Scott Johnson at Powerline suffered butt hurt and made it public this morning.
He wrote, "We have received a small stream of emails from readers and noted a few comments calling us out for not 'standing with' President Trump and disparaging our manhood as well — this because we have not decried the 'rigged' election that robbed President Trump of reelection. One professed long-time reader sent us a message announcing that he has 'resigned' from the site."
Johnson should be glad that people take the time to tell him off. That speaks to his importance, and also the importance of his error. That some reader used the wrong verb does not disqualify his argument, it just means he used the wrong verb. I do that all the time.
But was it the wrong verb? Resigned means the reader felt like he was one of them. That means Johnson and company did something right over the years in making readers feel like they were part of the team. That is a rare achievement that one should not discard like a tissue.
He wrote, "I’m not clear on what it means to 'stand with' President Trump. I want to 'stand with' President Trump. It certainly wouldn’t cost me anything personally to 'stand with' him. Writing for Power Line, I would find it easier to fall into line with President Trump than to stand my ground with my fellow limp noodles."
I kept his unnecessary quote marks just to call them unnecessary because he knows exactly what standing with President Donald John Trump means.
You stand with President Trump because he stood by you for 4 years.
You stand with President Trump because he suffered the hyena screaming (and bad breath) of the press.
You stand with President Trump because he withstood the unfair and unwarranted Mueller witch hunt.
You stand with President Trump because he dealt with the double-dealing Paul Ryan.
You stand with President Trump because he lost a billion bucks (easily) in the value of his empire as well as his potential earnings to save the nation by running for president and serving as president.
You stand with President Trump because he did everything he said he would. He put America First. He dropped unemployment to 3.5%. He increased wage for the lower half of workers. For the first time in decades, the working class saw their wages rise faster than inflation. He took on Red China and created 600,000 factory jobs before covid hit. In 8 years, Obama lost another 900,000 factory jobs as the Deep State Party continued to ship jobs overseas to destroy the middle class.
You stand with President Trump because he did all those things conservatives said they would do but failed to. He built the first 450 miles of wall. He moved the embassy to Jerusalem. He cut regulations by the thousands. He stopped funding Planned Parenthood. He gutted Obamacare after conservatives refuse to repeal it. John Roberts McCain took credit but his vote against repeal reflected the feelings of at least a half dozen other RINOs and the House leadership.
You stand with President Trump because of two other posts Johnson wrote today.
The first began, "Those of us who view the college campus as a hotbed of Stalinism have a current case in point with Northwestern University’s treatment of long-time university lecturer Joseph Epstein, easily our most prominent essayist. Saturday’s Wall Street Journal carried Epstein’s humorous advisory 'Is There a Doctor in the White House? Not if You Need an M.D.' Subhead: 'Jill Biden should think about dropping the honorific, which feels fraudulent, even comic.'
"As a result of his column, Northwestern first promptly turned Epstein into an unperson. Trotsky and Yezhov were 'disappeared' on a slightly longer timeline."
He opposes Stalinism, but won't try to stop the installation of the Brezhnev from Delaware.
The second post ended, "Biden could not have been much more ungracious, but that’s okay. This is not how it’s done and we decline in any event to 'unite” behind the regime of left-wing hacks and retreads for whom he will serve as front man. And the lecture comes particularly poorly from one of the protagonists in the Russia hoax that successfully sought to undermine the Trump administration from well before day one. We won’t forget that either."
He opposes unification, but won't stand with President Trump.
Lastly, you stand with President Trump because the Supreme Court refused to give him his day in court. The court gave Al Gore his day, but not an actual president.
The evidence of widespread electoral fraud are overwhelming, but the courts refuse to consider his case.
Yes, you stand with President Trump because the deep state committed a great injustice that threatens the foundation of our constitutional republic.
Even if you ignore the evidence -- even if you believe the case is a joke -- you stand with Donald John Trump because he is the only man standing between having Stalinism as a metaphor for academic politics and having Stalinism as a way of life.
Everything that Johnson and his buds at Powerline profess to believe is at stake. Inauguration Day is about 5 weeks away. We should be in no rush to turn our country over to the communists. As the poet wrote in the year I was born, do not go gentle into that good night...
PowerLine is on the same level as Salem Media.
ReplyDeleteNeverTrumper wire to wire.
In my neck of the woods, Salem Media's linup of talkers include Mike Gallagher, Dr. Gorka, Kevin McCullough, Jay Sekulow and Larry Elder, all pro-Trumpers.
