On Monday Mark returned to the Golden EIB Microphone for another three hours of substitute-host-level Excellence in Broadcasting on The Rush Limbaugh Show. In the course of the programme the various members of the Electoral College met to vote for Biden as president - while, in certain states, an alternative slate of electors met to maintain Trump in office. Aside from all that, we also addressed Time magazine's absurd choice for Man of the Year, the real Man of the Year (Chairman Xi) and his many triumphs, and the curious timing of both the Hunter Biden revelations and the sudden concern about Senator Feinstein's "cognitive decline". All that plus a detour into Australian legal drama. Click below to listen:
As to that Mark Steyn Cruise Mr Snerdley and Mark were talking about, you can find more details about that here. And, if you're interested in giving the gift of Mark Steyn Club membership for Christmas, you can find more details here.
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Hey Mark,
Something that was made a point of by Rush via an audio clip you played while guest hosting the Rush show. Rush said something like this, it's about how far apart we are. I know he was talking about the citizens of America Dem vs Rep but a thought occurred to me maybe he was subconsciously talking about how far apart we Republicans are from our Representatives in Congress. Honestly we're always going to be at odds with Democrats on most issues but at least their Representatives represent their values, ours certainly do not. Trump is onto something here with a reinvention revitalization of the "New" Republican ish party or party all together. On November 4th 2020 73 Million give or take had no one to call because our party isn't looking out for us.
Cheers,
Marc B.
Hi Mark,
Biden, (President Elect) is this the new formula for winning POTUS spend Billions of dollars and stay in your basement?
Cheers,
Marc B.
Great show, Mark - but I beg to differ on the cowardice of ACB et al (and congressional RINOs). Which is to say - it's not *only* cowardice. She didn't have to take the job, and neither did BK and NG: these three could've at least concurred with Thomas and Alito.
The "standing" dodge is careerism, plain and simple. If these justices fear for their lives regarding the Electors Clause of the Constitution, can they even be relied upon to "bravely" hold the line on the right to not be compelled to bake a wedding cake?
PS. Which isn't to deny mob-rule in the US. According to an unidentified SCOTUS clerk...
'Today was like nothing we have ever seen. The justices are arguing loudly behind closed doors: The Justices met in a closed and sealed room, as is standard. Usually it is very calm, however today we could hear screaming all the way down the hall. They met in person, because they didn't trust telephonic meeting as secure. Chief Justice Roberts was screaming, "Are you going to be responsible for the rioting if we hear this case? Don't tell me about Bush v. Gore, we weren't dealing with riots then. You are forgetting what your role here is Neil, and I don't want to hear from the two junior justices anymore. I will tell you how you will vote." Justice Clarence Thomas says "This is the end of Democracy, John." When they left the room, Roberts, the Libs and Kavanugh had big smiles. Alito and Thomas were visibly upset. ACB and Gorsuch didn't seem fazed at all.'
This is disturbing. Add this to the rumor that Mayor od DC instructed the police to "slow walk" any response to calls for help from Republican reps; Senator Paul getting roughed up in plain view, Rep Scalise being shot, ... it goes on. The mob is winning. Violence in the streets works. So its understandable to a point — the hesitation to act, I mean. But if Justice Roberts is afraid of inciting violence on the streets, what does he think is happening out there now? It's easy for someone like me to say this, but I wish he was more afraid of giving in to the violence.
You really had to love the tone of the great unifier last night night. Each angry word shows us he knows he is illegitimate!!
"Give me a Break!" This email, supposedly from Ronna McDaniel, landed in my email inbox..
"You know I only reach out if it is a critical matter, and this is a critical matter.
I am scheduled to meet with President Trump soon to share the list of Patriots who have already renewed their 2021 Sustaining Membership. Blah Blah Blah."
There is nothing patriotic about giving money to the GOP. This party needs to be eradicated.
I gave money a few times. It was only during efforts to spread the map or hold onto some branch of government. It was never because of thinking highly of a candidate. After that, some of these jerks would not stop pestering me for more donations, no matter how many times I tried to block them. Among other things they would send some of those worthless brochures, that their employees wrote for them. But not only that, some of these idiots somehow got a hold of my work address and used that when sending their gobbledygook, with their names and party affiliation visibly marked on the outside of the envelopes, while I was working in a place heavily dominated by Lefties, a university. They used a university address, those complete and utter, brainless apparatchiks. Republicans are worse than worthless. They should be donating to us at this point.
