From Pine View Farm

Hate Sells category archive

The Sound of Silence 0

Frame One, captioned

Click to view the original image.

Share

Establishmentarians Establishing Establishmentarianism 0

Thom talks with Tim Alberta about his new book, The Kingdom, the Power and the Glory: American Evangelicals In An Age of Extremism.

Share

A Critique of Poor Reason 0

At the Kansas City Star, Melinda Henneberger takes on what may be the looniest right-wing conspiracy theory since pizzagate: That the Kansas City Chiefs and Taylor Swift tools of Joe Biden. She wonders

. . . But how will Chiefs Kingdom push back against the slander that their wins aren’t real?

I think you will find her article a worthy and entertaining read.

Share

Chaos Agents, a Notion of Immigrants Dept. 0

E. J. Montini points out the obvious. Donald Trump and his dupes, symps, and fellow travelers exacerbate problems, not solve them (emphasis added).

A bipartisan deal to address the border problem is the best thing for the country.

But it is the worst thing for Donald Trump . . . .

They want the chaos. They need the chaos. And Speaker Johnson goes along. These are Republicans putting Trump over party, and then putting party over country.

Follow the link for the evidence.

Share

“The Godfather” 0

Chauncey de Vega argues that Donald Trump is analogous to the boss of a crime organization whose followers are loyal to him and him only. Here’s just a tiny little from his essay.

Most obviously,: Trump’s followers are eager to seek revenge and retribution against the same people and groups that he does. Even more simply, they love Donald Trump and what they believe he represents. This is especially true for white evangelical Christians, who often view Trump as a prophet, savior or messiah.

Furthermore, there is large base of support for authoritarian and fascist politics in the United States. Many Americans are strongly attracted to political strongmen autocrats willing to “bend the rules” in order to “get things done” for “people like them.”

Negative and affective partisanship — meaning a situation when a political party or movement becomes someone’s primary identity, creating an us-versus-them worldview in which the other side is not just wrong but evil — along with asymmetrical polarization, white identity politics and racism, misogyny, and hostility toward sexual or gender minorities also contribute greatly to Trump’s persistent levels of support.

The whole thing is a relatively long read, but it is worth it.

Share

A Notion of Immigrants 0

LZ Granderson tries to understand the appeal of Texas Governor Abbott’s pursuit mean for the sake of mean to the Texas electorate which keeps him in office.

Why would he care about the people (a mother and two children impaled on razor wire–ed.) who died near Eagle Pass, when not caring has won elections for him? Which brings us here: Who votes for someone as cruel as Abbott?

The short answer is: most Texas voters, because he’s been in office since 2015. The economy is strong, and the cost of living is relatively low. Most important, the same traits that make him notorious across blue America keep him in power here in the Lone Star State.

Now, if “racism” popped in your head, you’re not all wrong.

But it’s not the full story. And that’s where progressives tend to go wrong.

Follow the link for Granderson’s take on the “full story.”

Share

The False Idol and the Idolator 0

Man looking up the heavens says,

Click to view the original image.

Share

Freedom of Screech 0

Rob Miraldi takes a thoughtful at the issues surrounding efforts to hold Donald Trump responsible for coarsening dis coarse discourse. A nugget:

As the January snows cover much of America, a sharp and ominous political chill blankets the nation. The presidential election beckons nine months from now, but the big question still looms: Should the speech of the person who incites the violence of others be protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution?

In theory, the answer is no. Threatening national security is not protected; publishing sexually explicit and obscene material is not protected; and lighting the flames of violence with inciteful language is also prohibited.

But the incitement exception has always been tricky, more now than ever. “Every idea is an incitement,” U.S. Supreme Court Judge Oliver Wendell Holmes said in 1925. Maybe only the person who commits violence should be prosecuted, not the person who causes it?

Follow the link for his complete article.

Share

A Reckless Driver on the Disinformation Superhighway 0

Musk multiplies the misinformation and disseminates the disinformation. From The New York Times:

This month, Elon Musk, who has since bought Twitter and rebranded it X, echoed several of Mr. Trump’s claims about the American voting system, putting forth distorted and false notions that American elections were wide open for fraud and illegal voting by noncitizens.

This time, there were no fact checks. And the X algorithm — under Mr. Musk’s direct control — helped the posts reach large audiences, in some cases drawing many millions of views.

