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Imagine what extreme measures a desperate Democratic establishment couldd take to ensure only the most frenzied Maga candidates and public figures rise to the forefront of politics prior to elections. Since the Jan 6th hearings failed to sway anyone. They must think outside the box, utilizing the full weight of media. Biden sending the FBI into Mar a lago for a raid is just a preview of what we are in for. Could anything energize the right wing fringe more than such overreach at Trump and fellow Maga candidates? Dems know they only do stand a chance when national attention is on how crazy Republicans react. They want more crazy, at all costs.

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I'm no politician, but this seems pretty basic. It's far harder to defeat an incumbent in an election. If Meijer loses his primary, Dems don't have to defeat an incumbent. This piece comes across as whining from a toady who has done everything he could to ingratiate himself to Democrats, then feels betrayed (and, hilariously, surprised) when Democrats work to unseat him.

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Good riddance. See ya, Pete. I don't think you will be missed.

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And what is the epilogue? He lost. So Meijer says "But Gibbs and I couldn’t be more different." Impressive. That sounds pretty strong. So strong that maybe Meijer would then support democracy and maybe (1) Run as a third party candidate (he has a $50M trust fund), or (2) support the Democrat.

Answer: NO! Neither. He instead endorses the nutjob he ran against -- Gibbs.

So, was Meijer just bullshitting the whole time?  Did he fool Bari into carrying this piece? Sure, we should all agree that Democrats should not have been endorsing the nut jobs. That said, where is Bari and everyone else's stance on this? Mainstream Republicans should **ALSO** not be endorsing the nut jobs. When did we decide to give the Republican Party a pass on being crazy?

Will there be a followup piece on how, actually, Meijer turned out to be devoid of principles?

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It’s hilarious that a Republican who was praised by Democrats for impeaching the leader of his own party thinks they did that because what he did was righteous, not because he acted like a Democrat. And now he’s shocked that these beacons of morality are funding his opponent, who will be easier for them to run against. I mean how naive can you be? You’re playing politics at the federal level and you are this out to lunch?? You are publicly expressing shock at the injustice of it all and are also completely tone-deaf at the impeachment vote you are so proud of having cast. Let me tell you: You don’t have to be hardcore MAGA to believe that that impeachment vote was foolish and counter-productive. Here’s hoping you lose your primary.

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Yes, that's true. But it does seem to indicate that teachers can't express themselves even to say whom they are married to. "Classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in kindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards."

https://www.miamiherald.com/latest-news/article259859150.ece/BINARY/HB%201557%20education%20bill.pdf#storylink=readmore_inline

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BTW, in case anyone on this Substack missed it, John Gibbs ended Peter Meijer's self-absorbed dalliance as the MI-Us 3rd Congressional District representative. Unconstitutional impeachments, silly red flag 2A laws, support for trans men competing with women, and numerous budget-busting, pork-laden laws are behind us now that Meijer was ousted...unless, of course, the newly redrawn 3rd (D+3) results in a victory this fall for Hillary Scholten (an AOC doppelganger with schoolmarm glasses...mean but accurate, imo).

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Wow Peter - nice warm embrace you had for your threat-to-democracy MAGA challenger when you went and introduced him at a Republican "unity event" a day after losing. Propping up the very same guy you whined and complained that the Democrats refused to distinguish you from in any meaningful way.

So what - you get revenge by proving them right? Face it Peter - you're assimilating. There's no more reason for anyone to credit you for your past honorable deeds when clearly they're a thing of the past. You'll use the feeling of betrayal by Democrats to justify hugging your own party even tighter. It's only a matter of time before you're Trump-splaining on Fox News in a bid to remain relevant.

Yes, it will be a damn shame if this lunatic gets elected when it could have been you. But apparently not as much of a shame as I would have liked to believe.

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"and has tweeted that Democrats are the party of “Islam, gender-bending, anti-police, ‘u racist!’”

Where's the lie though? We are fed up with their madness. Do you really think people are going to continue supporting a party where they constantly hear messages about how awful they are?

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Well Peter, your last minute gambit didn’t work, did it. Good riddance.

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So, maybe this makes me a "fringe issue" voter, Peter, but I do not see the point of having a Republican/conservative in office who will not fight for the reality that men cannot *be* women, that Title IX should not be rewritten/interpreted to replace "sex" with the make pretend "gender identity", and who has no concern for Gender Ideology being promoted in K-12 schools and girls as young as 12-16 having their breasts chopped off in "gender affirmation". You lost me when you said that Gibbs was an "extremist" for observing that the Democrats are the party of "Gender Bending". Yeahhhh.... Is your head buried in the sand? I was really offended by that. Is it far right to say that there are two sexes and that if a tiny few men have a disorder of the mind we do not need to re-order all of society - especially when it is not those guys but the fetishists who wish to alter society and "trans" children in order to give themselves cover? You could have walked a line without going there. Better to have a Democrat in place if Gibbs loses later and know where we stand. - LM

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HOWS THAT L TASTE PETER????????????? HOW DOES IT TASTE???????????????????????

