Barring some unforeseen disaster the next big event will be the Tuesday night debate. And, just in time, we have a new term for how media have been covering Trump — sanewashing. See How the Media Sanitizes Trump’s Insanity by Parker Molloy at The New Republic. But John Stoehr writes at The Editorial Board that we’ve gone beyond sanewashing. The press corps is Trump’s assisted living program, he says.
Trump is 100 percent responsible for doing the work of saying what he’s trying to say. But like some of my 18-year-old students long ago, he’s unwilling or unable to do it. He even expects the grown-ups in the room to do it for him. And so far, in his very long life in the public eye, political reporters have been happy to oblige him.
This is worth reading, btw. See also some wonderful snark by Alexandra Petri at The Washington Post. Surely the Washington Press Corps is aware of the criticism.
For something a little more meaty, see The far right actually hates America: Its dark ideology has foreign roots by Mike Lofgren at Salon. Lofgren pulls together what might be called the philosophical roots of MAGA and the “unitary executive” theory and the rest of the authoritarian ideology being pushed by the Right. You won’t be surprised to learn that a lot of the intellectuals who are revered by educated righties — Ludwig von Mises and Leo Strauss, for example — have ties to fascism.
But there are old domestic roots to our domestic wingnuttery. I looked up Richard Hofstader’s classic essay from the mid 1950s, The Pseudo-Conservative Revolt. The country is in a very different place now than it was then, but in a lot of ways today’s MAGAs are the old pseudo-conservatives, alienated from the current social order and bristling with fear and grievance. One of my favorite quotes:
The pseudo-conservative, writes, shows “conventionality and authoritarian submissiveness” in his conscious thinking and “violence, anarchic impulses, and chaotic destructiveness in the unconscious sphere. . . . The pseudo conservative is a man who, in the name of upholding traditional American values and institutions and defending them against more or less fictitious dangers, consciously or unconsciously aims at their abolition.”
Regarding the new Russian influence-peddling scandal, see A MAGA meltdown by Jay Kuo. This tells the whole story of the company that was funneling Russian money to right-wing influencers to spread Russian propaganda. Very informative. And here’s more about it from Heather Cox Richardson.
Useless as ever, former President George W. Bush has announced he won’t be endorsing anybody in the election.
A partner of mine often wisely said, if you argue with a crazy person for more than fifteen minutes, it is hard for another person listening to determine which one of you is the crazy one. The debate lasts more than fifteen minutes. One party we know is weird and beyond let's say at a minimum.
I am anxious to see if her principle holds up Tuesday.
So much has been written to define the word sanewashing. What a beauty.
The Salon article is quite a read. I have more on the list to go, so that is all for now.
Under the rules of the debate they won't really be arguing directly with each other. They take turns speaking. But you might have noticed that Harris is not only an effective communicator, she really does have years of experience as a prosecutor. She's had to deal with all kinds of people in trials. I trust that she has the skills and experience to deal with Trump.
I am with you on that one. We will see. She who said that is no longer with us. To her credit, she set a good standard. I'm betting Harris can go more than 15. Perhaps way better than that.
An old partner of mine used to wisely say, when you argue with a crazy person for more than fifteen minutes it is almost impossible for someone listening to tell which one of you is the crazy one. The debate lasts more than fifteen minutes. One party is weird and beyond, let's say, at a minimum.
I am anxious to see if her principle holds on Tuesday.
So much has been written to define and coin the word sanewashing. A word of the day award is merited. What a beauty.
The Salon article is a must read for the literate. For me a must re-read. I am sure I missed some and should take notes. I have more of the reading list to go so bye for now.
sorry for the rerun technical error.
