Political Theatre category archive
Devolution 0
In The Atlantic, George Packer tracks the devolution of the modern Republican Party. A snippet:
Republicans have chosen contraction and authoritarianism because, unlike the Democrats, their party isn’t a coalition of interests in search of a majority. Its character is ideological. The Republican Party we know is a product of the modern conservative movement, and that movement is a series of insurgencies against the established order. Several of its intellectual founders—Whittaker Chambers and James Burnham, among others—were shaped early on by Communist ideology and practice, and their Manichean thinking, their conviction that the salvation of Western civilization depended on the devoted work of a small group of illuminati, marked the movement at its birth.
Via Juanita Jean.
Afterthought:
I think the author failed to give adequate emphasis to Richard Nixon’s Southern Strategy, in which appeal to racism and racists became an overt tactic of the Republican Party. The Southern Strategy was key to the Republican Party’s march from being personified by Nelson Rockefeller and Everett Dirksen to being personified by Steve King and Louie Gohmert.
“On His Knees, Staring at His Reflection in the Pool” 0
Does this article remind you of anyone?
On the Other Side of the World . . . . 0
Does this sound familiar?
Trump, Catalyst of Crazy 0
David argues that Donald Trump is a symptom, not a cause, but that he has served as rallying point for racism and the far right.
You can read the article David refers to.
“Electabilty” 0
F. T. Rea observes, in the course of a longer post, that
I have concluded that, when someone’s primary criticism of this or that candidate is that said candidate is “unelectable,” it indicates that he or she can find no other more weighty criticism to make.
Video Vandals 0
Shorter Dick Polman comments on the right-wing’s faked video of Nancy Pelosi (and the legion of other faked videos). A snippet:
“Checks and Balances” 0
Will Bunch fears that the current federal administration has become unchecked and unbalanced.
Malignant Narcissist or Just the Garden Variety Kind? 0
At Psychology Today Blogs, Dan Neuharth notes that the number of persons who have referred to Donald Trump as having “malignant narcissism” has been increasing; it’s not just a few outliers any more. He proceeds to provide the background and definition of “malignant narcissism.”
Follow the link and decide for yourself.