Evergreen Headline

Torn from anytime in my life:

The Experts Were Wrong About the Middle East

I love the intro:

There is a rare and growing bipartisan consensus in Congress about the need to smack Saudi Arabia with human-rights sanctions, or perhaps even tougher penalties, for its role in the death of Jamal Khashoggi, the journalist who walked into the Saudi consulate in Istanbul earlier this month but never walked out. Sanctions seem inevitable.

The only problem is that many of the same experts pushing for sanctions against Saudi Arabia have previously argued, in other contexts, that sanctions don’t work. That was the near-unanimous conclusion of top policy experts who supported the Obama administration’s decision to roll back sanctions on Iran, which had brought its economy to the brink of collapse, in exchange for a nuclear deal. It’s just one example of a broader trend: analysts suddenly discovering that the Middle East is more complex than they’d previously admitted.

The Washington Post, which now wants Saudi Arabia to pay a price for Khashoggi’s death, ran a piece just last year by Adam Taylor titled “Do Sanctions Work? The Evidence Isn’t Compelling.” Even the Post’s Jason Rezaian, who was held hostage by the Iranians and is now safely back in the United States, opposed more sanctions on Iran in a recent piece, arguing that they would only inflict more suffering on its population.

This logic is what prompted the Obama administration to engage the Iranian regime from a position of “mutual respect.” That was code for offering massive financial incentives in exchange for Iran dialing back its nuclear program. That effort began with cash payments to Iran for staying at the negotiating table. The administration then repealed sanctions in exchange for some tangible yet temporary nuclear concessions. For good measure, the Obama administration gave the Iranians more cash. That ultimately yielded a controversial nuclear deal, signed in 2015, that pressed pause on Iran’s mad dash for the bomb. Here’s the problem: By focusing exclusively on Iran’s nuclear problem, the deal effectively gave a green light to a range of other malign activity, like terrorism, missile proliferation, and support for other rogue states. In fact, that behavior only increased after the deal was signed.

That sort of policy—tying sanction relief to halting one problematic behavior, in a way that implicitly authorizes other misdeeds—is the last approach we want to apply to Saudi Arabia. And besides, it doesn’t really need the money.

We need to virtue-signal the hell out of them.

 

Comments

[Extraneus]

Who cares about Khashoggi, and why? I couldn't care less if the Saudis off'd their own Jim Acosta. They can have ours, too, for all I care.

I understand that people who supported the Iran deal would be against strengthening our alliance with the Saudis, but those people are enemies and want Israel nuked. What about Lindsey Graham and other Republicans like the doofus Romney calling for "withering" sanctions? Blow up the whole ME over this one MB scumbag? It's insane I tell you.

[henry]

It's not like anyone in the press has a single fact to go on. Anonymous Turkish sources, Muslim Brotherhood propagandists, and the usual swirl of anti US Dems and #NeverTrumps aren't convincing anymore. Where is their outrage at the dead former head of Interpol (ahem China owns these sources?).

[Extraneus]

Mnuchin still plans to attend Saudi anti-terror financing meeting: report

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has decided to take part in an anti-terror finance meeting with Saudi security officials and their Middle Eastern counterparts in Riyadh later this month, the Washington Post reported Friday. Mnuchin is opting to attend despite growing global outrage over the suspected murder of U.S.-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the hands of Saudi operatives, the Post said, citing people familiar with his Mnuchin's plans. The security gathering next week is separate from a Riyadh financial summit that Mnuchin announced on Thursday he would not attend.

[Stephanie, Nene, Not your Normal Grandma]

Mega Millions just hit a BILLION dollars.

[Jim Eagle]

Remember, you cannot insult a sociopath. Ignore and use Killfile.

Without a body, this Khashoggi kerfuffle is exactly that.

Steph,

I heard on Money Honey that coupled with a powerball ticket it is $1.4 billion. Think of the taxes on that:)

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

Amazing; a guy essentially takes over Saudi Arabia [admittedly still a not very nice guy, since nice guys finish dead last, emphasis on the dead, in the ME] who is undertaking numerous reforms virtually everyone in the West has long called for and has punished some of the most retrograde, corrupt and troublesome punks in the Kingdom and so we form a bipartisan consensus to destabilize a guy who is already in an extremely precarious position and who would unfailingly be followed up by a far less pleasant and far less accommodating tyrant.