DeleteThe boys and powerline are not not Trumper’s but they do suffer from an excess of Bushism. I’m surprise that Hinderaker turned out to be so weak. The evidence of election fraud is so massive it’s incredible. A litigation lawyer like and directors should get this. In the real world he would’ve made mincemeat out of those arguing there was no election fraud.
DeleteSalem's talkers may be pro-Trump but their leading blog property, Hot Air (and lead bloggers AllahPundit and Ed Morrisey) is almost indistinguishable from Vox or PuffHo.
DeleteI followed PowerLine for at least a dozen years. I put up with paul Mirengoff's snooty NeverTrumpism and Scott Johnson's "that just isn't done (in polite society)" attitude.
DeleteBut their attitude to the Stolen Election was absurd and caused me to refer to them as a particular bodily sphincter in the Comments section.
The next time I tried to comment, I was informed in bold red letters That I was banned for life.
Oh, well. I'll miss the Saturday morning "Week in Pictures," but that's all.
Bravo, Don!
ReplyDeleteSUPERB. A word I use very, very seldom.
DeleteMr. Surber's statements of fact sell themselves.
The tragedy is that the buyers aren't the Johnsons, who are too busy selling themselves.
Price? Thirty silver bitcoins, each time.
And we stand with you, Don.
ReplyDeleteThey all reverted to Mirengoff within a week of the election. I read Power line from the beginning but I quit when Hinderacker Mirengoffed himself.
ReplyDeleteSounds like they're HindenburgingNewJersey themselves.
Delete99% of these weasels are some variation or another of Peggy Noonan.
Thanks for this Kerbie. Mirengoff is the absolute worst of the Powerline columnists. He is the poster boy for “Pompous Elitist Snob with a Stick Up His Posterior.”
DeleteIf you say the other columnists are going in his direction that means it is an absolute dumpster fire.
Or as another poet wrote:
ReplyDelete“Poor weary, hungry sinners,
Past caring and past fear,
The camp-fires of the winners
Are gleaming in the rear.
Each day their front advances,
Each day the same old din,
But freedom holds the chances —
Fall in, my men, fall in.
With old wounds dully aching —
Fall in, my men, fall in —
See yonder starlight breaking
Through rifts where storm clouds thin!
See yonder cleared sky arching
The distant range upon?
I'll plan while we are marching —
Move on, my men — march on!“
Couldn't have made it through this nightmare without you, Don!
ReplyDeleteJoseph Epstein is a terrific essayist, and his point about the beauty queen is spot on. Getting a Ph.D. in something like education means hanging out in college a couple more years and writing a paper about a silly narrow subject. Not the same as becoming an internist. Not the same as becoming a physicist Ph.D.
ReplyDeleteThe beauty queen then tried to play the gender card.
Sorry, cutie, but I'd say the same thing about a male ed (lower case) degree holder.
She was in her 50s when she got her EdD (Doctoral in Education). Note that lawyers had a JD (Juris Doctor) degree thus could be called Doctor. Some will use Esquire instead. Most others use no title at all.
DeleteIf you get a chance read this article and her "position paper" for a good laugh. What a joke she is disguised as an Ed.D.
Deletehttps://redstate.com/nick-arama/2020/12/15/jill-biden-wants-us-to-call-her-dr-s-heres-a-look-at-her-ed-d-position-paper-to-receive-that-doctorate-n294848
Graduate degrees late in life are epaulets for aging boomers...
DeleteProf. Reynolds quoted someone today as saying that he noticed at Stanford that none of the professors in the Physics department were called "Doctor" or called each other "Doctor" or cared... but that all the professors in the Education department insisted on being called "Doctor." Probably all you need to know from that story.
(Me? I actually have a STEM Ph.D. in one of the major branches of engineering but don't care about epaulets or titles. When some asks me "Should we call you Dr. [surname] or just [first name]?" my standard response is, "I don't care what you call me as long as you don't call me late for dinner." (And I find that overdecorating the space AFTER one's name with a pile of letters is at least as bad and at least as annoying - have a goofball nearby here who insists on putting five different letter things after her name, all separated by commas. No idea what four of them even are.)
This fuss is disturbing for another reason though. Back when barack and michelle (?) first appeared on the scene, I couldn't shake that they reminded me so much of nicolai and elena ceausescu - and j&j are giving me a similar vibe.
