Welcome to the Commentary magazine daily. Podcast today is Monday August. Seventeen, twenty twenty, I'm John Pub words. The editor of Commentary magazine with me, as always, executive editor, a green waldheim, how jump associate The editor nor Rossman High Noah, Christine Rosen is off today. Commentary is, of course, these seven, the dear old monthly of intellectual analysis, political probity and cultural criticism. From a conservative perspective, we invite you to join us. A commentary magazine dot com would give you a few free reads

We ask you to subscribe of a digital option. You can get our print magazine. We have just closed our September issue of the prince, magazine, and there is so much good stuff, and I can't even begin to tell you, because not only do we have a green was blocked, buster peace- I guess this is revel- mission. We have Michael J Louis on the statue, destruction frenzy, we have that can't marry the school wars. We have Tal Ford Gang, whether there I the Parental, a revolutionary change is good or bad. We have a great peace by man, Shapiro on the horrible, miss reporting of covert data, and we have an amazing peace by Bob Mcmanus, my old colleague on the new, Post editorial page called the irresistible rise of Andrew Cuomo and not to be outdone.

They are Riley are remarkable. First person account of how her kids fancy prep school in Westchester count. He went crazy with the racism agenda and drove her and her kids out of the school pretty much rob long on Dolly Pardon and why we should celebrate her Terry teach out on Isaac Stern. Just so much good stuff sets the commentaries its amber issue. You can access it I'm Terry Magazine that combat the more you access at the more you're gonna hit that pay. While ask you subscribe, and you really should a green Walled, author of the blockbuster, led piece of that issue stuff happen over the weekend. That just confirms our sense that a revolution is going on in this country.

Revolution in certain parts, and we are seeing some pretty hideous examples of what happens when revolutions happen. No funds, just very blunt, sickening mass violence in the streets in in Portland on there are a number of incidents of just serve the. What what has now become at to say, kind of new normal thereof, looting and and universal public intimidation Anti fund and such groups blocking cars in the streets blocking cars from getting out of garages breaking store windows, beating up crap people on the streets there's one particular

video that is hard to watch. Andy know if you ve. If you follow him on Twitter, he he's done a tremendous job of documenting all this stuff over the weekend on his twitter feed. Others there's an incident whereby I think antivirus and black lives matter. Groups were blocking the roads, thereby causing traffic to to go blocking blocking traffic, and so cars cars were getting taxes. One card one guy got to an accident is taken out of his car, and just beaten kicked in the head in the streets boy you see in this village is he's sitting on the sidewalk having been part and then a guy who was wearing a short that says security, meaning anti for security, runs up and kicks him in the head and knocks him straight down to the payment I mean, and-

an unmitigated act of terrorist violence against an individual person by somebody who was clearly psychotic but has somehow managed to secure for himself a semi official position in the Jap jack, a pin, Lucian his name is now out and about on on the internet. At the sky people captures picture, they found his facebook page and you know I assume- he'll be arrested, sometimes there tomorrow, assuming that the police can document that that it was was he, but this surrendering of the streets to anti virus now literally a menace to public safety, and there is a mayor of Portland and a governor of organ, both of whom are about to go down in the annals of horrifically respond. The ball and monstrous failures of leadership.

Of the most elementary kind, also in it was banned Oregon where there were protesters out against ice blocking this broad blocking the roadblocks major road for hours on end and the police chief came out to thank them four for exercising their there. Their right to free speech, this is. This is so almost like a periodic moment in the midst of all of this, but I was a Jones Beach is, I think, the largest public beach in America, the most the mode attended public beach in America on Long island. This weekend, with my with my kids and and wife and on the

right at the water line in front of you know what land lifeguard chairs there was. A summit is through a group of three or four people planted themselves and put a flag that said, no peace, no is this a black lives matter flag and had a camera and someday, and there was a group of people, Danny run and they seemed either to be interviewing or talking to or having some kind of a moment with white ethnic guys on the beach. Who were you now, basically in swimming trunks, and no shirts whenever an end This went on for fifteen or twenty minutes, and it seems to me that the goal of this was to provoke a fight that they had come to see if they could get these from voters of long island.