Do we really need to try and do to SA what Barry tried to do to Egypt; replace an imperfect ally with a far worse enemy?

Does anyone in DC know how to play this game?

[henry]

Iggy, DC people play for the other team. e.g. John "I married my daughter to the Iranians" Kerry.

[Old Lurker]

Light bulb moment, Iggy. SAY. Let's trade that Shah guy for the little old preacher man in Paris.

[henry]

Instapundit.com Retweeted
DailyCaller's avatar
The Daily Caller @DailyCaller
20m

Billionaire @TomSteyer is directing another $2 million toward Tallahassee Mayor @AndrewGillum’s campaign for governor of Florida

[Stephanie, Nene, Not your Normal Grandma]

Yep, JiB. Powerball is not a shabby payout, either.

[glasater]

Just when Lindsay Graham seemed to have grown a spine..Kavenaugh..he has to come out all bipartisan(y) with the idiot Ds screaming for vengeance on SA.

UGH!

[Old Lurker]

My wife asked me last night what would change if we won a billion in the lottery.

My immediate response: "we will no longer have to drive the dogs back and forth on I-95 to Nantucket"; she instructed me to go buy some tickets.

[Bernardi Dr la paz]

Meanwhile in the Iranian republic things are melting down, crickets

[henry]

narc, Chitown Lurker sent you this thread from a guy named Heshmat that follows events in Iran:

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1052549218164830208.html

[Bernardi Dr la paz]

Thanks, it used to be Thomas wictor had a bead on him.

[jimmyk]

I thought the Codevilla piece was 99% spot on. It was no doubt longer than it needed to be, and I found myself skimming. I like the historical parallels he provided. My only nitpicks would be that while his critical analysis of Trump (in the section Trump?), such as

Trump’s rousing speeches feed the body politic as empty calories feed the human body. Bluster followed by surrender has political legs both short and shaky. Trump’s tone has lifted his constituencies’ expectations. But tone does not give substance to public opinion, poses but a flimsy barrier to the ruling class’s concerted power, and does not begin to satisfy constituencies threatened by the ruling class machine that came of age in the anti-Kavanaugh campaign.

is accurate, it comes off a bit more harsh than is warranted. Trump is waging a war with limited resources, and from a difficult starting position, and surely has to pick his battles.

Also, if he'd tweaked it a bit I think it could reach the few sane Democrats, as much of his analysis is non-ideological, and is critical of both Ds and Rs. But as written it will probably only find an audience among conservatives.

[henry]

Olivia Beavers @Olivia_Beavers
43m

Nellie Ohr has invoked marital privilege in House Judic and Pversight interview per Dem lawmaker. Says that is standard

[Old Lurker]

Jimmy "if he'd tweaked it a bit I think it could reach the few sane Democrats,"

That would require a good bit of editing time for an audience rapidly dwindling to near zero.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

Any Dem who remains with that pack of New Left creeps is neither sane nor worth appealing to, IMO, jimmy.

However agree with you on his assessment of Trump.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and not expecting to get hit in the head with a bike lock.

[maryrose]

Henry:
Recent polls have him on a downward trend.
More wasted money.Watch out for fraud here.

[matt - deplore me if you must]

Trump is leading the Resistance to the #Resistance and they don't like it one bit. he mocks them. He points out their failures and he points out his successes to roaring crowds; this in a mid-term cycle.

Those same people are fired up to go out and vote and speak out for those who cannot or will not.

I only hope that Trump finds the time to do a rally in So Canada another in BakO. I think he could tip the races.

I think you could buy the I-95 and call it the Donald A. Trump Thruway with that kind of money. Imagine the agita of the libs as they drive from Boston to DC.

[maryrose]

Nellie Ohr and marital privledge.
Lock her up until hubby gives her permission to talk.

[maryrose]

Brexit—90 percent done except for the Irish question.
That’s right(sarcasm here) blame the Irish again.
What is holding it up?

[maryrose]

Henry:
Does Baldwin get Re-elected?

