I’ve been doing a great deal of thinking about Russia and the 2020 election, thoughts that are leading me to some chilling places. You may skip over this — “Oh, Allyn’s moaning about Russia again, and it’s all ‘Fake News’ anyway” — but that’s because you’ve never asked yourself the question: “What does Russia want?”Continue reading “Russia, the Primakov Doctrine, and Implications for the 2020 Election”
Tag Archives: Republican Party
What If… Gary Johnson Had Won in 2016?
Yesterday evening, scrolling through Facebook, I saw a former colleague of mine from EB Games, M, post the following meme image, without any commentary: I posted a quick reply: “Honestly, what do you think would have been different with Johnson?” I didn’t expect a reply, but one was soon forthcoming. In case that’s not entirelyContinue reading “What If… Gary Johnson Had Won in 2016?”
The Electoral College Won’t Prevent President Trump
The Electoral College is not going to stand in Donald Trump’s way. I’ve seen chatter the last few days, both on political blogs and Facebook, that the voters of the Electoral College can, or even should, vote for Hillary Clinton instead of Donald Trump. (For example, here.) It’s a nice idea — it’s the wayContinue reading “The Electoral College Won’t Prevent President Trump”
Ted Cruz and the Kick-Off of the 2020 Campaign
Let me ramble on for a few minutes about Ted Cruz’s speech last night at the Republican National Convention. For those coming in late, last night Ted Cruz delivered a speech — that was known in advance not to be an endorsement of Donald Trump — that was, surprisingly to pretty much everyone, an anti-TrumpContinue reading “Ted Cruz and the Kick-Off of the 2020 Campaign”
The Republican Convention and the Potential for Future Violence
Last night, on the second night (of four) of the Republican National Convention, the Republican Party nominated Donald J. Trump as its standard bearer for this year’s presidential campaign. Presidential conventions in the last thirty years, since I was old enough to pay attention, are stage-managed, scripted pep rallies. Nothing unexpected happens. Nothing controversial happens.Continue reading “The Republican Convention and the Potential for Future Violence”
Bill Kristol Has His Man
Bill Kristol has actually found someone to run as a third-party conservative this election. I didn’t think it would happen; beyond the practical realities against it, Kristol’s track record with the truth has been poor since about 1990, and if he told me that the sky is blue due to refracting sunlight I’d be skepticalContinue reading “Bill Kristol Has His Man”
The 2016 Conservative Third Party Option
There’s chatter among conservative thinkers, who are really annoyed that the Republican primary voters have selected Donald Trump to be their standard bearer in this fall’s election, about running a conservative third-party candidate. I can sort of understand the why — “Trump doesn’t represent us, he’ll be gone after this cycle and we’ll be backContinue reading “The 2016 Conservative Third Party Option”
Ted Cruz Throws a Hail Mary Pass
I had Ted Cruz’s announcement of Carly Fiorina as his Vice President pick running in the background while I worked with spreadsheets. This was a pure Hail Mary pass. Some immediate takeaways… First, Ted Cruz’s relationship to the Constitution is exactly like a fundamentalist Muslim’s relationship with the Qur’an. Both believe their Holy Writs areContinue reading “Ted Cruz Throws a Hail Mary Pass”
The Aggrievement of Sarah Palin and Donald Trump
James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake is more coherent than Sarah Palin’s endorsement of Donald Trump yesterday in Iowa. I made a valiant effort at listening to it. It was difficult. Palin’s voice was a high-pitched screech with the speed and fury of a gale behind it, a freestyle ramble of slights, real and imagined by theContinue reading “The Aggrievement of Sarah Palin and Donald Trump”
Link Round-Up: December 16
Some links for today. We’ll start with Star Wars and go from there. The Best-Case Scenario: ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ – There’s a new Star Wars film out this week. It’s a total surprise; I haven’t seen ads or merchandise for it anywhere. Reviews are starting to trickle in, albeit ones light on details.Continue reading “Link Round-Up: December 16”