From Pine View Farm

Culture Warriors category archive

“History Does Not Repeat Itself, but It Often Rhymes”* 0

At Der Spiegel, Lothar Gorris und Tobias Rapp hear a disturbing rhyme.

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*Mark Twain.

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The Unswayables 0

Werner Herzog’s Bear offers a theory as to why Donald Trump’s cult is so loyal to a man who has repeatedly demonstrated that he is loyal to no one and nothing. Here’s a bit (emphasis added):

What I have come to realize in my interactions with Trump voters is that they don’t really care about anything he does. I know that sounds obvious, but the reason isn’t. They don’t care not because they are hypocrites (a tired accusation) but because they believe in what he SYMBOLIZES, not who he actually is.

Trump and his MAGA slogan symbolize the maintenance of all kinds of hierarchies. His name on a sign means support for men in charge, white people in charge, LGBTQ people in the closet, Christianity assumed, and immigrants deported. While not all Trump supporters fit all of these categories, each has at least of one these hierarchies in mind when it comes to their support. Trump could indeed shoot someone on 5th Avenue and not lose support because what he does is literally meaningless. All of his meaning is symbolic.

I commend the entire piece to your attention.

(Missing link found.)

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Republican Family Values 0

School building with sign in front reading,

Via Yellowdoggranny.

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Still Rising Again after All These Years 0

The New Secesh decide that, if all else fails to bring back the Confederacy, let’s craft a Way-Back machine?

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A Notion of Immigrants 0

David debunks de bunk.

Aside:

This conspiracy theory is, indeed, laughable from the git-go, as David points out.

But it’s not really about elections.

It’s about rallying the bigots and racists who are Trump’s base.

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Republican Thought Police 0

Vengeance is ours,” sayeth the Republican Thought Police.

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A Notion of Immigrants 0

The Arizona Republic’s E. J. Montini highlights the hypocrisy. A snippet:

Donald Trump is able to go to the U.S. border with Mexico and rail about a crisis because he made sure there was a crisis to rail about.

Earlier this year, Republicans in the U.S. Senate bowed to Trump’s demands and killed a bipartisan security bill introduced by Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, Republican Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma and Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut.

(snip)

The bipartisan bill was not bad for border security. It was not bad for those looking to stop the flow of illegal drugs. It was not bad for those working to solve the asylum problem. It was not bad for the border patrol, since it included more officers and enhanced security.

In essence, the bill was not bad for America, just the opposite.

The border security bill was only bad for one thing — Donald Trump’s campaign..

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Criminalizing Camping 0

Emma talks with investigative reporter and journalist Rebecca Burns about the right-wing’s effort to punish homeless persons for being in this new gilded age.

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The Dystopian Duo 0

Caption:  X-Men.  Image:  Elon Musk and Donald Trump as superheroes Hate-man and Weirderine.

Click to view the original image.

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The Privatization Scam 0

Devilish-looking creature labeled

Via Job’s Anger.

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What’s in a Name? 0

Boston University Professor Joshua Pederson offers a theory as to why Donald Trump continually and (apparently) intentionally mispronounces Kamala Harris’s first name (and, note, it is not a difficult name to pronounce). Here’s a bit from his article:

His mispronunciation, then, is a not-so-subtle message about power and control. Don’t worry, he’s saying to his acolytes. She doesn’t get to say who she is; I do. This is how mispronunciation goes from microaggression to macroaggression. And Trump is making it seem OK.

Read the full article for context.

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Republican Thought Police 0

Florida Man.

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Trump’s Plan for a Police State 0

Robert Reich takes a look at Project 2025.

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Gutting Out the Vote 0

Noah Feldman argues that persons aren’t really noticing because the right-wing is doing it one baby step at a time.

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Tales of the Establishmentarians. 0

The Establishmentarian who worships a false idol.

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Dis Coarse Discourse 0

At the Portland Press-Herald, Victoria Hugo-Vidal predicts an avalanche of sexism in response to Kamala Harris’s run for president. She starts by discussing an email signed “A Friend” that she received in response to an earlier column:

My “friend,” here, offers just a preview of the raw, unfiltered, military-grade sexism we have to look forward to in the next few months as Vice President Kamala Harris makes her semi-surprise sprint for the presidency.

This sexism will come from the mouths of friends, strangers, family members and household names.

I think her prediction will be borne out and commend her article to your attention.

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Twits Own Twitter X Offenders 0

As you may have heard, Elon Musk has sued a number of advertisers for not advertising on Xcretion. At Above the Law, Joe Patrice comments. A snippet:

Compelled speech is the new free speech! As opposed to protecting the freedom to express yourself free of government reprisal, Musk envisions free speech as welfare for white supremacists — an affirmative obligation to financially underwrite the people who’ve gone bankrupt in the marketplace of ideas.

“Too bigoted to fail,” if you will.

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A Questioning of Identity, Reprise 0

Rebecca Watson takes a long look at the ginned up who-shot-john about Algerian boxer Imane Khelif. Here’s quote:

So know this: witch hunts don’t just kill witches. I mean, they don’t kill any witches but you take my point: a witch hunt is a witch hunt because it finds witches wherever it can, and a trans hunt will do the same.

Or you can read the transcript.

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The Lake Effect 0

The Arizona Republic’s E. J. Montini thinks that the Lake may running drying up.

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Republican Family Values 0

Farron uses J. D. Vances’s wife’s interview with Fox News as a starting point to delineate the duplicity of the claim that Republicans somehow support families.

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