Political Theatre category archive
All the News that Fits 0
Consider what news reporting would be like if all news worked like Fox News.
Anomie 0
Thom and Richard Wolff discuss American gun massacres and wonder what about American society produces these solitary wolf predators.
Literacy Test 0
Gina Barreca suggests that we would be wise to expect our leaders to be literate. A bit:
I do.
Apparently this marks me as an “elitist” when it comes to education. But, to those who accuse me of elitism, I want to borrow the words of Inigo Montoya from “The Princess Bride”: “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”
Just the Facts, Ma’am 0
At Psychology Today Blogs, Alice LoCicero provides an interesting set of links to studies about the positive correlation between the “presence of firearms and violence.”
I commend her article to your attention.
(When you read the article, you will understand why this happened.)
Many Happy Returns, Reprise 0
Dick Polman runs the numbers and includes a quote from my elected representative incongruously assembled:
Scott Taylor is a full-blown wingnut, but one who, like many Virginia wingnuts, knows how to behave in public.
By the by, this is perhaps the most surprising and most gratifying single result of this election.
Swift Retribution 0
Joe Patrice explains that, no, copyright doesn’t work like that.
The Rule of Lawless 0
Josh Marshall highlights a troubling trend, one which surprises nobody who pays attention. A snippet:
Sleep Fright 0
Click for the original image.
Common Denominator 0
The New York Times wonders what could possibly account for the United States’s highest-in-the-world rate of mass shootings. Oh golly gosh gee, I wonder what it could be.
Let the Massacres Continue 0
Daniel Ruth excoriates the response of Donald Trump and many others to the most recent American gun massacre. If his column sounds kind of tired, the words “most recent” in the preceding sentence may give you a hint as to why. Here’s a snippet (emphasis added):
Even more bizarrely, Trump expressed astonishment that a gunman could enter a church in rural Texas and kill 26 people. “Who would think a thing like this could ever happen?” he wondered.
To answer Trump’s question there in second paragraph, anyone who pays freaking attention to the headlines, for Pete’s sake.
This is the very picture of weaponized imbecility.
It’s Deja Vu All Over Again 0
The Des Moines Register’s, Dick Goodson reports that he feels young again:
As the country moves through the next year or so, it will be very interesting if the majority of Republicans come around on the side of supporting good government as they did in the 70s.
Follow the link for the rest.
Science, Schmience 0
Mike comments on Scott Pruitt’s war on science at the EPA and points out the the doublespeak is strong in Pruitt (warning: Mike gets somewhat heated).
William D. Ruckelshaus, ex-EPA administrator, has more.
The Toll of Trumpled Truth 0
At Der Spiegel, Roger Cohen mediates on the dangers of Trumpery. A snippet:
I actually remember shrugging. And it was the shrug that was terrifying. This is how autocrats – or would-be autocrats – cement their power. They wear you down. They take you down the rabbit hole. They want you to hear the great leader declare that 2+2=5 – and shrug.
“. . . and Provide for the General Welfare.” 0
Shorter Badtux: “Yeah. Right.’