Donald Trump: Classic or Dud?

Yep:

The habitual ways of doing journalism no longer make sense. That the American way of politics has passed a watershed. That change is what Sharlet’s work struggles to characterize, as a desperate imperative—the way “these folks are changing the aesthetic of American politics.”

He gave as an example an infamous interview Lesley Stahl did on 60 Minutes with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. It had been characterized largely by Stahl’s frustration in attempting to fact-check her in real time, and many viewers’ frustration that she wasn’t doing it right, or enough, or adequately; the way Stahl arched her eyebrows in the face of the most fantastical, hateful lies, for example.

Quite brilliantly, Sharlet explained how this made his point about the inadequacy of political journalism’s inherited storytelling frames.

“[Greene], I would say, is the congressman from the fascist party. And I actually would like to speak a little bit more about that term, because I think it’s important.” He noted Stahl’s consternation as a function of the brokenness of the very cosmos in which her career—a great one, he stressed—was built. According to the old rules, a respected gatekeeper from a marquee journalistic institution grills a “rising star,” as a sort of ritual vetting to which the politician cannot but defer. “But Marjorie Taylor Greene isn’t a ‘rising star.’ Those old frames don’t work anymore,” Sharlet explained. “Marjorie Taylor Greene is not trying to join the cosmos that Lesley Stahl and much of American journalism is set up to cover.” She inhabited an entirely separate one: a fascist one, which the likes of Stahl have no idea how to comprehend. “Fascism is a dream politics. It’s a mythology. You can’t fact-check myth. You can’t arch an eyebrow and make it go away.”

https://prospect.org/politics/2024-01-17-metaphors-journalists-live-by-part-i/

I am a bit more inclined toward tipsy mothra's viewpoint.

The bullies, the bullied; who's up, who's down, who gets shoved into the locker of a middle school and who does the shoving.

That is WAY more relevant to most people's lives than hazy biblical prophecy shit. Everybody went to middle school. We all experienced that dynamic.

Only a few people have read and understood Ezekiel 3.52 or Amos 4.72 or II Corinthians 4.15 or whatever. That's a tiny slice of the population.

Most Republicans are more like "tell me who I am supposed to hate today." It's a mistake to assume that just because they identify as culturally Christian means that they have any familiarity with Christian theology.

To the extent that they have a religion, it almost always consists of the AR-15 and the Ford F-150, plus camouflage hats. I have a degree in philosophy and am not impressed by the level of intellectual rigor in the MAGA crowd, sorry.

I have had to remind some people here in TN that the same people totally freaked out about drag queens now were totally freaked out about the "immigrant caravan" 5-6 years ago, and about Tennessee being taken over by Sharia Law 4-5 years before that. It's just a nonstop sequence of making people terrified of actually powerless people, and then using them as a scapegoat to vilify in the interest of consolidating political and cultural power. Not like it's a new tactic, but it's kind of become the whole POINT of Republican politics.

Tipsy otm

It is just grievance, weaponized.

Kinda makes me wonder if you could deflate a Republican one-to-one by simply asking them, "So what am I supposed to be scared of this month?"

You could really have fun by asking them, "What are you scared of this month?"

I have a campaign ad idea... just clips of Trump saying terrible things, followed by a grimacing Joe Biden: "I'm Joe Biden... and I don't approve of this message."

― Andy the Grasshopper, Thursday, January 18, 2024 3:21 PM (fifty-eight minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

Hire this guy, Biden campaign (seriously)

I've always likened the Trump phenomenon to a snobs vs. slobs comedy, where his critics are the stuck-up snobs, shaking their fists and issuing decrees of Double Secret Probation, and his slovenly fans have their mouths full of mashed potatoes, manners be damned and ready to go.

I have a campaign ad idea... just clips of Trump saying terrible things, followed by a grimacing Joe Biden: "I'm Joe Biden... and I don't approve of this message."

Hi we kinda tried that in Virginia and lost, with devastating effects.

