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[] | 2021-01-07T21:47:18 | null | 2021-01-07T00:00:00 |
Trump Should Apologize to Vice President Pence | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F07%2Ftrump_should_apologize_to_vice_president_pence_532882.html.json
|
en
| null |
Trump Should Apologize to Vice President Pence
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
The storming of the US Capitol yesterday by a group of fired-up Trump supporters was a tragedy for the Republican party, for conservatives and populist nationalists, and for Donald Trump and his legacy.
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/07/trump_should_apologize_to_vice_president_pence_532882.html
|
en
| 2021-01-07T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/2c91b22f9a8aff0ecf1def3962e69cb0a318bc1c2418038cc422c24f263dafc9.json
|
[
"The storming of the US Capitol yesterday by a group of fired-up Trump supporters was a tragedy for the Republican party, for conservatives and populist nationalists, and for Donald Trump and his legacy.",
"Trump Should Apologize to Vice President Pence",
"Trump Should Apologize to Vice President Pence | RealClearPolitics"
] |
|
[] | 2021-01-13T15:00:32 | null | 2021-01-13T00:00:00 |
Hold Twitter to Account | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F13%2Fhold_twitter_to_account_533373.html.json
|
en
| null |
Hold Twitter to Account
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
This is not a theoretical debate in free speech, but rather a demand for an equal standard for those who use Twitter to incite violence.
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/13/hold_twitter_to_account_533373.html
|
en
| 2021-01-13T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/092dd424bdbcb683d6abd78cd4db3468a43e2d2015c9e4cb99c1fa48affed40f.json
|
[
"This is not a theoretical debate in free speech, but rather a demand for an equal standard for those who use Twitter to incite violence.",
"Hold Twitter to Account",
"Hold Twitter to Account | RealClearPolitics"
] |
|
[] | 2021-01-10T22:03:55 | null | 2021-01-10T00:00:00 |
The Four Childhoods of Modern Man | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F10%2Fthe_four_childhoods_of_modern_man_533138.html.json
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/favicon.ico
|
en
| null |
The Four Childhoods of Modern Man
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
| null |
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/10/the_four_childhoods_of_modern_man_533138.html
|
en
| 2021-01-10T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/4f387d70cb49c04d06d85a9278f0a2d7441aabe7974d8b5af94ce9f87ac48186.json
|
[
"The Four Childhoods of Modern Man",
"The Four Childhoods of Modern Man | RealClearPolitics"
] |
[] | 2021-01-23T21:47:29 | null | 2021-01-23T00:00:00 |
How Biden Plans to Beat Republican Obstructionism | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F23%2Fhow_biden_plans_to_beat_republican_obstructionism_534152.html.json
|
en
| null |
How Biden Plans to Beat Republican Obstructionism
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
Joe Biden’s team is planning a party. His inauguration on Wednesday, held under threat from the coronavirus and pro-Trump extremists, wasn’t much of a celebration. But the Biden administration hopes that January 20, 2022—a year from now—will mark what some aides are describing as a “renewing of the vows,” an anniversary that could be a genuinely happy moment.
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/23/how_biden_plans_to_beat_republican_obstructionism_534152.html
|
en
| 2021-01-23T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/cdbfcb4beff0ea5045b83a69e8480d38c1308c12b12db7bea391f3ab713f11b4.json
|
[
"Joe Biden’s team is planning a party. His inauguration on Wednesday, held under threat from the coronavirus and pro-Trump extremists, wasn’t much of a celebration. But the Biden administration hopes that January 20, 2022—a year from now—will mark what some aides are describing as a “renewing of the vows,” an anniversary that could be a genuinely happy moment.",
"How Biden Plans to Beat Republican Obstructionism",
"How Biden Plans to Beat Republican Obstructionism | RealClearPolitics"
] |
|
[] | 2021-01-05T09:25:33 | null | 2021-01-04T00:00:00 |
The Party of Lincoln Is No More | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F04%2Fthe_party_of_lincoln_is_no_more_532657.html.json
|
en
| null |
The Party of Lincoln Is No More
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
The Party of Lincoln Is No More
Never mind sedition – for the secession caucus, defeat by Barack Obama’s successor and a black woman is just too much to bear
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/04/the_party_of_lincoln_is_no_more_532657.html
|
en
| 2021-01-04T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/bd5322c1785cdb8cfbf323d535ded6bf5fbf3c34bc6ca2e8a0e201e919b6e56b.json
|
[
"The Party of Lincoln Is No More\nNever mind sedition – for the secession caucus, defeat by Barack Obama’s successor and a black woman is just too much to bear",
"The Party of Lincoln Is No More",
"The Party of Lincoln Is No More | RealClearPolitics"
] |
|
[] | 2021-01-21T23:49:28 | null | 2021-01-21T00:00:00 |
How Will History Remember the Twitter President? | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F21%2Fhow_will_history_remember_the_twitter_president_533990.html.json
|
en
| null |
How Will History Remember the Twitter President?
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
Without President Donald Trump's tweets preserved and accessible in context, the story of his presidency can't be told, says media historian Lisa Gitelman. She explains that how we remember @realDonaldTrump will be key to understanding America's recent history.
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/21/how_will_history_remember_the_twitter_president_533990.html
|
en
| 2021-01-21T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/08947df0a97c6eb7a5d07282855f7f77725f520d84375a8e39b0c8b7c6e04f92.json
|
[
"Without President Donald Trump's tweets preserved and accessible in context, the story of his presidency can't be told, says media historian Lisa Gitelman. She explains that how we remember @realDonaldTrump will be key to understanding America's recent history.",
"How Will History Remember the Twitter President?",
"How Will History Remember the Twitter President? | RealClearPolitics"
] |
|
[] | 2021-01-23T21:47:03 | null | 2021-01-23T00:00:00 |
Biden's Culture War Aggression Is an Early Mistake | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F23%2Fbidens_culture_war_aggression_is_an_early_mistake_534211.html.json
|
en
| null |
Biden's Culture War Aggression Is an Early Mistake
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
| null |
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/23/bidens_culture_war_aggression_is_an_early_mistake_534211.html
|
en
| 2021-01-23T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/a0a6f0a9cabe6254696f1bb1636ba06d03d2a471339d3c570520733774c595c7.json
|
[
"Biden's Culture War Aggression Is an Early Mistake",
"Biden's Culture War Aggression Is an Early Mistake | RealClearPolitics"
] |
|
[] | 2021-01-20T18:49:25 | null | 2021-01-20T00:00:00 |
WASHINGTON (AP) Joe Biden swears the oath of office at noon Wednesday to become the 46th president of the United States, taking the helm of a deeply...
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2Farticles%2F2021%2F01%2F20%2Fbiden_set_to_be_sworn_in_as_46th_president_of_the_united_states_145078.html.json
|
en
| null |
Biden Set to Be Sworn In as 46th President of the United States
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
WASHINGTON (AP) — Joe Biden swears the oath of office at noon Wednesday to become the 46th president of the United States, taking the helm of a deeply divided nation and inheriting a confluence of crises arguably greater than any faced by his predecessors.
The very ceremony in which presidential power is transferred, a hallowed American democratic tradition, will serve as a jarring reminder of the challenges Biden faces: The inauguration unfolds at a U.S. Capitol battered by an insurrectionist siege just two weeks ago, encircled by security forces evocative of those in a war zone, and devoid of crowds because of the threat of the coronavirus pandemic.
Stay home, Americans were exhorted, to prevent further spread of a surging virus that has claimed more than 400,000 lives in the United States. Biden will look out over a capital city dotted with empty storefronts that attest to the pandemic’s deep economic toll and where summer protests laid bare the nation’s renewed reckoning on racial injustice.
He will not be applauded — or likely even acknowledged — by his predecessor.
Flouting tradition, Donald Trump departed the White House on Wednesday morning ahead of the inauguration rather than accompany his successor to the Capitol. Trump, awaiting his second impeachment trial, stoked grievance among his supporters with the lie that Biden’s win was illegitimate.
Biden, in his third run for the presidency, staked his candidacy less on any distinctive political ideology than on galvanizing a broad coalition of voters around the notion that Trump posed an existential threat to American democracy. On his first day, Biden will take a series of executive actions — on the pandemic, climate, immigration and more — to undo the heart of Trump’s agenda. The Democrat takes office with the bonds of the republic strained and the nation reeling from challenges that rival those faced by Abraham Lincoln and Franklin D. Roosevelt.
“Biden will face a series of urgent, burning crises like we have not seen before, and they all have to be solved at once. It is very hard to find a parallel in history,” said presidential historian Michael Beschloss. “I think we have been through a near-death experience as a democracy. Americans who will watch the new president be sworn in are now acutely aware of how fragile our democracy is and how much it needs to be protected.”
Biden will come to office with a well of empathy and resolve born by personal tragedy as well as a depth of experience forged from more than four decades in Washington. At age 78, he will be the oldest president inaugurated.
More history will be made at his side, as Kamala Harris becomes the first woman to be vice president. The former U.S. senator from California is also the first Black person and the first person of South Asian descent elected to the vice presidency and will become the highest-ranking woman ever to serve in government.
The two will be sworn in during an inauguration ceremony with few parallels in history.
Tens of thousands of troops are on the streets to provide security precisely two weeks after a violent mob of Trump supporters, incited by the Republican president, stormed the Capitol in an attempt to prevent the certification of Biden’s victory.
The tense atmosphere evoked the 1861 inauguration of Lincoln, who was secretly transported to Washington to avoid assassins on the eve of the Civil War, or Roosevelt’s inaugural in 1945, when he opted for a small, secure ceremony at the White House in the waning months of World War II.
Despite security warnings, Biden declined to move the ceremony indoors and instead will address a small, socially distant crowd on the West Front of the Capitol. Some of the traditional trappings of the quadrennial ceremony will remain.
The day will begin with a reach across the aisle after four years of bitter partisan battles under Trump. Biden invited Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy, the Republican leaders of the Senate and House, to join him at a morning Mass, along with Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic leaders.
Once at the Capitol, Biden will be administered the oath by Chief Justice John Roberts; Harris will be sworn in by Justice Sonia Sotomayor. The theme of Biden’s approximately 30-minute speech will be “America United,” and aides said it would be a call to set aside differences during a moment of national trial.
Biden will then oversee a “Pass in Review,” a military tradition that honors the peaceful transfer of power to a new commander in chief. Then, Biden, Harris and their spouses will be joined by a bipartisan trio of former presidents — Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama — to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Ceremony.
Full Coverage: Biden's inauguration
Later, Biden will join the end of a slimmed-down inaugural parade as he moves into the White House. Because of the pandemic, much of this year’s parade will be a virtual affair featuring performances from around the nation.
In the evening, in lieu of the traditional glitzy balls that welcome a new president to Washington, Biden will take part in a televised concert that also marks the return of A-list celebrities to the White House orbit after they largely eschewed Trump. Among those in the lineup: Bruce Springsteen, Justin Timberlake and Lin-Manuel Miranda. Lady Gaga will sing the national anthem at the Capitol earlier in the day.
Trump will be the first president in more than a century to skip the inauguration of his successor. In a cold wind, Marine One took off from the White House and soared above a deserted capital city to his own farewell celebration at nearby Joint Base Andrews. There, he’ll board Air Force One for the final time as president for the flight to his Florida estate.
Trump will nonetheless shadow Biden’s first days in office.
Trump’s second impeachment trial could start as early as this week. That could test the ability of the Senate, poised to come under Democratic control, to balance impeachment proceedings with confirmation hearings and votes on Biden’s Cabinet choices.
Biden was eager to go big early, with an ambitious first 100 days that includes a push to speed up the distribution of COVID-19 vaccinations to anxious Americans and pass a $1.9 trillion virus relief package. On Day One, he’ll also send an immigration proposal to Capitol Hill that would create an eight-year path to citizenship for immigrants living in the country illegally.
He also planned a 10-day blitz of executive orders on matters that don’t require congressional approval — a mix of substantive and symbolic steps to unwind the Trump years. Among the planned steps: rescinding travel restrictions on people from several predominantly Muslim countries; rejoining the Paris climate accord; issuing a mask mandate for those on federal property; and ordering agencies to figure out how to reunite children separated from their families after crossing the border.
The difficulties he faces are immense, to be mentioned in the same breath as Roosevelt taking office during the Great Depression or Obama, under whom Biden served eight years as vice president, during the economic collapse. And the solution may be similar.
“There is now, as there was in 1933, a vital need for leadership,” said presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, “for every national resource to be brought to bear to get the virus under control, to help produce and distribute the vaccines, to get vaccines into the arms of the people, to spur the economy to recover and get people back to work and to school.”
___
Additional reporting by Associated Press writers Jill Colvin and Darlene Superville.
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2021/01/20/biden_set_to_be_sworn_in_as_46th_president_of_the_united_states_145078.html
|
en
| 2021-01-20T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/01d9b47f7072401907899ebf0c5dd712f282ce789335b6efc32027307939b850.json
|
[
"WASHINGTON (AP) — Joe Biden swears the oath of office at noon Wednesday to become the 46th president of the United States, taking the helm of a deeply divided nation and inheriting a confluence of crises arguably greater than any faced by his predecessors.\nThe very ceremony in which presidential power is transferred, a hallowed American democratic tradition, will serve as a jarring reminder of the challenges Biden faces: The inauguration unfolds at a U.S. Capitol battered by an insurrectionist siege just two weeks ago, encircled by security forces evocative of those in a war zone, and devoid of crowds because of the threat of the coronavirus pandemic.\nStay home, Americans were exhorted, to prevent further spread of a surging virus that has claimed more than 400,000 lives in the United States. Biden will look out over a capital city dotted with empty storefronts that attest to the pandemic’s deep economic toll and where summer protests laid bare the nation’s renewed reckoning on racial injustice.\nHe will not be applauded — or likely even acknowledged — by his predecessor.\nFlouting tradition, Donald Trump departed the White House on Wednesday morning ahead of the inauguration rather than accompany his successor to the Capitol. Trump, awaiting his second impeachment trial, stoked grievance among his supporters with the lie that Biden’s win was illegitimate.\nBiden, in his third run for the presidency, staked his candidacy less on any distinctive political ideology than on galvanizing a broad coalition of voters around the notion that Trump posed an existential threat to American democracy. On his first day, Biden will take a series of executive actions — on the pandemic, climate, immigration and more — to undo the heart of Trump’s agenda. The Democrat takes office with the bonds of the republic strained and the nation reeling from challenges that rival those faced by Abraham Lincoln and Franklin D. Roosevelt.\n“Biden will face a series of urgent, burning crises like we have not seen before, and they all have to be solved at once. It is very hard to find a parallel in history,” said presidential historian Michael Beschloss. “I think we have been through a near-death experience as a democracy. Americans who will watch the new president be sworn in are now acutely aware of how fragile our democracy is and how much it needs to be protected.”\nBiden will come to office with a well of empathy and resolve born by personal tragedy as well as a depth of experience forged from more than four decades in Washington. At age 78, he will be the oldest president inaugurated.\nMore history will be made at his side, as Kamala Harris becomes the first woman to be vice president. The former U.S. senator from California is also the first Black person and the first person of South Asian descent elected to the vice presidency and will become the highest-ranking woman ever to serve in government.\nThe two will be sworn in during an inauguration ceremony with few parallels in history.\nTens of thousands of troops are on the streets to provide security precisely two weeks after a violent mob of Trump supporters, incited by the Republican president, stormed the Capitol in an attempt to prevent the certification of Biden’s victory.\nThe tense atmosphere evoked the 1861 inauguration of Lincoln, who was secretly transported to Washington to avoid assassins on the eve of the Civil War, or Roosevelt’s inaugural in 1945, when he opted for a small, secure ceremony at the White House in the waning months of World War II.\nDespite security warnings, Biden declined to move the ceremony indoors and instead will address a small, socially distant crowd on the West Front of the Capitol. Some of the traditional trappings of the quadrennial ceremony will remain.\nThe day will begin with a reach across the aisle after four years of bitter partisan battles under Trump. Biden invited Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy, the Republican leaders of the Senate and House, to join him at a morning Mass, along with Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic leaders.\nOnce at the Capitol, Biden will be administered the oath by Chief Justice John Roberts; Harris will be sworn in by Justice Sonia Sotomayor. The theme of Biden’s approximately 30-minute speech will be “America United,” and aides said it would be a call to set aside differences during a moment of national trial.\nBiden will then oversee a “Pass in Review,” a military tradition that honors the peaceful transfer of power to a new commander in chief. Then, Biden, Harris and their spouses will be joined by a bipartisan trio of former presidents — Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama — to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Ceremony.\nFull Coverage: Biden's inauguration\nLater, Biden will join the end of a slimmed-down inaugural parade as he moves into the White House. Because of the pandemic, much of this year’s parade will be a virtual affair featuring performances from around the nation.\nIn the evening, in lieu of the traditional glitzy balls that welcome a new president to Washington, Biden will take part in a televised concert that also marks the return of A-list celebrities to the White House orbit after they largely eschewed Trump. Among those in the lineup: Bruce Springsteen, Justin Timberlake and Lin-Manuel Miranda. Lady Gaga will sing the national anthem at the Capitol earlier in the day.\nTrump will be the first president in more than a century to skip the inauguration of his successor. In a cold wind, Marine One took off from the White House and soared above a deserted capital city to his own farewell celebration at nearby Joint Base Andrews. There, he’ll board Air Force One for the final time as president for the flight to his Florida estate.\nTrump will nonetheless shadow Biden’s first days in office.\nTrump’s second impeachment trial could start as early as this week. That could test the ability of the Senate, poised to come under Democratic control, to balance impeachment proceedings with confirmation hearings and votes on Biden’s Cabinet choices.\nBiden was eager to go big early, with an ambitious first 100 days that includes a push to speed up the distribution of COVID-19 vaccinations to anxious Americans and pass a $1.9 trillion virus relief package. On Day One, he’ll also send an immigration proposal to Capitol Hill that would create an eight-year path to citizenship for immigrants living in the country illegally.\nHe also planned a 10-day blitz of executive orders on matters that don’t require congressional approval — a mix of substantive and symbolic steps to unwind the Trump years. Among the planned steps: rescinding travel restrictions on people from several predominantly Muslim countries; rejoining the Paris climate accord; issuing a mask mandate for those on federal property; and ordering agencies to figure out how to reunite children separated from their families after crossing the border.\nThe difficulties he faces are immense, to be mentioned in the same breath as Roosevelt taking office during the Great Depression or Obama, under whom Biden served eight years as vice president, during the economic collapse. And the solution may be similar.\n“There is now, as there was in 1933, a vital need for leadership,” said presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, “for every national resource to be brought to bear to get the virus under control, to help produce and distribute the vaccines, to get vaccines into the arms of the people, to spur the economy to recover and get people back to work and to school.”\n___\nAdditional reporting by Associated Press writers Jill Colvin and Darlene Superville.",
"Biden Set to Be Sworn In as 46th President of the United States",
"WASHINGTON (AP) Joe Biden swears the oath of office at noon Wednesday to become the 46th president of the United States, taking the helm of a deeply..."
] |
|
[] | 2021-01-17T23:26:25 | null | 2021-01-17T00:00:00 |
Why the Senate Should Not Rush an Impeachment Trial | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F17%2Fwhy_the_senate_should_not_rush_an_impeachment_trial_533679.html.json
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/favicon.ico
|
en
| null |
Why the Senate Should Not Rush an Impeachment Trial
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
| null |
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/17/why_the_senate_should_not_rush_an_impeachment_trial_533679.html
|
en
| 2021-01-17T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/1ec2652a620e7b8630654a2d65b6c555c31e56a4a63e8c1a93e1bb2aaaeaca6d.json
|
[
"Why the Senate Should Not Rush an Impeachment Trial",
"Why the Senate Should Not Rush an Impeachment Trial | RealClearPolitics"
] |
[] | 2021-01-04T19:57:13 | null | 2021-01-04T00:00:00 |
Georgia voters on Tuesday will determine the balance of power in Washington for at least the next two years whether President-elect Joe Biden and...
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2Farticles%2F2021%2F01%2F04%2Fga_runoffs_to_test_theory_that_trump_stance_harms_gop__144956.html.json
|
en
| null |
GA Runoffs to Test Theory That Trump Stance Harms GOP
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
Georgia voters on Tuesday will determine the balance of power in Washington for at least the next two years — whether President-elect Joe Biden and congressional Democrats will run the table with full control of the executive and legislative branches or Republicans will retain the Senate majority and the ability to temper Democrats’ agenda.
Tuesday’s results will also put a contentious political theory to its first test: whether assertions by President Trump and his supporters of widespread vote fraud in the 2020 presidential contest will boomerang against Republicans by undermining trust in the election system and depressing GOP votes.
Top Republican officials have openly fretted that Trump’s refusal to concede and his near daily rants that Democrats stole the election from him are dampening GOP turnout in the crucial runoffs. Senate Republicans must retain at least one of the seats held by Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler to keep control of the upper chamber. Both senators failed to receive more than 50% of the vote in November and again face Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnoff, respectively.
A record 3 million early votes had been cast in the runoffs as of Thursday, the deadline for early voting, with data showing that turnout is lagging in the state’s more rural, northwestern conservative strongholds. More than 114,000 Georgia voters who didn’t participate in the general election have cast ballots so far in the runoffs, and those who have voted are more racially diverse than the state’s electorate, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. In-person Election Day voting will determine if Republicans can play catch-up and hold onto at least one of the seats.
Trump is heading to Dalton, Ga., Monday night to rally his supporters to cast their ballots for Perdue and Loeffler the following day. But with his time in the White House dwindling, he’s worked to sow distrust in both the integrity of the runoffs’ process and his own election loss in November. But his efforts in the latter regard may have backfired when he made an extraordinary phone call Saturday to fellow Republican Brad Raffensperger, the Georgia secretary of state. Trump pressed Raffensperger to “find” enough votes to overturn his defeat in the state and threatened him if he refused to act. A recording of the one-hour call was leaked to the Washington Post on Sunday.
“You have a big election coming up and because of what you’ve done to this president — you know, the people of Georgia know that this was a scam,” Trump told Raffensperger. “Because of what you’ve done to this president, a lot of people aren’t going to vote, and a lot of Republicans are going to vote negative, because they hate what you did to this president. Okay? They hate it. And they’re going to vote. And you would be respected, really respected, if this can be straightened out before the election.”
Trump previously pressed Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp to overrule Raffensperger’s certification of the November outcome and to intervene by replacing that state’s Electoral College slate. When Kemp refused, Trump called him a “fool” and a “clown” and urged Georgia voters to demand Kemp call a special session of the state legislature to reject the electors.
“Otherwise, could be a bad day for two GREAT Senators on Jan. 5,” Trump tweeted in a prediction some Republicans worry was all too prophetic because of Trump’s statements.
On Friday evening, the president continued to raise supporters’ doubts about the Georgia election system by labeling the two Senate races “illegal and invalid” in a Twitter thread. He also claimed that “massive corruption” took place in the general election, the reversal of which would “give us far more votes than is necessary to win all the Swing States.”
Other voices on the right also have tried to undermine trust in Georgia’s election system. At a rally last month, Lin Wood, a pro-Trump lawyer unaffiliated with the campaign, urged state Republicans not to vote in the runoffs because the system can’t be trusted. Wood filed an election lawsuit aimed at halting the runoffs, but a federal judge dismissed the suit early last week.
But it’s not just fringe elements of the party sounding the alarm. Over the weekend, Ted Cruz and 10 other Republican senators and senators-elect said they plan to object to certifying Biden’s win on Wednesday because of “unprecedented allegations of voter fraud.” The push has sparked an intra-party fight over whether it will undermine Republican election prospects in the short and long term. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had previously warned his GOP colleagues not to vote against certifying the Electoral College result, warning that it “isn’t in the best interest of everybody.”
Cruz, and the other senators, including Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, and Mike Braun of Indiana, announced they would follow Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley’s lead and vote against certifying the 2020 results unless a 10-day audit of the vote in key states is conducted. There’s no chance their objections will force such an audit, so the action is largely a protest vote -- but it represents a rare break with McConnell’s firm control of his conference.
“Whether or not our elected officials or journalists believe it, that deep distrust in our democratic processes will not magically disappear,” said Cruz, who has presidential aspirations for 2024. “It should concern us all. And it poses an ongoing threat to the legitimacy of any subsequent administrations.”
Throughout his four years in office, Trump often has been his own worst enemy, needlessly shooting himself in the foot. In his final days in office, the president’s attacks on the integrity of the election process in the critical swing states are giving Democrats more rhetorical ammunition to turn out voters either sympathetic to their cause or simply eager to oppose Trump.
Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, while campaigning Sunday night in Savannah, Ga., said Trump’s phone call to Raffensperger showed that he is growing increasingly desperate in his failed attempts to overturn the presidential election results.
“Have y’all heard about that recorded conversations?” Harris asked the crowd at an event for Ossoff and Warnock. “Well, it was certainly the voice of desperation, most certainly that. And it was bald, bald-faced, bold abuse of power by the president of the United States.”
In her remarks, Harris also criticized Trump over his characterizations of the runoffs as “illegal and invalid,” saying that he is “suggesting that the people of Georgia are trying to commit a crime.”
“And I raise all of this to remind us to ask a question always when we see these powerful people that are trying to make it difficult, trying to make it confusing, trying to invalidate our voice,” she said.
Biden will travel to Georgia on Monday for an event urging Democrats to turn out for Ossoff and Warnock.
As Republicans warn that attacking the election process could backfire, Democrats are thanking Trump for handing them another powerful issue. Several also thanked him for his botched attempt to increase by $1,400 the $600 stimulus checks Congress passed late last month, which aligned him with the opposition party and put Republican leaders in the awkward position of opposing the increase just a week and a half before the runoffs.
Though Perdue and Loeffler voted in favor of the $600 COVID relief checks, both quickly pivoted in support of the beefed up version. They also scrambled to introduce a legislative package -- designed to fail -- that linked the $2,000 checks to the creation of a bipartisan commission to review the presidential election and make recommendations for reforms to Congress, along with a full repeal of legal protections for social media and other tech companies.
On Sunday, Stacey Abrams, who waged a close but unsuccessful battle for Georgia governor in 2018, argued that GOP leaders’ opposition to the larger checks has “galvanized” Democratic voters to turn out on Tuesday for Ossoff and Warnock.
“It’s the Republicans who have done it for us,” she said during an appearance on ABC’s “This Week.”
Those types of self-inflicted wounds are exactly what McConnell and Georgia Republicans are worried about – even as Perdue and Loeffler have little choice but to welcome Trump to Georgia Monday in a final plea for Republican votes.
