I’m shocked that a Trumpist might suggest violence… and Fox moves pawn to threaten Oann’s queen.
Man Wanted ‘Execution’ of Schumer and Ocasio-Cortez, U.S. Says — Brendan Hunt, a fervent supporter of President Trump, is also accused of urging the killing of members of Congress before Inauguration Day. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/20/nyregion/brendan-hunt-arrested-pelosi-schumer.html
Fox News Fires a Key Player in Its Election Night Coverage — The politics editor who defended the network’s accurate projection that Biden had won Arizona is out https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/19/business/media/fox-news-chris-stirewalt-trump.html
As Donald Trump lurches through the disastrous final days of his presidency, Republicans are just beginning to survey the wreckage of his reign.
Their party has been gutted, their leader is reviled, and after four years of excusing every presidential affront to “conservative values,” their credibility is shot.
How will the GOP recover from the complicity and corruption of the Trump era?
To many Republicans, the answer is simple: Pretend it never happened.
“We’re about to see a whole political party do a large-scale version of ‘New phone, who dis?’” says Sarah Isgur, a former top spokesperson for the Trump Justice Department. “It will be like that boyfriend you should never have dated—the mistake that shall not be mentioned.”
The plan might seem implausible, but I’ve heard it floated repeatedly in recent days by Republican strategists who are counting down the minutes of the Trump presidency.
The hardcore MAGA crowd will stay loyal, of course, and those few who have consistently opposed Trump will escape with their reputations intact.
But for the majority of GOP officials, apparatchiks, and commentators who sacrificed their dignity at the altar of Trump, a collective case of amnesia seems destined to set in the moment he leaves office.
People who spent years coddling the president will recast themselves as voices of conscience, or whitewash their relationship with Trump altogether.
Policy makers who abandoned their dedication to “fiscal responsibility” and “limited government” will rediscover a passion for these timeless conservative principles.
Some may dress up their revisionism in the rhetoric of “healing” and “moving forward,” but the strategy will be clear—to escape accountability by taking advantage of America’s notoriously short political memory.
Since its very beginning, the Trump administration has reveled in images, making them the very backbone of its ideology. Walter Benjamin, of course, very famously described “the introduction of aesthetics into political life” as the “backbone” of fascism. The fascist aesthetic, which reached its apotheosis last week in a coup that’s very point seemed to be the production and dissemination of photographs (indeed, there were even costumes). . . . But the camera, and the expression that it emboldens, has really always been Trump’s promise to his most faithful. “Fascism,” Benjamin wrote, “sees its salvation in giving the masses not their right, but instead a chance to express themselves.”
And the expression of anger, of whiteness, of xenophobia, nationalism, and even social identity is what Trump gave those who voted for him. He did it insistently and consistently throughout his entire presidency. He played to their perceived political humiliation, promising to make them heroes. “Everybody is educated to become a hero,” Umberto Eco wrote in 1995, as he sketched the basic tenets of what he called “Ur-Fascism,” remembering his own childhood in Mussolini’s Italy. “In every mythology the hero is an exceptional being,” Eco noted, “heroism is the norm.”
. . . Trump’s only political savvy—and perhaps it’s not political savvy so much as entertainment savvy—has been that he understands the power of the image, its ability to leave behind the moment or context of its creation. That was evident when he ordered Washington, D.C., police to clear Lafayette Square of protesters so that he could walk to a nearby church and pose in front of it while holding a Bible. The police eagerly obliged, throwing tear gas and pushing peaceful protesters out of the way.
First of all, it was 74.2M not 75M. You round down if you’re rounding, not up. Second of all it was 81M for Biden. We are talking 7M (actually, 6.8M but again, you round up) vote difference rather than 5M. Facts matter.
Cheapskate0 almost 4 years ago
Well, that captures the feelings of at least 80k. Elsewhere, there appears to be 75k that are still pretty upset about it.
kaffekup almost 4 years ago
Only for the criminals who’ve run the country into the ditch for the last four years.
braindead Premium Member almost 4 years ago
Hopefully, just beginning for the Crime Family.
William Robbins Premium Member almost 4 years ago
I’m shocked that a Trumpist might suggest violence… and Fox moves pawn to threaten Oann’s queen.
Man Wanted ‘Execution’ of Schumer and Ocasio-Cortez, U.S. Says — Brendan Hunt, a fervent supporter of President Trump, is also accused of urging the killing of members of Congress before Inauguration Day. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/20/nyregion/brendan-hunt-arrested-pelosi-schumer.html
Fox News Fires a Key Player in Its Election Night Coverage — The politics editor who defended the network’s accurate projection that Biden had won Arizona is out https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/19/business/media/fox-news-chris-stirewalt-trump.html
rossevrymn almost 4 years ago
Is Carmen smiling?
