Political Theatre category archive
It All Comes Out in the Wash 0
Truth cannot survive the Reince cycle.
Home for the Holidays 0
Our Republican congressman attends his town hall meeting.
At least he attended his town hall meetings.
“Undermined from Within” 0
I don’t know to what extent I buy this, but the truly scary thing is that it does not sound impossible.
You can find another take in the same vein here.
Fantasy Alt-Football
0
This is good for a snicker.
(You can stop listening at about the minute and a half mark; the rest is promo.)
“Five Signs of Totalitarianism” 0
Christopher Lebron lists them at the Boston Review. Do any of them sound familiar?
Sign 1: Leader Insists on Mass Public Adoration.
Sign 2: Regime Controls the Truth.
Sign 3: Regime Suppresses Knowledge Producers.
Sign 4: Regime Invents Common Enemies.
Sign 5: Leader Is Surrounded by Cronies and Sycophants.
Follow the link for a detailed discussion of each one.
Lies and Lying Liars
(and the People Who Love Them)
0
Warning: Language.
Truth:Trump::Oil:Water 0
In The Charlotte Observer, Frank Harris observes:
It is the stuff of dictatorships and totalitarian regimes. Like oil and water, Trump and truth don’t mix.
More at the link.
All the News that Fits 0
Thom and Pap discuss the how the media misses the mark through superficiality.
“As Is” 0
Shorter Dick Polman: In the soul biz, all sales are final.
Spin Cycle 0
An ex-corporate spin-meister discusses how “spin” differs from “lies” and marvels at the multiplication of mendacity. A couple of nuggets (emphasis added):
But let’s say that beyond emphasizing just one figure and de-emphasizing another, to try to “help” our company I decided to unilaterally claim that Assets Under Management were up 10 percent, not 1 percent. That’s not spinning. That’s lying. You can’t do that. At least not for long. . . .
Today lying has been elevated to a renegade art form. We call it Fake News. (I’d rather call it Real Lying.) In a year of troubling trends, no trend is more troubling to me than the everyday casualness with which folks in power, or seeking power, ignore facts or make up their own when real facts don’t suit their needs.
Treadmill Hamster Cage to Oblivion
0
Shorter Booman: This is nuts and can’t go on.
I fear implosions–or I hope to God not but would not be surprised, explosions–are closer than I thought.
Garrison Keilor suggested the other day that Republicans did this and they need to fix it.
Afterthought:
Yeah. Good luck with that.
One Thing Is Not Like the Other Thing 0
In related news, Solomon Jones finds inspiration in an unlikely place (follow the link for the complete article):
They must stand up, red-faced and outraged, and shout that now-infamous phrase.
“You lie!”