Political Theatre category archive
Russian Impulses 0
Shaun Mullen takes a look at where we are this week and what might be to come.
Facebook Frolics 0
Firearms frolics. Here’s a sample:
(snip)
The fake accounts included the name of Dimitrios Pagourtzis, the 17-year-old student and suspect that police say is now in custody, and included a photo taken from his Facebook that had been changed to include a hat from Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign.
Soulless bastards.
Apocalypse Now 0
Via Job’s Anger.
Afterthought:
If Donald Trump knows what “2 Corinthians” is or says, I’ll eat my hats. And I have a lot of hats.
When I worked at Amtrak, one of the conductors on my morning commute called me the “hat guy.”
Russian Impulses 0
Shaun Mullen does a deep dive into the reeking stew of Donald Trump, Russian agents, and Hillary Clinton’s emails, reverse-engineering the recipe and laying out the list of ingredients.
A snippet (all caps in the original):
The events surrounding the June 6, 2016 meeting — both before and after — suggest that Trump not only encouraged members of his campaign team to assist Russians working for Vladimir Putin to interfere in the forthcoming election, but expected the meeting to pay dividends for his long-shot bid for the presidency because it would provide new ammunition with which to assail the chief target of his incendiary stump speeches — Hillary Clinton.
Nobels No Bells Are Ringing
0
As of today, it looks as if Donald Trump’s attempt to cut a deal with North Korea will likely be a flailure. Jay Bookman takes a look at the situation; a snippet (emphasis added).
(snip)
The alternative Trumpian response — anger and frustration that his dreams of being world peacemaker have been dashed, making him look foolish in the process — is equally likely and even more troubling. History tells us that Trump is not a man who responds maturely to public failure; his instinct is to get vindictive and lash out blindly, blaming everyone but himself. And in this context, that could get an awful lot of innocent people killed.
Afterthought:
Not many are saying this outright, but it’s clear that Kim Jong-Un has played Dealmeister Trump like a drum. Kim kept dropping the breadcrumbs, and Trump obligingly gobbled up the bait. Now drops the hammer.
In the process, Trump has given the despotic regime in North Korea a patina of international legitimacy it has not previously had, which, methinks, was Kim’s goal throughout.
Both Sides Don’t 0
Thom talks to a caller who equates George Soros with the Koch Brothers. Thom explains why that bird won’t fly, then explores the darker aspect of Republicans’ Soros fetish.
(Misplet wrod corrceted.)
The Proof Is in the Prurience 0
University of Maine professor Robert Klose considers the current state of the Trumpling and draws two conclusions.
Second, the idea of an informed electorate being essential to democracy has been rendered quaint, and should be replaced by another axiom: an entertainment-needy nation finds gratification in what amounts to political pornography — the more wildly prurient, the better.
Follow the link for his reasoning.
Afterthought:
I’m so old, I can remember when there were Republicans who were Americans first and Republicans secon–oh, never mind.
Russian Impulses 0
Shaun Mullen considers why relations between Russia and the United States remain dodgy, despite the end of the Cold War. A snippet:
Meanwhile, what is Trump’s Russia policy and who is his top Russia adviser?
Trump has no policy beyond making nice with Putin and issuing frequently nonsensical executive orders, while his top adviser is . . . Putin . . . .
Much more at the link.
The Party of Mean for the Sake of Mean, One More Time 0
Some Republicans have been quite callous about John McCain’s impending death; Kelly Sadler’s remark that he “doesn’t matter, he’s dying anyway” is the most notable example.
Dick Polman puts the cruelty in context.