"We could have been a great and free people together". What a quote. You wear your acquired wisdom (such as it is, I hear you say) lightly, Steyn. But that one resounds with you - and with many of your members, I'm sure..
Mark, I couldn't agree more with you and the caller from Michigan: Time for a 3rd party. The evidence for Democrat cheating in the election is overwhelming and needs no review for MSC readers. But not enough attention is being paid to Republican collusion (there! I said it!). They are not just inept, or wishy-washy, or the gang that can't shoot straight, as they are often characterized by right-leaning commentators. They are THE PROBLEM. Remember, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan all have Republican legislatures. It was up to them to certify the election -- not any court. They willingly surrendered their authority to determine voting laws in their own States, and surrendered their supervisory authority in voting for the electors. And they knew what they were doing. Much of it is cowardice, as you said during the show. But not all of it. A great deal of it is pure corruption. Mitch McConnell and other elected Republicans have vested business interests in a Biden presidency. It's not just the Democrats that are on the Chinese payroll: Mitch makes a lot of money from Chinese trade. And there's plenty of Republicans making money from the neverending wars, sweatheart deals in Ukraine, etc. I fear that the lesson many of us are taking away from this experience is that we need to redouble our efforst to elect Republicans. But any MAGA Republican candidate is going to be submarined by the Mitch McConnell Party -- he will make sure that only good beltway boys get elected in the primaries. Please keep encouraging Trump to go his own way and form a 3rd party. It's the only way anything is goig to change.
"But not enough attention is being paid to Republican collusion (there! I said it!)."
"Much of it is cowardice, as you said during the show. But not all of it. A great deal of it is pure corruption."
"It's not just the Democrats that are on the Chinese payroll: Mitch makes a lot of money from Chinese trade."
Hear, hear! Well said, Robert. In many cases, the collusion may not constitute corruption or criminality - but nearly ALL of them have their noses in the China Trough to one degree or another. And this isn't just the story of America, but the West. And the Rest. Sad!
PS. See Tablet essay by Lee Smith, September 16: "America's China Class Launches a New War Against Trump - The corporate, tech, and media elites will not allow the President to come between them and Chinese money."
Biden reminds me of Groot the modified tree in Guardians of the Galaxy who can only say 'I am Groot' or 'We are Groot'. Actually Groot is supposed to be very intelligent under the stiff vocal cords...
This is really very funny for the less cultured members of the group such as myself who actually have first-hand knowledge of the reference. I appreciate the observation. :-)
I think I have the answer as to why we're divided: Our love for our nation is no longer universal. This what the whole self loathing of the western world has done post WWII. Pride in one's nation's history and independence has been rotted out by the Marxists, Progressives, and the Globalist order. Two opposing ideologies can never coexist. Like the decision to welcome China to the world stage. For China to agree, we had to agree to their demands and the abusive marriage between two different world views has forced the other side to be just like them in order to survive. The Marxists in the left have created a citizenry that hates America as much as the Mullahs in Iran. They reimagined Americans and the left has created them in the radicals that form the mob, the teachers and professors in the schools and universities, control big tech, and the mainstream media. They teach American citizens how it's better not to be American because to be American, you are evil.
I'll add on to my comment. This division is also a consequence of mass diversity and mass immigration. As you mentioned before Mark where the more diverse you get the less in common you have with your neighbors.
The CCP openly mocks Western Wokeness and our submission to the "White Left": China has been very effective in using our weakness to their advantage. (For example - not only the BLM riots, but the recent "Afghan Lives Matter" propaganda directed at Australia.)
America was supposed to be, among other things, where people could do things for themselves, but now people are just in it for themselves. That's why we're divided. The Left is both encouraging this and taking advantage of it. They have been very industrious when it comes to building infrastructure, whether social or technological or etc. and they have done it in order to ensure that these divisions will permanently solidify.
