Tag: Kanye West

Trump to Constitution: Drop Dead

By Todd Lassa

Donald J. Trump last weekend claimed the United States as his very own banana republic by calling for suspension of the Constitution so he could be reinstated as president, because, you know … the Big Lie. 

In case you missed it, this is what he said (via Politico) on his Truth Social site (as Elon Musk awaits his return to Twitter): “A massive fraud of this type and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution.”

Wonder whether it was one of Trump’s star attorneys who suggested it was within his right to call for ditching the Constitution? Or perhaps the advice came from antisemite Ye, white supremacist Nick Fuentes and/or far-right provocateur Milo Yiannopolis (who has just departed Ye’s 2024 presidential bid according to the Daily Beast – the campaign for which the artist formerly known as Kanye West wants Trump to be his running mate).

“Republicans are going to have to work out their issues with the former president and decide whether they’re going to break from him and return to some semblance of reasonableness,” said incoming House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries (NY), “or continue to lean into the extremism, not just of Trump, but Trumpism.” (PBS News Hour.)

One might also wonder what constitutional originalists on the right think of Trump’s call for “termination” of rules, regulations and articles found in the Constitution. 

GOP lack of reaction to Trump’s latest comments so far rival the party leadership's lack of their reaction to his dinner with Ye, Fuentes and Yiannopolis. ABC News This Week host George Stephanopoulos on Sunday had to press Rep. Dave Joyce (R-OH) for his comments on the Truth Social post. 

Joyce, chairman of the Republican Governance Group said, “It’s early. I think there’s going to be a lot of people in the primary … I will support whoever the Republican nominee is.”

At first glance, the defeat of many Trump-backed candidates in the midterms, and then the notorious Mar-a-Lago dinner two weeks later have been hailed as a voter affirmation of American democracy. Even the New York Post was ready to write the obituary for Trump’s political career as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis emerged as the new darling of the hard-right wing. But the inability of such GOP leaders as Rep. Kevin McCarthy and Sen. Mitch McConnell, topped by Joyce’s comments on This Weekhave kept Trump’s future alive and well. According to Politico, latest polls show the ex-president remains the most likely 2024 GOP nominee.

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

One of These Days. . .

By Stephen Macaulay

As winter is aborning for many of us, the phrase “getting ahead of your skis” comes to mind, not as regards schussing down the east face of Jupiter Peak, but politics.

Funny thing, though.

People mainly left of center have been doing this for the past couple years, seasons notwithstanding. Snow, no snow. Off they go.

They are consistently ahead of what actually happens. It is seemingly always “This time!”

And reality is otherwise.

My colleague over on the left column concludes his piece on the convictions of the Oath Keepers for their planning of and participation in the U.S. Capitol attack on January 6 with, “Coming soon ‘The United States Versus Donald J. Trump.’”

To be sure, to see that there has actually been judicial action taken against people who are loosely associated with Trump can be encouraging to those who see Trump as a self-absorbed transactional actor who is only concerned with personal benefit and self-aggrandizement.

Make no mistake: the man has done nothing but exhibit the behavior of a parasite on the body politic. 

Does anyone imagine that he is a politician in the context of someone who espouses a codified political philosophy?

If he was so committed to making America great again, why did he exhibit behavior, behind closed doors (per the January 6 Committee) as well as on a stage at the Ellipse (on January 6), that would have taken the notion of peaceful transition of office, which has existed since Thomas Jefferson won over John Adams, and put it out in the trash like the course guide for Trump University?

No, it is always about him.

The recording of his conversation with Brad Raffensperger. The way-late “Go home. We love you” message. The Mar-a-Lago collection of documents.

These are but some of the most-recent instances when seemingly clever talking heads — many of them with law degrees not from an on-line university — claim ad nauseum on MSNBC, “Coming soon ‘The United States Versus Donald J. Trump.’” 

And it doesn’t happen.

Possibly it will happen.

But isn’t it disconcerting that the self-proclaimed “stable genius” really may be one and that all of those people who have been predicting his downfall are in need of skiing lessons?

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Trump's Still in Charge

(WED 11/30/22)

GOP Leader ‘Condemnations’ – “I don’t think anybody should be spending any time with Nick Fuentes,” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) told reporters. “He has no place in the Republican Party.”

But Wait: “[H]e came out four times and condemned him, and didn’t know who he was,” McCarthy said, according to Rolling Stone.

So … If GOP leadership truly was about to leave ex-President Trump behind, as appeared to be the case following the November 8 midterms, this would have been McCarthy’s chance to lead the way.

Perhaps McConnell Then?: Sen. Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) said this about the Trump-Fuentes-Ye Mar-a-Lago dinner, at his weekly Capitol Hill news conference Tuesday (per Axios); “There is no room in the Republican Party for antisemitism or white supremacy.” Pressed on whether McConnell would support Trump if he becomes the 2024 GOP presidential nominee: “Let me just say again, there is simply no room in the Republican Party for antisemitism or white supremacy. This would apply to all the leaders of the party who will be seeking offices.”

Sigh. 

Trump Replies: McConnell “is a loser for our nation.”

--TL

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

About that Dinner at Mar-a-Lago…

Even Donald J. Trump’s own advisors refused to defend the former president’s dinner at Mar-a-Lago early last week with white supremacist and hard-right activist Nick Fuentes, with one describing it as “horrible” and another “totally awful” according to The Washington Post. Predictably, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a onetime advisor to Trump himself and now potential challenger for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination said the “attention hungry” ex-prez “showed lack of judgment,” Axiosreports.

Hip-hop artist Ye (formerly Kanye West) brought Fuentes to dinner with Trump before Thanksgiving. Trump said he had only planned to have dinner with (anti-semite) Ye according to WaPo.

Comment in the space below in this column or the one on the left, or email editors@thehustings.news.

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Republicans Resurge in Midterms

Politico Again – Rating every race in play in the midterms, Politico says while the Senate remains a toss-up, the House of Representatives will likely go Republican. That’s an easy shift from the current margin of five Democratic members. 

Good news for the other side, though, on gubernatorial races. Politico predicts more Americans will be governed by Democratic governors.

Comment in the box below, or in the left column if you lean liberal, or email editors@thehustings.news.

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What Ye Hath Wrought (TUE 10/18/22)

A week after World’s Richest Man by Stock Valuation Elon Musk admonished Ye over an antisemitic tweet, the rap artist/provocateur/Kardashian-ex known by his passport as Kanye West announced in a press release he will buy the far-right social media platform Parler, USA Today reports. No details, such as price, were announced, though the deal includes parent company Parler Technologies’ private cloud and infrastructure and is to be completed by the fourth quarter. 

Consider together  Ye’s Parler purchase (Daily Beast describes it as a "MAGA cesspit") with Tesla and SpaceX CEO Musk’s apparently imminent purchase of Twitter and plans to reopen it to Donald J. Trump, and plans by tech billionaire Peter Thiel and Senate candidate J.D. Vance to buy another hard-right social media site, Rumble, and you have a new age conservative media troika that would do Rupert Murdoch proud.

--TL

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COMMENTS: Go to the comment box in this column (or the one in the left column if that’s the way you lean) or email editors@thehustings.news and identify yourself as right or left in the subject line.

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