Vivek Ramaswamy Is Articulate, Charming, Knowledgeable, and Intelligent. So What?

By Rich Kozlovich

I've had a running commentary on those running for to be the Republican candidate for 2024, and while I think this might be a bit premature I continue to plunge into the positions these candidates are taking, and the reactions from the media.   So, let's start with the most impressive of all those running for President of the United States against Trump.  Vivek Ramaswamy. 

On July 27 Anony Nee, a retired "public servant" (They're calling his name a nom de blog, which means he's unwilling to divulge his name) posted this article,   Vivek Ramaswamy is not my pick for POTUS.  He starts out telling us how much he admires Ramaswamy saying he's smart, articulate, passionate, all American in his views.  He then proceeds to tell us he's not ready to be President because doesn't know what he's talking about.  I agree he isn't ready, but not for any of the reasons this man states. 

I'll tell you what, we'll come back to that.

The biggest knock he has on Ramaswamy's proposals?  He want's to repeal the 26th Amendment.  That's the Amendment that gave 18 year olds the right to vote.  His arguments have some issues with logic in my view, and he rambles on with a bunch of red herring fallacies, telling us his political history and spewing out the blather of the Vietnam era saying:

I was 17 when the 18-year-olds got the vote. Vivek was born 14 years later. Race riots and Vietnam War protests had riven the nation, inflation was starting to climb, and relations with OPEC were souring. Young people were very political. In 1972, I worked on Nixon’s campaign; was elected to office; judged elections; and certified the results for my precinct. As long as 18-year-olds can sign contracts, join the military, take out college loans, marry, pay far too many taxes (like the rest of us), and be considered adults, they should be free to participate fully in the processes that govern all of those activities. Vivek proposed something that sounds like he believes that rights should be earned.

Some rights should have to be earned because there are age restrictions on a lot of things, and the reason why is because young people are too inexperienced about life to be allowed the same privileges as adults.  That's why for almost 200 years you had to be 21 to be considered an adult, and a person can't be President until they're 35.  

He's attracted so much attention because he's done the one thing all the rest have failed to do. Outlined a plan with specific goals, just as Newt Gingrich did with his Contract With America plan. How well that works out depends on a lot of factors, some he explained, but he's stated his goals and at least an outline of a plan, and what he's saying clearly shows he recognizes where the problems lie. Government!

I don't think he's ready but not for any of the reasons stated here. I have trouble believing he's who he says he is. But one thing for sure, I absolutely agree with him the 26th Amendment needs repealed, and not only that, in my view the Amendment that repeals it, the voting age should be raised to 30.   Eighteen year olds don't really understand the issues.  They're too ignorant, too foolish, too emotional, and too easily swayed.

As Churchill is alleged to have said, and there are variations of this, but the thought is clear:

'If you're not a liberal when you're 25, you have no heart. If you're not a conservative by the time you're 35, you have no brain.' I have yet to see anything in my 77 years that refutes that. 

Here's how easily children's minds can be twisted:

• Muslims children taught to sing, :I Make an Oath, I'll be Your Martyr".  
• An eight-year old Palestinian child congratulates 15-year-old cousin on her ‘martyrdom-death’.   

These young Muslim children's minds have been twisted and are convinced martyrdom is a wonderful thing, especially if they manage to kill a lot of innocent people in the process.   If children can be convinced of that, what can't they be convinced of?

Who were all of the "Feel the Bern" supporters? Most were under thirty. Our public education system has destroyed the foundational cultural values of our society and now, "Gallup Poll: Only 18% of Young Adults, 29% of Democrats Are Extremely Proud to Be American". 

Now Democrats want to reduce the voting age to 16, and they want to do it for the same reason they wanted it reduced to 18. Young equals dumb, easily swayed with emotional arguments and for most of them, incapable of clear thinking, and now since they've destroyed public education in America, it's only getting worse. Their knowledge of geography and history is miserable.  Their ability or desire to read is largely nonexistent, correspondingly the ability to write and express thoughtful and insightful arguments on any subject is abysmal, for the most part inaccurate, and their understanding of issues, events, and solutions are for the most part flawed.  

