Post-Trump: III (decline, further tantrums, legal proceedings, book deals etc)
- Thread starter Yank
- Start date
Hook
Blackbeard's former bo'sun.
The two Governor races were mostly about local issues. In Virginia, the entire GOP campaign was railing against the state’s COVID restrictions and education policy. Apparently this resonated with suburban mothers who shifted back to the right. Didn’t help that the Dems ran a tired old retread as their candidate.
The GOP candidate accepted T***p’s endorsement, but smartly kept him away from campaign events. His main message was a pledge to involve parents more in their children’s education, and to end the teaching of Critical Race Theory in Virginia schools. Of course, the truth is that parental “involvement” means removing any library books that offend the most conservative of parents (e.g., books that dare to talk about American history in less than glowing terms). And CRT? Never taught in Virginia, so the campaign promise was to end something that never started.
The GOP candidate accepted T***p’s endorsement, but smartly kept him away from campaign events. His main message was a pledge to involve parents more in their children’s education, and to end the teaching of Critical Race Theory in Virginia schools. Of course, the truth is that parental “involvement” means removing any library books that offend the most conservative of parents (e.g., books that dare to talk about American history in less than glowing terms). And CRT? Never taught in Virginia, so the campaign promise was to end something that never started.
sean99
pfm Member
Me too. I think there is plenty of evidence of constructive negotiation between the left and the center of the democratic party from when Biden won the nomination right up to now - they are simply facing enormous opposition from very wealthy vested interests.
Besides, given the sorry state of the UK Labour party I think any UK based left of center voters would do better to focus on uniting their own opposition to the Tories, rather than criticizing the democrats, who have at least managed to attain elected office.
tones
Tones deaf
I see that King Rupert is letting his prize possession, Tucker Carlson, play fast and loose with the truth:
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/11/patriot-purge-tucker-carlson-documentary/620589/
This produced this comment:
Carlson and Hannity have been taken to court, and their escape is always that what they say is entertainment, rather than news commentary, and that people should realise this. Problem is, people who watch Faux do not realise it. As the FT commented today on the victory in Virginia:
The lesson for Democrats is that they must overcome two disadvantages. First, contrary to conservative folklore, the mainstream media does not work for the Democrats. Cable news is just as happy to pillory a Democratic president as a Republican one. Biden has given the media more than enough material recently. He ran last year on the quality of competence but displayed precious little of that in the Afghanistan pullout and his management of intra-Democratic warfare on Capitol Hill. The fact that Congress has yet to pass either of Biden’s signature bills was surely unhelpful to McAuliffe’s turnout. By contrast, the conservative media are consistently disciplined in their support for Republican candidates. They are not weighed down by the mission of objective reporting.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/11/patriot-purge-tucker-carlson-documentary/620589/
This produced this comment:
Carlson and Hannity have been taken to court, and their escape is always that what they say is entertainment, rather than news commentary, and that people should realise this. Problem is, people who watch Faux do not realise it. As the FT commented today on the victory in Virginia:
The lesson for Democrats is that they must overcome two disadvantages. First, contrary to conservative folklore, the mainstream media does not work for the Democrats. Cable news is just as happy to pillory a Democratic president as a Republican one. Biden has given the media more than enough material recently. He ran last year on the quality of competence but displayed precious little of that in the Afghanistan pullout and his management of intra-Democratic warfare on Capitol Hill. The fact that Congress has yet to pass either of Biden’s signature bills was surely unhelpful to McAuliffe’s turnout. By contrast, the conservative media are consistently disciplined in their support for Republican candidates. They are not weighed down by the mission of objective reporting.
NeilR
pfm Member
Perhaps Biden could get Merrick Garland to actually do something and indict Trump. It's the only way to save US democracy.
tones
Tones deaf
To this outsider, if they're not actually doing this, they seem to be giving a remarkably good impression. They need to realise that the very democracy, of which the USA is so proud, is at stake.