[henry]

EU doing whatever it is EU does:

Don Draper @DonDraperClone
4m

French lawmakers propose bill to ban the mocking of regional accents.

https://twitter.com/DonDraperClone/status/1053323898564026376

[henry]

maryrose, doesn't look good for Baldwin. Nobody splits tickets anymore, and Walker is ahead. So Vukmir will win with Walker and visa versa.

[Thomas Collins]

My take on l'affaire Khashoggi is as follows:

-Of course MBS had Khashoggi offed. As Machiavelli understood, any leader trying to institute new modes and orders must act ruthlessly at times.

-MBS underestimated world reaction. I suspect this is the case because MBS may not understand the depths to which Oligarch Media will stoop to undermine Trump. Oligarch Media views this as a chance to undercut the Saudi/Israeli/US alliance against Iran.

-I think Trump so far is playing this well. Talk tough, have Pompeo tell MBS a scapegoat must be found, hold Mnuchin back from Davos in the Desert, pressure Saudis to punish the scapegoat in some manner (bummer for the scapegoat), and life will go on.

Meanwhile, for a case that deserves far more attention from Oligarch Media than it is getting, see this link:

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/pakistani-woman-convicted-blasphemy-awaits-verdict-death-sentence-n921501

[henry]

Party lever? I haven't seen one in quite a while. Just each candidate is labelled with an R or D, and people don't mix votes anymore. Something less than 1% since the Act 10 and recalls are split ballots.

[henry]

The point many miss is that WI went through the us vs them thing in 2011 with the progs at peak rage through the 2014 elections (and last of the recalls). The progs still rage, just without national backing. Voting is existential defense for us.

[Tom R]

Of course MBS had Khashoggi offed.

What threat did Khashoggi present that would call for an assassination in a public manner that made it easy for MBS' political opponents to point the finger of blame back at MBS?

Since Khashoggi was allied with the members of the Saudi royal family (the ones allied with the Globalists and DC Establishment) that MBS had incarcerated for several weeks, what is the possibility one of MBS's enemies in the royal family decided to have Khashoggi killed to implicate MBS?

[maryrose]

Henry:
That is very good news.

[Bernardo de la paZ]

He is getting his hat handed to him, he is former beeb so:

https://mobile.twitter.com/IanPannell/status/1053052092917649408

[GUS]

Maryrose, I want to see Baldwin go down in flames.
She is the biggest hack I've ever seen, who wasn't elected because of "color".
She has a commercial here, where she is happily walking thru the park, with a married hubbie and wife and a couple of cute kids.
Must be their lesbian aunt or sumpting.
She has a commercial that says LEAH VUIKMIR wants to end healthcare coverage for "Anyone who has ever been sick". Leah Vuikmir is a NURSE. And still practices. Leah is a tough cookie, but a GREAT WISCONSIN ASSET. Of course, I know her.

[daddy on iPad]

speaking of crap headlines...

Headline at The Hill:

"Mueller report PSA: Prepare for disappointment"

Those sonsuvbitches ought to be shot for such a headline. it refers to trump haters being disappointed, as if those are the only people who matter. Why not,"Prepare for Elation" instead of "Prepare for disappointment?" Rotten press bastards.

[Extraneus]

No kidding, daddy. Talk about making the MRC highlight reel.

[Extraneus]

No kidding, daddy. Talk about making the MRC highlight reel.

[Bernardo de la paZ]

What did they say falsus en unum:

https://mobile.twitter.com/EmreUslu/status/1053295084337283072

[JM Hanes]

If that's Codevilla's assessment of Trump, I'd say he's way off. It sounds like pretty much everybody else who opines on the Prez without understanding him, or what he's doing or what he's accomplishing.

Ignatz:

"That would require a good bit of editing time for an audience rapidly dwindling to near zero."

I completely disagree with you. In fact, I consider that a rightwing conceit which lets them out of having to make any effort to engage the left or even the middle. Most of my family have taken to voting Democrat, but among them there are at least 4 potential persuadables, and only one who has anything remotely a socialist outlook, but who is not, in fact, anti-capiltalist. They are mostly well-intentioned social liberals (as am I), who are not consumed by politics. They have genuine concerns, they are not idiots, and being treated as the enemy, being blasted as evil beings who want to destroy the Republic, along with a lot of the other hyperbolic rhetoric typical of this site does as little bring them over to our side as it does when progressives assault our motives in like fashion.

