Call Me Irresponsible

How does The Godfather relate to the January 6 hearings? Jonah has the answer on ...

By

How does The Godfather relate to the January 6 hearings? Jonah has the answer on today’s early-morning Ruminant, which also features disquisitions on the Democrats’ economic malpractice, the asinine argument that those who didn’t vote for Trump are responsible for Biden’s failures, and the future of American democracy. Did January 6 create a constitutional crisis? Will the hearings embolden sane Republicans to speak honestly about Trump? And is it time to say buona sera to American life as we know it?

Show Notes:

– The Wednesday G-File

– How Jonah learned to stop worrying and love the January 6 committee

Keep reading with a free account
Create a free Dispatch account to keep reading Get Started ALREADY HAVE AN ACCOUNT? SIGN IN
By
Comments (40)
Join The Dispatch to participate in the comments.
 
  1. Avatar photo
    The Stray Goose

    Biden or Trump - derision of one should not be construed as support for the other.

    Collapse
  2. Avatar photo
    Philbnichols

    @Jonah Goldberg, I noticed you mentioned Yoram Hazony in passing at the end; is there a chance you can have him on TheR? I just heard him on Thinking in Public with Al Mohler and while I respect Mohler on many fronts, I was irritated at his embracing of Hazony's religious nationalistic view of conservatism. I'd like you to show him the advantages of Democratic Liberalism and the mistakes he's making when he states that religious conservatives will do better with nationalism. I get that much of the culture is walking away from a Christian-based moral standard (though even that is debatable), but given the likelihood of increasingly anti-Christian leadership in America, how much worse will Christians fare in a Nationalistic framework than with Democratic Liberalism? Am I understanding this correctly?

    Collapse
  3. Teddy41

    For the record, and not to brag, but I also immediately recognized the meaning of Pence giving orders to Milley. I know Jonah probably doesn't read all the comments submitted to The Dispatch's niche podcasts, but I did ask Sarah and David about this topic in the comments section of the most recent Dispatch podcast. I would have put the question in AO comments, but that's taking a chance with an obscure podcast that truly defines the word "niche."
    I'm just amazed Noah Rothman was able to say it during the Commentary podcast; Mr. Podhoretz must have been taking an extra long breath between soliloquies.

    Collapse
  4. Les

    To your point about impeachment not being a criminal trial, it’s also worth noting that the punishment in an impeachment trial is not prison, it is being fired and potentially the equivalent of “losing your license,” not unlike a lawyer being disbarred. The presidency being an elected office does complicate matters somewhat, but the senators and representatives are likewise elected by the people, and in deciding whether a breach of trust and ethics deserving of firing the president has taken place, they represent the people no less than the president does, and they are to act in the interest of their constituents in cases when the president has clearly betrayed them.

    Collapse
  5. Avatar photo
    Emerson

    I loved the examination of the Godfather at the end of the podcast! Such a great topic, and an interesting application I hadn't thought of before.

    Jonah, I think the word that escaped you was "charis", which is the Greek word for "grace". Another word that accompanies "charis" is "pistis", which is the Greek word for "faith". Both charis and pistis center around the ancient idea of patronage, where weak or vulnerable members of society would offer their loyalty (pistis) as client to a strong patron to secure protection and favor (charis). This is the context of the Pauline letters, particularly in discussions of Faith and Grace.

    I'd probably get in huge trouble, but some day I would just love to start a Sunday School lesson on Romans with the opening scene of the Godfather. It would make so many heads explode, but it's a perfect illustration of ancient patronage culture.

    Collapse
  6. Avatar photo
    Ben Connelly

    We’ll see you next time.

    Collapse
  7. R. James

    Your example of "new information" being the Proud Boys heading to the capitol early is a bad example. It is not new information. The Washington Post reported about it in 2021 and the raw video of them attacking the outer barriers has been on YouTube for over a year.

    Collapse
    1. Dave Tenn

      Plus Andrew Egger and Audrey Fahlberg reported this in The Dispatch in their excellent article on Jan 7, 2021 (The Storming of the Capitol):
      “Other paramilitary groups, like the Proud Boys, didn’t need signups: They’d arrived fully formed, marching down the Mall to the Capitol shortly before Trump spoke. This was perhaps the most salient fact: The people most determined to start a riot at the Capitol were the ones who were there first.”

      Collapse
  8. Avatar photo
    The Bell Tower

    I will start by proving Chris (on the previous podcast) wrong and saying that while I continue to disagree with the manner in which this committee was conceived, I was wrong that it would come to no good. Jonah makes a good point about Liz Cheney’s ability to throw a life raft to some Republicans while deflating Trump’s prospects.

    Second, Jonah made a point about what putting Trump on criminal trial might put the country through. I do agree with this in principle though I thought it was treason from the start and I continue to believe it.

    I was against the first impeachment for two main reasons:

    1. While I agree that Trump clearly committed transgressions, I didn’t think they were severe or unique enough to impeach him.

    2. There was an election soon enough where the people themselves could (and did) punish him, making impeachment even less necessary.

    And I now wonder if the Democrats hadn’t dragged the country through that first impeachment whether there would have been more appetite for the second or if there wouldn’t be more traction with this committee.

    Lastly, I voted for Trump, I’m not ashamed of it, I expected exactly the Biden we got and while I anticipated Trump might do something like what he did, I do not regret my vote. I would not vote for him again after January 6.

    Collapse
  9. Joe O

    I enjoy your podcast with the exception of your complaining about the criticism of others. Ignore them and move on.

    Collapse
  10. Avatar photo
    Mkapnick

    As a subscriber to NR, I think many of its contributors have really disgraced themselves in the Trump era. I would include Rich among those. But even for Andy and Charlie, at this point, it ought to be obvious that all they are doing is providing cover for the Trump adjacent/pro Trump folks to ignore the worse aspects of Trump. Sure seems to me the Trump folks in the NR crowd skip over Charlie’s caveat that he thinks Trump was unfit and go straight to the “nothing to see here” part of his argument. He should know better.

    And frankly, while I totally agree the Dems did not handle either impeachment as well as they could have, that does not excuse the Repubs for ignoring Trump’s transgressions. It’s clear the Repus ought not be trusted with political power at the state level or the national level. If only the Dems were a more competent party.

    My tag line still holds: The Dems are annoying and ineffectual. The Repubs are a danger to the Republic. I will take poor policies over torching the constitution 7 days out of 7.

    Collapse
Load More