The Voters Are Trying to Tell You Something

A difficult week for the GOP.

By and

Ruy Teixeira, politics editor of The Liberal Patriot, joins Sarah and Jonah to do some break down the politics of the Trump indictment, Chicago’s mayoral election, the Wisconsin’s Supreme Court race, and how abortion factors into all of this.

Show Notes:

Create a free account
Access additional articles and newsletters for no cost, no credit card information needed. Continue ALREADY HAVE AN ACCOUNT? SIGN IN
By and
Comments (56)
Join The Dispatch to participate in the comments.
 
  1. Avatar photo
    Nancybrink

    Late to the party here... where should I listen to get an update on how the "Easter Platypus" game went?

    Collapse
  2. Avatar photo
    Ferullbr

    Great podcast as usual.

    Small appeal for advice: My wife and I are visiting DC real soon and I am supposed to come up with a few ideas on things I want to see. Any recommendations?

    Thanks in advance!

    Collapse
  3. Sharon

    Sarah! It’s too late but show your kid the ancient stop motion Peter Cottontail movie (tye one with Iron Tail)

    Collapse
  4. Avatar photo
    PaulH

    Contra Sarah, I don't think that the right is ever going to benefit from a backlash against over-reaching abortion rights legislation/referendum from the left. If one looks at the Michigan referendum, it was about as broad a protection as one could ask for and it passed -- even though it likely that the majority of people in Michigan would support at least some restrictions on abortion that are not allowed by the the new law.

    The difficulty is that voters in the middle care much more about the right to abortion being protected to some extent than they do about a particular restriction (e.g. a 15 week limit or parental notification etc.) being in place. So the left can always portray their proposals as "protecting the right to abortion" (and not discussing the sweeping nature of it) and it will win in all but the reddest states. The right can't win by arguing the legislation is overbroad.

    So what the pro-life groups need to do is propose legislation that limits abortion to greatest extent palatable to the majority of the population in a given state -- but that still allows for abortion. However, it is difficult for the pro-life folks to get motivated to promote such compromise proposals because the most motivated pro-life activists passionately want to ban abortion in almost all circumstances.

    Collapse
    1. Jim S

      I appreciate a great deal your observation about the ‘right’ being the important thing. I have always been pro choice. I thought the standard set by Roe v Wade was a good compromise and thou I found many of the anti-abortion laws passed by Red State legislatures pretty shady in the end this was a Constitutional right guaranteed to all adult women and there were guardrails that were in place to preserve that right.

      Now that that right was stripped away and the guardrails are gone? I don’t think pro choice state legislatures should be passing any significant restrictions on the procedure. I mean that makes anti-abortion folks run for the fainting couches but why should I support any politicians meddling in this arena? Conservatives love to act like this is some kind of pro abortion extremism. Nope. It is pro abortion RIGHTS extremism. For me it really is about preserving the rights of women, and it always has been.

      Conservatives are not shy about viewing any gun restrictions ( no matter how minor ) as a slippery slope, well I feel the same way about reproductive rights. Give the politicians an inch and they will take a mile. Why let them put their toe in the door? Leave it to women and their doctors. Does that make some people uncomfortable? I’m not surprised. I feel the same way about extreme gun rights positions.

      Collapse
      1. Avatar photo
        Sad Trombone

        Black Lives Matter was motivated by 12 to 18 unarmed Black men being killed by police every year. Each year there are over 6,000 third trimester abortions, virtually all not medically necessary, yet the media blackout on this aspect of the issue is profoundly effective. I consider myself mainly pro-choice, if Roe v Wade meant what it's defenders described it as, but I have felt a baby give happy kicks through my wife's stomach in the third trimester, and I agree with the pro-life people that those babies should be protected.