Two to haul often and get angry. Unlike start a scene which, which did not happen, but I was struck by This- serve effort at kind of provocation on a literally and we're talking about, they were three: there were a foot and a half from where the tide was coming in and out where people are just like lying on the beach trying to have a you know and an end is a day of it, the middle of the pandemic that they ve been talking about going out to the suburb, since the start of its right that the minister to take the fight to you know that that's all the passive. What white folks out there in the suburbs who aren't, who you know who haven't been touched, Personally by this- and we seem small bits of it, but I mean you know yet

if you're going to go out to the beaches in law island. That is, you know that there is definitely a new ground. There. Of course, you know this. Is there not the only provocateurs, because this is the Sure, though a world in which provocation is now you no part of the way, the lingua frame, So you have the seamen. Care was a Michigan where the proud boys, this kind of all right group. Also serves showed up to try to make a scene and and created one, which is really a great and helpful as as such things have always are, scum, meeting scum, But you know all of this sad taken together with the general tone of I'll unsettlement. Andy, no, mere hysteria that is now being provoked by this idea that has

now spun into a full blown panic that the Post office is being shut down to prevent the delivery of male in ballots in an election that is gonna rely somewhat heavily on them. We have a kind of We're nude anxiety I e the pitch. Tell hysteria level going on in our public conversation that is being mirrored by this extremism, and you know it's like we are building up again to some explosive moments. Having had the explosive moments settled down after, like the fourth of July, and here we are coming to the end of August and add nothing is normalizing. Conversation is going back to her.

The town right, Noah Wert? Where were you on the post office? The half? It's getting a lot worse, the President put himself in his position right. So Joe Joe Biden was the first to come out of the gate, most prominent democratic visual, to come out with the suggestion that Donald Trump would undermine the post office to undermine the election and and and preserve his, so this vote share on which is usually ire for Republicans on day after day, a boating at the polls and at the time this was a baseless conspiracy in fact: backtrack, DOT, Org called it a baseless conspiracy and then a couple of days later Donald Trump was talked about, are asked about, funding Xxix funding from Congress for the Post office, which is notoriously profligate and mismanaged and he's a very explicitly that if they don't get the funds, they can't do mail in voting, and he said those kind of approvingly impact I got org had to go back.

And say. Well, sorry, I guess you know we would it's not a conspiracy anymore. It's coming out of the president's mouth, but their original verdict still holds, which is that there is no evidence observable evidence that anything is being done to hinder the post office. Ability to manage this influx of male opposed off itself has warned that. There's gonna be in more efforts need to be made in order to make sure that can process all these ballots as fast and as effectively as possible, but that there is no evidence of any malfeasance here and fur demo That's why I'm here they elected Democrats, including the speaker of the house, to now make this an issue to hold hearings to advise her members to come to go to their local post office and campaign in front of it and alleged that democracy is being

Poland out from under us, is the height of irresponsibility. If republicans done, anything is conspiratorial, as this say back and twenty ten or twenty twelve when conspiracy theorizing on the right was a pretty popular vocation. Still is, but it was much more at the time when you're out of power, they would have been lampoon for it not just attacked for being irresponsible but mocked incessantly, to the point that I think they probably the notion that the understanding that the culture was not with them and then satirist, we have a lot of fun with that kind of paranoia precluded. That kind of overreach, but Democrats are not do not have the advantage of come of a competent satirists or willing to go after them, so their indulging in this baseless conspiracy theory that does nothing but

your mind, the chair at the social fabric, and they should be really ashamed of upper there's. No one to shame. While this is. I have to point out this. This unit brings up. This fits with two points to make in my peace. Yes, this is a resolution on the first being that, because America doesn't actually have these gross injustices that normally, spark insurrection revolutionaries have to invent grievances and then protest against them. Thus, the d, the the post office, panic and with a sense of shame. Here, though, I mean you haven't, you know how places like refers. State TV, We can't just wasting the signal on this notion that these boxes, these mailboxes being removed, is indicative of an effort when people from putting mail in the mail as though

a real thing and ended Republicans were responsible for that kind of fodder to America's GEO political adversaries, they would be raked over the calls for it, but this is a but when you get to meet the second amateurism peace, is that we see with Nancy Pelosi now in Congress. The this is the institutional adoption of the crazy grievances right now there are massive it is with male. In voting that, for some reason, we're not allowed to bring up because people because is now a sacrosanct thing becomes, particularly because of the pandemic. Anyone people devout and people need to be able to vote, as they are too afraid to go to the polls and all of that, so there is the issue of male being delivered or being picked up or delivered. So, according

the United States postal Service, four hundred and seventy two million pieces of mail are delivered a day in the United States and that ratchet up to about a billion a day during the three or four weeks around Christmas. So if a hundred and fifty billion ballots- have to be mailed and delivered to wherever there delivered over the space of two months, let's say or even six weeks. We can even call it six weeks, like what is that that's like ten million more letters at the. If that is five, two three four five million more letters a day, even if enormous numbers of them come in the last week, it's a hundred and fifty million pieces overall. If there is a massive, if the entire electorate goes mail and only cause the most votes at I've ever been cast about a hundred and thirty seven million national, ok

