Smoking the Copium

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Kamala Harris | Phil McAuliffe/Polaris/Newscom

Prominent Democrats appear to be learning all the wrong lessons: Right now, political commentators are a study in contrasts. Consider this:

But also, this, from Julie Roginsky on CNN, excerpted at length:

“I’m going to speak some hard truths…We are not be party of common sense, which is the message the voters sent to us…When we address Latino voters…as Latinx, for instance, because that’s the politically correct thing to do, it makes them think we don’t even live in the same planet as they do. When we are too afraid to say that, hey, college kids, if you’re trashing the campus of Columbia University because you’re unhappy about some sort of policy and you’re taking over a university and you’re trashing it and preventing other students from learning, that is unacceptable. But we’re so worried about alienating one or another cohort in our coalition that we do not know what to say when normal people look at that and say, wait a second, I send my kids to college so they can learn, not so they can burn buildings and trash lawns, right? And so on and so forth. When we put pronouns after names and say ‘she/her’ as opposed to saying, ‘you know what, if I call you by the wrong pronoun, call me out. I am sorry. I won’t do it again.’ But stop with the virtue signaling and speak to people like they’re normal.”

Also:

“We constantly try to parse out different ways of speaking because our focus groups or polling shows that so-and-so appeals to such and such. That’s not how normal people think. It is not common sense and we need to start being the part of common sense again. Joe Biden is not responsible for that, neither is Kamala Harris. That is a problem that Democrats have had for years. I’ve been banging the drum on this for I don’t know how—probably ten years on this. We need to get back to being the party of common sense that people look at us and say we understand you. We appreciate what you say because you speak our language. And, until we do that, we should stop blaming other people for our own mistakes.”

Pair this, also, with Matthew Yglesias’ prescription for, essentially, lefty centrism:

But then, you flip back to MSNBC, where they’re melting down and choosing the old “Trump voters are racists and sexists” refrain. It all paints a wild portrait of a Democratic Party that’s struggling to figure out how much self-reflection is required, the degree to which they ought to reflect on other people’s flaws or their own.

For what it’s worth, I think this take is roughly correct:

Harris did not run a particularly far-left campaign, nor did she emphasize foolish policy prescriptions like defunding the police. But her 2019 run, in which she seemed to get swept up in the collective progressive hallucination that ultralefty policies would become enduringly popular, left an indelible mark on her. And the party became associated with these types of policies and ways of thinking for years to come, which did them no favors.

Susie Wiles picked as chief of staff: Yesterday, President-elect Donald Trump announced that he would be picking Susie Wiles, “the only campaign manager to survive an entire campaign working for him,” per The New York Times, as his chief of staff for his next term.

During his first term, Trump had a hard time getting a chief of staff to stick. First he had Reince Priebus—”recommended by top Republicans in Washington”—then retired Marine Corps general John F. Kelly, who later described it as the worst job he’d ever had, then Mick Mulvaney, then Mark Meadows “who was inclined to ‘let Trump be Trump’ and was ultimately indicted in a Georgia case stemming from Mr. Trump’s efforts to remain in power,” per The New York Times.

Wiles, meanwhile, seems to stay out of the limelight. She’s worked on a variety of Florida campaigns before, including helping Ron DeSantis (R) ascend to governor in 2018, and helping Sen. Rick Scott (R) win his seat.

There’s something funny about this period, in which we’re all just attempting to peer at the tea leaves to try to parse any emerging clues as to what type of president Trump will be this time around. Someone surrounded only by incompetent loyalists? Extreme radicals? Technocrats? Outsiders? His pick of Wiles gives only the tiniest of hints, but a hint nonetheless, that he’s interested in competence as well as fealty; her ties to the old guard of the GOP are apparently not too much of a liability.

Antisemitism in Amsterdam: Dutch authorities said today that there have been 62 people arrested in connection with antisemitic attacks that have been building since Wednesday. Five people have been hospitalized. Video footage here. The precipitating events remain unclear, but the clashes appear to have started between supporters of the Israeli and Dutch soccer teams, which were playing each other in a match; some allege that Israelis took down a Palestinian flag. Videos have circulated online of what appear to be violent attacks on Jews by mobs of men. In one video, a man says “I’m not Jewish, I’m not Jewish” before being beaten. Other videos show a man being hit by a car; it is not clear who the victim is or who the attackers are.

“As the attacks went on, Israel warned its citizens in Amsterdam to stay off the streets and remain in their hotel rooms,” reports The New York Times. “Maccabi Tel Aviv warned people not to show Israeli or Jewish symbols outside, and to fly back to Israel as soon as they could.” The airline EL AL operated free rescue flights for citizens needing to get out of Amsterdam and back to Tel Aviv.

“On the eve of Kristallnacht—when Jews in Nazi Germany faced brutal attacks—it is horrifying to witness antisemitic violence on the streets of Europe once again,” said the Israeli embassy in The Hague in a statement.

Scenes from New York: Mayor Eric Adams will be ending the program that gives free EBT cards to illegal immigrants. The city has so far spent $3.6 million taxpayer dollars on this program; this is in addition to the vast sums the city has shelled out for free lodging—hotel rooms—for recent arrivals. For those wondering, no the city isn’t going to stop using taxpayer dollars altogether. Instead, “the city will go back to delivering meals to families staying at hotels under an existing contract with a company called Garner Environmental Services,” reports The New York Times. 

Some 200,000 people have arrived in this city since 2022, many availing themselves of welfare. I believe the city can bear industrious newcomers and I welcome families seeking refuge, but I thought my taxpayer dollars were meant to keep useful city services functioning and take care of the absolute poorest among us. When that mission is drastically extended to encompass literally anyone who enters the five boroughs and wants welfare, the whole social contract becomes compromised.

QUICK HITS

  • Zach Weissmueller and I spoke with pollster Patrick Ruffini about what we know so far about Trump’s win:
  • Speaking of, our show is migrating to a new channel. If we don’t get 200 new subscribers to this channel by end of day, we both get axed. And NYC isn’t handing out any more EBT cards, so I for one am screwed. Just kidding on all counts, but please do subscribe! We will be posting all new episodes there, instead of on Reason‘s main YouTube account.
  • So far, there are still 25 House races that have not been called. Republicans have 211 seats, with 218 needed for a majority. Democrats have 199.
  • “Daniel Lurie has been elected mayor of San Francisco, denying London Breed another term after arguing that her flawed leadership caused the city to struggle since the pandemic devastated its downtown and exacerbated the drug crisis, homelessness and public concerns about crime,” reports the San Francisco Chronicle.
  • A good point:

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