My sons and I bat ideas back and forth as we discuss the current political scene. Some of you might be interested in this recent exchange.
To a son:
I read the two articles you sent me, and now I wish to make a rather lengthy response.
As for the New York Post editors, they say:
“Trump has become a prisoner of his own ego. He can’t admit his Tweeting and narcissism turned off millions. He won’t stop insisting that 2020 was “stolen” even though he’s offered no proof that it’s true. Respected officials like former Attorney General Bill Barr call his rants “nonsense.” This isn’t just about Liz Cheney. Mitch McConnell, Betsy DeVos, Mark Meadows — they all knew Trump was delusional. His own daughter and son-in-law testified it was bull. Trump’s response? He insults Barr, and dismisses Ivanka as “checked out.” He clings to more fantastical theories, such as Dinesh D’Souza’s debunked “2,000 Mules,” even as recounts in Arizona, Georgia and Wisconsin confirm Trump lost.”
My response:
I suppose I’m delusional also. I realize that my access to information is limited, but I have seen enough to convince me that the election was stolen. It may have been stolen “fair and square’, but it was stolen. It would take many paragraphs for me to describe how it was stolen, but I refer you to Mollie Hemingway’s book Rigged for a good overview. Asfor 2,000 Mules, there have been many claims of debunking, but I have yet to see any solid disproof of the film’s thesis. I believe the movie to be quite convincing, and I doubt that Barr and others have taken the time to really examine the evidence.
I also believe that Trump felt certain that he had been cheated out of victory in November 2020, and he wanted to do anything he could to stop the swindle. Ultimately, there was no legal mechanism whereby he could stop the confirmation process. When he persisted in trying, he came into conflict with Pence and others. Finally, he was forced to give in.
The Post editors’ main thrust is their wish that someone other than Trump carry the Republican banner in 2024. I do not disagree with the editors on this point. I would prefer a more perfect candidate. Nevertheless, any substitute for Trump will need be as strong and tireless as he is in fighting the evil that is the modern Democrat Party. There aren’t many like that.
Could DeSantis be the man?
The second article was an opinion piece by Michael Fanone, a former Capitol Police officer who defended the Capitol during the Jan 6 riot.
There is nothing balanced in Fanone’s description of what happened. He makes it appear that he and his fellow officers were defending the Republic against a murderous mob of bloodthirsty savages intent on overthrowing the government. Based on his description, it seems somewhat miraculous that not a single officer died in the confrontation. However, several officers did die shortly thereafter, one perhaps due in part to injuries received in the melee, others by their own hand. Four rioters died, but only one was killed by police. Not a single person was charged with having used a firearm in the assault.
This was certainly no insurrection, and in no way was it comparable to the storming of the Bastille
I agree with Fanone that the attack on the Capitol was inexcusable. I disagree with his statement that “the country came close to losing its democracy.” Thousands of protesters entered the Capitol that day. It appears that only a few hundred of these people engaged in serious mayhem. Some of them were truly bad characters and carried hand weapons of various sorts, but evidently they carried no firearms. The entire business was over in a few hours, and the Congress resumed its work later that day.
If our democracy is that fragile, we are in real trouble.
I can understand Fanone’s anger. He and his fellow Capitol Police officers went through hell that day. All of it could have been avoided if Nancy Pelosi and the Washington D.C. mayor had accepted President Trump’s January 4 offer to make National Guard troops available to defend the Capitol.
Unfortunately, the January 6 Committee doesn’t wish to hear about that. Members of the Committee wish to hang Donald Trump, and they will only call upon witnesses who agree with them.
ADDENDUM
More recently, in response to explosive testimony by a former White House staffer in front of the Jan 6 Committee, a son sent me the following:
“I believe Cassidy Hutchinson is a totally credible witness. I would believe her far over anything Marjorie Taylor Green says. It was Green who deliberately started the rumors that there was Antifa and BLM and undercover FBI agents in the crowd of capitol Intruders.”
My response:
If true, Hutchinson’s testimony is very damaging to Trump. However, some of her more damaging accusations were based on hearsay, and it appears that secret service officers on duty with Trump that day are ready to contradict her. If so, this will bring other parts of her story into question. What a mess!
The committee itself was improperly constituted and is being badly run. We cannot depend upon it for fairness.
It troubles me that Trump is surrounded by so much controversy and incites such visceral hate among his opponents. Many of those who oppose him are beneath contempt, but some of them are honorable men and women who deserve our respect. They will never receive it from Trump. He responds viciously to anyone who attacks him.
I would prefer a leader who could calm the waters; but if Trump is the Republican nominee in 2024, he will get my vote. The Democrat Party is an absolute disaster, and the bureaucracy needs a thorough housecleaning. It will take a strong leader like Trump, or possibly DeSantis, to do the job.
Jordans-Journey 
As it turns out, Ornato, the Secret Service agent turned Deputy Chief of Staff who told Cassidy Hutchinson the account of Trump in the SUV on 1/6, has a major credibility problem. Not Ms. Hutchinson.