So there is no problem delivering the male where there is going to be a problem and where we know that there is a problem is twofold and it is a major thing: one is: how are they gonna get counted, which has nothing to do with the post office? Has everything to do with the way elections are administered and they are administered at the state and local level and what to do about ballots spoiling judge, because what we know about male imbalances that they are uniquely prone to having illegitimate ballots sent in don't have priority filled in properly and therefore, under conventional circumstances would have to be invalidated. They don't have a say mature they don't have a proper

whatever they are not filled in right. Two things are checked off for press, you know whatever, and so you know in these disastrous elections you ve heard about the ones like him, in York and some others where there was a lot of mail and balloting this time, the reason that there was a problem. Counting them for a month was because a ballot spoil image, and so you have accounting problem because you're not gonna have an automatic vote. Count through machine does it these are here, are gonna either have to be scanned in one by one or counted one by one and we're talking about a hundred in a more than a hundred and hundred million Batman, who knows how many are gonna be bothered by mail and then this question, which of course then became a major issue in two thousand of what do you do with the bad ballots? Because there's all this litigation and court.

Rulings that say well, you need to figure out what the intent of the voter was. So, even if the ballot meat should be invalidated by the rules of of of election law, judges keep saying. No, no, no don't invalidate them. They doesn't matter about coming to delay. You need to count them. It doesn't matter If there's something wrong with where they were marked up, you still need to count them and that's what we went through that met madness. In Florida where they got. You know with the with the famous picture of the guy, with the Mai magnifying glass, looking at every single thing to see. If the Chad was mostly punched outer, wasn't punched out or whatever. So. The weird thing is: the Democrats are looking at the wrong end of the telescope. The mayor, the Post office, isn't the problem, the one then the question is: why are they look

through the Rhine and telescope, because I want to create a conspiracy theory. The trump is destroying the legitimacy of the election now Trump, as though a says trump is now responsible for the fact that conspiracy. Theory has legs because of this horrendous thing he said, and once again everybody who wants to support trumpet like tromp, has to understand that He is responsible for this. They are not They are not responsible for him, saying boy of the post offices and get the money you can have male imbalances can't do the mail and balance which is ridiculous. It is preposterous Thirdly, this isn't a lotta mail, a hundred and two hundred and two hundred million people The male nationally is not a lot of male again. It's like a for its less them. It's almost of less than a fifth of how much male ascend daily

but we now have politicians media elites figures of cultural prominence now go, and on social media and posting pictures of mailboxes, with anti tampering locks on them as being part of a government conspiracy, of male carrying cars cars. Their behaviour, a driver side on the on the right side on like the back of flat beds and there, or it's the evidence of how the government is trying to just take male off the streets. I mean this is the kind of baseless insane conspiracy, theorizing that if it was on the other side of the political I'll, everybody would be reacting with a mix of shock horror, and and levity over then mania but they had sunk into web Obama, was president in twenty fifteen, a commission that was what was that was formed.

Look into the behaviour and the conduct and the future of the post of the of the? U S postal service commander, among other things, that there be no Saturday deal with that sorry, delivery be ended and that the number of male pick up points in the United States be reduced by a third thou that is partially what's going on. Here where, where, when they have these things of you, my god they're taking mailboxes out, will so in New York City, for example. There are I dont know there are mailboxes on very nearly every corner, of every a very nearly every avenue and there's nothing in them, because people don't use the male anymore. So a truck has to stop opened the box. Take out three: letters. So if you have one in every other block, then people walk and extra block put the letter and the mailbox right. That's that serve that's mostly what this is about, and this new postal postmen

General DE joy so he's some kind of inefficiency, expert logistics guy so he's in barreling through to implement a lot of these changes, and so this is what has given rise to all these conspiracy theories that and the fact that the president opened his idiot mouth and started blather ring excel. Ghibli about how they couldn't count. The mail in votes, so they're better, not be mail in votes which is demented since his base, since when he needs, is a two year old people to vote for him. That is what she needs a two year old people to vote for him, and they are the people who cannot go comfortably Paul in place in the United States because of the virus. So that's why I don't know where two weeks after he opened his idiot mouth and blather about this, he announced that it was ok about in Florida in Florida they had solved this problem, so mail in voting was fine and Florida because run