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2021/01/04/ga_runoffs_to_test_theory_that_trump_stance_harms_gop__144956.html
|
en
| 2021-01-04T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/8194e86bd87b2572c6a076e14462a68dde787f6b5fcb10120dd14bd6f095ab9f.json
|
[
"Georgia voters on Tuesday will determine the balance of power in Washington for at least the next two years — whether President-elect Joe Biden and congressional Democrats will run the table with full control of the executive and legislative branches or Republicans will retain the Senate majority and the ability to temper Democrats’ agenda.\nTuesday’s results will also put a contentious political theory to its first test: whether assertions by President Trump and his supporters of widespread vote fraud in the 2020 presidential contest will boomerang against Republicans by undermining trust in the election system and depressing GOP votes.\nTop Republican officials have openly fretted that Trump’s refusal to concede and his near daily rants that Democrats stole the election from him are dampening GOP turnout in the crucial runoffs. Senate Republicans must retain at least one of the seats held by Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler to keep control of the upper chamber. Both senators failed to receive more than 50% of the vote in November and again face Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnoff, respectively.\nA record 3 million early votes had been cast in the runoffs as of Thursday, the deadline for early voting, with data showing that turnout is lagging in the state’s more rural, northwestern conservative strongholds. More than 114,000 Georgia voters who didn’t participate in the general election have cast ballots so far in the runoffs, and those who have voted are more racially diverse than the state’s electorate, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. In-person Election Day voting will determine if Republicans can play catch-up and hold onto at least one of the seats.\nTrump is heading to Dalton, Ga., Monday night to rally his supporters to cast their ballots for Perdue and Loeffler the following day. But with his time in the White House dwindling, he’s worked to sow distrust in both the integrity of the runoffs’ process and his own election loss in November. But his efforts in the latter regard may have backfired when he made an extraordinary phone call Saturday to fellow Republican Brad Raffensperger, the Georgia secretary of state. Trump pressed Raffensperger to “find” enough votes to overturn his defeat in the state and threatened him if he refused to act. A recording of the one-hour call was leaked to the Washington Post on Sunday.\n“You have a big election coming up and because of what you’ve done to this president — you know, the people of Georgia know that this was a scam,” Trump told Raffensperger. “Because of what you’ve done to this president, a lot of people aren’t going to vote, and a lot of Republicans are going to vote negative, because they hate what you did to this president. Okay? They hate it. And they’re going to vote. And you would be respected, really respected, if this can be straightened out before the election.”\nTrump previously pressed Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp to overrule Raffensperger’s certification of the November outcome and to intervene by replacing that state’s Electoral College slate. When Kemp refused, Trump called him a “fool” and a “clown” and urged Georgia voters to demand Kemp call a special session of the state legislature to reject the electors.\n“Otherwise, could be a bad day for two GREAT Senators on Jan. 5,” Trump tweeted in a prediction some Republicans worry was all too prophetic because of Trump’s statements.\nOn Friday evening, the president continued to raise supporters’ doubts about the Georgia election system by labeling the two Senate races “illegal and invalid” in a Twitter thread. He also claimed that “massive corruption” took place in the general election, the reversal of which would “give us far more votes than is necessary to win all the Swing States.”\nOther voices on the right also have tried to undermine trust in Georgia’s election system. At a rally last month, Lin Wood, a pro-Trump lawyer unaffiliated with the campaign, urged state Republicans not to vote in the runoffs because the system can’t be trusted. Wood filed an election lawsuit aimed at halting the runoffs, but a federal judge dismissed the suit early last week.\nBut it’s not just fringe elements of the party sounding the alarm. Over the weekend, Ted Cruz and 10 other Republican senators and senators-elect said they plan to object to certifying Biden’s win on Wednesday because of “unprecedented allegations of voter fraud.” The push has sparked an intra-party fight over whether it will undermine Republican election prospects in the short and long term. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had previously warned his GOP colleagues not to vote against certifying the Electoral College result, warning that it “isn’t in the best interest of everybody.”\nCruz, and the other senators, including Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, and Mike Braun of Indiana, announced they would follow Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley’s lead and vote against certifying the 2020 results unless a 10-day audit of the vote in key states is conducted. There’s no chance their objections will force such an audit, so the action is largely a protest vote -- but it represents a rare break with McConnell’s firm control of his conference.\n“Whether or not our elected officials or journalists believe it, that deep distrust in our democratic processes will not magically disappear,” said Cruz, who has presidential aspirations for 2024. “It should concern us all. And it poses an ongoing threat to the legitimacy of any subsequent administrations.”\nThroughout his four years in office, Trump often has been his own worst enemy, needlessly shooting himself in the foot. In his final days in office, the president’s attacks on the integrity of the election process in the critical swing states are giving Democrats more rhetorical ammunition to turn out voters either sympathetic to their cause or simply eager to oppose Trump.\nVice President-elect Kamala Harris, while campaigning Sunday night in Savannah, Ga., said Trump’s phone call to Raffensperger showed that he is growing increasingly desperate in his failed attempts to overturn the presidential election results.\n“Have y’all heard about that recorded conversations?” Harris asked the crowd at an event for Ossoff and Warnock. “Well, it was certainly the voice of desperation, most certainly that. And it was bald, bald-faced, bold abuse of power by the president of the United States.”\nIn her remarks, Harris also criticized Trump over his characterizations of the runoffs as “illegal and invalid,” saying that he is “suggesting that the people of Georgia are trying to commit a crime.”\n“And I raise all of this to remind us to ask a question always when we see these powerful people that are trying to make it difficult, trying to make it confusing, trying to invalidate our voice,” she said.\nBiden will travel to Georgia on Monday for an event urging Democrats to turn out for Ossoff and Warnock.\nAs Republicans warn that attacking the election process could backfire, Democrats are thanking Trump for handing them another powerful issue. Several also thanked him for his botched attempt to increase by $1,400 the $600 stimulus checks Congress passed late last month, which aligned him with the opposition party and put Republican leaders in the awkward position of opposing the increase just a week and a half before the runoffs.\nThough Perdue and Loeffler voted in favor of the $600 COVID relief checks, both quickly pivoted in support of the beefed up version. They also scrambled to introduce a legislative package -- designed to fail -- that linked the $2,000 checks to the creation of a bipartisan commission to review the presidential election and make recommendations for reforms to Congress, along with a full repeal of legal protections for social media and other tech companies.\nOn Sunday, Stacey Abrams, who waged a close but unsuccessful battle for Georgia governor in 2018, argued that GOP leaders’ opposition to the larger checks has “galvanized” Democratic voters to turn out on Tuesday for Ossoff and Warnock.\n“It’s the Republicans who have done it for us,” she said during an appearance on ABC’s “This Week.”\nThose types of self-inflicted wounds are exactly what McConnell and Georgia Republicans are worried about – even as Perdue and Loeffler have little choice but to welcome Trump to Georgia Monday in a final plea for Republican votes.",
"GA Runoffs to Test Theory That Trump Stance Harms GOP",
"Georgia voters on Tuesday will determine the balance of power in Washington for at least the next two years whether President-elect Joe Biden and..."
] |
|
[] | 2021-01-10T16:50:32 | null | 2021-01-10T00:00:00 |
Is Anyone Really Interested in Deescalation? | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F10%2Fis_anyone_really_interested_in_deescalation_533136.html.json
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/favicon.ico
|
en
| null |
Is Anyone Really Interested in Deescalation?
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
Is Anyone Really Interested in Deescalation?
After such an embarrassing display of emotional incontinence, cooler heads might now prevail across both political aisles. Yeah, right
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/10/is_anyone_really_interested_in_deescalation_533136.html
|
en
| 2021-01-10T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/3aed79a4aeaf2c010f30847dc3fb8aba71fbf57a9c7aee9e59336260124aaae3.json
|
[
"Is Anyone Really Interested in Deescalation?\nAfter such an embarrassing display of emotional incontinence, cooler heads might now prevail across both political aisles. Yeah, right",
"Is Anyone Really Interested in Deescalation?",
"Is Anyone Really Interested in Deescalation? | RealClearPolitics"
] |
[] | 2021-01-13T15:01:12 | null | 2021-01-13T00:00:00 |
There Are 2 Justice Systems in America. Ask My Nephew | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F13%2Fthere_are_2_justice_systems_in_america_ask_my_nephew_533374.html.json
|
en
| null |
There Are 2 Justice Systems in America. Ask My Nephew
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
| null |
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/13/there_are_2_justice_systems_in_america_ask_my_nephew_533374.html
|
en
| 2021-01-13T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/cc9285d817abd2fa00c72b6589a9d55db60c2a9932acf4235ad1bd76dbedb2b8.json
|
[
"There Are 2 Justice Systems in America. Ask My Nephew",
"There Are 2 Justice Systems in America. Ask My Nephew | RealClearPolitics"
] |
|
[] | 2021-01-25T04:35:15 | null | 2021-01-24T00:00:00 |
Joe Biden and the Crisis of the New World | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F24%2Fjoe_biden_and_the_crisis_of_the_new_world_534292.html.json
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/favicon.ico
|
en
| null |
Joe Biden and the Crisis of the New World
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
| null |
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/24/joe_biden_and_the_crisis_of_the_new_world_534292.html
|
en
| 2021-01-24T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/faf363e79c65ffd98580ff1767694bcbf3cd856af5ef9951edf8e37a4f166d8c.json
|
[
"Joe Biden and the Crisis of the New World",
"Joe Biden and the Crisis of the New World | RealClearPolitics"
] |
[] | 2021-01-25T20:47:17 | null | 2021-01-25T00:00:00 |
Agree With Liberals or You're Racist, Xenophobic & Dangerous | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F25%2Fagree_with_liberals_or_youre_racist_xenophobic_amp_dangerous_534307.html.json
|
en
| null |
Agree With Liberals or You're Racist, Xenophobic & Dangerous
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
OK, with the unity and healing rhetoric behind us as we enter the Biden/Harris years, backed by 25,000 troops, we can get back to the business at hand.
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/25/agree_with_liberals_or_youre_racist_xenophobic_amp_dangerous_534307.html
|
en
| 2021-01-25T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/8e0eb31061443ebfb9c707d3e86e301e3f0f0a2b19aff575c401910d1c8df612.json
|
[
"OK, with the unity and healing rhetoric behind us as we enter the Biden/Harris years, backed by 25,000 troops, we can get back to the business at hand.",
"Agree With Liberals or You're Racist, Xenophobic & Dangerous",
"Agree With Liberals or You're Racist, Xenophobic & Dangerous | RealClearPolitics"
] |
|
[] | 2021-01-08T17:09:25 | null | 2021-01-08T00:00:00 |
Stop Trying To Make the Capitol Riot Into a Race Issue | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F08%2Fstop_trying_to_make_the_capitol_riot_into_a_race_issue_532948.html.json
|
en
| null |
Stop Trying To Make the Capitol Riot Into a Race Issue
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
Stop Trying To Make the Capitol Riot Into a Race Issue
A vast mob of rioters breached the U.S. Capitol building this week after President Trump asked them personally to march on the People's House to protest the results of the 2020 election.
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/08/stop_trying_to_make_the_capitol_riot_into_a_race_issue_532948.html
|
en
| 2021-01-08T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/f9b8342cee227b227d1ebbb4cca50eb1440a1dd9d11fc63f9a74c09363892dd0.json
|
[
"Stop Trying To Make the Capitol Riot Into a Race Issue\nA vast mob of rioters breached the U.S. Capitol building this week after President Trump asked them personally to march on the People's House to protest the results of the 2020 election.",
"Stop Trying To Make the Capitol Riot Into a Race Issue",
"Stop Trying To Make the Capitol Riot Into a Race Issue | RealClearPolitics"
] |
|
[] | 2021-01-04T03:23:47 | null | 2021-01-03T00:00:00 |
A California Lesson in Lefty Power for Georgia Runoff Voters | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F03%2Fa_california_lesson_in_lefty_power_for_georgia_runoff_voters_532502.html.json
|
en
| null |
A California Lesson in Lefty Power for Georgia Runoff Voters
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
Georgia voters might consider what is happening in California. Why? When leftists seize power, they don't know when to stop. But voters know how to say, Whoa, enough.
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/03/a_california_lesson_in_lefty_power_for_georgia_runoff_voters_532502.html
|
en
| 2021-01-03T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/203e00b56ee378453245ea9647e8df9db71e4689b41a5ad656a35c939ca71f79.json
|
[
"Georgia voters might consider what is happening in California. Why? When leftists seize power, they don't know when to stop. But voters know how to say, Whoa, enough.",
"A California Lesson in Lefty Power for Georgia Runoff Voters",
"A California Lesson in Lefty Power for Georgia Runoff Voters | RealClearPolitics"
] |
|
[] | 2021-01-25T20:48:53 | null | 2021-01-25T00:00:00 |
The Conservative Purge Isn't Over; It's Just Getting Cranked Up | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F25%2Fthe_conservative_purge_isnt_over_its_just_getting_cranked_up_534306.html.json
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/favicon.ico
|
en
| null |
The Conservative Purge Isn't Over; It's Just Getting Cranked Up
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
The Conservative Purge Isn't Over; It's Just Getting Cranked Up
The party in power has sold out to eliminating the party out of power.
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/25/the_conservative_purge_isnt_over_its_just_getting_cranked_up_534306.html
|
en
| 2021-01-25T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/06887a134f737c5dc0b31214438129d001a3456303edf69bbe3f0082f196bc2d.json
|
[
"The Conservative Purge Isn't Over; It's Just Getting Cranked Up\nThe party in power has sold out to eliminating the party out of power.",
"The Conservative Purge Isn't Over; It's Just Getting Cranked Up",
"The Conservative Purge Isn't Over; It's Just Getting Cranked Up | RealClearPolitics"
] |
[] | 2021-01-25T20:48:12 | null | 2021-01-25T00:00:00 |
It's Time to Hate Tom Brady Again | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F25%2Fits_time_to_hate_tom_brady_again_534378.html.json
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/favicon.ico
|
en
| null |
It's Time to Hate Tom Brady Again
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
The greatest football player of all time was actually having a nice, quiet, likeable season in Tampa. But now he's back in the Super Bowl for the 10th time.
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/25/its_time_to_hate_tom_brady_again_534378.html
|
en
| 2021-01-25T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/b45c9af6b37e62d461b7d58980b40d32498f0e36b21f9eb7304d047d2816d7db.json
|
[
"The greatest football player of all time was actually having a nice, quiet, likeable season in Tampa. But now he's back in the Super Bowl for the 10th time.",
"It's Time to Hate Tom Brady Again",
"It's Time to Hate Tom Brady Again | RealClearPolitics"
] |
[] | 2021-01-19T00:49:22 | null | 2021-01-18T00:00:00 |
Will Biden Erase Trump's Legacy? | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F18%2Fwill_biden_erase_trumps_legacy_533763.html.json
|
en
| null |
Will Biden Erase Trump's Legacy?
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
Julian Zelizer writes that President-elect Joe Biden's pre-inauguration announcement of a $1.9. trillion stimulus plan, a massive list of executive orders that will undo Donald Trump's most controversial decisions and an immigration reform proposal to provide a path to citizenship for 11 million people reflects Biden's desire to get out of the gate running.
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/18/will_biden_erase_trumps_legacy_533763.html
|
en
| 2021-01-18T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/2e5e4b2ceb9ceae2cea7433674f817aeaf3290dc247dcc9c77e24f88e7a2c6d8.json
|
[
"Julian Zelizer writes that President-elect Joe Biden's pre-inauguration announcement of a $1.9. trillion stimulus plan, a massive list of executive orders that will undo Donald Trump's most controversial decisions and an immigration reform proposal to provide a path to citizenship for 11 million people reflects Biden's desire to get out of the gate running.",
"Will Biden Erase Trump's Legacy?",
"Will Biden Erase Trump's Legacy? | RealClearPolitics"
] |
|
[] | 2021-01-14T04:21:28 | null | 2021-01-13T00:00:00 |
America's Rendezvous With Reality | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F13%2Famericas_rendezvous_with_reality_533419.html.json
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/favicon.ico
|
en
| null |
America's Rendezvous With Reality
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
| null |
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/13/americas_rendezvous_with_reality_533419.html
|
en
| 2021-01-13T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/b4d3c407cad4c93ee6445c5a720cd61ad3b09ec66964fcac272f3a97e0fd8d1c.json
|
[
"America's Rendezvous With Reality",
"America's Rendezvous With Reality | RealClearPolitics"
] |
[] | 2021-01-28T18:27:27 | null | 2021-01-28T00:00:00 |
Competence Is Biden's Best Strategy | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F28%2Fcompetence_is_bidens_best_strategy_534571.html.json
|
en
| null |
Competence Is Biden's Best Strategy
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
Democrats have to prove that government can work — and Republicans are determined to prove the opposite
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/28/competence_is_bidens_best_strategy_534571.html
|
en
| 2021-01-28T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/f75d2039619c1eb61b529590ed47e0bc1e73ecfa7fa2d4dfdc263ba5689629f8.json
|
[
"Democrats have to prove that government can work — and Republicans are determined to prove the opposite",
"Competence Is Biden's Best Strategy",
"Competence Is Biden's Best Strategy | RealClearPolitics"
] |
|
[] | 2021-01-15T21:41:08 | null | 2021-01-15T00:00:00 |
Biden's Covid Vaccine Plan Targets Communities of Color | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F15%2Fbidens_covid_vaccine_plan_targets_communities_of_color_533586.html.json
|
en
| null |
Biden's Covid Vaccine Plan Targets Communities of Color
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
| null |
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/15/bidens_covid_vaccine_plan_targets_communities_of_color_533586.html
|
en
| 2021-01-15T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/435ffb9b4a75640d3243c118c7fb03416c56d40365c5ac6545dd49e5751915c9.json
|
[
"Biden's Covid Vaccine Plan Targets Communities of Color",
"Biden's Covid Vaccine Plan Targets Communities of Color | RealClearPolitics"
] |
|
[] | 2021-01-21T04:38:29 | null | 2021-01-20T00:00:00 |
Four Ways Biden Can Boost the Global Economy | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F20%2Ffour_ways_biden_can_boost_the_global_economy_533871.html.json
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/favicon.ico
|
en
| null |
Four Ways Biden Can Boost the Global Economy
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
The US is nowhere near as economically dominant as it was even a decade ago. Yet President-elect Joe Biden can take several relatively simple steps that would have far-reaching benefits for the US economy, the American people, and the rest of the world.
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/20/four_ways_biden_can_boost_the_global_economy_533871.html
|
en
| 2021-01-20T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/e910790a44d5e0c128f0016dc9e764a4720346689f149e4ec1678886b2e65ed9.json
|
[
"The US is nowhere near as economically dominant as it was even a decade ago. Yet President-elect Joe Biden can take several relatively simple steps that would have far-reaching benefits for the US economy, the American people, and the rest of the world.",
"Four Ways Biden Can Boost the Global Economy",
"Four Ways Biden Can Boost the Global Economy | RealClearPolitics"
] |
[] | 2021-01-29T04:52:30 | null | 2021-01-28T00:00:00 |
The Constitution Doesn' t Authorize a General Impeachment Power | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F28%2Fthe_constitution_doesn_t_authorize_a_general_impeachment_power_534611.html.json
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/favicon.ico
|
en
| null |
The Constitution Doesn' t Authorize a General Impeachment Power
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
The Supreme Court is the highest tribunal in the United States for all cases and controversies arising under the Constitution. But not all legal issues reach the court, and even if they do, it takes years for them to do so. That is why we, as U.S. senators ourselves, take an oath to uphold the…
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/28/the_constitution_doesn_t_authorize_a_general_impeachment_power_534611.html
|
en
| 2021-01-28T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/c038adbc095cb3cb08602a3f2a9d3127958a8d371500d4b718be54517ddc7ed6.json
|
[
"The Supreme Court is the highest tribunal in the United States for all cases and controversies arising under the Constitution. But not all legal issues reach the court, and even if they do, it takes years for them to do so. That is why we, as U.S. senators ourselves, take an oath to uphold the…",
"The Constitution Doesn' t Authorize a General Impeachment Power",
"The Constitution Doesn' t Authorize a General Impeachment Power | RealClearPolitics"
] |
[] | 2021-01-05T20:30:43 | null | 2021-01-05T00:00:00 |
Teaching 'White Fragility' Is Bad for Kids of Color | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F05%2Fteaching_white_fragility_is_bad_for_kids_of_color_532696.html.json
|
en
| null |
Teaching 'White Fragility' Is Bad for Kids of Color
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
Last month, my 8-year-old sister came home from school deflated and torn. She told me that a young boy in her class was making fun of her because of her skin color, comparing her brown skin to fecal matter. I remembered being mocked and tormented for the very same reason in elementary school, growing up in a nearly all-white area in western Canada. Many of my fellow Indian immigrants have experienced it.
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/05/teaching_white_fragility_is_bad_for_kids_of_color_532696.html
|
en
| 2021-01-05T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/90107d2be375577486d74fb313913400275d9ebf8ba0398e2e3208bfda9d1efc.json
|
[
"Last month, my 8-year-old sister came home from school deflated and torn. She told me that a young boy in her class was making fun of her because of her skin color, comparing her brown skin to fecal matter. I remembered being mocked and tormented for the very same reason in elementary school, growing up in a nearly all-white area in western Canada. Many of my fellow Indian immigrants have experienced it.",
"Teaching 'White Fragility' Is Bad for Kids of Color",
"Teaching 'White Fragility' Is Bad for Kids of Color | RealClearPolitics"
] |
|
[] | 2021-01-22T14:10:39 | null | 2021-01-22T00:00:00 |
The Corrupt, the Clueless, and Joe Biden | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F22%2Fthe_corrupt_the_clueless_and_joe_biden_534095.html.json
|
en
| null |
The Corrupt, the Clueless, and Joe Biden
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
| null |
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/22/the_corrupt_the_clueless_and_joe_biden_534095.html
|
en
| 2021-01-22T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/019575f0e2064d14baea82530c05bbe92cc4f7df931aa8a9f622759a897799bc.json
|
[
"The Corrupt, the Clueless, and Joe Biden",
"The Corrupt, the Clueless, and Joe Biden | RealClearPolitics"
] |
|
[] | 2021-01-07T20:36:14 | null | 2021-01-07T00:00:00 |
Good morning, its Thursday, Jan. 7, 2021. Joe Bidens presidency has already begun, at least unofficially. Yesterday, Donald Trump chose to play the role...
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2Farticles%2F2021%2F01%2F07%2Fbesmirched_legacy_stacey_abrams_capitol_breach__144987.html.json
|
en
| null |
Besmirched Legacy; Stacey Abrams; Capitol Breach
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
Good morning, it’s Thursday, Jan. 7, 2021. Joe Biden’s presidency has already begun, at least unofficially. Yesterday, Donald Trump chose to play the role of political rabble-rouser during the transition instead of constitutional officer.
Attempting to impede the pro-forma Electoral College vote certification by Congress, Trump delivered a fiery speech to thousands of his supporters, claiming yet again that the 2020 election was stolen from him and calling on Vice President Mike Pence, the ceremonial presiding officer of the Senate, to “do the right thing.”
“Our country has had enough!” Trump said. “We will not take it anymore and that’s what this is all about. … We will stop the steal!” Trump then directly urged his supporters to march on the U.S. Capitol, apparently to pressure lawmakers. “We fight like hell, and if you don’t fight like hell you’re not going to have a country anymore.”
Taken as a whole, the speech was essentially an incitement to riot. And his supporters took him both seriously and literally.
“We’re going to walk down Pennsylvania Avenue,” Trump told them -- although he himself did nothing of the kind. In an inverse of “Profiles in Courage,” the president retreated to the warmth of the Oval Office, presumably watching television, while his supporters did as they were instructed. In a mystifying lapse of preparedness, the U.S. Capitol Police were badly understaffed. The crowd pushed past them, and while thousands were content to stand on the building’s steps and wave flags, a vanguard of several hundred stormed the entrance, broke windows, and occupied offices, sending members of Congress and their staffs fleeing in fear. Congressional offices were debased, as was America’s international reputation. One female Trump supporter, an unarmed Air Force veteran from San Diego, was shot to death by a Capitol Police officer.
Amid the appalling chaos, Trump was content to issue tepid tweets about respecting law enforcement. Later, he released a Twitter video going a bit further (but repeating the fiction that he’d won a landslide election). By then, Joe Biden had stepped into the void.
“At this hour, our democracy is under unprecedented assault, unlike anything we’ve seen in modern times,” the president-elect said from Wilmington, Del., while calling (in vain) for Trump to put a stop to it.
“I’m genuinely shocked and saddened that our nation, so long a beacon of hope and light for democracy, has come to such a dark moment,” Biden added. “America is about honor, decency, respect, tolerance. That’s who we are. That’s who we’ve always been.”
One irony for Republicans was that while the lame duck president was trying to forestall Biden from assuming office, Trump’s actions Wednesday had the effect of essentially making Biden presidential two weeks early.
If one were in a nitpicking mood, it’s true that Biden was much quicker to condemn these rioters than those who led the sustained carnage of last summer in a hundred American cities during the Black Lives Matter protests. And yes, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and other Democrats pivoted instantly from being social justice defenders to a law-and-order hard-liners. The media’s turnabout was even more whiplash-inducing. The press had previously deemed it racist to even use the word “rioters” to describe arsonists, looters, and protesters who threw rocks at cops and menaced strangers. Those compunctions disappeared Wednesday, as did the ubiquitous phrase “mostly peaceful” protests -- replaced by “traitors,” “terrorists,” and “a mob” that was “violent” and “seditious.” The Trumpsters were leading an “armed insurrection,” we were told.
Remember when Sen. Tom Cotton’s New York Times op-ed advocating the use of armed federal troops to quell the violence in American cities led to the approving editor’s forced departure? Yesterday, it took less than an hour for the media to clamor for the National Guard. “Where’s the cavalry?” they beseeched on cable news.
So there was inconsistency, and plenty of hypocrisy. Yet none of that excuses what Trump and his followers did Wednesday. They disgraced themselves. They trashed the legacy of their own movement. They desecrated a symbol of American democracy, although it was heartening how the Senate ameliorated much of the damage in an extraordinary late-night session. They prompted serious discussion of invoking the 25th Amendment and replacing Trump immediately. Mostly, they made Americans who voted for Joe Biden exceedingly glad they had done so.
And with that I’d point you to RCP’s front page, which presents our poll averages, videos, breaking news stories, and aggregated opinion pieces spanning the political spectrum. Today’s lineup includes Jonathan Turley (USA Today), Van Jones (CNN), and Charles Lipson (The Spectator). We also offer original material from our own reporters, columnists, and contributors, including the following:
* * *
A Day of Chaos and Shame Now Cloaks Trump’s Legacy. Phil Wegmann and Susan Crabtree report on yesterday’s events and their impact.
Biden Can Partner With Fossil Fuel Industry in Climate Fight. At RealClearEnergy, Kyle Isakower explains how an alliance is possible.
Americans, Don’t Give Up Your Shot. At RealClearPolicy, a trio of writers spotlights the COVID-19 Vaccine Education and Equity Project, intended to boost public confidence in the inoculation program.
Why the Fed Is Irrelevant. RealClearMarkets editor John Tamny cites the growth of places like Austin, Texas, to counter the argument that economic gains are engineered by central bankers.
Why California’s Donor Disclosure Law Threatens Religious Charities. At RealClearReligion, John Bursch argues that the requirement has negative impacts in today’s digital and divided age.
National Tutoring Program Is Needed Now More Than Ever. At RealClearEducation, Katharine B. Stevens writes that achievement gaps heightened by remote learning demand special attention and intervention.