From The Editorial Board:"It does the work for him, thus shielding the American people from the truth, which is he’s no longer fit enough to communicate on his own"
I agree with that except the "no longer" part. I've always thought the man was nothing more than wilted word salad. He was president for four god damn years, everything he said publicly was incoherent word salad. Even when he's on the teleprompter he's such a bad reader/speaker that it come off as incoherent. I appreciate the new found focus by some in the press on his inability to communicate effectively, I just would like to know what took so long?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xPQ16Asyoo
I do think he's getting worse, though.
He's gone beyond word salad to word slushie.
His word salads really should be tested for e-coli contamination!
Trump has many White House hires who’ve proclaimed him unfit. Not sure if Harris quoting them would persuade independents, but maybe it’d be worth something when Trump inevitably goes incoherently bafflegab.
YouTube influencer Tim Pool started out as The Occupy Wall Street independent reporter with a seeming ‘regular guy’ progressive position. Over the years his content gradually changed and his audience changed, turning “right wing troll”. His father stated that Tim’s just selling a product which satisfies a demand, suggesting that there's at least as large a righty audience as lefty.
But then the Russian influence scandal seems to be confirming that Tim wasn’t following the audience, but big influencer cash coming from just a few nefarious sources. If true, then what actually happened was his progressive audience fell away to be replaced with Trumpian suckers and losers after he changed his content to satisfy his big money deals, and to encourage even more lucrative deals.
That’d be right up MAGA alley, far less a movement to make Americans greater, but only certain corrupt Americans richer. With a Project 2025 rationalization I suppose.
I saw something about how Reagan, once “FDRs #1 fan”, changed after the cultural upheavals of the 60s horrified his traditional conservative sensibilities. He’d become ripe for influence, and was persuaded that the cause of all that was a middle-class mob which had become too unmanageably large and needed to be whittled down. The implication is that he never believed in his “voodoo economics”, or cared about what they’d do, believing that restoring his ‘moral white America’ was far more important.
I may be biased. My own minister father raised me to eschew mammon and only worry about the afterlife (while he enjoyed his own mammon). I know a lot of evangelicals who’re that way – personal responsibility for thee but not for me.
Speaking of Bushes and Dicks; if I remember correctly neither appeared at the 2008 GOP convention (a correction is welcome if I'm wrong), notable for the fact that they were just wrapping up two terms in office – seemed such a strong indicator that things were very effed-up on the Right. The eff-ery is fully evolved now I think. But yes, Bush The Lesser remains consistently as useless as ever, unless you are a connoisseur of numberless "paint-by-number" art.
Let's face it: the Left is now the conservative faction, in the non-Orwellian sense of the word 'conservative'. We like to conserve democracy, rule of law, the middle class, the environment, human rights, and basic human decency. How square of us! To be sure, the Left contains a cadre of loud ideological idiots, but the Right is controlled by their idiots.
All Right conservatism is Orwellian. Left conservatism is the only conservatism left.
Bravo! I'd give you more than one thumbs up if I could.
I'm not sure about the polls. It's damn close, especially in some of the swing states. I think Harris has MI and WI. BA is close with 19 EVs. GA and NC have 16 each. What I read is that if Harris sweeps in the stat;s that lean her way, she gets to 270 if she takes PA. If Harris takes either NC or GA, she's three votes short of 270. That means Harris has to take either AZ or NV if Trump wins in PA and one of the two southern swing states. I don't have good vibes about GA or AZ from the polls.
Tuesday could make the difference, especially if Trump has a "You can't handle the Truth!" moment. I've seen video of Harris questioning Barr and Kavanaugh while in Congress. I think if she's in that mode, directing her criticism of Trump directly to his face, it could set him off. Trump detests strong black women who confront him. That style may put off some voters, but it will thrill others. The big win would be for Harris to own Trump.
In contrast to Biden's performance, I hope Harris encounters one of Trump's less coherent diatribes and says she won't even try to sort the word salad of lies that may set a record for lies during a presidential debate within 120 seconds. Then pivot to attack Trump in prosecutor mode OR go to policy. IMO, she has to balance attacks on Trump with explanations of policy about 50/50.