Day: December 16, 2017

Will #MeToo bring down Donald Trump? Daily Bullshit, December 11-16, 2017

benfell

Updates

  1. Originally published, December 13, 8:13 pm.
  2. December 14, 3:19 am:
    • Just so we don’t forget who the Wall Street Journal opinion writers are, Daniel Henninger accuses Democrats of adopting a “by any means necessary” (my apologies to Malcolm X) approach to politics to exploit Sexual harassment and assault claims.[1] If memory serves, the appropriate descriptor for Henninger is ‘absolute slime,’ and his article prioritizes politics over criminality, but we also need to understand how Republicans will frame their defense and this is a particularly boorish clue.
  3. December 14, 11:51 am:
    • James Hohmann sees Roy Moore’s loss in terms of a suburban rebellion against Donald Trump.[2]
    • And what about those social conservatives who stood with Roy Moore?[3]
  4. December 15, 4:24 pm:
    • Net Neutrality is dead, unless lawsuits that seem to me like a stretch succeed or a bipartisan effort to restore it that also seems like a stretch succeeds.[4]
    • The war between authoritarian populists and functionalist conservatives over Roy Moore’s loss is on but it in fact dates back (at least) to 2010.[5]
  5. December 15, 5:50 pm:
  6. December 14, 8:04 pm:
    • I was bothered by the way I initially wrote my commentary on Roy Moore. I was counting on the word ‘risk’ to evade an accusation of libel. But really, my language wasn’t strong enough or clear enough. So I tweaked it. I think this is much better.
  7. December 15, 6:41 am:
    • Citing Ed Rendell, James Hohmann thinks Democrats risk overplaying their hand in asking Donald Trump to resign as attention returns to “all the accusations of sexual assault against him [that] were out in the open before the 2016 election.”[6] “The American people knew this, and they voted for him anyway,” said Rendell.[7] Trump wouldn’t resign because Democrats asked him to anyway. But I do think that Republican functionalist conservatives do ultimately have the upper hand and that they will eventually realize they’d be better off with a President Pence. And, don’t hold your breath, but I think that Trump might resign in a still unlikely event he loses the support of his authoritarian populist and paleoconservative base (and understands that he has lost that support). Otherwise, I think Tim Kaine probably gets this one right: He said, “Look, he’s not going to resign. So let’s not play games.”[8] (Sexual harassment and assault)
  8. December 16, 11:53 am:
    • And what about those evangelicals supporting pedophiles, philanderers, sexual assailants, and rapists for political reasons? It turns out some, but clearly not all, of them have a problem with the hypocrisy while others suddenly remember about redemption (when it suits their political interests).[9] (Sexual harassment and assault)

Roy Moore

I thought I tweeted (but have failed to locate) something to the effect that Democrats should consider that a significant portion of Alabama’s voting population is more willing to risk voting for an accused pedophile than a known Democrat. As we can see in these articles, we can read a lot of stuff into Doug Jones’s victory,[10] but that remains the case.

Stephen Collinson, “Trump tries to minimize stinging defeat,” CNN, December 13, 2017, http://www.cnn.com/2017/12/13/politics/donald-trump-senate-race/index.html

James Hohmann, “Six takeaways from Doug Jones’s stunning win in Alabama’s Senate race,” Washington Post, December 13, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/daily-202/2017/12/13/daily-202-six-takeaways-from-doug-jones-s-stunning-win-in-alabama-s-senate-race/5a30733c30fb0469e883fb64/

Sarah Jones, “What Roy Moore Did to the Pro-Life Movement,” New Republic, December 13, 2017, https://newrepublic.com/article/146274/roy-moore-pro-life-movement

Joseph Lowndes, “Roy Moore lost the battle, but he’s winning the war,” Washington Post, December 13, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/made-by-history/wp/2017/12/13/roy-moore-lost-the-battle-but-hes-winning-the-war/

S. A. Miller and Dave Boyer, “Republicans turn wrath against Steve Bannon after Roy Moore’s loss,” Washington Times, December 13, 2017, https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/dec/13/steve-bannon-blamed-roy-moores-loss-alabama-senate/

Gerald F. Seib, “With Alabama Loss, Trump and GOP Face Political Reckoning,” Wall Street Journal, December 13, 2017, https://www.wsj.com/articles/with-alabama-loss-trump-and-gop-face-political-reckoning-1513141779

Nate Silver, “Republicans Shouldn’t Assume Roy Moore Was An Outlier,” FiveThirtyEight, December 13, 2017, https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/republicans-shouldnt-assume-roy-moore-was-an-outlier/

James Hohmann, “The suburban revolt against Trump continued in Alabama,” Washington Post, December 14, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/daily-202/2017/12/14/daily-202-the-suburban-revolt-against-trump-continued-in-alabama/5a31b01430fb0469e883fba4/

Julie Zauzmer and Sarah Pulliam Baile, “After Trump and Moore, some evangelicals are finding their own label too toxic to use,” Washington Post, December 14, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/social-issues/after-trump-and-moore-some-evangelicals-are-finding-their-own-label-too-toxic-to-use/2017/12/14/b034034c-e020-11e7-89e8-edec16379010_story.html

