Political Theatre category archive

Image via Juanita Jean.

Afterthought:

One element of the reports about the use of the Facebook/Twitter/”social’ media to spread fake news lies that has received less attention than it deserves is the stupid on the receiving end–the willingness of some persons to believe stuff that just ain’t so. If you see a questionable story, just how difficult is it to search the web to find whether it can be sourced from legitimate news sites?

E. J. Dionne takes a deep look at Donald Trump’s U. N. speech and finds it to be an incoherent (quell surprise!) mess.” Here’s a snippet:

No wonder Trump won applause when he said that “you, as the leaders of your countries, will always and should always put your countries first.” Selfishness is popular. Russia’s Vladimir Putin and China’s Xi Jinping no doubt nodded approvingly when they were briefed about Trump’s words.

But Trump was so selective and inconsistent in his application of sovereignty that the concept itself had collapsed before he finished. If sovereignty is the highest principle, what justification does he have for threatening to destroy North Korea (which asserts its sovereign right to nuclear weapons)?

How can he suggest intervention against Venezuela simply because we disapprove of its governing system? Trump’s criticism of Venezuela was clearly based on the idea that some things actually are more important than sovereignty.

Jim Jenkins.

Josh Marshall ruminates about Russian impulses. A snippet:

One possibility is obvious: Maybe the Trump campaign gave the Russians access to their data and voter files. To date, there’s at least no public evidence that this happened.

But maybe it didn’t have to.

Via The Bob Cesca Show Blog.

Ben Cohen suggests that the Trumpler might have a tactic to his twittery. A snippet:

Trump knows that when he offends the left, his base loves it and will forget about him a) running the country into the ground, and b) colluding with the Democrats on legislation they hate. Furthermore, the media craze it creates distracts the public from his latest attempts to screw the working poor, minorities and immigrants (this time it was likely an attempt to disguise another attempt to repeal and replace Obamacare).

I agree that we shouldn’t allow the Trumpled twittery to take attention from legislation, but I’m skeptical that there is any system to it. I find his twitness to be less a tactic than a perhaps certain instinctive ferile cunning fueled by ADD (Attention Desperation Disorder).

Follow the link for the complete article.

I can’t embed it, so just go watch it.

Celia Rivenbank tries to follow the action, but the changes come too fast. A snippet:

“I love the Dreamers.” Or do I? Hint: He doesn’t.

“I’m going to make Mexico pay us back for the wall.” Or will I? Hint: Nahhh.

“I will release my tax returns if elected. Also, lock her up.” Or will I? Hint: Nope.

Trump’s bombastic promises often have an odd “Stay tuned if you want to see how this turns out” tone to them as if we’re watching “The Voice” and only he knows if the 17-year-old banjo-playing single mom from Texas can beat the crowd favorite crooning cross-dresser from New York.

Badtux points out that, in the face of evil, silence means consent.

Follow the link to read why he says that.

Shorter Seth: No, Trump is not suddenly an “independent.”

Excerpt:

. . . being an independent is not the same thing as being a rudderless narcissist.