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Nov 06, 2024
Of the post-mortem commentaries on the Trump Election, nothing quite compares to Bret Stephens ‘pre-mortem’ on the election, before the results were known:
Dear President-elect, __________,
This column must publish before Tuesday’s results are known, so I’ll have to fill in your name later. Sorry — but no worries. Because, whether it’s Harris or Trump, some pieces of advice will serve either of you equally well.
First point: You owe your victory as much, if not more, to your opponent than you do to yourself. If it’s President-elect Harris, be grateful you didn’t have to face Nikki Haley or some other Republican who was not quite so verbally flatulent and politically toxic as Donald Trump. If it’s President-elect Trump, thank your lucky stars that Kamala Harris was, after Joe Biden, probably the least electable potential Democratic contender. You’d have been toast if your opponent had been Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania or Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan.
Put bluntly, outside of your hard-core supporters, many if not most Americans dislike or distrust you and will not easily give you the benefit of the doubt. Which raises the second point: Unlike Barack Obama in 2008, Ronald Reagan in 1980 or Lyndon Johnson in 1964, you do not have a mandate for sweeping change. Even if your victory is larger than the pre-election polls anticipated. Even if you win majorities in Congress. Even if friendly pundits hail you as the Savior of Democracy or the Vanquisher of the Woke or some other quasi-messianic moniker.
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Opinion | To Whom It May Concern – The New York Times Nov. 5, 2024
Editor: Mr. Stephens is a Strussian and like his master, has a penchant for re-writing to political ends, if not as grandiose as the Masters re-write of The History of Philosophy, yet it follows the mendacious Straussian Model. The Reader might wonder that Francis Fukuyama, once Straussian now identifies as a ‘Liberal’.
Stephens even celebrate the 1994 Crime Bill!
But people can get their heads around legislative achievements like the bipartisan 1994 Crime Bill that put 100,000 police officers on the beat — and contributed to long-lasting improvements in public safety.
And who can forget Senator Joe Biden’s racism?
Video: Trump says ‘sources’ tell him Joe Biden repeatedly uses the term ‘Super Predator’ when referring to young black men – despite any evidence Democrat has said it
Joe Biden speaks of potential for ‘predators’ during 1994 Crime Bill speech in the Senate.
November 18, 1993 | Clip Of Senate SessionThis clip, title, and description were not created by C-SPAN.
User Clip: Biden 1993 speech
During a 1993 speech pushing the crime bill, Biden warned of ‘predators on our streets.’
User Clip: Biden 1993 speech | C-SPAN.org
Bret Stephens on November 6, 2024:
Opinion Bret Stephens
A Party of Prigs and Pontificators Suffers a Humiliating Defeat
The final paragraphs of the Stephens diatribe:
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Today, the Democrats have become the party of priggishness, pontification and pomposity. It may make them feel righteous, but how’s that ever going to be a winning electoral look?
I voted reluctantly for Harris because of my fears for what a second Trump term might bring — in Ukraine, our trade policy, civic life, the moral health of the conservative movement writ large. Right now, my larger fear is that liberals lack the introspection to see where they went wrong, the discipline to do better next time and the humility to change.
Editor: Mr. Stephens last two paragraphs of his diatribe, are an unwitting self-description!
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