Stop the name-calling, Dems!, shaping the new GOP and other commentary

Conservative: Stop cussing, Democrats!

“One lesson the left should learn from this election is that you don’t win elections by becoming an angry firebrand,” he said. notes FH Buckley in The Wall Street Journal. “It’s not patriotic to think that American history is a list of things that should never have happened and that half of Americans are bullshit”; “The current left is elitist and the right is populist.” “An older group of progressives” was proud of America “and how we were different from other countries.” So: “If the left wants to find a way back, it must start by taking ownership of everything in our past, the good and the acknowledged evil.” “Our absolution from history and our sense of patriotism can only be found in history, which has always provided its sources of salvation.”

From right: Shaping the new GOP

“When Donald Trump took the oath of office in 2017, his party was divided”; eight years later “he is the undisputed leader of the Republican Party,” notes Matthew Continetti at The Free Press. “The Republican Party has shifted in a more populist and nationalist direction,” and its 2024 platform adopts “positions on trade, rights and peace that have long been associated with the Democratic Party.” Meanwhile, the Democratic Party’s “tolerance of social disorder and its adoption of equality over merit, open borders, gender ideology and censorship,” plus the Biden inflation and the migrant crisis, created “a decisive shift toward Trump-Republicans across the country. ” But beware of the “danger” of interpreting Trump’s “decisive victory as an unconditional endorsement of his personality and program.”

Libertarian: Kamala couldn’t win a fair fight

‘While pundits, pollsters and idiots’ try to explain why ‘Kamala Harris did so poorly on Election Day’ Reden’s Christian Britschgi offers “a clear, obvious, general reason”: “her experience as a prosecutor left her ill-prepared for a fair fight.” During that career, Harris “enjoyed all the unfair advantages afforded by the American legal system.” As a U.S. senator, “she shone during committee hearings by asking unfair, leading questions of jailed testifiers.” But “without her prosecution safety net, Harris was left stranded.” For weeks she “tried to correct her shortcomings as a terrible retail politician by hiding” from media interviews. That didn’t work “in tough elections, where voters expect you to argue the case for yourself in a positive way.” In a fair fight against Trump with no advantage for the prosecution, “they proved completely outmatched and unprepared.”

Obituary: The Unapologetic Zionism of Bernie Marcus

‘Bernie Marcus, the founder and philanthropist of billionaire Home Depot’, died at 95 and ‘in the process of giving away most of his fortune’ mourns Commentary’s Seth Mandel. He “saw what Jewish students faced and wanted them to feel a sense of pride and comfort about their Jewish faith” before they went to college. “Marcus had also given money to organizations like Hillel International” and to programs to send young Jews to Israel. “His unapologetic Zionism was matched by his unapologetic advocacy for economic freedom and the free market.” When he “was accepted into Harvard Medical School but couldn’t afford it,” “he found other dreams – one of which was the concept that would become Home Depot.” The lesson: “We could use fewer excuses for success – and no excuses for Zionism.”

Lawfare beat: Rout of the Flying Dutchmen

Trump’s victory turns the various cases against him into “legal versions of the Flying Dutchman – ships destined to sail endlessly but never call into port.” explains The Hill’s Jonathan Turley. “If there is one captain of that unfortunate crew, it is Special Prosecutor Jack Smith,” who has just “become a lame prosecutor.” New York Judge Juan Merchan “could sentence Trump to prison,” but “such a wrongful conviction, even a short one, would likely trigger an expedited appeal and likely be stayed.” And the Georgia case “is legally flawed and likely to fail on appeal.” A victory on Tuesday may not end all “struggles over the rule of law,” but it “could effectively end the war.”

– Compiled by The Post Editorial Board