* * *
Carl M. Cannon
Washington Bureau chief, RealClearPolitics
@CarlCannon (Twitter)
[email protected]
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2021/01/07/besmirched_legacy_stacey_abrams_capitol_breach__144987.html
|
en
| 2021-01-07T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/129a715ad9c2806662c68b90d3b2219fda049939f39584bc4b7ee4593b1110ac.json
|
[
"Good morning, it’s Thursday, Jan. 7, 2021. Joe Biden’s presidency has already begun, at least unofficially. Yesterday, Donald Trump chose to play the role of political rabble-rouser during the transition instead of constitutional officer.\nAttempting to impede the pro-forma Electoral College vote certification by Congress, Trump delivered a fiery speech to thousands of his supporters, claiming yet again that the 2020 election was stolen from him and calling on Vice President Mike Pence, the ceremonial presiding officer of the Senate, to “do the right thing.”\n“Our country has had enough!” Trump said. “We will not take it anymore and that’s what this is all about. … We will stop the steal!” Trump then directly urged his supporters to march on the U.S. Capitol, apparently to pressure lawmakers. “We fight like hell, and if you don’t fight like hell you’re not going to have a country anymore.”\nTaken as a whole, the speech was essentially an incitement to riot. And his supporters took him both seriously and literally.\n“We’re going to walk down Pennsylvania Avenue,” Trump told them -- although he himself did nothing of the kind. In an inverse of “Profiles in Courage,” the president retreated to the warmth of the Oval Office, presumably watching television, while his supporters did as they were instructed. In a mystifying lapse of preparedness, the U.S. Capitol Police were badly understaffed. The crowd pushed past them, and while thousands were content to stand on the building’s steps and wave flags, a vanguard of several hundred stormed the entrance, broke windows, and occupied offices, sending members of Congress and their staffs fleeing in fear. Congressional offices were debased, as was America’s international reputation. One female Trump supporter, an unarmed Air Force veteran from San Diego, was shot to death by a Capitol Police officer.\nAmid the appalling chaos, Trump was content to issue tepid tweets about respecting law enforcement. Later, he released a Twitter video going a bit further (but repeating the fiction that he’d won a landslide election). By then, Joe Biden had stepped into the void.\n“At this hour, our democracy is under unprecedented assault, unlike anything we’ve seen in modern times,” the president-elect said from Wilmington, Del., while calling (in vain) for Trump to put a stop to it.\n“I’m genuinely shocked and saddened that our nation, so long a beacon of hope and light for democracy, has come to such a dark moment,” Biden added. “America is about honor, decency, respect, tolerance. That’s who we are. That’s who we’ve always been.”\nOne irony for Republicans was that while the lame duck president was trying to forestall Biden from assuming office, Trump’s actions Wednesday had the effect of essentially making Biden presidential two weeks early.\nIf one were in a nitpicking mood, it’s true that Biden was much quicker to condemn these rioters than those who led the sustained carnage of last summer in a hundred American cities during the Black Lives Matter protests. And yes, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and other Democrats pivoted instantly from being social justice defenders to a law-and-order hard-liners. The media’s turnabout was even more whiplash-inducing. The press had previously deemed it racist to even use the word “rioters” to describe arsonists, looters, and protesters who threw rocks at cops and menaced strangers. Those compunctions disappeared Wednesday, as did the ubiquitous phrase “mostly peaceful” protests -- replaced by “traitors,” “terrorists,” and “a mob” that was “violent” and “seditious.” The Trumpsters were leading an “armed insurrection,” we were told.\nRemember when Sen. Tom Cotton’s New York Times op-ed advocating the use of armed federal troops to quell the violence in American cities led to the approving editor’s forced departure? Yesterday, it took less than an hour for the media to clamor for the National Guard. “Where’s the cavalry?” they beseeched on cable news.\nSo there was inconsistency, and plenty of hypocrisy. Yet none of that excuses what Trump and his followers did Wednesday. They disgraced themselves. They trashed the legacy of their own movement. They desecrated a symbol of American democracy, although it was heartening how the Senate ameliorated much of the damage in an extraordinary late-night session. They prompted serious discussion of invoking the 25th Amendment and replacing Trump immediately. Mostly, they made Americans who voted for Joe Biden exceedingly glad they had done so.\nAnd with that I’d point you to RCP’s front page, which presents our poll averages, videos, breaking news stories, and aggregated opinion pieces spanning the political spectrum. Today’s lineup includes Jonathan Turley (USA Today), Van Jones (CNN), and Charles Lipson (The Spectator). We also offer original material from our own reporters, columnists, and contributors, including the following:\n* * *\nA Day of Chaos and Shame Now Cloaks Trump’s Legacy. Phil Wegmann and Susan Crabtree report on yesterday’s events and their impact.\nBiden Can Partner With Fossil Fuel Industry in Climate Fight. At RealClearEnergy, Kyle Isakower explains how an alliance is possible.\nAmericans, Don’t Give Up Your Shot. At RealClearPolicy, a trio of writers spotlights the COVID-19 Vaccine Education and Equity Project, intended to boost public confidence in the inoculation program.\nWhy the Fed Is Irrelevant. RealClearMarkets editor John Tamny cites the growth of places like Austin, Texas, to counter the argument that economic gains are engineered by central bankers.\nWhy California’s Donor Disclosure Law Threatens Religious Charities. At RealClearReligion, John Bursch argues that the requirement has negative impacts in today’s digital and divided age.\nNational Tutoring Program Is Needed Now More Than Ever. At RealClearEducation, Katharine B. Stevens writes that achievement gaps heightened by remote learning demand special attention and intervention.\n* * *\nCarl M. Cannon\nWashington Bureau chief, RealClearPolitics\n@CarlCannon (Twitter)\[email protected]",
"Besmirched Legacy; Stacey Abrams; Capitol Breach",
"Good morning, its Thursday, Jan. 7, 2021. Joe Bidens presidency has already begun, at least unofficially. Yesterday, Donald Trump chose to play the role..."
] |
|
[] | 2021-01-28T07:21:56 | null | 2021-01-27T00:00:00 |
Democracies and Double Standards | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F27%2Fdemocracies_and_double_standards_534504.html.json
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/favicon.ico
|
en
| null |
Democracies and Double Standards
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
The rash of Covid rule-breaking among our leadership class makes me wonder if our leadership class still believe in the democratic standard.
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/27/democracies_and_double_standards_534504.html
|
en
| 2021-01-27T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/5b022957a8640c78a4eafddf94e0477384d5350b8f6249220f358f350166ae81.json
|
[
"The rash of Covid rule-breaking among our leadership class makes me wonder if our leadership class still believe in the democratic standard.",
"Democracies and Double Standards",
"Democracies and Double Standards | RealClearPolitics"
] |
[] | 2021-01-29T00:07:22 | null | 2021-01-28T00:00:00 |
What Can Liberalism Learn From the Defeat of Trump? | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F28%2Fwhat_can_liberalism_learn_from_the_defeat_of_trump_534628.html.json
|
en
| null |
What Can Liberalism Learn From the Defeat of Trump?
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
What Can Liberalism Learn From the Defeat of Trump?
Liberalism persists in the insistence that extreme irrationalities of nationalism and ethnic tribalism can be placated by this economic policy or that new bill. They can’t.Photograph by Joe Raedle / Getty
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/28/what_can_liberalism_learn_from_the_defeat_of_trump_534628.html
|
en
| 2021-01-28T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/30747e2295b136598e76775dc75e455a2d569c5672707f13cda7982ee75f90a6.json
|
[
"What Can Liberalism Learn From the Defeat of Trump?\nLiberalism persists in the insistence that extreme irrationalities of nationalism and ethnic tribalism can be placated by this economic policy or that new bill. They can’t.Photograph by Joe Raedle / Getty",
"What Can Liberalism Learn From the Defeat of Trump?",
"What Can Liberalism Learn From the Defeat of Trump? | RealClearPolitics"
] |
|
[] | 2021-01-21T04:38:19 | null | 2021-01-20T00:00:00 |
1776 Report a Marvel, Makes Me Ashamed to Be British | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F20%2F1776_report_a_marvel_makes_me_ashamed_to_be_british_533975.html.json
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/favicon.ico
|
en
| null |
1776 Report a Marvel, Makes Me Ashamed to Be British
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
The 1776 Report is a thing of such beauty, dignity, and scholarship that it makes me wish I were American.
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/20/1776_report_a_marvel_makes_me_ashamed_to_be_british_533975.html
|
en
| 2021-01-20T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/f5614923bb51c5a898f332dd0c078244c6f397361136b122971d3d484c69f808.json
|
[
"The 1776 Report is a thing of such beauty, dignity, and scholarship that it makes me wish I were American.",
"1776 Report a Marvel, Makes Me Ashamed to Be British",
"1776 Report a Marvel, Makes Me Ashamed to Be British | RealClearPolitics"
] |
[] | 2021-01-25T04:35:20 | null | 2021-01-24T00:00:00 |
Liberals Suffer Trump Withdrawal | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F24%2Fliberals_suffer_trump_withdrawal_534283.html.json
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/favicon.ico
|
en
| null |
Liberals Suffer Trump Withdrawal
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
| null |
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/24/liberals_suffer_trump_withdrawal_534283.html
|
en
| 2021-01-24T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/b71fc4187e0728044f4e876fbbcb7fabbffa4556ee945a94567c96e348140bfd.json
|
[
"Liberals Suffer Trump Withdrawal",
"Liberals Suffer Trump Withdrawal | RealClearPolitics"
] |
[] | 2021-01-23T12:35:14 | null | 2021-01-23T00:00:00 |
The Democrats appear intent on instituting one-party rule in the United States.
Theyre trying to use the U.S. Capitol riots as an excuse to criminalize...
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2Farticles%2F2021%2F01%2F23%2Fdemocrats_have_released_a_roadmap_to_one-party_rule_145102.html.json
|
en
| null |
Democrats Have Released a Roadmap to One-Party Rule
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
The Democrats appear intent on instituting one-party rule in the United States.
They’re trying to use the U.S. Capitol riots as an excuse to criminalize dissent and banish conservative voices from the public sphere, and at the same time they’re hoping to use their temporary, razor-thin majority in Congress to rewrite the rules governing our elections in a way designed to keep the Democratic Party entrenched in power for decades to come.
In the House, Democrats have revived sweeping election reform legislation that died in the Senate during the previous session, perhaps hoping they can browbeat enough Republicans into going along with them. If that happens, the “Grand Old Party” of Abraham Lincoln might as well disband, because Republicans would never have any hope of regaining a congressional majority or controlling the White House under the rules that HR 1 would put in place.
Although the Constitution explicitly places state legislatures in charge of managing federal elections, HR 1 seeks to use the power of the purse to bludgeon the states into conforming to a centralized system pioneered in California and other deep-blue states. Congress can’t technically compel the states to change their voting laws, but seasoned politicians know that the states have become dependent on federal money to run their elections, and can’t afford to pick up the tab themselves.
To make matters worse, HR 1 declares that Congress possesses “ultimate supervisory power over Federal elections” — an extraordinary usurpation of governmental authority that the Founders specifically assigned to the states.
The 2020 election witnessed private interests dictating the manner in which the election was conducted in the nation’s urban cores. Mark Zuckerberg alone poured $419 million into this scheme.
The goal of centralizing power in the hands of the federal government has long been at the heart of liberal politics, and this legislation demonstrates why.
HR 1 would codify the very practices — many of them currently illegal in most states — that created widespread irregularities in the 2020 elections and contributed greatly to public mistrust of the electoral process. In 2020, state and local officials used the COVID-19 pandemic as justification to ignore or deliberately violate state election laws. If HR 1 is enacted, they won’t need any such excuse in 2022 because the states will have no choice but to implement policies such as legalized ballot harvesting, early voting, and universal mail-in voting, as well as repeal of voter ID laws, signature-matching laws, and other ballot security measures.
For example, HR 1 would allow ballot harvesting on steroids. Voters would — for the first time — have the ability to print out their ballots at home, creating a gaping security hole that could easily be exploited by either domestic or foreign interests. The legislation also allows third parties to collect ballots from an unlimited number of absentee voters and submit them through ballot drop boxes, dramatically increasing the risk that vulnerable Americans could be bullied, bribed, or blackmailed for their votes without the protection of election workers.
Under the rules outlined in HR 1, election observers wouldn’t even be able to challenge the legitimacy of ballots without written documentation, making it virtually impossible to document or detect election irregularities.
Nothing in this legislation could plausibly be interpreted as a means of restoring public confidence in our elections — but the reforms establish a clear roadmap to one-party rule. This is especially so when you consider the new proposals for the war on “domestic terror” aimed directly at the free expression of American citizens.
We can only hope that principled Republicans and Democrats will reject this direct assault on American democracy and individual freedom, and resist the institutionalists in both parties who believe the American people need them to protect us from ourselves.
The way to create one-party rule is to control information and control the way a nation selects its leaders. The political left has joined with Big Tech and government careerists in aggressively trying to do both.
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2021/01/23/democrats_have_released_a_roadmap_to_one-party_rule_145102.html
|
en
| 2021-01-23T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/e8ad00c1edf30d66b7733f48fa4513338f2e63284b1ebfcb4b6a5f1e49bee410.json
|
[
"The Democrats appear intent on instituting one-party rule in the United States.\nThey’re trying to use the U.S. Capitol riots as an excuse to criminalize dissent and banish conservative voices from the public sphere, and at the same time they’re hoping to use their temporary, razor-thin majority in Congress to rewrite the rules governing our elections in a way designed to keep the Democratic Party entrenched in power for decades to come.\nIn the House, Democrats have revived sweeping election reform legislation that died in the Senate during the previous session, perhaps hoping they can browbeat enough Republicans into going along with them. If that happens, the “Grand Old Party” of Abraham Lincoln might as well disband, because Republicans would never have any hope of regaining a congressional majority or controlling the White House under the rules that HR 1 would put in place.\nAlthough the Constitution explicitly places state legislatures in charge of managing federal elections, HR 1 seeks to use the power of the purse to bludgeon the states into conforming to a centralized system pioneered in California and other deep-blue states. Congress can’t technically compel the states to change their voting laws, but seasoned politicians know that the states have become dependent on federal money to run their elections, and can’t afford to pick up the tab themselves.\nTo make matters worse, HR 1 declares that Congress possesses “ultimate supervisory power over Federal elections” — an extraordinary usurpation of governmental authority that the Founders specifically assigned to the states.\nThe 2020 election witnessed private interests dictating the manner in which the election was conducted in the nation’s urban cores. Mark Zuckerberg alone poured $419 million into this scheme.\nThe goal of centralizing power in the hands of the federal government has long been at the heart of liberal politics, and this legislation demonstrates why.\nHR 1 would codify the very practices — many of them currently illegal in most states — that created widespread irregularities in the 2020 elections and contributed greatly to public mistrust of the electoral process. In 2020, state and local officials used the COVID-19 pandemic as justification to ignore or deliberately violate state election laws. If HR 1 is enacted, they won’t need any such excuse in 2022 because the states will have no choice but to implement policies such as legalized ballot harvesting, early voting, and universal mail-in voting, as well as repeal of voter ID laws, signature-matching laws, and other ballot security measures.\nFor example, HR 1 would allow ballot harvesting on steroids. Voters would — for the first time — have the ability to print out their ballots at home, creating a gaping security hole that could easily be exploited by either domestic or foreign interests. The legislation also allows third parties to collect ballots from an unlimited number of absentee voters and submit them through ballot drop boxes, dramatically increasing the risk that vulnerable Americans could be bullied, bribed, or blackmailed for their votes without the protection of election workers.\nUnder the rules outlined in HR 1, election observers wouldn’t even be able to challenge the legitimacy of ballots without written documentation, making it virtually impossible to document or detect election irregularities.\nNothing in this legislation could plausibly be interpreted as a means of restoring public confidence in our elections — but the reforms establish a clear roadmap to one-party rule. This is especially so when you consider the new proposals for the war on “domestic terror” aimed directly at the free expression of American citizens.\nWe can only hope that principled Republicans and Democrats will reject this direct assault on American democracy and individual freedom, and resist the institutionalists in both parties who believe the American people need them to protect us from ourselves.\nThe way to create one-party rule is to control information and control the way a nation selects its leaders. The political left has joined with Big Tech and government careerists in aggressively trying to do both.",
"Democrats Have Released a Roadmap to One-Party Rule",
"The Democrats appear intent on instituting one-party rule in the United States.\nTheyre trying to use the U.S. Capitol riots as an excuse to criminalize..."
] |
|
[] | 2021-01-26T04:53:50 | null | 2021-01-25T00:00:00 |
Biden's Radical Immigration Proposal | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F25%2Fbidens_radical_immigration_proposal_534370.html.json
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/favicon.ico
|
en
| null |
Biden's Radical Immigration Proposal
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
To those who want enforcement at least after amnesty, the new administration's answer is: 'You'll get nothing, and like it.'
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/25/bidens_radical_immigration_proposal_534370.html
|
en
| 2021-01-25T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/2d03ffe660524fa5823df48f362d3cacb82f4b8b08d4ddc3560c9a37a68ddb44.json
|
[
"To those who want enforcement at least after amnesty, the new administration's answer is: 'You'll get nothing, and like it.'",
"Biden's Radical Immigration Proposal",
"Biden's Radical Immigration Proposal | RealClearPolitics"
] |
[] | 2021-01-17T01:54:38 | null | 2021-01-16T00:00:00 |
Trump's Final Strategic Shift in the Middle East | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F16%2Ftrumps_final_strategic_shift_in_the_middle_east_533609.html.json
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/favicon.ico
|
en
| null |
Trump's Final Strategic Shift in the Middle East
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
Trump's Final Strategic Shift in the Middle East
The decision caps the outgoing administration's efforts to build a regional defense arrangement to counter Iran.
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/16/trumps_final_strategic_shift_in_the_middle_east_533609.html
|
en
| 2021-01-16T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/dfd728f4636208b20e1fb601369fba35c509736f8f969d10bbd89dd13c7696ff.json
|
[
"Trump's Final Strategic Shift in the Middle East\nThe decision caps the outgoing administration's efforts to build a regional defense arrangement to counter Iran.",
"Trump's Final Strategic Shift in the Middle East",
"Trump's Final Strategic Shift in the Middle East | RealClearPolitics"
] |
[] | 2021-01-28T18:28:34 | null | 2021-01-28T00:00:00 |
The Left's Revolution Devours All Before It | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F28%2Fthe_lefts_revolution_devours_all_before_it_534545.html.json
|
en
| null |
The Left's Revolution Devours All Before It
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
The latest enactment of that old truth happened Tuesday night in, of all places, a Zoom meeting of the San Francisco School Board. In that meeting, members voted to strip the names of American historical figures -- George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, and even California Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein -- from schools in San Francisco.
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/28/the_lefts_revolution_devours_all_before_it_534545.html
|
en
| 2021-01-28T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/259940d654df50b1e1831a1c97c5d88500052ded5a167a67e453a7503b6b0f8e.json
|
[
"The latest enactment of that old truth happened Tuesday night in, of all places, a Zoom meeting of the San Francisco School Board. In that meeting, members voted to strip the names of American historical figures -- George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, and even California Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein -- from schools in San Francisco.",
"The Left's Revolution Devours All Before It",
"The Left's Revolution Devours All Before It | RealClearPolitics"
] |
|
[] | 2021-01-22T06:51:26 | null | 2021-01-21T00:00:00 |
Elites Battle Over History While Students Fail Basic Civics | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F21%2Felites_battle_over_history_while_students_fail_basic_civics_534061.html.json
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/favicon.ico
|
en
| null |
Elites Battle Over History While Students Fail Basic Civics
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
It's bad enough that civic education is in the tank. In the most recent national testing, only 24% of 8th graders were proficient or better in U.S. history, while a pitiful 15% were proficient in government and civics. Only one-third of Americans can pass the basic citizenship test. Funding for…
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/21/elites_battle_over_history_while_students_fail_basic_civics_534061.html
|
en
| 2021-01-21T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/4881ea5d097f9d9f616618618ac734da3f006b5a6c9964bc2259ba8b4866f83b.json
|
[
"It's bad enough that civic education is in the tank. In the most recent national testing, only 24% of 8th graders were proficient or better in U.S. history, while a pitiful 15% were proficient in government and civics. Only one-third of Americans can pass the basic citizenship test. Funding for…",
"Elites Battle Over History While Students Fail Basic Civics",
"Elites Battle Over History While Students Fail Basic Civics | RealClearPolitics"
] |
[] | 2021-01-15T21:41:33 | null | 2021-01-15T00:00:00 |
Pompeo Was the Worst Secretary of State in American History | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F15%2Fpompeo_was_the_worst_secretary_of_state_in_american_history_533587.html.json
|
en
| null |
Pompeo Was the Worst Secretary of State in American History
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
Pompeo Was the Worst Secretary of State in American History
Trump's most fervid lapdog is in a class of his own.
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/15/pompeo_was_the_worst_secretary_of_state_in_american_history_533587.html
|
en
| 2021-01-15T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/2bf4e99793cd54ff7c34ad87873ac25e6cc87d0468f663ada32e95aa57588399.json
|
[
"Pompeo Was the Worst Secretary of State in American History\nTrump's most fervid lapdog is in a class of his own.",
"Pompeo Was the Worst Secretary of State in American History",
"Pompeo Was the Worst Secretary of State in American History | RealClearPolitics"
] |
|
[] | 2021-01-15T21:41:43 | null | 2021-01-15T00:00:00 |
Trump's Support Is More About Policies Than Personality | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F15%2Ftrumps_support_is_more_about_policies_than_personality_533540.html.json
|
en
| null |
Trump's Support Is More About Policies Than Personality
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
Trump's Support Is More About Policies Than Personality
Anti-Trump conservatives think they are poised to take back the Republican Party after he leaves office. They are sorely mistaken.
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/15/trumps_support_is_more_about_policies_than_personality_533540.html
|
en
| 2021-01-15T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/09c1c6d46ddd1bc4efe7aaeb6507b7e4d29f1b607572302a0859408cf20cc2b6.json
|
[
"Trump's Support Is More About Policies Than Personality\nAnti-Trump conservatives think they are poised to take back the Republican Party after he leaves office. They are sorely mistaken.",
"Trump's Support Is More About Policies Than Personality",
"Trump's Support Is More About Policies Than Personality | RealClearPolitics"
] |
|
[] | 2021-01-25T20:48:43 | null | 2021-01-25T00:00:00 |
Stakes of Senate’s Impeachment Trial Couldn’t Be Higher | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F25%2Fstakes_of_senatersquos_impeachment_trial_couldnrsquot_be_higher_534315.html.json
|
en
| null |
Stakes of Senate’s Impeachment Trial Couldn’t Be Higher
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
The first impeachment of Donald Trump was an act of self-preservation by Democrats. The second is an act of self-preservation by Congress.
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/25/stakes_of_senatersquos_impeachment_trial_couldnrsquot_be_higher_534315.html
|
en
| 2021-01-25T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/b3563ec666350090c11e29abdb1140c0815ce189d3079dc8dacbf388bd11ce33.json
|
[
"The first impeachment of Donald Trump was an act of self-preservation by Democrats. The second is an act of self-preservation by Congress.",
"Stakes of Senate’s Impeachment Trial Couldn’t Be Higher",
"Stakes of Senate’s Impeachment Trial Couldn’t Be Higher | RealClearPolitics"
] |
|
[] | 2021-01-30T18:01:47 | null | 2021-01-30T00:00:00 |
Why Republicans Are Going All-Out to Limit Voting Rights | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F30%2Fwhy_republicans_are_going_all-out_to_limit_voting_rights_534777.html.json
|
en
| null |
Why Republicans Are Going All-Out to Limit Voting Rights
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
Why Republicans Are Going All-Out to Limit Voting Rights
In 2021 legislative sessions, lawmakers in 28 states have pushed a whopping 106 bills that would restrict voting access
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/30/why_republicans_are_going_all-out_to_limit_voting_rights_534777.html
|
en
| 2021-01-30T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/96641c0c508cd0114275591063529cdd2ef346e9fdc0f7bbe5a251a75a49d6ad.json
|
[
"Why Republicans Are Going All-Out to Limit Voting Rights\nIn 2021 legislative sessions, lawmakers in 28 states have pushed a whopping 106 bills that would restrict voting access",
"Why Republicans Are Going All-Out to Limit Voting Rights",
"Why Republicans Are Going All-Out to Limit Voting Rights | RealClearPolitics"
] |
|
[] | 2021-01-03T07:11:54 | null | 2021-01-02T00:00:00 |
2020 Was the Year of the Black Voter--and Black Joy | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F02%2F2020_was_the_year_of_the_black_voter--and_black_joy_532541.html.json
|
en
| null |
2020 Was the Year of the Black Voter--and Black Joy
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
2020 Was the Year of the Black Voter--and Black Joy
In the face of hardship and pain, Black Americans found their power and flexed. And they had fun doing it.
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/02/2020_was_the_year_of_the_black_voter--and_black_joy_532541.html
|
en
| 2021-01-02T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/3280293336ae5253ea8fc6dc37cddb7a150e67c3e7025ad34c3b81e3abf8e599.json
|
[
"2020 Was the Year of the Black Voter--and Black Joy\nIn the face of hardship and pain, Black Americans found their power and flexed. And they had fun doing it.",
"2020 Was the Year of the Black Voter--and Black Joy",
"2020 Was the Year of the Black Voter--and Black Joy | RealClearPolitics"
] |
|
[] | 2021-01-17T16:18:16 | null | 2021-01-16T00:00:00 |
Cancel Culture Has No Place Whatsoever in Business | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F16%2Fcancel_culture_has_no_place_whatsoever_in_business_533629.html.json
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/favicon.ico
|
en
| null |
Cancel Culture Has No Place Whatsoever in Business
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
One of the beauties of commerce and markets is that they require us to work alongside people with whom we disagree.
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/16/cancel_culture_has_no_place_whatsoever_in_business_533629.html
|
en
| 2021-01-16T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/35a9f50dc20060f3d58900b8d6d709005c64e80eb652aec780d3e579c4c4f59c.json
|
[
"One of the beauties of commerce and markets is that they require us to work alongside people with whom we disagree.",
"Cancel Culture Has No Place Whatsoever in Business",
"Cancel Culture Has No Place Whatsoever in Business | RealClearPolitics"
] |
[] | 2021-01-04T19:55:52 | null | 2021-01-04T00:00:00 |
Biden Faces a Minefield in New Diplomacy With Iran | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F04%2Fbiden_faces_a_minefield_in_new_diplomacy_with_iran_532624.html.json
|
en
| null |
Biden Faces a Minefield in New Diplomacy With Iran
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
Biden Faces a Minefield in New Diplomacy With Iran
The President-elect has known key revolutionaries for decades, but time is short before Iran's own Presidential election.
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/04/biden_faces_a_minefield_in_new_diplomacy_with_iran_532624.html
|
en
| 2021-01-04T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/a2152c1f0a00970969f5e617ac932ad2e2bf1a4c6ed88c949502651d14bfc7e6.json
|
[
"Biden Faces a Minefield in New Diplomacy With Iran\nThe President-elect has known key revolutionaries for decades, but time is short before Iran's own Presidential election.",
"Biden Faces a Minefield in New Diplomacy With Iran",
"Biden Faces a Minefield in New Diplomacy With Iran | RealClearPolitics"
] |
|
[] | 2021-01-27T14:12:31 | null | 2021-01-27T00:00:00 |
Dems' Impeachment Sham More Divisive By the Minute | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F27%2Fdems_impeachment_sham_more_divisive_by_the_minute_534483.html.json
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/favicon.ico
|
en
| null |
Dems' Impeachment Sham More Divisive By the Minute
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
Apparently believing his first week in the White House has been flawless and the public will be extra patient with him, Joe Biden did a very foolish thing. He decided to ride the tiger of impeachme…
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/27/dems_impeachment_sham_more_divisive_by_the_minute_534483.html
|
en
| 2021-01-27T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/827a7013cb2288283f3cbdaa414f73d28f102c897d039ce73d3e4da3c45b9708.json
|
[
"Apparently believing his first week in the White House has been flawless and the public will be extra patient with him, Joe Biden did a very foolish thing. He decided to ride the tiger of impeachme…",
"Dems' Impeachment Sham More Divisive By the Minute",
"Dems' Impeachment Sham More Divisive By the Minute | RealClearPolitics"
] |
[] | 2021-01-25T20:48:48 | null | 2021-01-25T00:00:00 |
Teacher Unions Fume: They Don't Like COVID-19 facts | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F25%2Fteacher_unions_fume_they_dont_like_covid-19_facts_534351.html.json
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/favicon.ico
|
en
| null |
Teacher Unions Fume: They Don't Like COVID-19 facts
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
Gov. Chris Sununu called out teacher unions last week for politicizing the COVID-19 pandemic and they didn't like it one little bit. He happens to be correct that the great
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/25/teacher_unions_fume_they_dont_like_covid-19_facts_534351.html
|
en
| 2021-01-25T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/cef15dfe7e7a3fe3162ca77dd8e8a67ef44d7e364637187c43dd9933d6b568ab.json
|
[
"Gov. Chris Sununu called out teacher unions last week for politicizing the COVID-19 pandemic and they didn't like it one little bit. He happens to be correct that the great",
"Teacher Unions Fume: They Don't Like COVID-19 facts",
"Teacher Unions Fume: They Don't Like COVID-19 facts | RealClearPolitics"
] |
[] | 2021-01-26T04:53:35 | null | 2021-01-25T00:00:00 |
Avoiding the Obama-Era Silence Trap | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F25%2Favoiding_the_obama-era_silence_trap_534322.html.json
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/favicon.ico
|
en
| null |
Avoiding the Obama-Era Silence Trap
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
| null |
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/25/avoiding_the_obama-era_silence_trap_534322.html
|
en
| 2021-01-25T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/35a4c9131f8be2d65532b70c21df6e97cfd0df4a295a7fa1e046e4c7aae75076.json
|
[
"Avoiding the Obama-Era Silence Trap",
"Avoiding the Obama-Era Silence Trap | RealClearPolitics"
] |
[] | 2021-01-15T02:48:09 | null | 2021-01-14T00:00:00 |
Two days after the 2020 election, a defiant Kathy Griffin retweeted the notorious picture of her holding a prop that looked like the bloody head of a...
