Welcome to another week of The Runback. Have you been enjoying The Duckpin? Do you have comments or suggestions? Do you want to write for us? Let me know at theduckpin@gmail.com. And please be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. Thanks in advance.
News and Politics
Beyond Conservatism? Why are some conservatives pushing ideologies that sound like fascism? Because that’s not conservatism.
A Clarifying Moment for Choice in Education: This episode shows why families in America need more educational autonomy, not less.
Never Go Full Commie: Pennsylvania's Lt. Governor embraces the hammer and sickle.
Has COVID-19 Killed Off the Kirwan Commission's $32 billion Spending Plan?: Will Maryland teachers union and their Democratic allies acknowledge COVID-19 budget realities?
Entertainment
An Interview With Iroquois History And Legends podcast hosts: Caleb and Andrew Cotter: Taking a deep dive into one of the best history podcasts around.
The Five Burner Accounts You Will Meet in Hell: If you ever are unfortunate enough to run into one of these popular burner choices online, don’t fret.
Coming Soon
The Duckpin Podcast is coming this September! Subscribe now on Apple Podcast, YouTube, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcast content.
Shameless Plug
My column from last Friday’s edition of The Capital on how MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred is ruining baseball.
The Monday Thought
Had I written this column on Friday, I would have written solely on how Donald Trump got a re-election gift from the state of New York.
In case you hadn’t heard, New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a lawsuit on Thursday seeking to dissolve the National Rifle Association over claims of decades of abuse by NRA leaders, including NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre, for personal enrichment. Since the NRA was chartered as a non-profit organization in New York, James is using New York’s state courts and charity laws to try and take out the organization.
There are a few different things to point out in this lawsuit. One is that there is little doubt that the NRA got too big for its britches. Instead of trying to focus on gun rights, LaPierre and the NRA’s leadership decided it wanted to try and prioritize the futures of the Republican Party. With electing Republicans as a focus, it’s no wonder that the NRA’s position on gun issues drifting leftward over time.
But secondly, there is the vast overreach of Attorney General James with her pursuit of damages. Instead of trying to punish those accused of profiting, James is seeking to wipe out the entire organization. How does that benefit New York taxpayers or NRA members? How are their interests moved forward by dissolving the NRA? It doesn’t. But it does take the NRA off of the political table.
And that’s why this lawsuit plays directly into the hands of the Trump Campaign. The message framing is simple; Democrats are trying to take out the NRA. Help me defend gun rights.
I even went as far as to say that the lawsuit was going to get Trump re-elected.
But of course, the President always finds a way to grab defeat from the jaws of victory.
Exhibit A:
Not sure how saying any of this is supposed to persuade people not to vote for Biden. And I say that as a faithful Catholic appalled by how Joe Biden has stood up for abortion.
Exhibit B:
And around the time Trump started musing about delaying the election last week, aides and outside advisers began scrambling to ponder possible executive actions he could take to curb mail-in voting — everything from directing the postal service to not deliver certain ballots to stopping local officials from counting them after Election Day. - Politico
Trump’s continued flirtation with interfering with the election certainly does not bring a great deal of confidence in his electoral prospects, and probably brings great pause to some of his staunchest supporters.
That doesn't even get into the Executive Orders he signed recently regarding payroll taxes, unemployment benefits, and proposed orders regarding health insurance coverage of pre-existing conditions. I’m not sure what’s more appalling, that the Administration thinks such Orders are legal and appropriate or that the GOP Establishment in Washington is bobble heading in support of the orders. I wish we still had a conservative party in this country.
Exhibit C:
Well, my reaction was…..
It’s weird that a President would even say this out loud to anybody, much less in the middle of a disastrous first term in office. But what’s weirder is bringing this up again.
Yes, again. This conversation has been going on for years.
I think that remains the biggest challenge for Trump’s re-election. It isn’t his lack of intelligence or his lack of honesty. It’s his lack of humility. All of our most recent presents, from Carter all the way through Obama, was able to convey humility in some way or another. Sure, they all had egos or in the case of a few megalomania, but they were able to display humility.
Trump can’t. He is incapable. He truly thinks that he is the greatest President we’ve ever had, despite the overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
Joe Biden has many, many, many faults, and many reasons why I won’t vote for him. But when you compare to the two men, Biden is more humanized, more sympathetic, and more empathetic. He has the humility that Trump lacks.
And that’s really what it comes down to. The Trump Campaign was given a precious gift last week with this New York lawsuit against the NRA. But the President and his campaign just can’t stay out of their own way long enough to make any hay of it. They’re trying very hard to grab defeat from the jaws of victory.