Scientists must call them and said. Are you insane? What are you crazy, but this is all in insurance policy right, I mean as a narrative what this is established. The legitimacy of election, no matter the results whatever sorry outs, everybody everybody has it right. Nobody has been able to read, write- and, I didn't drunken say an election run with a lot of mail and voting, as is Prima facie illegitimate, and the Democrats can say that, because the Post office was being politically manipulated, the election was illegitimate. So that's just great. So now we have both political parties lining up to come up with a narrative according to which our elections are no longer free. Fair worked would so that's great. This is, let's just continue to destroy the country straight out of Washington. Wonderful, let's have a nice hearing with the postmaster general and like free

over the calls. Let's have Jim Cooper congressmen TIM from Tennessee proposing this morning that Louis joy be arrested when he arrives at the capital. Because he's destroying our elections. I just want to say you know, so this all started with Trump when he, when he he didn't when he first put up that sweet. I don't know like a month ago that we should pose questioning whether we should postpone the election because of covered, because this will be the big the most fraudulent elections. Our history right, and we were justly outraged on this podcast, and what did what it did? Our critics and trumps fans say you don't get it he's just trolling? This is just for you still don't get it when he says that we just great okay, so he's just trolling. Look. Look now at the result of this just trolling. This is this is this is precisely where it lead, which is precisely where we disagree,

What languages is right, complete destabilization? I work, I'm pretty say that drives his opponents nuts and that's absolutely true right. They are nuts. Why Is that a good thing? I look around you and what a nightmare? The nuts nests that you delivered has has brought us into. We are consigned to it to bedlam here and that's supposed to be some sort of a winning strategy, so this is. This is what's interesting by the political dynamic at the present moment so tonight today, the democratic virtual convention begins right, I think, is pretty clear that this convention is gonna, be meaningless, it will be meaningless and republican convention will be meaningless. How can they be anything but meaningless, are gonna, be no crowds of Renault reporters. There there's no excitement, there's no news, there's no platform fight! There's no people, there's nothing! It's at! It's like you know what it's like a telethon literally it to be,

like a telephone telephones nobody's, but whether they did I mean those like it tells out at four o clock in the morning. You know when like went with, Jerry was taking a nap and ed was off drink. And therefore totally Orlando was hosting that that that's what that's, what this is like when the Tony Orlando's hosting so and what are we have? We have polling all over the place. That says that Biden has a very high trouble national led around. You know if you agree, I Paul's around eight percent bright samples. I've left well visa he's over fifty. In almost all these poles, which is of which is probably the most signify

number and leading a battleground states him. All of that and Democrats are in a panic there in a panic that aid, they don't believe the Poles and then those as one CNN Paul that has the race closer four points which has terrified them, although it is seems to be an outliers and seven other poles last week had the race at ten something and or close to ten, and they have this story about the post, the post office driving them in saying, so they don't believe in the lead. They don't believe they have talked themselves into the fact that tromp, while they think he's an idiot, I'm a clown is also the most

We at ministerial ate her in the history of the world and is stealing the election in front of us while it's going on and nobody cares and we'd better do something about it. This should be a good time for them. There should be a good moment for them there comfortably in the lead. Lindsey Graham, is now in a toss up race in South Carolina against this guy Jamie Harrison, who seems to be running a brilliant campaign against him like that public Democrats, gonna win in South Carolina like there's a Democrat Democratic, in South Carolina. Since you know the Dixie cracks tied practically I mean this is not. This is not a normal set of circumstances. Everything is breaking,

their way and they are in a horrible mood, terrified and convinced that this is all going to be taken away from them. Now that's fun right because they are a bunch of jerks of let them suffer. You know fine, but this is not norm. It is not normal to be feeling this way when the election is rolling along in your direction so a Henry, also has one piece in the Washington Post saying I don't know what balloting in Washington. It's kind of interesting, maybe there's a hidden trump focus of you. Look. It's male ended in Gabon, go on the county. There were twenty two things were eleven people came and voted in

so. Maybe there is something and then the entire world goes totally bananas, so everybody's in a horrible mood, Trump, so horrible mood and the Democrats in a horrible mood and everybody thinks everything is being stolen and we are just. This is not tree and a healthy place of our means. The healthy, because there is a virus and allowed people have died in a lot of people are sick. I mean it is psychically, spiritually unhealthy and I dont understand. Elections are supposed to have the effect when they happen of settling down the body politic. There's a moment it comes to, it becomes to serve a point ahead. There's a day of voting there is a resolution, and then we can move on and that didn't really happening in time,