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2Farticles%2F2021%2F01%2F14%2Fassault_on_the_capitol_has_let_loose_the_electronic_octopus_145029.html.json
|
en
| null |
Assault on the Capitol Has Let Loose the Electronic Octopus
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
Two days after the 2020 election, a defiant Kathy Griffin retweeted the notorious picture of her holding a prop that looked like the bloody head of a decapitated Donald Trump. Earlier last year, Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, tweeted out a call to his followers to destroy Israel. Both tweets passed the censorship rules of Twitter's 20-something judges in San Francisco.
In contrast, Trump has been banned for life from Twitter and barred indefinitely from Facebook. Twitter said in a statement it excluded Trump "due to the risk of further incitement of violence."
The president had called for thousands of his followers to assemble at a massive Washington, D.C., rally protesting the results of the election. Splinter groups broke off from the massed protesters. Some stormed into the halls of Congress, Social media platforms canceled Trump after he urged his followers, albeit "peacefully and patriotically," to go protest at the U.S. Capitol, where the mayhem followed.
After the assault -- and after Democrats won the presidency, kept the House, took the Senate and threatened to pack the Supreme Court -- furor broke out against Trump. The outrage included the banning of Trump and some of his supporters from social media.
Thousands of scared social media users then retreated to the more conservative site Parler. But in near-unison, Google, Apple and Amazon removed Parler from their platforms.
Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri had his upcoming book -- a call to clamp down on Big Tech monopolies -- abruptly canceled by publisher Simon & Schuster. Hawley's crime was apparently his quixotic persistence in questioning the authenticity of the 2020 election.
What are the new standards that now get a book or a social media account canceled?
After all, the Vicki Osterweil book "In Defense of Looting," a justification for theft and property destruction, came out last summer amidst the antifa and Black Lives Matter unrest. The author was even featured on National Public Radio in a largely sympathetic interview.
Is Madonna banned from social media? Shortly after the 2017 inauguration, she voiced a desire to blow up the White House with the Trump family in it.
Is AK-47-toting rapper Raz Simone banned from social media? He took over a swath of downtown Seattle last June and declared it an autonomous zone. For weeks, his armed guards reigned supreme without worry of police. There were at least four shootings and two deaths in or around Simone's kingdom. He was neither prosecuted nor deplatformed from social media. The lyrics of his song "Shoot at Everyone" are full of allusions to violence, racial slurs and stereotypes. The song is posted on YouTube, and Simone still enjoys a large social media presence.
So, why did Big Tech, the media, the publishing industry, a host of corporations and a growing number of campuses double down on censoring some free speech? Why now blacklist, censor and cancel thousands of people?
True, Trump gave them an opening when some rogue supporters vandalized the Capitol. But the real reason is that the left has long been eager to curtail the speech of those it opposes. Last week simply offered members of the left the sort of perfect crisis that they determined should never go to waste.
With an unpopular Trump on the way out, and with control over the levers of government, members of the left abruptly settled all their old scores. Their aim was not just to humiliate opponents but to curtail opponents' ability to organize against them.
Democrats applauded the censorship. And why not? In a few weeks they will likely seek to end the Senate filibuster. In revolutionary fashion, they may try to admit new states, pack the Supreme Court and end the Electoral College -- moves designed to emasculate their conservative opposition.
Over a century ago, the oil, railroad, telegraph and power industries created huge monopolies. They set up vertically integrated cartels. And they used their enormous profits to lavish gifts on politicians, control information and destroy competition.
Some people likened these huge trusts to octopuses whose tentacles strangled freedom. In reaction, angry workers and farmers, muckraking journalists and novelists, and crusading populist and progressive politicians passed antitrust laws.
And so they broke up the monopolies.
Today, however, progressive politicians, Wall Street, the media, academia, Hollywood and professional sports are all on the side of the mega-rich tech cartels. Partnering with Big Tech is both politically useful and financially lucrative.
So the values of the 19th-century rail and oil monopolies are back. But now they are married to the 20th-century leftist totalitarianism of George Orwell's "1984." And they are further powered by the 21st-century instant reach of the internet.
This time around there will be no progressive trustbusters or muckrakers. They are in league with, or bought off by, the new electronic octopus.
And its tentacles are strangling the thoughts and speech of an increasingly unfree America.
(C)2021 Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2021/01/14/assault_on_the_capitol_has_let_loose_the_electronic_octopus_145029.html
|
en
| 2021-01-14T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/94ca626191170c8ff72b0f8f08ded05983acbb6a709f4aa2aa48f146215e88c7.json
|
[
"Two days after the 2020 election, a defiant Kathy Griffin retweeted the notorious picture of her holding a prop that looked like the bloody head of a decapitated Donald Trump. Earlier last year, Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, tweeted out a call to his followers to destroy Israel. Both tweets passed the censorship rules of Twitter's 20-something judges in San Francisco.\nIn contrast, Trump has been banned for life from Twitter and barred indefinitely from Facebook. Twitter said in a statement it excluded Trump \"due to the risk of further incitement of violence.\"\nThe president had called for thousands of his followers to assemble at a massive Washington, D.C., rally protesting the results of the election. Splinter groups broke off from the massed protesters. Some stormed into the halls of Congress, Social media platforms canceled Trump after he urged his followers, albeit \"peacefully and patriotically,\" to go protest at the U.S. Capitol, where the mayhem followed.\nAfter the assault -- and after Democrats won the presidency, kept the House, took the Senate and threatened to pack the Supreme Court -- furor broke out against Trump. The outrage included the banning of Trump and some of his supporters from social media.\nThousands of scared social media users then retreated to the more conservative site Parler. But in near-unison, Google, Apple and Amazon removed Parler from their platforms.\nSen. Josh Hawley of Missouri had his upcoming book -- a call to clamp down on Big Tech monopolies -- abruptly canceled by publisher Simon & Schuster. Hawley's crime was apparently his quixotic persistence in questioning the authenticity of the 2020 election.\nWhat are the new standards that now get a book or a social media account canceled?\nAfter all, the Vicki Osterweil book \"In Defense of Looting,\" a justification for theft and property destruction, came out last summer amidst the antifa and Black Lives Matter unrest. The author was even featured on National Public Radio in a largely sympathetic interview.\nIs Madonna banned from social media? Shortly after the 2017 inauguration, she voiced a desire to blow up the White House with the Trump family in it.\nIs AK-47-toting rapper Raz Simone banned from social media? He took over a swath of downtown Seattle last June and declared it an autonomous zone. For weeks, his armed guards reigned supreme without worry of police. There were at least four shootings and two deaths in or around Simone's kingdom. He was neither prosecuted nor deplatformed from social media. The lyrics of his song \"Shoot at Everyone\" are full of allusions to violence, racial slurs and stereotypes. The song is posted on YouTube, and Simone still enjoys a large social media presence.\nSo, why did Big Tech, the media, the publishing industry, a host of corporations and a growing number of campuses double down on censoring some free speech? Why now blacklist, censor and cancel thousands of people?\nTrue, Trump gave them an opening when some rogue supporters vandalized the Capitol. But the real reason is that the left has long been eager to curtail the speech of those it opposes. Last week simply offered members of the left the sort of perfect crisis that they determined should never go to waste.\nWith an unpopular Trump on the way out, and with control over the levers of government, members of the left abruptly settled all their old scores. Their aim was not just to humiliate opponents but to curtail opponents' ability to organize against them.\nDemocrats applauded the censorship. And why not? In a few weeks they will likely seek to end the Senate filibuster. In revolutionary fashion, they may try to admit new states, pack the Supreme Court and end the Electoral College -- moves designed to emasculate their conservative opposition.\nOver a century ago, the oil, railroad, telegraph and power industries created huge monopolies. They set up vertically integrated cartels. And they used their enormous profits to lavish gifts on politicians, control information and destroy competition.\nSome people likened these huge trusts to octopuses whose tentacles strangled freedom. In reaction, angry workers and farmers, muckraking journalists and novelists, and crusading populist and progressive politicians passed antitrust laws.\nAnd so they broke up the monopolies.\nToday, however, progressive politicians, Wall Street, the media, academia, Hollywood and professional sports are all on the side of the mega-rich tech cartels. Partnering with Big Tech is both politically useful and financially lucrative.\nSo the values of the 19th-century rail and oil monopolies are back. But now they are married to the 20th-century leftist totalitarianism of George Orwell's \"1984.\" And they are further powered by the 21st-century instant reach of the internet.\nThis time around there will be no progressive trustbusters or muckrakers. They are in league with, or bought off by, the new electronic octopus.\nAnd its tentacles are strangling the thoughts and speech of an increasingly unfree America.\n(C)2021 Tribune Content Agency, LLC.",
"Assault on the Capitol Has Let Loose the Electronic Octopus",
"Two days after the 2020 election, a defiant Kathy Griffin retweeted the notorious picture of her holding a prop that looked like the bloody head of a..."
] |
|
[] | 2021-01-14T00:32:20 | null | 2021-01-13T00:00:00 |
Good morning, its Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2021. House Democrats are proceeding apace to impeach President Trump again. This strikes many Republicans as vengeful...
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2Farticles%2F2021%2F01%2F13%2Fbeware_the_mob_big_techs_big_foot_impeachment_20_145028.html.json
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en
| null |
Beware the Mob; Big Tech's Big Foot; Impeachment 2.0
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
Good morning, it’s Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2021. House Democrats are proceeding apace to impeach President Trump again. This strikes many Republicans as vengeful and pointless: He’s leaving office in seven days anyway. Democrats who huddled in fear for their lives in the U.S. Capitol last week counter that impeachment is absolutely necessary.
In truth, it’s difficult to know, in real-time, exactly what we’re looking at, or its ramifications. On this date in 1928, for example, RCA and General Electric placed a new gizmo -- the television set -- in several homes in the upstate New York town of Schenectady. The screens were tiny, the picture quality poor, the signal from WGY unsteady, and the pilot program being aired -- a drama named “The Queen’s Messenger” -- utterly forgettable.
Something cataclysmic had happened, as it turned out, although not everyone realized it. “Whether the present system can be brought to commercial practicability and public usefulness,” reported the New York Herald Tribune, “remains a question.”
Some said the same thing about the Internet. And though it’s tempting to poke fun at doubters and Luddites, the manner in which that medium has helped weaponize politics suggests that the second part of the equation -- its “public usefulness” -- also remains an open question.
With that, I’d point you to RCP’s front page, which presents our poll averages, videos, breaking news stories, and aggregated opinion pieces spanning the political spectrum. Today’s lineup includes Glenn Greenwald (Substack), Dahlia Lithwick (Slate), and Ed Rendell (The Hill). We also offer original material from our own reporters, columnists, and contributors, including the following:
* * *
Abe Lincoln’s Warning About the Perils of Mob Rule. Tom Bevan and I consider Lincoln’s 1838 stand against mob violence and the lessons we ought to learn from it.
Republicans Must Step Up to Stop the Violence Trump Won’t. A.B. Stoddard warns that last week’s assault on the Capitol could pale in comparison to what’s ahead if GOP lawmakers don’t speak forcefully to the president’s supporters.
Trump’s Packing His Bags, But Partisan Media Is Here to Stay. J. Peder Zane argues that America’s major news outlets have abandoned their historic commitment to open inquiry and fairness.
Will a Biden Presidency Reflect His Scranton Roots? Charles F. McElwee examines the town that shaped our next president, and the transitions it has faced since he left nearly 70 years ago.
Biden’s Hidden Mandate. At RealClearPolicy, Richard Protzmann writes that the events of the past year, including election results down the ballot, are a call for moderation and bipartisanship.
Bitcoin -- and Where “Money” Is Headed. At RealClearMarkets, Reuven Brenner has this primer on the digital currency and how the block-chain technology behind it can help ensure accountability in a range of commercial activities.
* * *
Carl M. Cannon
Washington Bureau chief, RealClearPolitics
@CarlCannon (Twitter)
[email protected]
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2021/01/13/beware_the_mob_big_techs_big_foot_impeachment_20_145028.html
|
en
| 2021-01-13T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/af5cb10bc74d5701c0edc352ef62b7c18f736dc57accb7967f5f67194dbcdec1.json
|
[
"Good morning, it’s Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2021. House Democrats are proceeding apace to impeach President Trump again. This strikes many Republicans as vengeful and pointless: He’s leaving office in seven days anyway. Democrats who huddled in fear for their lives in the U.S. Capitol last week counter that impeachment is absolutely necessary.\nIn truth, it’s difficult to know, in real-time, exactly what we’re looking at, or its ramifications. On this date in 1928, for example, RCA and General Electric placed a new gizmo -- the television set -- in several homes in the upstate New York town of Schenectady. The screens were tiny, the picture quality poor, the signal from WGY unsteady, and the pilot program being aired -- a drama named “The Queen’s Messenger” -- utterly forgettable.\nSomething cataclysmic had happened, as it turned out, although not everyone realized it. “Whether the present system can be brought to commercial practicability and public usefulness,” reported the New York Herald Tribune, “remains a question.”\nSome said the same thing about the Internet. And though it’s tempting to poke fun at doubters and Luddites, the manner in which that medium has helped weaponize politics suggests that the second part of the equation -- its “public usefulness” -- also remains an open question.\nWith that, I’d point you to RCP’s front page, which presents our poll averages, videos, breaking news stories, and aggregated opinion pieces spanning the political spectrum. Today’s lineup includes Glenn Greenwald (Substack), Dahlia Lithwick (Slate), and Ed Rendell (The Hill). We also offer original material from our own reporters, columnists, and contributors, including the following:\n* * *\nAbe Lincoln’s Warning About the Perils of Mob Rule. Tom Bevan and I consider Lincoln’s 1838 stand against mob violence and the lessons we ought to learn from it.\nRepublicans Must Step Up to Stop the Violence Trump Won’t. A.B. Stoddard warns that last week’s assault on the Capitol could pale in comparison to what’s ahead if GOP lawmakers don’t speak forcefully to the president’s supporters.\nTrump’s Packing His Bags, But Partisan Media Is Here to Stay. J. Peder Zane argues that America’s major news outlets have abandoned their historic commitment to open inquiry and fairness.\nWill a Biden Presidency Reflect His Scranton Roots? Charles F. McElwee examines the town that shaped our next president, and the transitions it has faced since he left nearly 70 years ago.\nBiden’s Hidden Mandate. At RealClearPolicy, Richard Protzmann writes that the events of the past year, including election results down the ballot, are a call for moderation and bipartisanship.\nBitcoin -- and Where “Money” Is Headed. At RealClearMarkets, Reuven Brenner has this primer on the digital currency and how the block-chain technology behind it can help ensure accountability in a range of commercial activities.\n* * *\nCarl M. Cannon\nWashington Bureau chief, RealClearPolitics\n@CarlCannon (Twitter)\[email protected]",
"Beware the Mob; Big Tech's Big Foot; Impeachment 2.0",
"Good morning, its Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2021. House Democrats are proceeding apace to impeach President Trump again. This strikes many Republicans as vengeful..."
] |
|
[] | 2021-01-11T15:15:39 | null | 2021-01-11T00:00:00 |
Cuomo's Vaccine Debacle Encapsulates His Governing Style | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F11%2Fcuomos_vaccine_debacle_encapsulates_his_governing_style_533205.html.json
|
en
| null |
Cuomo's Vaccine Debacle Encapsulates His Governing Style
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
Governor Andrew Cuomo's failure to contain the virus in the earliest weeks of the outbreak doomed New York to far more suffering than it needed to endure. Now, with a vaccine here, he is again proving his unfitness to lead his state through the worst crisis it has faced in modern history.
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/11/cuomos_vaccine_debacle_encapsulates_his_governing_style_533205.html
|
en
| 2021-01-11T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/80c3684aa3de654b36ba2457dcfab69971bffd8c6ef2620dd383d5a8093cad7c.json
|
[
"Governor Andrew Cuomo's failure to contain the virus in the earliest weeks of the outbreak doomed New York to far more suffering than it needed to endure. Now, with a vaccine here, he is again proving his unfitness to lead his state through the worst crisis it has faced in modern history.",
"Cuomo's Vaccine Debacle Encapsulates His Governing Style",
"Cuomo's Vaccine Debacle Encapsulates His Governing Style | RealClearPolitics"
] |
|
[] | 2021-01-22T17:59:27 | null | 2021-01-22T00:00:00 |
How Joe Biden Misunderstands Unity | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F22%2Fhow_joe_biden_misunderstands_unity_534062.html.json
|
en
| null |
How Joe Biden Misunderstands Unity
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
In Biden's speech, St. Augustine's deep warning about misdirected unity in love of the wrong thing becomes the spiritual equivalent of c'mon, man.
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/22/how_joe_biden_misunderstands_unity_534062.html
|
en
| 2021-01-22T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/c014ba5510696d77ad6f837fa5f8da4558076a0abe1e86a067cfaa3afcf23dc9.json
|
[
"In Biden's speech, St. Augustine's deep warning about misdirected unity in love of the wrong thing becomes the spiritual equivalent of c'mon, man.",
"How Joe Biden Misunderstands Unity",
"How Joe Biden Misunderstands Unity | RealClearPolitics"
] |
|
[] | 2021-01-29T12:35:20 | null | 2021-01-28T00:00:00 |
So Much for Joe Biden, Moderate | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F28%2Fso_much_for_joe_biden_moderate_534613.html.json
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/favicon.ico
|
en
| null |
So Much for Joe Biden, Moderate
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
Biden owes his presidential victory in part to environmentalists, and he needs to throw them a bone, even if it's only symbolic — and very costly.
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/28/so_much_for_joe_biden_moderate_534613.html
|
en
| 2021-01-28T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/db124e1f6dc4ebe726538a2c4aaed956a5ea3c37b9456a6eea38c9dbbf6edfc3.json
|
[
"Biden owes his presidential victory in part to environmentalists, and he needs to throw them a bone, even if it's only symbolic — and very costly.",
"So Much for Joe Biden, Moderate",
"So Much for Joe Biden, Moderate | RealClearPolitics"
] |
[] | 2021-01-20T18:39:18 | null | 2021-01-20T00:00:00 |
It was a revealing moment in an otherwise predictable show of vague deflections that has become the kind of performance art required for Cabinet nominees to...
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2Farticles%2F2021%2F01%2F20%2Frepublicans_block_swift_approval_of_bidens_dhs_pick__145075.html.json
|
en
| null |
Republicans Block Swift Approval of Biden's DHS Pick
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
It was a revealing moment in an otherwise predictable show of vague deflections that has become the kind of performance art required for Cabinet nominees to make it through the Senate confirmation gauntlet.
Alejandro Mayorkas, Joe Biden’s nominee to lead the Department of Homeland Security, was asked Tuesday what message he wanted to send to the thousands of immigrants traveling in a caravan through Central America in hopes that a new president would welcome them into the United States and turn the page on President Trump’s restrictive immigration policies that sought to keep them out.
Changes to Trump’s border policies “cannot be accomplished with a flick of a switch on day one,” said Mayorkas, who would become the first Latino and first immigrant to head the agency. “It will take time to build the infrastructure capacity so we can enforce our laws.”
But what Mayorkas means by enforcing U.S. immigration laws is far different from the Trump administration’s definition. Each member of any caravan attempting to cross into the United States would be evaluated separately on whether their case for asylum meets the law’s definition, he told the Senate Homeland Security Committee. This is a dramatic shift from Trump’s policy that aimed to prevent the large groups travelling from Central America from crossing into the United States at all.
Biden has promised a swift reversal of Trump’s policies of cracking down on illegal immigration and his efforts to fulfill a 2016 campaign promise to build a massive, sprawling wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. During his first days in office, Biden will ask Congress to provide a pathway to citizenship for an estimated 11 million immigrants already in the country illegally. Biden also will announce plans to pause wall construction until further review and new protections for immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children and are beneficiaries of the Deferred Action of Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, policy, one of 15 executive actions Biden will announce after being sworn into office Wednesday.
Mayorkas, who served as deputy DHS secretary under President Obama, faced questions about his ability to lead the massive agency responsible for border security, immigration enforcement, cybersecurity and counterterrorism, less than two weeks after the U.S. Capitol was breached by a mob of Trump supporters who broke through doors and threatened lawmakers.
He promised to do everything he can to prevent such a violent attack from happening on his watch and to gather information on extremist threats in “an apolitical, nonpartisan way.”
But Mayorkas, 61, first must be confirmed by the Senate, something Biden wanted to fast-track. That hope looked far less likely after his initial confirmation hearing Tuesday.
Sen. Josh Hawley, a Republican from Missouri, announced Tuesday that he would place a hold on Mayorkas’ nomination, a parliamentary procedure that can delay but not outright block his confirmation.
Because the Senate is split 50-50 between Democrats and Republicans, with incoming Vice President Kamala Harris presumably breaking any tie votes, Mayorkas’ confirmation is likely only a matter of time. But Republicans can stall the nomination for weeks while focusing on vulnerabilities in Mayorkas’ record -- or policy differences with the news administration.
“I cannot consent to skip the standard vetting process and fast-track this nomination when so many questions remain unanswered,” Hawley said in a statement issued after Tuesday’s hearing.
Mayorkas readily shot down one pointed GOP line of questioning: He pledged not to try to abolish the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, countering what has become a rallying cry for some liberal opponents of Trump’s immigration policies.
But the first-generation Cuban was far more circumspect in his answers to most of the questions from Republicans, responding that he would study the existing policies before announcing a change, including the pandemic-era restrictions put in place by Trump that allows officials to immediately deport most illegal immigrants arriving at the southern border.
Throughout the hearing, Mayorkas highlighted his Cuban and Jewish heritage. “My father and mother brought me to this country to escape communism,” he told the committee. “I was raised to appreciate each day what this country has meant to our family,” he said, later explaining that he is particularly sensitive to anti-Semitism because his mother lost to relatives during the Holocaust.
Hawley’s objections to Mayorkas policy responses wasn’t the only source of Republican skepticism. Sen. Rob Portman, Ohio moderate who will serve as the committee’s ranking GOP member, questioned the nominee’s handling of an investor visa program during his time leading the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services agency, a division of DHS, during the Obama administration.
When Mayorkas was up for a promotion at DHS back in 2013, every Republican senator boycotted his confirmation hearing and voted against him. Mayorkas was confirmed by Democrats on a straight party-line vote.
At the time, Mayorkas was under investigation by the DHS Inspector General John Roth, a respected watchdog appointed by Obama to help clean up the department. Roth issued his final report in 2015, finding that Mayorkas improperly intervened to help the business interests of prominent Democrats, including some with ties to then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Hillary Clinton’s brother Anthony Rodham, and former DNC chief and Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe.
Mayorkas defended his intervention Tuesday, arguing that it was not providing preferential treatment but simply a good faith effort to improve the investor visa program that was supposed to help create U.S. jobs but instead had long been plagued by problems. Mayorkas said the three specific cases the IG report focused on were a tiny fraction of the hundreds that were handled at the request of senators and House members. “It is my job to become involved, to learn the problems that an agency confronts and to fix them,” he testified. “And that’s what I did in this case, and the many cases that came before me.”
Republicans, however, remain highly critical of the intervention, which Roth characterized as creating an appearance of improper preferential treatment for powerful Democrats. The IG report also noted the unusually large number of whistleblowers who came forward to complain both about Mayorkas intervention in the cases as well as his aggressive leadership style.
“Mr. Roth told me the report holds up today, and he continues to stand behind it,” Portman noted.
Other Republicans directly involved in investigating the complaints against Mayorkas, dating back to 2012, said Mayorkas’ role made problems with the EB-5 visa program worse.
“For years, including during Mr. Mayorkas’ tenure at DHS, the EB-5 program was susceptible to fraud and abuse. But rather than fixing those issues, the IG found that Mr. Mayorkas gave preferential treatment to some visa applicants over others,” Sen. Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican, told RealClearPolitics in a statement. “The IG noted that this favoritism prompted an unusually broad array of whistleblower complaints. That brand of leadership isn’t good for agency culture or the security of our nation.”
Sen. Mitt Romney, the only Republican to vote to impeach Trump in early 2020, was one of Mayorkas’ toughest critics during Tuesday’s hearing. Romney told the nominee he was disappointed in his responses to an earlier question about the lessons he learned from the IG investigation – that he did not pledge to recuse himself from future interventions that could be viewed as political favoritism.
“Is that not the appropriate action to take when something has the very distinct appearance of political favoritism?” Romney asked.
“For me to recuse myself from the program in its entirety would have been for me to abdicate my responsibility,” Mayorkas replied.
That response earned an even sharper rebuke from Romney.
“Oh, of course. I’m only suggesting with regard to when an individual who happens to be a leading Democrat would call you, that that meant, ‘Holy cow, I gotta step back.’”
Mayorkas then attempted to refine his response. He argued that, on one hand, he thought it was important to be “responsive” to lawmakers’ requests to intervene in certain cases but acknowledged that he and other officials instituted “guardrails” to better protect against “the appearance of” favoritism after the IG report’s findings.
“I did in fact learn, senator, how to better guard against that perception,” Mayorkas responded. “And I agree with you 100% that it is our obligation to guard against that perception so there is trust and confidence in the decision-making of government leaders.”