        Collapse
  5. Avatar photo
    Jason Godwin

    Jonah is 100% correct about Chicago and Illinois politics. Michael Madigan is no longer the state house speaker ever since he was indicted on federal corruption charges, but the entire state is still controlled by a political machine. The state is heavily gerrymandered to lock in Democratic supermajorities in the state legislature and the Republican Party is functionally extinct in the state, never mind in Cook County/Chicago. Chicago voters threw out one left-wing Democratic machine apparatchik and replaced her with another. Chicago needs a 1990s version of Rudy Giuliani (i.e. before he lost his mind) if they ever want to have a chance on cleaning up the systematic corruption. And the exact same is true in other blighted major cities like Philadelphia, Baltimore, Detroit, and St. Louis.

    Collapse
  6. Avatar photo
    Ben Connelly

    I think Sarah asks questions at the end to distract listeners before they post a negative comment.

    My strategy would be to let my kid(s) figure it out for themselves and if they think bunnies lay eggs they’ll figure out the truth eventually.

    Collapse
  7. Nick Toroveci

    I came across this Neil deGrasse Tyson explanation/experiment on the Tooth Ferry, which can be applicator all imaginary creatures. Funny, cleaver, and to the point. Hope it helps.

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BsR6sIsoWgU

    Collapse
  8. Joe1776

    It is not treated as a crime to have an affair. Jonah seems to misunderstand this. Yes people have stopped caring about affairs since Clinton. Very few people think people should go to prison for having an affair.

    Everyone keeps saying oh these “other charges” will be great. Yet we have the transcript of his call in Georgia and it seems obvious that although what he said may have been false nothing was criminal. There was not conspiracy or blackmail. Just false assertions. If false assertions are criminal every president I know would be in prison. The same with the whole “coup” fantasy. It wasn’t a coup jan 6 was a protest that turned violent. There is a big difference.

    The best thing we can all do to make trump go away is ignore him. The best way to keep him around is to keep bringing these political prosecutions.

    I can tell you guys have no understanding of how much people on the right are tired of the police being weaponized for political gain. IRS, Houck, Russiagate, Rittenhouse, January 6th compared to blm, no charges for kavanaugh protests at his house despite clear illegality. The fact we all know the only reason trump is not indicted for classified documents is because of Biden’s classified documents. I don’t agree with all of this but there is no question in my mind our doj is extremely biased and turning our police on the opposing party is a huge threat to democracy.

    Collapse
    1. Hikingguy

      Imagine how sick Donald Trump makes everybody who is not on the Right. Go ahead. Try. He's the leading candidate for the Republican nod for the nomination and he is roundly loathed by most Americans. Ignoring him won't make him go away. The Reps already tried that when they refused to convict him and REALLY keep him out of politics forever. They chose to let it ride. They are beneath contempt. Behold the consequences.

      Collapse
  9. Avatar photo
    AndreaLeane75

    I love the Easter platypus concept. Our Northeast Texas town has an Easter Gator Egg Hunt at a local park that started a decade or so ago when somebody abandoned a small South American crocodile or caiman in our large park pond. I guess they figured all the fish, turtles and fowl would keep it in good health. So the the town turned it into a holiday mascot but changed it to a gator since that's actually native to the area. Not exactly as cuddly as a bunny or even a platypus though. heh

    Collapse
  10. Avatar photo
    Geofflanotte

    For what it is worth, we present Santa and the Easter Bunny as a game we play with the kids. We tell them that it is a game and that other parents play the game differently with their kids and they should let them play their game their way. I struggled with they lying bits - but I love Santa, I love the easter bunny and all the classic corny Christmas movies - I wanted to share that with the kids. But I hear you, we agonized over it more than we probably had any right.

    But about the whole he is going to think that bunnies lay eggs - that is the probably the least of the ridiculous things that your child will believe :) Best of luck navigating the joys of parenthood.

    Collapse
    1. Avatar photo
      PaulH

      I am a more than a bit baffled by this notion that the Easter Bunny lays eggs. The Easter Bunny delivers eggs just like the Easter Bunny delivers chocolates and jelly beans. Presumably he buys the eggs (and chocolate and jelly beans) at Costco like everyone else. It never occurred to me that anyone would tell their child that the Bunny laid the eggs.

      Collapse
    2. Avatar photo
      Ben Connelly

      That’s a great strategy!

      Collapse
Load More