Political Theatre category archive
The Republican Hypocritic Oath 0
Dick Polman tries to understand why the Republican Party is determined to strip affordable health care from millions of Americans, despite opposition from “the American Medical Association, the AARP, the American Heart Association, the American College of Physicians, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and at least five Republican governors who care a great deal about their affected constituents.”
He proffers four theories, each one of which I think has a piece of the truth, and no one of which rules out any of the others. Here’s one of them:
Follow the link for the other three.
Jingo Unchained 0
Josh Marshall reflects on Donald Trump’s view of the rest of the world.
Twits on Twitter 0
Ben Cohen suggests that the Trumpler might have a tactic to his twittery. A snippet:
I agree that we shouldn’t allow the Trumpled twittery to take attention from legislation, but I’m skeptical that there is any system to it. I find his twitness to be less a tactic than a perhaps certain instinctive ferile cunning fueled by ADD (Attention Desperation Disorder).
Follow the link for the complete article.
Trump, the Movie 0
I can’t embed it, so just go watch it.
Trumple Card Monte 0
Celia Rivenbank tries to follow the action, but the changes come too fast. A snippet:
“I love the Dreamers.” Or do I? Hint: He doesn’t.
“I’m going to make Mexico pay us back for the wall.” Or will I? Hint: Nahhh.
“I will release my tax returns if elected. Also, lock her up.” Or will I? Hint: Nope.
Trump’s bombastic promises often have an odd “Stay tuned if you want to see how this turns out” tone to them as if we’re watching “The Voice” and only he knows if the 17-year-old banjo-playing single mom from Texas can beat the crowd favorite crooning cross-dresser from New York.
Complicity 0
Badtux points out that, in the face of evil, silence means consent.
Follow the link to read why he says that.
The Art of the Con 0
Shorter Seth: No, Trump is not suddenly an “independent.”
Excerpt:
. . . being an independent is not the same thing as being a rudderless narcissist.
Bush League 0
Trudy Rubin explains why Trump is not even close.
But Where Are the Trolls?
Send in the Trolls.
Don’t Bother, They’re Here.
0
In a long and thoughtful piece, Josh Marshall explains why he sees the Trump-Russia investigation and the issue of Russian bots on the Zuckerborg heading for a collision. He delivers this trenchant observation almost as an aside:
He goes on to expand on this theme later in the article:
Facebook is so accustomed to treating its ‘internal policies’ as though they were something like laws that they appear to have a sort of blind spot that prevents them from seeing how ridiculous their resistance sounds. To use the cliche, it feels like a real shark jumping moment. As someone recently observed, Facebook’s ‘internal policies’ are crafted to create the appearance of civic concerns for privacy, free speech, and other similar concerns. But they’re actually just a business model.
Marshall also senses a rising public resentment against the intrusiveness of “Big Data.”
Follow the link. It’s worth your while.
Blood in the Water 0
Thom discusses how Republican obstructionism and denial of climate change led directly to increasing Harvey’s toll on Houston.
Aside:
Thom is incorrect about why Amtrak cannot run high-speed trains between D. C. and New York. Amtrak does own the track from Washington to Boston. It can’t run higher speed trains because the government won’t fund the necessary improvements.
(Embed fixed.)
“Normalization” Nonsense 0
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.
I recently subscribed to the Sunday New York Times. It’s a week’s worth of good and challenging reading.
But, as Farron points out, its writer got this one wrong (and journalists sometimes get stuff wrong–it happens, live with it).
No amount of face paint can turn Donald Trump into anything other than a racist poseur.