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2021/01/20/republicans_block_swift_approval_of_bidens_dhs_pick__145075.html
|
en
| 2021-01-20T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/b6cdae31e76c2510baaf48288ea62a24665c2b773eef08a77e0cd847fdc2843f.json
|
[
"It was a revealing moment in an otherwise predictable show of vague deflections that has become the kind of performance art required for Cabinet nominees to make it through the Senate confirmation gauntlet.\nAlejandro Mayorkas, Joe Biden’s nominee to lead the Department of Homeland Security, was asked Tuesday what message he wanted to send to the thousands of immigrants traveling in a caravan through Central America in hopes that a new president would welcome them into the United States and turn the page on President Trump’s restrictive immigration policies that sought to keep them out.\nChanges to Trump’s border policies “cannot be accomplished with a flick of a switch on day one,” said Mayorkas, who would become the first Latino and first immigrant to head the agency. “It will take time to build the infrastructure capacity so we can enforce our laws.”\nBut what Mayorkas means by enforcing U.S. immigration laws is far different from the Trump administration’s definition. Each member of any caravan attempting to cross into the United States would be evaluated separately on whether their case for asylum meets the law’s definition, he told the Senate Homeland Security Committee. This is a dramatic shift from Trump’s policy that aimed to prevent the large groups travelling from Central America from crossing into the United States at all.\nBiden has promised a swift reversal of Trump’s policies of cracking down on illegal immigration and his efforts to fulfill a 2016 campaign promise to build a massive, sprawling wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. During his first days in office, Biden will ask Congress to provide a pathway to citizenship for an estimated 11 million immigrants already in the country illegally. Biden also will announce plans to pause wall construction until further review and new protections for immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children and are beneficiaries of the Deferred Action of Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, policy, one of 15 executive actions Biden will announce after being sworn into office Wednesday.\nMayorkas, who served as deputy DHS secretary under President Obama, faced questions about his ability to lead the massive agency responsible for border security, immigration enforcement, cybersecurity and counterterrorism, less than two weeks after the U.S. Capitol was breached by a mob of Trump supporters who broke through doors and threatened lawmakers.\nHe promised to do everything he can to prevent such a violent attack from happening on his watch and to gather information on extremist threats in “an apolitical, nonpartisan way.”\nBut Mayorkas, 61, first must be confirmed by the Senate, something Biden wanted to fast-track. That hope looked far less likely after his initial confirmation hearing Tuesday.\nSen. Josh Hawley, a Republican from Missouri, announced Tuesday that he would place a hold on Mayorkas’ nomination, a parliamentary procedure that can delay but not outright block his confirmation.\nBecause the Senate is split 50-50 between Democrats and Republicans, with incoming Vice President Kamala Harris presumably breaking any tie votes, Mayorkas’ confirmation is likely only a matter of time. But Republicans can stall the nomination for weeks while focusing on vulnerabilities in Mayorkas’ record -- or policy differences with the news administration.\n“I cannot consent to skip the standard vetting process and fast-track this nomination when so many questions remain unanswered,” Hawley said in a statement issued after Tuesday’s hearing.\nMayorkas readily shot down one pointed GOP line of questioning: He pledged not to try to abolish the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, countering what has become a rallying cry for some liberal opponents of Trump’s immigration policies.\nBut the first-generation Cuban was far more circumspect in his answers to most of the questions from Republicans, responding that he would study the existing policies before announcing a change, including the pandemic-era restrictions put in place by Trump that allows officials to immediately deport most illegal immigrants arriving at the southern border.\nThroughout the hearing, Mayorkas highlighted his Cuban and Jewish heritage. “My father and mother brought me to this country to escape communism,” he told the committee. “I was raised to appreciate each day what this country has meant to our family,” he said, later explaining that he is particularly sensitive to anti-Semitism because his mother lost to relatives during the Holocaust.\nHawley’s objections to Mayorkas policy responses wasn’t the only source of Republican skepticism. Sen. Rob Portman, Ohio moderate who will serve as the committee’s ranking GOP member, questioned the nominee’s handling of an investor visa program during his time leading the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services agency, a division of DHS, during the Obama administration.\nWhen Mayorkas was up for a promotion at DHS back in 2013, every Republican senator boycotted his confirmation hearing and voted against him. Mayorkas was confirmed by Democrats on a straight party-line vote.\nAt the time, Mayorkas was under investigation by the DHS Inspector General John Roth, a respected watchdog appointed by Obama to help clean up the department. Roth issued his final report in 2015, finding that Mayorkas improperly intervened to help the business interests of prominent Democrats, including some with ties to then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Hillary Clinton’s brother Anthony Rodham, and former DNC chief and Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe.\nMayorkas defended his intervention Tuesday, arguing that it was not providing preferential treatment but simply a good faith effort to improve the investor visa program that was supposed to help create U.S. jobs but instead had long been plagued by problems. Mayorkas said the three specific cases the IG report focused on were a tiny fraction of the hundreds that were handled at the request of senators and House members. “It is my job to become involved, to learn the problems that an agency confronts and to fix them,” he testified. “And that’s what I did in this case, and the many cases that came before me.”\nRepublicans, however, remain highly critical of the intervention, which Roth characterized as creating an appearance of improper preferential treatment for powerful Democrats. The IG report also noted the unusually large number of whistleblowers who came forward to complain both about Mayorkas intervention in the cases as well as his aggressive leadership style.\n“Mr. Roth told me the report holds up today, and he continues to stand behind it,” Portman noted.\nOther Republicans directly involved in investigating the complaints against Mayorkas, dating back to 2012, said Mayorkas’ role made problems with the EB-5 visa program worse.\n“For years, including during Mr. Mayorkas’ tenure at DHS, the EB-5 program was susceptible to fraud and abuse. But rather than fixing those issues, the IG found that Mr. Mayorkas gave preferential treatment to some visa applicants over others,” Sen. Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican, told RealClearPolitics in a statement. “The IG noted that this favoritism prompted an unusually broad array of whistleblower complaints. That brand of leadership isn’t good for agency culture or the security of our nation.”\nSen. Mitt Romney, the only Republican to vote to impeach Trump in early 2020, was one of Mayorkas’ toughest critics during Tuesday’s hearing. Romney told the nominee he was disappointed in his responses to an earlier question about the lessons he learned from the IG investigation – that he did not pledge to recuse himself from future interventions that could be viewed as political favoritism.\n“Is that not the appropriate action to take when something has the very distinct appearance of political favoritism?” Romney asked.\n“For me to recuse myself from the program in its entirety would have been for me to abdicate my responsibility,” Mayorkas replied.\nThat response earned an even sharper rebuke from Romney.\n“Oh, of course. I’m only suggesting with regard to when an individual who happens to be a leading Democrat would call you, that that meant, ‘Holy cow, I gotta step back.’”\nMayorkas then attempted to refine his response. He argued that, on one hand, he thought it was important to be “responsive” to lawmakers’ requests to intervene in certain cases but acknowledged that he and other officials instituted “guardrails” to better protect against “the appearance of” favoritism after the IG report’s findings.\n“I did in fact learn, senator, how to better guard against that perception,” Mayorkas responded. “And I agree with you 100% that it is our obligation to guard against that perception so there is trust and confidence in the decision-making of government leaders.”",
"Republicans Block Swift Approval of Biden's DHS Pick",
"It was a revealing moment in an otherwise predictable show of vague deflections that has become the kind of performance art required for Cabinet nominees to..."
] |
|
[] | 2021-01-26T17:24:11 | null | 2021-01-26T00:00:00 |
A New Tone in U.S.-China Relations? | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F26%2Fa_new_tone_in_us-china_relations_534389.html.json
|
en
| null |
A New Tone in U.S.-China Relations?
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
Both the US and Chinese governments must start to understand that combining cooperation with competition is the best way forward. Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping, both chastened by four years of Trumpian disruption, have a real chance to reverse the course of bilateral relations.
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/26/a_new_tone_in_us-china_relations_534389.html
|
en
| 2021-01-26T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/bb30c697ebbe40e467d39c33d10e1d59ff21d6b5998cbe08dbab23f74198f2de.json
|
[
"Both the US and Chinese governments must start to understand that combining cooperation with competition is the best way forward. Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping, both chastened by four years of Trumpian disruption, have a real chance to reverse the course of bilateral relations.",
"A New Tone in U.S.-China Relations?",
"A New Tone in U.S.-China Relations? | RealClearPolitics"
] |
|
[] | 2021-01-14T00:31:20 | null | 2021-01-13T00:00:00 |
Are We Ready for the Next Round of Insurrection? | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F13%2Fare_we_ready_for_the_next_round_of_insurrection_533367.html.json
|
en
| null |
Are We Ready for the Next Round of Insurrection?
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
The FBI’s warning of another right-wing march on the Capitol, scheduled for Jan. 17, has been billed by some news reports as a sequel to the attempted insurrection of Jan. 6 or as a protest of calls for President Trump’s impeachment. But in fact, militant groups have been advertising the upcoming march for several weeks.
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/13/are_we_ready_for_the_next_round_of_insurrection_533367.html
|
en
| 2021-01-13T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/b8de0ba57a2768aebd7179c8d9e2daaf54e1757e6c7cb375d87430cd793815d0.json
|
[
"The FBI’s warning of another right-wing march on the Capitol, scheduled for Jan. 17, has been billed by some news reports as a sequel to the attempted insurrection of Jan. 6 or as a protest of calls for President Trump’s impeachment. But in fact, militant groups have been advertising the upcoming march for several weeks.",
"Are We Ready for the Next Round of Insurrection?",
"Are We Ready for the Next Round of Insurrection? | RealClearPolitics"
] |
|
[] | 2021-01-07T21:47:03 | null | 2021-01-07T00:00:00 |
The Consequences of the Capitol Assault | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F07%2Fthe_consequences_of_the_capitol_assault_532925.html.json
|
en
| null |
The Consequences of the Capitol Assault
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
The rioters failed in their effort and ensured their marginalization, but marginalization isn't evaporation. They're still here, and they're not going away.
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/07/the_consequences_of_the_capitol_assault_532925.html
|
en
| 2021-01-07T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/7bf539c3680a64088b8de2726cdad938c9751a6b3bdd46ba5cc354f9bd403e90.json
|
[
"The rioters failed in their effort and ensured their marginalization, but marginalization isn't evaporation. They're still here, and they're not going away.",
"The Consequences of the Capitol Assault",
"The Consequences of the Capitol Assault | RealClearPolitics"
] |
|
[] | 2021-01-27T08:54:59 | null | 2021-01-26T00:00:00 |
Biden's Vaccine Challenge | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F26%2Fbidens_vaccine_challenge_534448.html.json
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/favicon.ico
|
en
| null |
Biden's Vaccine Challenge
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
In confronting the COVID-19 crisis, US President Joe Biden will avoid many of his predecessor's mistakes, not least by heeding the advice of scientific experts. But, unless Biden also enlists adequate management, operations, and logistics expertise, even his best-laid plans may go awry.
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/26/bidens_vaccine_challenge_534448.html
|
en
| 2021-01-26T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/8ac12e6c590be7cb1021db69a587edfe1c3b943d55b03e484f42fb7695961863.json
|
[
"In confronting the COVID-19 crisis, US President Joe Biden will avoid many of his predecessor's mistakes, not least by heeding the advice of scientific experts. But, unless Biden also enlists adequate management, operations, and logistics expertise, even his best-laid plans may go awry.",
"Biden's Vaccine Challenge",
"Biden's Vaccine Challenge | RealClearPolitics"
] |
[] | 2021-01-21T14:27:27 | null | 2021-01-21T00:00:00 |
Garbage Out; Government In | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F21%2Fgarbage_out_government_in_533992.html.json
|
en
| null |
Garbage Out; Government In
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
Joe Biden's call for unity is a stretch, but that doesn't mean progress is off the table.
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/21/garbage_out_government_in_533992.html
|
en
| 2021-01-21T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/6d7122964495cfe50ac918c4b5bc8d31bbef151c3c3c062ab2bf5b1dcc7fb852.json
|
[
"Joe Biden's call for unity is a stretch, but that doesn't mean progress is off the table.",
"Garbage Out; Government In",
"Garbage Out; Government In | RealClearPolitics"
] |
|
[] | 2021-01-25T04:35:00 | null | 2021-01-24T00:00:00 |
CA's Big Experiment: Will Reducing Penalties Reduce Crime? | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F24%2Fcas_big_experiment_will_reducing_penalties_reduce_crime_534272.html.json
|
en
| null |
CA's Big Experiment: Will Reducing Penalties Reduce Crime?
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
California is conducting an immense sociological experiment, testing whether reducing prison time for criminal acts will, in the long run, mean less crime.
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/24/cas_big_experiment_will_reducing_penalties_reduce_crime_534272.html
|
en
| 2021-01-24T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/621d241c25943717a2bb9cede74c42926fb195075904b5da9d1f623105fab81d.json
|
[
"California is conducting an immense sociological experiment, testing whether reducing prison time for criminal acts will, in the long run, mean less crime.",
"CA's Big Experiment: Will Reducing Penalties Reduce Crime?",
"CA's Big Experiment: Will Reducing Penalties Reduce Crime? | RealClearPolitics"
] |
|
[] | 2021-01-17T23:25:49 | null | 2021-01-17T00:00:00 |
Martin Luther King Jr.'s Legacy Demands Truth Before Unity | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F17%2Fmartin_luther_king_jrs_legacy_demands_truth_before_unity_533674.html.json
|
en
| null |
Martin Luther King Jr.'s Legacy Demands Truth Before Unity
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
Contemplating the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the wake of a White riot at the US Capitol, historian Peniel Joseph says the violence of January 6 reminds us that King's warnings about racism's dangers to American democracy continue in our own time. here is a striking parallel between 1968 and 2021, Joseph argues, and the King who spoke revolutionary truth to power at the end of his life can show America the way forward now.
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/17/martin_luther_king_jrs_legacy_demands_truth_before_unity_533674.html
|
en
| 2021-01-17T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/fded5e4044e8dcc50cc35720857232d0f30f6d4b7919d1d0f7b824281a5606d8.json
|
[
"Contemplating the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the wake of a White riot at the US Capitol, historian Peniel Joseph says the violence of January 6 reminds us that King's warnings about racism's dangers to American democracy continue in our own time. here is a striking parallel between 1968 and 2021, Joseph argues, and the King who spoke revolutionary truth to power at the end of his life can show America the way forward now.",
"Martin Luther King Jr.'s Legacy Demands Truth Before Unity",
"Martin Luther King Jr.'s Legacy Demands Truth Before Unity | RealClearPolitics"
] |
|
[] | 2021-01-16T19:05:16 | null | 2021-01-16T00:00:00 |
The Importance of Twitter's Trump Ban | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F16%2Fthe_importance_of_twitters_trump_ban_533606.html.json
|
en
| null |
The Importance of Twitter's Trump Ban
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
After Twitter permanently suspended Donald Trump’s account, earlier this month, the reactions were quick, ubiquitous, and mostly predictable. Many of the takes seemed canned, the way an obituary of a terminally ill celebrity is often pre-written. On the Trump-apologist right, the suspension was denounced as Orwellian tyranny, deep-state collusion, or worse. (Glenn Beck, during a segment on Tucker Carlson’s Fox News show, compared the Trump ban and other Big Tech crackdowns to “the Germans with the Jews behind the wall. They would put them in the ghetto. Well, this is the digital ghetto.”) Among Trump’s opponents, reactions were more mixed. There was a good amount of gloating—the only thing easier than kicking a man when he’s down is dunking on an account after it’s locked—but the Schadenfreude was tempered with caution.
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/16/the_importance_of_twitters_trump_ban_533606.html
|
en
| 2021-01-16T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/77f6c412cd6d91dad5e0a32e75c9ac06d161d2820a4f2dee1e4fe8f2b2db9935.json
|
[
"After Twitter permanently suspended Donald Trump’s account, earlier this month, the reactions were quick, ubiquitous, and mostly predictable. Many of the takes seemed canned, the way an obituary of a terminally ill celebrity is often pre-written. On the Trump-apologist right, the suspension was denounced as Orwellian tyranny, deep-state collusion, or worse. (Glenn Beck, during a segment on Tucker Carlson’s Fox News show, compared the Trump ban and other Big Tech crackdowns to “the Germans with the Jews behind the wall. They would put them in the ghetto. Well, this is the digital ghetto.”) Among Trump’s opponents, reactions were more mixed. There was a good amount of gloating—the only thing easier than kicking a man when he’s down is dunking on an account after it’s locked—but the Schadenfreude was tempered with caution.",
"The Importance of Twitter's Trump Ban",
"The Importance of Twitter's Trump Ban | RealClearPolitics"
] |
|
[] | 2021-01-19T18:02:18 | null | 2021-01-19T00:00:00 |
Secure the Vote: The Case for Real Reform | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F19%2Fsecure_the_vote_the_case_for_real_reform_533801.html.json
|
en
| null |
Secure the Vote: The Case for Real Reform
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
Secure the Vote: The Case for Real Reform
Implausible claims of voter fraud shouldn't invalidate the case for real reform—we need to harden our electoral system against disaster.
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/19/secure_the_vote_the_case_for_real_reform_533801.html
|
en
| 2021-01-19T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/c1c252cd7560e49017e812e485c38364642fa7afe8ee3761bd0cad83e80fd502.json
|
[
"Secure the Vote: The Case for Real Reform\nImplausible claims of voter fraud shouldn't invalidate the case for real reform—we need to harden our electoral system against disaster.",
"Secure the Vote: The Case for Real Reform",
"Secure the Vote: The Case for Real Reform | RealClearPolitics"
] |
|
[] | 2021-01-19T18:02:28 | null | 2021-01-19T00:00:00 |
The Democrats' Paranormal Economics | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F19%2Fthe_democrats_paranormal_economics_533792.html.json
|
en
| null |
The Democrats' Paranormal Economics
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
It is magical thinking to believe that the United States can run large deficits indefinitely.
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/19/the_democrats_paranormal_economics_533792.html
|
en
| 2021-01-19T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/0d8bf509436d928acfb2c11d626b120cf2431e8ab2d7b760db1d3bfadd3394fc.json
|
[
"It is magical thinking to believe that the United States can run large deficits indefinitely.",
"The Democrats' Paranormal Economics",
"The Democrats' Paranormal Economics | RealClearPolitics"
] |
|
[] | 2021-01-22T21:21:33 | null | 2021-01-22T00:00:00 |
Millions Migrate to Google/Facebook/Twitter Alternatives | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F22%2Fmillions_migrate_to_googlefacebooktwitter_alternatives_534069.html.json
|
en
| null |
Millions Migrate to Google/Facebook/Twitter Alternatives
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
Over the past week or so, millions of people have migrated to Google, Facebook, and Twitter alternatives.
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/22/millions_migrate_to_googlefacebooktwitter_alternatives_534069.html
|
en
| 2021-01-22T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/5237852c99071746b4b82316d802879eba48e6758d820129b402cc6cc40ef7c0.json
|
[
"Over the past week or so, millions of people have migrated to Google, Facebook, and Twitter alternatives.",
"Millions Migrate to Google/Facebook/Twitter Alternatives",
"Millions Migrate to Google/Facebook/Twitter Alternatives | RealClearPolitics"
] |
|
[] | 2021-01-19T06:16:00 | null | 2021-01-18T00:00:00 |
Biden Will Push Transgender Ideology on Children | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F18%2Fbiden_will_push_transgender_ideology_on_children_533760.html.json
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/favicon.ico
|
en
| null |
Biden Will Push Transgender Ideology on Children
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
Because Democrats don't hesitate to use power even if they lack legitimacy, they will go farther than Obama did in pushing transgender ideology on children.
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/18/biden_will_push_transgender_ideology_on_children_533760.html
|
en
| 2021-01-18T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/2b7744dc38c9ed4f93c4fe2c30af79c2ae4439716f37b1a347c3e6604087b780.json
|
[
"Because Democrats don't hesitate to use power even if they lack legitimacy, they will go farther than Obama did in pushing transgender ideology on children.",
"Biden Will Push Transgender Ideology on Children",
"Biden Will Push Transgender Ideology on Children | RealClearPolitics"
] |
[] | 2021-01-21T00:02:20 | null | 2021-01-20T00:00:00 |
Why Donald Trump Will Never Admit Defeat | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F20%2Fwhy_donald_trump_will_never_admit_defeat_533951.html.json
|
en
| null |
Why Donald Trump Will Never Admit Defeat
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
Whether it is deaths from Covid-19 or his own election defeat, admitting loss is something Trump finds impossible to do
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/20/why_donald_trump_will_never_admit_defeat_533951.html
|
en
| 2021-01-20T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/2269f00eb928307c1e568b0c1ae382b078ef43d7bf29f18737286289d775ebd7.json
|
[
"Whether it is deaths from Covid-19 or his own election defeat, admitting loss is something Trump finds impossible to do",
"Why Donald Trump Will Never Admit Defeat",
"Why Donald Trump Will Never Admit Defeat | RealClearPolitics"
] |
|
[] | 2021-01-01T06:39:25 | null | 2020-12-31T00:00:00 |
The year 2020 is now commonly dubbed the annus horribilis --
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2Farticles%2F2020%2F12%2F31%2Fwhat_will_historians_make_of_our_annus_horribilis_144942.html.json
|
en
| null |
What Will Historians Make of Our Annus Horribilis?
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
The year 2020 is now commonly dubbed the annus horribilis -- "the horrible year." The last 10 months certainly have been awful.
But then so was 1968, when both Martin Luther King Jr. and Bobby Kennedy were assassinated. The Tet Offensive escalated the Vietnam War and tore America apart. Race and anti-war riots rocked our major cities. Protesters fought with police at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. A new influenza virus, H3N2 (the "Hong Kong flu"), killed some 100,000 Americans.
But an even worse 2020 saw the COVID-19 outbreak reach global pandemic proportions by March. Chinese officials mislead the world about the origins of the disease -- without apologies,
Authorities here in the U.S. were sometimes contradictory in declaring quarantines either effective or superfluous. Masks were discouraged and then mandated. Researchers initially did not know how exactly the virus spread, only that it could be lethal to those over 65 or with comorbidities.
Initial forecasts of 1 million to 2 million Americans dying from the virus unduly panicked the population. But earlier assurances that the death toll wouldn't reach 100,000 falsely reassured them.
By April, a historic, booming economy was in an abrupt recession. Much of the country went into quarantine on the theory of "flattening the curve" of infection for three to four weeks. Instead, weeks turned into months. Soon, many people believed that the economic wreckage and emotional damage from the lockdowns would eventually overshadow the toll of the virus itself.
By June, initially peaceful protests over the death of George Floyd while in Minneapolis police custody had turned violent in some cities. For much of the summer and into fall, some major cities would see nightly rioting, looting and arson, as antifa and Black Lives Matter hijacked the nation's outrage over Floyd's death.
Fear of getting infected, concerns about going broke, anxiety about venturing out during the nightly havoc, frustration over weeks of forced isolation, and exhaustion from a bitter presidential campaign -- all of it put Americans into a nasty mood on the eve of an acrimonious election.
The 2020 presidential election proved as revolutionary as the quarantines. The radical transition to unprecedented levels of mail-in balloting tested the ability of state registrars to authenticate and efficiently count ballots, which often did not meet verification standards of past absentee voting. Enormous voter turnout, spiked in part by huge numbers of mail-in ballots, delighted Democrats but helped convince Republicans of massive voter fraud.
After weeks of contention, Donald Trump lost the Electoral College vote. Yet Republicans defied the predictions of experts and won key races in the House and Senate. So pundits argued about whether the left had won by electing Joe Biden or lost by doing dismally in congressional elections. The media, pollsters and the government establishment were mostly gladdened by the Trump loss, even as their overt bias and partisanship permanently tarnished their reputations.
For the first time in American history, given the lockdowns and the cold-weather viral resurgence, there was neither a traditional Thanksgiving nor Christmas for many people.
Yet amid the death, destruction and dissension, history will show that America did not fall apart.
In remarkable fashion, researchers created a viable and safe COVID-19 vaccine in less than a year -- a feat earlier described as impossible by experts.
The nation went into recession but avoided the forecasted depression. This was partly because America in early 2020 was booming by historical standards, and partly because the Trump administration and Congress quickly infused some $4 trillion of liquidity into the inert economy.
For all the charges and counter-charges of voter fraud and Trump being a sore loser, President-elect Joe Biden will eventually take office. And Donald Trump will leave it.
No one disputes that the 2020 campaign and election were abnormal. Whether they were unfair or illegitimate will likely be readjudicated in the 2022 midterm and 2024 general elections. By then, the people will have had time to digest the bizarre events of the annus horribilis -- and with their votes make the necessary compensations.
For all of America's troubles, the world abroad was worse. China eerily bragged that it reacted best to its own virus -- even as its global popularity crashed. Europe did little better in combatting the pandemic and saw its economy in even worse shape.
More importantly, as the year ended, there was a patch of blue sky amid the storm clouds.
The Middle East may be on the verge of a historic recalibrated peace. The world is now pushing back against Chinese mercantilism. The southern border is mostly secure. The flood of illegal immigration has ebbed to a trickle. The strategies that sparked a three-year economic boom need only be reapplied in 2021.
Amid death and destruction, perhaps one day historians will conclude that what could not kill off America in 2020 only made it stronger.
(C)2020 Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2020/12/31/what_will_historians_make_of_our_annus_horribilis_144942.html
|
en
| 2020-12-31T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/bcde4817f6f347469a342455fee330c2c283004e975b0a8e7575d10ae9a7cd30.json
|
[
"The year 2020 is now commonly dubbed the annus horribilis -- \"the horrible year.\" The last 10 months certainly have been awful.\nBut then so was 1968, when both Martin Luther King Jr. and Bobby Kennedy were assassinated. The Tet Offensive escalated the Vietnam War and tore America apart. Race and anti-war riots rocked our major cities. Protesters fought with police at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. A new influenza virus, H3N2 (the \"Hong Kong flu\"), killed some 100,000 Americans.\nBut an even worse 2020 saw the COVID-19 outbreak reach global pandemic proportions by March. Chinese officials mislead the world about the origins of the disease -- without apologies,\nAuthorities here in the U.S. were sometimes contradictory in declaring quarantines either effective or superfluous. Masks were discouraged and then mandated. Researchers initially did not know how exactly the virus spread, only that it could be lethal to those over 65 or with comorbidities.\nInitial forecasts of 1 million to 2 million Americans dying from the virus unduly panicked the population. But earlier assurances that the death toll wouldn't reach 100,000 falsely reassured them.\nBy April, a historic, booming economy was in an abrupt recession. Much of the country went into quarantine on the theory of \"flattening the curve\" of infection for three to four weeks. Instead, weeks turned into months. Soon, many people believed that the economic wreckage and emotional damage from the lockdowns would eventually overshadow the toll of the virus itself.\nBy June, initially peaceful protests over the death of George Floyd while in Minneapolis police custody had turned violent in some cities. For much of the summer and into fall, some major cities would see nightly rioting, looting and arson, as antifa and Black Lives Matter hijacked the nation's outrage over Floyd's death.\nFear of getting infected, concerns about going broke, anxiety about venturing out during the nightly havoc, frustration over weeks of forced isolation, and exhaustion from a bitter presidential campaign -- all of it put Americans into a nasty mood on the eve of an acrimonious election.\nThe 2020 presidential election proved as revolutionary as the quarantines. The radical transition to unprecedented levels of mail-in balloting tested the ability of state registrars to authenticate and efficiently count ballots, which often did not meet verification standards of past absentee voting. Enormous voter turnout, spiked in part by huge numbers of mail-in ballots, delighted Democrats but helped convince Republicans of massive voter fraud.\nAfter weeks of contention, Donald Trump lost the Electoral College vote. Yet Republicans defied the predictions of experts and won key races in the House and Senate. So pundits argued about whether the left had won by electing Joe Biden or lost by doing dismally in congressional elections. The media, pollsters and the government establishment were mostly gladdened by the Trump loss, even as their overt bias and partisanship permanently tarnished their reputations.\nFor the first time in American history, given the lockdowns and the cold-weather viral resurgence, there was neither a traditional Thanksgiving nor Christmas for many people.\nYet amid the death, destruction and dissension, history will show that America did not fall apart.\nIn remarkable fashion, researchers created a viable and safe COVID-19 vaccine in less than a year -- a feat earlier described as impossible by experts.\nThe nation went into recession but avoided the forecasted depression. This was partly because America in early 2020 was booming by historical standards, and partly because the Trump administration and Congress quickly infused some $4 trillion of liquidity into the inert economy.\nFor all the charges and counter-charges of voter fraud and Trump being a sore loser, President-elect Joe Biden will eventually take office. And Donald Trump will leave it.\nNo one disputes that the 2020 campaign and election were abnormal. Whether they were unfair or illegitimate will likely be readjudicated in the 2022 midterm and 2024 general elections. By then, the people will have had time to digest the bizarre events of the annus horribilis -- and with their votes make the necessary compensations.\nFor all of America's troubles, the world abroad was worse. China eerily bragged that it reacted best to its own virus -- even as its global popularity crashed. Europe did little better in combatting the pandemic and saw its economy in even worse shape.\nMore importantly, as the year ended, there was a patch of blue sky amid the storm clouds.\nThe Middle East may be on the verge of a historic recalibrated peace. The world is now pushing back against Chinese mercantilism. The southern border is mostly secure. The flood of illegal immigration has ebbed to a trickle. The strategies that sparked a three-year economic boom need only be reapplied in 2021.\nAmid death and destruction, perhaps one day historians will conclude that what could not kill off America in 2020 only made it stronger.\n(C)2020 Tribune Content Agency, LLC.",
"What Will Historians Make of Our Annus Horribilis?",
"The year 2020 is now commonly dubbed the annus horribilis --"
] |
|
[] | 2021-01-28T18:27:24 | null | 2021-01-28T00:00:00 |
Biden's Greatest Gift: Trump Getting Booted Off Twitter | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F28%2Fbidens_greatest_gift_trump_getting_booted_off_twitter_534579.html.json
|
en
| null |
Biden's Greatest Gift: Trump Getting Booted Off Twitter
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
In booting Trump, Twitter has seemingly realigned the political universe and shielded the new president from what surely would have been rapid-fire antagonism from his predecessor.
