Political Theatre category archive

Today’s Chicago Tribune recalls that paper’s editorial upon the assault on Fort Sumpter. The tone of the editorial recalls the jingoistic bombast common in the 19th century (and the descendants of which are still with us: remember “freedom fries”?).

But the Trib was quite correct as to the reason for war.

The South seceded to protect chattel slavery and its belief that black persons were born to be enslaved.

Any other reason advanced by defenders of secession is simply Sunday-go-to-meeting clothes for the truth.

The people know the cause of the fratricidal strife. The party, which, in the interests of a barbarous institution, has governed the country for the last 40 years, was beaten in the November election. The verdict of the people which does not touch a single one of the rights of any man, guarantied by the fundamental law, forbids the extension of that barbarous institution into national territory as yet uncursed by its blighting presence. This is the cause of the rebellion which months of effort has ripened into the bloody strife this day commenced! This and nothing else — this determination of a meagre minority to rule a powerful majority — this deification of Human Slavery as the guiding principle and polar star of a free people — are the dragon’s teeth which, sown in a pestilent soil, have produced armed men.

. . . about his own party. This is truly a gem.

Via Bob Cesca’s Awesome Blog.

I fear that Andy Borowitz is closer to truth than to satire in this:

The U.S. policy of exporting democracy abroad has meant that there is very little of it left at home.

That is the grim assessment of a new study commissioned by the University of Minnesota, which predicts that if the U.S. continues to export democracy at its current pace it may completely run out of it at home by the year 2015.

Read the whole thing, then consider this.

A senior United Nations representative on torture, Juan Mendez, issued a rare reprimand to the US government on Monday for failing to allow him to meet in private Bradley Manning, the American soldier held in a military prison accused of being the WikiLeaks source. It is the kind of censure that the UN normally reserves for authoritarian regimes around the world.

Mendez, the UN special rapporteur on torture, said: “I am deeply disappointed and frustrated by the prevarication of the US government with regard to my attempts to visit Mr Manning.”

The U. S. government’s reaction to Wikileaks has emphasized how much governments fear that truth will embarrass them.

From Mr. Feastingonroadkill.

Last week, the local NPR station’s Hearsay, its news and analysis show, highlighted the YMCA’s Stand against Racism. From the website:

Stand Against RacismThis month, YWCAs around the nation are bringing people together from all walks of life to raise awareness that racism still exists. On Thursday’s HearSay, guest host Barbara Hamm Lee talks with local advocates about efforts to end racism in our area and celebrate the richness of diversity.

Scheduled Guests:Regina Malveaux – Executive Director YWCA of Hampton Roads
Dr. Cassandra Newby-Alexander – Associate Professor of History, Norfolk State University

Most of the show involved discussing the incontrovertible evidence that racism is still deeply ingrained in American culture, as revealed by the response to the election of President Obama.

Follow the link to listen to or download the show. If nothing else, listen to the listener phone call that starts at the 35:30 mark, in which the caller, Nelson, tells what he has seen.

It’s chilling.

Thoreau considers the benefit of paying taxes in kind. Here’s one of his thoughts:

Instead of paying for wars against foreigners who never did anything to hurt me, I will go out and randomly beat the shit out of some person who never did anything to hurt me.

Check out the complete list at the link.

Via Bob Cesca’s Awesome Blog.

Dennis G. sees parallels between now and then:

Before the shooting started, there were many who sought a compromise to avoid the coming bloodshed. From 1820 to 1861, the Confederates made demand after demand and every time the demands were met—the goal post was moved and new demands were issued. Finally their demands left zero room for compromise as their minority demanded absolute capitulation from the majority to their crazy ass ideas and fantasies. They were called out on their bullshit and they responded with treason and violence.

In many ways, the current skirmish over funding the Government for the next six months and the larger coming battle over Paul Ryan’s Path to a Galtian Utopia has very strong echoes of the build up to the Civil War. The names of the Parties have flipped, but the battle lines are similar. One side is unwilling to compromise and welcomes chaos with giddy excitement. The other is willing to embrace painful compromise to preserve the Union—agreeing to meet the Confederates far more than halfway time and time again. And yet—then as now—any compromise with the Confederates is never enough. Each new agreement just opens the door to more crazy and a fresh new unreasonable demand.