sixteen, although the shock was seeing out, there was like a week of shock, but we're not going to get that. Clearly, that's not going to happen, and God knows what is going to happen and we're going to be living at this fever pitch of discontent and rage and anger and upset forever. Also, both sides are saying this is the end of the country. If our guy doesn't went This is what I wonder. You know know the liberals are saying you know if Trump is reelected after this forget it. That's that's. That is the the advent of Fascist America and then France basis is saying he is the one person standing between you and communism. If he is, he

is it really isn't reelected? That's it we are. We are as a socialist country, the others had set every failure Leander that's right now. Yeah yeah. I do think it's different. I do think using every means it. I do things that could cause went when that that were I mean not that exactly, but the sort of its its everything depends on this election was was the thesis of the flight. Ninety three essay that that sport all sorts of discussion on the on the right in twenty sixteen, but that was it was again so much attention in part because it was not that common to hear that at least articulated in a I don't know, I want to say thoughtful, but a sort of

intellect in intellectual manner, and it was so it was something of an outlier to make a serious to try to make a serious case that the country was doomed unless the unless tromp was a light. Unless the once was elected, but now it is so much more common. It is. I remember hearing this and twenty twelve from friends and relatives. You couldn't, let Obama get reelected cousin, affordable, corrected, be implemented, and that would be the end of the country are slower than twenty. Sixteen were hearing it now, the bubbles up from the grass roots into Egypt. Otherwise I use intellectual mouths. Probably don't deserve the moniker by what we lack today are people who, in a leadership class in the castle of leaders who believe that the trees worth preserving even if they're out of power there s a very that is a very well. That's very well said so, there's a conditional quality there is, I can do

quality to the general idea that we live in a continuum in this country dating back to the founding right. The canoe though leaders come and go the country's days. It approves. Maybe it has you now hitches and blue send stuff along the way. But elections are moments in time and their snapshots in time and they change things. Good things happen. Bad things happen, but we we go on and we are now in a position I would say. Actually Michelle Obama was the first person to articulate this blatantly in two thousand aid when she said the fact that her husband,

it was was winning an election meant that it was the first time she could be proud of her country, in other words, her feeling about the countries entirely conditional based on whether things happen that make her. At that moment, content with the way things are and Trump took that to the thought. You know we're not great me more and we stink and I dont know and we're just gonna be awful and everything's gonna be terrible, and now he sang at go now. What does he see says like Joe Biden is again, is hurting God if job it's eleven, he will heard God and Biden says, were fighting for the soul of our country, pleasantly meaning that if he loses the soul of our country is lost. This is a terrible moment, even by the way, even if you are of an intellectual cast of Mind- and you believe this to be true-

the danger of articulating it as openly as people articulating it the consequences of it? If you, if you raise the stakes this way, what happens when you then have to go? If your Joe Biden, then you have to govern you need or your or your trump, and you have to government a second term. You need a certain degree of com just to get through the day. I know we ve lived three and a half years with him with a political system that is not common in any way, shape or form. But but a lot of that was triviality right. It was you know, Trump fighting about current browns hat, and you know inside

shooting people and various other things and having fights with Colin Kaepernick, I don't know whatever whatever the hell else is going on, but you know we're going to have like have no money and there's going to be a crisis with the entitlements and there's going to have to be tax increases, and God knows what else and how on earth are we going to come to any moment of equilibrium or anybody can do anything without the idea being that you are assenting to the destruction of the country simply by voting yes to close debate on something you know, there's actually it's a slightly. From top it, but there is another layer of terribleness of office in the country right now, that's contributing to everything I think, which is, I don't recall, ever seeing this degree of interest state hostility right like like you know there are republican governors now

who are national figures of derision and hate on among levels what we normally, but no one know their names. You know like there's universal, claiming the the south in other places on covered and locking, you know up blocking people from coming into certain states or or making it more difficult. The on the right, of course, there's there you now looking at the Pacific, Northwest and looking in Oregon in Seattle and and and that mess and and serve proclaiming that that lost This is a lot of shrimp disunion in the federal sense that I dont really recall seen before. Why not ever all out from just a code on this that will pull out for analysing the Wall Street Journal? That shows a fourteen point increase from twenty sixteen in the number of people who believe

