I thought that the non-comments accumulation looked a tad sparse in relation to the thought provoking essay preceding.
As someone who isn't firing on all eight cylinders after not having slept all week and already feels as if she is currently traversing the Twilight Zone I enormously appreciate your gracious clarification.
These pseudo intellectual people like Roofie are too busy being impressed with themselves and their trolling to actually learn anything about the history of authoritarian regimes. These same people claim to despise oppression, while at the same time fantasizing about how the right fascist would punish all their enemies and elevate them to the top of the hierarchy where they belong. They always think they will be spared the oppression, the violence and the cruelty that comes with the absence of due process. Do they know how well things turned out for German citizens in the 1940’s? Or how happy the average Russian citizen is today? Or how many Chinese people are risking their lives to escape China to the U.S. via the Darien Gap? Our democracy may be fragile, but we are still lucky to have the freedoms we do have.
CCTV Footage was released earlier today from a Shop in Central Baghdad, Iraq showing the Drone Strike on February 7th by a U.S. Air Force MQ-9 “Reaper” utilizing a AGM-114R9X Hellfire Missile, which resulted in the Death of Kata'ib Hezbollah Field Commander, Abu Baqir al-Saadi as well as 2 other High-Ranking Officers with Iranian-Backed Forces in Iraq https://twitter.com/i/status/1760854110922780794
"a right-wing nutter who is openly making plans to be the “warlord” of an “armed patronage network”"
Why is none of these Mad Max cosplayers ever aspire to be a vassal, hm? They all seem to picture themselves as a Big Chief but nobody wants to sign up as foot soldiers.
"Warlord" pffft. These folks were all "Liberty! 1776!" on the morning of Jan 6, and the moment Ashlii Babbitt got shot they INSTANTLY pivoted to "We're just tourists, peaceful tourists, they let us in, everything's cool, NO KILL I". They're Brave Culture Warriors who freak the fuck out upon seeing a rainbow sticker or a can of Bud Lite.
If only these politico/social guano faucets would shut the fuck up for a few minutes about the hellish dystopia they want to replace representative government with. Their psychopathologies have been adequately examined and diagnosed. Sadly, the pharmaceutical industry has yet to come up with a pill or injection that cures bullying assholes of their malfunctions as social animals. The prefrontal lobotomy, while effective, has been widely discredited for its gross misuse in days past.
"his entire discourse strategy, which somehow still manages to fool every freaking mainstream reporter"
People who say this are themselves being fooled. The mainstream media aren't "tricked" by Rufo. They're willing collaborators. They *want* his narratives out there because it agrees with their centrist, anti-woke, "both sides" biases.
"Let's be mean to minorities and poor people" how many different ways can we think of to tint and spin that in a way that elevates our perception of our own status. Cz this terrifying, relentless self-loathing is not giving way for some reason and we are still confident Dad was right. Hey, maybe more adulation from people whose approval is not worth anything...that will do the trick. Also lots of makeup and hair dye and styling product.
I am not the only one who has suspected a physiological explanation for Trumpism I see. It really does bother me:
We were taught that times of socio/political chaos, revolution, uprising--this is caused by intense, widespread social perturbation ==plus== a moment of political power vacuum. That is how Hitlers and Pol Pots and Maos rise and become dictators. That's what I thought.
But MAGAs were raised in a solid, perfectly stable society. They are the richest, most coddled people who ever existed. All their grievances and resentments are imaginary. Flagrantly, obviously fabricated.
Why? Why why why? Why do they want to live in a despotism with this ridiculous buffoon as their king?
I'm VERY leery of going to mental illness to explain what's happening, dealing with depression myself and living in a country that can't seem to get treatment issues sorted out. (Though I DO have a theory about 9/11 and cultural PTSD.)
Here's my theory: you've got societal changes and massive, important issues going down - wars, climate, security - and a media that's based almost entirely on entertainment and profit. Lotsa questions, very few answers, no context. And then the bastards step in with conspiracy theories which - vy-lola! - explain EVERYTHING. It's all so simple! A nice, neat story of Good and Evil and a plot and an exciting third act and you - yes, YOU, alienated individual, mere cog in the machine - you might have a place in the glorious new world if you brave it out and stay loyal.
And that's really all that's needed: an explanation, a story, a REASON things are this way.
I said a physiological reason for Trumpism, not a psychological one. : ) Some sort of fungus or a parasite that bored into their brain and laid eggs. Because I just don't see any social upheaval that justifies any of this, especially upheaval which affects them. All their outrage is synthesized. Their grievances are invariably imaginary.
Remember, Rufo got his start in The Discovery Institute, although not the part that gave us "intelligent design," mind you. He was part of their Center for Wealth and Poverty, arguing for draconian laws to marginalize and criminalize homelessness. That said, Rufo's motivations and strategy to vilify CRT looks nearly like what was laid out in "The Wedge Document" when the Disco Toot wanted to polish the turd that was Creationism back during Dubya's reign.
