Dawn of a Decade

1 January 20201 January 2020 The Portly Politico9 Comments

Happy New Year! It’s 2020! Wags will quip that “it’s not really a new decade—that doesn’t start until next year, in 2021.” It’s a case where the wags are correct on the facts, but don’t appreciate how appealing that nice, round “0” at the end looks. Everyone was excited for 2000 AD; 2001 was greeted with shrugs.

Regardless, it’s an exciting time to be alive, in every sense of the word “exciting.” 2020 is a presidential election year, with a contentious, cartoonish Democratic primary season to endure. The impeachment trial is (allegedly) coming up soon, if Speaker Nancy Pelosi decides to rummage through her purse and take them to the Senate.

America is enjoying an economic boom, with a long bull market and the lowest unemployment rate since 1969. President Trump’s administration is restoring some sense of sanity and reason to the absurdity of 21st-century governance. He at least expects the government to work for the American people, not actively against them.

New Years’ Day is when bloggers both look back to the year recently passed, and look ahead to the coming year. Prediction posts are popular and fun, so long as you don’t take them too seriously.

The Collapse of the Obama Coalition?

4 December 20194 December 2019 The Portly Politico9 Comments

Yesterday, would-be authoritarian and multiracial presidential candidate Senator Kamala Harris dropped out of the Democratic primaries. That’s shocking news, but good for the future of republic.

Early on, I (as well as Z Man) thought that Senator Harris posed a major threat. With the Left’s supposed desire for a charismatic, exotic-but-not-too-different, intersectional candidate, Harris fit the bill. She is basically a female Obama: the unusual ethnic background (Jamaican and East Indian), the meteoric rise, the stentorian rhetoric, the Third World penchant for strong-man (or -woman) rule. As a woman, she could pick up the angry professional woman vote, and as a nominal black she could pick up black Americans.

Boy, was I wrong—thank goodness! The black vote is hewing pretty closely to former Vice President Joe Biden, apparently because of his association with the Obama administration, which black Americans remember fondly. The box wine auntie vote is going to Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. All of the suburban soccer moms, urban young professionals, and Episcopalians are going for Pete Buttigieg.

TBT^2: It’s a Thanksgiving Miracle!

28 November 201926 November 2019 The Portly Politico5 Comments

Dang, it’s been another year already. Yikes! Last year I wrote about the updates since the tragic weekend before Thanksgiving 2017. The year after my fall was eventful, as I detail below (my commentary on the original post from the old website is in italics).

Looking back, 2019 has been pretty solid, too. I’ve been a bit morose in a few posts lately, but the beauty of Thanksgiving is it helps clarify the mind—we’re told to focus on what we’re thankful for, and it seems to work.

TBT: Election Day 2018

7 November 20196 November 2019 The Portly Politico3 Comments

Two days ago I wrote about Election Day 2019, and posted results yesterday. In selecting this week’s #TBT, then, I thought I would look back to November 2018 to see what I’d cooked up.

Boy, were the pickings slim. Other than the post below, I reblogged my annual Thanksgiving message, and posted a Veterans’ Day talk I delivered to the local Republican Party. I’d really let the blog slide as I dove into another busy school year.

It’s amazing how quickly time flies. Not only did losing the House “stymie” President Trump’s agenda; they’re straight-up impeaching him—their plan all along. We managed to hold onto the Senate, but by a slimmer margin than I hoped. I also don’t trust Mitt Romney for a minute, so I think we can slot him in with the Democrats.

Election Day 2019

5 November 20195 November 2019 The Portly Politico5 Comments

It’s Election Day 2019! I’m sure there are all sorts of interesting elections happening all over the country, but for me, the big election is right in my backyard, in little Lamar, South Carolina (which just got a website!).

Lamar is holding elections for two at-large Town Council seats. There are two incumbents and two challengers, and the election is non-partisan (for what it’s worth, I cast my two votes for the challengers, in the Jacksonian spirit of rotation in office).

I like to vote early (though not often—that’s a federal crime, and since I’m not a Democrat or an illegal alien, I’d get in trouble for doing so), because I never know if I’ll be home by the time polls close. Polling in South Carolina always runs from 7 AM to 7 PM, which is a pretty substantial window. So, I was there right at 7 AM, and was the fifth person from my precinct to cast a ballot.

What was really surprising were the new voting machines, about which I have mixed feelings.

Trump Stands for Us

4 November 20194 November 2019 The Portly Politico6 Comments

My blogger buddy photog at Orion’s Cold Fire is enduring some bleak New England weather. Apparently, the bracing cold and gale force winds have sharpened his already-considerable analytical skills, as he’s been killing it lately with his posts.

He’s written a post, “The Unique Value of the Trump Presidency,” which perfectly encapsulates what Trump’s presidency means to the forgotten men and women of this country. photog rattles off a laundry list of reasons different kinds of conservatives might like Trump—his judicial appointments, his less interventionist foreign policy, his trade war with China—but hones in on the key reason Trump matters: “… there is actually a much more important aspect to the presidency of Donald Trump that should be emphasized. He doesn’t despise us” (emphasis photog’s).

