From Pine View Farm

Hate Sells category archive

The Appeal 0

Grung_e_Gene offers a theory as to Trump’s appeal.

And that’s the entire key to Trump’s charisma and his cult; Trump says all manner of evil lies as a way to give his most hateful the permission structure they are going to need to do the evil things they want to do.

Methinks he’s onto something. Follow the link for his reasoning.

Share

Establishmentarians 0

MAGA-hatted nman kicking a woman out of an Oklahoma elementary school as students look at the windows.  One student says,

Truthout reports that the states of doctrinal indoctrination may soon have some days in court.

Image via Job’s Anger.

Afterthought:

Suppose I spec a product for purchase. Then suppose that said spec can be only satisfied by one supplier, though the basic product is available from many sources at much lower prices.

Is it conceivable that my specifications might be viewed with suspici–oh, never mind.

Share

The Invalid Syllogism 0

Michael in Norfolk is perplexed.

I truly cannot understand the total and seemingly deliberate blindness of the MAGA base that mistakes Trump’s railing against those they hate – racial minorities, gays, the foreign born and independent women – as proof he gives the slightest damn about them.

More perplexity at the link.

Share

A Notion of Immigrants 0

Title:  The Tree of Gullibility.  Image:  A serpent extends itself from a tree above Adam and Eve, who are holding pieces of fruit.  Adam says,

Click to view the original image.

And, now, let’s hear about someone who took that bite . . . .

Share

The Perpetual Prejudice 0

At Psychology Today Blogs, Allison Abrams takes a deep dive into the roots and fruits of antisemitism over the ages. She notes that

Often described as “the oldest hatred,” antisemitism predates any Israel/Palestine conflict. It predates our modern society by thousands of years, continually adapting to fit shifting cultural and political landscapes. Jews have historically been blamed for many of the world’s worst tragedies, beginning with the false accusation that Jews killed Jesus and the blood libel myth, to Medieval plagues, the Spanish Inquisition, the French Revolution, and World War I, all the way to the atrocities of Nazism in World War II and modern-day forms.

While antisemitism has worn many faces throughout history, its underlying characteristics of scapegoating, conspiracy, and dehumanization remain. Each era may bring new rhetoric and justifications, but the core narrative remains unchanged.

Now, it’s not my area of scholarship, but, I must say, I’m not sure that I agree with everything she says. Nevertheless, given events both domestic and foreign, I think the entire article is very much worth a read.

Share

A Notion of Immigrants 0

At the Hartford Courant, Robert Helfand argues forcefully that the coverage of J. D. Vance’s and Donald Trump’s lies about Haitian immigrants is missing the point. Here’s how he opens his article (emphasis added); follow the link to read the rest.

As Donald Trump and JD Vance intensify their claims that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, are stealing and eating pets, journalists have fallen into a familiar trap. Efforts to debunk these claims implicitly suggest that the candidates might be vindicated if genuine cases of feline abduction should emerge. That’s wrong. The real outrage is not the slander of one community, bad as that is, but the underlying message that some nationalities might be congenitally unfit to live in the United States.

Share

The Parody Party 0

Cliif Schecter argues that the Republicans no longer have a party.

They have a parody.

Via C&L, which has commentary.

Share

“One Ring To Bind Them All . . . .” 0

Calvin McNeill, in a letter to the editor of the Las Vegas Sun, offers a theory as to the common denominator of Trumpism.

Methinks he’s onto something.

Share

A Tune for the Times 0

Share

Suffer the Children 0

Apparently, that’s a Republican Family Value.

Share

The Playbook 0

Writing at Psychology Today Blogs, Mark D. White looks to the Marvel Universe, particularly to a recent Captain America series, to draw lessons about how fascism works. He identifies three steps in the process; follow the link to see whether they remind you in any way of dis coarse discourse.

      1. Inventing a “Mythic Past”
      2. Setting “Us” Against “Them”
      3. Presenting a “Strongman”

Share

Still Rising Again after All These Years 0

PoliticalProf decodes de code.

Share

Republican Thought Police, Reprise 0

Thom argues that the Republican Thought Police fear ideas, fear history, fear truth.

Share

All That Was Old Is New Again 0

Two men, one labeled

Via Job’s Anger.

Share

A Notion of Immigrants 0

The Des Moines Register’s Rekha Basu highlights the hypocrisy of Donald Trump’s fear mongering about those from foreign shores. Here’s a tiny bit:

Recall that as president, Trump launched an effort to strip citizenship from even naturalized U.S. citizens and deport them if they’d ever used a fake ID to get in. But he’s willing to ignore the fraudulent documents reportedly allowed by his CEO of Trump Media, former California congressman Devin Nunes, to employ undocumented immigrants on his family’s Iowa farm. A 2018 Esquire story lays that out.

Follow the link for a link to the Esquire story and more Trumpian hypocrisy (of which there seems an unending supply).

Share

Who’s Next? 0

C&L’s John Amato wants to know.

Share

Fatal Attraction 0

Michael in Norfolk wonders just what keeps Donald Trump’s dupes, symps, and fellow travelers from seeing the reality of Trump and Trumpism.

Read more »

Share

It’s Bubblelicious 0

Michael in Norfolk gets to the heart of why persons are willing to believe falsehoods, half-truths, and misdirection plays peddled by Fox News,its imitatros, and their dupes, symps, and fellow travelers in the right-wing media bubble. Here’s a tiny bit from his article:

. . . . the main driver is the (listener’s–ed.) willingness to believe anything that supports one’s bigotries and hatred, most of which when all else is stripped away comes down to racial prejudice if not open hatred.

Share

Misdirection Play, Culture War Dept. 0

Two men at counter.  One reading a newspaper says,

Click to view the original image.

Share

“But It’s the Only Possible Explanation” 0

At Psychology Today Blogs, Joe Pierre notes that “For politicians–especially those with authoritarian tendencies–conspiracy theories can serve as propaganda that exploits the psychological needs of a voting populace.” He goes on to list six of the ways that conspiracy theories can sway dis coarse discourse:

  • To malign opponents
  • To sow mistrust in authoritative sources of information
  • To deflect blame
  • To create “us and them” narratives
  • To portray oneself as a victim or an anti-establishment candidate
  • To incite or justify violence

Follow the link for a detailed discussion of each of these items and ask yourself if any of them sound something in today’s news.

Share