Political Theatre category archive
The Whitewashing of American History 0
I’m a Southern boy.
I lived through my own whitewashing in my segregated school, where what I was taught about Virginia’s history was, shall we say, less than objective. Then I trained to be an historian . . . .
Hell, I was taught that 1619 was the “red letter year,” because it saw the arrival of a significant number of English women to satisfy the lust of the colonists (lust was not addressed in the third grade) (that part seems questionable, but that’s what I was taught when I was eight years old), the creation of the first representative organ of government in the English colony, and the first arrival of African slaves.
Yes, I was taught that the establishment of slavery was a good thing, a red letter thing.
I guess you can call that “uncritical race theory,” the sort of “race theory” that the Republican Party now advocates.
The Republican Party has become the party of racism.
The Cavalcade of Stupid 0
Daniel Ruth thinks that “the country has gone completely, absolutely full-bore bonkers.”
Methinks he may be onto something.
Borderline Insanity 0
The Arizona Republic’s Elvira Diaz is fed up with right-wingers’ faux outrage over Vice President Harris’s decision to skip a meaningless photo op and, instead, do something substantive.
Limitations of Statues (Updated) 0
F. T. Rea reflects on the decision to remove the statue of Harry Byrd from the grounds of Richmond’s Capitol Square. He suspects that it may portend something larger than removing a remembrance of a racist political boss.
For those who don’t remember, which, these days, is likely most of us, Harry Byrd could best be described a Virginia’s own Mayor Daley. He ruled Virginia’s politics for half a century, much as Daley dominated Chicago, and was a central figure in Virginia’s “Massive Resistance” to desegregating schools in the 1950s.
Here’s a bit:
Addendum:
In a subsequent post, F. T. Rea expanded on his thoughts.
Facebook Frolics, Blurred Lines Dept. 0
Drawing the line in the sand.
Devolution 0
David speaks with Noam Chomsky about the devolution of today’s Republican Party and its use of cultural issues as a misdirection play.
Dis Coarse Discourse 0
John Feffer argues that we need some truth in labeling in political reporting and commentary.
“Our Low-Grade Civil War” 0
Werner Herzog’s Bear is less than optimistic.
The Acolytes 0
Thom discusses a study which casts light on the fealty of the Trumpettes.
Tilting at Windy Mills 0
At Above the Law, Joe Patrice explains why Florida’s new law forbidding private entities, particularly “social” media such as Google and Facebook, from banning political candidates and “journalistic enterprises” from their platforms in empty kabuki theater, and like pricey theater at that. Here’s a bit of his post (emphasis added):
Because while private entities like Twitter and Facebook banning users is entirely constitutional, forcing those private actors to broadcast particular users over their platforms is absolutely not constitutional. And yet here we are in up-is-now-down-land.
Follow the link for the rest.
