are the [WE] mob. It's not about the policy it's about the mob-color and identity politics.

[Paul McCartney]

Obama managed to accumulate more debt in both nominal and adjusted terms, but OK.

[Brandybuck]

Desperation? Ginning up the base? Dementia? And that's just Guiliani.

Remember when Guiliani was the bad guy because he mocked Ron Paul? When did libertarians decide that Rudy was their Great White Hope?

Trump: Desperation? Ginning up the base? Dementia? Michigan just certified their election. What will Trump do on the 14th? On the 20th? Will he need to be forcibly evicted from the White House?

[Roberta]

Strange bedfellows, you know.

[Paul McCartney]

A presidential candidate waiting a month to concede while legal challenges are pending? Unprecedented! For those too young to vote, anyway.

[Kungpowderfinger]

It's been a bad few days for Donald Trump's lawyers, court cases, and political party.

I’d say especially bad for the Republicans. They’re very likely about to lose the Senate. And judging from the 2016 presidential primary, Cruz or Rubio are the only shot they have of getting the White House back. Two candidates that the GOP have no interest in backing.

Maybe their plan going forward is to become the permanent minority party. The Democrats seem happy to help them achieve their goal.

[De Oppresso Liber]

They are the permanent minority party from here on out. They've been focused solely on electoral tricks and gamesmanship rather than trying policy or coalition building.

[Chipper Morning Wood--------------------------------------------------------------------------]

Yeah. this. Instead of expanding their base, they have gone all in on getting the core base super excited and motivated to show up and vote. Two problems - only Trump can do that and now they don't trust the elections. Combine that with their shrinking numbers and the writing is on the wall. Actively choosing to embrace getting covid also doesn't help.

[Red Rocks White Privilege]

Huh, I kept hearing in the press that it was actually minorities that have been hardest hit by the coof. Is that why more of them voted for Trump this time around?

[Paul McCartney]

Lmfao. Yeah the party that calls half the country deplorable and has their base out in the streets rioting, maiming, murdering, stealing, vandalizing, burning, and destroying are all about unity and those goddamned 'publicans are just shitting in the punch bowl.

[Red Rocks White Privilege]

Oh, Jesus fuck. Democrats have been claiming this since FDR. If the party was run largely by the Romney or McCain types, you might have something, but most of those guys are either nerfed or Democrats now themselves.

Republicans have had far more success in the last 14 years running on populist messages than the neocon globalist one. Expect that to continue as long as Democrat governors keep cornholing small businesses and their party leaders keep selling out to China.

[John el Galto]

Yeah...due to Democrat fraud. But don't worry, Republicans dominate state legislatures which means we're about to gerrymander you bitches out of your seats next year.

[Roberta]

No such thing as permanent in politics. People have been forecasting "permanent" for about 30 years, only to have it switch back. On top of that, Republicans are in either the dominant or a competitive position in so many states, you couldn't rightly even see their minority status as having begun yet.

[wreckinball]

The dopey fill in party that just lost here claim that they will never get back into power. never heard that before LOL

[Roberta]

Rubio unfortunately is favored by the neocons. Cruz has more grass roots support, however.

[Brandybuck]

They've destroyed themselves, kicked out any remaining conservative intellectuals, and bet it all on a septuagenarian conspiracy monger. I don't see the GOP coming back for at least four election cycles.

The Democrats are imploding too. They're now the far left party opposed to the far right party. Room is open for two new parties, a center left and a center right party. But our system won't allow the major parties to make way for upstarts. It hasn't happened in almost two centuries.

[Paul McCartney]

Maybe their plan going forward is to become the permanent minority party.

That was the plan back in 2016 when they desperately tried to make Jeb! happen, Trump just put the brakes on their train temporarily. The hilarious thing is going to be when they shoot themselves in the dick and lose their grift as the minority party when the Democrats suspend elections, add 2 new states to the union, pack the supreme court, and start murdering people for owning scary black guns.

[raspberrydinners]

It tells you one party is off the fucking rails and it isn't the Democrats.

Rs deserve to be sent to the annals of history and have an actual conservative party come about. They're far past embarrassing. Only the true rubes think they're at all worth more than what someone left in the toilet.

[IceTrey]

Hillary literally told Biden not to concede that they would take it to the courts but now that the shoe is on the other foot the Dems have become whiny little bitches.

[Lord of Strazele]

Trump did literally try rig the election by purposefully fucking up mail delivery knowing Democratic votes would most impacted. And then state level Republicans were closing polling stations and making it difficult to vote. You mfers are straight up crazy to not recognize it or maybe you see it but are too chickenshit to acknowledge it?