"Don't elect the obviously horrible person" sometime fails, unless you can also argue for a more inspiring and hopeful alternative. Good luck USA

the campaign ad idea makes sense in a better world, but honestly i think the effect of showing trump saying awful things, followed by joe biden disagreeing with them, is exactly what's happening now. trump's base is made up of people who enjoy the awful things he says. biden's base is made up of people who disagree with the awful things. if you showed 100 people an ad of trump being himself and biden calling him out on it, i think 35 people would say they love what trump said, 35 would say they completely disagree, 10 would be unsure what to think but all their friends and family love trump so they figure it's fine, 10 would unsure what to think but all their friends and family hate trump so they figure biden is right, and then there'd be a leftover 10 undecided people who keep chewing the drywall and forgot the question

Hillary totally tried that kind of ad, too. Just give us a good reason to vote for you, it’s not hard. (Answer; keeping abortion legal)

Xp Yum, drywall

And remember that one side of the political divide (the side that's up until recently been losing the culture wars in a rout) is openly ready for and wants the civil war to begin ... so ads like that only serve to reinforce and define the battle stations

Maybe the judo move is to make a pro Trump ad of him saying awful things against his own party.

Hell, run ads showcasing Hunter Biden's junk that end with a dare for Eric and Don Jr. to show off theirs

I think it has to be a push/pull between 'Trump bad, Biden good'... but when there is actual, recent footage of Trump saying he's proud of overturning Roe v. Wade, by God, use it

I had called it an xp but now I think "Yum, drywall" is going to be my default response to everything from now on. Tasty tasty drywall, lol we are doomed, lol nothing matters

The modern GOP was created by and wholly owned by the 1%, who have created this population of id-driven monsters in order to win elections so they can cling to wealth and power. Now they are discovering that their creation no longer fully obeys them, large parts have fastened their allegiance to fascist usurpers, who recently discovered that they can hijack the party and get to drive the vehicle like joy-riding delinquents.

The 1% haven't entirely woken to the extent of this danger because the extremely wealthy find it impossible to believe that they aren't the undisputed masters any more. Our new fascist politicos will be happy to share power with the 1% -- right up to the day when they can seize it all and the 1% find out they no longer call the tune.

Our best hope is to outnumber the id-driven multitude election by election, because this unholy marriage of wealth to the crazies is not going anywhere anytime soon.

As Habba hammered on about the sexual commentary on Carroll’s social media accounts (the former Elle columnist has written about sex and relationships for years), questioning took a turn for the absurd.

“Ms Carroll, what does this say: ‘What CAN be done about the penis? It gets large when you want it small, and stays small when you want it large,’” Habba asked, showing a 2013 tweet. “Those were your words, correct?”

“Yes,” Carroll said.

“And you posted them on a public social media account?”

“Yes.”

“And you left that on your Twitter account as we stand here today, correct?”

Carroll answered in the affirmative.

Pressed to explain the tweet, Carroll said: “It’s a philosophical question.”

“Sometimes a woman doesn’t feel like making love and the man wants to,” Carroll explained, adding that sometimes it’s the reverse.

“You discussed penises?” Habba said.

Carroll said: “Yes.”

some incredible lawyering by Habba, also when it was stated that Carroll now sleeps with a gun after the sexual assault by Trump, Habba asked if she has a licence for the gun.

uh

Carroll's lawyer: Your Honor, I belive we're done with our evidence - but give us the break first.
Judge Kaplan: OK, ten minutes.
Jury leaves.
Carroll's lawyer: They intend to call Mr. Trump, then Ms. Martin.

— Inner City Press (@innercitypress) January 25, 2024

"Mr. Trump is precluded from offering any testimony, evidence or argument suggesting or implying that he did not sexually assault Ms. Carroll, that she fabricated her account of the assault, or that she had any motive to do so," Kaplan wrote in a ruling Jan. 9.

Trump has given no indication he plans to stick to Kaplan's guidelines. Asked about his testimony before the trial started, he told reporters, “I’m going to explain I don’t know who the hell she is.”

lol Trump's defense is that Carroll tweeted a joke about penises

he's just a humongous piece of shit. who gets to try and further humiliate the person he raped and harassed and get cheered on for it.

He's the most humongous piece of shit.

Habba is also a piece of shit

A very interesting interview with the courtroom sketch artist from the current trial.

KABAS: The subject you're drawing is one of the most famous people in the world, and he stirs up a lot of emotions. What’s it like capturing someone who is such an emotional trigger for people?