You'd think that Bukele being from an Arab background would make him an enemy. But I guess a half Arab with a Muslim father is better than a full blooded Salvadoran if he supports the right ideas and attacks the right targets.
1776? I am laughing most heartily at the thought of these "tough guys" surviving, if they were swept back through time, and dropped in 18th century North America.
The tiny town of Predappio in Italy has been a popular tourist destination for certain Americans for the past 50 years. Do they visit for the food? Is the climate irresistible? Are there high end design and fashion boutiques that have no on-line sales presence?
There is none of that. Yet certain American tourists must find parking and join crowds of certain Italian tourists who jam into Predappio to visit the only tourist attraction the tiny town has to offer...the family mausoleum of the Mussolinis. It is alleged that that family's most famous scion, Benito, is actually entombed there.
Those certain Americans all claim that their pilgrimage to that spot is a life-changing experience.
And if they ever seize power it will be a life-ending experience for the rest of us.
What changed? He is still the same unconscionable asshole he always was, we just don't hear so much about his toxic spew as we once did because he wore out his welcome ages ago. What failure is so profound as that of a has-been Fascist? To try and to fail at being that contemptable amounts to a staggering rejection of all the gifts we are each born with as homo sapiens.
Oh, whoops, looks like the "let ERREBODY comment" button was accidentally not ticked. It is now, sorry for the inconvenience!
Hilarity ensued!
errebody?
wait! comments?
Nah, there are none of those around here.
I HAD something insightful, witty and entertaining to say but now I’ve forgotten what it was, so I’ll just say “boobies.”
As a side comment
that's entertaining...
wonket allows comments now?
Wait... So allowing comments around here is not just some accident? How long has this been going on?
This won't help your performance review.
So now we know who's currently in charge of button ticking. Sorry, dude.
Something tells me that's different than button flicking.
I thought that the non-comments accumulation looked a tad sparse in relation to the thought provoking essay preceding.
As someone who isn't firing on all eight cylinders after not having slept all week and already feels as if she is currently traversing the Twilight Zone I enormously appreciate your gracious clarification.
Wait, we allow comments now?
I can't leave you kids alone unsupervised for 10 freaking minutes?
idle hands, you know.
I... should have... scrolled.
These pseudo intellectual people like Roofie are too busy being impressed with themselves and their trolling to actually learn anything about the history of authoritarian regimes. These same people claim to despise oppression, while at the same time fantasizing about how the right fascist would punish all their enemies and elevate them to the top of the hierarchy where they belong. They always think they will be spared the oppression, the violence and the cruelty that comes with the absence of due process. Do they know how well things turned out for German citizens in the 1940’s? Or how happy the average Russian citizen is today? Or how many Chinese people are risking their lives to escape China to the U.S. via the Darien Gap? Our democracy may be fragile, but we are still lucky to have the freedoms we do have.
CCTV Footage was released earlier today from a Shop in Central Baghdad, Iraq showing the Drone Strike on February 7th by a U.S. Air Force MQ-9 “Reaper” utilizing a AGM-114R9X Hellfire Missile, which resulted in the Death of Kata'ib Hezbollah Field Commander, Abu Baqir al-Saadi as well as 2 other High-Ranking Officers with Iranian-Backed Forces in Iraq https://twitter.com/i/status/1760854110922780794
"a right-wing nutter who is openly making plans to be the “warlord” of an “armed patronage network”"
Why is none of these Mad Max cosplayers ever aspire to be a vassal, hm? They all seem to picture themselves as a Big Chief but nobody wants to sign up as foot soldiers.
"Warlord" pffft. These folks were all "Liberty! 1776!" on the morning of Jan 6, and the moment Ashlii Babbitt got shot they INSTANTLY pivoted to "We're just tourists, peaceful tourists, they let us in, everything's cool, NO KILL I". They're Brave Culture Warriors who freak the fuck out upon seeing a rainbow sticker or a can of Bud Lite.
I suspect they think their flexing alone should be enough to win - they're WhiteMen(tm), doesn't that automatically put the game on easy mode?
If only these politico/social guano faucets would shut the fuck up for a few minutes about the hellish dystopia they want to replace representative government with. Their psychopathologies have been adequately examined and diagnosed. Sadly, the pharmaceutical industry has yet to come up with a pill or injection that cures bullying assholes of their malfunctions as social animals. The prefrontal lobotomy, while effective, has been widely discredited for its gross misuse in days past.
"his entire discourse strategy, which somehow still manages to fool every freaking mainstream reporter"
People who say this are themselves being fooled. The mainstream media aren't "tricked" by Rufo. They're willing collaborators. They *want* his narratives out there because it agrees with their centrist, anti-woke, "both sides" biases.
"the “dissident right”"
dude just has to be extra and "inneleckshual dork web" was probably not special enough.
imagining themselves sloshing through the Moscow sewers carrying bundles of samizdat to the masses, I'm sure.