Panto-President-Elect Biden declared victory yesterday, but it's hard to say why. What'd he do? The party did all the hard work torpedoing Bernie's winning campaign and clearing the decks of any other pretenders. South Carolina was declared a No-Go zone for Mayor Pete, Betty Buckskin, and any other has-beens who never were. Biden spent more time in his basement than a video gamer with a Cheetos addiction and bad skin (not to be redundant). He ventured out only to occupy his spacious suite in the Office of the President-Elect. (That I can't find a physical address of said cubicle must be due to security concerns of the Secret Service.)
And still he came down with a cold? I mean, a "cold"? I haven't heard that much barking since Hillary's seal act our years ago. What is the matter with these people? President Obama recently confided that he kept smoking well into his presidency (adding to a decades-long habit), and he never sounded this bad. How did Dr. Jill Biden allow this to happen?
Or...or is that what Biden meant when he suggested he would "develop some disease" if he and Panto-Vice President-Elect Harris disagreed? He thinks he's president and she thinks otherwise. Step aside, William Henry Harrison: Biden may not have actually won the office, but he'll still be considered its briefest occupant.
PS: What ruse do you think the Georgia poll workers will use to call off the count the night of the Senate run-off elections? The busted water pipe ruse won't work again; unlikely anything similar would either. Stacey Abrams has an impressive imagination (she believes she's the legitimate governor, after all), so I'm sure she'll come up with something inventive to clear the building of all observers save Dominion programmers. An imminent meteor strike, say, or a Fox Bros. Bar-B-Q tailgate spread in the parking lot.
Senator McConnell , on the Senate Floor, just acknowledged "President Elect" Biden. My main quibble is that he didn't speak en français.
The more I read about and watch what's going on in the post-"election" period, the more my heart sinks.
And the more I keep seeing the Twin Towers in my head. It looked like they were only burning at the top. Little did anyone, except those who knew how they were built, know that all that time they were melting in on themselves.
As much as it pains me to say it, I see America the same way. At first it seemed like only the elites of the Democratic Party were consuming themselves. But the rot has metastasized and I fear it's only a matter of time before the entire American experiment - the freest, most wonderful country in the history of the world - implodes on itself.
GWB's overreach into Iraq and the financial collapse during his spectacular second-term failure are in my view the fulcrum upon which the weight of the political divide shifted. A clear and real majority of the country blamed him and by extension the entire Republican party for those failures, and we're living with the consequences to this day.
Say what you want about the justifications for Iraq, the ultimate problem was that we as a collective nation were not up to the challenge of overthrowing a Middle Eastern dictator and democratizing the country within the eight-year window (at best) given to any president. The end result is the creation of of an Iranian client-state at US taxpayer expense.
As for the financial crisis, Bush's attempt to co-opt liberal democratic policy under the umbrella of his "ownership society" or whatever he called it resulted in foreclosures on a scale not seen since the Great Depression, and he took the party down with him just like Hoover.
I find myself hoping for some sort of similar albatross catastrophe that we can hang around Biden's neck to tip the scale back to pre-2005 levels, because I think that absent some sort of jarring event like that, there is no return to anything like liberty without decades passing so multiple generations can learn the error of their ways. And by then it may be too late for a return anyway.
Depressingly accurate comments, Dafna and Wayne.
"I think that absent some sort of jarring event like that, there is no return to anything like liberty without decades passing so multiple generations can learn the error of their ways. And by then it may be too late for a return anyway."
And it took a long time to "rebuild" Ground Zero... lest we remember.
I was actually hoping someone would reply showing me where I'm wrong, that the part of America that still believes in G-d, morality and ethics will prevail and pull the country back from the brink.
Anyone out there?
I'm here, Dafna. Elijah, having fled the wrath of Jezebel to the wilderness, replied to the Lord's question, "What are you doing here, Elijah." He answered, "I alone am left, and they seek my life." The Lord replied, "Nope, Elijah, you've miscounted. I still have 7000 in that city who have not bowed the knee to Baal."
It is at least comforting to know that Trump actually did win due to the very people you mention. It is only through Crime, with the complicity of the powers that be, spineless Republican politicians, and the craven Fool Roberts, that the Left was able to accomplish this Foul Deed. And even though they all lie about it, THEY KNOW THE TRUTH, and so do the rest of the millions. I don't know how the reckoning will come, or when, or by whom, but it will come.