[IceTrey]

I guess that's why the Dems had to manufacture so many.

[John el Galto]

"making it difficult to vote."

This is the Democrat way of saying "preventing fraud."

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[TJJ2000]

"It tells you one party is off the fucking rails and it..." MOST CERTAINLY IS THE ONE TRYING TO TURN THE USA INTO A COMMUNIST NATION!

[Paul McCartney]

Hi cytotoxic/chemjeff.

[Bill Godshall]

For decades, Reason endorsed the Constitution and advocated libertarianism, free markets and free minds.

But instead of respecting the US Constitution's rules for selecting presidents, Reason has become obsessed with repeating anti Trump propaganda to promote Biden.

[Bill Godshall]

If/when Trump concedes the election to Biden, he should do so at the same time he announces that he'll run again for President in 2024.

[John el Galto]

Grover Cleveland 2.0, YES!

[TJJ2000]

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[TJJ2000]

"tell us about American Politics"? That while Trump was the best we've seen to conquer the invasion of [WE] mob governing over the USA's very foundation his one term wasn't enough and electing the [WE] mob leader as president isn't the right path to keeping or returning to the once great nation this use to be.

[Ken Shultz]

What does the American people's deep reluctance to accept the Democrats taking power tell us about American society?

1) The credibility of the news media is shot with half the American public.

2) The Democrats' agenda is terrifying to at least half the country.

[wreckinball]

And the zeal to enact that agenda. I mean it's certainly not a "both sides" thing anymore. I don't recall R's recruiting folks to move rto another state and commit voter fraud to swing an election.

[Ken Shultz]

The reason average Americans don't argue about the Fermi paradox or string theory isn't because they don't know anything about those two issues. It's because the controversy over those issues doesn't threaten their standard of living or their quality of life. If believing in string theory had a major impact on the economy, one way or the other, average Americans would know all about it.

This is the reason so many Americans are reluctant to believe that the climate is changing as a result of human activity. If this were merely an academic exercise, people might be more inclined to listen to those who buy into AGW--but then they wouldn't really be interested in the issue at all. However, because the Democrats are using man made climate change as an excuse to force us all to sacrifice our standard of living, it isn't just an academic exercise. Because the Democrats are forcing people to choose between listening to scientists or sacrificing our standard of living, plenty of them, quite rationally, are choosing their standard of living and ignoring the science.

Likewise, the reluctance of people to accept a Democrat in the White House is being driven by the Democrats zeal in their agenda. On Biden's own website(s), he's promising to enact the Green New Deal, unleash a War on Guns, and impose Medicare for All--and the Democrats in Congress are even more radical than Biden. It is unreasonable to expect those who oppose these policies to simply roll over and accept the verdict of the media under those circumstances. If the Democrats' agenda weren't so radical, their opponents wouldn't be so reluctant to accept their victory--and people would be more likely to accept what the news media is telling them.

[Jose Ortega y Gasset returns]

The credibility of news media is shot with more than half of the American public. Pew Research, 69 percent of American think the media try to cover up their mistakes. And 80 percent think the news is influenced by financial and corporate interests. The decline in confidence in the media isn't new and isn't unique to one political party.

Party affiliations are at about 30% for each major political party, with about 40 percent independent. The hard-core partisans are a subset of those smaller-than-one-third slices. For the sake of discussion, let's say half. So what's really happening is about 30 percent of the American population hates the bloody guts of "the other side." And as evidenced by this forum, the partisans don't see nuance. If you are 100 percent onboard with Trump or you are a "lefty" or . What's terrifying, Ken, is that as a nation, Americans cannot respectfully disagree and exist in a tolerant, pluralistic society.

[Ken Shultz]

My source is Gallup for the credibility of the media being shot but it reinforces what you're reading at Pew.

According to Gallup, September 30, 2020, 89% of Republicans say they have very little or no trust in the news media and 64% of Independents say they have very little or no trust in the news media.

https://news.gallup.com/poll/321116/americans-remain-distrustful-mass-media.aspx

Instead of yelling at these people for not believing what they're told, we should be asking why they're so reluctant to believe what they're told.

I suspect one of the reasons they're reluctant to believe the media is because the media has been ridiculous in its bias over the last four years, not just with their coverage of Trump (with the Russia conspiracy being one example) but also with their coverage of think like "protests"--which remain "mostly peaceful protests", even when they are describing rampaging mobs of looters and arsonists.

