Since writing about public education any more makes my eye twitch in the corner and I haven't heard from either of my readers since Labor Day it strikes me there are blogger fish to fry than the likes of Randi Weingarten, Mary Ellen Elia and the terminally irascible B-Lo duo of Lars Quinn and Carl the Churl.
In a protest election to end all protest elections neither party was able to get their way. The GOP power brokers did everything they could short of dropping a Belfast Six Pack on Donald Trump and somehow he hung in there til the bitter end and wrapped himself in their banner. Meanwhile, over at DNC HQ, the machinations mustered against people's choice Bernie Sanders could've made Machiavelli blush. The election proceeded with Trump crowning himself as the people's choice and Hillary Clinton the clear choice of party insiders who trusted her to do their bidding and advance their interests. The interests of the working jerk and prototypical D voter could go take a piss for themselves. The guy millions came out to see, the one who relied on $27.00 donations from teamsters, teachers and college kids, was hamstrung and hung out to dry in a DNC power play that got lots of help from Clinton friendly media outlets who simply refused to cover Bernie's raucous crowded rallies. In the end more people it seemed hated the player than the game. Exit polls and loose talk like the 20 yr old Target clerk I heard telling her friend all pointed in the same direction: "I don't really like Trump that much but I hate Hillary Clinton, I could never vote for her." I was tempted to ask how she could she be ok with a fat shaming pussy grabber who makes fun of disabled people but my old age has taught me it's often best to keep on stepping and take the lesson without trying to extend it. And if the upside down and backwardness of the impending Trumpocalypse isn't surreal enough, look what media outlet has stepped to the forefront with a cogent theory of what Trump is up to. Yes folks it's none other than that standard bearer of political insight commonly known as Teen Vogue. Would be a lot funnier if the piece wasn't dead on the money. Here's a taste:
At the hands of Trump, facts have become interchangeable with opinions, blinding us into arguing amongst ourselves, as our very reality is called into question.
There is a long list of receipts when it comes to Trump's lies. With the help of PolitiFact, clear-cut examples of deception include Trump saying that he watched thousands of people cheering on 9/11 in Jersey City (police say there's no evidence of this), that the Mexican government forces immigrants into the U.S. (no evidence), that there are "30 or 34 million" immigrants in this country (there are 10 or 11 million), that he never supported the Iraq War (he told Howard Stern he did), that the unemployment rate is as high as "42 percent" (the highest reported rate is 16.4 percent), that the U.S. is the highest taxed country in the world (not true based on any metric of consideration), that crime is on the rise (it's falling, and has been for decades), and too many other things to list here because the whole tactic is to clog the drain with an indecipherable mass of toxic waste. The gas lighting part comes in when the fictions are disputed by the media, and Trump doubles down on his lies, before painting himself as a victim of unfair coverage, sometimes even threatening to revoke access.
Americans have elected a liar, a hothead and a jackass. The only real question I think is how far he will get before it all catches up with him. A lot of us truly believed he'd never get this far. Guess again America.
In a protest election to end all protest elections neither party was able to get their way. The GOP power brokers did everything they could short of dropping a Belfast Six Pack on Donald Trump and somehow he hung in there til the bitter end and wrapped himself in their banner. Meanwhile, over at DNC HQ, the machinations mustered against people's choice Bernie Sanders could've made Machiavelli blush. The election proceeded with Trump crowning himself as the people's choice and Hillary Clinton the clear choice of party insiders who trusted her to do their bidding and advance their interests. The interests of the working jerk and prototypical D voter could go take a piss for themselves. The guy millions came out to see, the one who relied on $27.00 donations from teamsters, teachers and college kids, was hamstrung and hung out to dry in a DNC power play that got lots of help from Clinton friendly media outlets who simply refused to cover Bernie's raucous crowded rallies. In the end more people it seemed hated the player than the game. Exit polls and loose talk like the 20 yr old Target clerk I heard telling her friend all pointed in the same direction: "I don't really like Trump that much but I hate Hillary Clinton, I could never vote for her." I was tempted to ask how she could she be ok with a fat shaming pussy grabber who makes fun of disabled people but my old age has taught me it's often best to keep on stepping and take the lesson without trying to extend it. And if the upside down and backwardness of the impending Trumpocalypse isn't surreal enough, look what media outlet has stepped to the forefront with a cogent theory of what Trump is up to. Yes folks it's none other than that standard bearer of political insight commonly known as Teen Vogue. Would be a lot funnier if the piece wasn't dead on the money. Here's a taste:
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| Sound Familiar? |
At the hands of Trump, facts have become interchangeable with opinions, blinding us into arguing amongst ourselves, as our very reality is called into question.
There is a long list of receipts when it comes to Trump's lies. With the help of PolitiFact, clear-cut examples of deception include Trump saying that he watched thousands of people cheering on 9/11 in Jersey City (police say there's no evidence of this), that the Mexican government forces immigrants into the U.S. (no evidence), that there are "30 or 34 million" immigrants in this country (there are 10 or 11 million), that he never supported the Iraq War (he told Howard Stern he did), that the unemployment rate is as high as "42 percent" (the highest reported rate is 16.4 percent), that the U.S. is the highest taxed country in the world (not true based on any metric of consideration), that crime is on the rise (it's falling, and has been for decades), and too many other things to list here because the whole tactic is to clog the drain with an indecipherable mass of toxic waste. The gas lighting part comes in when the fictions are disputed by the media, and Trump doubles down on his lies, before painting himself as a victim of unfair coverage, sometimes even threatening to revoke access.
Americans have elected a liar, a hothead and a jackass. The only real question I think is how far he will get before it all catches up with him. A lot of us truly believed he'd never get this far. Guess again America.
