You would think that progressives would be dancin’ in the streets, getting drunk or high, high fiving everyone they know (from six feet away), celebrating the (apparent) election victory of former Vice President Biden. No more Bad Orange Man after January 20th. Democrats back in the White House. Good times to come.
You would be wrong.
Many progressives believe that rather than this being the season to celebrate Vice President Biden’s good fortune, ‘tis the season for retribution. And making lists.
Congresswoman Ocasio Cortez is one of the first. “Is anyone archiving these Trump sycophants for when they try to downplay or deny their complicity in the future?” she recently tweeted. The View co-host Sunny Hostin agrees with her.
Then there is the Trump Accountability Project. This group of Biden backers wanted to create a list of people who worked for or contributed to President Trump’s campaign or worked in his administration. The group hoped to publicly shame Trump supporters and prevent them from getting jobs, book deals, etc., after President Trump leaves office.
There are also calls for “Truth and Reconciliation Commissions.” The mini-Marxist (I saw that somewhere) Robert Reich is one of the most prominent supporters of this prospect. Another proponent of this commission is journalist Elie Mystal. He’s looking for a commission because “it would allow the American public to reckon with the abuses and violations committed not just by Trump but also by his many enablers.” Gotcha. Now I understand.
But that’s not all. You see, a Truth and Reconciliation Commission is necessary because all “of these moral and ethical failures need to be investigated, and that’s before we get into the actual statutory crimes potentially committed by Trump, his administration, his enablers and his family.”
So, you see, this commission is only a first step, a prelude to the sure-to-follow criminal prosecutions of Trump administration officials (as an aside, read Mystal’s article. It gives a good insight to the mind of someone seriously afflicted with Trump Derangement Syndrome. He starts out by lamenting the fact that President Obama did not appoint a special prosecutor when he took office to investigate the Bush administration over illegal detention and torture allegations. You remember President Obama, right? You know, the president who ordered a drone strike that killed three American citizens in Yemen? The president whose administration built and used the cages to hold minor immigrant children who entered the country illegally for which President Trump was initially castigated? The president whose immigration policies resulted in him being nicknamed the “deporter in chief?” The president who waged a war on whistleblowers, prosecuting eight whistleblowers under a 1917 law, more than twice as many as ALL prior presidents combined? Yeah, that president. I point this out because in the penultimate paragraph of the article Mystal whines that if President Trump and his followers aren’t somehow outed and punished, what will stop the next Republican administration from committing similar dastardly deeds? Mystal is The Nation’s “justice” correspondent. It is laughable).
Of course, no discussion of irrational hatred of President Trump is complete without mentioning the Lincoln Project. The self-proclaimed group of disaffected Republicans announced that they were starting a campaign to harass and intimidate the law firms and individual lawyers of the firms who were representing the Trump administration and Republican Party in suits seeking to expose irregularities in the November 3rd election. They are even contacting other clients of the firms, disparaging the firms’ legal actions on behalf of President Trump. One lawyer for the Trump campaign has received threats and was placed under police protection.
Rick Wilson is a vocal Trump opponent and Lincoln Project supporter. He is right up there with Mystal in terms of TDS. Here is his position on Trump supporters in a nutshell: “Only exposure, pain, humiliation, and (inshallah) incarceration will lead to a moment of reckoning for the GOP.”
Tell us how you really feel, Ricky.
BTW, the Trump Accountability Project, faced with online push back by conservatives, is no longer active.
So, there you have it. This is how progressives act when they win.
How about when they lose?
You can check out one of my prior posts about the discussions among the media and progressives about impeaching President Trump in 2016 before he was elected and after his election win, but before he took office (at the end of the post).
There were others who felt that the Electoral College electors should do something that has never happened in the country’s history-ignore their state’s voters and select Hillary Clinton because she won the popular vote, President Trump is a mean person and the Russians hacked the election. Those calling for the Electoral College electors to ignore President Trump’s electoral win included Peter Beinart, Robert Reich, Neera Tanden (more on her later), Paul Krugman and the always reliably anti-Trump Michael Moore.
Remember the television commercials with the Hollywood types imploring the electors to disregard their duty and do the right thing? Can you believe the electors didn’t listen to our Hollywood betters?
In short, now the Dems are upset that the president is contesting the election results when they did the same thing in 2016, trying to overturn President Trump’s electoral victory (which, under our Constitution, is the only victory that matters).
Neera Tanden is Biden’s nominee to be the Director of the Office of Management and Budget. Here is her November 2016 tweet about the emoluments clause, which progressives have alternated with Russian collusion as the reason President Trump should have been impeached. Tanden also pushed the Russians hacked the election trope (Tanden has become the most problematical nominee for the Biden transition team. Looks like both Republicans and Bernie Sanders’ supporters will have issues with her. She has deleted over a thousand tweets since November 1st, many about some Republican senators who will get to vote on her nomination. They do say the Internet lives on forever….).
As I have heard others say, if progressives didn’t have double standards, they would have no standards at all.
As an attempt at conciliation with those who will read this and disagree with me (I’m talking to you, Harry, and you, Rich) maybe it would be good for the country if we all step back and take Dave Chapelle’s advice.
I’ll try to do it if you will.
First of all you know I don’t hate you, quite the opposite.
Secondly I note no response to my recent queries. Was I wrong in anything I said and was I not respectful?
