Political Theatre category archive
Plus Ca Change 0
Brian Greenspun points out that history matters.
In a related thought, I am somewhat bemused by the spectacle of Charles Krauthammer, David Brooks, Cal Thomas, George Will, and their like agonizing over the rise of Donald Trump. This is the same lot that has twisted itself into pretzels to justify everything Republican, however noxious, for 30 years or more (see Exhibits A-Z).
In the words of the Who, I say to them, “Look in the mirror, boy.”
Hope Springs Eternal 0
Michael Smerconish refuses to learn from experience. Column ensues.
Flint-Hearted 2
The spring edition of the Virginia Tech alumni mag has a long article about the role of Virginia Tech scientists in documenting and publicizing the Republican poisoning of Flint, Michigan. I recommend downloading the PDF.
(I get the magazine because my father (and my brother) went to Tech* and I seem to have inherited a subscription through from my father through my mother.)
“Game of Twilight Zones” 0
Daniel Ruth tries to understand the strange alliance between Ted Cruz and John Kasich. A snippet:
Isn’t this a bit like Albania and Burkina Faso plotting to forge a strategic alliance to run away in the delusional belief they’ll be able to thwart the Game of Thrones’ Ramsay Bolton’s perverse lust for power in Westeros?
Card-Carrying 0
Alexandra Petri plays Trump with her “woman card.”
I have been carrying one of these for years, proudly.
It is great. It entitles you to a sizable discount on your earnings everywhere you go (average 21 percent, but can be anywhere from 9 percent to 37 percent, depending on what study you’re reading and what edition of the Woman Card you have.) If you shop with the Woman Card at the grocery, you will get to pay 11 percent more for all the same products as men, but now they are pink.
Read the rest. Collect the full deck.
But wait! The card pays strange dividends.
“Everything You Know Is Wrong” 0
Cenk and the gang consider what Trump’s success says about Republican voters. I don’t buy everything they say–I often pick stuff to post because I find it thought-provoking, rather than necessarily persuasive–but I think their skewering of the punditocracy is right on the mark.
Trumping “Objectivity” 0
As Science 2.0, Ryan J. Thomas wonders whether Trump may accidentally perform a public service by bringing to an end the unqualified “on the one hand on the other hand” fact-free never-call-out-a-lie reportage that passes for “objectivity” in the news industroy. A snippet:
Objectivity is a much misunderstood concept and is too often uncritically mythologized as central to American journalistic practice. What interests me is how the pressure to be objective – and therefore disengaged from the very real impact Trump is having on the democratic process – may impede journalists’ crucial role as stewards of democracy.
Follow the link for a long and thoughtful meditation focusing on a recent kerfuffle at NPR.
Maine Governor’s Secret for Success 0
Shorter Greg Kesich: Hate sells.
States’ Rights . . . 0
. . . are a sometime thing.
Without taking a stand on the specific legal issue at at stake, I can still point out that some states clearly think that they are more equal than others.
