Time for another episode of Tucker on Twitter, and this time he is interviewing Vivek Ramaswamy:
Ep. 17 Vivek Ramaswamy is the youngest Republican presidential candidate ever. He's worth listening to. pic.twitter.com/9wGqptHdto
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) August 17, 2023
We admit we would have guessed that this episode might not end up being highly rated just because it is a more ordinary interview. We’re not saying Carlson shouldn’t do deep dive interviews with presidential candidates. These kinds of long form interviews are positively good for the Republic. But we would have guessed that it wouldn’t rate as high.
But we are already being proven wrong. This episode has been up since 5:10 p.m., and it has accumulated just over 9.4 million views as of this writing. So, this episode will probably do pretty well, if not ‘Andrew Tate’ well.
Incidentally, the Robert Kennedy Jr. episode has gotten to 9.7 million views as of this writing.
As to the substance of what he is saying we aren’t going to go over all of it but two things leapt out at us. First, he seems to be saying that if things keep going they way they are, we are going to have a bloody revolution. He was not that blunt, but that seems to be what he is saying. Just the other day, we talked about how the ‘Revolution of 1800’ (i.e. the election of Jefferson to the presidency) was a revolution of ballots rather than bullets. Well, Ramaswamy seems to be saying that if the 2024 election isn’t a revolution of ballots, we might get one of bullets. Not a great thought, but that doesn’t mean he is wrong.
The other thing that leapt out to us is he basically said that we can’t have secrecy in government. Now, we would be first to agree that the government keeps too many secrets and that needs to be reformed. Like we have a hard time imagining any scenario where the Government is justified in holding back any information about the assassination of President Kennedy. But one can look back at history and see instances where secrecy was justified and even arguably necessary.
For instance, any time you are reading a history book and you see it say something like ‘and then suddenly, we found the enemy’s plans’ you should be suspicious. Very often when the history books say things like that, it is a cover story released by the government designed to cover up essentially spycraft. One of the more famous examples of that is that during WWII, we (meaning the allies) got the Enigma device. This was essentially a code machine and having it, and some computer technology, allowed us to essentially break German codes and see what they are saying when they don’t think we understood. It is not an exaggeration to say this might have made the difference between victory and defeat. But we not only didn’t tell the American public that we had this and even invented cover stories to explain how we knew things we shouldn’t have been able to just guess (‘and then suddenly we found the enemies plans!’) during the war, but we didn’t tell the American people for decades after WWII. Why? Because it turned out that many of those Warsaw Pact countries used the Enigma device, too. According to this author’s professors, the truth wasn’t revealed until the 1970’s.
Or let’s take another example from World War II. As we got ready for D-Day, one of the critical elements of that preparation was basically doing our best to convince the Germans that it wouldn’t be at Normandy, that the invasion was going to take place further North in the Calais region. We went as far as to have a small number of troops doing their best to make it look like they were a larger group of troops, to have inflatable tanks that we hoped would look real enough to German spies, and we even put General Patton in charge of this fake army to sell it. Reportedly Patton was pissed about the whole thing because he wanted to be involved with the real invasion, but he swallowed his pride and played his part. That definitely involved secrecy and deception, and it probably involved more than a fair bit of lying to Americans. But if the Germans figured out where the invasion was actually going to happen, there is a good chance it would have failed.
Now in both examples, we think every reasonable person 1) recognizes that the deception is justified and 2) isn’t terribly upset about the difference between what we were told and the truth. And we tend to think that is the test our public officials should apply. As we said the other day, free and fair elections depends, in part, on the free flow of information to the people. Official secrecy is an exception to that principle. The fact that secrecy is occasionally necessary is one of the reasons why we have to have representative democracy, rather than direct democracy—so that our representatives can learn the things that the public can’t and respond appropriately. So, yes, some secrecy is necessary, but we think the test is 1) only if a reasonable person would agree after the fact that the deception was justified and 2) if that reasonable person wouldn’t be terribly upset about the difference between reality and the lie that was told. We think that the two historical wartime deceptions we laid out fits that test. But, say, covering up what the government knew about September 11, 2001 wouldn’t.
@VivekGRamaswamy has a compelling vision!
— Kirk Graham (@kirkisgraham) August 17, 2023
If Trump weren’t in the race, my vote would be with Vivek without any hesitation. I hope he runs again in 2028.
— Joey Mannarino (@JoeyMannarinoUS) August 17, 2023
I get a bit suspicious of candidates that show up out of nowhere, say all the right things, and quickly gain massive support. Seems too good to be true. If this dude ends up running as an independent, he's definitely gonna pull some would-be Trump voters.
— Jonathan Williams (@SanctuaryMedia7) August 17, 2023
If people put aside their tribalism and idol worship on both sides, @VivekGRamaswamy will be the next president.
— Dan in HI (@Dan_in_HI) August 17, 2023
I can't recall ever hearing a politician who was as clear and sincere as Vivek.
Honestly, we think many of these candidates are hoping to be the ‘Lincoln’ of 2024. Lincoln was not the Republicans’ first choice in 1860 (contrary to what many politicians at the time would claim later). The leading candidates were William Seward and Salmon Chase, but neither one of them could quite win the nomination. So, as they battled each other to a standstill at the convention, Lincoln was able to emerge as a compromise candidate between them and secured the nomination. It is one of the reasons why we say we were not smart to pick Lincoln as president: We were lucky, and we take it as positive evidence that God loves America and wants it to succeed. In any case, this year we suspect that many of the candidates who aren't named Trump or DeSantis are hoping DeSantis and Trump can have a similar stalemate, allowing for a similar dark horse victory by that person who isn't Trump or DeSantis.
