As the GOP has steadily radicalized, its ardent base has embraced an alternate reality– a place where, among other things, Donald Trump won the 2020 election, Democrats engage in pedophilia, Jews operate space lasers, and public schools are teaching Critical Race Theory.
The number of Americans who appear to actually believe these things–the number who have adopted some or all of what has been called the “QAnonification” of the GOP– is staggering. The danger this mass psychosis poses for democratic (small-d) government has been obvious for some time; we are now beginning to see how disinformation–lies–shade into something akin to treason.
The Guardian recently reported on the embrace of Putin’s propaganda by the American Right.The article focused on the conspiratorial narratives being pushed by radical American politicians and media figures who have echoed Russian lies about its invasion of Ukraine, and have “bolstered and created synergies with the Kremlin’s legendary disinformation machine, experts on information manipulation say.”
Led by Tucker Carlson at Fox News, a few Republican rightwingers in Congress, and some key conservative activists, a spate of comments that have disparaged Ukraine and its president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, and echoed other Russian war disinformation have been recycled by Moscow, say experts.
A feedback loop between the Kremlin and parts of the American right has been palpable since the war’s start in February, which Moscow falsely labeled as a “special military operation” aimed at stopping “genocide” of Russians in Ukraine and “denazification” – two patently bogus charges that drew widespread international criticism.
The fact that multiple credible sources have debunked Russian claims hasn’t kept Rightwing influencers like Tucker Carlson from pushing these false narratives to millions of Fox News viewers. The Guardian reports that Fox segments echoing Russian propaganda have been “eagerly embraced and recycled by Moscow and by parts of the American right.
On a separate front, two Republican congressional conservatives, Madison Cawthorn and Marjorie Taylor Greene, delighted Moscow last month by condemning Zelenskiy without evidence in conspiracy-ridden terms that sparked some bipartisan criticism. Cawthorn called Zelenskiy a “thug” and his government “incredibly corrupt”, while Greene similarly charged that Zelenskiy was “corrupt”.
Further, the former congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, a Democrat, last month attempted to soften and spin Putin’s onerous crackdown on independent media in Russia, where reporters and other citizens now can face prison terms of 15 years for not toeing the Kremlin’s Orwellian war line and spreading what Moscow deems “fake” news about its Ukraine invasion. Gabbard made the wild claim that “what we’re seeing happening here [in America] is not so different from what we’re seeing happening in Russia”.
More recently, Russian state TV lauded Gabbard as “our friend Tulsi”, when it introduced a Carlson interview with her in which Gabbard accused Biden of “lying” about his true motives in Ukraine after Biden said in Warsaw that Putin “cannot remain in power”, which the White House quickly clarified was not a call for regime for change.
The Guardian article explores what it calls the “feedback loop” between Moscow and significant elements of the American right, and notes that when the same narratives are being repeated by influential political figures and pundits on news networks in Russia and the United States with large audiences, those narratives are reaching a lot of people. As one observer noted,
“Given that many within those audiences have been primed to dismiss and distrust the ‘mainstream’ media and expertise writ large, there’s no amount of factchecking and objective reporting that is likely to change attitudes once certain falsehoods become adopted as facts.”
What is most mystifying–at least to me–is that this wholesale embrace of Russian propaganda is occurring primarily among the MAGA crowd, the “America First,” self-proclaimed patriots and believers in America’s Exceptionalism and historical purity. The threat Putin poses to the United States and the West is obvious; you would expect these particular figures to be first to rally around the flag, defend the myth of America’s glorious past, and agitate for an even stronger response.
Evidently, the allure of Putin’s strongman populism outweighs their asserted patriotism. Putin’s war on modernity–his defense of traditional (!) Christianity and efforts to stamp out “deviations” like homosexuality are presumably more appealing to the American Right than defense of that messy thing we call democracy and respect for other countries’ right to self-determination.
