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Category Archives: Ron Paul

Paul Ryan: Trumps unelectability will be palpable by 2024 – The Hill

Posted: October 15, 2022 at 4:34 pm

Former SpeakerPaul Ryan(R-Wis.) on Thursday said that former President Trumps unelectability will be palpable by the 2024 presidential election and that the next Republican nominee will likely be someone else.

I think Trumps unelectability will be palpable by then. We all know that he will lose. We all know that he is so much more likely to lose the White House than anybody else running for president on our side of the aisle, so why would we want to go with that? Ryan said in an interview with Teneo for its Insights Series.

Ryan is vice chairman of Teneo, a public relations and CEO advisory firm.

The only reason he stays where he is is because everybodys afraid of him. Theyre afraid of him going after them, hurting their own ambition. But as soon as you get the herd mentality going, its unstoppable, Ryan said.

He noted Trumps lack of strength in polls that consider him as the hypothetical 2024 Republican candidate and said hes sure the former president will be aware of that.

Whether he runs or not, I dont really know if it matters. Hes not going to be the nominee, I dont think, Ryan said.

The former Speaker posited that the Republican presidential primary will be flooded with candidates, dividing up the vote until Trump gets the plurality though he didnt think that was the most likely case.

Its not like [Trump] is going to reverse the impression that suburban voters have on him. That cake is baked, Ryan said.

Ryan also underscored the importance of suburban American voters in this years midterm elections, noting that Democrats are likely to seize on abortion and Trump as key voting issues, while Republicans will emphasize the U.S. economy.

Democrats, the former Speaker predicted, will work to make the 2022 race about Trump to get their base to the polls, pulling focus from sky-high, persistent inflation.

[Trump] is the Democrats weapon against us. Hes a cudgel against us, especially in our swing districts, Ryan said.

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Governor Ron DeSantis Appoints Fourteen to the Florida Rehabilitation Council for the Blind – Governor Ron DeSantis

Posted: at 4:34 pm

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. Today, Governor Ron DeSantis announced the appointment of Sead Bekric, Sophia Eccleston, Paul Edwards, Paul Martinez, Roxann Mayros, Ciawanda McDonald, Arthur Moody, Misty Porter, and Denise Valkema and the reappointment of Nancy Bateh, Jorge Hernandez, Patricia Lipovsky, Dont Mickens, and Bessie Outman to the Florida Rehabilitation Council for the Blind.

Sead Bekric

Bekric is the former President of All American Canteen, Inc. Proficient in assistive technology, he has served as a district representative on the Committee of Blind Vendors. Bekric attended Eckerd College and Schiller International University.

Sophia Eccleston

Eccleston is an External Affairs Manager with Florida Power and Light Company. She is a veteran of the United States Army, the 2022 Chair of the Florida Commission on the Status of Women, and a board member for CareerSource Florida. Eccleston earned her bachelors degree in criminal justice from Armstrong Atlantic State University and her masters degree in business administration from American Intercontinental University.

Paul Edwards

Edwards is the former Director of Access Services for Miami Dade College.He is a member of the Commission on Disability Issues and a board member of the National Accreditation Council for Agencies Serving the Blind. Edwards earned his bachelors degree in history and his masters degree in both international relations and secondary education from the University of West Indies in Jamaica.

Paul Martinez

Martinez is a Banquet Server at the Tampa Convention Center. He is an Ambassador for the Multiple Sclerosis Society, serves on the Bay Legal Services Board of Directors, and is President of the National Federation of the Blind. Martinez earned his associate degree in liberal arts from Hillsborough Community College and currently attends the University of South Florida.

Roxann Mayros

Mayros serves as a consultant to nonprofits and is the previous Chief Executive Officer of VisionServe Alliance. In 2019, VisionServe Alliance created the Roxann Mayros Champion Award to highlight the legacy of her service to the field of blindness and low vision. Mayros earned her bachelors degree in business from Eckerd College and her masters degree in nonprofit management from Washington University.

Ciawanda McDonald

McDonald is the Chief Executive Officer of Disability Solutions for Independent Living. Previously, she was a Medical Disability Program Specialist at the Florida Department of Health. McDonald earned her bachelors degree in political science from Florida State University, her masters degree in public administration from Troy University, and her masters degree in occupational therapy from the University of Saint Augustine.

Arthur Moody

Moody is an Advocate-Investigator at Disability Rights Florida. Previously, he was a Vocational Rehabilitation Consultant at the Florida Division of Vocational Rehabilitation. Moody earned his bachelors degree from Union College and his masters degree from the University of South Florida.

Misty Porter

Porter is a Parent Liaison at the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind. Previously, she was a Service Coordinator at Northeastern Early Steps. Porter earned her teacher of the visually impaired certification from St. Johns River State College and her bachelors degree in sociology from Valdosta State University.

Denise Valkema

Valkema is a board member and past President of the National Federation of the Blind Florida. She was previously appointed to and served on the Miami Dade County Commission on Disability Issues and the Miami Dade County Local Coordinating Board. Valkema earned her bachelors degree in elementary education from Clearwater Christian College.

Nancy Bateh

Bateh is a Senior Rehabilitation Counselor at the Florida Department of Educations Division of Blind Services. Previously, she was a Special Education Teacher with Duval County Public Schools. Bateh earned her bachelors degree in special education and her masters degree in education from the University of North Florida.

Jorge Hernandez

Hernandez is the Manager of Technology at the Miami Lighthouse for the Blind. He serves on the Board of Directors for the National Federation of the Blind Florida. Hernandez earned his bachelors degree in information technology from Florida International University.

Patricia Lipovsky

Lipovsky is the Vice Presidentof the Coalition for the Concerns of the Totally Blind, an affiliate of the Florida Council of the Blind. She has been involved with the Florida Independent Living Council, Handicapped Adults of Volusia County, and the Friends of Library Access supporting the Braille and Talking Book Library. Lipovsky earned her bachelors degree in psychology from Jacksonville University.

Dont Mickens

Mickens is a Financial Consultant at the National Council on Compensation Insurance. He is a member of the United States Association of Blind Athletes and is Chair of Lighthouse for the Blind of the Palm Beaches. Mickens earned his bachelors degrees in finance and risk management and his masters degree in risk management from Florida State University.

Bessie Outman

Outman is a Registered Nurse at Conklin Davis Center for the Visually Impaired. Previously, she was a Registered Nurse at All Ways Caring HomeCare. She is a member of the New Smyrna Advent Hospital Faith Nurses and the National Federation of the Blind of Florida Daytona Beach Chapter. Outman earned her nursing degree from St. Lukes School of Nursing and her bachelors degree from St. Francis University.