Has anyone here even bothered to try to engage a potential ally today? Complaining about scarcity if you haven't even looked around you is a bit much.

You, in the general sense, here.

[jimmyk]

Meanwhile, for a case that deserves far more attention from Oligarch Media than it is getting

If only that poor woman had been able to get a gig at WaPo before getting arrested. That seems to be the ticket to getting any attention from the media.

[jimmyk]

JMH, that was OL, though Iggy was also skeptical.

I don't know how many are persuadable, and part of me wants to see the Ds go down in flames. But I think there are some--in the electorate if not in power--who see how bad all this "resistance" crap is for the country. I know in speaking with my own nutty parents and sibs, that is the tack I take, as there's no point in arguing ideology.

[Jim Eagle]

Been a lot of press about vulnerable GOP seats in the House. Anyone know a good source that shows us the vulnerable Dem seats in the House?

[GUS]

JHM, in real life, I engage with POTENTIAL converts all the time. I do not use CAPS LOCK language or volume. It's quite fun. Most of the hard core FULL COMMIES, who don't know that they are HARD CORE FULL COMMIES, get flustered and use NAUGHTY LANGUAGE. I ask them to have a NICE DAY, and then I say.
GOD BLESS YOU.

[JohnS]

JM Hanes, I hear what you are saying about persuadable Democrats, but I think that commenters here are not addressing those Democrats. There are plenty of crazy evil Democrats to yell about. The persuadable ones are not paying much attention and so do not hear the condemnation.
The Democrats in my family haven't liked Trump from the beginning and aren't listening to the news of his accomplishments.

[JM Hanes]

jimmk:

Thanks for the correction. Apologies to both Old Lurker and Ignatz for the misattribution, at 1:08 PM.

That said, I could just as easily have bee replying to Ignatz comment that:

"Any Dem who remains with that pack of New Left creeps is neither sane nor worth appealing to, IMO, jimmy."

[Old Lurker]

JMH, don't yell at Iggy for my snark!

He gets in enough trouble by himself.

[henry]

.

[henry]

This will get a cheer at the Trump AZ rally:

Benny @bennyjohnson

BREAKING AP: Thousands strong migrant caravan headed toward US border has TURNED BACK at the Mexico-Guatemala frontier.

Trump had threatened to cut all funding to countries that aided the caravan in getting to the US border.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

Any sane Dem remaining should either purge the party of the insane left or, if that proved impossible, leave it.
Were I in a party owned and run by rabid totalitarians I'm not sure I could see any other honorable alternative.

[Extraneus]

I saw that Jimmuh leaned on the temperament argument, lyle.

[Old Lurker]

All of the persuadable, reasonable, open minded people I know don't speak to me anymore.

:-)

[Extraneus]

"Whether or not [Kavanaugh] attempted to rape [Christine Blasey Ford], I thought he was temperamentally unfit to serve on the Supreme Court because of his outburst during the hearing," Carter said, according to video taken by a student during his remarks. "I saw him lose his cool."

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/jimmy-carter-kavanaugh-is-unfit-to-be-a-supreme-court-justice/ar-BBOyDj5?OCID=ansmsnnews11

[Old Lurker]

Ext "I saw that Jimmuh leaned on the temperament argument, lyle."

That always seemed to me to be the cowards' way out.

[JM Hanes]

Trying to fix the unclosed tag. Sorry!

Glad to hear it, GUS!

JohnS:

Unfortunately, we spend so little time on trying to broaden our own potential constituency. They are the very people who are responsible for the dramatic shift in polling numbers in the wake of the Kavanaugh hearings, and we need to be thinking about how to prolong and stabilize such changes when they occur.

[jimmyk]

I should amend my 1:11. All of me wants to see the Dems go down in flames. The question is whether it's better for the country if the D party remains hard left insane (and nonetheless occasionally wins an election) or returns to being the party of Truman, Scoop Jackson, etc. That's a harder question.

[Old Lurker]

What sort of "man" would watch his wife, daughters, family, and self be attacked wrongly would NOT lose his cool?

What good to society would any such "man" be?

Go swat attack rabbits in the river, Jimmy.

[JM Hanes]

The temperament argument is a variation of the motive based assault. If a politican is doing all the right things, you attack him for his putatively unacceptable motives. It's calorie-free politics.