In another era, these weren’t the folks you’d expect to see giving aid and comfort to America’s enemies. But then, as I wrote in yesterday’s post, this isn’t your father’s GOP.
I often daydream that our media should be forced “by law” to tell the truth. Kinda like Vlad did in his own country with that media law about false information. I regret that the right wing media has completely destroyed any semblance of truth in their broadcasting. Look at what these lies have done! Separating families with one side after the other. Murdoch must be proud…and rich.
THE TRUE BELIEVER by Eric Hoffer
Read/reread
This is why we are here
“Media” has become a bad stepchild for critics. The word should be banded. Instead of generalizing so badly, critics should name the exact “media” that is doing the lying. Journalism is a treasured profession utilized by competent people. The problem arises with “popups” like Fox News. PBS and the major networks do a great job. It is important to spot those who throw out info. without research and confirmation!
As Todd so often clumsily mentions, the media is owned and operated by oligarchs who have a wide range of moral fibers holding their personal philosophies together. On the one hand we have the FOX family of lunatics, and the MSNBC version of what is supposed to be factual news. The MSNBC contributors are closer to reality than the knuckleheads on the right, but still fuel a strong bias.
The people who lap up the dystopian blabber every day feel aggrieved. Well, unregulated capitalism will do that to everyone less than elite. The people have only themselves to blame for allowing that to happen. They’ve chosen to remain ignorant, politically, and since they feel they have no other reason to exist other than to oppose the other guys, they are fed their pablum daily. It’s terribly sad, really, to see so many of us be so gullible and the those doing the mass-lie be so eager to profit off of misery.
I’m glad I’m old.
Once again, how do you know if your news channel is telling you the truth?
Quite simply, if it’s on the TV or in the newspaper, it’s most likely propaganda. Don’t say that MSNBC is telling the truth while Fox is lying because it shows you’re a sucker. You’re being duped by media executives.
The NYT and WaPo give State Dept and CIA editorial headway. The MIC controls much of the conversation in this country, so how can you tell if they are lying?
Their lips are moving.
If you really think you’ve found your way to the “Fountain of Truth,” just know that the one truth-telling journalist on this globe is being confined by the US/UK governments in a maximum-security prison in London.
What you see, read, and hear is fully filtered because you cannot handle the truth.
“Evidently, the allure of Putin’s strongman populism outweighs their asserted patriotism.”
We are so engrossed in learning what Trump did and said and who he was connected with regarding support of “The Big Lie” and his leadership in the January 6th Insurrection that we are not paying attention to Trump’s always questionable connection to Putin and Russia’s dictatorship and the connection to MAGA’s support of Putin today. Trump deserted our military bases in Syria which were quickly occupied by Russian military and now Putin has put “The Butcher of Syria” in charge of Russian troops in Ukraine. Exactly what are Trump’s tight connections to Putin today which will put him back in the White House and we will become a Russian territory with Putin and Trump ruling the world. I have lost all hope that we can maintain even the current slim Democratic lead at the federal level with the majority of states strengthening their hold on Trumpism.
Like the Russian citizens accepting Putin’s many lies; the far right in this country are believing and upholding Trump’s one “Big Lie” which will destroy our democracy, freedom and continue destroying our civil and human rights. The upcoming Primary elections are actually a second Civil War; a return battle in our internal Revolutionary War. I will continue supporting and donating to Democratic candidates in Indiana and other states and hope these mid-term elections will prove me wrong.
“Evidently, the allure of Putin’s strongman populism outweighs their asserted patriotism.”
America needs to institutionalize the one-man-mainstream-press-wrecking crew known as Eric Boehlert, independent author of Press Run, and who was tragically killed last week in a bicycle-train accident.
I have suggested to a number of his contemporaries on Twitter, such as Soledad O’Brien, that a foundation be formed in his memory to hire seasoned journalists to do MORE of what Eric did, and that was highlight in capital letters just how AWFUL some of the takes are in our leading media outlets. There is absolutely no hope that this self-regulatory mechanism can be supported by the government and especially not within the industry itself. It has to be independent, well-funded and, unfortunately, capable of providing security to its journalists.
