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De Omnibus Dubitandum - Lux Veritas

Tuesday, July 25, 2023

Runners, Joggers, and Vocal Spectators: Election 2024, Part III

By Rich Kozlovich

When you follow the elections for President of the United States closely, or perhaps I should say deeply, you find a lot of really .....well....let's put it kindly and just say really unique scenarios. As an example, can anyone tell me how many declared candidates there were from all parties in 2016? I know you can't, so here's the answer. As of August 17, 2015, there were eighty eight. Shocked? Yeah, so was I when I wrote a piece about it on that date.

From the Democrat party there were 18 declared candidates. For the Republicans there were 38 declared candidates. Then there were the 32 declared third party candidates from, America's Third Party, Constitution Party, Greens, Independents, Libertarians, Reform Party, Socialists, and believe it or not, the Transhumanist Party.

Most of these people weren't even on the ballot of many, or even most states, had little funding, and absolutely no chance of even being invited to the debates let alone winning any primaries, and they had to know they were wasting everyone's time and any money thrown their way.   So why in the world would they tell the world they were running for the Presidency of the United States?

I haven't researched it, but as far as I can tell, this election isn't that strange, although it's still early for the loons to emerge from the political morass. But no matter the numbers, we still come back to one incontrovertible fact. Only one of the declared runners for the Republican nomination is going to get nominated, and most who are running will likely drop out before or after the first primary.  These aren't stupid people with no political savvy.   They had to have known from day one they were not going to make it!   So why bother?  What's going on in their minds? 

Big egos bad attitudes are part of it. The ability to say, "I ran for President of the United States", which I think fits Doug Burgum, who I think is a loon, and in order to meet debate requirements he's offering a $20 gift card if you give him a $1.00 donation. How wacky is that?  In the case of Chris Christie, it's blatantly a bad attitude, and the more interviews he does for the propaganda wing of the Democrat party, aka, the regime media, that becomes more apparent.  

Some have undeclared and undefined alternative motives, I put Asa Hutchinson there.  It seems some are in it hoping they can alter the narratives, or to help direct policy, which I think is Larry Elder's goal, and I also think Tim Scott, who's done very well thus far, fits in that mold.  He's stood up for Trump and if Trump wins I think he gets to play a major role in a Trump administration if he wants it, but I don't see him lasting beyond one primary, but not more than two.

Then, there are some who are surrounded by advisors with their own motives constantly whispering in their ear over and over again; you can do it, you can do it, you can do it, until they begin to believe it, and I think both DeSantis and Pence fit in that category, and Pence is burnt toast.  I'm guessing he'll be out after the first primary if not before since I'm reading his donations are dropping rapidly, and allegedly even Chris Christie raised more than Pence.  Pep talks are all fine and good, but being the Little Engine the Could, isn't the same as running for President.   Running for President goes beyond will power, and mostly, it involves money, lots of money.

DeSantis is running out of money, and laying off workers, and recent polls are troubling.  Trump  has a commanding lead in early states and DeSantis in now third in South Carolina.  It seems to me he's becoming desperate looking for a campaign boost in Utah.  And what must really be of concern to DeSantis is Vivek Ramaswamy has now tied him for second over all, and I've read that money that was going to go to DeSantis is now going to Ramaswamy, although I seriously doubt anyone can really prove that.  

His rise in the polls is totally understandable given his views on things.  Views which are deep in the hearts of conservatives.  But he has some troubling history, and I wonder at his foundational values and beliefs, either way, he's not going to be nominated and I think will last no more than two primaries, and may last longer than DeSantis, but if Trump is elected he may land a spot in that administration.  

DeSantis is well liked and respected by the conservative base, but I have no doubt while they like him, they resent his challenging Trump, and that's his Achilles heel.  They view his run as a betrayal. Can he land a spot in a Trump administration?  Maybe, he really hasn't attack Trump, but that depends on a lot of factors and options, many unknown.   Which brings me to Nikki Haley. 

Now, in order to understand some of these politicians, actually all politicians, we really need to talk about logical fallacies.  The reason Senators Cruz, Hawley and Kennedy make mincemeat of presidential appointees is because they understand logical fallacies, and recognize them when these nitwits give their "non answers" to their questions.

