Political Theatre category archive
Misdirection Play, Comeyuppance Department, Reprise 2
Dick Polman marvels at the strategies the Trumpettes are using to try to discredit James Comey.
The resident curmudgeon at my local rag opted for Number Three on Polman’s list.
Aside:
Oh, man, when I picked up the paper after getting a cuppa yesterday morning, I wondered to myself, “Is she really crazed enough to go there?” and, by jingo, she is and she did.
Misdirection Play, Comeyuppance Department 0
Joe Patrice looks at Trump’s lawyer’s threat to sue James Comey for “leaking” and explains why there’s no there there.
The Comeyuppance 0
Yesterday, I didn’t pay much attention to James Comey’s testimony or the coverate thereof. It fqlls into my personal category of “I’ll read about it tomorrow” news. I’m also not going to dig into it today, as others far more qualified than I (particularly Josh Marshall) are giving it rivers of electrons.
Nevertheless, I commend to you Elie Mystal’s prediction of that Jeff Sessions will be next domino to fall.
All the News That Fits 0
Jonathan Bernstein points out that news outlets that lean right are often preaching to the choir, even when there’s no there there. A snippet (emphasis added):
Trump on Monday held a mock signing ceremony for his decision to endorse privatizing air traffic control.
EPA administrator Scott Pruitt has been touting 50,000 new coal jobs that turn out to be closer to 1,000 new coal jobs.
The accomplishments of the Trump administration have a knack for turning out to be hollow — this week has been a pretty brutal reminder of that, and it’s early. But how does it affect Trump’s ability to govern?
(snip)
On the other hand, it’s probably true that Trump has successfully convinced a lot of people who get their news mostly or entirely from Republican-aligned outlets that he’s having one fabulous success after another, so for example a CBS survey last month found 95 percent of strong Trump supporters think he’s “effective.” The problem is that catering only to hard-core partisans is pretty useless for a president, because those folks are going to buy whatever he’s selling regardless of what it might be.
Idiocracy 0
Josh Marshall, in a long and thoughtful article, wonders what recourse is available when the President of the United States is clearly incapable. A snippet:
Do please read the rest.
“Coal Rollers” 0
Psychology Today Blogs, Richard Maxwell and Toby Miller delve into the right-wing’s opposition to the Paris Climate Accords. A snippet:
Follow the link to find out what exactly “coal rollers” are and how they relate to this topic.
Trumpling D-Day 0
Dick Polman imagines Donald Trump’s D-Day tweetstorm, had he and Twitter existed 73 years ago.
Just read it.
Twits on Twitter 0
My local rag tries to make sense of Donald Trump’s “ill-considered” (to use their term–“unconsidered” would likely be a more accurate phrasing) tweets, a Quixotic endeavor in the best of times. A snippet:
It is an excellent editorial. As you read it, remember the target audience is Virginians and that Virginia gave us “massive resistance“; it is consequently worded rather charitably, but read between the lines.
I look forward to the coming letters to the editor from our local Trumpsters.
Afterthought:
Referring to Trump’s hand-held device as a “smartphone” is a gross misnomer. After all, look at the company it keeps.
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*Trump. Design. It is to laugh.
That Was the Weekend That Was 0
In an article tangentially related to the previous post, Josh Marshall reflects on Donald Trump’s weekend of twittery and reaches a conclusion:
Follow the link for his reasoning.