I asked them to let me know where to send the first of many checks.
Eric’s last blog post:
https://pressrun.media/p/is-the-press-rooting-against-biden
Historian Heather Cox Richardson’s blog entry today on same topic:
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/april-11-2022
We got the sad news of the death of Eric Boehlert over the week-end. We need a thousand more Boehlerts these days. RIP, Eric.
Una,
Definitely a good read! A lot of his writings actually have been discussed on these threads, unbeknownst to many.
In essence, he depicts the devious as those who speak bold and smooth words. Then he identifies those who are willfully-ignorant looking for a movement to get behind because of their own inadequacies.
Our current or recent societal example of this very thing was Colin Kaepernick who was shredded by fanatics who claimed the love of football! In all actuality though, they were just small and afraid. They were afraid that somehow they would be pitched from their Pinnacle in society, or so that’s the way they imagined themselves!
Throughout history, men of smooth and bold words absolutely positively rose up from the muck of societies that were shredded by War and turmoil.
They used an impassioned diatribe laced with propaganda in their oratories to Garner the attention of the ignorant and small-minded!
If individuals have a low opinion of their self-worth, they are absolutely without a doubt, vulnerable to those who try to identify with their self perceived plight.
As Eric Hoffer brought out in his book, movements are interchangeable! But, Eric Hoffer borrowed a lot of his ideas from scripture! Through his book, I could point to many of his ideas and opinions that are fairly close, word for word, to scripture! That doesn’t surprise me, because he was an individual that wasn’t full of himself. He wrote what he felt would be a good lesson for humankind! And he wrote it in a way that would be acceptable to those who are not particularly religious. Read Matthew the 7th chapter and Matthew the 24th chapter, you will see what I mean.
What makes this time in our cyclical history different from others, is that little window to the world people carry in their pockets. This is something that was imagined in science fiction during the last century.
Merchants in conspiracies and grandiose diatribe are able to reach the gullible and persuadable on a magnitude never imagined, or, thought to be science fiction.
The interesting thing about a lot of this is, movements are never embraced unless they are demonizing a group or tearing down. And, it doesn’t matter the nature of the movement either. As long as the manipulators can ‘inculcate’ the gullible’s self-perceived plight, deep in their heart. This blaze is wildly out of control, there are no backfires to stop it!
“YouGov asked 1,500 Americans where they get their news from and how much they trust a variety of prominent media organizations and news anchors. The poll, conducted from March 26 – 29, shows that while Americans are more likely to trust than distrust many prominent news sources, there are very few organizations that are trusted by more than a small proportion of Americans on both sides of the political aisle. In fact, the most Americans overall place trust in an organization that rarely covers domestic politics: the Weather Channel (52% of Americans trust it). The Weather Channel is trailed by the U.K. news outlet, BBC (39%), the national public broadcaster, PBS (41%), and The Wall Street Journal (37%). “
im out on the road most of the year. some how i missed the train. being i dont turn on a tube/flatscreen much.but foxitous news seems to hit me from others who do. how can i tell?.seems refuting them comes easy,and face to face. i read vairious news journals,mixing up the subject,following a few main stream topics today,and ongoing issues since the start of my slave days as a working class. when i walk into many local buisnesses,look up, whats on the tube, says alot. when i find fox as the mainstream propaganda spew,its says alot about who enters the doors,or,whos doin the buisness behind the counter. its been this way for 35 years. NoDak is probably next to the oldest population by percentage. when i moved up here back then,i was comfortable with the loacl politics and amusements(the local cafe,small town) today,its like listening to rumors and persoanal slants over knowlege and keeping informed.. and these people vote.. some how were missing a point, seems the owners and shareholders of such propaganda should be in the spotlight. murdoch is king of market checkout tabloid news. how come little is sent his way?like everyday..until one can understand his empire of greed,and dont forget the sponsors selling their spew.. we can usually spotlight