The election results will be counted accurately. Forty five percent of voters down from fifty nine four years ago. Forty five percent of voters are confident that the twenty twenty vocabulary accurate, I mean you know I remembered two thousand for when Bush one reelection, there's a screenwriter any Michael token, Michael Talkum wrote a peace in which he said. I hate the states murmured a bush one by three percentage points, but in that case you won by three percentage points any only. I think he got two hundred and eighty six electoral about me, Hated the states that have voted for Bush that he blame these evil races, monstrous horrible states,

and he was sick of everybody blaming show business and liberals and all that because they did the right thing. They voted against Bush in all these other states about, did the wrong thing and voted against Bush and therefore well what they should do is head. What everybody in the good state should do is hate the bad states hate them and not go there and not vacation there and not send their gives the college ere. I don't know what else, and that was the plainest in clearest articulation of an attitude that is Sub Rosa with everybody in the country right. Turn like these cities are bad. You know rural lino serve that rural sense, that cities are two humanising and are the only real life is a small town life out front paws

she's the only real place and the city sense that everybody outside the city is a Yahoo, and then I was playing the banjo being in the liver and some do not the guys come in from the city and whatever and then This has now got into that point where words yeah. So now it's you know the governors of Georgia, Texas in Florida, who are figures of evil, and I am in Arizona I guess whereby the way covered has now been defeated according to all measures Without having to have had giant locked downs, despite the desperate belief of everybody here, The Europe that the only way to do anything is to block everything down and destroy your city forever, after,

that's another thing by the way we work. Where were again and I've who you said this everyday last week were back Six seven days now in which the case numbers are down and the deaf canvas down over a fourteen day measure acquaint the New York Times and every story is about how terrible thing is and the person where the family, who sent their kids to Singapore than couldn't get the kids back and they had a nightmare because the same foreclose, the boy Like what does that have to do with anything? I don't know Santa you're, just you doing feel bad stories in order to panic people to keep them in a bad mood.

Another fear I want to lay out two guys and see how you respond. So I think we made it clear. We said last week that that that Biden strategy is to run corona on trumps failures on corruption and therefore the news needs to be bad about Roma, but what? If, by November, the news is bad about corona but has been bad about krona for nine months, and it really is the new normal and Democrats keep saying that its trumps fault, but it goes on and there's this. Maybe this is not a good strategy, maybe by a politicizing it and be hammering on it, you will have the perverse effect of of neutralizing it as a political issue. Is people become deadened to it

the political issue that, rather than being a version of the crime wave helping elect Republicans in the seventies and eighties, because this idea that crime- you know that they can do something, my crime, that people are gonna start looking a cronan like it is an environmental catastrophe and its, and there was nothing that anybody could do about it. And so they're, not gonna use it as their main source of. Concern, but were rather focus on the economy and on the economy. Trumps numbers are still better than binds. That's my c I've at I do not ascribe to it. I'm just leg enough. I think it's entirely possible because with the hammering of house pleasantly endlessly terrible. It all is having people certainly start to think one. There's no way out of this anyway. There is enough what there's nothing that a Biden Harris Administration can do.

We have sunk into a new age of seven or natural darkness. So greatly aren't you know. So I think I totally think that's possible here now, Oh you think, unless I just finished doing a lot of research New Zealand for a peace that a risk for the website and as they ve knows we ve been such two haranguing from the pro down lockdown enthusiasts crowd about how magnificent New Zealand, sponsor to this, as though again in the western world should emulated as though the western world is capable of doing what middle earth has done here in trying to get off said ceiling itself off from the planet, but there and their prime minister there just send a pardon

order has been subject to this very familiar effort on the part of the press, which has nothing to do with her efforts and everything to do with tromp, which is to create a narrative out of her and make her into this omnicompetent anti trump figure. Press can't get enough of those and what their experience was. This is pretty enlightening because they declare themselves basically corona virus free. In June. They had a point o too he says per hundred thousand residents and less than a tenth of a per cent of new positive, and they said. Ok, we're gonna go back to her to business as usual, and then a hundred two days into this back to businesses Well, there was a man and his late fifties with no history of overseas travel, who had become infected and who infected three of his family members, and he was in South Auckland, which is a populist part of the city of off when the biggest sit the country and the entire city of one point. Eight million people was consigned to the kind of draconian Coney

restrictions that we never saw in this country using land, locked and restrictions are so onerous and so dramatic that you can do nothing. You cannot gather at anyone outside your home. Police will enforce these restrictions. They have a system informing on your neighbours that is socially acceptable that you can order, take out food. They can't you can only though, a grocery store you can't drive through the checkpoints around the country can only go to address grocery store and pharmacy and that's it and they in their city, back to that. An entire country is back to level two and then it turns out that these four people were part of a cluster. The clause

