Political Theatre category archive
The Loyalty Oath 0
Leonard Hitchcock has a theory as to why so many Republicans, when responding to polls, say that they believe Donald Trump won the 2020 election–that it’s a sort of loyalty oath to their dear leader. A nugget:
Methinks he may be onto something. Follow the link for his reasoning.
Look in the Mirror, Boy 0
Remember that the notion of some kind of inherent “American exceptionalism” is a myth most often perpetrated by those who would excuse the inexcusable. If a person or a people wish to be considered somehow “exceptional,” he or she or they must earn it.
Fatal Attraction 0
At Psychology Today Blogs, Ronald Riggio notes an oft-overlooked bit of obvious: Someone cannot be a leader without followers. He goes on to explore several reasons why persons choose to follow bad leaders–bad, that is, in the sense that they do bad things.
Here’s one of the reasons he suggests, one that I think is of particular import in the current state of our polity, where, if over half the registered voters show up at the polls, it’s considered an “overwhelming turn-out” and where puny turn-outs are common in state and local elections.
Follow the link for the rest.
(Spellink errors fixed.)
Licensed to Kill 0
Thom takes a critical look at “stand your ground” laws.
A Tune for the Times 0
From the Youtube page:
Trump loves to “go with a winner”, and he sees Vladimir Putin as a HUGE winner of late, making major real estate acquisitions with very little investment of his own, just as Trump always did. Trump can’t help but envy Putin’s incredible ability to skip legalities and jump right to the ‘moving-in’ stage. That, and Putin’s ability to look good shirtless give Trump a major case of “nipple envy”, but in a really wholesome, Christian sort of way.
The Plane Truth 0
Seth rounds up the news from his two-week hiatus.
Birds of a Feather? 0
The writer of a letter to the editor of the Portland Press-Herald sees some similarities between Shkreli and Trump.
A Tune for the Times 0
Mangy comments at the Youtube page:
As Trump becomes more and more panicked about all the damning evidence being presented about January 6th, his business, his mishandling of classified documents, etc., in order to distract, he is turning more and more to his golden oldie greatest hits collection; blaming Hillary. Truly the mark of a loser.
Mangy Fetlocks wrote a song for Larry Lazuli to sing, but Larry is too loud for any house with a sleeping baby, so Mangy sang this one himself. Larry still got something out of it. While at the Fetlocks’ place, Larry pocketed Mangy’s hot dog tongs, spark plug gapping set, and took three beers from his fridge. Here’s the lyrics Larry would have sung if he could just tone it down a notch now and then.
Dis Coarse Discourse 0
Steven Stosny, writing at Psychology Today Blogs, identifies several factors which he believes contribute to increasing belligerent state of what passes for dis coarse discourse. He suggests that two themes seem continual: entitlement and backlash. Here are two tiny little bits of what he has to say:
(snip)
When my clients express anger about politicians, they immediately recite a list of what they’re against. If I ask what the candidates they favor are for, they’re hard pressed to come up with anything. We tend to lose sight of what we stand for when focused on what we stand against.
Aside:
I have remarked upon the “parodox of social media” many times.
Baldly put, “social” media isn’t.
A Tune for the Times 0
At the Youtube page, Mangy comments:
It seems many modern Republicans, like Ted Cruz, believe in an extremely narrow definition of freedom. Freedom, to them, is no longer based on a philosophy or set of beliefs, but it is whatever Trump tells them it is, or whatever helps them get reelected. With new laws limiting who can vote and what teachers may say in school, Republican snowflakes are working to carve out their own little ‘safe space’ where they can operate, free of the constraints of having to engage with any fellow citizens who are ‘different’.