No thank you Mr Pfizer Billionaire. pic.twitter.com/3p2DH5EbEn
— Cyndee (@CyndeeLuv56) August 17, 2023
We have no idea how much reality there is behind this meme.
He is a very promising candidate https://t.co/bEQU8L21nd
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 17, 2023
The game is so transparent at this point. Partnership with Don Jr. Honestly, "conservative" media has more of a goose step marching order focus than even the left we like to make fun out of. Zero original thinking, ideas, focus, etc. https://t.co/B7JYHJL5qQ
— Daniel Horowitz (@RMConservative) August 17, 2023
To be fair, Ramaswamy is offering some pretty critical thinking.
Yeah, if he could keep his stories straight. https://t.co/FPXcYe4GRU
— Amy (@TheLimeSorbet) August 17, 2023
Once again, @VivekGRamaswamy repeats the outrageous line (for like the 4th time) that he'd be ok if China invaded Taiwan if it came after we didn't need them anymore for semiconductors. https://t.co/4a6za9oT9h
— Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) August 17, 2023
We do tend to think that there is a greater important to Taiwan than just their semi-conductors. If you study how the Communist Chinese justify their government refusing to let people vote, the argument is essentially, ‘sure that works for westerners, but that doesn’t work for Chinese people.’ In other words, they pretend that the West is made up of either white people or at least non-Chinese people, and they pretend that Chinese people are not capable of managing a free republic. Now that is rebutted in part by the millions of Chinese Americans who contribute wonderfully to this country, and probably most healthy republics, but the most obvious rebuttal to that is Taiwan. So, we support at least saying to China ‘you are never getting Taiwan.’ Whether we would support doing more… we would prefer to leave China wondering about that question.
That being said, having a President who might be owned by Communist China makes us think that Taiwan needs to be able to fight back as much as they can, so they don’t have to depend on us. If they don’t have nuclear weapons, they should be given them. And that island should be flooded with so many guns, owned by ordinary citizens, that the Chinese Communists would weep at the thought of ever trying to take the place by force. A gun behind every blade of grass, as the saying goes.
Sorry Ron.
— Will Kingston🎙️ (@WillKingston) August 17, 2023
Sorry Don.
I’m jumping on the Vivek bandwagon.
He’s brilliant. https://t.co/eV20qYbbEK
Watched in pieces. @VivekGRamaswamy crushed it. Absolutely crushed it. https://t.co/pLaWLEH5VU
— Rich Baris "The People's Pundit" (@Peoples_Pundit) August 17, 2023
Vivek’s theme centers on a very caricatured, very superficial picture of the American Revolution. He speaks of the centrality of ‘God’ but yet he’s a Hindu. I don’t know if it’s pandering or maybe he really thinks this way but it’s weird https://t.co/vvhtNYGqta
— PVFFIN (@isleofpuffin) August 17, 2023
Actually, the Declaration uses the more generic term ‘creator,’ probably with a desire to make it more universal. And we believe many if not most Hindus believe that all of the many ‘gods’ are actually aspects of a supreme deity that you might reasonably call ‘God’—though its not the same as the one the Christians worship. But we are not experts on the subject.
no, I don't think I will https://t.co/FTWLhTabMI pic.twitter.com/npY2QLIhN5
— 🗿 Woe to those who dwell upon the earth 🗿 (@treblewoe) August 17, 2023
Mr. Ramaswamy is as American as this author is.
There are three things to say:
— SpaceWeatherNews (@SunWeatherMan) August 17, 2023
1) I agree with every word he said.
2) the most common anti-Vivek claim I hear is to be wary of someone who says everything you want to hear… what, like Trump? Trump was great for the economy and global status… but so would Vivek’s plan. Trump… https://t.co/knk3uTs7ra
The full Tweet reads:
There are three things to say:
1) I agree with every word he said.
2) the most common anti-Vivek claim I hear is to be wary of someone who says everything you want to hear… what, like Trump? Trump was great for the economy and global status… but so would Vivek’s plan. Trump didn’t drain the swamp and he champions the vaccine to this day. Not perfect.
3) what Vivek needs to do is clearly explain why his WEF history isn’t a concern. This IS possible; I was brought up in the mainstream and now I battle it as well as most because I understand it. Is that his game too?
- thanks for hearing me out.
Well, to the WEF thing, his answer seems to be to have sued the WEF for falsely suggesting that they were connected, apparently getting some money from them in settlement, which he says he will donate to charity.
Vivek Ramaswamy settles lawsuit with World Economic Forum, will donate money | Fox News https://t.co/6fx92S1o0K
— Frances (@Frances67985547) August 17, 2023
We are not sure if that would satisfy that critic, but for what it is worth…
Still, we think whether you agree with everything Ramaswamy has said, whether you want him to be President or not, we feel this was a substantive discussion worth listening to, if only to counter the stupidity of M. Kaleo Manuel which this author posted on this morning. As one person wrote:
Gonna have to read a little extra today to make up for how much dumber I am after having watched this man speak. https://t.co/iSIjhiw1rN
— Woody P, Professional Designation® (@woodypanama) August 17, 2023
So, this interview might be the antidote "Woody" was looking for.
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