[GUS]

Ig, I think that DEMOCRATS should be kicked. We should get in their face at restaurants, at gas stations at department stores. We should scare old people and wear black masks, swing bike locks, smash windows. We should encourage people to vote 3 times and to carry batons to scare liberals in Conservative voting areas, we should be UNCIVIL to them, and we should, bleeeet and scratch at the doors and windows of PLANNED PARENTHOOD, then we should go down to Demotard Offices in "urban" areas and spray paint, fire bomb and/or threaten them. Then when they decide to have BASEBALL PRACTICE we should get some NUT to shoot them.

Aren't those the rules now???

Oh and we should accuse ALL OF THEM of gang raping young girls and women.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

Seems like it's a variation of the bully argument; sucker punch a guy and then when he pushes back, alert the teacher, point at the punchee and summon some crocodile tears.

[Neo]

Driving thru PA-1 ...
Now, there is a sign ...

Gabby Giffords endorses Brian Fitzgerald

... down the road from the AFL-CIO endorses BF

Egad ... Democrats endorsing a Republican over Bob Wallace (D)

[jimmyk]

The temperament argument is really just shifting goalposts. "We couldn't nail him on the gang rape stuff, so let's find something else."

[henry]

TM having fun on twitter:

Tom Maguire @Tom_Maguire
29s

I think Hillarity SHOULD run in 2020. That way the Democrat who beats her will gain cred as a giant-killer, although "excorcist" would be more appropriate.

[Another Bob]

Nothing I can add to the Khashoggi (sp?) story that hasn't already been said.

I'd like to see Trump start mentioning:

1. What's up with a guy who looks a lot like a terrorist (pictured carrying a machine gun and is MB-associated, not looks like an Arab) ending up with a WaPo byline.

2. Thinly-sourced (when sourced at all) Fake News "reporting" will not drive US foreign policy decisionmaking. Especially when the sources appear to be parties with an interest in disrupting the relationship between KSA and USA.

I think he's mishandled the public statements. Should have led with #2, and that we'd act only after we're satisfied we understand the facts. Then mention #1 as a really good reason why we ought not be rushing to judgment, and certainly not on anything being "reported" by WaPo.

[Jim Eagle]

Has anyone here even bothered to try to engage a potential ally today?

JMH,

Every liberal/left winger/Democrat I know are un-engageable. In fact, on FB, they are batshit crazy. One is the lesbian mother of one of Frederick's first friends when he was in middle-school here in Southampton. Another, is the guy I replaced as President of our school board in Florida. Another is an ex-relationship long before getting married.

I cannot think of any possible argument or persuasive opinions that could ever make a dent in their logic, ideology, or thinking. Like, pagar, I don't understand how anyone can vote for today's Dems. Back in the day, we had the yellow dogs, the Scoop Jackson, and the Zell Miller Dems. Not anymore. Possibly Manchin is closest but by a mile not a foot.

[Ralph L]

The first few paragraphs had me blinking

It is thick from Thucydides. And full of "it."

[Kevlar Kid]

"Has anyone here even bothered to try to engage a potential ally today? Complaining about scarcity if you haven't even looked around you is a bit much."

Hi JOM.

Just got back from St Paul MN.

We can only plant seeds. Persuasion is a pipe dream when it comes to influencing personal political views. That's my experience and my opinion.

Seed planting is asking the right questions which have answers realized in a not-too-distant-future.

Had dinner with College Man's girlfriend at her family home in St Paul.

Mrs Kid forewarned re their anti-trump politics.

Dinner was saturated with it. i rope-a-dope in those situations. (Here on JOM i kick over furniture and cuss a lot. In those dinner situations i am the consummate guest and conversationalist.)

Most of the talk was around the local congressional race and how the "millenial" vote had raised $4M in 10 days.

i introduced the Beto fundraising in TX and the GA governor's race: out of state funds with the broke DNC being a non-factor since Hillary.

So where was this money really coming from? "That's what i'm trying to understand."

