They've got nothing and they know it: scavengers consume the corpse of a dead elephant. A recap of the twisted pageant we're still calling "primary debates."
I dont know how Tim Scott (R-Ridiculous) sleeps at night. Perhaps phone calls from Clarence Thomas help him get over any last remnants of decency and shame he still might have.
Vivek (R-Asshat) is an example of what Ted Cruz and many others have wrought: you can be successful due to sheer intellect and that can fool a lot of people. People are wayyyy smart enough to know they're completely full of crap and to successfullysell it. Their ability to lie and obfuscate fueled by having zero ethics, empathy or shame. Of course, to have any of that you need to have integrity, and to have that, you need to actually have a soul.
I wonder, w/o Trump, if Fox (and others) will still carry future ratings-losers, barring any big shakeups in format? Perhaps Newsmax get one? I'll be shocked if Xitter doesn't host one.
Also, I'm kind of mixed up on all of this, because it seems to me that splitting the Republicans (with the vote to keep the government running) is a GOOD thing, because it shows that Gaetz & Co. can't even command a majority of Republicans in the House, and also just having them at one another's throats mean they might not get to our throats til much later.
But at the same time, "split the Republicans" comes with a lot of rhetoric from Democratic leaders about how bipartisanship is the answer to all our problems, and much praise directed at "moderate" Republicans who simply voted we should continue to have a government for 45 days more, which seems like a VERY low bar for earning praise.
Your clear-eyed vision about these people and the poltergeist that animates them is a gift. There are those of us who believe in human flourishing - what MLK liked to call Beloved Community - and we require prophetic witness such as this. We should compile your series of essays on fascism's rise as a history text with accompanying coursework. I wish someone reading my comment would set that in motion.
Question — Am I off the mark to have had images and themes from "Midnight Mass" floating into view as I read this? I think it pairs well with everything you've been illustrating for us.
The night before the debate, one Republican strategist on MSNBC (of course!) said any one of the candidates could "have a moment" and then be catapulted into the top ranks. It was like watching State Television in North Korea the night of an election (do they even have elections in North Korea? Just go with me on this) all pretending they can't know who won til all the returns are in.
It occurs to me, in reading your eloquent summary of the debate, that all these candidates (with the probable exception of Christy, who - bless his heart - probably actually believes he has a chance) aren't actually throwing their hats in the presidential ring. More likely, they are auditioning for a high-ranking position within Trump's regime.
Who knows? I'm in the habit of thinking that if Republicans do a certain thing, they must have a reason for doing the thing, but now I wonder. Can people run for President simply out of inertia? Or because they like the attention? Or because they can't think of a single more useful* thing to do with their lives?
*Here, "more useful" would include "Go back to Indiana and play with your grandchildren."
It's like with the shutdown nonsense. The smart commentators on MSNBC all hint that the Republicans must have a strategy, some kind of plan which the shutdown is supposed to help accomplish. But did they? Do these people even need reasons, when they've got the thrill of cruelty and the prospect of watching the pain and suffering it will cause? Maybe they just break stuff because they like the sound of stuff breaking?
And failing to think is the cornerstone virtue of conservatism since Nixon if not earlier. The movement that claims to be hard-nosed realists has in fact run on absolutely nothing but feelings at least that long.
'he made the point that Black families were better off under slavery than they were under Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society, because at least Black families survived under slavery. Now, “survive” is something a huge number of Black families manifestly did not do'
Facts? Logic?
Fascists don't need no stinkin' facts and logic.
'The Psychology of GOP voters: Pathologically Fantasy Prone People.' (Feb. 8, 2023)
"How can they not see the absurdly obvious falsehoods? How can they be so impervious to empirical evidence?
It turns out, it’s simply who they are...
Who is susceptible to a fascist cult and its vile, deranged moronic figurehead?
Someone who perceives “historic or contemporary events and developments which threaten their values”, and so feels to need to construct a preferred identity, a more positive sense of self— based on power over others— within a fantasy they have blurred with reality."
Am I glad I found your Substack!
I dont know how Tim Scott (R-Ridiculous) sleeps at night. Perhaps phone calls from Clarence Thomas help him get over any last remnants of decency and shame he still might have.
