There is no doubt that Liz Cheney's primary defeat in Wyoming last night was a major victory for Trump. He humiliated his most prominent Republican critic; she declared war on him, and lost; her political career is essentially finished.
But it is not clear what the implications for Trump may be. Cheney did as much to defeat herself as Trump did to unseat her. She persisted with her January 6 obsession, to the exclusion of issues Wyoming voters care about, ad infinitum.
So while some pundits are saying -- both approvingly and otherwise -- that the Wyoming result cements Trump as the leader of the Republican Party, that is premature. He is the most important figure, but he does not control outcomes.
Just look at what has happened in some other primaries -- notably Georgia, where his gubernatorial candidate lost badly; and Pennsylvania, where his chosen candidate is losing to a weak Democrat who can barely campaign.
What is clear from Wyoming is that Republican voters are sick of the obsession with attacking Trump. It is not yet clear that Republican voters are ready to fall in love again with Trump -- though the FBI raid has rallied support around him.
There is a long way to go before 2024, and though the presidential primary will essentially kick off on the day after the midterm elections, if not sooner, I still see it as a wide-open field. Never Trump is discredited; Trump has a way to go.
The story of Noah is familiar; the details, less so.
Noah is often seen as an ambivalent figure. He was righteous -- but only for his generation. What was his deficiency?
One answer suggests itself: knowing that the world was about to be flooded, he built an Ark for the animals and for his own family -- but did not try to save anyone else or to convince them to repent and change their ways (the prophet Jonah, later, would share that reluctance).
Abraham, later, would set himself apart by arguing with God -- with the Lord Himself! -- against the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, saying that they should be saved if there were enough righteous people to be found (there were not).
Still, Noah was good enough -- and sometimes, that really is sufficient to save the world. We don't need heroes every time -- just ordinary decency.
Hi all -- as I noted last month, I'm going to be closing down my Locals page, at least for tips and subscriptions -- I may keep the page up and the posts as well, but I'm no longer going to be accepting any kind of payment.
Look for cancelation in the very near future. Thank you for your support!
An interesting weekend -- one of the last of Daylight Savings Time -- in which there is much to celebrate, much to contemplate, and a bit to worry about.
The Gaza peace deal is shaky, but holding, after the living hostages returned; the shutdown is still going on, with no end in sight; the China trade war is heating up; and the confrontation with Venezuela continues to escalate.
The "No Kings" protest was a dud, despite the media's attempt to inflate it. What I find fascinating is that the Democrats have basically stolen the rhetoric and the imagery of the Tea Party protests, circa 2009. They claim they are defending the Constitution -- just like the Tea Party did.
On the one hand, this is good. How wonderful to have a political system in which both sides, bitterly opposed though they are, articulate differences through the Constitution -- and not, as in so many other countries, outside it.
On the other, this is sheer hypocrisy for the Democrats. Not only did they malign the Tea Party as ...