I suspect another reason so many average people are reluctant to believe what they're told is that as the mainstream media has become a mouthpiece for the Democratic party, the Democratic party has been broadcasting its open contempt for whites, blue collar workers, and the working middle class.

You can only tell people you hate them for being white (racist), Christian (homophobic), blue collar (xenophobic), Midwestern (redneck), etc. for so long before they start to believe you, and nobody wants to be forced to depend on the mercy of those who hate them to protect their rights. They certainly aren't about to roll over just because the media says the people who hate them won fair and square.

[Jose Ortega y Gasset returns]

For the record, I'm not yelling at anyone. I think the core problem is less "the main stream media" and more than one can find a media outlet to conform to an existing world view. People generally decide what they believe and then filter out any contradictory information. This is an issue far bigger than partisan politics. Put simply, Ken, I don't buy your whole narrative.

What we have now are propaganda mills. That's why I generally favor non-U.S.-based outlets like The Economist. It's much easier to find clear-eyed reporting of the U.S. from external sources. The propaganda mills foment hate, loathing, resentment, and fear of "the other." Fox News and MSNBC are just two sides of the same odious coin... and both sides want to sell you on the notion that they are speaking the truth and that institutional media cannot be trusted. So what we've come to is a point where every institution is thought to be entirely full of shit. And a low-trust society is more prone to authoritarian regimes than a high-trust society.

Fear, hate, and blame. Once we believe "the others" are all acting in bad faith, it's a short walk to the rhetoric we see on H&R, i.e., "the others" don't deserve to live. If you have concluded the Democrats are entirely acting in bad faith and the Republicans in good... you are part of the problem.

[SQRLSY One]

Thank you, Jose Ortega y Gasset returns... For a voice of moderation!

"My side purely good; your side purely evil".

We have a problem here!

I highly recommend the writings of Jonathan Haidt, "The Righteous Mind". https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0307455777/reasonmagazinea-20/

The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion

[TJJ2000]

"If you have concluded the Democrats are entirely acting in bad faith" --- but they ARE!!!! Republicans have their fair share of 'bad faith' also but to a much lesser extent.

It's not right that federal representatives are representing the DESTRUCTION of the USA's Supreme Law. (PERIOD!) There's nothing sophisticated about it.

[Jose Ortega y Gasset returns]

I know Democrats and Republicans. While I generally disagree with them all, most hold their beliefs in good faith. Democrats believe government can fix every problem. I disagree. I'm not really sure what Republicans believe anymore, but they are generally prudes, and hold their prudish beliefs in good faith. Of course, there are fanatics (increasing in volume, if not number) who hate "the others," but rarely do I see them in person, not up close anyway. It's a short walk from seeing the other side as evil to stuffing people into cattle cars. Americans used to know that, but they seem to have forgotten.

[TJJ2000]

And Nazi's were just 'people' too... Too bad the USA had to stuff the Nazi's into cattle cars. Gosh; how prudish of them.... They should've just let the Nazi's (National Socialists) conquer the world... /s

Your corrupted dismissal of labeling those who stand on principles of Individual Justice & Liberty (U.S. Constitution) as prudish and/or hateful is just a lefty fly-by tactic. (i.e. "Why should anyone care if Nazi's take over the USA? Aren't they 'people' too?).

[Ken Shultz]

[Republicans] are generally prudes, and hold their prudish beliefs in good faith."

I believe this stopped being true a long time ago, and it's the Democrats who are generally prudes now.

Roseanne can't be on her own TV show anymore because she said something offensive.

Norm McDonald can't go on The Tonight Show anymore because he said Roseanne should be forgiven.

When I'm talking about "prudes", I'm talking about people who think others should be sanctioned for doing things that are considered inappropriate, and that attitude is practically shared universally by Democrats right now. It's what we're talking about when we're talking about "cancel culture".

[Jose Ortega y Gasset returns]

Not to go all OED, but prudish is directly linked to nudity and sex. Pedantic point aside, I hear what your saying. I also know Democrats who think the PC stuff is wrong. Democrats are not Brooklyn Twitter. It can feel like finding a Republican who isn't anti-porn, but they are out there. Probably. Somewhere.

Cancel culture" isn't new nor is it exclusively left wing. Puritanism was cancel culture sponsored by The Lord Our God.

Much like government reflects culture, so does media. Americans are the Kardashians. They are OANN. Gresham's Law applies to more than just money.

