Political Theatre category archive

I am not a fan of Bernie Sanders.

I admit that this is a purely personal reaction and concede that it is fed partly by the obnoxious behavior of a segment of his acolytes, the “Bernie Bros,” rather than one based on rational analyses of positions on issues before the polity.

Nevertheless, I must say that much of the opposition to his candidacy amongst what was called, when I was a young ‘un, “the Establishment” (as witness the meltdown by Chris Matthews that has been much in the news) is based on a mythical Bernie construct little related to the reality of his positions on the issues or to his record.

Martin Longman, in considering a recent column by David Brooks (aka, the man who is always wrong), offers an excellent analysis of said mythical Bernie construct.

I commend it to your attention.

Afterthought:

I don’t base my vote on whether I find someone likable (or whether I’d like to have a beer with him or her, for Pete’s sake).

And you shouldn’t either.

The question.

Sam discusses Betsy DeVos’s commitment to charter schools and the smokescreen of sophistry surrounding charter school privatization scam.

Via Job’s Anger.

David’s caller suggests that we are living in a simulation worthy of Nyarlothotep. Like David, I don’t buy the simulation idea, but the creeping crawling chaos notion seems spot on.

Aside:

I’ve been an H. P. Lovecraft fan for decades (that’s the primary reason I linked to this). I will grant that Lovecraft’s plots can be repetitious, but I’ve read no other author as adept at creating atmosphere as he. The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath is my favorite Lovecraft tale, followed by At the Mountains of Madness.

The Cats of Ulthar is just a bit too realistic for my taste.

Covfefe Coffee.

Barnum was right.

Thom and his caller discuss the Trump Adminstration’s cuts to government’s ability to respond to public health crises. The relevant portion of the clip starts at about the one minute mark.

It’s the best catch there is:

Starting this past Monday, his administration has started implementing its “public charge rule,” which denies immigrant visas and adjustment of status — including green cards, which confer lawful permanent residency — to immigrants the government thinks are likely to depend on public benefits.

And in a neat little catch-22 worthy of The Bad Place itself, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service’s rewrote its rules for implementation to say that applying for a green card makes immigrants more likely to depend on public benefits and should officially count against them. Thus, applying for a green card now makes you less eligible for a green card.

Catch up with the rest of the story at the link.

Honest to Betsy, you can’t make this stuff up.

Shorter PoliticalProf: Vote in the real world.

The writer of a letter to the editor of my local rag makes a fine point:

Accusations of socialism toward the Democratic Party confuse social programs with socialism.

Follow the link for the rest of the letter; it’s the fourth one down on the page.

Via The Bob Cesca Show Blog.

Via Job’s Anger.