Political Theatre category archive
Hoist on the Elmer Gantry 0
Timothy Egan marvels at the unwavering support that evangelical they-call-themselves-Christians have for Donald Trump, a venal vulgarian who makes Bob Guccione look like a choir boy, and concludes
Patriotism is supposed to be the last refuge of scoundrels, but religion surely is a close second.
Follow the link to learn why he says that.
Russian Impulses 0
Josh Marshal thinks the Trump-Russia thing may be even worse than imagined. Me, I don’t know. I’m in a frequent state of “who woulda thunk” over the actions of our President, overwhelmed by the cavalcade of villainy and stupid (or it is the stupid villainy?). But over my years of reading Josh Marshall, I’ve found him a sober and reasonable interpreter of events.
A snippet:
It’s been noted that President Obama spoke for a few minutes one-on-one once with Dmitry Medvedev when he was President or Russia. My understanding is that Medvedev actually speaks decent English; so translation is less of an issue. But no one had any reason to believe that President Obama was compromised by the Russian government or somehow in league with it. We have plenty of reasons to believe that about President Trump. (Is this circular reasoning? No, as I’ll explain in a moment.) I see no plausible explanation for this latest revelation other than President Trump wanting to discuss things with President Putin that he does not want any other American citizen to hear.
Misunderstanding or Misdirection? 0
Jared Bernstein, in another excellent article, points out that Republican statements on health care and other aspects of the “social safety net” betray (or portray) an essential misunderstanding of how insurance works.
It’s like the old joke about life insurance: You’re betting you’re going to die, the insurance company is betting you won’t, and you hope they are right.
The purpose of experience is to spread risk so that each person bears a little tine bit of the cost so that, if someone needs assistance, the assistance is available without crushing expense. In contrast, Republicans seem to believe that crushing persons who do not have buckets of money under mountains of cost is somehow a good and moral thing.
Of course, that might seem reasonable to those who believe that there is no such thing as the common good. Here’s a bit from the article (emphasis added):
That’s kind of a description about how insurance works.
(snip)
Two things, at least. First, I do think today’s conservatives are uniquely uneducated when it comes to the role of government in mitigating risk. But second, the old Upton Sinclair insight about people being paid not to understand something is also very much in play.
Credulity Gap 0
Brian Greenspun stands amazed at the willing, compliant credulity of the Trumpettes. A snippet:
I don’t know if what happened is criminal, yet. That is what the special counsel will determine. Criminal or not — maybe the Trump team really is just incompetent and stupid — what we are watching in real time couldn’t even be conceived of in the minds of Hollywood’s most creative writers.
But, beyond all of this, what is criminal to me is that practically every Republican voter and elected official believes it is OK and patriotically American to just accept what Trump says even though what he says is now totally and demonstrably untrue.
The New Populism 0
We often hear the term “populism” applied to right-wing political movements. Frankly, I don’t think “populist” is an accurate term. These movements appeal to the fears of the populace, often embracing nationalist and racist themes to stoke those fears.
They are not “populist” in the same way the American political movement called “Populism” was; that was a movement of farmers and workers, primarily in the upper Midwest, which wished to limit the power of industrialists a century ago. I suspect the news media have adopted the term “populist” as a gentler alternative to “fascist” or, perhaps more descriptive, “fascistic.”
At the Boston Review, Rogers Brubaker explores the appeal and spread of these movements. Here’s a bit:
The weakening of parties and party systems and changes in the relation between media and politics have fostered a kind of generic populism, a heightened tendency—shared by both the left and the right—to address “the people” directly. Party membership and loyalty have plummeted, and in many countries parties that had long dominated the political system have collapsed. This has encouraged politicians to appeal to the people as a whole rather than to specific social constituencies represented by parties.
The pervasive “mediatization of politics,” the intensifying commercialization of the media, and the accelerated development of new communications technologies have likewise made politicians less dependent on parties and more inclined to appeal directly to “the people.” They have also encouraged a populist style of communication, characterized by dramatization, confrontation, negativity, emotionalization, personalization, visualization, and hyper-simplification.
Return of the Know Nothings 0
Excerpt:
. . . this is only the second time in the history of the United States that being stupid is a political virtue.
Alternate Universe 0
Der Spiegel takes a in-depth look at American bigotry that parades under the “alt-right” label. Here’s a snippet:
The alt-right has everything a movement needs: its own echo chamber, primarily on the internet, its own symbols, myths, martyrs and stories and even its own vocabulary. It is the first protest movement that is taking full advantage of digital technology and one that would be inconceivable without the internet. One of its primary tactics, internet trolling, is the practice of insulting and provoking political enemies online until they lose their composure.
Amateur Hour 0
In the Bangor Daily News, Alex Steed suggests a lesson from the Trumpling (emphasis added):
Politics aside, the Trump administration can’t even get lying straight. How will they manage any true test of governance without putting everyone involved in grave danger? They will not.
Follw the link for the rest.