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/28/bidens_greatest_gift_trump_getting_booted_off_twitter_534579.html
|
en
| 2021-01-28T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/5e918e8afa6bc5a6a26465fff1fda897fad0e3acfb6c421f4327c7d3778aa737.json
|
[
"In booting Trump, Twitter has seemingly realigned the political universe and shielded the new president from what surely would have been rapid-fire antagonism from his predecessor.",
"Biden's Greatest Gift: Trump Getting Booted Off Twitter",
"Biden's Greatest Gift: Trump Getting Booted Off Twitter | RealClearPolitics"
] |
|
[] | 2021-01-03T07:12:54 | null | 2021-01-02T00:00:00 |
The Most Outrageous Falsehoods of Trump's Presidency | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F02%2Fthe_most_outrageous_falsehoods_of_trumps_presidency_532489.html.json
|
en
| null |
The Most Outrageous Falsehoods of Trump's Presidency
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
“I have never seen a president in American history who has lied so continuously and so outrageously as Donald Trump, period,” presidential historian Michael Beschloss said.
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/02/the_most_outrageous_falsehoods_of_trumps_presidency_532489.html
|
en
| 2021-01-02T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/d14e1140a23b80860ac0930b8d5443eb597b395cc531a18ba4737817628038f0.json
|
[
"“I have never seen a president in American history who has lied so continuously and so outrageously as Donald Trump, period,” presidential historian Michael Beschloss said.",
"The Most Outrageous Falsehoods of Trump's Presidency",
"The Most Outrageous Falsehoods of Trump's Presidency | RealClearPolitics"
] |
|
[] | 2021-01-27T19:37:20 | null | 2021-01-27T00:00:00 |
The new AT age --
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2Farticles%2F2021%2F01%2F27%2Fthe_after_trump_era_begins_145133.html.json
|
en
| null |
The 'After Trump' Era Begins
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
The new AT age -- "After Trump" -- began on either Election Day, Nov. 3, or on Inauguration Day, Jan. 20. But either way, reality as we had known it for four years has been abruptly reinvented.
Pfizer had hinted that a vaccine could be ready in late October. Then, mysteriously, it wasn't. Then, stranger still, it appeared -- a few days after Election Day.
Suddenly, after Joe Biden's inauguration, Illinois, Michigan and other blue states eased some of their lockdown restrictions to get their economies back on track despite little change in COVID-19 rates.
During the Trump Age, the president was supposedly responsible for every death from COVID-19. Now, the media reports that career scientists and health administrators in the federal government, especially at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, were largely to blame for past slow testing, and were tardy and lax in apprising the nation of the infectious threat.
The Biden campaign's widely reported promises of a new, superior COVID-19 plan turned out to be more of the same old, same old from the Trump Age.
Biden did mandate the wearing of masks on all federal property. But he then immediately undermined his own order during the first few hours on the job by going mask-less during a photo op at the Lincoln Memorial.
Stranger still, President Biden announced during his first few hours in office: "There's nothing we can do to change the trajectory of the pandemic in the next several months."
For the first time, we now learn that there is "nothing" Biden can do about COVID-19?
Despite millions of vaccine doses being produced when he entered office, Biden went on to warn that many more Americans will die in the next few months -- more than 600,000 COVID-19 fatalities in total. The watchdog media just shrugged.
Coincidentally, after weeks of disastrous state incompetence in getting residents vaccinated, Amazon has told the new administration that it will lend its infrastructure and organization to speed up vaccinations. If Amazon could announce that in late January, why not weeks earlier?
Speaking of Amazon, it is opposing mail-in ballots for its own employees voting on whether to unionize a warehouse in Alabama. Amazon says it's worried about fraud. Yet Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos also owns the Washington Post, which ridiculed those who were concerned about massive mail-in voting in the 2020 election.
Coincidently, with the inauguration of a new president, "nonpartisan" COVID-19 czar Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, now suddenly accuses his former boss, Donald Trump, of ignoring his wise counsel.
But for all of 2020, Fauci had been a master of the "noble lie" -- the Platonic idea that government elites should deliberately misinform the supposedly less intelligent people for their own good.
Fauci gave conflicting assessments on mask-wearing, on the percentages needed to achieve herd immunity, and on the impossibility of the virus having originated in a Wuhan laboratory. He claimed that he offered false or unproven narratives to avoid panic, or to encourage Americans to follow his correct policies.
In the new age, expect the media and government to suddenly resent any mention of pushback against a sitting president. Questions about the Biden family's past multimillion-dollar influence peddling overseas or Biden's cognitive ability can no longer be asked.
If the Republicans win the House of Representatives in 2022 and follow the new Democratic model of impeaching a first-term president without a special counsel report, it will be called a national disgrace.
Even worse, we will be told, would be the reckless mention of the 25th Amendment. The very suggestion of removing an elected president due to supposed cognitive challenges will become abhorrent.
For that matter, so too would be the appointment of any special counsel. Why waste two years, $35 million and dozens of lawyers to harass a sitting president with unfounded charges of Ukrainian or Chinese "collusion"?
In our brave new world, we will hear no more retired military officers weighing in on the "fascism" of the commander in chief.
None will compare the recurring violence of antifa or Black Lives Matter to that of Islamic terrorists. None will compare Biden, who dismissed antifa as a mere "idea," to Mussolini or the Nazis. Any retired officer who smears the president, we will be reminded, would violate the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
The media, Silicon Valley, Wall Street, Hollywood, top retired military brass, corporate America, universities and professional sports are all recalibrating the truth for our Year One.
In about a month, they will have it down. And soon, we won't even be able to tell the old reality from the new.
(C)2021 Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2021/01/27/the_after_trump_era_begins_145133.html
|
en
| 2021-01-27T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/f41138d927afdd1b814ec95aa1e16f1c66b2f4b9e66fbe60d21cc7c6518c75f2.json
|
[
"The new AT age -- \"After Trump\" -- began on either Election Day, Nov. 3, or on Inauguration Day, Jan. 20. But either way, reality as we had known it for four years has been abruptly reinvented.\nPfizer had hinted that a vaccine could be ready in late October. Then, mysteriously, it wasn't. Then, stranger still, it appeared -- a few days after Election Day.\nSuddenly, after Joe Biden's inauguration, Illinois, Michigan and other blue states eased some of their lockdown restrictions to get their economies back on track despite little change in COVID-19 rates.\nDuring the Trump Age, the president was supposedly responsible for every death from COVID-19. Now, the media reports that career scientists and health administrators in the federal government, especially at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, were largely to blame for past slow testing, and were tardy and lax in apprising the nation of the infectious threat.\nThe Biden campaign's widely reported promises of a new, superior COVID-19 plan turned out to be more of the same old, same old from the Trump Age.\nBiden did mandate the wearing of masks on all federal property. But he then immediately undermined his own order during the first few hours on the job by going mask-less during a photo op at the Lincoln Memorial.\nStranger still, President Biden announced during his first few hours in office: \"There's nothing we can do to change the trajectory of the pandemic in the next several months.\"\nFor the first time, we now learn that there is \"nothing\" Biden can do about COVID-19?\nDespite millions of vaccine doses being produced when he entered office, Biden went on to warn that many more Americans will die in the next few months -- more than 600,000 COVID-19 fatalities in total. The watchdog media just shrugged.\nCoincidentally, after weeks of disastrous state incompetence in getting residents vaccinated, Amazon has told the new administration that it will lend its infrastructure and organization to speed up vaccinations. If Amazon could announce that in late January, why not weeks earlier?\nSpeaking of Amazon, it is opposing mail-in ballots for its own employees voting on whether to unionize a warehouse in Alabama. Amazon says it's worried about fraud. Yet Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos also owns the Washington Post, which ridiculed those who were concerned about massive mail-in voting in the 2020 election.\nCoincidently, with the inauguration of a new president, \"nonpartisan\" COVID-19 czar Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, now suddenly accuses his former boss, Donald Trump, of ignoring his wise counsel.\nBut for all of 2020, Fauci had been a master of the \"noble lie\" -- the Platonic idea that government elites should deliberately misinform the supposedly less intelligent people for their own good.\nFauci gave conflicting assessments on mask-wearing, on the percentages needed to achieve herd immunity, and on the impossibility of the virus having originated in a Wuhan laboratory. He claimed that he offered false or unproven narratives to avoid panic, or to encourage Americans to follow his correct policies.\nIn the new age, expect the media and government to suddenly resent any mention of pushback against a sitting president. Questions about the Biden family's past multimillion-dollar influence peddling overseas or Biden's cognitive ability can no longer be asked.\nIf the Republicans win the House of Representatives in 2022 and follow the new Democratic model of impeaching a first-term president without a special counsel report, it will be called a national disgrace.\nEven worse, we will be told, would be the reckless mention of the 25th Amendment. The very suggestion of removing an elected president due to supposed cognitive challenges will become abhorrent.\nFor that matter, so too would be the appointment of any special counsel. Why waste two years, $35 million and dozens of lawyers to harass a sitting president with unfounded charges of Ukrainian or Chinese \"collusion\"?\nIn our brave new world, we will hear no more retired military officers weighing in on the \"fascism\" of the commander in chief.\nNone will compare the recurring violence of antifa or Black Lives Matter to that of Islamic terrorists. None will compare Biden, who dismissed antifa as a mere \"idea,\" to Mussolini or the Nazis. Any retired officer who smears the president, we will be reminded, would violate the Uniform Code of Military Justice.\nThe media, Silicon Valley, Wall Street, Hollywood, top retired military brass, corporate America, universities and professional sports are all recalibrating the truth for our Year One.\nIn about a month, they will have it down. And soon, we won't even be able to tell the old reality from the new.\n(C)2021 Tribune Content Agency, LLC.",
"The 'After Trump' Era Begins",
"The new AT age --"
] |
|
[] | 2021-01-12T18:43:22 | null | 2021-01-12T00:00:00 |
Free Speech Is a Value, Not Just a Right | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F12%2Ffree_speech_is_a_value_not_just_a_right_533265.html.json
|
en
| null |
Free Speech Is a Value, Not Just a Right
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
| null |
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/12/free_speech_is_a_value_not_just_a_right_533265.html
|
en
| 2021-01-12T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/073ee4c3bb75ab665546a8e5fbc5a130acbf2120ed9f00768c4eaf767ef2dca5.json
|
[
"Free Speech Is a Value, Not Just a Right",
"Free Speech Is a Value, Not Just a Right | RealClearPolitics"
] |
|
[] | 2021-01-05T20:30:28 | null | 2021-01-05T00:00:00 |
Republicans Are Threatening Our Democracy | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F05%2Frepublicans_are_threatening_our_democracy_532749.html.json
|
en
| null |
Republicans Are Threatening Our Democracy
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
If you take our republic seriously, you ought to consider the cost to our country if Republican senators were to prevail in overturning the election.
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/05/republicans_are_threatening_our_democracy_532749.html
|
en
| 2021-01-05T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/86078b3d08f53785122718eee747800e611b43f19a56f1a6264686e11d812a69.json
|
[
"If you take our republic seriously, you ought to consider the cost to our country if Republican senators were to prevail in overturning the election.",
"Republicans Are Threatening Our Democracy",
"Republicans Are Threatening Our Democracy | RealClearPolitics"
] |
|
[] | 2021-01-08T13:33:56 | null | 2021-01-08T00:00:00 |
We've Seen the Ugly Truth About America | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F08%2Fweve_seen_the_ugly_truth_about_america_532962.html.json
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/favicon.ico
|
en
| null |
We've Seen the Ugly Truth About America
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
But if the Democrats dare to use their power, a brave new world might be possible.
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/08/weve_seen_the_ugly_truth_about_america_532962.html
|
en
| 2021-01-08T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/489d4efbd6a0004a25cbff6952d9ea6ccbdb4e256628709610b0776f6ed8a451.json
|
[
"But if the Democrats dare to use their power, a brave new world might be possible.",
"We've Seen the Ugly Truth About America",
"We've Seen the Ugly Truth About America | RealClearPolitics"
] |
[] | 2021-01-19T18:02:33 | null | 2021-01-19T00:00:00 |
The Prophecies of George Floyd | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F19%2Fthe_prophecies_of_george_floyd_533697.html.json
|
en
| null |
The Prophecies of George Floyd
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
The fact that Floyd could tell that his death was coming underscored the inevitability of violence in encounters between police officers and Black suspects.
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/19/the_prophecies_of_george_floyd_533697.html
|
en
| 2021-01-19T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/54c8d111b767676d1337b3ea24e637687de15485d8cb860337798d3a0aeee5ff.json
|
[
"The fact that Floyd could tell that his death was coming underscored the inevitability of violence in encounters between police officers and Black suspects.",
"The Prophecies of George Floyd",
"The Prophecies of George Floyd | RealClearPolitics"
] |
|
[] | 2021-01-27T22:42:31 | null | 2021-01-27T00:00:00 |
Biden Must Heed the Threat Iran Poses | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F27%2Fbiden_must_heed_the_threat_iran_poses_534527.html.json
|
en
| null |
Biden Must Heed the Threat Iran Poses
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
We have a lot going on in our homeland right now, and, as always, our adversaries around the world are watching closely.
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/27/biden_must_heed_the_threat_iran_poses_534527.html
|
en
| 2021-01-27T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/70d003906dff53d75a63901ad5d064a631bb036b3d97cae9777ee1e316e1e635.json
|
[
"We have a lot going on in our homeland right now, and, as always, our adversaries around the world are watching closely.",
"Biden Must Heed the Threat Iran Poses",
"Biden Must Heed the Threat Iran Poses | RealClearPolitics"
] |
|
[] | 2021-01-20T18:38:49 | null | 2021-01-20T00:00:00 |
The Terrible Trump Experiment Is Finally Over | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F20%2Fthe_terrible_trump_experiment_is_finally_over_533891.html.json
|
en
| null |
The Terrible Trump Experiment Is Finally Over
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
Folks, we just survived something really crazy awful: four years of a president without shame, backed by a party without spine, amplified by a network without integrity, each pumping out conspiracy theories without truth, brought directly to our brains by social networks without ethics — all heated up by a pandemic without mercy.
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/20/the_terrible_trump_experiment_is_finally_over_533891.html
|
en
| 2021-01-20T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/fe58bea0235fab1cabff10deeb4d03b92260e80e576519c9ce43b2531adf4350.json
|
[
"Folks, we just survived something really crazy awful: four years of a president without shame, backed by a party without spine, amplified by a network without integrity, each pumping out conspiracy theories without truth, brought directly to our brains by social networks without ethics — all heated up by a pandemic without mercy.",
"The Terrible Trump Experiment Is Finally Over",
"The Terrible Trump Experiment Is Finally Over | RealClearPolitics"
] |
|
[] | 2021-01-23T12:35:24 | null | 2021-01-23T00:00:00 |
Can a Marsh beat a Swamp? Yes, if the Supreme Court precedent in Marsh v. Alabama is applied by Congress, the court or state legislatures to save free speech...
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2Farticles%2F2021%2F01%2F23%2Fto_save_free_speech_let_marsh_beat_a_swamp__145107.html.json
|
en
| null |
To Save Free Speech, Let 'Marsh' Beat a Swamp
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
Can a Marsh beat a Swamp? Yes, if the Supreme Court precedent in Marsh v. Alabama is applied by Congress, the court or state legislatures to save free speech on the Internet.
Marsh was the 1946 Supreme Court case which found that First Amendment protections for free speech can be applied to private sector actors in some circumstances. In the case, a company town owned by the Gulf Shipbuilding Corp. sought to bar free speech on its sidewalks, claiming that the First Amendment only proscribed government censorship, not private sector actions.
In a 5-3 decision authored by First Amendment champion Hugo Black, the high court disagreed, finding that when the private sector actor owns and controls the de facto "public square," then Americans’ constitutional protections still apply. Black wrote, "To act as good citizens they must be informed. In order to enable them to be properly informed their information must be uncensored. ... When we balance the constitutional rights of owners of property against those of the people to enjoy freedom of press and religion, as we must here, we remain mindful of the fact that the latter occupy a preferential position."
Marsh has not been widely applied since then, because its circumstances are so rare. At first, the Supreme Court applied the decision to guarantee the rights of protesters in shopping malls in a 1968 case called Amalgamated Food Employees Union Local 590 et al. v. Logan Valley Plaza. However, the more conservative Berger Court soon scaled this protection back in a 1972 case (Lloyd Corp., Ltd. v. Tanner et al.), essentially because such speech can interfere with the fundamental purpose of the mall -- for stores to sell goods -- and because there are alternative sites for such speech. Courts have also refused to apply Marsh to allow commercial companies to spam the Internet with their ads. The Supreme Court in the 2019 Halleck case found there is no Marsh-style protections at a public access cable TV channel, and in February 2020 a federal judge ruled that YouTube was free to restrict or demonetize videos from Prager University.
Ultimately, it is all a matter of balance and degree. Providing freedom for political debate is the first and necessary condition for democracy, and the first and necessary role of the state. It is a traditional and exclusive public function for the state to maintain fair and reasoned elections, and therefore to maintain and ensure adequate locations and opportunity for public debate ahead of the election; there can be no fair elections if political debate is stopped. If a private individual truly could silence all other speakers and all debate so that only the private sector tyrant's own voice could be heard, the government could not and would not let it stand. The closer the underlying facts approach this dystopian reality, the more the Marsh decision must apply.
If there is ever a set of circumstances that warrants another application of the ruling, it is today as Twitter bans all speech from the now-former president of the United States, and as Apple and Amazon shut down Parler, thereby closing the public square used by a wide swath of Americans. The speech being blocked is clearly political speech rather than commercial speech, and so warrants the highest level of constitutional protection. The speech is not in conflict with the central action of the site, as in the shopping mall cases; speech is the purpose for which these sites were built, and preserving freedoms for censored speakers in no way prevents other speakers from having their freedoms as well. The censorship did not block one specific message or release, such as the Pentagon Papers, but rather the right to speak in the future, on any topic. (Even future apologies or calls for reconciliation have been silenced.) The speech precluded is also not blocked in a consistent manner: There was no blocking of speakers who pulled together the crowds that led to violence in many U.S. cities all summer long. Nor has there been blocking of Vladimir Putin, or Iran’s ayatollahs, for example. The sites are not just affecting political debate in a small way, such as demonetizing a YouTube video; they are audaciously showing their power to silence an elected U.S. president forever into the future, and should they choose, to silence an unlimited number of his supporters.
In the context of free speech, the Internet social media sites are uniquely important, with an impact far beyond access to shopping malls. In a 2017 case, Packingham v. North Carolina, the court made clear that the Big Tech social media sites have become THE public square of our time, ruling unanimously that even convicted sex offenders cannot be blocked or censored from Facebook and Twitter.
"A fundamental principle of the First Amendment is that all persons have access to places where they can speak and listen, and then, after reflection, speak and listen once more,” Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote. “While in the past there may have been difficulty in identifying the most important places (in a spatial sense) for the exchange of views, today the answer is clear. It is cyberspace -- the ‘vast democratic forums of the Internet' in general, and the social media in particular."
Kennedy went on to say, "These websites can provide perhaps the most powerful mechanisms available to a private citizen to make his or her voice heard. They allow a person with an Internet connection to 'become a town crier with a voice that resonates farther than it could from any soapbox. … [T]o foreclose access to social media altogether is to prevent the user from engaging in legitimate exercise of First Amendment rights."
If private companies own or manage the public square of our political debate, they must honor the protections for such political debate. The Constitution never desired Jack Dorsey's sandal or Jeff Bezos' boat shoe to become the boot on the face of freedom forever. Does the First Amendment really say that child molesters have a free speech right to social media, but the president of the United States does not?
Attacks on conservative speech today can easily become attacks on progressive speech tomorrow, and legislators of both parties should join together in bipartisan unity. Congress should mandate "free speech zones" on Big Tech sites -- areas where any political speaker can say what the laws would allow them to say in an actual, physical public park or square, and subject to the same penalties for infractions. If Congress won't legislate these free speech zones, then the Supreme Court should find the protection already exists pursuant to the Marsh and Packingham precedents.
And if the federal government won't act, individual states might. In the 1980 case Pruneyard Shopping Center v. Robins, the court found that the free speech protections in the California state constitution were broader than the federal protections and could allow high schoolers to set up a petition table in a California shopping mall against the mall owner's wishes. If, for example, the state governor and Democrats of California ever sought to regulate Big Tech -- and Big Tech retaliated by censoring them from all future social media speech, the state of California would be well within its rights to apply its constitution to prevent such censorship.
This free speech solution is different from seeking to end Section 230 and to give Big Tech sites liability for the messages they carry. Such extra liability would merely incentivize the sites to block more messages than ever. The establishment of "free speech zones,” treating Big Tech media sites like telephone networks for political debate that carry messages for all, is the better and simpler approach.
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2021/01/23/to_save_free_speech_let_marsh_beat_a_swamp__145107.html
|
en
| 2021-01-23T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/1aa352efee374018fe82d9e267aeb174a7024ac0f44b58481a9fda2782d6b266.json
|
[
"Can a Marsh beat a Swamp? Yes, if the Supreme Court precedent in Marsh v. Alabama is applied by Congress, the court or state legislatures to save free speech on the Internet.\nMarsh was the 1946 Supreme Court case which found that First Amendment protections for free speech can be applied to private sector actors in some circumstances. In the case, a company town owned by the Gulf Shipbuilding Corp. sought to bar free speech on its sidewalks, claiming that the First Amendment only proscribed government censorship, not private sector actions.\nIn a 5-3 decision authored by First Amendment champion Hugo Black, the high court disagreed, finding that when the private sector actor owns and controls the de facto \"public square,\" then Americans’ constitutional protections still apply. Black wrote, \"To act as good citizens they must be informed. In order to enable them to be properly informed their information must be uncensored. ... When we balance the constitutional rights of owners of property against those of the people to enjoy freedom of press and religion, as we must here, we remain mindful of the fact that the latter occupy a preferential position.\"\nMarsh has not been widely applied since then, because its circumstances are so rare. At first, the Supreme Court applied the decision to guarantee the rights of protesters in shopping malls in a 1968 case called Amalgamated Food Employees Union Local 590 et al. v. Logan Valley Plaza. However, the more conservative Berger Court soon scaled this protection back in a 1972 case (Lloyd Corp., Ltd. v. Tanner et al.), essentially because such speech can interfere with the fundamental purpose of the mall -- for stores to sell goods -- and because there are alternative sites for such speech. Courts have also refused to apply Marsh to allow commercial companies to spam the Internet with their ads. The Supreme Court in the 2019 Halleck case found there is no Marsh-style protections at a public access cable TV channel, and in February 2020 a federal judge ruled that YouTube was free to restrict or demonetize videos from Prager University.\nUltimately, it is all a matter of balance and degree. Providing freedom for political debate is the first and necessary condition for democracy, and the first and necessary role of the state. It is a traditional and exclusive public function for the state to maintain fair and reasoned elections, and therefore to maintain and ensure adequate locations and opportunity for public debate ahead of the election; there can be no fair elections if political debate is stopped. If a private individual truly could silence all other speakers and all debate so that only the private sector tyrant's own voice could be heard, the government could not and would not let it stand. The closer the underlying facts approach this dystopian reality, the more the Marsh decision must apply.\nIf there is ever a set of circumstances that warrants another application of the ruling, it is today as Twitter bans all speech from the now-former president of the United States, and as Apple and Amazon shut down Parler, thereby closing the public square used by a wide swath of Americans. The speech being blocked is clearly political speech rather than commercial speech, and so warrants the highest level of constitutional protection. The speech is not in conflict with the central action of the site, as in the shopping mall cases; speech is the purpose for which these sites were built, and preserving freedoms for censored speakers in no way prevents other speakers from having their freedoms as well. The censorship did not block one specific message or release, such as the Pentagon Papers, but rather the right to speak in the future, on any topic. (Even future apologies or calls for reconciliation have been silenced.) The speech precluded is also not blocked in a consistent manner: There was no blocking of speakers who pulled together the crowds that led to violence in many U.S. cities all summer long. Nor has there been blocking of Vladimir Putin, or Iran’s ayatollahs, for example. The sites are not just affecting political debate in a small way, such as demonetizing a YouTube video; they are audaciously showing their power to silence an elected U.S. president forever into the future, and should they choose, to silence an unlimited number of his supporters.\nIn the context of free speech, the Internet social media sites are uniquely important, with an impact far beyond access to shopping malls. In a 2017 case, Packingham v. North Carolina, the court made clear that the Big Tech social media sites have become THE public square of our time, ruling unanimously that even convicted sex offenders cannot be blocked or censored from Facebook and Twitter.\n\"A fundamental principle of the First Amendment is that all persons have access to places where they can speak and listen, and then, after reflection, speak and listen once more,” Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote. “While in the past there may have been difficulty in identifying the most important places (in a spatial sense) for the exchange of views, today the answer is clear. It is cyberspace -- the ‘vast democratic forums of the Internet' in general, and the social media in particular.\"\nKennedy went on to say, \"These websites can provide perhaps the most powerful mechanisms available to a private citizen to make his or her voice heard. They allow a person with an Internet connection to 'become a town crier with a voice that resonates farther than it could from any soapbox. … [T]o foreclose access to social media altogether is to prevent the user from engaging in legitimate exercise of First Amendment rights.\"\nIf private companies own or manage the public square of our political debate, they must honor the protections for such political debate. The Constitution never desired Jack Dorsey's sandal or Jeff Bezos' boat shoe to become the boot on the face of freedom forever. Does the First Amendment really say that child molesters have a free speech right to social media, but the president of the United States does not?\nAttacks on conservative speech today can easily become attacks on progressive speech tomorrow, and legislators of both parties should join together in bipartisan unity. Congress should mandate \"free speech zones\" on Big Tech sites -- areas where any political speaker can say what the laws would allow them to say in an actual, physical public park or square, and subject to the same penalties for infractions. If Congress won't legislate these free speech zones, then the Supreme Court should find the protection already exists pursuant to the Marsh and Packingham precedents.\nAnd if the federal government won't act, individual states might. In the 1980 case Pruneyard Shopping Center v. Robins, the court found that the free speech protections in the California state constitution were broader than the federal protections and could allow high schoolers to set up a petition table in a California shopping mall against the mall owner's wishes. If, for example, the state governor and Democrats of California ever sought to regulate Big Tech -- and Big Tech retaliated by censoring them from all future social media speech, the state of California would be well within its rights to apply its constitution to prevent such censorship.\nThis free speech solution is different from seeking to end Section 230 and to give Big Tech sites liability for the messages they carry. Such extra liability would merely incentivize the sites to block more messages than ever. The establishment of \"free speech zones,” treating Big Tech media sites like telephone networks for political debate that carry messages for all, is the better and simpler approach.",
"To Save Free Speech, Let 'Marsh' Beat a Swamp",
"Can a Marsh beat a Swamp? Yes, if the Supreme Court precedent in Marsh v. Alabama is applied by Congress, the court or state legislatures to save free speech..."
] |
|
[] | 2021-01-29T04:52:09 | null | 2021-01-26T00:00:00 |
Apply the First Amendment to Social Media | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F26%2Fapply_the_first_amendment_to_social_media_534394.html.json
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/favicon.ico
|
en
| null |
Apply the First Amendment to Social Media
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
Apply the First Amendment to Social Media
In the wake of Trump's Twitter ban, big tech can't be allowed to hide behind terms and conditions any longer.