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Governor Ron DeSantis Appoints Fourteen to the Florida Rehabilitation Council for the Blind - Governor Ron DeSantis

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Paul Newman recalls losing his only son Scott to addiction in memoir: I never thought it would be fatal – Fox News

Posted: at 4:34 pm

Before Paul Newman passed away, the Hollywood star reflected on the loss of his only son.

Scott Newman, a fellow actor, died in 1978 at age 28 from a drug and alcohol overdose. Newman, who passed away in 2008 at age 83, detailed his heartbreak in a memoir published posthumously titled "Paul Newman: The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man." Its out on Tuesday.

Newman began writing his book in the 80s with the help of screenwriter Stewart Stern, who in turn spoke to dozens of the actors friends and associates. It was recently found in Newman's Connecticut home where his widow, Joanne Woodward, still resides.

In the book, Newman feared that Scott felt he was in competition with his famous father.

PAUL NEWMAN SAYS JOANNE WOODWARD MADE HIM A 'SEXUAL CREATURE': 'WE LEFT A TRAIL OF LUST ALL OVER THE PLACE'

Paul Newman (left) and his son Scott Newman (1950-1978) attend the Ontario 500 automobile race in California on September 3, 1972. Scott had five sisters. (Photo by Max B. Miller/Fotos International/Getty Images)

"I kept thinking he was going through a phase of adolescent bad judgment," wrote Newman in an excerpt obtained by People magazine on Friday. "I never thought it would be fatal."

"Was there some way I might have told him he didnt have to be like me?" Newman wondered. "That he didnt have to do macho things and could just be himself?"

"Many are the times I have gotten down on my knees and asked for Scotts forgiveness," Newman continued. "I ask for forgiveness for that part of me which provided the impetus for his own destruction. What would it have taken to avert that? Im not certain, but I dont think I could have gone into films and been a movie star. I couldnt have drunk."

Newman was a father of six Scott and five daughters. He described his feelings of guilt and helplessness over his son, noting that "being a star throws everything out of whack for your kids."

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Scott Newman, circa 1975. The son of actor Paul Newman died of an overdose of drugs and alcohol in 1978. He was 28. (Getty Images)

"There is even something grotesque in saying, Forgive me," wrote Newman. "The energy up there that represents that kid will just give me the finger and say, Well, what am I supposed to do with that?"

In the book, Newman also described how heavy drinking impacted him.

"In the early 1970s, I think I took it as far as it could go, before realizing I had taken it that far," he wrote. "For someone as controlled as I am, to experience the delight, the luxury, of being out of control, and to keep yourself constantly at risk, is simply pleasurable."

"There are terrible things that happen with booze," he reflected. "I marvel that I survived them."

PAUL NEWMAN, HOLLYWOOD STAR, 'WAS ONE OF THE GUYS AS HE PURSUED PASSION FOR RACING, PHOTOGRAPHER SAYS

Paul Newman with his wife Joanne Woodward and daughter Nell Newman. The late actor began writing his memoir in the '80s. (Photo by Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)

In 2021, publisher Alfred A. Knopf announced that the book will explore Newmans thoughts on "acting, directing, boyhood, family, fame, Hollywood, Broadway, love, his first marriage, his 50-year marriage to Joanne Woodward, drinking, politics, racing, his ultimate ride to stardom, and aging gracefully."

"Through Newmans voice, and the voices of others, the book captures the paradoxical and unstoppable rise of a star who wrestled with doubts, believing he was inferior to Marlon Brando and James Dean, and yet transcended his hunk status to become an Oscar-winning actor, champion race car driver, social activist, and entrepreneur whose philanthropy has generated nearly a billion dollars for charitable causes," according to Knopf.

"This result is a portrait of the actor in full, from his early days to his years in the Navy, from his start in Hollywood to his rise to stardom, and with an intimate glimpse of his family life," the statement added.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Stephanie Nolasco covers entertainment at Foxnews.com.

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How To Resist CBDCs5 Ways You Can Opt Out of This Dystopian Future – International Man

Posted: at 4:34 pm

Theres an excellent chance governments worldwide will soon force their citizens to use central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).

CBDCs enable all sorts of horrible, totalitarian things.

They allow governments to track and control every penny you earn, save, and spend. They are a powerful tool for politicians to confiscate and redistribute wealth as they see fit.

CBDCs will make it possible for central banks to impose deeply negative interest rates, which are really just a euphemism for a tax on saving money.

Governments could program CBDCs to have an expiration datelike some airline frequent flyer milesforcing people to spend them, for example, before the end of the month when theyd become worthless.

CBDCs will enable devious social engineering by allowing governments to punish and reward people in ways they previously couldnt.

Suppose governments impose lockdowns again for flu season, so-called climate change, or whatever pretext they find convenient. CBDCs could be programmed to only work in a geographic area. For example, your payments could be denied if you travel more than a mile from your home during a lockdown.

Suppose the people in charge want to encourage people to take a pharmaceutical product. With CBDCs, they could easily deposit money into the accounts of those who complied and deduct it from those who didnt.

Undoubtedly, CBDCs will be paired with a sort of social credit system. Such a system is already in place in China today. In the West, its likely to come in a different flavor. Perhaps CBDCs will be paired with an ESG score.

Did you commit a thought crime on social media? Or perhaps you read too many politically incorrect articles online? Did you exceed your monthly meat consumption allowance? Then expect some financial punishment thanks to the CBDCs.

CBDCs are, without a doubt, an instrument of enslavement. They represent a quantum leap backward in human freedom.

Unfortunately, theyre coming soon.

Governments will probably mandate CBDCs as a solution when the next real or contrived crisis hitswhich is likely not far off.

Thats the bad news.

The good news is that CBDCs are destined to fail.

Despite all the hype, CBDCs are nothing but the same fiat currency scam on steroids.

Its doubtful CBDCs can save otherwise fundamentally unsound currenciesas I believe all fiat currencies are.

If the current fiat system is not viable, then CBDCs are even less viable as they enable the government to engage in even more currency debasement.

Would a CBDC have saved the Zimbabwe dollar, the Venezuelan bolivar, the Argentine peso, or the Lebanese lira?

I dont think so. And a CBDC wont save the US dollar or the euro either.

But that doesnt mean governments wont try implementing CBDCs with immensely destructive consequences for many people.