CORNELL: You know, his face is—everybody knows it. And he has about three expressions: One is just implacable. You don't know what the heck is going on. The other is angry, and the other is a smug smile.

The thing that's most curious to me about him is that I think he's so in his own world that he doesn't have any receptiveness to other people in his face. It's mask-like. And it's obvious when he goes out to talk to the press after any hearings and he says always the same thing, almost like he's got a teleprompter in front of him, and nothing anybody says to him is of any interest to him. They can just clamor like a howling wind, but he's not going to respond to any of it. He's really unto himself.

It's not just about Trump, though. What she says about the business of being a freelance courtroom sketch artist (she gets hired by news channels; she doesn't work for the court) is fascinating too.

Kaplan is basically not-very-disguisedly pissed off at Trump's lawyers

Habba: They have opened the door on the Reid Hoffman issue - they asked about George Soros and the DNC - the door is open --
Judge Kaplan: The door is closed. Let's bring in the jury.

— Inner City Press (@innercitypress) January 25, 2024

Open the door, let 'em innn

xxp She makes him, and most of the other participants, look fairly grotesque, if not monstrous.

Carroll's lawyer's name is Roberta Kaplan, the judge is Judge Kaplan.

$5 says Trump falsely claims they're married and judge biased after trial

Nah, he'll go big and say that they're the same person somehow.

prosecuted and judged by a woke hermaphrodite

Pounded in the butt by a Woke Judge's Doppelganger

Habba: Were you concerned for safety?
Martin: On some levels. And for my daughter.
Habba: Did you tell Ms. Carroll?
Martin: Yes.
Habba: How?
Judge Kaplan: Is this a hypothetical question?
Habba: Text, or in person - that was my question
Judge Kaplan: No it wasn't

— Inner City Press (@innercitypress) January 25, 2024

hoping Kaplan closes procedures by saying "Damages are awarded in the amount of $x to the plaintiff. Habba...Nagila."

ladies and gentlemen, AN OPEN GOAL

Martin: After the NYT podcast there was interest.. There was a Harvey Weinstein sidebar... Not just E. Jean, but others as well.
Habba: Did you think Ms. Carroll was enjoying the attention?
Martin: At points.
Habba: Ms. Martin, what does narcissism mean to you?

— Inner City Press (@innercitypress) January 25, 2024

(last tweet share, I know ya'll can read the thread on your own or follow online, but that one was too rich)

this is a damages trial, yet she's trying to actually argue the merits of Trump's guilt, which has already been decided, and in fact, which has been given as a stipulation for why Trump can't talk about the merits of the case when he testifies. Habba seems to be trying to get the judge to vacate his previous decision, which.....LOL

"Habba is also a piece of shit"

She got in with Trump by grooming one of his employees who was sexually harassed by her boss and then after gaining her confidence + trust she tricked her into signing some bullshit waiver that meant she'd recieve next to nothing in damages and then she stopped talking to her. She's a hideous piece of shit.

sorry, one more...lmao

Judge Kaplan: Objection sustained.
Habba: But you have shared Ms. Carroll's private messages?
Martin: I really don't remember.
Habba: Do you see that you sent this to--
Judge Kaplan: Sustained. You are reading a document not in evidence

— Inner City Press (@innercitypress) January 25, 2024

i have no clue what the angle is w/ this questioning

it's a performance for Trump and gives them something to complain about later

ostensibly it's to lower the damages by suggesting that Carroll is not really in emotional distress and is milking this for attention, but I doubt it worked.

Habba is objecting to every statement Carroll makes in cross now.

xp - otm, this way he can shriek later about how the CROOKED and CORRUPT judge LOSER in this RIGGED WITCH HUNT wouldn't allow his lawyers to present a defense, and the rubes will believe him

thing is though the guilt has already been decided, this is degrees of damages, so that ship already sailed

yes, but they have plenty of extreme ignorant and gullible people ready to believe whatever they say

she has no joke objected to every statement Carroll's attorney has made, all have been overruled except one that was sidebarred and I don't know what was decided.

xpost I don't care about these people

ok? what's your point? there are many millions of them, they will do everything they can to get him back into power again, and constructing an alternate reality is essential to making that happen