tucker,( theres so much you could do with that name,eh?) but in all,hes a nationalist with a paid mouth,wheres the spotlight on that?like many others in commercial media.but,go to their website for the rest of the story,and its rampit with how they want you to read it,and run with it…. how much are they paid,and by who,and for what reasons? seems the billionaire class has decided our country is theirs to distroy,or at least its goverment,end plan baby? call it out.ive yet to hear what the rightwing end game is?. but its obvious direction is to become the goverment as a ruler over a democracy and money is king..have these who,use our markets and our goverment,who screw the working class out of a living wage and healthier life,sit em down,and get answers.or, slander them like they slander us. (did ya see musks new news face,maybe a slap on his award night is long overdo)being a demo only tells me theres little backbone in defense,or speaking out,like them……i may not be the educated wordmonger of the decade,but,i dont shy away from watching our democracy die at the hands of paid mouthpieces or the rich,or some lawyer in congress, telling me how to think,or how the law is minipulated to serve its money..social media has become the instigator of small minds following a certain voice. are they disatisfied with America? who drives them there? did our education system become a sanctuary of these mouthpieces too? there is little conversation about the people who gaslight,and rake in ad money as they further our nations demise.
im passing alot of cars and people everyday, many while driving,they have that infinate glass window in their hand. im sure everyone is secure that im watching the road as they entertain themselves while operating a vehicle at 75 in traffic.i watching how a screen planted in the middle of a dashboard has become the centerpiece of ignoring your democracy as you gleefully play with your car. mmmm, maybe its a lack of resposibility now that leads most to ignore how important it is to pay attention. were mostly overloaded with trivial crap everyday now,as long as it sells you something,even a gas pump TV will now tell you to buy something while you pump away what may be the end of our global life. i like truckin,its taken me out of the mainstream circus and i get to watch it all. my daily responsabilities are intense,but since i have little trivial shit in my life,i manage well. then theres the carney yelling in my ear,as im keeping my resposability between the lines that have paved America,as i steer around the pot holes. P.S i save my trash for red states to dump in,you?
John:
didnt read the book, but your comment, rising up out of the muck.
id rather not go back to muck, and rise again. we need a complete overhaul of how we
start to demand our needs over the monied intrests that perpetuate the demand we
listen to them.
Todd, your statement very much resembles that of a cult member.
You should think about that. How do you know you are right? Which sources of information do you trust, and why? Are you sure you have not been led to build your own alternate reality?
One of the elements of propaganda that makes it so insidious is that hearing it starts as feel-good entertainment until it starts to take root and then it morphs into the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, and then it’s a true addiction. People love to be identified as members of an in-group that knows stuff that not everyone else knows. That makes it knowledge fashion. This is why it is such a great business for people like the Murdochs. Their audiences are slavishly loyal just like the customers of dope dealers are.
Lest I remind you that we have politically persecuted an Australian citizen by holding him in a maximum-security prison where his two sons had to witness his daddy and mother wed because he told the truth repeatedly about US war crimes.
We overthrew Ecuador to obtain this truth-teller and according to CIA records, we plotted ways to kill him.
Why?
Because he told the truth.
Does anybody honestly believe that there are truth-tellers on the television or who write for newspaper publishers? LOL
What was the the expression in the 70s? GET REAL!
Todd, your line of reasoning there is nonsensical.
The government persecuted someone, so as a result you can’t trust any print or broadcast journalists?
There simply is not logic there, and in fact it betrays a conspiratorial mindset, the old “someone tried to get me, so I know they are all out to get me” thinking.
That’s paranoia. Seriously, think about it.
I’m with Over It,our very own soi-disant impresario of the truth.
The US doesn’t overthrow foreign governments. Why would we do that? It makes no sense.
Ukraine is a total sovereign state. Not a satrapy of the US.
