“Do remember that dishonesty and cowardice always have to be paid for. Don’t imagine that for years on end you can make yourself the boot-licking propagandist of the Soviet régime, or any other régime, and then suddenly return to mental decency. Once a whore, always a whore.” - George Orwell
JD Vance is Violet Beaureguard come to life. He shines as the personification of gluttony and greed in the republican party. He is so proud to have been chosen for a lead role in the Putin and Netanyahu reality show, entitled "How to Destroy Human Decency with the Seven Deadly Sins in Order to Rule the World." Little does he know that he is but a tool for evil and after all of Trump's buttlicking cabinet members are fired, next in line to be flushed down the shoot, straight into hell.
Thanks for keeping the facts of JD's travel in the news. Why on earth are we paying for him to stump for Orban. And how is it even possible that he needs 40+ limos?! Can we send him back to Appalachia please??
I LIVE for the day when he will be brought low; when Americans, like the Hungarians, will rise up and demand accountability and remove him from his cocky perch of perceived power. Ugh. Smirk away, JD…your time in power is short. We are all Americans and we see you for what you really are…and we don’t like it one bit. Thank you, Steven, for focusing on the power behind the throne. Can’t wait for “Trumpty Dumpty” (as he has been called) and his cohorts to have a great fall and to return their ill-gotten gains. Maybe it’s too much to hope for, but while we’re at it we might as well ask for the moon. The people of Hungary did, and they got the moon and the stars…the moon to anchor them and the stars to guide them. “Yes, Virginia,”…democracy IS a worthy cause.
Don’t know where I read this or heard it about good ole JD since living in Ohio for a number of years. But an acquaintance of his characterized this James Donald Bowman which was his birth name until he went through his five various changes of just changing his name to arrive at now to have removed those pesky periods from his initials (J.D. to JD) upon entering politics. Is a chameleon he changes as he sees himself gaining all the wealth and power he can. He has no real character to stand on, doesn’t care who he leaves behind, or lies about or leaves in his destructive wake. He’s just a lizard boy who will change his colors to suit what he sees as the brass ring and will change on a dime to attempt to grab onto another. He’s got no soul, no objectives other than himself and doesn’t look back. When he hits you with a bus, he doesn’t consider anything in his way and the people who know him, know he sees them as speed bumps to run over. As this acquaintance put it — “he’s got no soul, he’ll cheat, lie to get what he wants and doesn’t give a rat’s ass about anyone or anything other than himself, he’s a piece of sh*t and we all know it”
Guess that saying, Birds of a feather sure do flock together..
JD Vance, regardless of his many his names, was born in Middletown, OH where he grew up. His mother was born in OH and grew up there. His father was born in Owsley County KY. His mother’s parents moved to OH and mostly raised JD.
He did a great job of exploiting his family’s Appalachian history to build a story appealing to conservatives and rural voters.
He is so repellant and that is what we need to hold on to. Marco and JD will be as successful as desantis in his white boots. The #DirtyOldMan is dying before our eyes and hopefully there is no replacement.
He seems to benefit from the same teflon gloss that his boss does, but without our dear leader, he may find that he's more vulnerable. His Icarus rise may end in the same conflagration. Let's hope so. He really is just a disgusting person.
It’s all so sinister, corrupt, and completely transparent. Which gives me a glimmer, or perhaps a mere flicker would be more appropriate, of hope that a REAL leader with intelligence, compassion, and a desire to promote the actual ideals that this country was founded on can emerge to lead us out of this abysmal, ever-expanding darkness now swallowing not only our own poisoned well but the entire global ocean. A Lincoln, or a Roosevelt, or a LBJ (despite his many flaws), or an Obama. We need leadership, not never-ending psychotic bullshit and sycophancy. This has got to stop!
Calling Vance a ‘shapeshifter’ is perfect, Steven. The other great thing I’ve heard him called is ‘the anti charisma’. Either works to describe a man whose values change depending on whom he’s talking to. We need better, but we won’t get that unless article 2, section 4 is invoked, and that is unlikely.
We shouldn’t forget about his Rockbridge Network. It was instrumental in getting JD the VP slot. Among its invitation only members, tech bros may be the backbone but it includes Rebekah Mercer and more recently Don Jr among others. However, Turning Point USA where JD is working on becoming the new Charlie Kirk hasn’t gone so well. Sparse attendance in Athens GA. https://baptistnews.com/article/tpusa-event-draws-small-crowd-in-georgia-as-erika-kirk-no-shows/
The JD arrogance, news of an automated draft registration and talk of a draft combined with the WH aggressive use of the military isn’t wearing well. Neither are the economy & healthcare changes.
