Jamie Dimon himself called Nikki Haley, and complimented her on a solid performance and her thoughtfulness. What a relief.
Who is Nikki Haley?
Everything that ever needs to be said about her manifest unfitness for higher office was written in a Politico profile by Tim Alberta in February 2023.
Below are two essays I’ve written about Haley. The first was in response to the Alberta essay, and the second was about the fundamental difference between her and Chris Christie:
Senator Mitt Romney just said something important. He said that the country would be better off with a Democrat in charge than Donald Trump. Why is this even the slightest bit controversial or surprising? Given that Senator Romney is among the very small number of Republicans who maintained their credibility and integrity during the Trump era, this is the most unsurprising position a person could take in American politics — provided they have any character whatsoever. Should it really be a provocative statement to say America was much better off in the hands of FDR than it would have been in the hands of Charles Lindbergh and Henry Ford?
The Nikki Haley boomlet is mostly a boomlet of media imagination.
There are many secrets in the green room, but one is apparently that she is getting crushed in her home state of South Carolina by Donald Trump, whom she has pledged to support no matter what.
This raises a very serious question in my mind — and separates Chris Christie and her on the only issue that truly counts, which is the combination of judgement and character. Chris Christie has owned up to his mistakes. He has claimed the principled position in the GOP primary, and he is alone there.
What is Nikki Haley’s answer to the question about her hand in the air?
Is she for Trump in 2024 if he wins?
Why won’t anyone in the media ask her this?
Why won’t anyone in the media ask her any follow up questions about this?
Why won’t any of those questions ever penetrate towards her judgement, moral elasticity, ambition, integrity, cynicism and character?
Republican/MAGA voters won’t take the diet version when Trump is on the shelf.
Because of their regional similarities, it is easy to look at Christie and Trump and see the bombast alone, and conclude they are more alike than different. This would be a mistake. The candidates most like Trump in the GOP/MAGA race are Vivek Ramaswamy and Nikki Haley. It helps explain their antipathy towards one another because as the old saying goes, there is nothing that inspires contempt in American politics quite like proximity. They are two pilot fish fighting for Trump’s detritus, or what is left when “Lindseyfish” is done feeding.
The candidate who stands apart from Trump is the one who has moved far away from him, and burned the bridge between them. What that means is that Chris Christie is the only reasonably competent and qualified person left in the GOP race.
He may not win, but he is making a worthy stand.
He is making a Jersey stand. Good for him.
More importantly, it’s good for America.
Nikki Haley reminds me of the cliché of a beauty pageant contestant answering questions about subjects she obviously knows little about. She is shallow in her sincerity and her courage is a performance rather than natural. Nikki is Sara Palin with a southern drawl. All she needs is a wink and the costume will be complete. There is no substance or integrity in her. She will say anything she thinks sounds good to win a vote or a part in Die Amerikanne Seife Oper, "The American Soap Opera."
“During her tenure, she took “old Dixie” down after a white supremacist murdered nine black worshippers at Mother Emanual AME Church after he prayed with them. The decision was heralded in the moment as a brave act. Was it?”---Steve Schmidt
Obviously, it was a was an easy decision. Which is why I always question the MSN when they give praise to people for just doing their jobs and adhering to their oath of office. Pence on J6th, comes to mind.
Or when I question the praise showered upon people like Kelly and Bolton for calling out Trump in their books, years after leaving office. All I have to say to these charlatans is thanks for the warning; I guess it must not have been that important since you waited for the book tour.
That said, we have bigger issues than whether Haley could win the Republican nomination; she can’t. Instead of losing 81%-19%, she close the margin to 80-20%. Congratulations; nice job or as Bush once said: Mission Accomplished!
Worrying still is the fact that Trump is making gains in the Latin community thanks to right-wing billionaire owners of media conglomerates that sell their souls for favorable treatment by the next authoritarian, kleptocratic kakistocracy run by the Mango mafia chief and his demonic minions like Stephen Miller.
Coupled with the three stooges; I mean independent candidates in Kennedy, Stein, West and possibly a fourth in Manchin, and it’s a perfect storm for a Trump takeover of this country.
Be afraid, because it won’t be long before Trump does to this country, what he did for his businesses; send America in bankruptcy. Not to mention, weaponize our law enforcement agencies and military.
Let that sink in.
My odds of a Trump victory