Is there a non-dissident right?
Because if there is, I sure as hell have never met them.
"Let's be mean to minorities and poor people" how many different ways can we think of to tint and spin that in a way that elevates our perception of our own status. Cz this terrifying, relentless self-loathing is not giving way for some reason and we are still confident Dad was right. Hey, maybe more adulation from people whose approval is not worth anything...that will do the trick. Also lots of makeup and hair dye and styling product.
Dad told us not to smoke pot at the dinner table, so, um, something something reactionary politics.
Ergot, maybe? Have conservatives been chowing down on moldy rye in their survival buckets left over from Y2K?
I am not the only one who has suspected a physiological explanation for Trumpism I see. It really does bother me:
We were taught that times of socio/political chaos, revolution, uprising--this is caused by intense, widespread social perturbation ==plus== a moment of political power vacuum. That is how Hitlers and Pol Pots and Maos rise and become dictators. That's what I thought.
But MAGAs were raised in a solid, perfectly stable society. They are the richest, most coddled people who ever existed. All their grievances and resentments are imaginary. Flagrantly, obviously fabricated.
Why? Why why why? Why do they want to live in a despotism with this ridiculous buffoon as their king?
I'm VERY leery of going to mental illness to explain what's happening, dealing with depression myself and living in a country that can't seem to get treatment issues sorted out. (Though I DO have a theory about 9/11 and cultural PTSD.)
Here's my theory: you've got societal changes and massive, important issues going down - wars, climate, security - and a media that's based almost entirely on entertainment and profit. Lotsa questions, very few answers, no context. And then the bastards step in with conspiracy theories which - vy-lola! - explain EVERYTHING. It's all so simple! A nice, neat story of Good and Evil and a plot and an exciting third act and you - yes, YOU, alienated individual, mere cog in the machine - you might have a place in the glorious new world if you brave it out and stay loyal.
And that's really all that's needed: an explanation, a story, a REASON things are this way.
I said a physiological reason for Trumpism, not a psychological one. : ) Some sort of fungus or a parasite that bored into their brain and laid eggs. Because I just don't see any social upheaval that justifies any of this, especially upheaval which affects them. All their outrage is synthesized. Their grievances are invariably imaginary.
Remember, Rufo got his start in The Discovery Institute, although not the part that gave us "intelligent design," mind you. He was part of their Center for Wealth and Poverty, arguing for draconian laws to marginalize and criminalize homelessness. That said, Rufo's motivations and strategy to vilify CRT looks nearly like what was laid out in "The Wedge Document" when the Disco Toot wanted to polish the turd that was Creationism back during Dubya's reign.
You'd think that Bukele being from an Arab background would make him an enemy. But I guess a half Arab with a Muslim father is better than a full blooded Salvadoran if he supports the right ideas and attacks the right targets.
Mr. Tarrio, meet Mr. Bukele.........you two krazy kids will love each other!
Wait, who does the stomach-punching-while-howling-about-cereal thing first?
Forget it, Jake, it's Crazytown.
The Dollop just had a ep about Rufo worth listening to.
1776? I am laughing most heartily at the thought of these "tough guys" surviving, if they were swept back through time, and dropped in 18th century North America.
They drive the Hummer down the driveway to pick up the mail, for fuck's sake.
Especially somewhere outside the Colonies.
I'm sure we'll be seeing stories about why today's Nazis are a sign of progress, not your grandparent's nazis.
I'm swearing I remember a line from It Can't Happen Here, something like "when WE get Fascism, we'll do it RIGHT!" or some such.
Rufo is a fuckin' Nazi. Deal with him like Julius Streicher at Nürnberg, 1945.
I'm an asshole and I approve this message.
“the so-called Civil Rights Act.”
Oh, for fuck's sake. That is all.
Shorter Mitt Romney: "Where did all these fascists come from?"
The tiny town of Predappio in Italy has been a popular tourist destination for certain Americans for the past 50 years. Do they visit for the food? Is the climate irresistible? Are there high end design and fashion boutiques that have no on-line sales presence?
There is none of that. Yet certain American tourists must find parking and join crowds of certain Italian tourists who jam into Predappio to visit the only tourist attraction the tiny town has to offer...the family mausoleum of the Mussolinis. It is alleged that that family's most famous scion, Benito, is actually entombed there.
Those certain Americans all claim that their pilgrimage to that spot is a life-changing experience.
And if they ever seize power it will be a life-ending experience for the rest of us.
Why'd they even bother putting what was left of Benny Moose into the stiff SCIF after he was picked apart? Gives new meaning to sloppy seconds.
I'm reminded of Newt Gingrich's "life-changing experience" at Auschwitz.
What changed? He is still the same unconscionable asshole he always was, we just don't hear so much about his toxic spew as we once did because he wore out his welcome ages ago. What failure is so profound as that of a has-been Fascist? To try and to fail at being that contemptable amounts to a staggering rejection of all the gifts we are each born with as homo sapiens.