Let’s Do the Time Warp Again

The Endless Purgatory of 2016.

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Dear Reader (Including Gregg Jarrett who may not be able to see this if Joe Biden has his way),

“Generals are always preparing to fight the last war” is one of the hoariest maxims in politics. 

(One of the whore-y-ist maxims is “I won’t take a salary because I believe so passionately in your candidacy. I’ll just take a percentage of the media buys.” But that’s a subject for another day.)

I don’t think we’ve ever seen anything like what we’re witnessing right now. For President Trump, time is a flat circle. And painted on its side—presumably in a one-dimensional font—is “2016.”

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  1. mick

    I enjoy the G-file as it is and have looked forward to it since the first one. I didn't look forward to the first because... well... duh. Don't change it.

    I think the only right way to look at the TOOBIN expose' is with our 12-year old boy-brain sense of humor. It's isn't worthy of scandal or outrage, just giggling at naughtiness. Like how adult men will giggle at the word underpants. That and an example of how silly humans are. Sometimes our animalishness pokes out. We giggle. We are all right to giggle over it. (And learn the lesson about being aware of our exposure.)

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    DavidK

    I'm sorry that you got a hard time about the last G-File. If they gave a Nobel Prize for Adolescent Puerile Journalism (APJ), you would win it. To steal from "A Christmas Story", you work with juvenile humor the way some artists work with clay. And it was a work for the ages. The Louvre is jealous.

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  3. Anonymous

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    1. deathtomcmansions

      I didn't see the tweet either, but I believe WI is a case in point, where the voters decided one thing and elected a different governor, but the outgoing legislators and governor made a bunch of actions to thwart the decision of the voters and interfere with the incoming governor's ability to carry out his duties by changing some of his authority, stripping him of powers they had happily used to suit their goals. Disgusting.

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      1. Anonymous

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        1. deathtomcmansions

          James could you pls include the text of the tweet so I can read it? Thanks!

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    Jean-Christophe Jouffrey

    Dear Jonah Goldberg,

    Cum grano salis, you are indeed a master of the pun and of the "à peu près", but as is obvious by its French name the main characteristic of it is that it is approximative. The more approximative indeed, the funnier.

    But this means that your display of "finesse" usually lacks precision, and it is never a good idea for you to attempt to play the "egghead", and you do get confuse in your time travelling warp. 😉

    "“Generals are always preparing to fight the last war” is one of the hoariest maxims in politics."

    It does not mean that they are fighting the last war, as they had been fighting it (i.e. having prepared to fight the penultimate war...) but that they are preparing for the next war having learned the lessons from the last war.

    Therefore what you write of pollsters, "Unlike almost everyone else, pollsters aren’t fighting the last war."

    Actually they are: they have prepared for 2020 by using the lessons learned in 2016.

    Which means that Trump is fighting as he did in 2016, that is, having prepared learning the lessons of 2012, and forgetting to learn the real lessons of 2016: that he won with only 80000 votes in three states, and that he needed to enlarge his "coalition", instead of dividing it. 😉

    You are selling the normal generals short of one war: they did learn what worked and did not work, not just "it makes sense that generals get stuck on what worked for them last time." Nothing is more interesting that the publications of the various "état-majors" detailing the tactics and strategies of the last wars.

    The problem faced by generals, and you understand this, is that circumstances have changed from one war to the other, so the lessons of the previous war may not work in the next.

    The same lack of precision can be found when as part of "institutional decay" you mix the Catholic Church (one of the oldest institution in the world, whose "decay" has been prophesized numerous times, but against which the gates of hell have not prevailed), and the Boy Scouts, an organization barely a century old. It seems that the rate of decay is not the same from one institution to the other... 😉

    PS: I could of course wrap myself in my QAnon garb and claim that the Catholic Church is full of pedophiles and that Baden Powell created the Boy Scouts as a playground for his alleged tendencies. But that would be silly.

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    Luke Thompson (not that one)

    While a lot of statements are overbroad, I think what you might be missing is the implication that this was a regular practice. It would definitely be odd if the 2017 reference to saving 10% for "the big guy" was the only time that happened.

    And the fact that it was explicitly stated that Hunter Biden would keep control of that equity (notably, not cash) is important as well.

    I'm still mildly skeptical, but I think there's probably at least a 50% chance that Hunter Biden was getting money with the promise that it would be a direct bribe to his father while Joe Biden was VP. I think we're at 60% that Joe Biden thinks that now, and 45% that he knew it was happening before. Maybe 30% that it really was happening.

    And we're at 100% that Hunter Biden will benefit immensely if his father is the president.

    I think Trump's situation is categorically different. His properties were already owned (as far as I know, nothing new has been built since he announced his candidacy). A blind trust would have been completely useless. The arrogant moron has put his name on all of the buildings he could, so it's not like anyone would have struggled to figure out which were his. Divestment would have been absurd, especially since his children are running most of the business anyway. Most of the claims that he's corrupt in that regard can't survive a "would anyone who owned a business be able to be president" test.

    If there were actual laws to help the hospitality industry, I'd be more concerned.

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    Richard Maxton

    no apologies needed on this end. Good lord, if anyone deserves to be mocked, it's Toobin.

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  7. Bill Berg

    “We” ... or two or more new “nations”, “Davos managed organizations”, etc will need to agree on something. Eg “ we hold these truths to be self evident” ... “endowed by the creator”, “enforced by a written constitution, ensured by separation of powers”, “progress is good, progress is great, it will evolve to greatness/comfort/free lunch if we just stand back and obey” ... something! We all DO have a “world view”, most just don’t realize it.

    Today, the “woke” do not accept the existence of any truth outside of power. A vast majority of at least half of the borderless area formerly the US are devoted to only personal pleasure, distraction, and comfort — and signaling how virtuously they follow the elite.