Thanks, P.
I, too, believe the reckoning will come. I just hope that it happens before anything truly catastrophic occurs.
Excuse me, three plus decades.
Fair go. Your President elect did well to win this against many much younger contestants.
The Delaware senator for forty plus years: the credit card state , the pumping out shell companies state.
Good luck America.
Cheers
"What we have in common with each other isn't enough to stay united." No more truer statement of the state of today. It's not enough that you're black, you have to vote Democrat or you ain't black. It's not enough that you disagree with Trump, you must hate Trump. It's not enough to say 2+2=5, you must believe it. We are divided and as much as it's the fault of the politicians, we wouldn't have gotten this far down the rabbit hole if it weren't for all of the things that drive popular culture helping them.
I agree with you Mark that civil disobedience is the path to take when we lose. We won't punish our neighborhoods or burn them down like ANTIFA or BLM, we will take it to the people in power. We will take it to big tech. We will take it to Hollywood. We will take it to all the major sports. We will make our voice heard loud and clear that we will be ruled by them no more and we will do it with our masks off, COVID be damned. No life is worth living if you have to be ruled by that lot and if you disagree, feel free to go to China.
Regarding Dr. Jill Biden, check out how Dr. Ben Carson has been treated by the very same New York "Times".
I have a doctorate myself, actually.
There was an episode of Alan Thicke where Alan (a psychiatrist) responded to the call " is there a doctor on the plane?" and delivered a baby.
When the plane landed the pilot said"That must be the first time a baby's been delivered by a psychiatrist".
Cue the waiting husband: "A psychiatrist!!!!!"
My then wife glared at me and said: "don't you dare!!!".
Most languages reserve "doctor" for PhD equivalents, and have a different word for "doctor"; English is a bit déviant here....
Surgeons aren't addressed as 'doctor' in the UK. Given the state of our medical profession, I would prefer that all 'doctors' were addressed as Mr., Mrs. etc.
It is a sign of our current decadence, this snotty use of titles. We now have an avalanche of overeducated morons who were socially promoted to use the address 'doctor' so that they and their parents could be granted the right to be obnoxious. In particular, our medical profession has become a class of people increasingly saturated with expertise, while at the same time increasingly devoid of intelligence, maturity, integrity, and evidently sometimes even the most basic human decency.
"Surgeons aren't addressed as 'doctor' in the UK"
Nor vets, nor dentists.
I struggle to call my dog's (superb) vet "Dr" - Mister being superior, in my mind.
There's a kind of neediness about all this Doctor title stuff.
If Jill Biden was Prez, would she be addressed as Dr President?
"Doctor" is definitely an appropriated word.and becomes worth less. It's approaching the value of a participation award with extra merits for wokeness and social justice achievements.. Having been immersed in the field and seeing what it takes to be a Physician, Dentist or Veterinarian... "Doctor" just doesn't cut it these days, So Jill Biden has a PhD in educational leadership. What's a bad day for her? Bad syntax? Misplaced participle? Oh dear! I spent 12 years of training after college to get where I am and a "bad day" for me can result in a really bad day/month/year/lifetime for someone else. But then her "care" of Joe Biden has been superb if deflection and "hiding the decline" is the treatment goal.
"... and evidently sometimes even the most basic human decency."
Many well-paid, "essential workers" on "the front-line" are extremely busy (making TikTok videos). If some random small business is permanently shut down, well, yes - "It's inconvenient", to quote Doc Fauci.
When I sign in at the check-in desk, or an airline or a hotel, I am always careful to tell the person in charge, "I'm not a real doctor. If someone wants to know how to do a recursive pre-order traversal of a binary tree, or take a relation in first normal form and put it into Boyce-Codd normal form, I'm your man, but if they're having a heart attack, don't call on me." I think I've probably missed out on some motel discounts that way, but a good night's sleep is worth it.
SCOTUS saying Texas has no standing in their lawsuit against four other states is like saying the neighbor across the street have no standing in their calling the police on a man who is abusing their wife. If we are all part of a union, to say that Texas has no right in getting involved in how other states do their elections is as absurd like Germany, part of the EU, has no right to complain bout how France does their elections even though the EU's election laws are supposed to be universal to those part of that union. Just using this as an analogy since I don't know if there is such a thing in the EU so feel free to correct me.