[TJJ2000]

I'd guess you probably live in UT? There's no denying that certain area's where Mormons are heavy seems one can always finds that nitch collective wanting to start legislating their religious morality into law. Let's not pretend that's just a Republican thing though; As already pointed out the entire Left is going on a P.C. "cancel culture" crusade. The comforting part is that nitch of Republicans is actually quite small and generally keeps their moral codes local instead of trying to Slam it UN-Constitutionally across the entire Nation like EVERYTHING the Democrats do.

[Ken Shultz]

Even on overt sexuality, if that's your standard, Republicans are generally more tolerant of that than Democrats these days--especially in the wake of #MeToo. Public displays of heterosexuality are far less tolerated among progressives. If a new Star Trek came out with miniskirt uniforms for women a la the original Star Trek, who do you imagine would be more offended--Republicans or progressives?

[Ken Shultz]

"What we have now are propaganda mills. That’s why I generally favor non-U.S.-based outlets like The Economist."

I read both Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal--left and right sides of the same issues. I've read the Economist in the past. I read news sources a I disagree with, and sources that agree with me. I find journalists I think are credible--like Masha Gessen, who is both a Trump critic and will defend him when it's appropriate (as she did in the case of the Russia conspiracy). But the solution for you and me isn't the solution for everybody. And the solution for everybody isn't what they read--because they aren't about to read their news anyway.

The problem with broadcast news isn't that entrepreneurs are catering to different audiences. The problem with broadcast news is that it's been dominated by market considerations that have more to do with the way broadcast media has been delivered in the past--and that's through cable. The problem with broadcast news is that it hasn't been targeting half of the population--and that's why half of news consumers believe that the news media is biased against them.

In short, when the dynamics of the marketplace were driven by carriage fees by cable companies, all the broadcast networks and the cable news companies were shielded from the negative consequences of neglecting half of their audience. Because you're paying a monthly fee to have a channel included on your cable company's lineup whether you watch it or not, the news program or news channel doesn't really care how many people are watching. They get paid for you having that channel in your lineup whether you watch it or not!

That is a recipe for ignoring the tastes of whatever half of your viewers, and the solution is streaming. I can name three live streaming cable replacement options that don't include broadcast or cable news. As the streaming revolution continues, we're likely to see more and more news broadcast become more and more concerned with how many people are actually watching their broadcasts because their revenue stream will become much more sensitive to that.

[Ken Shultz]

P.S.

Sling doesn't carry network news (or the broadcast networks) and costs $30 - $45 a month for all the other cable channels you live.

Philo doesn't offer broadcast channels or the major cable news channels, and it costs $20 a month.

Tvision Vibe (new entrant) costs $10 a month for cable channels without news.

As streamers continue to eat away at and tear down the cable model, news services will be forced to compete for actual viewers. Some of the second and third tier opinion shows on MSNBC attract fewer viewers than a coed on YouTube streaming bikini try on videos from her dorm room. As streaming continues to drive news rooms to compete for viewers, that kind of heavily biased news program won't be able to stay on the air if it can't generate enough revenue from advertisers to justify at least the production costs.

[Chrlies_Kevin]

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[Union of Concerned Socks]

That pointless rhetorical questions about hot button topics make good clickbait.

[wreckinball]

That big blue D cities are as corrupt as hell. That was known and unfortunately accepted? That mail in voting, cheat by mail, expands the ability to cheat by a ton.

That courts can now change election laws as they see fit even though the constitution says its state legislatures.

That just hard evidence of cheating is not enough to nullify the results That when it comes to vote cheating the onus is on the cheated to demonstrate that the cheater cheated enough.

[wreckinball]

Its comical. I mean the "no fraud" folks quickly devolve to just some fraud and can you prove the extent of it even though we breached the defense mechanisms like poll observers.

Its like catching the Astros stealing pitch signs and then the Astros claiming well can you prove we stole enough signs to affect the result?

[Jose Ortega y Gasset returns]

Suderman is a human run-on sentence.

[loveconstitution1789]

You heard it from unreason. Using rule of law to challenge fraud in election is BAD.

Using rule of man to conduct "peaceful" riots to challenge Biden possibly losing is GOOD.

[Bill Godshall]

Although the mainstream media have championed left wing policies and campaigned for Democrats (and against Republicans) since the 1960s, Reason had always been an independent voice for libertarianism, that is until Koch bought Reason and until Trump ran for president in 2016.

Since then, Reason has become another left wing anti Trump (and anti Republican) organization, with an occasional sprinkling of pro liberty articles to deceive readers into believing left wing policies and politicians are actually libertarian policies and politicians.

Similarly, Fox News has discarded much of its Conservatism during the past four years (but not its anti abortion or other Christian theocracy policies), moved left during the Trump era, and now appears to have gone ALL IN for Biden (except for Tucker, Sean and Laura).

