2017 archive
Credulity Gap 0
Brian Greenspun stands amazed at the willing, compliant credulity of the Trumpettes. A snippet:
I don’t know if what happened is criminal, yet. That is what the special counsel will determine. Criminal or not — maybe the Trump team really is just incompetent and stupid — what we are watching in real time couldn’t even be conceived of in the minds of Hollywood’s most creative writers.
But, beyond all of this, what is criminal to me is that practically every Republican voter and elected official believes it is OK and patriotically American to just accept what Trump says even though what he says is now totally and demonstrably untrue.
Russian Impulses 0
Shaun Mullen follows the money trail. A snippet:
It is tempting to say that Trump built that network himself as his business empire grew, but in reality members of the network more often used him as a convenient patsy. This has been especially true of money launderers.
The New Populism 0
We often hear the term “populism” applied to right-wing political movements. Frankly, I don’t think “populist” is an accurate term. These movements appeal to the fears of the populace, often embracing nationalist and racist themes to stoke those fears.
They are not “populist” in the same way the American political movement called “Populism” was; that was a movement of farmers and workers, primarily in the upper Midwest, which wished to limit the power of industrialists a century ago. I suspect the news media have adopted the term “populist” as a gentler alternative to “fascist” or, perhaps more descriptive, “fascistic.”
At the Boston Review, Rogers Brubaker explores the appeal and spread of these movements. Here’s a bit:
The weakening of parties and party systems and changes in the relation between media and politics have fostered a kind of generic populism, a heightened tendency—shared by both the left and the right—to address “the people” directly. Party membership and loyalty have plummeted, and in many countries parties that had long dominated the political system have collapsed. This has encouraged politicians to appeal to the people as a whole rather than to specific social constituencies represented by parties.
The pervasive “mediatization of politics,” the intensifying commercialization of the media, and the accelerated development of new communications technologies have likewise made politicians less dependent on parties and more inclined to appeal directly to “the people.” They have also encouraged a populist style of communication, characterized by dramatization, confrontation, negativity, emotionalization, personalization, visualization, and hyper-simplification.
All That Was Old Is New Again 0
Keith Elkon has seen it before.
How did such a system of injustice become law of the land? The answer is that a simple and powerful tactic — fear — the “swart gevaar” won over the white electorate. Swart gevaar is an Afrikaans term literally meaning “black danger.”
Follow the link the rest.
Return of the Know Nothings 0
Excerpt:
. . . this is only the second time in the history of the United States that being stupid is a political virtue.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Always be polite when attending the show.
Witnesses told CBS4’s Dillon Thomas the man was shot by another attendee, unintentionally.
“There was a bang, and then a gentleman screamed,” one witness, who wished not to be identified, said. “I saw a man bleeding from the lower right leg.”
The story goes on to say that one of the persons present suggested that the remedy for such incidents is always to have a first aid kit handy because you never know when some gun nut will shoot another gun nut because stupid.
The stupid.
It burns.
Tales of the Trumpling–Snapshots of Trickle-Down Trumpery 0
Hospitality suit (emphasis added).
Dyne Suh, a 26-year-old law clerk, had booked Tami Barker’s mountain cabin in Big Bear, California, for a skiing weekend with friends in February, but Barker canceled the reservation by text message minutes before they arrived,stating: “I wouldn’t rent it to u if u were the last person on earth” and “One word says it all. Asian”.
(snip)
When Suh said she’d complain to Airbnb about the racist remark, Barker replied: “It’s why we have Trump … and I will not allow this country to be told what to do by foreigners.”
QOTD 0
Neil Dudgeon (as Inspector John Barnaby):
That is a sense of community, Jones. One goes mad, they all go mad.
Alternate Universe 0
Der Spiegel takes a in-depth look at American bigotry that parades under the “alt-right” label. Here’s a snippet:
The alt-right has everything a movement needs: its own echo chamber, primarily on the internet, its own symbols, myths, martyrs and stories and even its own vocabulary. It is the first protest movement that is taking full advantage of digital technology and one that would be inconceivable without the internet. One of its primary tactics, internet trolling, is the practice of insulting and provoking political enemies online until they lose their composure.
Amateur Hour 0
In the Bangor Daily News, Alex Steed suggests a lesson from the Trumpling (emphasis added):
Politics aside, the Trump administration can’t even get lying straight. How will they manage any true test of governance without putting everyone involved in grave danger? They will not.
Follw the link for the rest.