• As Victor Davis Hanson said: "There was once a tradition of Democratic liberalism. But that wing of the Democratic Party no longer exists and died sometime in the 1990s. Old-style liberalism has been absorbed by Progressivism at best and unapologetic socialism at worst—in a journey on the supposedly predetermined arc of history that bends toward 1984.  The new-old leftist aim is not to operate within either the existing parameters of the Constitution as written or the customs and traditions of America—a 150-year-long nine-justice Supreme Court, the Electoral College, a 50-state nation, a Senate filibuster, two senators per state, and a secure border. All are obstructions to the drive for power."

• Clown Alert  Rep. Lee declared a while back that “the brain doesn’t fully mature until at least 25 years old” in regards to sending teens and early 20-somethings to prison for their crimes.

• Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La., not to be confused with Rep. Hank Johnson) was kind enough to point out Lee’s flip-flop immediately after she entered the room at a House Judiciary Subcommittee hearing on “The Dangers and Due Process Violations of Gender-Affirming Care for Children”:

I just want to note that on May 13 of 2021, subcommittee member here on judiciary — our colleague, Miss Sheila Jackson Lee, who just walked in the room — I’m going to quote you, because you said, and I think it’s up on the screen there —in essence … ‘the brain doesn’t fully mature until at least 25 years old.’ Does that tell us about high school students, middle schoolers, and yes, young people who make, make rash or irreverent or spontaneous decisions — should that be their life? Now admittedly, she was saying this in the context of a criminal subcommittee hearing, but I think that is a truism. I think she stated an obvious fact that everybody should acknowledge.

Lee doubled down on her contradictory codswallop and agreed that people from their teens to roughly 25 years of age shouldn’t be held responsible for their crimes, but they can decide to have their reproductive organs carved up. “You’re absolutely right,” Lee fired back. “That hearing, if I might quote it specifically, as the Chair of the committee — it was made during a committee hearing entitled, ‘The juvenile justice pipeline and the road back to integration.'”

• FACT-O-RAMA! The Washington Post ran an article about how people shouldn’t be able to buy a gun until they are 25 years old. I was unable to find a WaPo article suggesting people wait until their 25th birthday to have their genitals ginsued.

Lee went on to argue that “trans teens” should have the right to chop themselves up if their parents are down with the clownery.  She did not mention whether or not teens should go to prison if their parents consent to the crimes they commit.

Andrea Widburg from American Thinker is one of my favorite writers, and usually I find I'm in total agreement with her commentaries.  But she's a very real Vivek Ramaswamy enthusiast, if not supporter, as she outlines in this post, Listening to Vivek discuss eviscerating federal agencies is sheer bliss.  I'm not so enthusiastic. 

There’s no question Ramaswamy is impressive. And I will have to admit he’s saying exactly what conservatives wish to hear, and is extremely articulate doing it. However, being charming and articulate shouldn’t be the reason for Republicans to choose him as their candidate as President of the United States.

He has a lot of background that’s justifies questioning his “conservative” credentials, and being articulate, charming, knowledgeable, and intelligent isn’t sufficient reason for the Republicans to choose him for any serious elected position in government………at least at this point

Also, since he’s clearly stated just how much he admires Trump, and if that’s the case and it appears that it is, then why is he running for President? As far as I can tell, no one seems to have asked him that.

I will state I think DeSantis will be gone very soon. His credibility and his polling is dropping like a stone, and the more he talks the faster he's dropping, and I do believe this foolish decision to run against Trump has destroyed his credibility with the conservative base.

Nikki Haley will drop out right after that, and what the rest do simply won’t matter since dimwits like Christie simply don't matter. At that point he’ll be the only credible candidate other than Trump left standing.

My conclusion? If Trump is elected, he’ll have an important position in his administration, then the world will have the opportunity to see him in action and be able to judge who and what he really is. But at this point he is impressive and can't be ignored.