Funny thing is that elena had no particular education, but insisted that she had a Ph.D. in chemistry, AND was an internationally-respected research scientist in the field; she also insisted on being called "Dr. Ceausescu"... and of course the communist government basically made it law that everyone had to believe her.
Only odd consequence of that is that today Romanian universities of any size have large and actually very good chemistry departments.
My wife, family, and relatives know exactly where I stand:
ReplyDeleteTRUMP BECAUSE FOOK YOU
(H/t Sundance)
Withdrawal from the larger world will get me - and has already gotten me - some criticism, but at this point I’m done trying to explain it to waterheads like my brothers. There are two competing stories, very different stories, right now. I choose THE TRUE ONE.
As a long time resident of PLb, I can say they supported Hillary in 2016 and Biden in 2020. As with the rest of the GOPe, they like to pretend we have a two party system. It's obviously not so. The majority of the GOPe oppose Trump and support globalism. Now they pretend to commiserate with us in the hopes things will go back tot he status quo ante. Where it was always the dems fault for not getting things done. And of course, their partners in crime would claim it was the fault of the repubs. They never put America first.
ReplyDeleteThe e f@cktards at Powerline are RINO’s at heart and lawyers that truly feel that the law is god.
ReplyDeleteThe evidence of widespread electoral fraud are overwhelming
ReplyDeleteSo? You miss the point completely. This kind of fraud has to be stopped the moment it occurs. On the spot. Suspend the tallies until it stops and is corrected.
None of that was done and that's on the RNC. You have to swarm the tally centers with lawyers and staffers all ready to stop the least suspicious activity. They didn't even though they knew the risk was astronomical with the mail in balloting. Trump signed the law that led to his demise.
Its by design there is not enough time to prove fraud in a court after the election and well before January 20th
The entire GOP establishment is responsible for this. The RNC sandbagged Trump during the campaign. They don't want the corruption to end they are as crooked as the democrats. McConnell has been in bed with China long before Biden was. His deeply connected Chinese wife proves that.
So surprise surprise ole Mitch now calls Biden the prez elect. The deal is done.
Here is evidence why I'm right. I've linked the youtube channel called Precinct 13 which has interviews with over a dozen poll watchers.
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCekdKDk6d8opUrUEXtXD4XQ/videos
Watch a few and you'll see how hopeless was their cause from the get go.
This one is my favorite
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wBB8RyOlPg&t=2s
I did not know the Constitution authorizes the Senate Majority leader the power to declare the winner of the election.
DeleteCan you show me where that is in the Constitution? You may have a different edition than I.
Thanks in advance.
”The entire GOP establishment is responsible for this.” So is a battered wife is “responsible” for her beating? “You should have stopped the attack the moment it occurred,” you say. The last I checked, the perpetrator is “responsible” for committing the crime, not the victim.
Delete“Anonymous” appears to be the same exact person who continues to post idiotic comments on this site.
DeleteFor example, “Anonymous” writes that “Trump signed the law that led to his demise.”
What law was that numbers. Cite the freakin law you moron. What Public Law Number, what Section of the law you dope on steroids.
“His deeply connected Chinese wife proves that.“ Getting a little carried away there. Please don’t drop yourself to their level. One of conservatives true strengths is avoiding wrestling with pigs and otherwise throwing mud. They love it and you lose your position of verity.
Delete"You have to swarm the tally centers with lawyers and staffers all ready to stop the least suspicious activity."
DeleteExcept they tried only to be stopped by armed cops. Are you suggesting they shoot? Because nothing else will work.
It is usually Paul that seems to be the deranged one. I was very disappointed when I read Scott's article this morning. I do like John. If he is a never trumper, he has done well over the years from not letting it impair his writing.
ReplyDeleteIt's not over till Trump tells me it's over. That time may come, but it hasn't yet happened. Whether it does or if some unbelievable miracle occurs, we are certainly becoming more clear by the day who the constitutional patriots are and who the swamp dwelling squishes are.
ReplyDeleteI reckon that's the whole point of the exercise: to tell "who the constitutional patriots are and who the swamp dwelling squishes are."
DeleteWe now know that the FBI is corrupt; the DOJ is corrupt; that no justice will be dispensed by our Supreme Court (a real disappointment that was to me, even Clarence Thomas and Sam Alito couldn't find their gonads;) the Congress is corrupt, including both heads of the Uniparty beast; the media is corrupt, from CNN through Fox News; academia is corrupt (save for Hillside College!)