Such a shame.

[Jose Ortega y Gasset returns]

It's not Reason; it's you. Some of the Reason writers occasionally get "the swoons" for a Republican (Ron Paul, Rand Paul, etc.). Overall, however, they tend to be independent thinkers. And they do evolve. Ron Bailey shifted on climate change in response to scientific data. To the climate change deniers, he became persona non grata, a liberal shill, etc. To me, he's just a thoughtful, intelligent person who is open to revisiting his conclusion. Like most small "l" libertarians, I find Democrats and Republicans engaged in a constant competition to prove they are dumber and more authoritarian than the other. Just when one pulls ahead, the other rallies.

[TJJ2000]

There's a vast (as in opposites) difference between rallying for LIMITED Government and rallying because Trump is DE-REGULATING Government....

Take your every Republican is just a Democrat theory and stick it where the sun doesn't shine. Republicans believe in the USA, Democrats want to destroy it for Communism --- EVERYONE KNOWS IT.... The fact that our vote shows city people here support the destruction of the USA is just sick. WHY do they have to destroy the whole freak-en nation??? WHY? Why can't they just keep their policy in there OWN sh*thole???

[Jose Ortega y Gasset returns]

Republicans want to tell me what to do, using the full force of the government. So do Democrats. Both tell me it's in my best interest whether it's regulating the food I eat or what I watch online. Just because you think one group of gaolers is all "USA! USA!" doesn't mean diddly to me.

[TJJ2000]

So De-Regulation is "using the full force of the government"????

And banning soda pop, brown bags, gas cars, theft to pay Paul, EPA regulations that make equipment that doesn't run, national COVID-19 restrictions, national healthcare monopoly, the federal reserve funny-money, forcing teacher to teach for free or forcing the SLAVERY of others ISN'T????

Where-ever it is you're getting your information; it is full of B.S.

[Jose Ortega y Gasset returns]

Deregulation is one word, no hyphen. To their credit, the Trump administration did preside over some deregulation. They also imposed new regulations and limitations on freedom. New restrictions on immigration. A trade war. Deficit spending. Continuation and expansion of the war on drugs. Expansion of the security/police state. Oh, and wherever is one word.

[TJJ2000]

It's rather ironic that the "Trade War" is but a "tax" funding a nation-to-nation government body on nation-to-nation merchandise.

My State sales tax is a "Trade War"?!?!?!

And heaven forbid that a nation actually have Land Borders and a decent amount of claimed-respect for those borders. I mean it's not as if millions lost their life setting claim to the land within those borders.

It's impossible to be invaded is everyone's back-yard is a free-for-all;; right?

Deficit spending - is crappy under both Administrations but Trump still has yet to break Obama's 1st Term and one thing that's undeniable is every Democrat just wants MORE spending.

I'm not seeing the expansion of drug wars (especially with Deregulation the FDA) nor a stronger national policing. State policing shouldn't have anything to do with federal.

[Eman]

That America is finally ready for a president Steve Harwell?

[Michael Ejercito]

I will cite Michael Tracey.

http://mtracey.medium.com/i-wouldnt-gloat-if-i-were-you-49b2692feb59

I know we’re all tired of the polling-industrial complex and rightly so, but let’s please remember that a December 2016 YouGov poll found half of all Clinton voters that year didn’t just believe that Russia “interfered” in the election to the advantage of Trump, but that they tampered with the ballot tallies and effectively hacked the voting machines. By 2018, a supermajority of Democratic voters expressed this belief.

The phrase “hacked the election” entered wide circulation by December 2016, with the New York Times among others spouting it without compunction.

I concur with Tracey when he wrote.

So unless you’re one of the vanishingly few people in media who opposed the movement to de-legitimize the previous election, you’ve forfeited any standing to sneer at the current de-legitimization movement. The precedent’s already been created and you’re complicit. Enjoy.

[Moderation4ever]

Kathrine Mangu-Ward speaks to a need to improve election security to avoid the shadows being thrown on this election. The problem here is that politicians on both sides have less interest in creating security as they have in advantaging their voters. I have no problems with voter ID but it has to be an ID that is easily obtained and used. I have noted before in the Reason comments that signatures are antiquated and provide no real assurance. We also need to make voting easier so that all citizens have the opportunity to cast their vote. I also believe that mail in voting is here to stay and we should focus on making people comfortable the results of mail in ballots.

[usmankhan]

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[mapol]

Donald Trump is a bad sport. and a sore loser! That's the bottom line here!