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/26/apply_the_first_amendment_to_social_media_534394.html
|
en
| 2021-01-26T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/7e8e4059d9166ec7a39765bc3ce7d3a3fc8bf7e5cfca2b9d4e412f24f71c9929.json
|
[
"Apply the First Amendment to Social Media\nIn the wake of Trump's Twitter ban, big tech can't be allowed to hide behind terms and conditions any longer.",
"Apply the First Amendment to Social Media",
"Apply the First Amendment to Social Media | RealClearPolitics"
] |
[] | 2021-01-23T21:46:58 | null | 2021-01-23T00:00:00 |
Biden Wisely Rejoins Global Fight Against Climate Change | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F23%2Fbiden_wisely_rejoins_global_fight_against_climate_change_534226.html.json
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/favicon.ico
|
en
| null |
Biden Wisely Rejoins Global Fight Against Climate Change
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
In the campaign and now in his executive actions, Biden showed he recognized that the effects of global warming posed a serious threat not only to the American economy but also to national security.
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/23/biden_wisely_rejoins_global_fight_against_climate_change_534226.html
|
en
| 2021-01-23T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/395a2e98b94e15c6275bfd78e05004c15c4c58304b054a1c97f727b8b2e962ba.json
|
[
"In the campaign and now in his executive actions, Biden showed he recognized that the effects of global warming posed a serious threat not only to the American economy but also to national security.",
"Biden Wisely Rejoins Global Fight Against Climate Change",
"Biden Wisely Rejoins Global Fight Against Climate Change | RealClearPolitics"
] |
[] | 2021-01-25T20:47:47 | null | 2021-01-25T00:00:00 |
Don't Expect Iran to Renegotiate Nuclear Deal in Good Faith | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F25%2Fdont_expect_iran_to_renegotiate_nuclear_deal_in_good_faith_534321.html.json
|
en
| null |
Don't Expect Iran to Renegotiate Nuclear Deal in Good Faith
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
While on the campaign trail, President Joe Biden has made clear that he would like to renegotiate the JCPOA, the Iranian nuclear deal of 2015.
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/25/dont_expect_iran_to_renegotiate_nuclear_deal_in_good_faith_534321.html
|
en
| 2021-01-25T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/1a0bb3c3660aa8b42f3ff9049ba8523c4f8af4e645cf78c9c2b1830beec9d22a.json
|
[
"While on the campaign trail, President Joe Biden has made clear that he would like to renegotiate the JCPOA, the Iranian nuclear deal of 2015.",
"Don't Expect Iran to Renegotiate Nuclear Deal in Good Faith",
"Don't Expect Iran to Renegotiate Nuclear Deal in Good Faith | RealClearPolitics"
] |
|
[] | 2021-01-29T12:35:30 | null | 2021-01-29T00:00:00 |
Biden Hides China Corruption Behind 'Strategic Patience' | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F29%2Fbiden_hides_china_corruption_behind_strategic_patience_534675.html.json
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/favicon.ico
|
en
| null |
Biden Hides China Corruption Behind 'Strategic Patience'
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
President Biden has been part of the problem in Washington for a half century. Yet, apparently, he just discovered China.
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/29/biden_hides_china_corruption_behind_strategic_patience_534675.html
|
en
| 2021-01-29T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/67ee08583d4d045eb7417f1e8487b4db395ec84e25d64eea9db18b58181fd3f1.json
|
[
"President Biden has been part of the problem in Washington for a half century. Yet, apparently, he just discovered China.",
"Biden Hides China Corruption Behind 'Strategic Patience'",
"Biden Hides China Corruption Behind 'Strategic Patience' | RealClearPolitics"
] |
[] | 2021-01-19T23:51:14 | null | 2021-01-19T00:00:00 |
You Can't 'Just Build Your Own Twitter' | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F19%2Fyou_cant_just_build_your_own_twitter_533636.html.json
|
en
| null |
You Can't 'Just Build Your Own Twitter'
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
You Can't 'Just Build Your Own Twitter'
To build an alternate social media website with a dissenting moderation policy, you must first invent the universe. Good luck.
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/19/you_cant_just_build_your_own_twitter_533636.html
|
en
| 2021-01-19T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/0fb3fc9965b24631a849e8075a7ffc5f9a9f8a6d5b2d0d0c703378be9d33cd12.json
|
[
"You Can't 'Just Build Your Own Twitter'\nTo build an alternate social media website with a dissenting moderation policy, you must first invent the universe. Good luck.",
"You Can't 'Just Build Your Own Twitter'",
"You Can't 'Just Build Your Own Twitter' | RealClearPolitics"
] |
|
[] | 2021-01-04T19:56:47 | null | 2021-01-04T00:00:00 |
Time to Break Ground on the Obama Presidential Center | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F04%2Ftime_to_break_ground_on_the_obama_presidential_center_532626.html.json
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/favicon.ico
|
en
| null |
Time to Break Ground on the Obama Presidential Center
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
Time to Break Ground on the Obama Presidential Center
We're ready for the South Side — and Chicago — to reap the many benefits.
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/04/time_to_break_ground_on_the_obama_presidential_center_532626.html
|
en
| 2021-01-04T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/def3edce1bf7e5a6fdfd11c98c49a37dadf6ef0baf4e116a46b00081e0099fb1.json
|
[
"Time to Break Ground on the Obama Presidential Center\nWe're ready for the South Side — and Chicago — to reap the many benefits.",
"Time to Break Ground on the Obama Presidential Center",
"Time to Break Ground on the Obama Presidential Center | RealClearPolitics"
] |
[] | 2021-01-17T16:19:37 | null | 2021-01-17T00:00:00 |
It took a MAGA-draped mob storming the U.S. Capitol and five deaths for a handful of Republicans in Congress finally to have the courage to stand up to Donald...
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2Farticles%2F2021%2F01%2F17%2Fleaving_the_gop_why_im_now_politically_homeless_145049.html.json
|
en
| null |
Leaving the GOP: Why I'm Now Politically Homeless
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
It took a MAGA-draped mob storming the U.S. Capitol and five deaths for a handful of Republicans in Congress finally to have the courage to stand up to Donald Trump. Ten GOP House members joined all their Democratic colleagues to impeach Wednesday, making Trump the only president ever to be twice impeached. Rep. Liz Cheney, the third-ranking Republican leader in the House, explained her vote: “The President of the United States summoned this mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack. Everything that followed was his doing. None of this would have happened without the President. The President could have immediately and forcefully intervened to stop the violence. He did not. There has never been a greater betrayal by a President of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution.”
But Trump’s actions last week were just the worst in a series of actions that have defiled the office. This man is the most corrupt, dishonest, and anti-democratic politician in our history. But for much of the last four years, the Republican Party leadership remained silent. Most said nothing during the past two months as Trump spewed daily lies about how the 2020 election had been “stolen” from him. Many elected officials stood with him on rally platforms as he whipped up crowds with fabricated tales of hundreds of thousands of votes cast by dead people, illegal immigrants, felons, and out of state voters, and claimed votes for him were magically switched by machine algorithms or simply discarded or shredded by renegade poll workers.
It was no surprise that Trump followers descended on Washington at the president’s call to “take back our country.” Yet, even after this mob attacked the Capitol, two-thirds of Republican members of the House and fully a quarter of Republican senators returned to the chamber to perpetuate the president’s lies of a stolen election by opposing the constitutionally mandated certification of electoral votes from Arizona and Pennsylvania.
Despite my revulsion at Trump’s behavior, I have been reluctant to leave the Republican Party. I hoped that the GOP could be reformed and must be so from within. But when Sen. Josh Hawley announced on New Year’s Eve that he and several other GOP colleagues would oppose the Senate’s certification of the Electoral College votes in several states, I finally had enough. I have changed my registration to unaffiliated. I remain a conservative, but I am no longer a Republican, nor do I want anything to do with the conservative institutions and intellectuals that have enabled Donald Trump’s nativist-driven populism.
Perhaps principled conservatives will work to woo back former Republicans like me. Certainly Liz Cheney and her nine colleagues give some hope, as do Sens. Mitt Romney, Ben Sasse, Pat Toomey and others who have indicated they are open to convicting Trump in the Senate. Only one -- Romney -- was willing to vote to remove the president when he was impeached for abuse of power a year ago. But many others, including Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Whip Steve Scalise, remain steadfast Trumpists, as do most of their caucus. It is the same in state legislatures and executive offices controlled by Republicans, not to mention among the party’s faithful voter base.
If the Republican Party remains the party of Trump even with their leader out of office, where do conservatives like me go? I believe that the most important role of the federal government is to provide for the defense of our nation. I believe that free market capitalism and free trade provide a better standard of living and more opportunity for more people than any alternative system. But I also recognize that free markets require individuals who are guided in their decisions by a moral code that includes integrity and compassion.
We remember Adam Smith for “The Wealth of Nations,” his treatise on free market economics, but the foundation for that work was “The Theory of Moral Sentiments,” which posits that societies require both sympathy and justice to survive and beneficence to flourish. I believe that the United States is exceptional, but part of that exceptionalism is that we are not bound by blood and soil but by adherence to the Constitution and the principles enunciated in the Declaration of Independence.
As a conservative, I distrust social engineering, central planning, and intrusive government. But I recognize that government has a legitimate obligation to provide for those who cannot provide for themselves and to protect our environment. If the pandemic has taught us anything, it has taught us that health care must be accessible to everyone in order to protect us all, which entails a role for government.
And I believe, as did Ronald Reagan, that immigrants help make America great, but also that large-scale immigration only works well when immigrants -- and especially, their children -- integrate into the larger society. We are a multi-racial, multi-ethnic society, but we share a common language and a common culture. American pluralism must not become balkanization. Identity politics is divisive, and the psychology of victimhood is destructive to those who embrace it. I believe government must guarantee equality of opportunity for all, which requires investments in and equal access to education, but I do not believe that government can or should guarantee equal outcomes. Too often programs that attempt to do so unintentionally harm the targeted beneficiaries as well as others who have been left out.
There are Republicans who share many if not most of these views, but apparently too few. Unless and until leaders in the party across the country repudiate Donald Trump and wrest control of the grassroots by disavowing the bigotry that has found such fertile ground, the party will continue to drive many of us away. For the moment, at least, we are politically homeless.
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2021/01/17/leaving_the_gop_why_im_now_politically_homeless_145049.html
|
en
| 2021-01-17T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/fd0f019000bdbd24b8d6ddcec26725fb0452b57fe6ac3e9c5f0ccbebd9d3240d.json
|
[
"It took a MAGA-draped mob storming the U.S. Capitol and five deaths for a handful of Republicans in Congress finally to have the courage to stand up to Donald Trump. Ten GOP House members joined all their Democratic colleagues to impeach Wednesday, making Trump the only president ever to be twice impeached. Rep. Liz Cheney, the third-ranking Republican leader in the House, explained her vote: “The President of the United States summoned this mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack. Everything that followed was his doing. None of this would have happened without the President. The President could have immediately and forcefully intervened to stop the violence. He did not. There has never been a greater betrayal by a President of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution.”\nBut Trump’s actions last week were just the worst in a series of actions that have defiled the office. This man is the most corrupt, dishonest, and anti-democratic politician in our history. But for much of the last four years, the Republican Party leadership remained silent. Most said nothing during the past two months as Trump spewed daily lies about how the 2020 election had been “stolen” from him. Many elected officials stood with him on rally platforms as he whipped up crowds with fabricated tales of hundreds of thousands of votes cast by dead people, illegal immigrants, felons, and out of state voters, and claimed votes for him were magically switched by machine algorithms or simply discarded or shredded by renegade poll workers.\nIt was no surprise that Trump followers descended on Washington at the president’s call to “take back our country.” Yet, even after this mob attacked the Capitol, two-thirds of Republican members of the House and fully a quarter of Republican senators returned to the chamber to perpetuate the president’s lies of a stolen election by opposing the constitutionally mandated certification of electoral votes from Arizona and Pennsylvania.\nDespite my revulsion at Trump’s behavior, I have been reluctant to leave the Republican Party. I hoped that the GOP could be reformed and must be so from within. But when Sen. Josh Hawley announced on New Year’s Eve that he and several other GOP colleagues would oppose the Senate’s certification of the Electoral College votes in several states, I finally had enough. I have changed my registration to unaffiliated. I remain a conservative, but I am no longer a Republican, nor do I want anything to do with the conservative institutions and intellectuals that have enabled Donald Trump’s nativist-driven populism.\nPerhaps principled conservatives will work to woo back former Republicans like me. Certainly Liz Cheney and her nine colleagues give some hope, as do Sens. Mitt Romney, Ben Sasse, Pat Toomey and others who have indicated they are open to convicting Trump in the Senate. Only one -- Romney -- was willing to vote to remove the president when he was impeached for abuse of power a year ago. But many others, including Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Whip Steve Scalise, remain steadfast Trumpists, as do most of their caucus. It is the same in state legislatures and executive offices controlled by Republicans, not to mention among the party’s faithful voter base.\nIf the Republican Party remains the party of Trump even with their leader out of office, where do conservatives like me go? I believe that the most important role of the federal government is to provide for the defense of our nation. I believe that free market capitalism and free trade provide a better standard of living and more opportunity for more people than any alternative system. But I also recognize that free markets require individuals who are guided in their decisions by a moral code that includes integrity and compassion.\nWe remember Adam Smith for “The Wealth of Nations,” his treatise on free market economics, but the foundation for that work was “The Theory of Moral Sentiments,” which posits that societies require both sympathy and justice to survive and beneficence to flourish. I believe that the United States is exceptional, but part of that exceptionalism is that we are not bound by blood and soil but by adherence to the Constitution and the principles enunciated in the Declaration of Independence.\nAs a conservative, I distrust social engineering, central planning, and intrusive government. But I recognize that government has a legitimate obligation to provide for those who cannot provide for themselves and to protect our environment. If the pandemic has taught us anything, it has taught us that health care must be accessible to everyone in order to protect us all, which entails a role for government.\nAnd I believe, as did Ronald Reagan, that immigrants help make America great, but also that large-scale immigration only works well when immigrants -- and especially, their children -- integrate into the larger society. We are a multi-racial, multi-ethnic society, but we share a common language and a common culture. American pluralism must not become balkanization. Identity politics is divisive, and the psychology of victimhood is destructive to those who embrace it. I believe government must guarantee equality of opportunity for all, which requires investments in and equal access to education, but I do not believe that government can or should guarantee equal outcomes. Too often programs that attempt to do so unintentionally harm the targeted beneficiaries as well as others who have been left out.\nThere are Republicans who share many if not most of these views, but apparently too few. Unless and until leaders in the party across the country repudiate Donald Trump and wrest control of the grassroots by disavowing the bigotry that has found such fertile ground, the party will continue to drive many of us away. For the moment, at least, we are politically homeless.",
"Leaving the GOP: Why I'm Now Politically Homeless",
"It took a MAGA-draped mob storming the U.S. Capitol and five deaths for a handful of Republicans in Congress finally to have the courage to stand up to Donald..."
] |
|
[] | 2021-01-08T06:37:30 | null | 2021-01-07T00:00:00 |
Understanding the Anger That Fueled Washington Protest | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F07%2Funderstanding_the_anger_that_fueled_washington_protest_532939.html.json
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/favicon.ico
|
en
| null |
Understanding the Anger That Fueled Washington Protest
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
Why did thousands and thousands of people go to Washington yesterday to protest? If you've wondered why so many fellow Americans did, then you should read this. Even if you didn't wonder, this is a must read. I know a couple of people who went. I don't presume to speak for them, but I can tell you what...
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/07/understanding_the_anger_that_fueled_washington_protest_532939.html
|
en
| 2021-01-07T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/d22ac8fe842aac1245dd99a36f71cf8a0ba63422d269ff4642f39ab7f34236aa.json
|
[
"Why did thousands and thousands of people go to Washington yesterday to protest? If you've wondered why so many fellow Americans did, then you should read this. Even if you didn't wonder, this is a must read. I know a couple of people who went. I don't presume to speak for them, but I can tell you what...",
"Understanding the Anger That Fueled Washington Protest",
"Understanding the Anger That Fueled Washington Protest | RealClearPolitics"
] |
[] | 2021-01-25T13:52:20 | null | 2021-01-25T00:00:00 |
WASHINGTON (AP) As the House prepares to bring the impeachment charge against Donald Trump to the Senate for trial, a growing number of Republican senators...
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2Farticles%2F2021%2F01%2F25%2Fdemocrat_prospects_of_convicting_trump_in_senate_fade_away_145115.html.json
|
en
| null |
Democrat Prospects of Convicting Trump in Senate Fade Away
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
WASHINGTON (AP) — As the House prepares to bring the impeachment charge against Donald Trump to the Senate for trial, a growing number of Republican senators say they are opposed to the proceeding, dimming the chances that former president will be convicted on the charge that he incited a siege of the U.S. Capitol.
House Democrats will carry the sole impeachment charge of “incitement of insurrection” across the Capitol late Monday evening, a rare and ceremonial walk to the Senate by the prosecutors who will argue their case. They are hoping that strong Republican denunciations of Trump after the Jan. 6 riot will translate into a conviction and a separate vote to bar Trump from holding office again.
But instead, GOP passions appear to have cooled since the insurrection. Now that Trump’s presidency is over, Republican senators who will serve as jurors in the trial are rallying to his legal defense, as they did during his first impeachment trial last year.
“I think the trial is stupid, I think it’s counterproductive,” said Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.. He said that “the first chance I get to vote to end this trial, I’ll do it” because he believes it would be bad for the country and further inflame partisan divisions.
Trump is the first former president to face impeachment trial, and it will test his grip on the Republican Party as well as the legacy of his tenure, which came to a close as a mob of loyal supporters heeded his rally cry by storming the Capitol and trying to overturn Joe Biden’s election. The proceedings will also force Democrats, who have a full sweep of party control of the White House and Congress, to balance their promise to hold the former president accountable while also rushing to deliver on Biden’s priorities.
Arguments in the Senate trial will begin the week of Feb. 8. Leaders in both parties agreed to the short delay to give Trump’s team and House prosecutors time to prepare and the Senate the chance to confirm some of Biden’s Cabinet nominees. Democrats say the extra days will allow for more evidence to come out about the rioting by Trump supporters, while Republicans hope to craft a unified defense for Trump.
Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., said in an interview with The Associated Press on Sunday that he hopes that evolving clarity on the details of what happened Jan. 6 “will make it clearer to my colleagues and the American people that we need some accountability.”
Coons questioned how his colleagues who were in the Capitol that day could see the insurrection as anything other than a “stunning violation” of tradition of peaceful transfers of power.
“It is a critical moment in American history and we have to look at it and look at it hard,” Coons said.
An early vote to dismiss the trial probably would not succeed, given that Democrats now control the Senate. Still, the mounting Republican opposition indicates that many GOP senators would eventually vote to acquit Trump. Democrats would need the support of 17 Republicans — a high bar — to convict him.
When the House impeached Trump on Jan. 13, exactly one week after the siege, Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said he didn’t believe the Senate had the constitutional authority to convict Trump after he had left office. On Sunday, Cotton said “the more I talk to other Republican senators, the more they’re beginning to line up” behind that argument.
“I think a lot of Americans are going to think it’s strange that the Senate is spending its time trying to convict and remove from office a man who left office a week ago,” Cotton said.
Democrats reject that argument, pointing to a 1876 impeachment of a secretary of war who had already resigned and to opinions by many legal scholars. Democrats also say that a reckoning of the first invasion of the Capitol since the War of 1812, perpetrated by rioters egged on by a president who told them to “fight like hell” against election results that were being counted at the time, is necessary so the country can move forward and ensure such a siege never happens again.
A few GOP senators have agreed with Democrats, though not close to the number that will be needed to convict Trump.
Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, said he believes there is a “preponderance of opinion” that an impeachment trial is appropriate after someone leaves office.
“I believe that what is being alleged and what we saw, which is incitement to insurrection, is an impeachable offense,” Romney said. “If not, what is?”
But Romney, the lone Republican to vote to convict Trump when the Senate acquitted the then-president in last year’s trial, appears to be an outlier.
Sen. Mike Rounds, R-South Dakota, said he believes a trial is a “moot point” after a president’s term is over, “and I think it’s one that they would have a very difficult time in trying to get done within the Senate.”
On Friday, GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a close Trump ally who has been helping him build a legal team, urged the Senate to reject the idea of a post-presidency trial — potentially with a vote to dismiss the charge — and suggested Republicans will scrutinize whether Trump’s words on Jan. 6 were legally “incitement.”
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, who said last week that Trump “provoked” his supporters before the riot, has not said how he will vote or argued any legal strategies. The Kentucky senator has told his GOP colleagues that it will be a vote of conscience.
One of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s nine impeachment managers said Trump’s encouragement of his loyalists before the riot was “an extraordinarily heinous presidential crime.”
Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-Pennsylvania., said “I mean, think back. It was just two-and-a-half weeks ago that the president assembled a mob on the Ellipse of the White House. He incited them with his words. And then he lit the match.”
Trump’s supporters invaded the Capitol and interrupted the electoral count as he falsely claimed there was massive fraud in the election and that it was stolen by Biden. Trump’s claims were roundly rejected in the courts, including by judges appointed by Trump, and by state election officials.
Rubio and Romney were on “Fox News Sunday,” Cotton appeared on Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures” and Romney also was on CNN’s “State of the Union,” as was Dean. Rounds was interviewed on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
___
Associated Press writer Hope Yen contributed to this report.
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2021/01/25/democrat_prospects_of_convicting_trump_in_senate_fade_away_145115.html
|
en
| 2021-01-25T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/cce148a8b5d0a749ad815a1d7703581eed3b5f6324e832d85a409d2065f90dbb.json
|
[
"WASHINGTON (AP) — As the House prepares to bring the impeachment charge against Donald Trump to the Senate for trial, a growing number of Republican senators say they are opposed to the proceeding, dimming the chances that former president will be convicted on the charge that he incited a siege of the U.S. Capitol.\nHouse Democrats will carry the sole impeachment charge of “incitement of insurrection” across the Capitol late Monday evening, a rare and ceremonial walk to the Senate by the prosecutors who will argue their case. They are hoping that strong Republican denunciations of Trump after the Jan. 6 riot will translate into a conviction and a separate vote to bar Trump from holding office again.\nBut instead, GOP passions appear to have cooled since the insurrection. Now that Trump’s presidency is over, Republican senators who will serve as jurors in the trial are rallying to his legal defense, as they did during his first impeachment trial last year.\n“I think the trial is stupid, I think it’s counterproductive,” said Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.. He said that “the first chance I get to vote to end this trial, I’ll do it” because he believes it would be bad for the country and further inflame partisan divisions.\nTrump is the first former president to face impeachment trial, and it will test his grip on the Republican Party as well as the legacy of his tenure, which came to a close as a mob of loyal supporters heeded his rally cry by storming the Capitol and trying to overturn Joe Biden’s election. The proceedings will also force Democrats, who have a full sweep of party control of the White House and Congress, to balance their promise to hold the former president accountable while also rushing to deliver on Biden’s priorities.\nArguments in the Senate trial will begin the week of Feb. 8. Leaders in both parties agreed to the short delay to give Trump’s team and House prosecutors time to prepare and the Senate the chance to confirm some of Biden’s Cabinet nominees. Democrats say the extra days will allow for more evidence to come out about the rioting by Trump supporters, while Republicans hope to craft a unified defense for Trump.\nSen. Chris Coons, D-Del., said in an interview with The Associated Press on Sunday that he hopes that evolving clarity on the details of what happened Jan. 6 “will make it clearer to my colleagues and the American people that we need some accountability.”\nCoons questioned how his colleagues who were in the Capitol that day could see the insurrection as anything other than a “stunning violation” of tradition of peaceful transfers of power.\n“It is a critical moment in American history and we have to look at it and look at it hard,” Coons said.\nAn early vote to dismiss the trial probably would not succeed, given that Democrats now control the Senate. Still, the mounting Republican opposition indicates that many GOP senators would eventually vote to acquit Trump. Democrats would need the support of 17 Republicans — a high bar — to convict him.\nWhen the House impeached Trump on Jan. 13, exactly one week after the siege, Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said he didn’t believe the Senate had the constitutional authority to convict Trump after he had left office. On Sunday, Cotton said “the more I talk to other Republican senators, the more they’re beginning to line up” behind that argument.\n“I think a lot of Americans are going to think it’s strange that the Senate is spending its time trying to convict and remove from office a man who left office a week ago,” Cotton said.\nDemocrats reject that argument, pointing to a 1876 impeachment of a secretary of war who had already resigned and to opinions by many legal scholars. Democrats also say that a reckoning of the first invasion of the Capitol since the War of 1812, perpetrated by rioters egged on by a president who told them to “fight like hell” against election results that were being counted at the time, is necessary so the country can move forward and ensure such a siege never happens again.\nA few GOP senators have agreed with Democrats, though not close to the number that will be needed to convict Trump.\nSen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, said he believes there is a “preponderance of opinion” that an impeachment trial is appropriate after someone leaves office.\n“I believe that what is being alleged and what we saw, which is incitement to insurrection, is an impeachable offense,” Romney said. “If not, what is?”\nBut Romney, the lone Republican to vote to convict Trump when the Senate acquitted the then-president in last year’s trial, appears to be an outlier.\nSen. Mike Rounds, R-South Dakota, said he believes a trial is a “moot point” after a president’s term is over, “and I think it’s one that they would have a very difficult time in trying to get done within the Senate.”\nOn Friday, GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a close Trump ally who has been helping him build a legal team, urged the Senate to reject the idea of a post-presidency trial — potentially with a vote to dismiss the charge — and suggested Republicans will scrutinize whether Trump’s words on Jan. 6 were legally “incitement.”\nSenate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, who said last week that Trump “provoked” his supporters before the riot, has not said how he will vote or argued any legal strategies. The Kentucky senator has told his GOP colleagues that it will be a vote of conscience.\nOne of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s nine impeachment managers said Trump’s encouragement of his loyalists before the riot was “an extraordinarily heinous presidential crime.”\nRep. Madeleine Dean, D-Pennsylvania., said “I mean, think back. It was just two-and-a-half weeks ago that the president assembled a mob on the Ellipse of the White House. He incited them with his words. And then he lit the match.”\nTrump’s supporters invaded the Capitol and interrupted the electoral count as he falsely claimed there was massive fraud in the election and that it was stolen by Biden. Trump’s claims were roundly rejected in the courts, including by judges appointed by Trump, and by state election officials.\nRubio and Romney were on “Fox News Sunday,” Cotton appeared on Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures” and Romney also was on CNN’s “State of the Union,” as was Dean. Rounds was interviewed on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”\n___\nAssociated Press writer Hope Yen contributed to this report.",
"Democrat Prospects of Convicting Trump in Senate Fade Away",
"WASHINGTON (AP) As the House prepares to bring the impeachment charge against Donald Trump to the Senate for trial, a growing number of Republican senators..."
] |
|
[] | 2021-01-13T15:00:57 | null | 2021-01-13T00:00:00 |
Parler Deserved To Be Taken Down | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F13%2Fparler_deserved_to_be_taken_down_533393.html.json
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/favicon.ico
|
en
| null |
Parler Deserved To Be Taken Down
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
| null |
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/13/parler_deserved_to_be_taken_down_533393.html
|
en
| 2021-01-13T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/7688c633027ae68ffafd1b1bff63eb7a0448fbd95456873ac5275a9ec64bc565.json
|
[
"Parler Deserved To Be Taken Down",
"Parler Deserved To Be Taken Down | RealClearPolitics"
] |
[] | 2021-01-06T13:19:56 | null | 2021-01-06T00:00:00 |
Ignore Histrionics: Dems Have Objected to Last 3 GOP Presidents | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F06%2Fignore_histrionics_dems_have_objected_to_last_3_gop_presidents_532780.html.json
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/favicon.ico
|
en
| null |
Ignore Histrionics: Dems Have Objected to Last 3 GOP Presidents
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
To hear the mainstream media and bleeding-heart liberals tell it, Republicans who plan to object to Electoral College votes in the 2020 presidential election are all but committing treason.
