Monthly Archives: November 2024

Thoughts on That Election

For my left-leaning friends losing their minds and blaming all the wrong things and all the wrong people, give a thought to Italy and all the years when Berlusconi kept winning. He kept winning because the Italian left failed to offer an appealing alternative and because he talked about things Italians cared and worried about while the opposing parties talked about luxury beliefs and luxury concerns. Sound familiar? No, it wasn’t misogyny or bigotry that brought Trump to power. I am not saying there aren’t bigots or sexists among his supporters, but he won from a broad coalition of races and backgrounds. Please remember that Hillary Clinton won the popular vote in 2016. Americans would be happy to elect a woman – just not Kamala Harris.

To her credit, Harris did not make her candidacy about her gender the way that Clinton did. I admired her for that. But she did some dreadful things – among them, throwing Israel under the bus to get Muslim votes in Michigan, the great irony being that Trump won the Muslim vote in Michigan. She also made her candidacy about celebrities (for this Julia Roberts-narrated ad alone the Democrats deserved to lose) and superficial nonsense – joy! – while Trump, for all his many flaws, talked about jobs and the economy and the unfortunate prevalence of woke-ism. And yes, he talked about crazy stuff, too, because that is who he is.

I am glad the victory was decisive, though honestly, were I American I think I would have written in a third name. I worry about Ukraine, given Trump’s comments on the matter, though Harris was not much better. (I have said previously that I feel like no one, regardless of party or affiliation, wants anyone to win a war anymore.) That said, when I saw the pogrom nightmare unfolding in Amsterdam a couple of nights ago I will admit to feeling relief at the election outcome. I will also admit to thinking that, while I am a huge believer in NATO, Trump is absolutely right that Europe needs to start paying their share. Do they even care about their future? One must wonder.

A good discussion on the election outcome over at the Free Press and a good, if massively depressing discussion about Amsterdam at Call Me Back.

A Couple of Good (Old) Stories

Just a really great piece from the New York Times (yes, I said it!). I’m not a yard sale person, but I would totally attend this yard sale. What is great about the writing, above all, is that there is nothing contemptuous about the tone. One might expect a paper such as the NYT to take such an attitude, but thankfully, they saw a refreshing wonderful story and went with it. And while I’m at it, also from the NYT, a really fascinating look at Israel’s 21st century Trojan Horse, those grim beepers they used to take out a good percentage of Hezbollah’s, er, “staff.” (Yes, both of these features are from a few weeks ago – one gets distracted.)