I have watched the commentary and the trail on Twitter after Oliver Anthony’s song Rich Men North of Richmond went viral. Predictably, Fox News seized on it for the debate. Also predictably, everyone is trying to twist the song and spin it to fit the way they want it to fit.
That’s exactly what the song is about. The people who “get” the song are sick of being twisted and put in a group. They want to be left alone. They are sick of career politicians. They are sick of public sector unions. We are tired of double standards for justice under the law. They are sick of seeing a porous border. They want Washington to take less of their money and to do less. The song is bare. It’s blunt. There are no code words. Many Americans have voted with their feet.
We are sick and tired of the hypocrisy on climate change, Covid and the vaccines that didn’t work but made executives of certain companies rich, trading a rigged game in the stock market, and plenty of other issues. I could make a mile-long list.
In Bari Weiss’s column today, she tries to spin the song and blame Establishment Republicans while letting Democrats off. Bari leans left. It’s important to remember that when reading The Free Press. It’s not some unbiased objective daily. It’s left of center.
For what it is worth, I think Establishment Republicans share the blame with Democrats.
Think about it this way. We saw Democrats actively trying to harness Big Tech to stop free speech in the last few years and did it with Big Tech’s willing participation in a lot of cases. They are trying to pass laws to tell us what to think and if you don’t believe me check out Michigan. The left says they don’t want to control your body because of abortion, but then see what they did doing Covid and want to do again. Ironic that this masking bullshit that didn’t work before is making an appearance ahead of an election year isn’t it? Don’t fall for it this time. The Democratic Party is all about control.
But, Weiss is correct to pin it on Establishment Republicans too. Is there a big difference between what Mike Pence’s worldview is and Joe Biden’s?
In Biden’s case, his crowd uses their “elite card-carrying” status with credentials and degrees to tell you what is good for you and then back it up using paid-for “scientific studies” and paid-for scientists.
In Pence’s case, his crowd twists Christianity and tortures it to say what’s best for people. They talk the Christian game to get in the door and appear well-meaning and empathetic but all they want is the same control the Biden people want. I might suggest to them that citizens give Caesar what is Caesar’s, but give Christ what is Christ’s.
The people who understand the ethos of the song think Caesar’s pants are far too big and while they are religious, they are cool if you aren’t.
There was an undercurrent of this movement in the form of Ronald Reagan. The problem was the religious right co-opted the movement and Reagan needed them to get elected. The Religious Right was so powerful even Democratic spouse Tipper Gore tried to placate them to win votes. In 1992, it was transparent that George Bush the First was a blue-blood establishment Republican, and the people who understood the “Rich Men North of Richmond” ethos voted for Ross Perot. That allowed Bill Clinton to win power and if you look at how wealthy the Clinton family is from The Clinton Foundation, you can see what he did with it. The Obama Family is no different in cashing in on the spoils from a career in politics.
I am reminded of that today as Joe the Plumber has passed away. If you don’t remember Joe the Plumber, Obama tried to persuade him on the campaign trail in 2008. Joe was having none of spreading the wealth around on the back of his labor. The elite Obama thought Joe would be an easy mark to persuade. The dumb McCain clumsily tried to integrate him into the campaign. McCain didn’t know what Joe was about either. Just like the song, Joe wound up in presidential debates back then. Joe himself said he was “blunt”.
You might recall after Obama got elected, there was a rant on CNBC by my friend Rick Santelli. It started the Tea Party. Establishment Republicans couldn’t have that. They harnessed the movement for themselves, selfishly. The Rich Men north of Richmond are very selfish.
Who did the Republicans pick as their standard bearer in 2012? Mitt Romney. No one could be more establishment with zero fight than Romney. He was so bad he couldn’t even take on Candy Crowley in the televised CNN debate when she bailed out Obama. Even when the country, and he, knew he was right. What a wimp.
That brings us to 2016.
Trump got what the song was about and no one understands it still. Trump was blunt. He didn’t do lawyer speak. He wasn’t always correct for sure, and he certainly grates on you. He isn't at all comforting but always confrontational and ready to fight. He doesn’t comport himself the way we see heads of state comport themselves.
But, please, don’t hold up shuffling, ice cream-eating, Joe Biden as an example of how to comport yourself as a head of state either.
Biden has made millions for himself by selling out his office. He exemplifies a Rich Man North of Richmond. It’s not just Ukraine. It’s plenty of other countries. Biden doesn’t meet them with a handshake. He meets them with a handout after they meet with someone else from his inner circle. In exchange for running and expanding the power of the office of the President, the hard leftists are using him like a Weekend At Bernie’s prop. He should be resigning if he had any decency. You might hate Nixon, but at least he was a decent man and resigned.
You are absolutely blind, or far too tolerant, if you don’t see it. No one can be that stupid. The tolerant ones are the ones that continue to vote for corrupt politicians because either they pick up the crumbs left behind or they are one-issue voters and that politician is with their view on that one issue.
After the first Republican debate, you get the feeling that DeSantis and Vivek grasp what the ethos of the song is. Nikki Haley was exactly where the bulk of the American people are on abortion, and every Republican ought to rehearse what she said on the topic exactly as she said it with the same tone. But, Ms. Haley is out of touch when it comes to other policies as they relate to the song.
There are plenty of Rich Men North of Richmond all over the United States. They serve their time in office calling it “public service” when really it is service to themselves. After they retire, they get lobbying jobs talking to their former pals in the halls of Congress, turning the “People’s House” into something else. A taxpayer money-grabbing machine that mills money for the lobbyists, their friends whom they represent, and the politicians that dole out the money via their patronage armies. How do you like paying their tab for them?
Every state has politicians from every level of government that do the exact same thing. Yesterday in Nevada it turns out the Democratic-run legislature gave money to a non-profit and a Democratic legislator who led the charge to fund the non-profit retired to a $250,000 a year job to be CEO of that non-profit. I am sure if you look, there is some local or state politician in your own state who has done the same thing. It’s an epidemic.
I don’t think the Presidential primaries are even close to decided. I think the bulk of the people are persuadable and what seems like solid support can be gone in an instant. But, the candidate who gets that support better be blunt, genuine, and authentic. They need to be themselves, not some consultant political prop for something else.
They also need to be on the side of the people, not the government. Because the people know the government is not on their side.
DeSantis has totally underwhelmed the opportunity. His light is going out. He can't run a national campaign.
Youngkin will be President one day if he wants to be.
Of course Trump can flip some states. Let's look at the margin of victory.
1. Biden won by a margin of 306 - 232 or 74 votes
2. The following states were in play and could be flipped with Biden losing votes alone:
Arizona, 11 EVs, won by 10,000 votes
Georgia, 16 EVs, won by 12,000 votes
Wisconsin, 10 EVs, won by 20,000 votes <<< with the addition or switch of 42,000 votes, Trump wins by gaining 37 EVs -- technically a tie
Pennsylvania, 20 EVs, 80,000 votes
Michigan, 16 EVs, 150,000 votes
In every instance above, the votes going to a 3rd party candidate are vastly more than the margin of victory, so the votes don't even have to come from Biden.
JLM
www.themusingsofthebigredcar.com
So, is it doable? Eminently and with the Pandemic voting rules stiffened, the "cheat" is far less productive.
Uniparty, Inc.
The cash flows shall not be interrupted.
The only DC “rule” that matters.