Political Theatre category archive
Word Association 0
The Root reports on a recent Quinnipiac University poll. Here’s the bit they latched on to.
The responses were fitting if he wasn’t the president of the United States. Leading the pack was “idiot” . . . .
In a related article, Andrew Malcolm comments on the ineptitude of the Comey firing:
Fat chance that. As Josh Marshall pointed out a long time ago, Trump will not allow anyone in his circle who might eclipse him, private or publicly.
We are a society of stupid. Nixon’s odious Southern Strategy has come full course and enabled stupid and venal to the Presidency, the cabinet, and the Congress.
The consequences will be are dire.
The Rule of Claw 0
Elie Mystall explains why those who are talking about a special prosecutor to investigate the firing of James Comey are telling themselves fairy tales. The whole piece is a gem and picking a snippet is difficult, but I managed to do so.
You think they’ll change now? Why? WHY DO YOU THINK THAT?.
In relate news, Badtux sees a pattern:
The Comeyuppance 0
In yesterday’s performance of the frog and the scorpion, who knew that James Comey would end up playing the frog?
Certainly not James Comey, for he thought that he had served his masters well.
I am no fan of James Comey, as he grossly violated the public trust and may have swung the election. Nevertheless, I am confident that whomever The Donald selects to replace him will make him look like Prunella Purity.
And, make no mistake, it’s the racism that has brought us here. I’m not going to link it up now because it’s late as I write this, but a look at my posts in this category will enable you to catch my meaning, to get my drift.
Mutual Assistance Pact 0
You may recall that, in the dim dark past of about a year ago, many Republican regulars were skeptical of Donald Trump’s campaign and even of his competence.
No more. Now they appear to be all in for Trump.
Werner Herzog’s Bear explains why. Here’s a nugget; follow the link for the whole article:
How Stuff Works, Insurance Dept. 0
At Psychology Today Blogs, Mark B. Baer explains why Trumpcare is in no way health “insurance.”
Read it.
Godwin’s Law and the Kaiser Korollary 0
Richard Cohen thinks that those who would compare Donald Trump to Hitler, amongst other dictators of the past and present, are missing the mark. He suggests that a different German leader is a more apt comparison.
That war, more than the greater one that followed, continues to intrigue historians because its cause is so hard to isolate. By Armistice Day, four empires were no more, about 17 million people were dead and the stage was set for a further calamity. But what started it? There are many explanations, but one factor, certainly, was the bellicosity and idiocy of the German kaiser.
Anyone who turns to Christopher Clark’s book about the run-up to WWI, “The Sleepwalkers,” will recognize a Trump-like figure. The kaiser was a tweeter before his time, firing off letters, telegrams and orders without pausing to wonder about contradictions or policy or even common sense. (He demanded plans for invasions of Cuba, Puerto Rico and New York.)
Afterthought:
Cohen’s comparison gives me no comfort.
Paying for Poison 0
Your guide to being Flint-hearted:
More than 8,000 residents who have unpaid bills have received notices that if their balances are not paid by May 19, a tax lien will be placed on their homes, according to a report by NBC News.
“Words Mean What I Want Them To Mean” 0
E. J. Dionne considers our Humpty-Dumpty President’s laughable label as a “Populist.” A nugget:
In a season of dispiriting tidings, few habits have been more infuriating than the ease with which political commentators of all stripes have applied the P-word to him. Trump has courted this with old-fashioned union hall rhetoric about his devotion to “hard-working men and women.” He claimed during his campaign that he would end tax breaks that helped the rich, rip up trade treaties and be vigilant against the flight of jobs to China — pronouncing its name in a menacing way.
But as is the case with everything involving Trump, his words had no connection to thought. They were all about the effect they would have. Trump had warned us about this in best-sellers where he admitted that he uses words primarily to get the deal he wants.