Texas and the 20 other states who joined the lawsuit should have every right to call out other states that have corrupt election processes. Who else is going to do it? Not the Feds as long as their most generous bosses keep getting elected. Not the people of those states: their election process is corrupt! Who?
The answer is no one. They see the constitution as a one party only document in that only one party gets protection and rights from the constitution and that party is the Democrat Party. They'll find any excuse to get rid of Trump. Where are the judges that Trump appointed in all of this? Why are we stuck with these cowards? Shouldn't we get the right to chose our judges the same way we get to chose a jury?
I thought the Civil Rights Voting Act was enacted to protect the rights of people, not shield states that violated their constitutions and disenfranchised their fellow Americans? It isn't segregation by race now...but by ideology. On second thought ...with the Michigan Electoral voters signing the Black National Anthem before voting, maybe it is?
"I thought the Civil Rights Voting Act was enacted to protect the rights of people, not shield states that violated their constitutions and disenfranchised their fellow Americans."
Great summary - in a single sentence!
On the topic of Trump bashing. The first shipment of the Pfizer covid vaccine arrived in British Columbia last night. Our Provincial Health Officer called it momentous news, and noted that this had happened in eleven months because of world wide cooperation and large amounts of money. I really wish people would give Trump credit for this accomplishment. I am not aware of Trump having any background in vaccine development, but he had the ability to grasp the problem, and get the development process speeded up, to warp speed as he puts it. His smarts, and his brash attitude and approach toward getting this vaccine and others developed will save lives, and help reduce the burden on our health care system.
These companies are part of the cabal. They wait till after the election to announce the effectiveness of the vaccine. They may have made the vaccine in time because of Trump but they don't want Trump in office. Surrounded by vultures, circling overhead, waiting for us all to give up.
I'm sure its already been mentioned before, but viewing 'President Elect' Biden's press conferences is like watching a political parody of Weekend at Bernie's. They wheel him out, pretend that he's said something intelligible, then quickly cut to Kamala or some other supporting actor before anyone can see its actually a corpse at the podium. How long can this charade go on?
If only we had something better or even half as entertaining , we might leave our American friends alone.
Cheers from Down Under.
The Dems will be satisfied if they can hold out until Jan 21.
And what was that constant throat-clearing about? He didn't just have a frog in his throat, he had a horned toad.
Day Two of no one even trying to convince me that the election wasn't stolen. My inductive evidence vs their name-calling and bullying.
No Sale.
Best in Show to the line of argument that election fraud is OK because a) you don't have standing, b) you should have complained 8 months ago, and c) Shut up, racist.
Then they have the audacity to talk of the rule of law? Orderly transitions? Respect for our common humanity? Unification?
--
I must grind the axe some more, belabor the point. Do not complain that the Media is 'in the tank' for the democrats. They ARE the democrats. Can't tell if the DNC owns the media or if the media owns the DNC. Most likely they're both wholly-owned subsidiaries of Soros Inc, along with antifa, blm, the universities, entertainment, sports, all the tony, tax-exempt foundations who impose the preferences of the 1%
Fellow KC resident here. Still happy to be in a red state, but watch out, the Dems that live here (St. Louis) will do their best to change that.
Since Biden and Xi are interchangeable I'm not sure how to refer to him...Chairman? Godfather of the Biden crime family? When he speaks, he is speaking for China as is the MSM.
Democracy may die in darkness but it can be stolen in broad daylight as well. Biden is all but in with Congress left in the process. It's not enough that we know they stole the election. Venezuelans know their election was stolen. The Chinese know the Politburo is oppressive. It's no secret anymore that these nations and others have corrupt governments ruling them but what can they do about it? Freedom must mean more than life itself for a nation to fight for it. I can't tell where we are as a base on this. If all we do is complain and expect the establishment to listen, ask the students who went to Tiananmen Square in 1989 how their government responded to their grievances as a prelude of things to come.
Washington Post is exactly right: Democracy did just die in darkness, in the dark of the night. The news media has zero inclination to turn on the light.
