Political Theatre category archive
Hey! Rubio! 0
Marco Rubio’s in a snit–
Of that there is not doubt–
For someone chose to call him out,
So he decided to be a twit–
On Twitter.
Delta of Venal 0
Jay Bookman considers the Georgia’s Lieutenant Governor’s (and gubernatorial candidate) threat to deny Delta Airlines an (unneeded) tax break in retribution for Delta’s decision to stop giving NRA members discounts. An excerpt:
For Georgia Republicans, that creates a dilemma. In the hierarchy of lobbying groups at the state capitol, Delta ranks near the top. But at the very top, at the summit, sits the National Rifle Association. Delta is powerful; the NRA is sacrosanct.
Duck and Quiver 0
At Psychology Today Blogs, Eric Dietrich muses on America’s love affair with guns. A snippet (emphasis in the original):
What do we fear? We fear abortion (as an essential component to women’s rights), animal rights, any religion besides conservative Christianity, bans on hunting, birth control, carbon footprints, the politics of caring, controlling energy use, controlling mining, discussions of sexism, diversity, economic crashes, education, euthanasia, evolution, flying planes into buildings, gay marriage, gender (and the word “gender”), getting mugged, gun control, home invasions, homosexuality, immigration, not logging, statistically not common sexual behavior, population control (and discussing same), protecting the environment, races other than the white one, restrictions on parenting, running out of gas and oil, science, sex, taking global warming seriously, talk of climate change, talk of social class, talk about the Second Amendment, terrorism, transgendered humans, types of governments besides ours, vaccinations . . . .In fact, we fear discussing gun control so much that Congress has prevented our Centers for Disease Control from conducting any research on gun control. Such willful blindness is not only immoral, it is illegal (trying getting away with willful blindness in a criminal case).
“President Rambo” 0
Dick Polman reacts to Donald Trump’s claim that, had he been present, he would have stormed Parkland High School to be less than credible. A shppet.
Now suddenly he thinks he’s Rambo. No, wait, he fancies himself more macho than Rambo, because even Rambo deemed it prudent to tote a weapon.
True Believers 0
Meanwhile, Adam Gopnik comments on the latest NRA spin. A snippet:
I’m looking really really hard, and I don’t see any “socialist wave,” but I guess fighting the Cold War (flash! Communism lost!) never gets old.
Link to Gopnik via The Colorado Independent.
All the News that Fits 0
Leonard Pitts, Jr., considers the results of a recent survey, which indicated that many person don’t trust the news (Full Disclosure: I don’t trust Fox News, but that’s a considered decision based on analysis and experience).
A snippet (emphasis added):
But there was one finding that leapt out at me: Four out of 10 Republicans said they always regard as “fake news” accurate news stories that cast a favored politician or group in a negative light. Let that marinate for a moment. They concede it to be true, but they regard it as “fake” if they don’t like what it says.
Aside:
I haven’t watched television news in years, except when there’s a snowstorm–then I watch local news in full panic mode. It’s not that I don’t trust it; it’s that I find it, for the most part, superficial pablum.
I can learn more in five minutes of reading than in 30 minutes (minus 10 minutes for commercials) of listening. Figures such as Walter Cronkite, Chet Huntley, and David Brinkley, just to mention a few, are long gone.
Today’s “newscasters” are performers, not reporters.
Hey, Rubio! 0
Alfred Doblin remarks on Marco Rubio’s dissemblance of a human being.
“Crisis Actor” 0
I’ve been intrigued by conspiracy theories and those who embrace them for decades.
Most conspiracy theories are stupid and require herculean suspension of disbelief; they wouldn’t pass the test for an X-Files script.
The “crisis actor” conspiracy theory–that hordes of persons are paid to rush to the scenes of mass shootings or other heinous acts so quickly that they are already there when the events happen so as to pretend to be victim–is mindbogglingly stupid. The persons who spread it are cynical manipulative bastards, and those who believe it are cretins.
(Ask me politely, and I’ll tell you what I really think.)
Video via Raw Story.