Political Theatre category archive
“Tempered Rhetoric” 0
Seth takes a closer look at the Republican Party’s expressed desire to “tone donw the rhetoric.”
False Equivalence: Comparing Apples to Cow Pats 0
Colby Hall notes that (some) Trump is trying to blame Democrats’ rhetoric for the recent thwarted assassination attempt. They are equating claims that Trump represents a threat to democracy (he does) with Trump’s claims that the 2020 election was stolen (it wasn’t).
Here’s tiny bit from his article:
The problem is that the comparison makes no sense. It is a brazen false equivalency that flat-out ignores the fact that what caused Jan. 6 — Trump’s false election claims and his continued spouting of them — is precisely the threat to democracy that Hume invokes.
Crucially, the difference between Hume’s examples of inciting claims is simple: one is true, and one is false. The claim that fueled Jan. 6, that the 2020 election was stolen, is false. If it were true, few would criticize Trump for complaining about it. It was not true.
The Disinformation Superhighway 0
Dion Lefler looks at the flood of mis- and disinformation flooding primarily “social” but also other media following last week’s presidential debate and concludes (emphasis added0:
Follow the link for his reasoning.
A Notion of Immigrants 0
Farron comments on J. D. Vance’s doubling down on his racist lies about Haitian immigrants..
PoliticalProf adds an observation.
As I have noted before, Richard Nixon’s southern strategy has come full circle and consumed the Republican Party.
It is now the party of the New Secesh.
The Presidential Debase 0
The Portland Press-Herald’s Victoria Hugo-Vidal makes a compelling case that it is not possible to have a meaningful presidential debate when one of the participants persons on the stage is Donald Trump.
Dynastic Desires 0
At the Idaho State Journal, Kim Shinkoskey makes a compelling case that Donald Trump does not aspire to be president.
Rather, he aspires to be king. And that’s one reason why he’s running on a platform of fomenting fear.
A snippet:
The foreign threat comes from brown-skinned folks who want to experience life in America. The king hates these largely innocent people because they may not be open to supporting his kingship. On the other hand, he is happily willing to become besties with all the dictators of Europe and Asia and allow them full and complete access to his court. He allows them to cross our borders clandestinely at first in order to influence our elections, and then openly later, in order to influence our economic and political policies. Why does he love them so much? Because they are autocrats like him.
The domestic threat comes from the middle class and the working poor, who want economic mobility and human rights. Highly contemptible what these ignorant commoners want. Don’t they know they aren’t smart enough to have rights? Many of them are Democrats who want rights for women and minorities, the ones clearly least deserving of rights in God’s kingdom.
MAGA Merch 0
From the Youtube page:
The Taylor Swift-inspired friendship bracelets were a hot seller for the Harris-Walz campaign, so the Trump-Vance ticket is getting in on the action.
“Sane Washing” 0
Farron explains the neologism.
Both Sides Don’t, Reprise 0
Whether or not this holds true for the post-debate analysis–the coverage is still being uncovered–this is certainly an accurate depiction of the campaign coverage in general, extending back even to before Joe Biden withdrew from the race.
Via Job’s Anger.