While I believe CBDCs will inevitably self-destruct, nobody knows how long it will take for that to happen. Communism was also destined to self-destruct, but it took generations. I dont think it will take nearly that long for CBDCs to fail, but thats just my guess.

Therefore, the big question everyone should be asking is this

What will you do when the government forces everyone to use CBDCs?

I believe its incumbent on free individuals to reject CBDCs. It will be challenging, but the rewardmaintaining your sovereigntywill be priceless.

Below I discuss five ways you can do just that.

Its important to remember the wise words of Ron Paul:

What none of them (politicians) will admit is that the market is more powerful than the central banks and all the economic planners put together. Although it may take time, the market always wins.

No matter what edicts, decrees, or laws that politicians pass, they will never be able to fully extinguish the desire of people to use alternatives to CBDCs. That cracks the door open to other options.

For example, consider that Venezuela, Zimbabwe, Argentina, Lebanon, and many other countries restrict the use of US dollars today. However, all that does is create a thriving black marketor, more accurately, a free marketfor US dollars and a parallel financial system.

We can expect the same kind of dynamic if governments impose CBDCs. I have no doubt significant parallel systems and underground markets will naturally emerge.

Anyone who wants to avoid CBDC enslavement must learn to swim in those waters.

Below are five steps anyone can take to opt out of this dystopia.

Avoiding CBDCs means using alternative forms of money.

Although people use money every day, few consider what it actually is or what makes for a good money.

Asking people, what is money? is like asking a fish, what is water?

The fish probably doesnt even notice the water unless it becomes polluted or something is wrong.

Money is a good, just like any other in an economy. And it isnt a complex notion to grasp. It doesnt require you to understand convoluted math formulas and complicated theoriesas the gatekeepers in academia, media, and government mislead many folks into believing.

Understanding money is intuitive and straightforward. Money is simply something useful for storing and exchanging value. Thats it.

Think of money as a claim on human time. Its like stored life or energy.

Unfortunately, today most of humanity thoughtlessly accepts whatever their government gives them as money. However, money does not need to come from the government. Thats a total misnomer that the average person has been hoodwinked into believing.

It would be similar to transporting yourself back in time and asking the average person in the Soviet Union, Where do shoes come from?

They would say, Well, the government makes the shoes. Where else could they come from? Who else could make the shoes?

Its the same mentality here regarding money todayexcept its much more widespread.

The truth is money doesnt need to come from the government any more than shoes do.

People have used stones, glass beads, salt, cattle, seashells, gold, silver, and other commodities as money at different times.

However, for over 2,500 years, gold has been mankinds most enduring form of money.

Gold didnt become money by accident or because some politicians decreed it. Instead, it became money because countless individuals throughout history and across many different civilizations subjectively came to the same conclusion: gold is money.

It resulted from a market process of people looking for the best way to store and exchange value.

So, why did they go to gold? What makes gold attractive as money?

Heres why.

Gold has a set of unique characteristics that make it suitable as money.

Gold is durable, divisible, consistent, convenient, scarce, and most importantly, the hardest of all physical commodities. In other words, gold is hard to produce relative to existing stockpiles and is the one physical commodity most resistant to inflation of its supply. Thats what gives gold its monetary properties.

Anyone can opt-out of CBDCs by using physical gold and silver to store and exchange value.

Physical gold is optimal for long-term savings and large transactions. The best way to do that is with widely recognized gold bullion coins, like the Canadian Gold Maple Leaf or the American Gold Eagle.

However, gold coins are generally inconvenient to use for small transactions. Silver coins are more practical here.

CBDCs and Bitcoin share some characteristics. For example, they are both digital and facilitate fast payments from a mobile phone. But that is where the similarities end.

The reality is that CBDCs and Bitcoin are entirely different in the most fundamental ways.

You need the governments permission and blessing to use a CBDC, whereas Bitcoin is permissionless.

Governments can (and will) create as many CBDC currency units as they want. With Bitcoin, there can never be more than 21 million, and there is nothing anyone can do to inflate the supply more than the predetermined amount in the protocol.

CBDCs are centralized. Bitcoin is decentralized.

Governments can censor transactions and freeze and confiscate CBDC units. Bitcoin is censorship-resistant. No countrys laws can affect the protocol.

There is no privacy with CBDCs. However, if you take specific steps with Bitcoin, it is possible to maintain reasonable privacy.

CBDCs are government money that are easy to produce and give politicians a terrifying amount of control over peoples lives. On the other hand, Bitcoin is non-state hard money that helps liberate individuals from government control.

Bitcoin enables anyone to be their own bank. Bitcoin allows you to send and receive value from anyone anywhere without relying on third parties.

If you avoid CBDCs, that will almost certainly mean avoiding the traditional financial system.

Knowing how to use Bitcoin in the most sovereign way possible will be essential.

Get to know the people in your local community.

If you avoid CBDCs, many of the conveniences of society will become unavailable.

You will probably be unable to shop at Walmart and large stores of any kind, as they will all be roped into the CBDC system.

You will have to become self-sufficient and rely on your local community to obtain what you need. And that starts with knowing who can provide you with the things you want and need.

The Amish are incredibly successful in this regard.

I am not saying you must go 100% Amish to avoid CBDCs. But we can learn how their societies work outside the traditional system and emulate the areas that make sense in our local communities.

Humans invented money to solve the difficulties of barter.

But with CBDCs, governments will have perverted money from a technology that facilities economic exchange into a tool of enslavement. With CBDCs, barter doesnt look all that bad.

The key is understanding what value you can provide to others in your local community and how you can exchange that for something you want.

That might mean performing some landscaping work for your dentist in exchange for getting a cavity filled or washing the car of your butcher in exchange for some ground beef.

To minimize the inconvenience of barter, its ideal to become as self-sufficient in as many areas as possible. That includes stockpiling supplies and gaining survival knowledge and skills.

If you already have what you needor can produce it yourselfthat reduces the need to get it from others.

Unfortunately, CBDCsand all the terrible things that go along with themare probably coming soon.

To summarize, here are five steps anyone can take to opt-out of this terrible system.

Step #1: Use Physical Gold and Silver

Step #2: Obtain Financial Sovereignty With Bitcoin

Step #3: Get Organized Locally

Step #4: Exchange Value for Value

Step #5: Become a Prepper

Editors Note: The economic trajectory is troubling. Unfortunately, theres little any individual can practically do to change the course of these trends in motion.

The best you can and should do is to stay informed so that you can protect yourself in the best way possible, and even profit from the situation.