While i had their attention i added: "Also trying to understand why the #MeToo movement isn't backing Keith Ellison's girlfriend and her evidence-based allegations. Any ideas?"

these folks are loving, kind, hospitable good people. the girlfriend worked for the Dem candidate over summer and knows the campaign and the race.

she said she assumed the money was being raised in the district, but didn't know it for a fact.

re Ellison, they were flummoxed. no one brought up Kavanaugh, but their furrowed brows suggested a conflict about the twofer Ellison (black and moslem) who is teflon-coated at dinner tables in MN.

i can only ask questions. the one i asked in mid-October 2016 to a room full of Hillary backers: "So what will happen when she loses?" They are still talking about that one, as i've been told by the host of that soiree.

Have Great Weekends!

[simpleton]

Well, the left is good at projection. Recall that accused Palin of triggering Jared Loughner based on her bulls eye ad while we have Maxine Waters, Cankles and Holder expressly state to being uncivil.

Funny that the MSM castigates us deplorables for chanting lock her up, which is our way of saying that instead of us mirroring the Dem actions and engaging in vigilante justice, we expect TRump to re-establish the rule of law and prosecute Clinton for her high crimes and misdemeanors.

The difference is that the dems call their useful idiots to act while us deplorables want the government act as our agent to establish an equiable rule of law.

[maryrose]

JMH:
Agree wholeheartedly with your post.
I experience the same reactions from some friends but I try to educate them not condemn them.
It is the same measure that judges Senators:
Graham - Kavanaugh - hero
Graham- Khashoggi and SA- sanctions- - 🐐
Quoting 2 year old statements as if that represents current thinking.
Unwilling to give the benefit of a doubt to potential new senators.
McSally wasn’t a President Trump cheerleader, but because we need a Repub in that seat she doesn’t get criticized here that much.She has evolved her position but apparently other Repub senators with potential to win a seat in the midterms cannot evolve or subsequently support the President.
Sasse gets continuous grief here but by golly , he always ends up voting the right way.

[Extraneus]

The temperament argument is really just shifting goalposts.

Also a warning to the next nominee.

"When we attack you, you'll say 'Yes, sir, or Yes, Ma'am.'"

[JohnS]

Iggy: "Any sane Dem remaining should either purge the party of the insane left or, if that proved impossible, leave it.
Were I in a party owned and run by rabid totalitarians I'm not sure I could see any other honorable alternative."

I guess you are talking here about party officials or activists. A member of my family who votes Dem mostly because of abortion gets news from Good Morning America and NYT news feeds. From that perspective, there is no mob violence or other outrageous behavior. Where is it featured? So hating Trump feels right from the ABC/NYT perspective, and no conscience-checking is necessary.

[Thomas Collins]

Not much chance, in my view, Tom R. As an insider with ties to MBS's opponents, and a darling of the DC crowd, Khashoggi presented a threat to MBS. MBS has certainly shown a willingness to do the necessary to accomplish his goals. What better way to send a message to his opponents that even an insider isn't immune to termination with extreme prejudice?

If this was a rogue operation by MBS's enemies, it sure was professionally done. Efficient entry, no sign of body bits and facile exit from Turkey. If the anti-MBS elements in Saudi's intelligence and national security apparatus are that strong, MBS would be gone by now, in my opinion.

Hopefully by 7/1/2020, this affair and who is playing what D chess with whom in back and forth between Team Trump and the Resistance will be more clear. At that point, whether my predictions are right or wrong, I'm treating everyone to dinner and top shelf wine and liquor at L'Espalier with OL's funds!

[Kevlar Kid]

"All of the persuadable, reasonable, open minded people I know don't speak to me anymore."

OL----> you can betcher ass they're still speaking ABOUT you, eh? ;) Kev

[Bernardi Dr la paz]

Well we know he went into the consulate, that's all we can reasonable conclude,

[Old Lurker]

:-) Kev

[Extraneus]

I think the Khashoggi thing will blow over as soon as the next story hits. Just a matter of days.

[Old Lurker]

Actually, a better version of that quote of mine would be:

"All of the persuadable, reasonable, open minded people I know...aren't"

[Miss Marple]

One of these days I am going to do an in-depth analysis of one of Trump's rally speeches.

I will say the following:-

1. They are not full of anger. They do point out egregious examples of democrat actions, such as the attack on Kavanaugh and the blocking of Obamacare repeal and immigration reform, which I think are valid election issues. It's not like the other side didn't call us deplorable, after all.

