Below you will find the 10 questions I get asked most frequently, along with my answers.
But, first, this brief advert.
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Now, on with the Qs and the As!!!
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Q. Is Joe Biden really going to be the Democratic presidential nominee in 2024?
A. At this point, the answer is “yes,” except under one circumstance. With Gang of 500 spokesperson David Ignatius comparing the incumbent to Harry Truman and calling him “the most undervalued American leader in modern times,” Biden believes he is the only D who can stop another Trump term, repel Putin, best Xi, and bring manufacturing back to the U.S. of A. The one circumstance? The same as what former N.R.A. topper Charlton Heston said was the single manner in which he would be separated from his firearm: I'll give you the Oval Office when you pry it from my cold, dead hands.
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Q. Who would the Democratic nominee be if not Biden?
A. Since no one is even close to running even skeletally at this point, it is literally impossible to say, but my top three are Josh Shapiro, Bernie Sanders, and Hillary Clinton.
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Q. Why do you seem so down on Ron DeSantis prospects of winning his party’s presidential nomination?
A. I’m open to the idea, but I still believe that Trump has proven he knows how to do what needs to be done and DeSantis is missing a dozen traits that every nominee of both parties has had at least ten of. Perhaps DeSantis will obtain or begin to exhibit those traits when he enters the race. But until then, I’m a tad skeptical.
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Q. Why would any Republican vote for Trump for the nomination?
A. No politician until Trump truly understood how to use the power of voice alone, properly applied, a voice unconstrained by commonly held cultural norms in bluntness and brutality, penetrating directly through to the inner fears of a beleaguered working class. The Dominant Media will scoff this afternoon when President Trump visits Ohio’s Little Beaver Creek and then the East Palestine Fire House, where he will make remarks, according to a source familiar with the trip. But well beyond the Buckeye State, Trump’s voice will be heard by those who will eventually cast votes for him in primaries and caucuses across the country.
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Q. How could anyone think Donald Trump could beat Joe Biden in a rematch?
A. C’mon, man and woman! Trump is already even or ahead in most significant national polls, with the Republican Electoral College edge in a two-way contest still a real thing. Biden would have the advantages of incumbency, but also the burdens, including a record on immigration and other rough spots. Plus: the enthusiasm gap could be wide enough to benefit Trump, who is on track to have the most professionally run campaign in his three tries. Of course he can win.
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Q. Who is more down on Vice President Harris’ capacity to win the Democratic nomination for president, a general election, and serve well as president – top West Wing advisers or Harris’ California political “friends”?
A. Was the latter; is now the former.
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Q. Why is the Dominant Media so biased?
A. Buy Steve Krakauer’s essential reading new book on this matter and your understanding will expand dramatically.
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Q. What or who is the Gang of 500?
A. The folks who show up 49 times a year at Lauriol Plaza for Sunday brunch, with a capacity to simultaneously both determine and mock the Conventional Wisdom.
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Q. How will the Ukraine situation end?
A. With Team Biden ratcheting up the delivery of lethal weapons systems to a degree that will almost satisfy his hawkish critics (such as Gigot & Co.), getting Zelensky to the negotiating table, finally, in a position of strength.
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Q. Why are the Knicks so bad every year?
A. Some questions simply cannot be answered by mortals.
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ESSENTIAL READING/VIEWING
* Multimillionaire Vivek Ramaswamy’s announcement video and Wall Street Journal op-ed piece, kicking off his run for the Republican presidential nomination – along with his aggressive Iowa and New Hampshire schedules – make me think he has a real chance to be a player in the nomination fight, with greater odds than many (but not all!) of his better known rivals.
* The Wall Street Journal has two pieces on the China-Russia alliance, one an overview and another saying:
Chinese leader Xi Jinping is preparing to visit Moscow for a summit with Russia’s president in the coming months, according to people familiar with the plan, as Vladimir Putin wages war in Ukraine and portrays himself as a standard-bearer against a U.S.-led global order.
Beijing says it wants to play a more active role aimed at ending the conflict, and the people familiar with Mr. Xi’s trip plans said a meeting with Mr. Putin would be part of a push for multiparty peace talks and allow China to reiterate its calls that nuclear weapons not be used.
Western capitals have expressed skepticism about China’s diplomatic initiative, the broad outlines of which were first previewed last week by the country’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, at the Munich Security Conference.
* More details on the Trump Ohio trip, via Fox News:
Former President Trump will travel to East Palestine, Ohio Wednesday and is set to donate thousands of gallons of cleaning supplies and more than a dozen pallets of water to the community as it grapples with the aftermath of the train derailment that led to a large release of toxic chemicals, Fox News Digital has learned.
A source familiar with the former president’s plans told Fox News Digital that Trump will travel to East Palestine on Wednesday to meet with members of the community and community officials.
Joining the former president throughout his visit will be East Palestine Mayor Trent Conaway; Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio; Rep. Bill Johnson, R-Ohio; State Rep. Monica Robb-Blasdel; and Ohio State Sen. Michael Rulli in addition to other statewide and local officials.
Trump is expected to donate thousands of gallons of cleaning supplies, along with 13 pallets of water to East Palestine. A single pallet typically holds a couple of thousand bottles of water. The former president is teaming up with nonprofit organizations Blue Line Moving and KORTX.
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TOP OF THE POPS
* Variety:
Almost 60 years since first meeting, it looks like the Rolling Stones and the two surviving Beatles may come together on a new Stones album. Variety hears from multiple sources that Paul McCartney has recorded bass parts for a forthcoming Rolling Stones project being helmed by 2021 Grammy producer of the year Andrew Watt. Ringo Starr is also slated to play on the yet-to-be-announced album.
Recording sessions took place in Los Angeles in recent weeks and, while it’s unclear which tracks will make the final cut — or whether McCartney and Starr would end up on the same song — the album’s production is nearing the mixing phase. Frontman Mick Jagger said in 2021 that the group has “a lot of tracks done,” and guitarist Keith Richards said in a New Year’s Instagram post last month that “There’s some new music on its way.”