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All I hear from the Democrats and their liberal media shills 24/7 is a broken record: our democracy is under attack from Ultra MAGAS, election deniers and white Supremacists. According to the F.B.I. and Attorney General Garland these people pose the biggest existential threat to our country. It's unbelievable that the Democratic Party Establishment is now funding millions of $$$ in campaign ads SUPPORTING these Ultra MAGAS and election deniers in their primary elections. This only goes to show that the January 6th Committee hearings are a total sham and that Pelosi and Schiff made Liz Cheney look like a fool.

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There is no real difference between either party that matters. Your whining about Dems supporting your opponent is rich. All you Trump haters disregard how you would react if the entire corrupt bureaucratic machine aligned to prevent the exposure of their incompetence and crimes. Trump may be an asshole with delusions of dictatorship but he was no match for the unrelenting criminal behavior that is the triumvirate of our corrupt Intel, politicians and media useful idiots.

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Mr. Meijer, I can understand your concern - to an extent. I was happy to see politicians like you willing to stand against the cowardice in your party and vote to impeach Trump. And yes, attempts by an opposing party to boost extreme candidates - while normally a time honored tradition by both parties - seem perhaps out of place in this time when our democracy teeters on a knife's edge.

But let's not forget which party is responsible for this state of affairs - and why. The one thing that you and those who support this criticism conveniently fail to mention is that these supposed ads "boosting" and "promoting" far right candidates are actually attack ads. They paint each candidate in what would normally be considered a negative light by highlighting their support for Trump and his seditious behavior. The catch here is that this negative light is actually appealing to modern day voters in the Republican Party - *your* party.

Granted, the Democrats know this, and are using it to their advantage. Is that wrong and shameful? It's hard to say. I'd love to say yes, but then again, all they're doing is telling voters the truth about these candidates. If your party's constituency were sane, these ads would be boosting *you*. Not to mention, Ruben Gallego is right, isn't he? You would make Kevin McCarthy speaker just the same as a full-on election-denying MAGA-brain. That's a real practical concern - the same kind of practical concern that has caused you to pull your head back into your shell over the previous year and downplay your role in helping to impeach Trump.

You can complain about the Democrats all you want. But don't try to tell us that their behavior is "more nauseating" than the behavior of your own party. The party actually responsible for creating this perverse state of affairs, where telling the truth about a candidate is to be decried as irresponsible, as opposed to hoping they don't notice that their incumbent Representative actually acted honorably when it mattered. Where a decent man has to rely on the help of his political opponents to protect him from his own voters.

You know where the problem actually lies, and yet you continue to climb into the same bed with those who perpetuate it. Why? It's hard not to see this an an instance of misplaced anger and frustration. That fact that you find the Democrats behavior to be more disturbing clearly indicates that you have far higher standards for them than for your own party. And there's a reason for that.

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Coming from the Russia hoax party it’s rich you complain about how republicans created this perverse situation

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Firstly, I belong to no political party.

Secondly, coming from the "Russia hoax hoax" crowd, that's a sadly yet predictably misinformed response.

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You belong to no party but blame republicans, great! As for the Russia hoax , it did far more to discredit our institutions then any mean tweet from trump.

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Mean tweet? Are you freaking serious?!? You still think this is about Trump being crass and impolite?!?

The man tried to OVERTHROW OUR DEMOCRACY. For goodness sake, man! What are you paying attention to?

For your information, there was no "Russia Hoax". There was a bunch of Trump supporters and anti-anti-Trumpers seizing on the stupid Steele Dossier and Carter Page to discredit an absolutely legitimate investigation.

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The Russia hoax, Ukraine hoax, the intervention on behalf of the Biden family by our the FBI. The wiretapping of the Trump campaign, the illegal leaks. The suppression of speech and the press, the political violence of left wing groups. The attack on the White House, the attempt to block the judiciary committee with Kavanaugh. The list can go on, there are things to criticize Trump over but they pale in comparison to the authoritarian tactics which of the party which you don't belong to.

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You belong to no party. Bullshit.

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It’s kind of crazy watching democrats do trumps work for him in wiping out the remanent of nevertrumpers.

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