Warrior for Life

29 October 201929 October 2019 The Portly Politico13 Comments

Per yesterday’s post, my intent was to share a spooky ghost story with readers today. However, some major news broke locally that has important national and spiritual implications.

Father Robert E. Morey, the priest at Saint Anthony’s Catholic Church in Florence, South Carolina, denied former Vice President Joe Biden Communion at the 9 AM Sunday Mass. Father Morey wrote that “Holy Communion signifies we are one with God, each other and the Church. Our actions should reflect that. Any public figure who advocates for abortion places himself or herself outside of Church teaching.”

Lazy Sunday XXXI: Trump, Part II

13 October 201913 October 2019 The Portly Politico43 Comments

This week’s Lazy Sunday picks up from last week’s edition, “Lazy Sunday XXX: Trump, Part I.” Our perpetually embattled POTUS/GEOTUS continues to fight back against the screeching Leftists:

“Trump Up in Polls” – This piece from July looks at Trump’s rising approval ratings. It also analyzes those numbers, and looks at MSNBC gasbag Joe Scarborough’s prediction that “bigotry and racism” would cost Trump reelection in 2020. At the time, I wrote that “bigotry and racism” would not be much of a factor: the epithet of “racism” has been hurled so much lately, it’s become like “The Boy Who Cried Wolf”—it’s meaningless.
“Happy Monday: President Trump’s Approval Rating at 52” – Remember the government shutdown? That seems like an eternity ago (I wish it were still going on). Even in the midst of that, Trump’s approval ratings crested to their highest since Inauguration 2017. President Trump has returned to the 52% (and 53%, I believe) mark since the impeachment witch hunt has begun.
“Babes for Trump” – This little post always seems to do well, and was seeing a steady trickle of traffic recently (consistently enough that I made it a TBT feature). Whenever I post it to The Portly Politico‘s Facebook page, one of my Trumpian former students always likes it. Easy, big fella! Regardless, the post is about President Trump’s support among Republican women. My only real fear for 2020 is that, should Fauxcahontas get the nomination, box wine aunties and suburban moms will vote for her because she’s a woman, and because Trump is a “meanie.” Get over yourselves!
“Breaking: Trump Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize” – Remember when we were supposed to be embroiled in nuclear war with North Korea? Notice how that hasn’t happened? A Scandinavian politician called for President Trump’s nomination to the Nobel Peace Prize. That might have been a tad rich, but it would have been far more deserved than President Barack Obama’s receipt of the award—simply because he was a black guy who got elected President! He won the award before he even had a chance to wreck our foreign policy.

Well, that’s it for this Sunday. Enjoy your Columbus Day tomorrow!

–TPP

Other Lazy Sunday Installments:

TBT: More Never Trump Treachery

3 October 20192 October 2019 The Portly Politico4 Comments

With all the impeachment talk swirling, I thought it would be worth it to look back at a piece I wrote in May, focusing on squishy Michigan Congressman Justin Amash, the so-called “libertarian Republican,” as an example of the kind of bitter Never Trumpery that is champing at the bit to see President Trump impeached.

At that time, Amash argued that President Trump’s conduct was impeachable—not any actual crimes he committed, just that the way he comports himself is impeachable. This claim coming from a guy who allegedly supports the Constitution.

Acting like a boor is not an impeachable offense. It falls well below the bar of “high crimes and misdemeanors” set by the Constitution. Further, President Trump’s phone calls to the Ukraine and Australia certainly fall well below that bar; I don’t even think he did anything wrong.

Tom Steyer’s Belt

30 September 20191 September 2020 The Portly Politico18 Comments

When I was in college, I formed this ridiculous pseudo-band with a suitemate of mine (who has, apparently, now gone down some dark roads) called Blasphemy’s Belt, which my bio on another band’s website refers to as an “electro-pop humor duo.” I can’t remember how we came up with the name—our music wasn’t particularly or purposefully blasphemous (or good), and while we wore belts, they weren’t outrageous (just to keep our pants up)—but it was apparently catchy enough that people picked up on it.

The Belt never performed live, other than for an annoyed roommate, and a highly grating pop-up concert (at least, that’s what hipsters would call it nowadays) on our floor’s study room, but we generated enough buzz to get people to vote for us in a “Best of Columbia” survey in The Free Times. We didn’t win anything, but it was an object lesson in how enough hype can make people believe you have substance when you really don’t.

That’s my self-indulgent way to introduce some literal navel-gazing—at Democratic hopeful and wealthy scold Tom Steyer‘s virtue-signalling, sanctimonious belt.

The Portly Politico

One Southerner's unique, erudite, conservative perspective in a hectic world

Tag: 2020 election