Thats precisely why bestselling author Doug Casey and his colleagues just released an urgent new PDF report that explains what could come next and what you can do about it.

Click here to download it now.

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Bob Doucette: 2022 campaign a Wild West of ideas of how to govern Oklahoma – Tulsa World

Posted: at 4:34 pm

How often do you get to talk to district judges? Who can name your county assessor or commissioner? Ginnie Graham and Bob Doucette give their endorsement of the idea of opinion section endorsement. Voters will become more aware of candidates at the bottom of the ballot. Plus, could a "Day of Citizenship" staffing volunteers at local precincts help on Election Day; and support for the idea of moving the animal shelter

The campaign season brings forth hundreds of people, complete with personalities that range from the bland to the bizarre, and everywhere in between.

But this election season has given me a front-row seat into the views associated with the folks who covet your vote.

In between the soundbites and talking points, Im hearing a variety of ideas. If a democracy is a marketplace of ideas, the shelves are pretty full in 2022.

Education is a front-and-center issue across the state. Most people agree that Oklahomas public schools arent where we want them to be.

The two schools of thought here would have us either invest more in schools higher teacher pay, more money into the classroom, less heavy-handed legislative regulation of the profession or create competition through more school choice.

People are also reading

School choice means a lot of things, but in 2022 it seems to revolve around public funds directed toward private school vouchers. Vouchers are championed by Gov. Kevin Stitt and state Secretary of Education Ryan Walters, who is campaigning for the state superintendents job.

Joy Hofmeister and Jena Nelson, Democratic candidates for governor and state superintendent, respectively, are on the opposite side of that divide.

For what its worth, vouchers failed in the Legislature last session, unable to get a majority vote in the Senate and not being heard at all in the House.

In any case, its the defining issue of this campaign cycle. Every candidate for the Legislature that the Tulsa World has talked to said education was one of the two most-mentioned issues by voters.

Another biggie is the state grocery sales tax. This has bipartisan agreement, with almost everyone Ive talked to saying it should either be temporarily suspended (as an inflation relief effort) or scrapped entirely.

The only reason it hasnt happened yet is it would create a $300 million-plus hole in the state budget. Thats easy to dismiss when the state is sitting in almost $3 billion in cash reserves, but gets tricky in lean times. Memories of those lean times are what have prevented other tax cuts from being passed lately.

But the grocery sales tax cut, first championed by Democrats, then later embraced by Republicans, seems to hit the right spot in that it helps the little guy, who just so happens to be getting squeezed the most in these high-inflation times.

These arent the only issues, though. Dive deeper into the weeds and some surprisingly interesting and sometimes unusual policy stands stick out.

Tulsa City Councilor Crista Patrick, who won re-election in August, said she wants to tackle the citys housing shortage with zoning changes. Her idea: Start a pilot program encouraging construction of more duplexes, quadplexes and manufactured homes. The city is facing high occupancy rates and rising rents, to the point where some Tulsans cant afford to live here anymore. Its also a factor in the citys growing homelessness crisis.

Patrick says the citys current zoning laws make these types of developments difficult to get off the ground, and a change there could provide more affordable housing options.

Another popular theme: Make shop class great again. As it stands, most students cannot start taking CareerTech classes until theyre well into high school. Back in my day, we were doing spot welds and making furniture in middle school.

Again, theres bipartisan agreement that having classes in the trades starting earlier would help students who might not want to go to college, but rather find jobs in manufacturing, construction and other high-demand roles that were desperate to fill.

There are other ideas, some of which come from voices not currently represented at the state Capitol.

The Libertarian Party rode a small wave of popularity a decade ago, much in part to Ron Pauls insurgent campaign for president in 2012. Since then, the partys numbers have grown, though not enough to see a member of the party get elected to a state office.

But they keep fielding candidates, and some of them have intriguing views.

For Libertarians, the less government, the better. Thats not an easy task for a country that is a global superpower with more than 330 million people, but their message does resonate with the crowd that wants public officials to leave them be.

Will Daughtery, who is representing the party in the labor commissioner race, would like to see occupational licensing fees eliminated for businesses until they start seeing a profit.

I dont want those things to be a barrier to starting a business, he said during a recent phone interview with the World.

Hed also advocate for lower taxes on businesses who pay their workers higher wages.

Then theres Chris Powell, a current Bethany City Council member running for lieutenant governor. His platform may be the most unique in the field in that he wants to abolish the position hes running for.

His beef with the office is that he believes it isnt needed. The secretary of state, the Senate president pro tem, or just about anyone else could do the job, one which he feels is more about propelling the office-holder to a better gig down the road.

Mary Fallin did just that, using the platform of lieutenant governor, then Congress, to ultimately claim the Governors Mansion. The lieutenant governor doesnt have much power, but does have some leeway in what the office tackles, and that sort of mushy job description doesnt set well with Powell.

We dont need a statewide office thats a choose-your-own adventure, he said.

It would take a change to the state constitution to see Powells plan become reality, something for which hed lobby the Legislature in an attempt to wind down the lieutenant governors office for good.

In any case, its good to see that there is more to these candidates than the carefully managed and curated campaigns were used to. Educators, engineers, ministers, business owners and more are running for office, and some of them are bringing fresh ideas to the table.

How will it all shake out? Well find out in a few weeks.

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Warm start to the week, then chilly temps later; thunderstorm chance Tuesday evening – MPR News

Posted: at 4:34 pm

It was good leaf-peeping weather across most of Minnesota and western Wisconsin this weekend.

Twin Cities high temperatures (measured at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport) were 64 degrees on Saturday and 69 degrees Sunday afternoon. Our average Twin Cities high is 62 degrees this time of year. High temps will continue to trend upward the next couple of days.

Temperature trends

Monday highs will reach the 70s in the metro area and southern Minnesota, with mainly 60s elsewhere:

Monday forecast highs

National Weather Service

Tuesday afternoon highs will be mainly in the 70s, with 80s in southwestern and south-central Minnesota:

Tuesday forecast highs

National Weather Service

Some spots in the Twin Cities metro area could touch 80 degrees Tuesday afternoon. Itll be breezy on Tuesday, but itll feel almost summery during the afternoon hours.

Did you know that MPR News is supported by Members? Gifts from individuals power the headlines, clarity and context found here. Give during the Fall Member Drive to become a Member today.

A cold front moves through Minnesota and western Wisconsin Tuesday night, so temps retreat for the remainder of the week. Twin Cities metro area highs are projected to be around 60 degrees on Wednesday, then around 50 Thursday followed by lower 50s Friday.