Several agents from the Secret Service have told reporters that they heard the exact same story right after 1/6. Ornato is known to have falsely denied accounts before and has been called out for it. But you’d prefer to believe this known liar over a woman who SWORE UNDER OATH—a supporter of Trump’s who initially was represented by a Trump paid attorney until she felt her testimony was being manipulated by her advocate—-
Ornato, it seems, had a hard time remembering certain facts when he spoke with the commission. And no, there was never any such thing as “30 Mules”. Ever. I’ve come to the conclusion, sadly, that anyone who can continue to defend Trump with these outlandish fables have true malevolence in their hearts. You know exactly who he is and you’re ok with it because he does the kind of thing you’d love to do—only you feel you’re too ‘respectable’ to get your hands dirty.
And that’s the truth. You’d let him flip this democracy upside down and become dictator rather than vote for a Democrat. I’ll tell you what: I’m a Democrat, but I can truly understand a good bit of conservative thought. If we had a Donald Trump who threatened democracy on our side the way he’s so venally done for you, I’d vote for Liz Cheney. Perish the thought, but I would even vote for Mitt Romney because fundamentally, these two people believe in Democracy.
Donald Trump and the runaway Republican Party do not. That’s why the bowed at the feet of a totalitarian like Viktor Orban and took their CPAC roadshow to the country of a man who truly rigged his election. That is what they aspire their party to be—White Christian Nationalists. Oh by the way, Tucker Carlson who started the Orban Idolatry doesn’t believe anything he says. And his father is a lobbyist for Orban. How do I know that Tucker doesn’t believe anything he says? Because I know him. He’s laughing at you people from the poorhouse of the Swanson estate when he’s in Florida doing his show or up in Maine from his other place. You see, all Tucker really wants is to not have to pay taxes on his stepmother’s fortune he inherited or on his own paycheck.
Want to know how he avoided payroll taxes when he was owner of the Daily Caller? Well, he put all of his writers on the payroll of a charitable organization he created called The Daily Caller Foundation. He basically skirted the rules. He’s obsessed with taxes—paying them kills him. I don’t like paying them, either, but I pay my fair share.
So yeah. Oh, as an aside—-Tucker told our mutual friend around the 23rd of October, 2020, that Donald Trump Jr. saw their internals and that the entire campaign knew they were ‘going down’. They didn’t have the numbers and they all knew it. If you know anything about internal polling, it’s very, very accurate.
We can always bring up how every internal poll in 2016 —on both sides—found Trump losing. We can talk about how the news consortium’s exit polls saw him losing in a big way to Hillary (who I only voted for because I knew Trump to be a destructive force) and how Kelly Anne Conway told him to brace for a big loss—-And we can wonder if there was any monkey business with the E-voting machines that flipped votes over to Trump. There’s a lot to suggest that when he ‘ran the board’, something was very wrong. And let’s not forget that Russian hackers got into the voting systems in 43 states—-they were breached. Now why do you think they did that? Just to look around for fun? Why did Paul Manafort turn over polling information to Oleg Deripaska? Oh, yes, Russia, Russia, Russia you people are cry out.
All the same, the Dems graciously didn’t contest the election and there was a peaceful transfer of power to a man who was a known crook. A man who began fabricating stories on day 1 of his presidency about crowd size. You saw the photos of Obama’s crowd and Trump’s and so did he. But Trump chose to claim ‘alternative facts’. Kind of like “alternate electors”. There’s fact and fakery. Your boy is expert on the latter.
Still we, as citizens, demanded the peaceful transfer of power. More and more, reasonable people are waking up and realizing that Right Wing Trump lovers carry the same venality their leader exhibits.
You could never make me vote for a candidate who has brutalized American democracy the way he has—no matter what side they’re on.
Emma.
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Emma, I must be an ignorant clod. I don’t know who Viktor Orban is, and I take Tucker Carlson with a grain of salt.
I search diligently for truth and try to be balanced in my assessment of the facts. You and I have a profound difference as to what the facts are, and no amount of correspondence between us is going to change that.
Two things are clear to me: the Democrat Party that I once loved has sold its soul to the Devil, and the mainstream media cannot be relied upon to present complete and accurate news.
Sandy
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We are each delighted with all the good qualities inherited by our children – intelligence, compassion, patience, incisive reasoning and more – that are admirable in our immediate family and observable among our kin. But many families seem to have an unfortunate DNA anomaly that persists through generations and manifests its undesirable characteristics at random. You can think of “black sheep” of the family.
I’ve admired your intellect and values evident in your writings for several years. So, reading the views of the son, I’ll just give you a *hug*. And, hope for some ‘prodigality’ for the kid. *smile*
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I am in absolute agreement with everything that you said, Sandy! The most important part of your blog is the fact that your son and you can disagree on these issues but not resort to name calling or “canceling” each other as they say.
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