Good morning, kids. Somewhere in the back of my mind I thought there was the possibility of a surprise in Iowa, most likely because of global warming sending temperatures low enough to freeze penguin's cloaca shut and keeping caucus goers home or more importantly, latent, unidentified Trump fatigue propelling DeSantis, Ramaswamy or God-forbid Haley.
But, as I had thought likely, Trump won it running away. Were this anything remotely resembling the good old days, where we were more or less oblivious to the sham of a two-party system and regular order, then I'd caution that the primaries have only just begun. Yet as we all know, 2024 is like no other time before, with the possible exception of 2020, and not just because Trump was the incumbent.
Whether you like him or not, or like it or not, Trump is the de facto leader of a combination resistance movement and a revival movement. Leader is kind of an odd word because in the cold light of day at the granular level, there's precious little if anything he personally and collectively with hopefully a cadre of loyal cabinet members and other advisers can do to root out the corruption that took him out four years ago and brought us to the brink of disaster (if we haven't irreversibly crossed over that line already). This assumes of course that he does indeed overcome a cheat that will be in everyone's face and more to the point, survive an increasing likelihood of being convicted in a kangaroo court and thrown in prison for what would be a life sentence considering his ages and the maximum sentences on each of the dozens of spurious and/or non-crime fake charges.
On a much higher level, what's being done to him, and more crucially what has resulted in what's being done to all of us vis a vis a crashing economy, an invasion of illegal aliens, a disastrous foreign policy that threatens a global conflagration, is raising the blood pressure of more and more citizens across ethnic, racial and political divides. More than anything else, and more than Trump, this is what scares the shit out of the Leftists, Democrats and RINO globalist stooges. But given that virtually the entire government and much of society outside of it has been thoroughly corrupted and hijacked by the Left, can a Popular Front for the Liberation of America (that ought to make Lefty heads explode!") ever have a chance to coalesce let alone achieve a final victory in our lifetimes?
While you ponder that, let's get back to Iowa and the situation going forward. As I said, even with a full slate of primaries to go, some really unknown event notwithstanding, the nomination is likely Trump's. Vivek Ramaswamy has already bowed out and endorsed Trump. So what of DeSantis (I could care fuck-all for Haley. She's McCain/Romney/Bush with tits that sag even lower than theirs)? The full court press by the Deep State might be his greatest, if not only, advantage.
Shortly after the Iowa caucus concluded, tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy announced that he would suspend his campaign and endorse Trump. That leaves two: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former UN ambassador Nikki Haley. The Trump campaign has called on the candidates to drop out and clear the field for Trump.
There's still a very real possibility that Trump could be in jail by the time the general election rolls around. (Note what I'm not saying: I'm not saying that Trump should be in prison.) But although Trump is the runaway favorite to win the nomination, the fact remains that he is now engaged in a multi-front war. (Ask Napoleon how that worked out.)
Let's look at the dates for Trump's upcoming trials and how they fit with the rest of the primaries, caucuses, and Election Day:
That's some heavy, heavy ammo aimed at destroying Trump at a time he should be spending his time and money campaigning. Some (or possibly all) of these cases will be delayed for one reason or another, which means that come November, Trump could still be embroiled in legal troubles. There are several possible scenarios:
If you don't think the left is working overtime to ensure the first and third options happen, you haven't been paying attention.
Is it right? No. But that's never stopped the Left before. Nor have the rule of law or the Constitution. The Supreme Court may yet step in and stop all this madness, but can we count on John Roberts? How about Amy Coney Barrett? Both have voted with the left wing of the court on some issues. So what happens if a presidential nominee withdraws or dies after the convention but before the election? The political parties choose a replacement candidate. From Teaching History:
Since the time of Andrew Jackson's run for the presidency in 1828, individual political parties have had the job of filling any vacancy on their national ticket, either that of their presidential or vice-presidential candidate. If one of their candidates vacates the ticket after they are nominated, either because of death or withdrawal, the party selects a replacement. Both the Republican and the Democratic parties have rules in their bylaws governing how to fill the vacancy. The Party Chair calls a meeting of the National Committee, and the Committee members at the meeting vote to fill the vacancy on the ticket. A candidate must receive a majority of the votes to win the party's nod.
Just what we need: Ronna McDaniels choosing the GOP candidate. Of course, the same thing could happen to Biden. He's not getting any younger and can barely spit out a coherent sentence these days. But we're concerned with Republicans here because losing to the Democrats in 2024 may very well be the last nail in the Republic's coffin.
So what happens if Democrats get their way and throw Trump in the slammer before the convention? That would depend on the delegates. Most Republican delegates are bound to vote for the nominee(s) chosen by their states on the first ballot at the convention, although there is some disagreement on whether or not that can be enforced. If bound delegates go rogue in the event that Trump is jailed, it's anyone's guess what the RNC would do.
These are all hypotheticals, but knowing what we know about Democrats, it's not beyond the realm of possibility that Trump could be in jail on Election Day. The damage Joe Biden (or whoever's running him) could do to this nation in four years is breathtaking. We may not survive it. That's why we need a Plan B in the form of a backup nominee.
Meh. This is Paula Bolyard, whose assertions that she doesn't want Trump to be imprisoned should be taken with a large grain of salt. She's not a fan and I don't think ever was. Besides, this is PJ Media which is now part of Salem Media which also owns Townhall and Hot Air. QED. But that said, her observations about what lies ahead for Trump are spot on. Haley is a RINO stooge. She's an absolute non-starter. There is no one else besides DeSantis that has anywhere near the anti-establishment/anti-Leftist bona fides that Trump does, their day-to-day missteps and misstatements notwithstanding. Ramaswamy threw a lot of red meat but he's bowed out.
That bit about Ronna Romney McDaniel choosing the candidate would be the bitter end. It would no doubt be Haley. Meh, I can see her trotting out Uncle Pee-Air Defecto to come in and save the day! Of course, and this point has been argued here and no doubt will be as soon as I post the column, Trump himself endorsed her as RNC chair or at least gave a thumbs up. Was Harmeet Dhillon a better choice? Who knows, but for sure Ronna McDaniel was and is horrendous. Remember that big red wave of 2022?
It's all moot now. So what do we do? There's not much, I guess, except go out and vote for him or DeSantis in your state's primary. Even then, all of the persecutions and prosecutions are going to ramp up if not come to a head. Then again, they don't have to since as we all know the process is the punishment, although you best believe they want him behind bars. Or six feet under if they can't get that.
I know that a lot of you as well as Ace and some of the cobs are to be charitable less than enthused with Trump. That puts it mildly for them, but for me it's not sarcasm. He says and does things that at times are head-scratchers if not "WTF!?"-inducing. At other times he hits the friggin' nail right on the head when it comes to the issues and what needs to get done. If, as the tea leaves show, he is unstoppable in the primaries, then we best get behind him, warts and all. Doesn't mean hold back on criticism when it's warranted. That's what the propagandists do when Democrats rape children, steal billions, and persecute the innocent.
But, if you've read this column for any length of time, you know that I have my reservations about elections, even if we overcome the fraud. About the only thing they can do is slow down to a greater or lesser extent the inevitable, depending upon who wins them. In some or even most cases (cough! Dubya! cough!) the people we vote for do as bad or even worse structural damage than the Democrats we seemingly thwarted.
It's going to take things that go way beyond elections to prevent the inevitable, or to mitigate the pain and suffering once it hits, if that is even possible.
NOTE: The opinions expressed in the links may or may not reflect my own. I include them because of their relevance to the discussion of a particular issue.
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