According to TIME, DJT received 54% of the youth vote. “ A poll last week from the nonpartisan think tank Third Way shows that Trump’s job approval has declined among young men aged 18-29, with 32% approving and 66% disapproving of his performance in office”. A YALE Youth Survey found similar results.
Can you imagine a JD Vance or a Donald Trump rising to prominence in the Republican Party of the 1960s? I can't, and it's not only because I grew up in Massachusetts. Before I was old enough to vote, Ed Brooke was one of my two home-state senators. Elliot Richardson was MA lieutenant governor and then attorney general before he joined the Nixon administration -- and eventually became a hero to many of us for resigning rather than fire the Watergate special prosecutor, Archibald Cox.
It is desperately important for the future of U.S. democracy that we pay close attention to everything that's happened since. It has much to do with economic power, of course, but money can't vote and the plutocrats aren't numerous enough to win a statewide election. So they've used racism, sexism, fear of "modernity" (whatever that is), and the unbridled power of mass media (thank you, Citizens United) to enlist enough voters to get themselves elected. There are no quick fixes for this. Here's hoping that our broken democracy *can* be fixed.
In 1957, the 45 carat Hope Diamond was sent to the Smithsonian by New York jeweler Harry Winston wrapped in brown paper and insured for $1M via USPS. In other words, it was hidden in plain sight. It’s been safely displayed ever since. Maybe the veep should do the same. Borrow a Camry and drive himself around the next city to which he travels to make a fool out of himself. The 60 vehicle entourage only makes him look more foolish.
Vance’s opportunistic shape-shifting is so transparent as to be risible. From his embrace of humble Appalachia to his embrace of Silicon Valley, from his pride in achieving an Ivy League education to his derision of elitist, liberal universities, from his repudiation of Donald Trump to his MAGA mimicry, his conversion to Catholicism and superior grasp of theological principles, Vance’s only constancy is hubris.
“Do remember that dishonesty and cowardice always have to be paid for. Don’t imagine that for years on end you can make yourself the boot-licking propagandist of the Soviet régime, or any other régime, and then suddenly return to mental decency. Once a whore, always a whore.” - George Orwell
JD Vance is Violet Beaureguard come to life. He shines as the personification of gluttony and greed in the republican party. He is so proud to have been chosen for a lead role in the Putin and Netanyahu reality show, entitled "How to Destroy Human Decency with the Seven Deadly Sins in Order to Rule the World." Little does he know that he is but a tool for evil and after all of Trump's buttlicking cabinet members are fired, next in line to be flushed down the shoot, straight into hell.
Lisa,
Thank you for introducing my curiosity to Violet Beauregard.
Nice analogy!
Thanks for keeping the facts of JD's travel in the news. Why on earth are we paying for him to stump for Orban. And how is it even possible that he needs 40+ limos?! Can we send him back to Appalachia please??
No. Send him back to OH where he is from.
I LIVE for the day when he will be brought low; when Americans, like the Hungarians, will rise up and demand accountability and remove him from his cocky perch of perceived power. Ugh. Smirk away, JD…your time in power is short. We are all Americans and we see you for what you really are…and we don’t like it one bit. Thank you, Steven, for focusing on the power behind the throne. Can’t wait for “Trumpty Dumpty” (as he has been called) and his cohorts to have a great fall and to return their ill-gotten gains. Maybe it’s too much to hope for, but while we’re at it we might as well ask for the moon. The people of Hungary did, and they got the moon and the stars…the moon to anchor them and the stars to guide them. “Yes, Virginia,”…democracy IS a worthy cause.
Thank you Professor Beschloss for your article.
Don’t know where I read this or heard it about good ole JD since living in Ohio for a number of years. But an acquaintance of his characterized this James Donald Bowman which was his birth name until he went through his five various changes of just changing his name to arrive at now to have removed those pesky periods from his initials (J.D. to JD) upon entering politics. Is a chameleon he changes as he sees himself gaining all the wealth and power he can. He has no real character to stand on, doesn’t care who he leaves behind, or lies about or leaves in his destructive wake. He’s just a lizard boy who will change his colors to suit what he sees as the brass ring and will change on a dime to attempt to grab onto another. He’s got no soul, no objectives other than himself and doesn’t look back. When he hits you with a bus, he doesn’t consider anything in his way and the people who know him, know he sees them as speed bumps to run over. As this acquaintance put it — “he’s got no soul, he’ll cheat, lie to get what he wants and doesn’t give a rat’s ass about anyone or anything other than himself, he’s a piece of sh*t and we all know it”
Guess that saying, Birds of a feather sure do flock together..
