From Pine View Farm

Political Theatre category archive

A Tune for the Times 0

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Russian Impulses 0

Michael in Norfolk has more.

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Fiefdom of the Press 0

Person labeled

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The Wage Slave 0

PoliticalProf thinks he has a handle on the division of labor in our current federal (mal)administration.

Along those lines, the Arizona Republic’s E. J. Montini imagines that Elon Musk emailed Donald Trump demanding that Trump justify his being on the federal payroll. Then he goes on to imagine just what Trump might write in reply. A nugget:

Monday: Played golf in Florida.

Tuesday: Played golf in Florida.

Now, he’s even more troubled, thinking that he needs to dress things up a little because he is the president, after all, and he actually did do a lot more than just play golf. So, moving on to the next day, he writes:

Wednesday: Played golf in Florida. But, BUT, I also spoke to a group where I slammed federal employees for not working in their offices and said, “All federal workers must once again show up to work. Show up to work in person like the rest of us. It doesn’t work when you don’t show up … They’re not working. They’re playing tennis, they’re playing golf …”

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A Tune for the Times 0

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Vaccine Nation 0

Uncle Sam, his body covered in a rash labeled

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Afterthought:

I had both kinds of measles when I was in elementary school. I can’t say they were terrible agony–certainly not any worse than the three cases of strep throat I had in my 20s–but they were not fun.

Why any sentient parents would choose to put their children at risk for that when it’s preventable is beyond me.

Doing so is cruel.

I do not think it an exaggeration to say that the anti-vax community promotes cruelty. Cruelty due to willful ignorance is still cruelty.

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What’s in a Word? 0

Sometimes, not much. For example:

Ronald Greenberg argues that the word “conservative” no longer applies to today’s Republican Party. He finds aanother term more appropriate.

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All the News that Fits 0

At The Philadelphia Inquirer, Will Bunch covers Donald Trump’s efforts to curtail freedom of the press, from banning the AP from Air Force One for not using the Trumpian term, “Gulf of America,” to threatening local news outlets with reprisals if they dare to (gasp!) report breaking news. In his article, Bunch points that this assault on the Constitution has been brewing for some time.

The decimation of press freedom is made possible by the record-low level of public trust in the media — some of it earned, but much of it driven by a relentless right-wing propaganda campaign that started in 1969 with Spiro Agnew and has never stopped. That unpopularity makes it easy for King Trump to divide and conquer.

I commend the entire article to your attention.

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A Tune for the Times 0

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The Rule of Lawless 0

Tom Moran finds a straw at which to grab.

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Penny Dreadful 0

Mike and Farron argue that Trump’s edict that the Mint stop minting pennies is a misdirection play. Methinks they may be onto something. Trump is skillled at creating destruction distraction.

Afterthought:

“Smart” and “cunning” are not synonyms.

Trump is most certainly cunning.

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True Believers of True Deceivers 0

At Psychology Today Blogs, Joe Pierre looks at why persons believe stuff that isn’t true and identifies three pivotal factors:

  • Mistrust
  • Misinformation
  • Motivated reasoning (a cousin of confirmation bias–ed.)

Follow the link for his article. It is a most timely read.

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Extra-Special Bonus QOTD 0

California State Sen. Scott Wiener, reacting to Donald Trump’s attempt to defund the Presidio Trust, which oversees the Presidio Park in San Francisco:

Trump . . . can’t tolerate success if it doesn’t benefit him personally.

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A Tune for the Times 0

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The Other Plucker 0

Frame One, captioned

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A Tune for the Times 0

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The Rule of Lawless 0

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A Tune for the Times 0

Warning: Mild language.

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The Rule of Lawless 0

Steve M. finds a straw at which to grasp.

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The Privatization Scam 0

Maddy Wheelock details the duplicity. A snippet;

School choice increases the divide between students who have access and those who don’t. State funding for education and other critical spending priorities all comes from the same pot. So more money for private schools and charters means less for rural and low-income schools. School choice doesn’t create more options if it only does so by divesting from neighborhood public schools. The math doesn’t add up.

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