Third (I’m talking like Biden) you paint with an extremely broad brush. The democratic party is a big tent with a wide range of opinions. The Lincoln Project is your people but they make sense.
Fourth one has to give respect if one expects to get it in return (talking broadly, not you personally). Recall Mitch McConnell on inauguration day 2008 declared that his only mission was that Obama be a one term president and that he would not cooperate with him in anyway. It was 8 years later Trump fulfilled O’Connell’s wet dream. And to whom has Trump demonstrated any respect? Certainly not John McCain, Barack Obama, W, Bill Clinton or even George HW. Like them or not they had some statesmanlike qualities
Fifth and final to your point you impugn progressives and state categorically “As I have heard others say, if progressives didn’t have double standards, they would have no standards at all.” then you seek a Dave Chappell kumbaya. Do you see the disconnect?
I love Dave and I’ve seen that and I don’t disagree but, like your party, you are missing the point.
I know you don’t hate me.
I just posted a response to your comments to my prior post.
Like many Trump supporters, I am somewhat baffled by his comments over the years such as the ones directed at John McCain. But he is what he is. I pay more attention to what he does-reducing taxes, eliminating regulations, moving the embassy to Jerusalem, having Quassem Soleimani killed, withdrawing from the Paris Agreement and the Iran nuclear deal-than what he says. As I once said to you, I didn’t vote for him because I wanted to have a drink with him. I voted for him because he wasn’t Hillary. And I think he has done a tremendous job for the country.
I included the Chappell clip because his admonition to be a “humble winner” is in sharp contrast to those who want to make lists, deny Trump supporters jobs, etc. I know that many progressives are not like Michael Moore or Ocasio-Cortez. But plenty are. Even the Washington Post labeled the Trump Accountability Project and the like as McCarthyism.
To the extent that progressives are happy Biden won (if he did), look forward to having a Democrat in the White House and just want to move on from Trump, those people can be humble winners (like you). Ocasio-Cortez-Cortez, Rick Wilson, Eli Mystal and that ilk will never be humble winners.
Curious you raise the Chappell clip. Humble winners! The yin to that yang is gracious losers.
Here we are over a month after the election. All votes have been counted. All of the appropriate bodies have certified the results. The Trump appointed director of cybersecurity, Chris Krebs, said it was “the most secure in American history”. He got fired for that not for it being wrong. All of the 40+ lawsuits have been tossed our of court, some with particularly scathing comments by the judge. In a few days the electoral college is going to make it all official. Yet you, let alone Trump, can’t admit Biden won. And humble? Who is making all the noise at this late date about “stolen elections”, “fraud”, ballots hidden under rocks. Who keeps firing anyone who doesn’t agree with him? Which party has armed people in the state of Michigan threatening the government? There is little noise on the left my friend, the right is acting scary. Where’s the humility in that? Has Trump ever been gracious?
Incidentally, you never responded to my comment on barratry and the factless arguments Giuliani and company tried to make in court. The one you were researching. You don’t have to but, rest assured, if you or I tried to maintain some of those arguments we’d be at least censured if not disbarred for continuing to proffer crap and insisting that it’s gold.
Bottom line….I guess Dems are always angry about something! Imagine waking up in the morning and searching for that half-empty glass!
As a Constitutional Conservative, I always try to have a half-full glass in my hand; makes for a more enjoyable day.
As a constitutional conservative, have you noted which side is challenging the certified election results? Have you noted which side has had their lawsuits summarily tossed out of court for lack of evidence? Who’s angry?
So why do you say these things are good?
A. Moving the embassy to Jerusalem
B. The tax “cuts”. My overall taxes went up hence the quotes.
C. Pulling out of Paris Accords
D. Pulling out of Iran Nuclear deal.
A. President Trump kept his campaign promise, which neither Presidents Clinton nor G>W> Bush did. All the “experts” who said the move would be a catastrophe for the Middle East were wrong. See recent peace deals between Israel and Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.
B. From my understanding, the tax cuts were good for the wealthy, okay for lower income people and a mixed bag for the middle class. But they were very good for businesses, which was good for the economy pre-Wuhan virus.
C. President Trump felt the Accord did not benefit America. If it was such a good deal President Obama should have presented it as a treaty and sought Senate approval. Since it was an executive order, President Trump was not bound to it.
D.The deal did not stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons; it only delayed it. With the assassinations of Soleimani and the nuclear scientist, Iran may very well stop abiding by the deal (to the extent it was abiding by it).
A. That doesn’t really answer the question. Note how the Palestinians, the very people mostly directly effected, are no where to be seen in the equation.
B. The tax cuts that favored people like you and me are the first ones scheduled to go starting on 2021.
C. Climate change is a fact. All heat records since records have been kept have been broken multiple times worldwide in the last 10 years. November was the hottest November in history. The rest of the civilized world realizes the facts. America first makes no sense in a worldwide issue. What happens anywhere will ultimately come here. Don’t you think we should take a seat at the table?
In any event, I asked what you thought, not Trump.
D. Similarly. We had a treaty which, by all accounts, they were abiding. If the big fear is their getting nuclear weapons and the treaty was slowing their progress isn’t that a good thing? When you have diplomatic relationships you build on trust. When you tear up treaties you lose the relationship, you lose the trust and you demonstrate to the world that you cannot be trusted, your word is not your bond. What good comes of that? Deep sixing treaties on a whim is not demonstrative of leadership.
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