Here, in its entirety, is an item at National Review by Dan McLaughlin:
Failing to Catch DeSantis or Trump
My latest New York Post columns look at the media’s pursuit of Ron DeSantis, the Manhattan DA’s pursuit of Donald Trump, and why they fail.
I point this out because what McLaughlin is describing is the most important thing Republican voters want from their politicians: the ability to avoid being owned by the libs, which is one of the highest forms of lib ownage. It's what Trump had in 2016: He insulted John McCain, he insulted a disabled reporter, he insulted a Gold Star family, he was caught cheating on his wife with a porn star, he was heard on tape bragging about sexual assault ... and he just kept going, just kept on insulting and attacking. None of these moments derailed his campaign. He wasn't owned. By surviving these so-called scandals, he owned us. Then, as president, Trump didn't need to do much of anything to seem like a great leader to his supporters -- he just had to keep owning us and keep failing to be owned.
McLaughlin's DeSantis column is all about critics' failure to own the governor, so far:
Like Wile E. Coyote, the self-anointed geniuses in the political media just keep trying to spring new traps on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. And like the Road Runner, DeSantis keeps escaping with his head high while his pursuers’ plans detonate in their faces.
Example: The building collapse in Surfside, Fla., has cost at least 20 lives, likely many more. There must be some way to blame DeSantis, right?
Hannah Dreier of The Washington Post claimed on Twitter that “FEMA was ready to deploy to the condo collapse almost immediately, and included the crisis in its daily briefing, but didn’t get permission from Gov. DeSantis to get on the ground for a full day.” In fact, the law required DeSantis to wait for an emergency declaration by the local mayor; once he had one in hand, he issued his own declaration within an hour....
Example: A pickup truck rammed into a group marching in a gay-pride parade near Fort Lauderdale, killing one. Florida media has usually been better than the national reporters, but this time, it was Florida journalists who rushed to blame DeSantis. Miami-based Lesley Abravanel, the publisher of FloridaPolitics.com, tweeted, “Domestic terrorism made legal by bigot #KimJongRon #DeathSantis. Charlottesville, Part 2.” It turned out this was an accident; the truck driver was a member of the local Gay Men’s Chorus chapter heading for the parade.
And on and on, through several more examples (vaccine distribution, the Matt Gaetz scandal, and more). All but absent from the column is any mention of actual DeSantis accomplishments. But why should McLaughlin bother trying to list those? DeSantis has the one accomplishment that matters: He seems to be beating the libs and the media at the ownage game.
McLaughlin's Trump column is more equivocal:
Corporations almost never get criminally prosecuted for this sort of thing, but [Manhattan DA Cy] Vance wanted the name “Trump” in his indictment. You can bet that he would have indicted The Donald if he had the goods. The feds — who’ve been auditing Trump’s taxes forever — haven’t filed charges....
... trumped-up charges against former leaders are a familiar sight in banana republics. America has thus far avoided that. Making a precedent of this kind of case, based on aggressive readings of the law or its extension to situations rarely prosecuted, is a perilous step.
Vance seems to think he’s Eliot Ness getting Al Capone for tax fraud by nabbing his accountant. But if [Allen] Weisselberg isn’t going to testify that his boss did something criminal, it’s Trump who will come out looking untouchable.
You didn't get Trump! You libs are the ones who are owned!
Yes, but we got his company, a few months after we either (a) beat Trump legitimately in the 2020 election or (b) deprived him of a second rightful victory by means of bamboo-paper fake ballots from China and votes flipped by Italian satellites. And we might get him sooner or later.
No wonder DeSantis is gaining on Trump in polls of Republicans. Trump is starting to seem ownable. So far, DeSantis isn't. To Republican voters, that's all that matters.
Published with permission of No More Mr. Nice Blog