    Yes, there are still bookish crazy Christian adherents like myself ( Rod Dreher thinks we are soon to be thinned out a good bit https://beingbeliefbehavior.blogspot.com/2020/10/live-not-by-lies.html ... and certainly a significant number of hard working, minimally “educated” (indoctrinated) deplorables ( I’m the 34 year corporate computer geek version, slightly rare)

    Your goals sound maybe OK if quite unclear. Being nice is nice ... unless your opponent is not, and stronger. Implementation of “nice goals” is often a. Bitch.

    Having a Democratic Republic was hard work — we failed.

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    1. deathtomcmansions

      I agree that everyone has a worldview and that many don't realize it explicitly. Perhaps most can't articulate what forms it.

      The rest, not sure I can parse out what you are getting at. Nor what you are trying to claim is clear either, nor what your proposed solution(s) are.

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      Mudskipper

      I think I need a decoder ring.

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      1. Midge

        You might think being another "bookish crazy Christian" and STEM 30something might help, but... no, not really. Nor, for that matter, does attempting to read the BBB essays.

        One impression I do get is, people who disagree politically with BB(B) because they believe it's the moral thing to do are merely "signaling how virtuously they follow the elite" to cover up their "devot[ion] to only personal pleasure, distraction, and comfort".

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      2. Mary Stine

        Along with a wizard possessing a magic staff with a stone that glows and....

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  8. Bill Berg

    I used to LOVE your stuff! Right now, "Liberal Fascism" seems to be playing out really "well". All derangement syndromes are no doubt damaging, but TDR seems to have hit you hard! YES! It is easy to hate Trump, however hatred is high on the list of damaging emotions -- especially if it becomes chronic as it seems to have done in your case. Some thoughts:

    -- Scott Adams was not surprised by the Trump win. I think he has a good handle the insanity of living in a marketing/influencer clickbait world. http://www.moosetracksblog.com/2016/09/dilbert-calls-it-for-trump.html

    -- Many of us "crazy folk", that fell for what you were thinking in "Liberal Fascism" time are now reading things like Anton https://beingbeliefbehavior.blogspot.com/2020/09/the-stakes-america-at-point-of-no-return.html ... you have REALLY changed. I'm not at all sure that the slide to "Liberal Fascism" has.

    Did the DNC, FBI or MSM (but I repeat myself) get out of the "time warp" of investigating Trump from the spring of 2016 and then attempting to overturn the election for his entire first term? Not apparent to me. https://beingbeliefbehavior.blogspot.com/2020/08/defender-in-chief-john-yoo.html

    I rather agree with Douthat -- we are stuck, and you seem to be more so than most. Hatred is a lot like resentment (drinking poison and hoping the other person dies). My "distraction / entertainment" is reading. I miss the old Jonah, but now only barely able to stomach the bile. https://beingbeliefbehavior.blogspot.com/2020/07/the-decadent-society.html

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    1. Mary Stine

      Some of us can see the damaging aspects of both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. However, only one of them appears sane to me. Others are free to see this differently, but that is my honest opinion. The saddest part of this is indeed how poorly informed and literate we are as a society. For us to improve in any meaningful way, that will have to change that for the better. I see both parties in a frenzy to "save the world" as they see it. There are probably well meaning people and good intentions in both camps, but those will go nowhere until we restore some level of love and compassion for each other as human beings and are truly willing to listen to each other.
      I joined the Dispatch to do just that, because I trusted Jonah Goldberg to stretch my mind and help me see the truth that is undeniable. My take on the "change" that you see is that
      he is appalled and sickened at the those (not just Donald Trump and not just progressives/illiberals) who are taking an axe to the foundations of our democratic republic, our constitution and bill of rights and especially real conservative principles.
      You seem to believe this is a bad thing. You may be right, I do not have a crystal ball.
      But I can tell you this: reading Mr. Goldberg's writing, as well as other conservatives such as David French, George Will, and many of the writers at National Review have made this Democrat rethink many things. I am now to the point of either becoming an independent voter or fighting like hell to preserve a corner of conservative thought within the Democratic party. I have always been a moderate who voted for the best person, party be damned.
      I have been a Democrat for many years because none of my Democrat friends and family insulted my choices or implied that I was in league with the devil or told me what books I should not read, even if they disagreed. I realize many Republicans and conservatives have also felt contempt, but from Democrats and progressives. This is what I think has to end.
      We will not succeed in solving any of our most pressing issues, including Covid 19 without
      tossing out contempt and replacing it with respect.
      I intend to do my best to listen respectfully and defend others' right to a differing viewpoint.
      What will you do?

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        cheerio

        I think being respectful of each other is a start. I like these comment sections because it is mostly that.

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    Juan J

    Jonah, this was a real strong G-file. I have a theory which you may also be on to. In order to maximize the flow of your creative juices and encourage profound thoughts to spark within your brain synapses, you need to write with no inhibitions. This means that you can’t hide your inner immature monkey brain. You need to let that monkey out (but please, toobin free monkeys.)

    Give your audience ample warnings. Flashing lights and beacons may help warn the wary and feint of heart. It’s the only way you can tap into your mojo, make inspired connections, and access those deep profound thoughts. You need to be free to write whatever ridiculous words that come to mind.

    Your Wednesday G-file was hilarious btw.

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  10. Anthony Pasquini

    People got upset about your Toobin essay? Relax Francis. If you can't take PG-13 humor how do you get through your day? A good laugh is needed in these crazy times. And you can still have the good fight and be good people and still dropped some Onan-inspired jokes. I'm pretty sure G-d has a great sense of humor, just look at existence.

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