Rod Dreher, “An Evangelical Crack-Up?” American Conservative, December 15, 2017, http://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/an-evangelical-crack-up/

Brexit

Philip Jenkins, “How Brexit is Turning into a Disaster for Ireland,” American Conservative, December 13, 2017, http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/how-brexit-is-turning-into-a-disaster-for-ireland/

Bruno Waterfield and Oliver Wright, “Make exit deal the law before we talk trade, EU chiefs insist,” Times, December 12, 2017, https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/a4ca5698-debb-11e7-872d-4b5e82b139be

Oliver Wright, “Davis rows back on claim that Ireland deal is ‘unenforceable,’” Times, December 11, 2017, https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/ireland-warns-may-over-brexit-deal-wkkspj78x

Harbin Hot Springs

Elizabeth Larson, “Supervisors to consider letter from Harbin Hot Springs about rebuilding obstacles,” Lake County News, December 11, 2017, http://lakeconews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=53528:supervisors-to-consider-letter-from-harbin-hot-springs-about-rebuilding-obstacles

Elizabeth Larson, “Supervisors consider issues with Harbin Hot Springs rebuild,” Lake County News, December 13, 2017, http://lakeconews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=53562:supervisors-consider-issues-with-harbin-hot-springs-rebuild&catid=70:news

Jerusalem

Karin Laub and Zeynep Bilginsoy, “Abbas says UN should replace US as Mideast mediator,” Associated Press, December 12, 2017, https://apnews.com/73dd147b8c3246748211783baf502ebe/Palestinian-president-says-no-role-for-US-in-peace-process

Sexual harassment and assault

I’m thinking #MeToo might be what brings down Donald Trump. With Roy Moore’s loss in Alabama, Republicans may finally recognize that Trump is, if not an impediment to their agenda, an embarrassment who does not advance it.[11]

Martin Pengelly, “Nikki Haley: women who accuse Trump of sexual misconduct ‘should be heard,'” Guardian, December 10, 2017, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/dec/10/nikki-haley-donald-trump-accusers-should-be-heard

Melissa Quinn, “3 Trump accusers recount sexual misconduct claims: ‘I wanted people to know’ what a ‘pervert’ Trump is,” Washington Examiner, December 11, 2017, http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/3-trump-accusers-recount-sexual-misconduct-claims-i-wanted-people-to-know-what-a-pervert-trump-is/article/2643105

Griffin Connolly, “Fifty-Plus Female Democratic Lawmakers Urge Investigation Into Trump Allegations,” Hill, December 12, 2017, https://www.rollcall.com/news/politics/female-democratic-lawmakers-trump/

Mark Galli, “The Biggest Loser in the Alabama Election,” Christianity Today, December 12, 2017, http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2017/december-web-only/roy-moore-doug-jones-alabama-editorial.html

Jonathan Lemire, “#MeToo spotlight increasingly pointed at past Trump conduct,” Associated Press, December 12, 2017, https://apnews.com/e3b50b28fa73426799e6ac63839057fb

Ashley Parker, John Wagner, and Ed O’Keefe, “Trump attacks Gillibrand in tweet critics say is sexually suggestive and demeaning,” Washington Post, December 12, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2017/12/12/trump-sends-sexually-suggestive-and-demeaning-tweet-about-gillibrand/

Daniel Henninger, “When Donald Met Kirsten,” Wall Street Journal, December 13, 2017, https://www.wsj.com/articles/when-donald-met-kirsten-1513210449

Rod Dreher, “An Evangelical Crack-Up?” American Conservative, December 15, 2017, http://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/an-evangelical-crack-up/

James Hohmann, with Breanne Deppisch and Joanie Greve, “Democrats risk overplaying their hand by pushing for Trump’s resignation,” Washington Post, December 15, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/daily-202/2017/12/15/daily-202-democrats-risk-overplaying-their-hand-by-pushing-for-trump-s-resignation/5a3343ee30fb0469e883fbd6/

Net Neutrality

“[FCC Chairperson Ajit] Pai and other opponents of the net neutrality rules said they have led to reduced investment in broadband networks — a point supporters dispute.”[12] I am still waiting for the opponents’ claim to be properly explained.

All I see here is that Internet service providers want additional power to throttle my content. The claim that net neutrality regulations reduced investment sounds too much like a tautology: Providers choose not to invest. They blame their choice on regulations. But we have no proof of what they would have done absent those regulations and no proof that those regulations impede investment or competition.

Instead we have a claim that they are not investing as much as they would have. And neoliberals, who rank fairness far below any other economic value, and who also see corporations, even monopolies, as virtuous while seeing unions as evil, adopt this claim as consistent with their mantra that regulation is bad.

But it all reduces to a categorical premise, which is, ‘regulation is evil,’ and which is supported, at best, by anecdotal evidence woefully inadequate for a categorical claim; and a categorical conclusion, which is, ‘regulation is evil.’ All this masquerades as an argument but it is in fact the simplest form of circular reasoning. I guess that’s too simple for many politicians to see.