Seeker_UK
Feelin' nearly faded as my jeans
matthewr
spɹɐʍʞɔɐq spɹoɔǝɹ ɹnoʎ sʎɐld
of course one of the biggest problems with the Trump presidency was that was exactly what he would have done.
matthewr
spɹɐʍʞɔɐq spɹoɔǝɹ ɹnoʎ sʎɐld
Perhaps you could send them links to articles in the Washington post?
tones
Tones deaf
Aha, but would they read the very words of the Devil himself? One of my agents in the USA is a lovely guy, salt of the earth - but a rabid Republican. To him, NYT and WaPo and the like are all extreme left-wing. In one funny instance, he gave me a quote from a UK newspaper, showing how left-wing they all were in the UK. Problem is, the newspaper in question was the Daily Torygraph, which would appear to speak volumes about Republicans.
matthewr
spɹɐʍʞɔɐq spɹoɔǝɹ ɹnoʎ sʎɐld
BTW a much bigger indicator for DoJ action regarding previous administration conduct is Steve Bannon. The statute under which congress referred him to the DoJ leaves little wiggle room as it says “shall be indicted” so after a short period to check everything is in order we should expect action essentially now or in the next couple of weeks at most.
NeilR
pfm Member
Biden shouldn't need to do anything of course. Garland should act alone. But will he? Even Glenn Kirschner is now running out of patience.
Yank
Bulbous Also Tapered
Unless you take Lani Guinier's seminar at Harvard, or similar, Critical Race Theory isn't really an issue. Doesn't stop it from being an effective right wing bugaboo though.
sean99
pfm Member
Indicting Trump is necessary but not sufficient IMO. There are several mini-Trumps lining up to takeover the lead of the GOP, Ron Desantis being the frontrunner. I think there are only two possible paths to save the US:
1) the GOP megadonors (https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2021/01/objectors-to-electoralcollege-donors/) step back and realize that while the GOP may be "good for business" the current extremist ideology risks destroying the nation that creates the wealth they crave. They then back the Lincoln project https://lincolnproject.us/ to remake the GOP into a more moderate, fiscally conservative party.
2) Democrats organize huge get-out-the-vote efforts in 2022 and 2024, realizing that hobbled democratic party is still a much better alternative to the GOP dystopia.
matthewr
spɹɐʍʞɔɐq spɹoɔǝɹ ɹnoʎ sʎɐld
Not as much as I am running out of patience with his YouTube videos that go:
<Exposition of question at hand>
Let's talk about that. Because Justice Matters.
<Pointless 10 second intro like it's a cable news show>
Hi, folks.
Glenn Kirshner here.
And today we are going to talk about <question at hand>
So let's do that now.
Very soon. It will be time to talk about <Question at Hand>with me, Glenn Kirshner.
But first <brief reminder of my career as a federal prosecutor>
I think it's something to do with optimum length for YouTube ad rolls, but I have basically stopped listening to him as I rage quit his videos because he takes so long to get to the bloody point which is never that surprising anyway if you watch any US news at all.
NeilR
pfm Member
Many people like formula and repetition, it is reassuring.
PsB
Citizen of Nowhere™
It is the disease of the 21st century: the 30-second sound bite has been reduced to 10" to avoid overloading our cognitive skills and attention spans. To fill a 20-minute or 40-minute slot (advertising!) you end up repeating the same stuff before and after each interruption. What looks like an interesting 20 or 40 minute program is in reality 3 minutes of material padded out by repetition, sound effects, bombastic music and 10" snippets of platitudinous filler commentary, all assembled by relentless, edgy editing.
In this respect, Trump has read the zeitgeist better than most.
Seeker_UK
Feelin' nearly faded as my jeans
Repetition in advertising / political messaging is a simple but effective means to lodge that message in the audience's mind. The use of repetition in these videos is as much a conscious decision to use the technique as it is a consequence of the YouTube format.
tones
Tones deaf
As a trainer for oral proceedings before the European Patent Office told us, "Tell 'em what you're going to tell 'em, tell 'em, and then tell 'em what you told 'em!"
Sue Pertwee-Tyr
Accuphase all the way down
I've not watched any of the Kirschner videos Matthew refers to, but it sounds as though his methodology is closer to:
tell 'em what you're going to tell 'em; tell 'em again what you're going to tell 'em; tell 'em a third time what you're going to tell 'em; if anybody is still watching, maybe tell 'em what you want to tell 'em.