Thunderstorm chances Tuesday evening

An approaching low pressure trough and cold front could ignite some scattered thunderstorms late Tuesday afternoon, with a better chance of thunderstorms Tuesday evening.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations North American Mesoscale (NAM) forecast modelshows the potential rain pattern from 6 p.m. Tuesday to 1 a.m. Wednesday:

Simulated radar 6 p.m. Tuesday to 1 a.m. Wednesday

NOAA, via Tropicaltidbits.com

Check forecast updates as we get closer to Tuesday evening, because the timing of our thunderstorm chances could change and a few spots could see a strong or severe thunderstorm.

On Wednesday, parts of Minnesota could see some scattered afternoon showers.

We have updated weather information for Minnesota and western Wisconsin on the Minnesota Public Radio Newsnetwork, and on the MPR Newslive weather blog.

Fall color update

Fall colors Oct. 8, 2022 in St. Paul

Ron Trenda/MPR News

If youre planning on doing some leaf-peeping this week, you wont have to travel very far. Brilliant fall colors are visible in many parts of Minnesota.

Ive spotted pockets of excellent fall color in the Twin Cities metro area the past few days. Some trees havent yet transitioned to their autumn hues, and a few trees have already dropped most of their leaves.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resourcesfall color reportfor Minnesota State Parks and Trails looks like this:

Fall color report

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources

When you look atfall color maps,keep in mind that all deciduous trees are included. The maples can be peaking in a given area when the overall changeover to fall color is 50 percent or less.

The Wisconsin fall color report can be foundhere.

Programming note

You can hear my live weather updates on MPR News at 7:35 a.m., 9:35 a.m. and 4:39 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

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Warm start to the week, then chilly temps later; thunderstorm chance Tuesday evening - MPR News

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Ron Paul: Will Italys Election Foreshadow US Midterms? – Libertarian Party

Posted: October 8, 2022 at 3:08 pm

By Ron Paul

Sunday was an historic election day for Italy. A conservative alliance with a populist flair absolutely trounced the technocrats who had been running the country into the ground for the past several years.

The previous prime minister, former Goldman Sachs banker Mario Draghi, implemented one of the most restrictive and inhuman Covid shutdowns, which, along with supporting economically suicidal sanctions against Russia, have left Italy an economic basket case.

Replacing the bland banker will likely be Giorgia Meloni from the right-wing Sons of Italy party. Meloni will be a first for Italy: the first female prime minister. But dont expect the Left to celebrate it: her name cannot be mentioned in the mainstream media without reference to Mussolini.

Ironically, the democratic victory of Meloni and the rest of the Italian right likely owes a great deal of gratitude to one of Europes most undemocratic and anti-democratic leaders: European Union Commissioner Ursula von der Leyen.

On the eve of the Italian elections, the unelected von der Leyen warned Italians that if they voted for the wrong parties they would be punished. Asked about the surge of the political opposition in Italy on the eve of the elections, she warned Italian voters, we will see the result of the vote in Italy. If things go in a difficult direction and Ive spoken about Hungary and Poland we have the tools.

In other words, her message to Italian voters was yes you can vote, but if you vote in a way I do not approveof, you will be punished.

Italians rushed to vote in a way she did not approve of. It will be interesting to see what happens.

How does any of this relate to the United States as the US moves closer to the midterm elections? Americans have also been given warnings by the political elites that they dare not vote for the wrong candidates or parties.

On September 1st, President Biden issued a warning similar to that of Europes von der Leyen. In one of the most bizarre speeches in political history, Biden warned that Trump supporters are determined to take this country backwards backwards to an America where there is no right to choose, no right to privacy, no right to contraception, no right to marry who you love. They promote authoritarian leaders, and they fan the flames of political violence that are a threat to our personal rights, to the pursuit of justice, to the rule of law, to the very soul of this country.

He spoke on a frightening, red-lit stage with US Marines serving as props on either side of him. This was no Checkers speech with Nixon speaking wistfully about his cocker spaniel. No, it was a declaration of war against half of the country.

A few weeks ago Sweden threw its left-wing government out and Sunday the Italians did the same. While the political differences in Europe seem more cosmetic than substantive for example Italys presumptive new prime minister supports weapons to Ukraine just like her predecessor there is still a strong feeling of popular revolt against political elites in the air.

That doesnt mean things will easily go our way, as there is no automatic libertarian surge. But we must study hard and take advantage of every single opportunity. People are sick of the elites? That means they are likely open to the concepts of non-interventionism and sound money. Lets help educate them!

Originally published by the Ron Paul Institute on 9/26/22

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With POTUS non-endorsement endorsement of Ron DeSantis, the race for Florida Governor is over – Florida Politics

Posted: at 3:08 pm

The 2022 race for Florida Governor is officially over.

There, I said it.

As one of the most prominent allies of former U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist, it breaks my heart to write that. And because my wife was once one of Crists most loyal aides-de-camp, it probably will get me in trouble around the house.

But my ultimate job in Florida politics is to call balls and strikes, and I pride myself on making tough calls even when they go against what I personally want or believe.

Thats why, in 2015, we published the first poll showing Donald Trump leading Jeb Bush. Thats why, in 2016, we predicted Trump would defeat Hillary Clinton in the Sunshine State. And thats why, in 2018, I was the first (and one of the only) pundits to forecast that Ron DeSantis and Andrew Gillum would win their respective Primaries.

Its worth noting that Ive also made some boneheaded predictions, such as that Gillum would beat DeSantis. But, like in baseball, batting .300 can make you an all-star.

It doesnt take being a scientist at SpaceX to recognize DeSantis will defeat Crist in November. All of the data DeSantis massive fundraising advantage, the Florida GOPs voter registration surge, all polling point to a DeSantis win probably greater than the 3.5 points Trump defeated Joe Biden by in Florida in 2020.

My job here is to play medical examiner and, in this case, that means declaring the race dead.

Whats interesting is the cause and time of death: The words of President Biden, sometime in the early afternoon on Tuesday, Oct. 5.

I think hes done a good job, Biden told reporters, offering his assessment of DeSantis response to the devastation wrought by Hurricane Ian. POTUS then added, We have very different political philosophies, but weve worked hand in glove.

I dont know where Crist was at the moment Bidens words made it into the political atmosphere, but I imagine the blood drained from his tanned face.

As Florida Politics reporter (and Southwest Florida resident) Jacob Ogles noted instantly, with those words, Biden all but endorsed DeSantis, white boots and all, for re-election even if he didnt mean or want to.