2. He spends a lot of time talking about his accomplishments. ( The press calls this bragging.). However, since no one reports on his accomplishments, he has to talk about it himself.

3. He often foreshadows things which may turn up in the news. Last night he mentioned Benghazi for example. I haven't heard that talked about anywhere until the journalist disappeared, when some people compared the recent rage in the WaPo to their shoulder-shrugging over the 4 killed in Benghazi.

4. He frames everything as a movement and talks in terms of "we" and "us".

5. People actually love the guy. I know this is hard for people like George Will to comprehend, but they really do. This is very important, as these are the people who will actually go vote because he has asked them to do so to help him.

[Ralph L]

The best we can do may be to persuade some liberals not to vote in some races. And there's still the mushy, uninformed middle.

[simpleton]

I always wonder who is next in line on the totem pole and who gets to call the shots. CH, complains about Renacci as an uninspiring candidate and question of why Jordan did put his hat in the ring although speaker of house may be more powerful than just a senator. Also Kelly the Erie PA congressman would have been a better candidate than Barletta. It seems that Thr crony chamber of commerce still makes the choices and Kasich gains if Renacci flops since Trump carried Ohio by 9 points. Kasich may be sabotaging Renacci to show that Trump is not that popular.

[boris]

"If the anti-MBS elements in Saudi's intelligence and national security apparatus are that strong, MBS would be gone by now, in my opinion"

MBS might be on his way out already.

But remember Victoria Flame ran an anti Bush/Cheney op that brought down Scooter, but not Bush.

FBI and CIA ran anti-Trump ops and he's still POTUS (so far).

I don't think your logic is very compelling as a basis for inference.

[Kevlar Kid]

TO JiB's point re engaging would-be allies...

i'm engaging in a phone text exchange with a physician who resides in a tony burb in New Jersey.

she was a student in my undergraduate anthro courses. we stayed in touch. she was a seething liberal when she graduated.

right before the 2016 election she contacted me and asked if i'd think she was a sell out for not voting Hillary.

she pulled the lever for Trump and then she read the "Art of". She has not looked back. "He has serious game."

so now the text exchange is me setting out links and careful suggestions about why things are heading where they are heading with re to things like Kashoggy, Kavanaugh, the Russia Probe etc etc....

she's voting straight conservative in the mid-terms. but 2 years in she's still "wookin puh nub" from the mainstream media. maybe by 2020 ramp up she'll be consuming more reliable, less agitating sources.

other than that, it's a wasteland out there as far as allies are concerned.

come-to-Jesus moments are rare and deeply personal. but #WalkAway has increased my faith in that continuing on a significant scale.

Have Great Weekends!

[Kevlar Kid]

Dem party apparatchiks will, sooner or later, gross out certain key elements of their base who are no longer invested in the old "let me throw my underwear at the wall and see what sticks" approach to mob politics.

[maryrose]

Simpleton:
Interesting questions.
Ohio is weird about their senators.
Portman was ok to replace Voinovichbecsuse both were Repubs.
We had John Glenn and Howard Metzenba as Drm senators for years.
The east side of Cleveland is Dem until you get to Amish country to the south.
Farm country is Repub but you still have Dem strongholds in Columbus and Cincinnati.
It was always going to be an uphill slog for Renacci.
Turnout is vital in all states

[Kevlar Kid]

my money would bet on CashHoggy showing up somewhere down the line as a MoBros operative...reconstructive surgery the works.

Too much Black List :D

[jimmyk]

I think he's got it all figured out:

Omri Ceren
‏@omriceren

Brett Kavanaugh was present at a June 2016 meeting between 4 Trump campaign officials and 7 Kremlin officials that lasted 17 minutes, at which Kavanaugh personally configured a server so Putin could send Trump coded messages, according to Turkish media sources.

[Thomas Collins]

However compelling or non-compelling my logic is or is not, boris, I think it at least recognizes what is right in front of us, namely, that there was a smooth operation carried out by trained operatives to take out an opponent of the current maximum operational domo in Saudi Arabia. We may never know for sure whether MBS knew, because plausible deniability is a key aspect of such an operation. The logic that strikes me as less compelling is that of a rogue intelligence operation lead by the top intelligence chief to MBS. But then again, I am one of the ones here who apparently doesn't understand multidimensional chess.

