Hate Sells category archive
An Alternate Reality 0
The Inky’s Will Bunch tells what it was like when he visited a Trump rally over the weekend. A snippet:
The Chaos Agent 0
At the Las Vegas Sun, Bryan Greenspun argues forcefully that, thanks to Donald Trump and his dupes, symps, and fellow travelers, America’s new normal is chaos. Here’s part of what he says:
Every day of the four years produced one form of chaos or another as norms were upended, laws were ended and civility expunged from the daily discourse.
All that ended with the election of Joe Biden. Normalcy was certain to return and the bananas-like blip in the American psyche could subside. Or so we thought.
What the entire world didn’t count on was that Trump and his cult would not do the honorable thing and just go away.
He did the opposite.
Establishmentarians 0
Disestablishmentarian readers of The Denver Post weigh in on the threat posed by establitarianism.
(I have so wanted to use “disestablishmentarian” in a post.)
“History Does Not Repeat Itself, but It Often Rhymes”* 0
Now comes Charles Dew, writing at the Tampa Bay Times, documenting an echo.
___________________
*Mark Twain.
Still Rising Again after All These Years 0
Clarence Page decodes de code.
Megaphones on the Disinformation Superhighway 0
Steve M argues that a strong factor for the spread of mis- and disinformation is not necessarily the often anonymous liars who make it up, but rather well-know persons provide megaphones. A snippet:
But we’ve known for years that disinformation spreads most rapidly when high-profile people spread it. Thirty years ago, false rumors about Bill Clinton were spread widely in a video called The Clinton Chronicles, which featured an appearance by Reverend Jerry Falwell, who was a hosehold name at the time; Falwell also promoted the video. In 2004, the false attacks on John Kerry’s service record in Vietnam were made openly by named right-wing operatives. And the most famous promoter of many right-wing lies — that Barack Obama wasn’t born in America, that the 2020 presidential election was rigged — was Trump, who is very much not an anonymous figure.
I commend the entire article to your attention.
Twits Own Twitter X Offenders
0
The Arizona Republic’s E. J. Montini dissects the debunking of some Muskrat bunk.
The New Believer 0
F. T. Rea has a question:
Why has Donald Trump recently decided to become an unabashed, self-styled religious figure?
He also has some answers.
They’re at the link.
The Undammed 0
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Gene Collier is skeptical that any court’s gag order with stifle the flood of vitriol, venality, and viciousness that streams daily from Donald Trump. A snippet:
Freedom of Screech 0
Above the Law reports that, following Donald Trump’s attacks on the families of various court personnel, including Judge Merchan’s daughter, Trump’s gag order has been extended to include said family members, but that
Details at the link.
Republican Family Values 0
David discusses Donald Trump’s attacks on Judge Juan Merchan’s daughter and points out that we do indeed have a two tier justice system. (Warning: Short commercial at the end.)
Still Rising Again after All These Years 0
At AL.com, Frances Coleman argues that the words might be different, but the thought’s the same. A snippet:
It may not have the same rhetorical ring as George Wallace’s “Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever,” but it puts the point across.
Stray Thought 0
I suspect that, if I looked up “truth” in my trusty Roget’s Thesaurus, which I’ve had for forty years, I would not find “divisive concepts” listed as a synonym thereof.
But, if I had an updated version, I think I just might.