While there are still major policy and attitudinal differences between DeSantis and Crist, the Democratic President of the United States essentially ended the intellectual argument for any swing or undecided voters to pick Crist over DeSantis.

If you are the DeSantis campaign, with more money than Crassus, you quickly cut a digital ad that highlights Bidens words and put it on repeat on MSNBC.

Its probably no coincidence that, also on Tuesday, it was announced the only scheduled debate between DeSantis and Crist is postponed while the Governor leads the states disaster response efforts.

At this point, what is the point of them debating?

Of course, again, DeSantis supporters will respond to this assessment of the finality of the race as me playing Captain Obvious. After all, the most recent Mason Dixon poll showed DeSantis leading Crist by double digits.

Even if the race were closer and even if Biden had not offered a ringing endorsement of DeSantis response, the evidence on the ground in Southwest Florida is clear: the states response to Ian has been nothing short of Herculean.

Sure, DeSantis has been occasionally snippy with the national media. And, yes, there are questions to be answered about why some local officials did not do more to warn their constituents about the possible danger from the hurricane. But overall, the restoration efforts are impressive.

If nothing else, THE STATE BUILT A TEMPORARY BRIDGE TO A CUT-OFF ISLAND IN THREE DAYS!

Thats right, a bridge was built in the time it takes to get your dry cleaning returned. Put that on loop for the rest of October.

For his part, Crist made two major mistakes in the General Election campaign. The first was selecting Karla Hernndez, who added very little to the ticket while quickly becoming a lightning rod for controversy. Not that Crist had many good options for his LG pick, thanks to Floridas resign-to-run laws preventing any prominent elected officials from running for statewide office without giving up their current platform.

The second mistake Crist made, and this is definitely in hindsight, was resigning early from Congress. His reason for resigning was not without merit it was a necessary move to tap the power of the three-pack advertising machine, which allows state party operations to run ads that technically support three candidates, but functionally only support one. But theres a major disadvantage to it: Crist has not been able to play an official role in the response to Hurricane Ian.

Were Crist still in Congress, he would have been at the POTUS visit to the region yesterday. Im told Biden specifically asked for Crist to be there, but with Crist no longer in the U.S. House, there was no official reason for him to show up.

And so, now all that is left is to see what kind of margin of victory DeSantis earns.

And what assessment do we make of Crists political career?

To use football metaphors to answer both questions, I think the spread has to be DeSantis by at least a touchdown. And Crist is the Jim Kelly-led Buffalo Bills of the 1990s.

Like those Bills, Crist will have lost the big game four times (98 and 10 U.S. Senate bids, 14 and 22 gubernatorial bids). Now, unlike Kelly, Bruce Smithand Thurman Thomas, Crist won a ring (2006 Governors race) and has been a decent and effective member of Congress. And Im not sure he couldnt win a Democratic Primary in 2024 to face-off versus Rick Scott.

Whether you think Crist has been a great politician is probably akin to how folks feel about the Bills. Do four Super Bowl appearances make you great? Well, Kelly, Smith, Thomas and Reed are all NFL Hall of Famers despite their losses, so maybe Crist can find comfort in that.

Crist played the game as well as he could. As someone who has followed his political career from his very first bid for the Florida Senate, I can honestly say he is a better, more thoughtful, more empathetic politician today than at any point in his career. Had he not gotten bit by ambition to be Vice President, he likely would have won another Super Bowl, err, election; had he not been distracted by his ex-wife, Carole, who tarnished his feel-good brand, he probably could have won in 2014 versus the unpopular incumbent.

But thats all armchair quarterbacking.

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Miranda Webb: Trauma, anarchy and perilous life on the run from Northeast Ohio to Mexico – Akron Beacon Journal

Posted: at 3:08 pm

First of a two-part story.

Miranda Webb knew danger lurked when her dog started barking inside their Acapulco rental home in February 2019.

When she peeked out a window, Webb saw four teens outside a locked gate, throwing rocks toward the house.

Webbs boyfriend, Shane Cress, whom she met when they were students at Kent State University, immediately grabbed a Taser and a small handgun and headed outside to investigate.

She grabbed a machete, but before she could follow Cress and a friend down the driveway, she heard pop, pop, pop. One of the teens had opened fire.

The drug war Webb tried to leave behind in Ohio had caught up to her in Mexico.

Only this time, it wasnt Portage County law enforcement after her.

It appeared to be a Mexican drug cartel.

What happened in the years before and since is part of Webbs complicated journey to be free.

Free from the extended childhood trauma of her mothers drug dealing and addiction, which for years had the family on the run from a motorcycle club and Northeast Ohio police.

Free from mainstream society, where she never felt she fit in.

And free now, at age 29, to pursue a quiet life of crocheting, selling home-brewed kombucha and flying from a circus trapeze somewhere in Mexico.

Webb who is better known to many by her alias, Lily Forester worries less now about drug lords than being deported back to Ohio.

Shes been a fugitive since 2015 after she and Cress skipped bail on felony charges accusing them of making hash oil from marijuana at West Branch State Park near Ravenna.

Webb, who worked to reform Ohios marijuana laws when she led Kent States Students for Sensible Drug Policy, denies the allegations but could face more than 20 years in prison if convicted.

This is the story of Webb, her search for self-determination and what she lost and found along the way.

About the docuseries:'The Anarchists'

It is based on more than four hours of Zoom interviews with Webb in September, along with previous interviews shes given to others, news accounts, court records and the recently released HBO documentary series The Anarchists, which is partly focused on Webbs life in Mexico.

Webb was born into the drug war, she often says.

Her parents, Randal Webb and Michelle Jarvis, met because my dad liked to buy weed and my mom liked to sell weed, Webb said.

They didnt stay together. Randal Webb lived in Lake County, east of Cleveland and, until she was about 8 years old, Miranda Webb lived a tumultuous life with her mother in Lorain County, west of Cleveland.

Some of Miranda Webbs earliest memories are police officers lifting her, asleep, out of bed during overnight drug raids wherever her mom was living.

Id wake up and ask, Where am I? Webb said. Theyd tell me I was at a police station and that my mommys in jail and theyd give me a stuffed animal.

Webb also remembers her mom waking her up, saying they were going on adventure and fleeing into the night, leaving everyone they knew behind.

Webb later learned from her mothers journals that they were running from a motorcycle gang. Jarvis, she said, had been dealing opium for the bikers and owed them money.

They were coming to kill her and our family, Webb said.

