The Daly Weekly (7/3)

The democratic socialist wave, Tina Peters, Jared Polis, and more.

Hi everyone.

Welcome to this week’s Daly Weekly, where I answer whatever questions you throw my way.

Before we get started this week, I’d like to invite you all to Reagan Caucus Action’s new Substack. I co-host their weekly podcast, on which we feature a different guest every week to discuss numerous issues from a Reaganite perspective.

It’s totally free, and you can sign up here (I hope you do):

Now, let’s get to your questions…

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Do you believe many are leaning towards socialism and communism to counter the extreme aggressiveness from the MAGA folks, viewing them as hateful, apathetic, hard core and strict? It seems it's a psychological reaction to negative emotions and polar opposites. Do you see this chain of events an opportunity for the Muslim faith to appear more appealing to young Americans? Mayor Mamdani of NY is already pushing Islamic faith in his speeches and twisting the true history of Mohammad. He's preaching to low information and low educated voters. — Sharon H.

Just politically speaking, I think it does play a role, Sharon, in the sense that we’ve had these very big swings of the political pendulum, in which both major political parties reliably learn the wrong lessons from painful election losses, and think the answer is to become more radicalized and populist (rather than smarter and more solutions-focused).

I don’t see the Muslim faith becoming a big beneficiary of this, but I am worried about antisemitism becoming more mainstream in our culture — and not just on the Left. I also worry about the further degradation of our nation’s institutions, the U.S. Constitution, the rule of law, and economic literacy. Neither party is sufficiently defending or advocating for these things, and that ain’t good.

John: Since you will be answering questions on the eve of our nation's 250th anniversary, I would like to get out of the politics of the day. Without naming a president, who is your favorite, most-admired American all-time? Call him/her the GOAT, stars-and-stripes version. Some say Ben Franklin. My most admired is probably Thomas Sowell, who is certainly my favorite living American. — Steve R.

My most-admired American of all time? Yikes. I’d expend far too much brain power (and probably give myself a stroke) trying to come up with a single name, Steve, but I will describe the type of American I admire the most.

Former Republican Senator Margaret Chase Smith famously said: “The right way is not always the popular and easy way. Standing for right when it is unpopular is a true test of moral character.”

Doing the morally right thing, and speaking truth to power — especially when it’s difficult and requires personal sacrifice — is probably what I admire most in people. I can think of a number of individuals throughout American history who fit that bill, and even a few from our current political era, believe it or not (though they’ve nearly all been run out of politics for doing it).

I’ve noticed a pattern on this website. Whenever someone in the comment section accuses you of being a “fake” conservative: 1) You ask them to define what conservatism is. 2) They refuse to, and just call you a name or tell you to shut up. LOL. Do they really not know what conservatism is? — Ben G.

Yeah, I’ve noticed that too, Ben. And you pose a good question. As I told one of those commenters this week, many people on the political right have unfortunately redefined conservatism as just being pro-Trump, and/or hating Democrats. It seems they no longer understand (or perhaps never knew) how conservatism was commonly understood for decades on the Right, right up until Donald Trump entered politics.

It’s a shame, because our country could really use some Reagan conservatism right about now.

Do you think your Democratic governor Jared Polis regrets giving clemency to Tina Peters to work whatever backdoor deal he worked with Trump? She’s been making him look like a fool by doing the opposite of showing contrition for her crimes, and even taking a victory lap at the White House. — Alex D.

I’m not sure, Alex, in part because it’s not clear what Polis even got for freeing her. But the decision is clearly shaping up to be his legacy as Colorado’s governor, and he can’t be happy about that. And now, even more attention is being drawn to his decision with the revelation that clemency board members unanimously advised him against granting Peters clemency. He overruled them, and then he fired them when they went public with their advisement.

From my perspective, what Polis did was a quite bad. Peters did the crime, illegally interfering in our election process. She should have done the time.

Sir John: Your discussion with Sir Bernie regarding the rise of the Democratic Socialists (read: America-Hating Communists) is rather disturbing. I admit that I am one of those people who voted for Trump only because I despise the left wing Dems for being so much worse for the nation and I see the Trump Wing as the lesser of two evils although I don’t see the MAGA people as evil. Why not? Because the MAGAs DO NOT HATE America whereas the progressive left DOES! Speaking only for myself, although I suspect that others may agree, the conservative Republican Party allowed the Trump wing so much control because people like DeSantis & Rubio got bullied by MAGA voters into possibly getting voted out, thus ushering in the Trump wing. However I don’t understand why the moderate Dem voters allowed the woke progressives to take over THEIR party! Schumer & Pelosi (and whether he wants to admit it or not) Bill Maher USHERED these people into the mainstream of the party. Was it the flip side of the moderate Republican voters who despise the left, shared by moderate Dems who despise Trump, thinking they could use the woke progs while keeping them on a leash? As Michael York asked about the NAZIs of one of the “Good Germans” in the movie “Cabaret”—-“Still think you can control them?” Seriously what the hell did the moderate Dems THINK would happen by nurturing the America-hating woke progs? — “Declaring Independence From The Extremists” regards from The Emperor

Before I get to the meat of your question, Emperor, let me push back a little on something you wrote in your buildup: “the MAGAs DO NOT HATE America.”

I largely agree with that, especially in regard to voters. But lets look at the leader of that movement for a minute: Donald Trump. I believe an individual has to have a certain level of disdain for America in order to try and overturn the results of a U.S. election (our nation’s very system of democracy) to stay in power. I believe denying our country of its peaceful transfer of power is illustrative of the same thing. One could argue the same point about reflexively and repeatedly drawing moral equivalence between our country and oppressive regimes like those of Russia and North Korea, or the weaponization of our Justice Department to punish scores of political opponents, or trying to loot billions of dollars from the U.S. Treasury (along with countless other acts of using the office for self-enrichment).

So, when I hear someone say they voted for Trump because the other side hates America, I find that argument totally uncompelling. Republicans had opportunity after opportunity to move on from Trump after he tried to overturn U.S. democracy, and support individuals who have a clear, patriotic high-ground over the progressive left. The party and its base repeatedly chose not to.

Anyway, as for the Democratic takeover by increasingly progressive/socialist candidates, I offered my views on this topic above, in my answer to Sharon (as well as to Bernie in this week’s No BS Zone). I’ll just add that if relatively moderate Democrats think that letting radical outsiders into their tent (and tolerating/pacifying them) won’t lead to a cannibalization of their party and its platform, they haven’t been paying attention to recent history.

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Thanks everyone! You can send me questions for next week by leaving a comment in the comment section.