Political Theatre category archive
Good Help Is Hard To Find
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Nobody wants to be Trumpled at work.
All the News that Fits 0
Warning: Language.
Providence Lost Spurned
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Headline: Republican Congressman Says God Will ‘Take Care Of’ Climate Change
A man is climbing to his roof as floodwaters rise.
A fellow leaving the area in his Range Rover shouts as he passes by, “Do you want a ride? I have to go now before the water rises higher.” The man replies, “No, God will provide.”
Now the man is on his roof. Two fellows come by in a boat and ask if he wants to be picked up. He says, “No, God will provide.”
A little later, a helicopter flies over and, using a megaphone, a crewman asks if whether he wants the winch lowered. He says, “No, God will provide.”
By now, the house is immersed. As the waters rise, the man cries, “God, why have you forsaken me?!” A voice from the heavens replies, “What do you mean? I sent you a car, I sent you a boat, and I sent you a helicopter.
“Why did you ignore me?”
Ryan’s Derp 0
Leonard Pitts, Jr., explores the deep hypocrisy of “thoughtful conservatives.”
Which offers an interesting context to news that House Speaker Paul Ryan was pointedly snubbed last week by a group of eighth-graders. Students from South Orange Middle School in New Jersey were on a field trip to Washington, D.C., when they were offered a chance to take a picture with Ryan, often posited as the most thoughtful of thoughtful conservatives.
Dozens of them declined. The reason, as student Matthew Malespina explained to The Washington Post: Ryan is a man “who puts his party before his country.”
Some observes have huffed that, had this happened to Barack Obama, it would have been called “racist.” Which is laughable, given that Obama spent eight years being snubbed in ways great and small, usually for reasons far less substantive than the one Malespina gave.
Do please read the rest.
Extra Credit Discussion Question:
Is “thoughtful conservative” an oxymoron? Defend your position.
Going through Channels 0
Meanwhile, Josh Marshall tries to make sense of the backchannel to Russia and comes to this conclusion (follow the link for his extended discussion of why he so concluded):
Still Rising Again after All These Years 0
Elie Mystal wonders why persons and the press aren’t noticing. A snippet:
Well, some white people act like that, at least. I’ve actually been asked the question “what has Trump done that’s so bad on race” (by white people, of course). Not dumb, Trump-voting, “I have a problem with Japanese people wining a race on Memorial Day” white people. But by educated whites who seem to just not notice (or care?) that the chief law enforcement officer in the country is trying to use his office to fight a race war against urban communities.
If there is a federal policy that protects minorities from people like Trump’s dad, Trump is going to try to dismantle it. I think that’s worthy of attention, regardless of whether Trump is colluding with Russia to stamp out civil rights in this country.
“Freedom From” 0
In a thoughtful article in The Charlotte Observer, mulls the the implications of “freedom from.” I’m not sure that I agree with everything he says–certainly not his reflexive retreat into bothsiderism, when it is one side that relies on the politics of fear and division, whereas the other side, with some few exceptions spurns them–but I do recommend his article to your attention.
Here’s a snippet (I’ve italicized the phrase “freedom from” for the sake of clarity where I thought it appropriate):
I’m not suggesting that the expansion of individual freedom has been a bad thing. I am suggesting that it has come at a cost, which we are only beginning to appreciate. A society in which the greatest good is a citizen’s freedom from will cease to function as a society in any real sense of the word and, instead, become a collection of disconnected individuals who, either by design or by default, have as little to do with one another as possible.
Murky Merkel? 0
Der Spiegel parses Angela Merkel’s speech about the relationship between Europe and the Trumpled States of America. They ask and attempt to answer four questions. Here’s one question and answer (emphasis in the original–follow the link for the rest):
1. Why did her comments cause such a stir around the world?
On the eve of Trump’s trip to Saudi Arabia, Israel and Europe, heads of state and government around the world were eager to put on a veneer of harmony. That effort, though, is over — and Merkel is one significant reason why. Since Trump’s victory last November, many see the German chancellor as the leader of the free world and her appearance on Sunday was a sharp break with the careful Trump-related rhetoric she had thus far employed. To be sure, she reminded him in her congratulatory message after he won the election of the values that form the basis for the trans-Atlantic relationship, but she had nevertheless consistently sought to emphasize commonalities rather than divisions. Merkel’s comments on Sunday are a turning point because she cast doubt on past convictions — and provided a clear indication that she is losing hope that she can ever work constructively together with Trump. Or — a slightly different interpretation — she is now willing to express those doubts that have been building for some time. Either way, she did so in a manner which was, for her, unusually blunt.
In related news, Josh Marshall attempts to understand the change in tone by Europe’s leaders. Here’s the crucial bit (emphasis added):
The Unmasking 0
In the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Ahmed Tharwat reviews Donald Trump’s trip to Saudi Arabia. His view of the trip and of Trump are harsh and unflattering. They are certainly worth a read. Here’s a bit (emphasis added on one bit with which I unhesitatingly agree):
America mistreats Muslims, spies on them, arrests them at home and bombs and bans them abroad. America has an affinity for Arab dictators.
Trump is just the real America — America without a mask. Landing billions of dollars in arms deals from the Saudis and the United Arab Emirates, that’s all that matters. The oppression of women and denial of people’s freedom and dignity never drove U.S. foreign policy in this part of the world — it only comes up when it’s needed as a pretext to invade and destroy.