Mom had two personalities, Webb said. Mom and Red, her drug-dealing name. Red was a reference to Jarvis long, naturally red hair.

Jarvis, who had five children, spent about seven years of Webbs childhood on the run.

By the time she was 8, Webb was sick, losing her teeth and diagnosed as malnourished. When Webb asked Jarvis if she could live with her dad, Jarvis considered it for a while, then crushed up a pill, snorted it and told Webb she could go.

Webbs mom got clean for a while and by 2010 had moved to Medina County, where she lived with two young sons in a house on state Route 18 between Montrose and Medina.

Just before Christmas that year, Jarvis ran out of the house and onto the busy highway during morning rush hour, saying she was being chased by demons.

Jarvis beckoned her boys to follow her. They didnt, but watched as one car hit their mother, then a second before Jarvis stumbled into the path of an oncoming semitractor trailer. The Ohio State Highway Patrol said Jarvis died later that day at Medina Hospital. She was 42.

An autopsy revealed Jarvis had morphine, oxycodone and tramadol in her system, Webb said.

I think she just gave up, Webb said.

Webb was 16 when Jarvis died and everyone started drawing parallels with her mother, comparing how they looked Webb had long, strawberry-blond hair and acted.

Webb said she loved her mother, but never intended to follow her path into addiction or hard drugs.

Kent State University, Webb thought, was her way out.

Webb paused midsentence the first time she saw Shane Cress.

It was around January 2012. They were both freshmen at Kent State, and Webb was leading a Students for Sensible Drug Policy meeting.

Nice hat, Webb told Cress, who was hiding his budding dreadlocks under a Ron Paul cap.

Webb and Cress were fans of Paul, a former U.S. congressman who ran for U.S. president as a Libertarian and as a Republican. Among other things, Paul was critical of U.S. fiscal policy, the war on drugs and, after the 9/11 attacks, the war on terror.

Later in the meeting, as the students were introducing themselves, Cress said he had just been released from prison and was a victim in the drug war.

That just like hooked me, said Webb, who also considered herself a victim of the drug war.

Webb opposed any drugs that could lead to the kind of addiction that ruined her mothers life. But she initially enrolled at Kent State to study botany because she wanted to learn how to grow marijuana.

Cress, it turned out, was years ahead of her.

The first week they started dating, he took her to his off-campus rental house. Outside, there was a huge garden.

That was his cover a hippie growing vegetables, she said.

But inside, hidden in the basement, were cannabis plants growing in tents.

The plants werent doing that well, Webb said, but Cress said he could teach her how to grow.

Webb didnt know it then, but the two had something else in common: Cress dad also died a violent death in Medina County.

Steven Cress, who had a bipolar disorder, shot and killed himself in 1992 after police burst into a room while he was threatening suicide, his family said.

He died three days before Shane Cress first birthday.

By the time Shane Cress was 2 years old, he began showing some of the same behaviors as his father, his mother, Judy Hlavac, said on The Anarchists.

When he was 5, she put an alarm on Cress bedroom door after he began nighttime rages, destroying things in the house as others slept.

Cress was soon diagnosed with a bipolar disorder, like his father, and as he grew older, he turned to marijuana for comfort.

At 17, he followed a girl to Oklahoma and was arrested after a landlord discovered Cress was growing weed in a closet.

A judge told Cress he could go to prison for life or go to a boot camp and then leave Oklahoma. Cress chose the second option.

At boot camp, officials shaved his head.

Cress didnt think they had a right to do that, Hlavac said in the HBO documentary. It changed him. He started becoming very anti-government.

A couple of weeks after Webb and Cress started dating, Webb tested out the new Rollerblades her dad bought her for her birthday.

She was skating between her Kent dorm room at Olson Hall and a convenience store when she underestimated how steep a hill was.

Webb crashed outside the psychology building and broke her jaw in three places.

Doctors wired her mouth shut for six weeks, and Cress made her smoothies for a week and took care of her weed needs to manage jaw pain.

Cress believed marijuana could help many ailments. In high school, he developed a special strain to help a friend who was shot in the eye with a BB gun after prescription medicine didnt help him.

He was also teaching Webb about Libertarianism, the political idea that the state should stay out of the private market and peoples private lives.

Its not actually that radical to believe that people should be free, Cress told Kent Wired in 2012 after taking over as president of the Kent Student Liberty Alliance. At the end of the day, the government is just a big gun that we use to point at each other, and thats why most of us dont like politics. Because its just a game to control the gun.

But being free, when it came to marijuana, wasnt easy.

When Cress Kent landlord discovered marijuana growing in the basement, he gave Cress five days to move out, Webb said.

Cress and Webb moved the operation to a friends house overlooking the former tire factories in Akrons Goodyear Heights neighborhood.

In the coming months, after about 18 months of college, they both decided college wasnt for them, and they decided to live their political philosophy full time by being self-sufficient and going off grid, disconnected from running water and electricity.

In the winter of 2014, a friend hooked them up with a house on the east side of Cleveland.

Instead of overlooking old rubber factories, this house off Pershing Avenue overlooked an industrial valley of steel mills.

Many of the surrounding houses had been abandoned or torn down years ago as Cleveland shed blue-collar union jobs.

Webb and Cress spent what money they had on solar panels and a generator. They heated the house with a wood stove and gathered rainwater from the roof to cook and drink.

When spring came, they built a garden, planting seeds in moldy bales of hay a farmer didnt want.

Webb said the garden thrived, with a dozen types of tomatoes, cucumbers, kohlrabi, beans, corn and any other vegetable that would grow in Northeast Ohio.

At the same time, Cress took a job building stages at Jacobs Pavilion in The Flats to bring in extra money.

Locals thought we were crazy, Webb said.

But things were going fairly well, she said, until the house was condemned.

Webb and Cress were still committed to living off the grid, but wondered if it might be easier if they joined a larger community instead of going it alone.

In January 2015, they moved out of the Cleveland house, which has since been torn down, and made plans to move to Detroits Fireweed Universe City, where artists, anarchists and others had reclaimed a block of abandoned houses in a particularly rough section of that city near 7 Mile Road.

Webb and Cress picked a vacant house well-suited for solar panels and a garden plot and returned to Northeast Ohio a couple of weeks later to pack up the rest of their stuff at a relatives house in Portage County.

Whoa, look who we have here, a Portage County sheriffs deputy said when he saw Webb and Cress at West Branch State Park near Ravenna in the summer of 2015, Webb said.