I’m not sure I buy the comparison completely, but it seems more accurate than I would like to admit.

Follow the link to read the entire post before drawing your own conclusion.

Wait for the end. He reveals the 2012 Republican campaign slogan.

Via Bob Cesca’s Awesome Blog.

The Smoking Gun reminds us of what happened the last time the Republicans shut down the government.

Andy Borowitz reports:

Landing on his feet just hours after his program was dropped by Fox News Channel, controversial host Glenn Beck announced today that he had just inked a new contract to join the cable network Syfy, formerly known as the Sci Fi Channel.

Speaking at a press conference announcing the move, Mr. Beck told reporters, “The best part of this deal is that I won’t need to change my format at all.”

Mr. Beck said that his program was “a perfect fit” for a schedule of programming packed with aliens, paranoid conspiracy theories and alternative universes.

Details at the link.

What Tom Levenson said.

Also . . . .

Click for a larger image

Via the Great Orange Satan.

One of the notable aspects of today’s Republican Party, other than the whole making-the-rich-richer-and-the poor-poorer thing that has been the staple of Republicanism for decades, is its mean-spiritedness.

Shaun Mullen captures it well.

But I, for one, get pretty worked up when the GOP marches ever more relentlessly into the fiscal future with a master plan to further squeeze the disabled, the elderly, the poor and . . . oh yeah, the middle class while offering even bigger lollipops to the rich and big business. This is not to say that entitlement programs don’t need to go on a diet, but to balance the budget on the backs of the people elderly and needy kids — who are the primary beneficiaries of Medicare and Medicaid — without asking for sacrifices from everyone across the board is cruel.

Aside:

I don’t agree with Shaun about Medicaid or Medicare. I have known persons on Medicaid and Medicare and seen the type of nursing homes that sick or aging Medicaid and Medicare patients who have no other means get stashed in.

They provide “get-by” care at best.

Calling them “entitlements” is akin to calling the privilege of not dying from a curable disease an “entitlement.”

But, in Republican world, not dying from a curable disease is an entit–oh, never mind.

James Carroll, writing at the Boston Globe, looks at the history of Christian prejudice against Islam. A nugget:

From early on, Western civilization understood itself positively against the negative foil of Islam, a polarity that was institutionalized during the decisive centuries of the Crusades. That Christendom failed to liberate the Holy Land from infidel control only made permanent the fear and hatred of Islam.

Meanwhile, as is always true of bigotry, Europeans knew very little about actual Muslims. The Koran dates to the seventh century, but there was no Latin translation of the sacred text until the middle of the 12th century. The first “approximately objective account of Islam and the prophet,’’ in the phrase of the theologian Hans Kung, did not appear in Europe until the 18th century — a book that was promptly censored by the church. None of this stopped Christians from assuming they knew what Islam was, right from the start.

There seems to be something in human nature that longs to have enemies and perpetuate enmity.

Bill Maxwell considers their tactics. A nugget:

Many professors and most legal scholars say that Wisconsin’s GOP and the think tanks have a right to request Cronon’s e-mails through FOIA. I agree. The problem is that the reason given for the requests — protecting the interests of taxpayers — is disingenuous at best. Clearly, the aim of conservatives, with ammunition provided by their favored think tanks, is to muzzle professors.

On the Media also covers the story. From their website:

The Wisconsin GOP has filed an open records request for the e-mails of University of Wisconsin Professor William Cronon . Cronon and others say the GOP is trying to silence his criticism of the labor dispute in WI. The GOP says the request is perfectly legal and they need not explain what they intend to do with the e-mails. We wanted to ask a FOIA expert to weigh in. RCFP’s Lucy Dalglish explains that the law is on the GOP’s side.

Follow the link to listen or read the transcript, scheduled to be posted today, or listen below:

Asia Times tries to provide some context for the killings in Afghanistan that have been so loudly linked to Christianist crackpot Terry Jones’s Quran burning.

It’s a long and dense article.

Nevertheless, I recommend following the link above as a means for getting beyond the navel-gazing of the U. S. news media. Even if the article has only a piece of the picture, it shows that there’s a lot more to this than the actions of the bile-filled leader of an obscure Christian hate group.