Political Theatre category archive

You can’t make this stuff up; someone else already did.

Via Job’s Anger.

Shaun Mullen tries to understand “Clinton Fatigue” and realizes that it has nothing to do with the Clintons. It is, rather, a Republican thing, a strategy in deed if not in word. Here’s a snippet; follow the link for the rest:

The long and the short of the situation is this: Republicans have been fiendishly clever in keeping voters (and that supposedly liberal media) focused on her. If she cannot put the focus on us — as in the dividends voters should expect to reap from her presidency, a sure-thing win could slip from her grasp.

If a Democratic dill pickle had been elected to the Presidency, I’m confident we would now be suffering from Clausen (or Mt. Olive) fatigue.

Via Raw Story.

. . . now comes Rick Perry Secret Spy Glasses.

Via Job’s Anger.

Putting a check on those balances.

The fight between Gov. Sam Brownback of Kansas and the state’s judicial branch has escalated, with the governor last week signing into law a bill that could strip state courts of their funding.

The measure, at the end of a lengthy bill that allocated money for the judiciary this year, stipulates that if a state court strikes down a 2014 law that removed some powers from the State Supreme Court, the judiciary will lose its funding.

Via PoliticalProf.

The Roanoke Times calls out Republican gerrymandering in Virginia. Here’s a bit from their editorial (emphasis added):

When it comes to elections, we are more like Shakespeare’s Hamlet, who famously said of a certain Danish tradition: “It is a custom more honor’ed in the breach than the observance.”

This November, all 140 seats in the General Assembly will be on the ballot.

But that does not mean we will have 140 spirited campaigns, or even 140 listless and unspirited ones.

Most of those will be Soviet-style elections, with just one candidate on the ballot.

Noz points out that Rick Perry has a precedent.

Via Raw Story.

Werner Herzog’s Bear wonders whether the sun may be setting on “triangulation.”

The Tampa Bay Times carries Nick Danforth’s article, in which he tries to add some real actual history to Western mythology about Sunnis and Shiites. Here’s a snippet:

By this telling (aforementioned Western mythology–ed.), Sunnis and Shiites have been locked in a vicious, intractable conflict since the 7th century, when a disagreement broke out over who should succeed Mohammed. Shiites backed the prophet’s cousin Ali; Sunnis backed his trusted adviser Abu Bakr. This scuffle culminated in the historic defeat of Ali’s family at the battle of Karbala, circa 680. As the story goes, the sects have been killing each other ever since — and will continue to do so until they stop obsessing over ancient history.

Perhaps the biggest problem with this historical narrative is that it ignores everything that happened between 680 and, say, 1980.

The causes of “sectarian” violence are almost always located in the present, not the long-ago past. If you did deep enough, economics–haves vs. have-nots–is often a prime driver.

Juanita Jean explains what happens when you vote Libertarian.

One more time: A Libertarian is a Republican who’s ashamed to admit it.

Click for a larger image.

Recycling:

The Navy has purchased two decommissioned Japanese military helicopters and additional used parts, completing an international deal in the works for more than five years. The U.S. plans to harvest the aircraft for parts to maintain its aging fleet of MH-53E Sea Dragons.

In related news, it would seem that the Sea Dragon has problems much more serious than can be remedied by a few jalopy egg-beaters.

Meanwhile, Congress continues to push the F-35, which nobody wants except manufacturers of weaponry and their sycophants and lapdogs.

Yahoo!