Yes and the assassins did it not with guns in their suitcases but hundreds of thousands of ballots. Had they have used guns, maybe we would've had a case against them but knowing them they'll call them "mostly peaceful" assassins.
"The news media has zero inclination to turn on the light."
Mark mentioned that the leak about CCP members in government and business positions wasn't breaking news in America - but apparently the story was offered to several US media outlets (and they declined to take an interest).
People, and how they respond to things, are mutable, not static. If there were such a thing as an inflexible 'national character' -- 'people get the government they deserve' etc -- then there would never be revolutions.
But there are revolutions. Quantity turns into quality.
The Biden proxy government is going to have a multiple insoluble problems, and people who couldn't stand Mr Trump will regret their vote within the year.
We've got to be ready to respond.
Listened to what I could at work, and as I was wrapping gifts tonight I decided to play the podcast - glad I did! I completely missed the segment re: the supreme court's cowardice. The following segment on Chairman Xi being Time's Man of the Year was excellent as well.
If I somehow breached a Term of Service, I apologize.
Easily done, Charles.
Evidently it's easier to do than I thought, Perry
Think of it as Machine Learning, without the machine, Charles.
It's similar to the current electoral malfeasance - it's a teaching moment, but we are not sure what we are being taught, nor what we are learning. At least it's done manually, and not by some rigged algo.
I once wrote of various "straight shooters" (Comey, Mueller, Rob Rosenstein, et al.) that they were such straight shooters they couldn't hit a bull in the a** with a shovel. I didn't bother with the asterisks and the comment never saw the light of day. I thank Melissa for preserving decorum.
On reflection, I should have written, ". . . they couldn't hit a bull in the asterisks with a shovel." This would have solved the problem nicely.
Politicised gardening has reached the UK, courtesy of (believe it or not) the BBC. It turns out that politics is now downstream from horticulture. James Wong, one of the Beebyanka's gardening presenters, has written that "UK gardening culture has racism baked into its DNA." Britain's answer to Blut und Boden is represented, apparently, by vile terminology such as "native" and "heritage." Funnily enough, the Telegraph article discussing Wong's crazed rant refers to his "British-Malaysian heritage." I'd love to think that the choice of word was deliberate, but, in today's Telegraph, that seems a bit unlikely.
Fortunately, Wong is well on the way to eradicating the problem, or deracinating, or uprooting it, depending on whether you prefer your racist horticultural metaphors to have Latin, French, or plain, old Anglo-Saxon origins. He has "made a podcast for [Kew Gardens] about its 'ongoing efforts' to confront racism in botany and horticulture." That should have 'em queuing (no pun intended) around the block.
So the country that gave us the victory garden went looking for Mr. Right, and instead ended up with Mr. Wong. I for one am grateful that UK gardeners are finally being put in their proper place. How long has it been since they've thumbed their noses at the rest of the world with their fancy salad leaves, potatoes, radishes, or their array of beans, each one fancier than the next. I don't know which is more racist; Kew Gardens or Yorkshire Pudding, but I know this much, your soilist time is up, you.. gardener.
Maybe they want to discourage gardening to better force everyone to eat algae.
UK is late to the game. This summer, Toronto's National Newspaper prominently featured an article on the colonialism of a well-cut suburban lawn.
I found it heartening that almost all of the commentators mocked the article and author mercilessly. There may still be hope...
". . . queuing (no pun intended). . .." Nice one, Owen.
I tried to listen to this on my iPad Pro. No way of fast-forwarding or reversing. No easy way of stopping and starting the podcast. Needs work!
I use my Apple pencil to tap the little vertical lines, and move forward and back that way. I can do it with a carefully placed finger tip, but it is awkward and often misses the mark.
So, Republicans were (once again) prevented from active participation in Michigan elections. This time prevented from entering the building to cast alternate votes (for Turmp) in the Electoral College. As they were banned, the strains of the "Black National Anthem" reportedly came from within. Ah, Civics 2020. The ability to throw a presidential election is the new face of "empowerment". While we are at it... why not rename Detroit , New Harare? America is becoming just another geographical place in a homogenized global society. The irony is that the only outcome for this "transformation" is less of everything. That's not taught in Civics 2020.
