From Pine View Farm

Political Theatre category archive

Base Desires 0

Martin Longman is an optimist.

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It’s Deja Vu All Over Again 0

Writing at The Kansas City Star, Tom Coleman argues that Donald Trump is turning the United States into the new Finland. A snippet:

The Soviet Union used deceit and espionage to implement Finlandization. Sixty years later, many of the same tactics utilized against the Finns have been deployed by Russia against the U.S., including its successful efforts to elect Trump president. Attempts to neutralize the U.S. continue with Putin, a former KGB agent, imposing his will by developing and cultivating a seemingly friendly personal relationship with Trump.

If Putin is successful, America will no longer be in control of her destiny.

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The Fire This Time 0

Will Bunch muses on the legacy of David Koch.

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The Climates They Are a-Changing, Reprise 0

At the Hartford Courant, Gary Yohe and Michael Mann discuss the other kind of climate change.

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That Was the Week That Was 0

Shaun Mullen looks back.

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The Song of the Islands 0

Donald Trump says,

Click for the original image.

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A Trumpled Close Encounter 0

Alien with flying saucer in front of White House says to passer-by,

Click for the original image.

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The Flailure 0

Field explains. A snippet:

Trump is flailing. He berates his handpicked chairman of the Federal Reserve, Jerome H. Powell, for not cutting interest rates fast enough to goose the economy. He practically begs Chinese President Xi Jinping for a meeting to work out a trade deal — any trade deal, apparently — and is met with silence. He threatens more tariffs but then backs down, at least for now. According to published reports, he sees himself as the victim of a conspiracy to exaggerate the growing economic anxiety in order to hurt his chances of winning a second term.

(snip)

The astonishing thing is that the president of the United States is, let’s face it, raving like a lunatic — and everyone just shrugs.

In related news, Noz is not optimistic.

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A Prophet, Scheming in the Wilderness . . . . 0

Donald Trump, standing on the mountain top as lightning flashes, says,

Via Job’s Anger.

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The Diagnostician 0

Frame One:  Donald Trump, glowering, says,

Via Juanita Jean.

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Dis Coarse Discourse 0

Gary Abernathy looks at Donald Trump and sees a creation of “reality” TV and cable news. Methinks his argument is worth a look.

A snippet:

But as cable TV and, later, digital platforms flourished, so did the need for revenue. What became evident was that Americans would tune in to watch a good fight, which brought us “Crossfire” on CNN and countless imitators on other channels pitting left vs. right, each one louder and more aggressive than the one before. Americans were encouraged to choose sides, driving us deeper into our partisan corners.

On the entertainment side, television struck gold with “reality” programming, placing seemingly ordinary citizens in voyeuristic and titillating settings, asking viewers to cheer one contestant, jeer the other and cast their votes.

Out of this divisive and salacious swamp climbed the combative, shocking and polarizing Donald Trump, stepping onto a cultural stage constructed almost specifically for him.

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“Red Flags” 0

Frame One:  Man saying,

Click for the original image.

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The New Know-Nothings 0

Leonard Pitts, Jr., finds the Republican disdain for knowledge and information to be somewhat disturbing. A nugget:

Who can forget Rick Santorum’s 2012 complaint: “President Obama once said he wants everybody in America to go to college. What a snob.”

Pass lightly — again — over the fact that Obama never said any such thing. What’s more fascinating is that Santorum — holder of an MBA from the University of Pittsburgh and a Juris Doctor from Dickinson School of Law — would identify higher education as a mark of elitism.

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“The Chosen One” 0

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One Thing Is Not Like the Other Thing 0

Cartoon showing image of Donald Trump and map of Greenland and asking,

Via Job’s Anger.

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At 221B Pennsylvania Ave. 0

Title:  From the case files of Donald J. Trump, Detective-in-Chief.  Frame One:  Bill Barr says,

Click for the original image.

Aside:

Speaking of Antifa, Will Bunch reminds me that my father was in an Antifa organization. It was called, if I remember correctly, the United States Army.

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Crowd Sourcing 0

Donald Trump at rally saying,

Via Job’s Anger.

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(Anti-)Social Media 0

Writing at the Hartford Courant, Barth Keck argues that Americans’ apparent willingness to believe anything they read on a computer screen is inimical to the polity. He uses the aftermath of Jeffrey Epstein’s suicide as a starting point.

In no time, an abundance of similar posts (conspiracy theories about Epstein’s death–ed.) appeared on my Facebook and Twitter feeds. When I tried to debunk those claims with facts from credible sources — a time-tested strategy I teach in my English classes — I was met with scorn and ridicule: “How dare you question the idle and speculative theories we formulated within 24 hours of a story breaking!”

Social media, simply, is poisoning American minds.

Follow the link for the rest.

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The New “Enemies List” 0

Trump Administration Endangered Species Act Endangered Species.  Images:  Bald eagle, right whale, moderate Republican.

Click for the original image.

Personally, I think its already too late for the elephant.

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Lessons (un)Learned 0

Title:  America Responds.  Frame One, captioned,

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