Political Theatre category archive
Mutual Assistance Pact 0
You may recall that, in the dim dark past of about a year ago, many Republican regulars were skeptical of Donald Trump’s campaign and even of his competence.
No more. Now they appear to be all in for Trump.
Werner Herzog’s Bear explains why. Here’s a nugget; follow the link for the whole article:
How Stuff Works, Insurance Dept. 0
At Psychology Today Blogs, Mark B. Baer explains why Trumpcare is in no way health “insurance.”
Read it.
Godwin’s Law and the Kaiser Korollary 0
Richard Cohen thinks that those who would compare Donald Trump to Hitler, amongst other dictators of the past and present, are missing the mark. He suggests that a different German leader is a more apt comparison.
That war, more than the greater one that followed, continues to intrigue historians because its cause is so hard to isolate. By Armistice Day, four empires were no more, about 17 million people were dead and the stage was set for a further calamity. But what started it? There are many explanations, but one factor, certainly, was the bellicosity and idiocy of the German kaiser.
Anyone who turns to Christopher Clark’s book about the run-up to WWI, “The Sleepwalkers,” will recognize a Trump-like figure. The kaiser was a tweeter before his time, firing off letters, telegrams and orders without pausing to wonder about contradictions or policy or even common sense. (He demanded plans for invasions of Cuba, Puerto Rico and New York.)
Afterthought:
Cohen’s comparison gives me no comfort.
Paying for Poison 0
Your guide to being Flint-hearted:
More than 8,000 residents who have unpaid bills have received notices that if their balances are not paid by May 19, a tax lien will be placed on their homes, according to a report by NBC News.
“Words Mean What I Want Them To Mean” 0
E. J. Dionne considers our Humpty-Dumpty President’s laughable label as a “Populist.” A nugget:
In a season of dispiriting tidings, few habits have been more infuriating than the ease with which political commentators of all stripes have applied the P-word to him. Trump has courted this with old-fashioned union hall rhetoric about his devotion to “hard-working men and women.” He claimed during his campaign that he would end tax breaks that helped the rich, rip up trade treaties and be vigilant against the flight of jobs to China — pronouncing its name in a menacing way.
But as is the case with everything involving Trump, his words had no connection to thought. They were all about the effect they would have. Trump had warned us about this in best-sellers where he admitted that he uses words primarily to get the deal he wants.
“Facts Are What People Believe” 0
In the Raleigh News and Observer, Jim Jenkins lauds the benefits of a Trumpled view of the world. A snippet:
The Art of the Con, Free Market Fantasies Dept. 0
At the San Francisco Chronicle, Kristin Luker skewers some of the “free market” fantasies with which Republican dress up their attempts to deny health care to the citizenry.
Here’s the list; follow the link for the discussion (emphasis in the original):
- Fantasy No. 1
is the idea that people shop for health insurance just as they shop for peas.
- Fantasy No. 2 is the idea that the patient is the consumer. No. The physician is the consumer . . . .
- Fantasy No. 3 is that health care is an individual matter. This is nonsense — all health is public health.
Denial Is Not Just a River in Egypt 0
Paul Krugman tries to understand Trump voters, who, so far at least, still support him and, indeed, according polls, think he’s doing a hunky-dory job. A snippet:
Now think about what it means to have voted for Trump. The news media spent much of the campaign indulging in an orgy of false equivalence; nonetheless, most voters probably got the message that the political/media establishment considered Trump ignorant and temperamentally unqualified to be president. So the Trump vote had a strong element of: “Ha! You elites think you’re so smart? We’ll show you!”