I, too, was expecting Rush to be back today, but at least I don't have to fill in for him! What a daunting prospect and you always provide excellent substitute hosting. I fret when he is not back as I know that it means he needs extra time to recoup and is finding it more difficult to ask his body to withstand whatever magic they are trying to help him beat this.
The folks calling in almost always have something of value to say or to ask..but I do wish that they would stop referring to Biden as "the man we elected president". Even if it's just to complain, he was not elected by the American people, Donald Trump was re-elected.
I really enjoy watching Acorn as well and one of my all time favorites is Rumpole of the Baily. Have seen Rake and liked that one as well. An attempt to remake that here starred Greg Kinnear, whom I love, but couldn't pull it off and it lasted one season.
Mark replies:
I like Greg Kinnear too, Janet, but oh my, what a stinker that thing was. Something like "Rake" you simply can't do in the US television system - and they should know enough at least to recognize that.
Richard Roxburgh is the one and only Rake!
The really interesting thing about whatever happened in the US election is the way the old money billionaires of the Republican Party just point blank accepted it. They couldn't wait to get rid of Trump.
And so now?
There are tens of millions of Americans today whom no party really represents: the working poor. No one now wants them. But they are out there and alive and they are actually Americans and they do have a genuine right to vote. They can,of course, let the old money Republicans fundraise off the punishment they'll all take over the next four years - or they can consider other options. Let's see what happens.
Our rich elite seem to be attacking their aspiration for an oligarchy from different directions.
The Democrat tribe, of course, are taking the amoral approach: 1. Install voting machines 2. Fix the voting machines.
The Republican clique of the rich are, as usual, confused and living in the past. They yearn for a black and white Ward Cleaver to show up and vote for Jeb!, or in 2024, Nikki!. (Did you know, John Kasich's father was a mailman, or that Kelly Loeffler grew up on a farm? My question, who gives a f***?). Nikki Haley will have vast sums to spend on insipid advertising, and absolutely no message. There must be tens of millions of professors on New England college campuses, in tweed jackets, ready to vote Republican, like the 1950s, right? Why do we have National Review, otherwise?
Democrats mock Republicans as Democrats, after a ten-year stall. That certainly applies to the Republican Establishment.
Whigs-2, Electric Bugaloo.
Romney comes to mind immediately, as well as the Bush family....and apparently many others as we see the party dividing up into those who are not willing (like 74+ million of us) to accept a fraudulent election and pretender to the throne and those who resented this usurper and his supporters for muddying the waters but for the most part kept silent and useless. To paraphrase a song in The Mikado, "We've Got a Little List" and "they'd none of 'em be missed".
The more I think about it, the more I think that the old money billionaires have to be booted out of the party or the voters need to leave the GOP and form a new party.
In Canada, we formed a new party that eventually destroyed the old party. Yes, it was messy. It's not great. But I don't think the Conservative Party of Canada today would be so totally content with losing as the GOP is. What Americans whom no one represents needs is a party that NEEDS to win for the same reasons as they NEED to live.
I don't know... I wonder if "The Pirates of Penzance" is more apt:
"You triumph now, for well we trow
Our mortal career's cut short.
No pirate band will take its stand
At the Central Criminal Court."
That image of 'tens of millions of professors' is truly frightening. Even in the 1950s they were becoming a sordid lot.
I've been thinking of myself as a member of the new Conservative/Populist party.
Re: billionaires...don't forget the "new money" folks in big tech and social media who happily part with millions to fund the DNC and BLM. It's not all China and Soros dollars.
So true. Establishment Republicans always were for big business and nothing more. They think corporate tax cuts are what we want and we just saw the Paul Ryan's of the world open to illegals coming into America for their corporate donors. A third party would be nice but would they allow it?
If there are enough of you, they can't really stop it. You can offer them either capital punishment or suicide and see which they take.
Francism Buckley wrote a book about this, a couple of years ago: THE REPUBLICAN WORKERS PARTY. Well worth reading. And so is the book that followed: AMERICAN SECESSION. He's a frost-back so perhaps can take a more objective view of his adotped country than the natives. Wait ... not 'natives' but 'colonialist settler population'.