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/06/ignore_histrionics_dems_have_objected_to_last_3_gop_presidents_532780.html
|
en
| 2021-01-06T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/04e3b55342a3260a99013640fb284383896d795148690508e89941753243161d.json
|
[
"To hear the mainstream media and bleeding-heart liberals tell it, Republicans who plan to object to Electoral College votes in the 2020 presidential election are all but committing treason.",
"Ignore Histrionics: Dems Have Objected to Last 3 GOP Presidents",
"Ignore Histrionics: Dems Have Objected to Last 3 GOP Presidents | RealClearPolitics"
] |
[] | 2021-01-25T20:48:07 | null | 2021-01-25T00:00:00 |
Iran Wants the Nuclear Deal It Made | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F25%2Firan_wants_the_nuclear_deal_it_made_534320.html.json
|
en
| null |
Iran Wants the Nuclear Deal It Made
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
| null |
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/25/iran_wants_the_nuclear_deal_it_made_534320.html
|
en
| 2021-01-25T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/e0bbb4059982cba062bec880ecf3473228e430a2794e5449074522c3b27bf314.json
|
[
"Iran Wants the Nuclear Deal It Made",
"Iran Wants the Nuclear Deal It Made | RealClearPolitics"
] |
|
[] | 2021-01-29T04:52:25 | null | 2021-01-28T00:00:00 |
The Conservative Case Against the Boomers | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F28%2Fthe_conservative_case_against_the_boomers_534634.html.json
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/favicon.ico
|
en
| null |
The Conservative Case Against the Boomers
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
For bleakness, scope, and entropic finality, the progressive critique of the generation has nothing on the social-conservative one.
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/28/the_conservative_case_against_the_boomers_534634.html
|
en
| 2021-01-28T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/3236f8b1778cf307ba20924b72dfa06f50ee847f7ce853a6381cca41fa494619.json
|
[
"For bleakness, scope, and entropic finality, the progressive critique of the generation has nothing on the social-conservative one.",
"The Conservative Case Against the Boomers",
"The Conservative Case Against the Boomers | RealClearPolitics"
] |
[] | 2021-01-13T00:10:06 | null | 2021-01-12T00:00:00 |
The Democrats' Crazy Impeachment | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F12%2Fthe_democrats_crazy_impeachment_533304.html.json
|
en
| null |
The Democrats' Crazy Impeachment
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
Democrats started trying to remove President Trump from office before he entered office. Now they are proposing to remove him from office after he leaves office.
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/12/the_democrats_crazy_impeachment_533304.html
|
en
| 2021-01-12T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/cf774d7663184a110fe3e65913b02c89e4294c109615eeb4300ed3ed563304fe.json
|
[
"Democrats started trying to remove President Trump from office before he entered office. Now they are proposing to remove him from office after he leaves office.",
"The Democrats' Crazy Impeachment",
"The Democrats' Crazy Impeachment | RealClearPolitics"
] |
|
[] | 2021-01-10T22:03:25 | null | 2021-01-10T00:00:00 |
Georgia, Trump's Insurrectionists, and Lost Causes | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F10%2Fgeorgia_trumps_insurrectionists_and_lost_causes_533023.html.json
|
en
| null |
Georgia, Trump's Insurrectionists, and Lost Causes
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
Any hopes that the New Year might mark a sharp detour from the malaise of 2020 were dashed in a twelve-hour period between 2 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Wednesday, January 6th, when we saw—as we had throughout the year just concluded—glimpses of respite immediately offset by moments of great calamity. In that light, it makes sense to view the events of the day as a crescendo in the symphony of chaos that Donald Trump has been conducting for the past four years.
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/10/georgia_trumps_insurrectionists_and_lost_causes_533023.html
|
en
| 2021-01-10T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/e5de65940cfc1e2d1b0a063ac20da01ca69521b09b401cc14dea2dbd78f68ab4.json
|
[
"Any hopes that the New Year might mark a sharp detour from the malaise of 2020 were dashed in a twelve-hour period between 2 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Wednesday, January 6th, when we saw—as we had throughout the year just concluded—glimpses of respite immediately offset by moments of great calamity. In that light, it makes sense to view the events of the day as a crescendo in the symphony of chaos that Donald Trump has been conducting for the past four years.",
"Georgia, Trump's Insurrectionists, and Lost Causes",
"Georgia, Trump's Insurrectionists, and Lost Causes | RealClearPolitics"
] |
|
[] | 2021-01-18T05:30:28 | null | 2021-01-17T00:00:00 |
Trump's Incomparable Presidency | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F17%2Ftrumps_incomparable_presidency_533692.html.json
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/favicon.ico
|
en
| null |
Trump's Incomparable Presidency
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
| null |
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/17/trumps_incomparable_presidency_533692.html
|
en
| 2021-01-17T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/e0d11159264c9f8be2161d2859b4a0d8b3ec3bbb8337f88f43a4d242271a1287.json
|
[
"Trump's Incomparable Presidency",
"Trump's Incomparable Presidency | RealClearPolitics"
] |
[] | 2021-01-18T02:30:47 | null | 2021-01-17T00:00:00 |
Among all the bad policy coming out of Springfield, Ill., lets celebrate the occasional glimmer of good sense.
But first, some background:
Illinoiss...
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2Farticles%2F2021%2F01%2F17%2Fslight_relief_from_illinois_predatory_government_145056.html.json
|
en
| null |
Slight Relief from Illinois' Predatory Government
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
Among all the bad policy coming out of Springfield, Ill., let’s celebrate the occasional glimmer of good sense.
But first, some background:
Illinois’s legislature passed legislation on policing and related matters last week in the dead of night. The 764-page bill passed the state Senate at 4:49 a.m. after being introduced and distributed to the members at 3:04 a.m. Only a few legislative insiders could have possibly known what was in the bill before voting; the rest of the legislature, first seeing the measure upon its introduction, voted blind.
Only after the Democrat majority passed the bill are we learning what’s in it -- and there’s little that’s good.
The legislation has been assailed as radical and anti-police for good reason. Consider, for example, this nugget from page 50: Under current law, a complaint filed against a police officer is required to be supported by a sworn affidavit from the person filing the complaint and provides that anyone filing false information shall be referred for prosecution. The bill eliminates both the requirement for the sworn affidavit and referral for prosecution for false complaints.
This and other provisions declare open season on law enforcement. Weakening law enforcement further in a state already riven by soaring crime rates unleashed by lax prosecution of basic criminal laws will make Illinois a more dangerous and less attractive place to live.
But, one provision in this bill reflects an idea that needs to be constantly reinforced: Government should help its citizens, not hurt them.
I have argued elsewhere that Illinois government has become predatory — that it focuses on raising money to serve the people in government instead of focusing on serving the general public. A predatory government weighs heaviest on those who earn the least. Examples of predatory policies include the myriad fees, fines, rules and gotchas imposed — and the absurd penalties applied for minor infractions of this web of rules.
A young friend of mine, a high school graduate working his way into a skilled trade, would drive to visit his girlfriend. He earned about $13 an hour. Sometimes, he didn’t have money in his pocket for tolls and he didn’t have credit to get the transponder that would cut his toll costs in half.
Let’s pause for a moment: People with credit (i.e., those with more money) pay lower tolls on the highway than people with poor credit (i.e., those with less money). Why not charge folks who need to stop and pay cash the same amount as the folks who can drive through the toll with transponders?
Back to my story: My friend did not pay about $30 in tolls. Shame on him -- but note that the tolls that are small for many were more than he could afford on a daily basis. His minor infraction, which he ignored because he didn’t have the money anyway, turned into $2,500 in fines, as well as a suspended license — which led to the loss of his job — before I got involved.
While the Illinois Tollway authority has since then significantly reduced some of its penalties, government for people with low to moderate incomes is often Kafkaesque: a small mistake in dealing with government or error in judgment leads to cascading consequences that bear no proportion to the original mistake.
While not unique to Illinois, this is particularly true there because of the state’s financial crisis. Making government work for ordinary citizens is a secondary concern for leaders obsessed with finding money to fund the over-promised, under-funded public pensions.
The folks running our government, who campaign on imposing a $15 minimum wage on small businesses, have legislated a system of taxes, tolls, fees and fines that lower income residents can’t afford. And, as in the case of my friend and others, our government routinely forces people into debt and out of jobs in its search for revenue.
Is “safety” a reason or just a rationale for red light camera tickets? Are high highway tolls and gas taxes fair to those who make less? These and other petty revenue collection devices that then require enforcement hammer the less well-off. A bankrupt state that forces its own citizens into bankruptcy is a predatory state.
The good news in this bad bill is that motorists would no longer lose their licenses as a consequence of unpaid red light and speed camera tickets. That’s a small but important win for the people of Illinois, but what of the tickets themselves and the exorbitant penalties and fees that accompany this policy? Why not abolish these as well?
We need a thorough rethinking of all aspects of our government. We need leaders looking for ways to help people rise instead of holding them down or shaking them down.
PS: The young friend of mine I mentioned above recently moved to Texas. Why? He aspires to start his own business some day and he believes it’s easier to do that in Texas than in Illinois.
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2021/01/17/slight_relief_from_illinois_predatory_government_145056.html
|
en
| 2021-01-17T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/09efa569ec312faca96ef58418232402999fabcdd27d63dadc603691aebbdb11.json
|
[
"Among all the bad policy coming out of Springfield, Ill., let’s celebrate the occasional glimmer of good sense.\nBut first, some background:\nIllinois’s legislature passed legislation on policing and related matters last week in the dead of night. The 764-page bill passed the state Senate at 4:49 a.m. after being introduced and distributed to the members at 3:04 a.m. Only a few legislative insiders could have possibly known what was in the bill before voting; the rest of the legislature, first seeing the measure upon its introduction, voted blind.\nOnly after the Democrat majority passed the bill are we learning what’s in it -- and there’s little that’s good.\nThe legislation has been assailed as radical and anti-police for good reason. Consider, for example, this nugget from page 50: Under current law, a complaint filed against a police officer is required to be supported by a sworn affidavit from the person filing the complaint and provides that anyone filing false information shall be referred for prosecution. The bill eliminates both the requirement for the sworn affidavit and referral for prosecution for false complaints.\nThis and other provisions declare open season on law enforcement. Weakening law enforcement further in a state already riven by soaring crime rates unleashed by lax prosecution of basic criminal laws will make Illinois a more dangerous and less attractive place to live.\nBut, one provision in this bill reflects an idea that needs to be constantly reinforced: Government should help its citizens, not hurt them.\nI have argued elsewhere that Illinois government has become predatory — that it focuses on raising money to serve the people in government instead of focusing on serving the general public. A predatory government weighs heaviest on those who earn the least. Examples of predatory policies include the myriad fees, fines, rules and gotchas imposed — and the absurd penalties applied for minor infractions of this web of rules.\nA young friend of mine, a high school graduate working his way into a skilled trade, would drive to visit his girlfriend. He earned about $13 an hour. Sometimes, he didn’t have money in his pocket for tolls and he didn’t have credit to get the transponder that would cut his toll costs in half.\nLet’s pause for a moment: People with credit (i.e., those with more money) pay lower tolls on the highway than people with poor credit (i.e., those with less money). Why not charge folks who need to stop and pay cash the same amount as the folks who can drive through the toll with transponders?\nBack to my story: My friend did not pay about $30 in tolls. Shame on him -- but note that the tolls that are small for many were more than he could afford on a daily basis. His minor infraction, which he ignored because he didn’t have the money anyway, turned into $2,500 in fines, as well as a suspended license — which led to the loss of his job — before I got involved.\nWhile the Illinois Tollway authority has since then significantly reduced some of its penalties, government for people with low to moderate incomes is often Kafkaesque: a small mistake in dealing with government or error in judgment leads to cascading consequences that bear no proportion to the original mistake.\nWhile not unique to Illinois, this is particularly true there because of the state’s financial crisis. Making government work for ordinary citizens is a secondary concern for leaders obsessed with finding money to fund the over-promised, under-funded public pensions.\nThe folks running our government, who campaign on imposing a $15 minimum wage on small businesses, have legislated a system of taxes, tolls, fees and fines that lower income residents can’t afford. And, as in the case of my friend and others, our government routinely forces people into debt and out of jobs in its search for revenue.\nIs “safety” a reason or just a rationale for red light camera tickets? Are high highway tolls and gas taxes fair to those who make less? These and other petty revenue collection devices that then require enforcement hammer the less well-off. A bankrupt state that forces its own citizens into bankruptcy is a predatory state.\nThe good news in this bad bill is that motorists would no longer lose their licenses as a consequence of unpaid red light and speed camera tickets. That’s a small but important win for the people of Illinois, but what of the tickets themselves and the exorbitant penalties and fees that accompany this policy? Why not abolish these as well?\nWe need a thorough rethinking of all aspects of our government. We need leaders looking for ways to help people rise instead of holding them down or shaking them down.\nPS: The young friend of mine I mentioned above recently moved to Texas. Why? He aspires to start his own business some day and he believes it’s easier to do that in Texas than in Illinois.",
"Slight Relief from Illinois' Predatory Government",
"Among all the bad policy coming out of Springfield, Ill., lets celebrate the occasional glimmer of good sense.\nBut first, some background:\nIllinoiss..."
] |
|
[] | 2021-01-05T20:30:49 | null | 2021-01-05T00:00:00 |
The Enormous Stakes for Georgia's 2 Senate Runoffs, Explained | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F05%2Fthe_enormous_stakes_for_georgias_2_senate_runoffs_explained_532711.html.json
|
en
| null |
The Enormous Stakes for Georgia's 2 Senate Runoffs, Explained
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
| null |
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/05/the_enormous_stakes_for_georgias_2_senate_runoffs_explained_532711.html
|
en
| 2021-01-05T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/20a6c2385cc0347cdee2c0f32081d53fc6646f51dbbe4677670dba63ee7e22a7.json
|
[
"The Enormous Stakes for Georgia's 2 Senate Runoffs, Explained",
"The Enormous Stakes for Georgia's 2 Senate Runoffs, Explained | RealClearPolitics"
] |
|
[] | 2021-01-10T06:27:49 | null | 2021-01-09T00:00:00 |
Georgia, Trump's Insurrectionists, and Lost Causes | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F09%2Fgeorgia_trumps_insurrectionists_and_lost_causes_533023.html.json
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https://www.realclearpolitics.com/favicon.ico
|
en
| null |
Georgia, Trump's Insurrectionists, and Lost Causes
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
| null |
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/09/georgia_trumps_insurrectionists_and_lost_causes_533023.html
|
en
| 2021-01-09T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/d64c0175cc8f678f71fbc19c9496bba74e9891b98950c9abf5c2697552459719.json
|
[
"Georgia, Trump's Insurrectionists, and Lost Causes",
"Georgia, Trump's Insurrectionists, and Lost Causes | RealClearPolitics"
] |
[] | 2021-01-06T13:19:25 | null | 2021-01-06T00:00:00 |
An Administration Of Plagiarists | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F06%2Fan_administration_of_plagiarists_532776.html.json
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/favicon.ico
|
en
| null |
An Administration Of Plagiarists
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
Kamala Harris' and Joe Biden's piracy is a symptom of a problem that's rooted far below the surface.
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/06/an_administration_of_plagiarists_532776.html
|
en
| 2021-01-06T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/f3f0ddfbf8a974fc169a0d3ff3187c4b13c21823cf7c934c1e9bdb69026a3c39.json
|
[
"Kamala Harris' and Joe Biden's piracy is a symptom of a problem that's rooted far below the surface.",
"An Administration Of Plagiarists",
"An Administration Of Plagiarists | RealClearPolitics"
] |
[] | 2021-01-24T05:15:23 | null | 2021-01-23T00:00:00 |
Biden's Culture War Blitzkrieg | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F23%2Fbidens_culture_war_blitzkrieg_534212.html.json
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/favicon.ico
|
en
| null |
Biden's Culture War Blitzkrieg
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
The 'devoutly Catholic' president pledges to defend abortion, goes all in for left-wing cultural extremism
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/23/bidens_culture_war_blitzkrieg_534212.html
|
en
| 2021-01-23T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/6c0842d5598147cb8d4b82a4f2521c0fb02998ff504d199f3b040de9881945c1.json
|
[
"The 'devoutly Catholic' president pledges to defend abortion, goes all in for left-wing cultural extremism",
"Biden's Culture War Blitzkrieg",
"Biden's Culture War Blitzkrieg | RealClearPolitics"
] |
[] | 2021-01-14T20:47:27 | null | 2021-01-14T00:00:00 |
From Impeaching Trump to Canceling Conservatism | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F14%2Ffrom_impeaching_trump_to_canceling_conservatism_533449.html.json
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/favicon.ico
|
en
| null |
From Impeaching Trump to Canceling Conservatism
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
It wasn't just President Trump's detractors who felt a sudden sense of relief when they heard that Twitter was blocking his feed after the storming of the Capitol and the disruption of the reading of the Electoral College results on Jan. 6. While Trump's exact words to the crowd on the Ellipse…
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/14/from_impeaching_trump_to_canceling_conservatism_533449.html
|
en
| 2021-01-14T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/4c240ab78b992d4eced353e738515a6a87d37ac9e9bfc7559f767066db448409.json
|
[
"It wasn't just President Trump's detractors who felt a sudden sense of relief when they heard that Twitter was blocking his feed after the storming of the Capitol and the disruption of the reading of the Electoral College results on Jan. 6. While Trump's exact words to the crowd on the Ellipse…",
"From Impeaching Trump to Canceling Conservatism",
"From Impeaching Trump to Canceling Conservatism | RealClearPolitics"
] |
[] | 2021-01-21T04:38:34 | null | 2021-01-20T00:00:00 |
How the Right Can Exit the Biden Years Stronger | RealClearPolitics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F2021%2F01%2F20%2Fhow_the_right_can_exit_the_biden_years_stronger_533857.html.json
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/favicon.ico
|
en
| null |
How the Right Can Exit the Biden Years Stronger
| null | null |
www.realclearpolitics.com
|
How the Right Can Exit the Biden Years Stronger
Let's be honest: The right is making a forced retreat. Here's how we can make it a strategic one that sets our ideas up for better success in the long run.
|
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/20/how_the_right_can_exit_the_biden_years_stronger_533857.html
|
en
| 2021-01-20T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/00affc25447e67cf01dcaff258aeb7fb3805591286a681f56009efc98ad58ebf.json
|
[
"How the Right Can Exit the Biden Years Stronger\nLet's be honest: The right is making a forced retreat. Here's how we can make it a strategic one that sets our ideas up for better success in the long run.",
"How the Right Can Exit the Biden Years Stronger",
"How the Right Can Exit the Biden Years Stronger | RealClearPolitics"
] |
[] | 2021-01-30T16:00:40 | null | 2021-01-30T00:00:00 |
It's fashionable in the media to declare the conservative movement doomed following the presidential election. And with razor-thin margins making Wisconsin and...
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2Farticles%2F2021%2F01%2F30%2Fconservative_movement_is_not_doomed_--_just_look_to_wisconsin_145156.html.json
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Conservative Movement Is Not Doomed -- Just Look to Wisconsin
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www.realclearpolitics.com
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It's fashionable in the media to declare the conservative movement doomed following the presidential election. And with razor-thin margins making Wisconsin and other Midwestern states key battlegrounds, it’s equally fashionable to credit a rebuilt “Blue Wall” for the outcome.
What is fashionable is often flawed.
When a party is out of power nationally, the states are where it can (and undoubtedly will) rebuild. And Wisconsin – home of the famed “Cheesehead Revolution” that ushered in sweeping conservative reforms and unrivaled national leadership 10 years ago – is America’s strongest model for a durable conservative movement. The Badger State’s enduring impact of state reforms, out-sized influence of center-right organizations providing intellectual capital, and unparalleled grassroots political infrastructure all point toward an eventual Cheesehead Revolution 2.0 – and demonstrate how conservatives can forge a path elsewhere.
The Cheesehead Revolution began exactly a decade ago when Republicans swept into power in Madison, led by Gov. Scott Walker. To close a $3.6 billion deficit left by the Democrat predecessor, they passed dramatic changes including collective bargaining reform – Act 10, significantly curbing the power of public sector union bosses. In response, tens of thousands of liberal protesters swarmed the Capitol, culminating in the historic failed recall of Walker in 2012. Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan took reform national with his ascension to vice presidential nominee, then Speaker of the House. U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson and Donald J. Trump won upsets in 2016 – landing, that’s right, Wisconsin’s Reince Priebus as White House chief of staff.
But it was the reforms of Walker, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, and Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald that show how state policy outlasts political winds. During their time in office, expansion of school choice across the state led to an explosion of growth in private school vouchers from 20,189 students in fall 2010 to 40,037 in fall 2018, according to data compiled by School Choice Wisconsin. Income tax cuts and property tax caps have given Wisconsinites their lowest tax burden since 1970, according to the Wisconsin Policy Forum. Public sector employees have the freedom to leave their union and decertify it, resulting in the number of union members decreasing by 31% since 2013, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“The structural reforms enacted since 2010 are still paying dividends today,” Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform told us. “There are also lesser known achievements that don’t get as much notoriety but are also noteworthy, serving as models for reform that governors and legislators in other states are looking to adopt in the coming year,” such as the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act, which gives the legislature more oversight over proposed regulations.
Walker’s successor, Democrat Gov. Tony Evers, has been unable to reverse free market policies in the face of strong public support and a conservative legislature.
Just as conservative solutions endure, so does Wisconsin’s unparalleled freedom infrastructure. The state, despite being mid-tier by population, boasts nearly a dozen nonprofits (which we work with) dedicated to free markets, limited government, and education reform. This is anchored by The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, which supports organizations with values aligned with their goal of advancing the principles of American exceptionalism. Wisconsin’s freedom infrastructure is a tour-de-force in pushing back against the progressive wave with timely policy analysis, pro bono litigation, community engagement, and reporting.
The state’s backbone is grassroots organization. Local county parties and the state party benefit from a grassroots army that is the envy of many states. Even in less triumphant times, Wisconsin conservatives have over-performed – losing the governor’s race by just one percentage point and maintaining their legislative majorities in 2018 while other key battlegrounds like Michigan and Pennsylvania faced washouts, and bringing the 2020 presidential race to within one point despite national polls predicting a double-digit loss.
All of it adds up to a conservative movement that is not only alive and well, but continuing to show the nation how to engender future revolutions. This is fitting for a state that is not only credited by the left for much of progressivism but is also the birthplace of the Republican Party.
Incoming state Senate President Chris Kapenga (pictured, at right) said Wisconsin’s still-strong Republican legislative majorities will carry on the conservative tradition of Act 10 with new reform: “Because it was the right thing, people have rewarded us. So we want to keep doing the right thing as new leadership comes into the Senate – we recognize the importance of that.”
While the Beltway media will spill untold ink fantasizing about a post-Trump Republican Party, for Wisconsin conservatives, there is no time for rest – and certainly too much at stake to even consider it.
Szafir is president of the Institute for Reforming Government, a think tank in Madison, Wis.
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https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2021/01/30/conservative_movement_is_not_doomed_--_just_look_to_wisconsin_145156.html
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en
| 2021-01-30T00:00:00 |
www.realclearpolitics.com/1fad8af98a67833ec65c1e2a17ef699433ff4fb50314ece93f00137e13c73df4.json
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[
"It's fashionable in the media to declare the conservative movement doomed following the presidential election. And with razor-thin margins making Wisconsin and other Midwestern states key battlegrounds, it’s equally fashionable to credit a rebuilt “Blue Wall” for the outcome.\nWhat is fashionable is often flawed.\nWhen a party is out of power nationally, the states are where it can (and undoubtedly will) rebuild. And Wisconsin – home of the famed “Cheesehead Revolution” that ushered in sweeping conservative reforms and unrivaled national leadership 10 years ago – is America’s strongest model for a durable conservative movement. The Badger State’s enduring impact of state reforms, out-sized influence of center-right organizations providing intellectual capital, and unparalleled grassroots political infrastructure all point toward an eventual Cheesehead Revolution 2.0 – and demonstrate how conservatives can forge a path elsewhere.\nThe Cheesehead Revolution began exactly a decade ago when Republicans swept into power in Madison, led by Gov. Scott Walker. To close a $3.6 billion deficit left by the Democrat predecessor, they passed dramatic changes including collective bargaining reform – Act 10, significantly curbing the power of public sector union bosses. In response, tens of thousands of liberal protesters swarmed the Capitol, culminating in the historic failed recall of Walker in 2012. Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan took reform national with his ascension to vice presidential nominee, then Speaker of the House. U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson and Donald J. Trump won upsets in 2016 – landing, that’s right, Wisconsin’s Reince Priebus as White House chief of staff.\nBut it was the reforms of Walker, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, and Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald that show how state policy outlasts political winds. During their time in office, expansion of school choice across the state led to an explosion of growth in private school vouchers from 20,189 students in fall 2010 to 40,037 in fall 2018, according to data compiled by School Choice Wisconsin. Income tax cuts and property tax caps have given Wisconsinites their lowest tax burden since 1970, according to the Wisconsin Policy Forum. Public sector employees have the freedom to leave their union and decertify it, resulting in the number of union members decreasing by 31% since 2013, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.\n“The structural reforms enacted since 2010 are still paying dividends today,” Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform told us. “There are also lesser known achievements that don’t get as much notoriety but are also noteworthy, serving as models for reform that governors and legislators in other states are looking to adopt in the coming year,” such as the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act, which gives the legislature more oversight over proposed regulations.\nWalker’s successor, Democrat Gov. Tony Evers, has been unable to reverse free market policies in the face of strong public support and a conservative legislature.\nJust as conservative solutions endure, so does Wisconsin’s unparalleled freedom infrastructure. The state, despite being mid-tier by population, boasts nearly a dozen nonprofits (which we work with) dedicated to free markets, limited government, and education reform. This is anchored by The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, which supports organizations with values aligned with their goal of advancing the principles of American exceptionalism. Wisconsin’s freedom infrastructure is a tour-de-force in pushing back against the progressive wave with timely policy analysis, pro bono litigation, community engagement, and reporting.\nThe state’s backbone is grassroots organization. Local county parties and the state party benefit from a grassroots army that is the envy of many states. Even in less triumphant times, Wisconsin conservatives have over-performed – losing the governor’s race by just one percentage point and maintaining their legislative majorities in 2018 while other key battlegrounds like Michigan and Pennsylvania faced washouts, and bringing the 2020 presidential race to within one point despite national polls predicting a double-digit loss.\nAll of it adds up to a conservative movement that is not only alive and well, but continuing to show the nation how to engender future revolutions. This is fitting for a state that is not only credited by the left for much of progressivism but is also the birthplace of the Republican Party.\nIncoming state Senate President Chris Kapenga (pictured, at right) said Wisconsin’s still-strong Republican legislative majorities will carry on the conservative tradition of Act 10 with new reform: “Because it was the right thing, people have rewarded us. So we want to keep doing the right thing as new leadership comes into the Senate – we recognize the importance of that.”\nWhile the Beltway media will spill untold ink fantasizing about a post-Trump Republican Party, for Wisconsin conservatives, there is no time for rest – and certainly too much at stake to even consider it.\nSzafir is president of the Institute for Reforming Government, a think tank in Madison, Wis.",
"Conservative Movement Is Not Doomed -- Just Look to Wisconsin",
"It's fashionable in the media to declare the conservative movement doomed following the presidential election. And with razor-thin margins making Wisconsin and..."
] |
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