Vivek (R-Asshat) is an example of what Ted Cruz and many others have wrought: you can be successful due to sheer intellect and that can fool a lot of people. People are wayyyy smart enough to know they're completely full of crap and to successfullysell it. Their ability to lie and obfuscate fueled by having zero ethics, empathy or shame. Of course, to have any of that you need to have integrity, and to have that, you need to actually have a soul.
I wonder, w/o Trump, if Fox (and others) will still carry future ratings-losers, barring any big shakeups in format? Perhaps Newsmax get one? I'll be shocked if Xitter doesn't host one.
Also, I'm kind of mixed up on all of this, because it seems to me that splitting the Republicans (with the vote to keep the government running) is a GOOD thing, because it shows that Gaetz & Co. can't even command a majority of Republicans in the House, and also just having them at one another's throats mean they might not get to our throats til much later.
But at the same time, "split the Republicans" comes with a lot of rhetoric from Democratic leaders about how bipartisanship is the answer to all our problems, and much praise directed at "moderate" Republicans who simply voted we should continue to have a government for 45 days more, which seems like a VERY low bar for earning praise.
Your clear-eyed vision about these people and the poltergeist that animates them is a gift. There are those of us who believe in human flourishing - what MLK liked to call Beloved Community - and we require prophetic witness such as this. We should compile your series of essays on fascism's rise as a history text with accompanying coursework. I wish someone reading my comment would set that in motion.
Question — Am I off the mark to have had images and themes from "Midnight Mass" floating into view as I read this? I think it pairs well with everything you've been illustrating for us.
It's remarkable! Thank you.
(Cancer letter link has an error in it)
The night before the debate, one Republican strategist on MSNBC (of course!) said any one of the candidates could "have a moment" and then be catapulted into the top ranks. It was like watching State Television in North Korea the night of an election (do they even have elections in North Korea? Just go with me on this) all pretending they can't know who won til all the returns are in.
It occurs to me, in reading your eloquent summary of the debate, that all these candidates (with the probable exception of Christy, who - bless his heart - probably actually believes he has a chance) aren't actually throwing their hats in the presidential ring. More likely, they are auditioning for a high-ranking position within Trump's regime.
Running for president is, if not mellow, very definitively profitable.
Trump is proof of that.
Who knows? I'm in the habit of thinking that if Republicans do a certain thing, they must have a reason for doing the thing, but now I wonder. Can people run for President simply out of inertia? Or because they like the attention? Or because they can't think of a single more useful* thing to do with their lives?
*Here, "more useful" would include "Go back to Indiana and play with your grandchildren."
It's like with the shutdown nonsense. The smart commentators on MSNBC all hint that the Republicans must have a strategy, some kind of plan which the shutdown is supposed to help accomplish. But did they? Do these people even need reasons, when they've got the thrill of cruelty and the prospect of watching the pain and suffering it will cause? Maybe they just break stuff because they like the sound of stuff breaking?
You may have something there. Based on their behavior, that is as much a possibility as any other reason I can think of.
You explain things like no other. Thanks for your voice.
“Evil comes from a failure to think.”
And failing to think is the cornerstone virtue of conservatism since Nixon if not earlier. The movement that claims to be hard-nosed realists has in fact run on absolutely nothing but feelings at least that long.
'he made the point that Black families were better off under slavery than they were under Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society, because at least Black families survived under slavery. Now, “survive” is something a huge number of Black families manifestly did not do'
Facts? Logic?
Fascists don't need no stinkin' facts and logic.
'The Psychology of GOP voters: Pathologically Fantasy Prone People.' (Feb. 8, 2023)
https://iandouglasrushlau.substack.com/p/the-psychology-of-gop-voters-pathologically?utm_source=profile&utm_medium=reader2
"How can they not see the absurdly obvious falsehoods? How can they be so impervious to empirical evidence?
It turns out, it’s simply who they are...
Who is susceptible to a fascist cult and its vile, deranged moronic figurehead?
Someone who perceives “historic or contemporary events and developments which threaten their values”, and so feels to need to construct a preferred identity, a more positive sense of self— based on power over others— within a fantasy they have blurred with reality."
“... the abolition of Black families was not just a key result of the institution of modern slavery but a key strategy of it.”
I will volunteer to show an MFer the precise spot in the Black History Museum in DC where they explain exactly this, and exactly why.