Silly Season almost 4 years ago
Yeah, good luck with this idea, GOP… (◔_◔)
~
As Donald Trump lurches through the disastrous final days of his presidency, Republicans are just beginning to survey the wreckage of his reign.
Their party has been gutted, their leader is reviled, and after four years of excusing every presidential affront to “conservative values,” their credibility is shot.
How will the GOP recover from the complicity and corruption of the Trump era?
To many Republicans, the answer is simple: Pretend it never happened.
“We’re about to see a whole political party do a large-scale version of ‘New phone, who dis?’” says Sarah Isgur, a former top spokesperson for the Trump Justice Department. “It will be like that boyfriend you should never have dated—the mistake that shall not be mentioned.”
The plan might seem implausible, but I’ve heard it floated repeatedly in recent days by Republican strategists who are counting down the minutes of the Trump presidency.
The hardcore MAGA crowd will stay loyal, of course, and those few who have consistently opposed Trump will escape with their reputations intact.
But for the majority of GOP officials, apparatchiks, and commentators who sacrificed their dignity at the altar of Trump, a collective case of amnesia seems destined to set in the moment he leaves office.
People who spent years coddling the president will recast themselves as voices of conscience, or whitewash their relationship with Trump altogether.
Policy makers who abandoned their dedication to “fiscal responsibility” and “limited government” will rediscover a passion for these timeless conservative principles.
Some may dress up their revisionism in the rhetoric of “healing” and “moving forward,” but the strategy will be clear—to escape accountability by taking advantage of America’s notoriously short political memory.
~
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2021/01/republicans-are-already-rewriting-trump-years/617715/
MollyCat almost 4 years ago
Yes !!!!!
Michael G. almost 4 years ago
Until the next one. Who knows in what form it will come?
Holden Awn almost 4 years ago
Nightmares. like beauty, are in the eye of the beholder.
William Robbins Premium Member almost 4 years ago
Shouldn’t we have had Munchkins dancing when Trump took off?
ZBicyclist Premium Member almost 4 years ago
Trump’s comment at Andrews this morning (“I’ll be back … in some form.”) precludes normal for a while.
Kurtass Premium Member almost 4 years ago
Day one of the recovery of our great nation. Everything is peachy.
Nellie Rascal almost 4 years ago
Can’t we all just get along?
librarian4hire almost 4 years ago
Since its very beginning, the Trump administration has reveled in images, making them the very backbone of its ideology. Walter Benjamin, of course, very famously described “the introduction of aesthetics into political life” as the “backbone” of fascism. The fascist aesthetic, which reached its apotheosis last week in a coup that’s very point seemed to be the production and dissemination of photographs (indeed, there were even costumes). . . . But the camera, and the expression that it emboldens, has really always been Trump’s promise to his most faithful. “Fascism,” Benjamin wrote, “sees its salvation in giving the masses not their right, but instead a chance to express themselves.”
And the expression of anger, of whiteness, of xenophobia, nationalism, and even social identity is what Trump gave those who voted for him. He did it insistently and consistently throughout his entire presidency. He played to their perceived political humiliation, promising to make them heroes. “Everybody is educated to become a hero,” Umberto Eco wrote in 1995, as he sketched the basic tenets of what he called “Ur-Fascism,” remembering his own childhood in Mussolini’s Italy. “In every mythology the hero is an exceptional being,” Eco noted, “heroism is the norm.”
. . . Trump’s only political savvy—and perhaps it’s not political savvy so much as entertainment savvy—has been that he understands the power of the image, its ability to leave behind the moment or context of its creation. That was evident when he ordered Washington, D.C., police to clear Lafayette Square of protesters so that he could walk to a nearby church and pose in front of it while holding a Bible. The police eagerly obliged, throwing tear gas and pushing peaceful protesters out of the way.
[cont.]
CW Stevenson almost 4 years ago
You do not have to pass an intelegence test to vote or to be President.
Night-Gaunt49[Bozo is Boffo] almost 4 years ago
Just part of it. Given time the others can be softened and removed one day
Kracklin Rosie - “Tolo Dan Nan Galad” almost 4 years ago
No, no the nightmare is just beginning. Biden said the dark winter is coming and he will insure that it happens.
MAGA Premium Member almost 4 years ago
Delusional AF.
Tempest2 almost 4 years ago
New Gallup Poll: Gallup’s latest poll shows that the outgoing president was historically unpopular — and historically divisive
Wayne Simanovsky Premium Member almost 4 years ago
YOUR NIGHTMARE IS JUST STARTING BUCKO
TX Golfer Premium Member almost 4 years ago
First of all, it was 74.2M not 75M. You round down if you’re rounding, not up. Second of all it was 81M for Biden. We are talking 7M (actually, 6.8M but again, you round up) vote difference rather than 5M. Facts matter.