Political Theatre category archive
A Neo No-No 0
At the Bangor Daily News, Mark Anderson suggests the rapid spread of coronavirus has been exacerbated by our embrace of Neoliberal economic theory. A snippet (emphasis added); follow the link for the rest:
Aside:
Neoliberals and conservatives distrust expertise for a very simple reason. The facts lean left.
The True Believers 0
Leonard Pitts, Jr., marvels at the Trumpettes’ loyalty to their idol.
Republican Family Values, “Honor Thy Mother and Thy Father” Dept., Reprise 0
Connie Schultz takes issue with the notion promoted by some right-wing nutjobs figures that old folks should off themselves via the coronavirus for the sake of the Dow-Jones average. A snippet:
The craft company also told its managers to “make every effort to continue working the employees” while denying those same employees sick leave.
Afterthought:
The phrase, “working the employees,” tells you all you need to know about how Hobby Lobby views the persons they employ.
The Cost of Living 0
Werner Herzog’s Bear argues that it’s lower than you think in the United States. In fact, suggests he, life is cheap in America.
Republican Family Values, “Honor Thy Father and Thy Mother” Dept. 0
Aside:
A small quibble: Trump did not make the remark about grandparents sacrificing themselves, but he might as well have.
Lies and Lying Liars 0
Farron catalogs Donald Trump’s lies about coronavirus.
Denial Is Not Just a River in Egypt 0
Two recent posts at Psychology Today Blogs offer insight into the intersection between political leanings and failure to take seriously–even to actively discount–the seriousness of the rapid spread of COVID-19.
Nassir Ghaemi offers a taxonomy of disease deniers:
Meanwhile, Nigel Barber identifies an irony:
Given the confused and chaotic–often self-contradictory–response to the coronavirus by the current Federal Administration and tendency of many to, say, confuse a Facebook frolic with a fact, I commend both pieces as being worth the few moments it will take to read them.
Aside:
My grad school professor for early federal period history, Dr. Shade, was fond of saying that “history is irony.”
Far too often, history has proven him correct, as when the United States went from having its first black President to having the most racist President since Woodrow Wilson.
Both Sides Don’t 0
Leonard Pitts, Jr., fears that the United States will not find unity to combat the threat of the coronavirus. Here’s a snippet (emphasis added):
And I’m sorry, but you’ll read no false equivalence here — not even in the service of hoped-for reconciliation. Because the truth matters. And the truth is, it was the political right that seceded from that greater and larger “us,” that inculcated in its adherents a sense of separateness, that made of them an island warmed by a burn of permanent grievance.
Follow the link for the rest.
What’s in a Name? 0
Sometimes, quite a lot.