Yes, he’s a chameleon. A sinister selfish one.
JD Vance, regardless of his many his names, was born in Middletown, OH where he grew up. His mother was born in OH and grew up there. His father was born in Owsley County KY. His mother’s parents moved to OH and mostly raised JD.
He did a great job of exploiting his family’s Appalachian history to build a story appealing to conservatives and rural voters.
He is so repellant and that is what we need to hold on to. Marco and JD will be as successful as desantis in his white boots. The #DirtyOldMan is dying before our eyes and hopefully there is no replacement.
And there is the embrace of Erica Kirk…
He seems to benefit from the same teflon gloss that his boss does, but without our dear leader, he may find that he's more vulnerable. His Icarus rise may end in the same conflagration. Let's hope so. He really is just a disgusting person.
Yale Law School?
Universities ought to exercise their right to take back the honors and degrees they give out.
If Yale was worth anything they would rescind his degree.
The spirit of the founding documents is long gone. The views of southern plantation owners ultimately won. At the very least the civil war continues.
Plantations replaced by massive data centers
It’s all so sinister, corrupt, and completely transparent. Which gives me a glimmer, or perhaps a mere flicker would be more appropriate, of hope that a REAL leader with intelligence, compassion, and a desire to promote the actual ideals that this country was founded on can emerge to lead us out of this abysmal, ever-expanding darkness now swallowing not only our own poisoned well but the entire global ocean. A Lincoln, or a Roosevelt, or a LBJ (despite his many flaws), or an Obama. We need leadership, not never-ending psychotic bullshit and sycophancy. This has got to stop!
Calling Vance a ‘shapeshifter’ is perfect, Steven. The other great thing I’ve heard him called is ‘the anti charisma’. Either works to describe a man whose values change depending on whom he’s talking to. We need better, but we won’t get that unless article 2, section 4 is invoked, and that is unlikely.
We shouldn’t forget about his Rockbridge Network. It was instrumental in getting JD the VP slot. Among its invitation only members, tech bros may be the backbone but it includes Rebekah Mercer and more recently Don Jr among others. However, Turning Point USA where JD is working on becoming the new Charlie Kirk hasn’t gone so well. Sparse attendance in Athens GA. https://baptistnews.com/article/tpusa-event-draws-small-crowd-in-georgia-as-erika-kirk-no-shows/
The JD arrogance, news of an automated draft registration and talk of a draft combined with the WH aggressive use of the military isn’t wearing well. Neither are the economy & healthcare changes.
According to TIME, DJT received 54% of the youth vote. “ A poll last week from the nonpartisan think tank Third Way shows that Trump’s job approval has declined among young men aged 18-29, with 32% approving and 66% disapproving of his performance in office”. A YALE Youth Survey found similar results.
Can you imagine a JD Vance or a Donald Trump rising to prominence in the Republican Party of the 1960s? I can't, and it's not only because I grew up in Massachusetts. Before I was old enough to vote, Ed Brooke was one of my two home-state senators. Elliot Richardson was MA lieutenant governor and then attorney general before he joined the Nixon administration -- and eventually became a hero to many of us for resigning rather than fire the Watergate special prosecutor, Archibald Cox.
It is desperately important for the future of U.S. democracy that we pay close attention to everything that's happened since. It has much to do with economic power, of course, but money can't vote and the plutocrats aren't numerous enough to win a statewide election. So they've used racism, sexism, fear of "modernity" (whatever that is), and the unbridled power of mass media (thank you, Citizens United) to enlist enough voters to get themselves elected. There are no quick fixes for this. Here's hoping that our broken democracy *can* be fixed.
In 1957, the 45 carat Hope Diamond was sent to the Smithsonian by New York jeweler Harry Winston wrapped in brown paper and insured for $1M via USPS. In other words, it was hidden in plain sight. It’s been safely displayed ever since. Maybe the veep should do the same. Borrow a Camry and drive himself around the next city to which he travels to make a fool out of himself. The 60 vehicle entourage only makes him look more foolish.
Vance’s opportunistic shape-shifting is so transparent as to be risible. From his embrace of humble Appalachia to his embrace of Silicon Valley, from his pride in achieving an Ivy League education to his derision of elitist, liberal universities, from his repudiation of Donald Trump to his MAGA mimicry, his conversion to Catholicism and superior grasp of theological principles, Vance’s only constancy is hubris.