[boatbuilder]

Screw the "temperament" argument.

Hey, Jimmah, guess what? He is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court and you are a loser ex-president with the poorest reputation of any ex-president. He doesn't care what you think of his temperament, and neither do I.

[simpleton]

As this great video on Gettysburg reveals that the equation on war is resources times will and if the will is zero no matter that you have unlimited resources, you are going to lose https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrXxz4iniRs

The uniparty thought they had crushed the tea party in 2012 with Obama's reelection but the deplorables are woke and all the fundraising by the dems will not help since it is their side that has lost its will or believed the Mash song that Suicide is painless and that there supposedly no winners or losers.
So we will see which side shows up on Tuesday November 6, 2018.

[Eye Doctor .]

It's all about not being able to irrefutably connect the dots!

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

--I guess you are talking here about party officials or activists.--

Mostly I'm engaging in hyperbole.
There are definitely Democrats who are not evil progs, as Kev has demonstrated. They are instead unthinking, clueless Dems-by-DNA.
And asking questions that jolt them from their clueless slumber is the best way to engage them.

[Miss Marle]

Kev,

I have 4 siblings. The Catholic schoolteacher, now retired, went GOP due to Bill Clinton. She was actually hopeful he would be thrown out during impeachment. She couldn't get over his abuse of power, from Monica Lewinsky to dealings with China.

Nurse sister converted when Obamacare passed. She saw it up close and personal, with too many people suddenly having high deductibles and crippling premiums.

These two sisters both switched parties over issues that meant something to them.

Both of them are serious supporters of Teump. I didn't have to convert them.

My brother is a retired union craftsman and his wife is a professional who is aligned with the Dems. No talking with them and I won't try, as my brother argues exactly like my dad, with lots of yelling.

My retired retail manager sister will not accept that Trump has done anything good. Neither will my daughter. They get news from NPR, CNN, and NBC.

It is a personal trigger point which has to be reached, as you said.

[derwill]

MM, he’s also brilliant at labeling in a way that sticks because the labels have a kernel of truth in them that can’t be denied if you’re halfway sane. Labeling the Dems as a mob was brilliant because the average guy in middle America cannot help but look at what went on during the Kavanaugh fiasco and see a mob and then they’re going to start asking themselves is this the country I want to live in with this mob running things.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

If it was Saudis as Turkey claims, ambushing him in their own consulate to me is kind of the opposite of a smooth operation.

[Jim Eagle]

What $175 Million buys you in Southampton (Water Mill). Its the old Ford family estate. About a mile east of me. Have actually been there for a charity event. Not in the house, in a tent complex pitched on the property.

30 Jule Lane:

https://patch.com/new-york/southampton/175m-mansion-new-york-s-most-expensive-home-sale

Video tour at the link.

[Eye Doctor .]

Nothing 4d about this

Her hand should have been forced a long time ago!

BREAKING: Nellie Ohr Invokes Marital Privilege Preventing Her From Answering Questions About Talks With Her Husband Bruce Ohr

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2018/10/breaking-nellie-ohr-invokes-marital-privilege-preventing-her-from-answering-questions-about-talks-with-her-husband-bruce-ohr/

[Tom R]

that there was a smooth operation carried out by trained operatives to take out an opponent of the current maximum operational domo in Saudi Arabia

Smooth operation? If that was true they would have picked somewhere besides the consulate to conduct the hit and there would be zero evidence pointing back to MBS. In terms of professional assassins these guys come across as incompetent.

[Thomas Collins]

Best place to slice and dice K-man and not put any innocents in danger, Ignatz. Smoother than a street assassination or even a Vlad Putin poisoning. What was not smooth was MBS's thinking that this wouldn't create a scheissstorm.

[Eye Doctor .]

Thus, dots being tough to connect.

Theories abound

[Eye Doctor .]

Whomever did it!

[Bernardi Dr la paz]

Now in greaneys back blast, there was an actual tiger team by the base chief of general intelligence, who had a grudge against court gentry, they were camouflaged in dc police uniforms,

Most of the members of the tiger team might have been handy with mp 5s or fn pistols but that's not what would be required in a rendition hold him and give him a shot of something, note what some discrepancies have been seen in what mit provider the papers.