are being in the entire nation of almost five million people. Seventy eight people have tested hospital, are tested, positive, you know many or in the hospital right now in the entire country of New Zealand withdrawn of ours, five people and for this the country has postponed its election, nor a number of things, the universe of opprobrium that fell down and Donald Trump shoulders, and even the hype. My father's Ized about the prospect of the of delaying the election. In response to this pandemic was very healthy response on the part of the american civic compact. Down alone promising. Now the crisis. Democracy doesn't take a back seat to this crisis. It doesn't New Zealand and the reaction from New Zealand or has been well. That's fair and sensible. I mean you don't want to get over it for real. Anything you can do. I suppose it is natural in an appropriate at the time of the New York Times was postulated that New Zealand was a perfect democracy,

because of its capacity to move with the central, authority in forego these antiquated notions of federalism? In America, it's a hostile towards centralized authority that to the point where they can even contact trees in this country effectively, because no one wants to talk the cops, that's a sort of thing that we need to let go of, and now you know we're starting to wonder whether the reaction on the part of the leads has been a little promising. Cuts are looking askance now at this overly draconian response from new zealanders. But that's what you get when you make locked down into an the olive it becomes. The policy of first resort yeah that was an excellent rant. I really enjoyed it at every but he got from a cherry, mentions: I've common red nose, print print version of the rant than he just just delivered, with lots of fact weights and you can for it.

To everybody else, and he were first called the zeal and middle earth because that's where, of course, the were the rich. Who is we're filmed in who's, the with Zena Warrior, princess and and the Hercules tv shovel. That is a good one. That would have been a good right. So so one interesting a deep, Deborah piece of their about the democratic convention is the tomorrow night it is going to be a parade of when Terry's least favoured Democrats? And this is an interesting thing. So apparently you know air Sea and Stacy Abrams and Joseph Stalin and you know at damned as the door again and day and Pablo Neruda, although we are going to speak, but what's interesting is they're all

but the liver a keynote together. So it's actually gonna be like sixteen commies shoved together until one speaking slot And when I heard that I thought you know these, these two people are not stupid, like they needed to. They needed to highlight them for party unity, but they don't want to give any individual one of them enough time to blow up the convention so that each it's gonna be like what are those things work, a kids have a heavy. I have an assembly at school and everybody gets one line in the Christmas pageant, and so therefore some Oh no one, you have everybody gets a participation. Trophy everybody gets to speak a wide, and that said, I thought that's gonna, that's gonna smart, but couldn't cider bigtime me because it creates this moment that people say

see the gang they had up, there who's. Gonna watch they're gonna we're gonna watch any of this. It's gonna it's going to be celebrated by sympathetic media, so that was so. People will see that moment about played again and again. I think the potential for backfires more, that they don't get the time that they deserve that, because these are well then the press wants to see and their only gonna get a taste and that's not gonna be enough. The controversy

its roiling that that democratic convention now is an internal one. The chairmen and lacking in his name threats is now doing the press press rounds to try to neutralize this antipathy towards the the decision to give John case a time to speak in part because he's a Republican not either Republican. That's against drop me is a razor republican. That's for Joe Biden, affirmatively end and definitively and he's going to deliver this by partisan message at, but they don't want to hear a bipartisan message. They don't want to hear from Republicans at all anyone who ever associated at one point in our life what they republican Party needs to be white from the face of the earth and even give them any credence at this hour best this moment, which is supposed to be

Us not for you for us is, is just malpractice and that's what he's dealing with an that's what the political environment has become. These are not so you could move. This is not a feel good. Warm hug for Democrats is an infomercial before the electorate in the maybe you don't you resent- that is a really bad sign. This is so stupid. The game at conventions of having one speaking slot reserve for person from the other party who endorses the candidate of the other party is a tried and true tradition. Right. You had Xl Miller the former Democrat governor of Georgia. Do it for George W Bush, two thousand eight! You had Joe Liebermann. Do it for John Mccain, what weight deliver into it from a k maybe not believe, indebted for wrongly account. Member who liebermann endorse Mackay, but,

This is a whole thing. That's been done for twenty five years, where you get the turncoat to get a speaking slot. To show to be the case that, yes, you can vote. If you're a Democrat, you can vote for if you're a republican, you can vote for this guy, the fact that anyone's making noise- It is just a sign of there be no a historical idiocy but you're right now that the only noise about it in an earlier age and age that was saner. What you did with these people was ignored them. They were unrepresentative and crazy and would lead you down a blind alley. You're nice enough to address them because we have assume that they have all this this weight and in half because they have a microphone and fry them. They don't there, still unrepresentative. If you were to listen to them, you'd still be hobbling yourselves at what point do we just realized that these people are? Are you are having a detrimental.