Since taking control of the site, Mr. Musk has dismantled the platform’s system for flagging false election content, arguing it amounted to election interference.

Share

Precedented 0

Robert Reich sees a disturbing precedent to the rhetoric and tactics of Donald Trump and his followers.

Just go read it.

Share

Republican Family Values 0

(Warning: Poor sound quality, but still worth a listen.)

Share

Still Rising Again after All These Years 0

Michael in Norfolk minces no words.

Share

A Notion of Immigrants 0

Yet more mean for the sake of mean.

Share

A Notion of Immigrants 0

Image:  Caution sign showing family running.  Sig reads,

Click for the original image.

Share

Twits Own Twitter X Offenders 0

At The Philadelphia Inquirer, Will Bunch calls out Elon Musk’s racist misdirection play, in which Musk somehow manages to blame DEI for doors blowing off Boeing planes. Here’s a little bit, but you really need to read the whole thing for context.

.

The latest shocking example of this occurred last week after one of the most troubling aviation incidents in the skies over America in the last 15 years: the midair explosion that blew out a door panel on an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max jet at 14,000 feet, shortly after its takeoff from Portland, Ore. The pilots turned around and safely landed the aircraft despite harrowing minutes for the 171 passengers as misty cold air whipped through the cabin, ripping off one passenger’s shirt and sucking out another’s iPhone.

(snip)

Musk gleefully joined in an X/Twitter discussion railing against stepped-up corporate initiatives for racial and gender diversity, equity, and inclusion, commonly known as DEI. The electric car guru responded favorably to a fact-free post — suggesting that pilots hired by United Airlines out of historically Black colleges have lower IQs than Air Force-trained pilots — that sounded like a eugenics rant from the 1920s, then added: “It will take an airplane crashing and killing hundreds of people for them to change this crazy policy of DIE.”

It’s not clear whether Musk misspelled DEI on purpose . . . .

Share

Dis Coarse Discourse 0

No surprises here:

Donald Trump used his social media platform Friday to mock Nikki Haley‘s birth name, the latest example of the former president keying on race and ethnicity to attack people of color, especially his political rivals.

In a post on his Truth Social account, Trump repeatedly referred to Haley, the daughter of immigrants from India, as “Nimbra.” Haley, the former South Carolina governor, was born in Bamberg, South Carolina, as Nimarata Nikki Randhawa. She has always gone by her middle name, “Nikki.” She took the surname “Haley” upon her marriage in 1996.

Trump, himself the son, grandson and twice the husband of immigrants, called Haley “Nimbra” three times in the post and said she “doesn’t have what it takes.”

Much more at the link.

Afterthought:

Ii seems relevant to note that, when Donald Trump’s ancestors arrived in the U. S., the family’s name was “Drumpf.”

Share

Establishmentarians, One More Time 0

And this surprises you how?

Share

Establishmentarians 0

At the Kansas City Star, professors Victoria Johnson and Karen Piper take a look at the unholy alliance between right-wing evangelical they-call-themselves Christians and today’s Republican Party. Here’s a brief bit of their piece:

The use of politicized war rhetoric has been increasing in the U.S., and this tendency is not occurring on “both sides” of the political spectrum. Aside from Donald Trump’s recent use of the word “vermin” to dehumanize opponents, of equal importance is the proliferation of harshly degrading rhetoric coming from religious leaders targeting anyone who opposes Trump. This tendency results from the intermeshing over the last four decades of the Republican Party with fundamentalist Christian churches — many of which view the world through a lens of good or evil, and claim that their interpretation of the Bible is the absolute truth. This fusion emerged from political mobilization through churches to support Ronald Reagan in the 1980s, and has grown since then.

Fundamentalists within many religions believe their interpretations are the absolute truth, and that those who oppose their claims to speak for God are characterized as evil and must be converted or destroyed. Such religious beliefs are used to maintain authoritarian political control today in theocracies such as Iran and Afghanistan, and supported the legitimacy of past monarchies in France and Great Britain through the “divine right of kings” — which is one reason America’s Founding Fathers were adamant about the separation of church and state.

Share

Still Rising Again after All These Years, Reprise 0

Thom dissects a racist fund raising email he received from Donald Trump’s campaign and the troubling implications of news media’s failure to call out racism, whether it be subtle or blatant.

Share

Suffer the Children 0

As Micheal in Norfolk reminds us, that is not scripture. That’s Republican policy.

Share