When I read or hear what politicians say, or don't say, I can't help but think of one of my favorites fallacies, the "If by whiskey" fallacy, which actually originated in 1952 in a speech "by Noah S. “Soggy” Sweat, Jr., a young lawmaker from the U.S. state of Mississippi, on the subject of whether Mississippi should continue to prohibit (which it did until 1966) or finally legalize alcoholic beverages."  It goes like this:

My friends, I had not intended to discuss this controversial subject at this particular time. However, I want you to know that I do not shun controversy. On the contrary, I will take a stand on any issue at any time, regardless of how fraught with controversy it might be. You have asked me how I feel about whiskey. All right, here is how I feel about whiskey:

If when you say whiskey you mean the devil’s brew, the poison scourge, the bloody monster, that defiles innocence, dethrones reason, destroys the home, creates misery and poverty, yea, literally takes the bread from the mouths of little children; if you mean the evil drink that topples the Christian man and woman from the pinnacle of righteous, gracious living into the bottomless pit of degradation, and despair, and shame and helplessness, and hopelessness, then certainly I am against it.

But, if when you say whiskey you mean the oil of conversation, the philosophic wine, the ale that is consumed when good fellows get together, that puts a song in their hearts and laughter on their lips, and the warm glow of contentment in their eyes; if you mean Christmas cheer; if you mean the stimulating drink that puts the spring in the old gentleman’s step on a frosty, crispy morning; if you mean the drink which enables a man to magnify his joy, and his happiness, and to forget, if only for a little while, life’s great tragedies, and heartaches, and sorrows; if you mean that drink, the sale of which pours into our treasuries untold millions of dollars, which are used to provide tender care for our little crippled children, our blind, our deaf, our dumb, our pitiful aged and infirm; to build highways and hospitals and schools, then certainly I am for it.

This is my stand. I will not retreat from it. I will not compromise.

I will admit, wanting to be on both sides of an issue is a troubling characteristic of all politicians, but that in my view is the real Nikki Haley.  Slippery as an eel and not even to be trusted if she said day was light and night was dark.  

Then there's Will Hurd, who I never heard of, and in spite of his pro-Trump voting record while in the House, he seems to be running on a "I hate Trump" platform now.  Then there's the Mayor of Miami, Francis Suarez, who I also never heard of and doesn't seem to have a platform, but has held views conservatives won't like. They clearly belong in the big ego category, as they have to know they're not going anywhere with this, and will be out long before the first primary. Hurd views himself as a moderate and Suarez views himself as a conservative.  Imagine that.

As for Trump, all these candidates are having almost as big a positive effect on his candidacy as all these so-called criminal charges. The more coming at him, the better he looks.  As a result, the more devoted the base is to his candidacy, and truthfully, Trump seems to thrive on controversy and battle. 

At some point I'll have to write a commentary regarding the Democrat candidates, who I'm calling the Gong Show candidates.  On The Gong Show people would "perform", degrade, and humiliate themselves in order to win money, even as much a whole $500!  Imagine that.

We have a neurologically afflicted sitting President who has no idea where he is half the time, babbles incoherently, is corrupt up to his eyeballs, along with his family who are involved in his criminal activity.  There's even a "he won't run" narrative".  Let's face it, if he says he's out, I have little doubt the number of weird claimants to the throne will be legion.  

Then we have a Kennedy who's a loon, hated by his own party, attacked by the leftist media, but looks sane by comparison to Biden, and has started the "no one is above the law" corruption criticism, and that's going to escalate as more and more irrefutable evidence emerges of his criminal activity. 

A radical racist black academic, Cornel West, as a third party candidate, and probably the most sane of the lot, author Marianne Williamson.  But like all leftists, she's worships at the Church of the Warming Globe, but she's just not as obviously nutty as the rest.  Of course, we don't know much about her yet, and probably won't as she'll be gone overnight. 

At this point I think patience is in order to see what Biden is going to do, or what's going to happen to him, assuming of course Congressional Republicans grow a backbone.  Because I really think the Democrat party is on the cusp of a battle royal between all these leftist demagogues who infest their party, and who actually hate each other almost as much as they hate conservatives.  Remember, leftism is a secular religion, and in so many ways they're like Muslims who hate other Muslims who belong to a different sect as much as they do infidels.  For both of these "religions", hate is a foundational tenet.

When it breaks, then I'll cover them more thoroughly, and probably break out in hives. 

 

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