Fact on your actual political prospects on what you want to achieve. Well, I mean this is always the problem like do you? Do you there's a there's a my favorites had come. The odd couple greatest have come ever Felix is on a cruise and Felix is, of course, most annoying person on earth and so that the captain of the boat, as two of you know what I want you to be the entertainment director, you are now the entertainment direct it so and he gives Felix a whistle and feel extent. Saying: ok, everybody go to the Lido Jack and blow the whistle and then Oscar says the captain. What are you crazy and the captain says,

Let me tell you something: I've learned in a long career if there's a troublemaker, give him a whistle. So that's what they do here like times like give him a whistle like if, if, if the, if people are going to complain that that John Kasich is going to speak, say I am I understand how you feel. It's really sad asylums you now. I understand that you think that we should be doing this, but we really think it's for the best, but I understand was Shut the hell up and go away like we have, is that the eight seventy eight days until the election, we're trying to win an election and we don't care what you think you you idiot, but they can't do them. Also, I wouldn't exactly said Tom Tom Processor. Political genius of any

judge either. Of course, the thing about this convention is, there is no convention. This is not a convention. The convention is in gathering of people in one place to vote on, things there is good nothing's really gonna be voted on and there is no in gathering there's nothing. It's assume show and what will be? What will be interesting to see He is whether it would have been That's wiser for them not to do this of all and to just have Biden Harris give speeches on. You know that at then prime time and then pencil and give speeches in prime time and eliminate these days of nonsense, because they're just gonna make everything, look, we're gonna, be

look weird and they're gonna feel weird and they're they're they're, gonna, depress Democrats and Republicans and not rally them. It's gonna have the opposite effect. I can only speak for myself. I like this sort of thing like I enjoy presidential election year. Is there a lot of fun there energetic I enjoy watching Democratic Republic and Americans? I enjoy the speeches I enjoy the same. Money- I like seeing behind the scenes and like trying to set out what the markets there trying to address and what have you. I have zero interest or enthusiasm in any of this nonsense. It's not going to be informed of any way not going to demonstrate any sort of strategy or tactics or leg led me into it- and, though of how the campaigners thinking it's just a perfunctory exercise that they have to get through to get to the fall. Now he's that's how it feels I can't imagine if I'm not interested in watching this, you know how many people who are just sort of peripheral voters- checking that all its only interesting, because I mean I'm interested because I want to see

but the surreal quality actually ends up being right. Well. I am now going to say something that is totally in politics, and that is, I love the conventions by like watch. I like going to them there's a reason every four years that the press will step over dead bodies to get to go to the conventions and why all these political hacks do whatever they can t get invited and have a role at the conventions. They are incredible. Fun, there's a lot of free food. Solidarity you're here, there's a lot of swag they're. All these parties. Do you know european, every you see everybody you ever met. You see every politician in the world, it's like, if you, if you been like me, have you worked around politics and journalism. Your whole life, like it's like old, home, weak,

get to you get to see people you haven't seen in years. I love it. I am heartbroken that I'm not going this year. I have such a good time at them and that by the way is another thing my feeling about this is not unusual and one of the reasons that these things still exist is to get in Suzy Azzam, going in the parties themselves by showing every party activist and when that you need to work their tails off for the next three months, a really good times, so they leave in a good mood and they go back and they do whatever they can at the local level to get this person and this team elected.

And that there is none of that this time, and it will be interesting to see whether it has an effect on how that stuff goes. Of course, it's very hard to know what they're supposed to do at this time when door to door campaigning and stuff like that is a problematic sort of game. But, yes feel sorry for me. I didn't get me in. There is no indication. Elsner, informing people place apologize, feel sorry for me. I really enjoy myself with the conventions and, as you know, from listening to this part cast, I dont enjoy myself? That off, because where we live in a time in an age of the sphere of crushing ferocity,. No and no enjoys election years, he's not enjoying it may better able to your joy, even joys an operative good australian movie? That's lately, that's true I dont politically enjoy electioneering channel is bad. I don't enjoy

I don't like the normal degree mania that sees the seventh, let alone what's happening, so that we will have been you. A job will have Christine back on tomorrow for even though I jump up words, keep the camel burning.