The CIA doesn’t really exist. Have you ever met someone from the CIA?
The US doesn’t throw people in prison for political reasons. Especially truth tellers.
The US has been nothing but a benevolent mentor to countries south of the border.
Vietnam? Where is that? Is that a cereal? A rock band? Yemen? Yiddish for Amen? Serbia? Is that a disease? Libya? Is that short for Liberal? Syria? That’s got to be a breakfast cereal,no? Nagasaki? A motorcycle brand? Hiroshima? An ancient dish? And the next thing you know,you’ll be telling me fellatio is an Italian dish.
Arbenz? Jacobo Arbenz? That’s just an old urban legend. The US would never undermine an elected government.
Slaughtering Native-Americans? Nope. Their lives were very hard and they simply committed suicide at high rates. They felt left behind—and you know how we feel about the resentments of those who feel left behind by modernity.
Moreover, American journalists are honest and always trustful. If only every journalist had the integrity of Judith Miller. She is the paradigm as to which all should ascribe toward.
To think otherwise is merely conspiracy theory.
Over it: right on! Todd: we overthrew Ecuador?? Prove it. CIA plotted to kill a guy who is properly in prison?? Prove it. You cast a very wide, unsubstantiated, net with your musings.
My God!!! This woman is as scary and cultish as Todd!! Clare Daly! She must be in cahoots with Trump! Or a Russian agent! Maybe a communist!!!
https://twitter.com/ClareDalyMEP/status/1501271815695515655
Again Todd/Emilio/Clare Daly, mind your thinking fallacies.
One ad hominem attack takes the form of “Sure, that actor punched that comedian, but that comedian insulted someone with a disease.” Or, translated to this discussion, “Sure, Russia/Putin are horrible, tyrannical, genocidal barbarians, but the U.S. has done horrible things, too.”
This is an attempt to invalidate an accusation by discrediting the accuser when in reality the validity of the accusation has nothing to do with the actions of the accuser.
I am not, by the way, accepting your claims of the historical actions of the U.S. as fact. I am stating that they are irrelevant because you are employing “Tu Quoque,” a common form of ad hominem attack.
Jack,
Understandable we don’t want to be in the muck! So, I’m with you there my brother.
The world is loaded with conspiratorial empresario’s!
In other words, those who manage the lies! Those who promote the lies, those who produce or concoct the lies!
We all have a choice, we all have a free will, or are free moral agents. Sentient intellect capable of making their own way in life. Either following truth, peace, love, Hope and Faith, or those following anarchy, deceit/deception, hatred, lust in any form, liars, and any form of dishonesty.
Why does Scripture state, Narrow is the gate and rocky is the pathway leading to life, and there are few finding it! But, broad and spacious is the avenue leading to destruction!
(Matthew 7:13, 14)
This was written millennia ago, but, it was the same then as it is now!
Man dominates man to his harm. As scripture has man dominating man throughout its pages. The strong dominating the weak, the powerful dominating the peaceful, and so on and so forth. So Jack, this is not unusual today. Of course we don’t like the muck, but mankind’s history is made of muck. And therefore nothing good really comes of it.
I played in the muck, so I’m very familiar with it! But, I’ve realized, for myself and my family to be happy, it was time to check out of the muck. So, my friends and myself do what we can for our fellow man, our neighbors. We show love and compassion, we help when we can, and we offer them hope through faith and works. That will accomplish more than thinking men will be able to solve something that is much much larger then themselves.
I will say, I am truly happy for the first time in my life, and I had been involved in some pretty nefarious stuff, so that I can tell you matter of factly there is no future in my former way of life.
My family life although extremely busy and labor intensive, is really just a labor of love. So, happiness comes from doing the right thing! Happiness shows you the love you have for your wife or husband, and it’s reciprocated back to you. These are things that you as a man can control, all the other stuff, the sharks will eat you alive and let you bleed out in the ocean.
