Jan
11
2024

Christie Probably Didn't Have This Rescue In Mind

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I had cued up commentary on a couple of "Christie should drop out" articles over the day yesterday. Well, to to bit bucket with 'em.

In (more) current news, Eric Boehm bids farewell: Chris Christie Tried To Break Trump's Hold on the GOP. It Didn't Work. A helpful reminder of why I never considered voting for him:

Don't get me wrong: Christie has always been a bullshitter. His political career depended more on his blustery personality than his policy accomplishments—and his track record as governor was far from libertarian. That stuff about how Republicans should believe in less government? He didn't exactly practice that approach when it came to, say, drug policy. And when Christie criticizes others for giving undue fealty to Trump, he's also indicting his own past self.

But that doesn't mean I won't need to hold my nose a little when I vote (probably for Nikki). Joe Lancaster notes she (and DeSantis) ain't exactly Profiles in Courage out there where the tall corn grows: Haley and DeSantis Pander to Iowans by Praising Ethanol Mandate.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley squared off tonight in the final debate before Monday's Iowa caucuses. Haley dinged DeSantis over his past support for ending a federal ethanol mandate. DeSantis denied that he had in fact supported ending the mandate. It would be nice if at least one candidate onstage would support scrapping it.

Sigh. What's a RINO like me to do?

Also of note:

  • Substack slides a little. Bryan Caplan has more on the ongoing saga 'of substack nazis: see the slip. Quoting the NBC story:

    The newsletter publisher Substack said Monday it had removed five publications that included incitements to violence, after weeks of pressure from writers who threatened to quit the platform over its refusal to remove Nazis and other white supremacists from its roster.

    Substack said that after a review, it had decided that the five publications had violated the company’s existing content rules, which prohibit content that incites violence based on protected classes.

    Bryan makes the observation I made a couple days back:

    As usual, Communists will not be treated like Nazis, apologists for Stalinism and Maoism will not be treated like Holocaust deniers, and cheerleaders for ongoing popular wars will not be accused of “inciting violence.” This is a power play, after all, not a philosophy seminar.

    The Nazis got far more attention from this publicity than they were ever able to gather on their own. In addition to the Slippery Slope, see the Streisand Effect