Jim Puzzanghera, “FCC votes to repeal net neutrality rules, a milestone for Republican deregulation push,” Los Angeles Times, December 14, 2017, http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-net-neutrality-fcc-20171214-story.html

  1. [1]Daniel Henninger, “When Donald Met Kirsten,” Wall Street Journal, December 13, 2017, https://www.wsj.com/articles/when-donald-met-kirsten-1513210449↩
  2. [2]James Hohmann, “The suburban revolt against Trump continued in Alabama,” Washington Post, December 14, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/daily-202/2017/12/14/daily-202-the-suburban-revolt-against-trump-continued-in-alabama/5a31b01430fb0469e883fba4/↩
  3. [3]Sarah Jones, “What Roy Moore Did to the Pro-Life Movement,” New Republic, December 13, 2017, https://newrepublic.com/article/146274/roy-moore-pro-life-movement↩
  4. [4]Jim Puzzanghera, “FCC votes to repeal net neutrality rules, a milestone for Republican deregulation push,” Los Angeles Times, December 14, 2017, http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-net-neutrality-fcc-20171214-story.html↩
  5. [5]S. A. Miller and Dave Boyer, “Republicans turn wrath against Steve Bannon after Roy Moore’s loss,” Washington Times, December 13, 2017, https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/dec/13/steve-bannon-blamed-roy-moores-loss-alabama-senate/↩
  6. [6]James Hohmann, with Breanne Deppisch and Joanie Greve, “Democrats risk overplaying their hand by pushing for Trump’s resignation,” Washington Post, December 15, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/daily-202/2017/12/15/daily-202-democrats-risk-overplaying-their-hand-by-pushing-for-trump-s-resignation/5a3343ee30fb0469e883fbd6/↩
  7. [7]Ed Rendell, quoted in James Hohmann, with Breanne Deppisch and Joanie Greve, “Democrats risk overplaying their hand by pushing for Trump’s resignation,” Washington Post, December 15, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/daily-202/2017/12/15/daily-202-democrats-risk-overplaying-their-hand-by-pushing-for-trump-s-resignation/5a3343ee30fb0469e883fbd6/↩
  8. [8]Tim Kaine, quoted in James Hohmann, with Breanne Deppisch and Joanie Greve, “Democrats risk overplaying their hand by pushing for Trump’s resignation,” Washington Post, December 15, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/daily-202/2017/12/15/daily-202-democrats-risk-overplaying-their-hand-by-pushing-for-trump-s-resignation/5a3343ee30fb0469e883fbd6/↩
  9. [9]Rod Dreher, “An Evangelical Crack-Up?” American Conservative, December 15, 2017, http://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/an-evangelical-crack-up/; Mark Galli, “The Biggest Loser in the Alabama Election,” Christianity Today, December 12, 2017, http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2017/december-web-only/roy-moore-doug-jones-alabama-editorial.html; Julie Zauzmer and Sarah Pulliam Baile, “After Trump and Moore, some evangelicals are finding their own label too toxic to use,” Washington Post, December 14, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/social-issues/after-trump-and-moore-some-evangelicals-are-finding-their-own-label-too-toxic-to-use/2017/12/14/b034034c-e020-11e7-89e8-edec16379010_story.html↩
  10. [10]Stephen Collinson, “Trump tries to minimize stinging defeat,” CNN, December 13, 2017, http://www.cnn.com/2017/12/13/politics/donald-trump-senate-race/index.html; James Hohmann, “Six takeaways from Doug Jones’s stunning win in Alabama’s Senate race,” Washington Post, December 13, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/daily-202/2017/12/13/daily-202-six-takeaways-from-doug-jones-s-stunning-win-in-alabama-s-senate-race/5a30733c30fb0469e883fb64/; James Hohmann, “The suburban revolt against Trump continued in Alabama,” Washington Post, December 14, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/daily-202/2017/12/14/daily-202-the-suburban-revolt-against-trump-continued-in-alabama/5a31b01430fb0469e883fba4/; Gerald F. Seib, “With Alabama Loss, Trump and GOP Face Political Reckoning,” Wall Street Journal, December 13, 2017, https://www.wsj.com/articles/with-alabama-loss-trump-and-gop-face-political-reckoning-1513141779; Nate Silver, “Republicans Shouldn’t Assume Roy Moore Was An Outlier,” FiveThirtyEight, December 13, 2017, https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/republicans-shouldnt-assume-roy-moore-was-an-outlier/↩
  11. [11]James Hohmann, “Six takeaways from Doug Jones’s stunning win in Alabama’s Senate race,” Washington Post, December 13, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/daily-202/2017/12/13/daily-202-six-takeaways-from-doug-jones-s-stunning-win-in-alabama-s-senate-race/5a30733c30fb0469e883fb64/; Gerald F. Seib, “With Alabama Loss, Trump and GOP Face Political Reckoning,” Wall Street Journal, December 13, 2017, https://www.wsj.com/articles/with-alabama-loss-trump-and-gop-face-political-reckoning-1513141779↩
  12. [12]Jim Puzzanghera, “FCC votes to repeal net neutrality rules, a milestone for Republican deregulation push,” Los Angeles Times, December 14, 2017, http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-net-neutrality-fcc-20171214-story.html↩