I’ve seen it Jack, I had been a shark at one time myself. And, the pain it caused is very difficult to try and overcome. But I do, with the help of my family, and my God!
Men cannot control your heart Jack, only you can control your heart! So, what you do, men cannot undo. You make your life, others don’t make your life. But there will be a time, when those mobs might be looking for those who do not get involved in man’s State of affairs. That my friend, is worth faith and works come in!
So my brother, hopefully my comment wasn’t a Debbie Downer for you, lol! But I always try and speak truth to power, as scripture says, let My words be seasoned with salt! You show some real good insight, and with that of course combined with knowledge wisdom is not far behind. So thank you for your input jack it’s always well thought out! And Jack, like you, I’m mostly self-educated, of course, I always try and pay attention, write, study, and read, read, read.
So Jack you have a good day…
I know it’s a phrase that’s been used way too many times, but we are in unusual and dangerous times now. I literally never thought I’d see the day that:
1. An American Presidential candidate, knowing he’s behind in the polls, would supply strategic insider polling information to Russian hackers for the purpose of spreading lies about his opponent in districts where support for his opponent was soft enough that such lies might turn the Electoral College votes in his favor. Then, when he was investigated for these matters, refused to cooperate and lied about the investigation being a “hoax” and “witch hunt”.
2. An American President would publicly side with a murderous Russian dictator over his own American intelligence, and who trashed NATO and the EU because these are a threat to the Russian dictator, and who pledges to try to withdraw the US from NATO if he gets the chance.
3. An American President would lobby to try to get Russia back into the G-7.
4. An American President, knowing he was behind in the polls, began lying about his “landslide victory” being “stolen” by a “rigged” election even before Election Day.
5. An American President would take a victory lap at 2:00 a.m., even though all of the ballots hadn’t been counted and he was behind in the vote counts;
6. An American President would try to pressure and bully local election officials in certain states to award him votes that he didn’t receive, all while accusing his opponent of cheating. That he would get lawyers to file frivolous lawsuits claiming fraud without any evidence, and despite this, would go on “Stop the Steal” rallies, exhorting his fans to charge the Capitol to prevent his opponent’s victory from being certified by Congress.
7. An American President would foment an insurrection as a last-ditch effort to prevent the valid Electoral College votes from being certified, encouraging his disciples to force the VP to “do the right thing”, meaning refuse the ceremonial acceptance of certified votes for which there is no legal authority, and then sit by for over 3 hours basking in the glory of the adoration of his fans while they attacked Capitol Police officers and smashed windows, broke down doors and called for lynching the VP.
8. An American President would refuse to concede, even more than a year after the election, would refuse to attend his successor’s Inauguration and had to be threatened with expulsion before leaving the White House.
9. A former American President would refuse to fade into the background, and instead continues to lie about his “landslide victory” being “stolen” by a “rigged” election, despite the fact that he has NO proof of widespread fraud or corruption despite multiple investigations turning up nothing.
10. A former American President continues to hold rallies, airing his grievances, goes on alternative right-wing media outlets and continues to lie, constantly criticizes his successor, blames his successor for the economic problems resulting from his incompetence, and raising money without actually declaring his candidacy, so that he can spend the money he raises on whatever he wants.
11. A former American President praises as “smart, savvy and genius” a psychopathic, sociopathic mass murderer who invaded a country the sovereigncy of he refuses to acknowledge.
12. A former American President who claims that his power and charm alone could have dissuaded the murderous dictator from invading a peaceful, sovereign country, so the deaths and destruction of Ukraine are the fault of his successor who cheated to get into office.
13. An entire cadre of alt-right media that supports the lies put out by the former American President, and which even has hosts who praise the murderous dictator, whose rhetoric is so toxic that it is broadcast as Russian propaganda.