Webb said she recognized the deputy from their Students of Sensible Drug Policy meetings in Kent, where he was apparently working under cover.

No one trusted him, Webb said, because he always said he was trying to launch a similar student group at the University of Akron, but it never materialized. The Portage County Drug Task Force did not respond to messages.

Webb explained to him and two other officers that she and Cross were on their way back to Fireweed in Detroit when they stopped at an empty house at the park to let out their dog.

Webb thinks she might have escaped with a ticket for trespassing that day ifCress wasnt so cocky, filming everything, including the search of her car.

My car was like the Mary Poppins of weed, Webb said. But instead of a bag, it was a car and they just kept pulling out thing after thing. My bongs and my pipes and a case of butane and some weed that had already been blown, meaning the marijuana had already been drained of its THC.

Webb said she tried to persuade officers to let them go on their way, explaining that they were headed back to Fireweed where they intended to form a legal marijuana business under Michigan state law.

But deputies said the couple was using butane to manufacturing hash oil, a concentrated form of marijuana often referred to as dabs.

They held Webb and Cress in the Portage County Jail, and a grand jury in August 2015 indicted each of them on several felony charges, including the illegal manufacturing of drugs and trafficking in marijuana.

Cress family bailed them out and tried to persuade them to stay.

But Webb and Cress decided to run.

They first headed back to Fireweed, where they knew they could find work. When that ended, a relative convinced them to head to Oregon, where she said they could make a few thousand dollars doing trim work during the marijuana harvest.

They thought that would be enough to pay their way into Mexico, where they hoped theyd be safe from Portage County authorities.

Webb and Cress found a ride-sharing service to Oregon on Craigs List.

They arrived in Oregon just before Halloween 2015 and discovered it was the end of the cannabis growing season.

Webb and Cress found a little work, but were paid in weed, not cash, which had little worth in an area saturated with marijuana, Webb said.

Many people there went by aliases, and thats where Webb was reborn Lily Forester. Cress was already calling himself John Galt, the name of a character in Ayn Rands Atlas Shrugged, and a hero for many Libertarians.

Some of Cress family sent them $700 to help, and they used it to buy an old, canary-yellow pickup truck and started making their way toward Mexico, panhandling for gas money along the way.

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Ben Sasse and the battle over what kind of conservative leads the GOP – Washington Examiner

Posted: at 3:08 pm

The expected resignation of Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE), who has a lifetime American Conservative Union rating 90.96%, was celebrated by a former and possibly future president who is extremely popular among conservatives.

Liddle Ben Sasse, the lightweight Senator from the great State of Nebraska was nothing but a Fake RINO, Donald Trump wrote on his social media website, and we have enough weak and ineffective RINOs in our midst.

Much of this has to do with Trump, of course. Former Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) and former Rep. Mark Sanford (R-SC) were strong fiscal conservatives who got sideways with Trump and are now gone.

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But it isnt just about Trump, even if he played an outsize role in bringing all the Rights family squabbles to the forefront. Increasingly, it is not just about being a conservative. What kind of conservative you are is at least as important.

Sasse and Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) have nearly identical voting records. They have different stylistic and substantive approaches to conservatism, which cause them to have radically different fanbases.

The distinctions between them may matter little to your average Republican voter, but they attract different staffers and admirers in the pundit class. There is little overlap between people who fantasize about Sasse becoming president of the United States rather than the University of Florida and those who pine for Hawley in 2024.

While this manifests itself most prominently in controversies such as certifying President Joe Bidens election or impeaching Trump in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, Sasse and Hawley dont see eye-to-eye on trade, immigration, foreign policy, and Big Tech. They have somewhat different views on the applicability of Ronald Reagan to the Republican Party of today.

Libertarians and neoconservatives, nationalists and old-school Reaganites these factions have little use for each other. They often devote at least as much time to attacking one another as liberals or Democrats. When some conservatives denounce liberalism in 2022, they mean John Locke rather than John Dewey, George Will as much as George McGovern.

Conservatives are turning against each other in part because they have won the battle for control of the Republican Party. The centrists are routed, and liberals in the mold of Jacob Javits, the four-term GOP senator from New York, are as extinct as the Federalists or the Whigs.

As late as 2006, Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R-RI), with a lifetime American Conservative Union rating of 35.95%, could win a Republican primary against a conservative challenger. He is now in at least his fourth partisan configuration since that election. Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) beat his eventual successor, Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA), in a Republican primary in 2004 despite a 41.86% lifetime ACU rating. Specter died a Democrat.

Moderate Republicanism is now an almost entirely blue-state phenomenon, a safety valve for Democratic excess in places that otherwise would lack a meaningful two-party system. Its adherents can get elected governor or become Cabinet secretaries (in a Democratic administration as much as a Republican one), but their aspirations end there.

Even the surviving examples of this species have adapted to a changing habitat, with many of them resembling Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) without the post-Massachusetts fallback option of a Utah Senate seat, privately more conservative than they can ever admit to their constituents. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan wrote in Reagan for president in 2020, not Nelson Rockefeller.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is arguably the most conservative lawmaker to lead Republicans in that chamber since Robert Taft. He has been savaged by the populist Right as a "Republican in name only" sell-out from the Tea Party to MAGA. Libertarians view him with suspicion despite his burying the hatchet with Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY). And McConnell may be the last member of the dreaded GOP establishment with any real power left.

In the Reagan years, conservatives wanted small government and tight communities, traditional values and unfettered markets, the mom-and-pop shop (and families were led by mom and pop, terms with clear definitions) to lie down with the Wall Street bank.

The fusionist promise was like the feminist one: You can have it all. Some conservatives, and some women, now fear those promises ring hollow. So if forced to choose, in the Milton Friedman rather than Margaret Sanger sense, what should conservatives prioritize?

Attitude is an important part of this story too. Attend a gathering of national conservatives and ask yourself what unites such disparate elements as right-wing industrial policy proponents, Koch network alumni, reformed neoconservatives and unreconstructed paleoconservatives, Catholic integralists, and Israeli philosopher Yoram Hazony. The answer: the view that the Right has been playing by Marquess of Queensberry rules and needs to fight on the Lefts terms, even if that means wielding government power when conservatives possess it.

Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a keynote speaker at the most recent National Conservatism Conference, understand this. Sasse is no shrinking violet. He accused a president of his own party of kissing dictators butts and questioned whether Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) had balls.

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But the MAGA style isnt his. It ultimately turned out not to be former Vice President Mike Pences.

Biden likes to say that this isnt your fathers Republican Party. For once, hes right.

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