An alteration for the current nowadays:
I watch the ripples change their size
But never leave the stream
Of warm impermanence
And so the days float through my eyes
But still the days seem the same
And these children that you spit on
As they try to change their worlds
Are immune to your consultations
They’re quite aware of what they’re goin’ through
Idea for a Friday afternoon. Even as the news cycle continues in rhythm with terrible stories of terrible people doing terrible things to everything, and potentially, eventually, everyone with the operation in technicolor. All in the open: T-Rump and his bottom-feeding tools, including terrible as-shit Elon Musk, are taking apart America.
And it’s more than apparent this is kind of unprecedented; a “watershed” moment: ‘An event or period that is important because it represents a big change in how people do or think about something.‘
‘Big change‘ is sadly an understatement for our situation. And maybe because of the rich, vast seriousness of the ‘event or period,‘ we’re experiencing right now is actually only getting close to three weeks old in its dramatic, bloody, axe-murdering, horror movie form, no title or name for the ‘whatever‘ as of yet.
Paul Campos at LawyersGunsMoney has some thoughts:
In the human mind things don’t fully exist until they are given a name. The murder of America — more precisely of America as an idea and an ideal — that has been happening gradually over the past ten years, and then suddenly over the past few weeks, doesn’t have a name yet.
[…]
“Catastrophe” is itself a curious word, as its original meaning in Greek and Latin seems to be more along the lines of “sudden turn” or “denouement” — a technical usage that still persists in narratology it seems — but by the 18th century had come to have its modern meaning of [sudden] calamity or disaster.
The ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians is referred to by Arab speakers as the “Nakba,” an Arab word which is usually rendered in English as “catastrophe.”
Is it appropriate or useful to compare the murder of the idea or ideal of a nation to mass murder, genocide, and ethnic cleansing? This is not a rhetorical question. I’m asking it because I feel viscerally that something truly catastrophic is happening in and to this country, and what that something is doesn’t have a name, yet.
Maybe, the ‘Musk-Rat Coup,’ or just, ‘We Be Fucked.’
A villainy unparalleled:
"Press opportunities are a farce. If you try to get an autocrat to give you good answers and hold them accountable for their policies or actions, they’re going to use all the strategies they have at their disposal to not do that. Reporters are left with, 'This is what he said, but this is not true'"
In reality, the real horror behind the racin action is the lies. T-Rump lies without any shame whatsoever, and without a hint of responsibility.
Lying just to lie and cause pain, with a technical name and without guilt.
Jen Mercieca, a leading expert on political rhetoric, in an interview at Public Notice today:
Democratic leaders are “cognitively responsible.” That means they are willing to be held accountable for their words and their policies. They’re willing to give good explanations or at least make arguments for why their policies should be accepted.
In the long tradition of American presidents, people like me study how presidents try to persuade the nation about what they want to do. That means there’s give and take, and we get to ask questions. That’s how democracy should work.
“Cognitively irresponsible” leaders are authoritarian. They’re the ones that don’t want to have the give and take of ideas. They don’t want to be held accountable for their words and actions. They don’t want to have to persuade the nation to accept or adopt their policies. They really just want to rule by dictate. They want to make a policy, and when we ask why, they say, “Because I said so.”
That’s the definition of an argument by authority: “Because I said so.” There’s a way in which the leader of any kind of organization can be democratic in their communication style, and there are ways they can be more authoritarian. Cognitive irresponsibility is a giveaway that a leader is an authoritarian.
[…]
Press opportunities are a farce. If you try to get an autocrat to give you good answers and hold them accountable for their policies or actions, they’re going to use all of the strategies they have at their disposal to not do that. Reporters are left with, “This is what he said, but this is not true.” It’s very difficult for a reporter in a press conference situation to ask a question and get a direct answer.
We’ve seen in the past a few examples of someone having a one-on-one interview with Trump and being able to press him repeatedly to get him to answer questions, but it’s very rare. I’m thinking of Jonathan Swan, who was at Axios, and he pushed and pushed. It was uncomfortable, even. That’s not the norm with Trump. He’s really good at using different strategies, like the gish gallop. You ask him a question, and he gives you 50 different lies, and you can’t fact check all of them. He’s good at spewing disinformation.
Go read the whole post, and beyond the anxiety-inducing flux, is of great interest — Aaron Rupar’s Public Notice is well worth the subscription.
Closing with a note:
Shameless shame, or not, yet once again here we are …
(Illustration out front is of a New York state high-school student exhibit: ‘The piece was displayed during student-driven art show at Shenendehowa High School. It consisted of at least 12 identical black-and-white pictures of Donald Trump. There was also a sign above the pictures that read, “Draw on Me.” Using markers from the art classroom, Isome students opted to scribble critical messages and profanities on the pictures‘ — and found here.)