14. Most of all, a substantial number of Americans who fall for this garbage, who are immune to facts, who have been misled into believing that mainstream media are not trustworthy, and who refuse to see that: Putin is attacking Ukraine because Ukraine is a democracy. Putin is afraid of democracy just like Trump is. They refuse to see that Trump is a pawn in Putin’s long-term game of taking back the countries that were freed when the Soviet Union was dissolved, and that Putin can use Trump and LePen of France (if she gets into office–heaven forbid) to weaken NATO and the EU, which are threats to his plan.
15. Even if Trump and the Republicans don’t prevail in the next election cycles, they will continue to spread division in America, which will weaken us from within.
America and democracy are under a unique threat now, more so than ever before.
Here are a billion reasons for Washington politicians to lie along with the media:
https://www.opensecrets.org/news/reports/capitalizing-on-conflict
Billions more are being added to foreign accounts used to buy weapons and bullets from American contractors. As Noam Chomsky said in the 80s, all the media has to do is manufacture consent. As soon as you turn on your TV…
Smug elitism would be my guess, Over It. It shows through in almost every post from the person. I scroll past several that are elitist, difficult to read, lack paragraphs, are preachy or too danged long. I keep in mind the advice to young ministers: Be brief, be bright, and be gone! It speeds up my reading and makes for a much more pleasant day.
Natacha 3:56pm has said it all.
We are in very dangerous times with so many believing the lies. And even if you didn’t listen to the news media telling the story, how can these actions of a former president of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA be able to do and get away with all these things. Every bit of it is disgusting to me. The former guy was a spoiled elitist, just like the very men he idolizes.
I am so very curious if that guy should return to the top office and democracy as we know it, dies, I truly wonder what all his supporters will say then, the rich will probably get richer, shall I say oligarchs and the rest of us will be poorer that we already are, and suffer accordingly.
Natacha – Great synopsis! I’m in my 70’s and I agree – I never thought I would see what is happening in our country.
Over it: at last–someone who recognizes logical fallacies. TS: your link is old news, isn’t it?
“…you would expect these particular figures to be first to rally around the flag….” One would, but their flag has stars, stripes, and swastikas. They view themselves as the ONLY real Amerians, wanting a “strongman” to return
the country to them; “primed” is the word! Primed to believe in pedophile politicians, any pasted together fantasy
about Soros, or whatever else someone will come up with about the Jews, Miuslims, etc.
The old KGB eventually admitted that it had faked “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion,” but, as people who
thrive on manipulation know, first impressions are hard to ignore.
No, not my father’s GOP. Rather inmates from “The Cuckoo’s Nest” running the show.
Betty,
Great comment! But I was wondering?!? What is a smug elitist?
Just asking, because what you described in your comment seems to be describing the one who made the comment!
The comment was definitely very smug and absolutely elitist.
Natacha, Roberta and Linda; I’m with you on all counts. Natacha’s list has been in my thoughts long enough to have me lose faith in the possibility that we can ever be rid of her unnamed Satan spawn, Donald Trump. Because the current threat of Trump is as strong as it was when he was appointed to the presidency, that has me wondering what the lack of Republican yard signs in my neighborhood really means. In 2016 there were enough of them to cause me to fear what came to be the reality of his threat to democracy; in 2020 that one Trump sign which appeared for 2-3 days then disappeared and now no signs has me just as fearful not knowing where they stand today. That old adage, “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.” comes to mind. I know not to mention politics or politicians to any of them but the turning away and lack of response to my friendly wave or smile is as foreboding as they Trump signs were in 2016. Republicans cannot remain friendly and allow others their political and/or religious views but can’t even mention the weather or conditions of the infrastructure as they continue to ignore my existence as I walk almost daily as I have for 17 years. I pose no threat to them but they scare the hell out of me hiding behind their closed doors and blinds; I now walk through a ghost town.
John Sorg; Betty simply refuses to remain retired and feels the need to edit and correct others of us on the blog. She reminds me of the high school English Grammar teacher who responded to my question for clarification on a rule with, “That was a stupid question and you are the dumbest student I have ever tried to teach.” Your summation of her comments was on target.