In short, we now know who we can do without. When the fireworks start (that's coming soon,) there'll be a list of all those who sold out, those who shirked their duty, those who acted seditiously and those who were traitorous.
Now sing along with me: "I have a little list, they never will be missed... what never? No, NEVER!"
I assume you mean Hillsdale (in case anyone wants to learn more)?
DeleteOne thing I noticed today was that Lin Wood tweeted out that in his opinion, PDJT had given Gov. Kemp and SoS Whataburger (or whatever his name is) every chance to do the right thing... but they didn't take advantage it, so they will be going to prison.
And PDJT retweeted that.
Hmm...
SoS Whataburger. HAHAHAHA!! Well played, Goose!
DeleteI didn’t quit Powerline, I got fired 😂
ReplyDeleteApparently, intemperate language is a disqualification. 😱
Same here.
DeleteI too was banned. Proudly. A comment on Heels Up Harris when she was still a candidate.
DeleteI am happy to report that until today I had never heard of Johnson/Powerline.
DeleteClosest I ever got was Swingline Staplers (they still exist?).
At any rate, glad that I didn't have to drive into the Pitstop of Disillusionment twice.
QUISLING-FOX was the big hit.
"Seconds? No thanks, I'm good."
I was banned on election night, four years ago. As far as I can tell, I was banned for asking them why they were banning some of their most popular commenters, after saying they were going to ban the worst of the trolls.
DeleteThey really are traitors that would shoot their own team in the back.
Same here
Delete+1
Delete@ToddF
DeleteEven excluding me, your banning puts you in good company!
Well, though nothing else, at least Pee Line is consistent.
;u)
~ Greybeard
Meringoff has been a never Trumper from the beginning. Hayward was one of the writers in the National Review Never Trump edition. He is probably embarrassed by that now, as he doesn’t bring it up, but the snark sometimes comes out. Johnson and Hinderaker seemed to be solid conservatives. I guess there’s something in the Minnesota air.
ReplyDeleteThe passive-aggressive is strong with the Skandies.
DeleteAll I have to say is that the Democrats must be thoroughly enjoying the in-fighting among Republicans at this point. Personally, I would rather watch the Democrats self-destruct.
ReplyDeleteWhile I do not believe that the Powerline guys are NeverTrumpers I do believe that Trump embarrasses their sensibilities and causes them anguish when among their friends in polite society. The fact that Paul and Scott tended to believe the worst about Trump until proven innocent always aggravated me. For the life of me, though, I just do not understand the absolute defeatist tone they have taken since the election. While they profess that the election was stolen they seem to relish in the fact that there is nothing anyone can do about it. I believe that they believe this demonstrates sophistication which is why they cannot understand us simple-minded rubes.
ReplyDeleteSuch a thing as "polite society" still exists?
DeleteWhere?
Jmod, if the RepubliRinos are in such a state, I guarantee you, it is a minor skirmish compared to the self-destruction of the clinically-diagnosed/physically dead tandem of Biden-Pelosi.
ReplyDeleteSit back, watch, and enjoy the show.
Meanwhile, I'll look for a Vegas line that by April 30, 2021, Harris will once again accuse Biden --- the only man she didn't have to "knees" to get where she is today --- of being a "RAY-CIST!"
I wonder if I could get 100-1 on the date being January 20, 2021...
At which point, we'll scream, for old time's sake,
"BELIEVE ALL WOMEN!"
I was a very loyal Powerline reader until it became apparent that Scott is a NeverTrumper when it comes to the election fraud. Haven't read anything there in weeks and have deleted the blog from my must read folder.
ReplyDeleteYes, PowerLine readers are pushing back on Scott Johnson in a major way for his anti-Trump behavior related to election fraud. And Johnson can’t tap-dance fast enough. Like an odometer, the reader comment count has recycled and must be over 1,000. I've had my own run-in with Scott Johnson after he banned me for "annoying" him and turned really snarky on a personal level. He told readers like me, if you want to comment further, get your own website -- I did: http://speaktruthtopower-line.com/updates/political-theology-at-powerline-same-as-fb-google-cancel-culture-but-readers-force-scott-johnson-to-respond-more-than-900-reader-comments/
DeleteI'm surprised they still have readers that care, what with them treating their own supporters like trash over the years.
