Political Theatre category archive

Homeland twits (emphasis added):

Social media has been a driving force behind recent spurts of social upheaval around the globe, from the Arab Spring to the current Occupy Wall Street protests, and the federal government has begun to take notice and ask some questions.

The Associated Press is reporting that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is currently developing plans to monitor social networks like Facebook and Twitter in order to collect information for law enforcement purposes. And while that is sure to raise some eyebrows among civil libertarians, Undersecretary Caryn Wagner took pains to reassure the public that this will not be some kind of “Big Brother” situation.

Two words:

Yeah.

Right.

At the Guardian, Hadley Freeman considers the Republican field. A nugget:

For all the Democrats whose hearts broke in the 2004 election when the only person their party could rustle up to run against Bush was John Kerry, Romney is payback. He is the Republican version of Kerry: inconveniently wealthy, astonishingly uninspiring and with “second place” stamped through him like a stick of generically handsome Brighton rock. Romney has come second so consistently in the polls throughout his campaign that I’m beginning to suspect he is sponsored by the number two, like an episode of Sesame Street. In a time of high unemployment and social dissatisfaction, a photo recently surfaced of Romney that can only be described as his Bullingdon club picture; it shows him shoving cash in his jacket and grinning devilishly alongside his equally money-hungry former colleagues at the private equity company he founded.

The foreclosure engine remains strong:

While the number of new foreclosures has been falling in recent months, the filings remain near historic highs.

That has resulted in hundreds of distressed properties hitting the sales market in recent years, bringing down prices and preventing the region from regaining its footing, the experts told scores of residential real estate workers at a forum at Old Dominion University Wednesday afternoon.

“Distressed sales have become a significant part of the market,” said Vinod Agarwal, an economist at Old Dominion University.

Sales of foreclosures as a percentage of the overall sales market in Hampton Roads hit a high in February of about 43 percent, according to multiple listing service figures and Old Dominion’s economic forecasting project.

Mark Mardell of the BBC sums up Herman Cain’s campaign organization’s handling of the sexual harassment kerfuffle:

It is also clear that while Herman is Cain, his team aren’t able.

What Will Bunch said.

Via Mr. Feastingonroadkill.

One that most appalls and disgusts me is the bloodthirsty and cruel undertones to teabaggery.

Via Bob Cesca’s Awesome Blog.

The Commander Guy points out the time -arped:

One of the problems that modern American Wingnuts, i.e., scientific name – Wingnuttus Americanus, face is that many just can’t get over the fact communism is dead and young folks are not particularly concerned about the red menace anymore. It is just plain gone and it is not missed. However your various wingers, like those Japanese soldiers stranded on remote pacific islands after WWII, just keep fighting on – damned be it if the foe is imaginary and the fight is already over.</blockquote>

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October 31, 2011 | Posted by: Frank | Posted in: Political Theatre | Bookmark this post

Via Bob Cesca’s Awesome Blog.

Steve Chapman analyzes Mitt the Flip’s campaign strategy:

Romney does not aspire to be the fellow at the party who enchants the girls with his dance moves and charm. He’s more like the guy they settle on once all the other guys have passed out drunk, gotten distracted by a ballgame or come on way too strong. He’s not thrilling, but he’s not a disaster.

Read the whole thing. It’s a hoot.

One small problem.

The last guy left standing at the party usually turns out to be a disaster.

If he’s at that that kind of party, well, birds of a feather and all that.

He just hides it better than the others.

Afterthought:

You don’t find out what the last man standing is like until he straps you to the roof of his car and heads into the wilderness.

Mike Littwin handicaps the Republican field. A nugget:

4. Newt Gingrich. Going for the McCain get-your-dog-off-my-lawn vote. He might get it.

5. Rick Santorum. Wants to debate every night. The only time anyone pays any attention to him.

It’s silly and pointless, but it couldn’t be aimed at a more deserving target.

Warning: A bit of language.

Via Will Bunch.

Once there were flappers. Now there is flipper:

Dick Polman muses on the Republican fascination with ignorance as a plank in their platform:

Grassroots Republicans, particularly the tea partyers, are apparently so fed up with government that they’re favoring Cain precisely because he has never served a day in government.

The downside, however, is that Cain is profoundly uninformed about the fundamentals of civic and political life. He may have a silver tongue, but there’s a Grand Canyon between his ears.

I suppose Cain’s supporters consider that an asset. But I consider it disturbing, for instance, that Cain would go on Meet the Press and declare, “I’m not familiar with the neoconservative movement.”

For his information (assuming that knowledge is still important), the neoconservatives have been driving Republican foreign policy since the late 1970s, arguing that America should aggressively export democracy, even at the point of a gun. The hawkish movement was particularly active early in the last decade, when it helped propel us into Iraq, at a current cost approaching $1 trillion. But it’s immaterial to Cain whether he knows the movement or not, because, in his words, “I don’t believe the war in Iraq was a mistake.”

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