ReplyDeleteDon’t waste your breath. Scott Johnson is a good writer and one of the reasons that I visit PowerlineBlog daily but he thinks of himself and PLB as being something of a neutral arbiter of news. He thinks that somehow PLB will survive independent of what Democrats do. He is mistaken but will not be easily disabused of his stance.
ReplyDeletePowerline and Allahpundit were key to debunking the fake Dan Rather Air National Guard memo on W.
ReplyDeleteThey have betrayed themselves and have shown that they love it when Trump’s and member’s of his campaign civil rights were violated.
Powerline is forever searching for the hill to die on, never to find it.
ReplyDeleteCheerleaders supposedly on our side brazenly getting their naked jump on, at halftime on the 50 yd line. Butthurt at boos , cough coughslut cough
ReplyDeleteNo nads.
ReplyDeleteOne of the best pieces you've yet written, Don. Well said.
ReplyDeleteHaven’t been back to pl since a week after election. Except for the week in pictures of course.
ReplyDeleteThe lawyer mentality is too much on exhibit these days. And Scott is a great writer
Gave up PL weeks ago after being a loyal reader since they started. This covert war by Democrats and the CCP is existential stuff. PL went AWOL.
ReplyDeleteHave you ever seen a Dem not stand with another Dem despite the evidence?
ReplyDeletePL is another Bush era gatekeeper. Good only to see what the enemy is thinking.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing with PL: why are they not in federal court suing Walz for a republican form of gov't?
ReplyDeleteAll they do is complain. Limp noodles indeed.
I have regularly read Powerline & Breitbart, but have found their tepid response to massive voter fraud appalling. They are either talking themselves into thinking that if they ignore Democrat criminal behavior and cowardly RINOS & anti-Trumpers that they will fine when President Trump leaves office. They don't have the foresight that there may never have a free & fair election again. It's all or nothing and the political left is all in on the steal.
ReplyDeleteYou have made your points, and made the rubble BOUNCE!
ReplyDeletePowerLine has been on the decline for at least a year. The current burst of more than 900 reader comments has brought this reality to a head. I've had my own run-in with Scott Johnson after he banned me for "annoying" him and turned really snarky on a personal level. He told readers like me, if you want to comment further, get your own website -- I did: http://speaktruthtopower-line.com/updates/political-theology-at-powerline-same-as-fb-google-cancel-culture-but-readers-force-scott-johnson-to-respond-more-than-900-reader-comments/
ReplyDeleteMay I be the first to enter into the renaming contest for Powerline's new name. "Powder Line"
ReplyDeleteJill Biden is just another typical leftard. So insecure and lacking of self esteem that they ALWAYS have to play victim. They have to be in a "hate clique" to feel worthy. That's why they attack in mobs and from behind because they know they are such losers. That is why they are covered with tattoos and piercings. They try so hard to belong because they hate themselves and thus hate anyone that isn't in their clique.
ReplyDeleteI'm a veterinarian. I never introduce myself as doctor. I rarely use it except in professional endeavors and letters. I am secure in myself and my intelligence. I worked in a side occupation and for many years my coworkers didn't even know I was a doctor until a friend introduced me that way. I do know several phD's that throw it into every sentence and Biden's isn't even a real phD. All that does is light a neon sign that they are insecure.
Great article per usual Don. I didn't read you until CFP featured you and I'm glad I found you!
https://external-preview.redd.it/O-OsxGX6aghHpfAOius_JSWTs4sSgjpVGNzG1Z7Ee24.jpg?s=6679679206da0da9490e4f756f770ea3fc1f47cb
ReplyDeletehttps://external-preview.redd.it/O-OsxGX6aghHpfAOius_JSWTs4sSgjpVGNzG1Z7Ee24.jpg?s=6679679206da0da9490e4f756f770ea3fc1f47cb
ReplyDeletePOWER WHO?
ReplyDeleteLong time PL reader. Throughout this entire election debacle they have essentially become the FOX News of conservative blogs. I don’t think any of the supported Trump at the start. Some of them came around to a degree. Paul never did, he was a closet anti Trumper. The rest of them have caved, Steve may still be holding out. It is very sad. I imagine they will lose many readers.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteFinally, my paycheck is $ 8,500? A working 10 hours per week online. My brother’s friend had an average of 12K for several months, he work about 22 hours a week. I can not believe how easy it is, once I try to do so. This is what I do....
→→→→→ www.efarm3.com
I found my Disqus account banned at Power Line yesterday. They won't answer why. Must be cold and damp down in that hole.
ReplyDelete