"WAH" indeed, Daily Beast beats Raw Story with DeSantis title

 by Hal Brown

Here's the Raw Story title for the same story about Ron DeSantis saying he will boycott NBC and MSNBC until they apologize for something Andrea Mitchell said:

Click above to read

The Daily Beast was more creative in their title. 

Click above to read

I was particularly struck by the red " | WAH |  " in the lower left. Positioned where a subtitle would generally go it wasn't exactly a subtitle. I'd call it more an "aside" meant to convey an editorial comment with a word which suggests the sound of DeSantis having a tantrum.

The editors could have used "Boo-hoo" instead to convey the same thing but "wah" is a word that sounds like someone having a hissy fit, literally a tantrum. "Wah" is derived from "wah-wah" which is a musical effect achieved on brass instruments by alternately applying and removing a mute and on an electric guitar by controlling the output from the amplifier with a pedal.

 

What a political world, eh? From the two top contenders to be the GOP  presidential candidate to the likes of Marjorie Taylor Greene we have individuals who seem to have anger control problems and when they are offended express their feelings either by literally screaming during a session of Congress, making posts on social media, or hurling threats.

I don't know what would cure whatever is wrong with them. Perhaps meditation or yoga would be the prescription. Psychotherapy might be helpful. The basic message these people need to heed would be along the lines of what the hippies used to tell people who were overwrought or too full of themselves and is now a common meme (click here):

Addendum

Yesterday's blog was about Trump's blatantly self-aggrandizing visit to E. Palestine. It is still in the news. This Salon story photo shows how shameless and insensitive this man is. I thought giving out Trump branded bottled water was bad enough, but giving out Trump hats is beyond the pale.

Click above to read

DeSantis and Mussolini" Thom Hartmann compares the two

DeSantis and Mussolini: Thom Hartmann compares the two

By Hal Brown

Above: Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler at Munich Station in Germany in September 1937, with DeSantis who happens to be walking in lockstep added by me. Scroll down to see how photo was made.

Below is the photo that was used to illustrate Thom Hartmann's Raw Story article 

America finally facing politician who has Mussolini’s guile, ruthlessness and willingness to see people die

Above: It only took me a few minutes to add DeSantis to the photo.

Here's the comment I added to Hartmann's Raw Story + option essay:

Thank you for the important history lesson, Thom. The comparison between Mussolini and DeSantis is right on. The evils of Mussolini don't resonate with most Americans the way those of Hitler do, arguably because he didn't, from what I know of Italy, have an easy to demonize portion of his population to try to exterminate. Had one been in the place of the other I think Mussolini would have had his own version of the Holocaust. DeSantis is a straight on sociopath minus the grandiose narcissism and delusional thinking of Trump. It is chilling to think he could become president.  

Hartmann makes excellent comparisons between DeSantis and Mussolini. He also has examples of quotes from people sharing their stories of how DeSantis' policies hurt them. The article is on the subscription Raw Story +. 

Hartmann's main point can be summarized in this excerpt:

Historians and political observers have been predicting that America would get our very own Mussolini ever since the days of Barry Goldwater. And there’s been no shortage of candidates: bribe-taking Nixon; Central American fascist-loving Reagan; Gitmo torturing and war-lying Bush; and, of course, Trump.

But with Ron DeSantis, we may finally be facing an all-American politician who has Mussolini’s guile, ruthlessness, and willingness to see people die to advance his political career, all while being smart and educated enough to avoid the easily satirized buffoonishness of Trump.

Since the essay requires a subscription to read, here are a few bullet points for those who don't subscribe:

• Ron DeSantis refuses to expand Medicaid, even though 93 percent of the cost is covered with money from Washington, DC. It’s the principle of the thing, apparently: he’s one of 11 red state governors who believes that working poor people simply shouldn’t get health coverage. After all, they didn’t have the good sense to be born into a wealthy family!
• Violence, hate, bigotry, and cruelty are the four cardinal points of fascism. Compassion and concern for the greater good, for the poor and weak, for the victims of fate and accident have no place in the fascist world.
• George Washington, in his Farewell Address, warned us of the possible rise of politicians like DeSantis who would suggest other Americans are enemies of the nation’s values, who would exaggerate policy differences in war-like terms, and who would ascribe the most evil of motives and intentions to simple political opponents.
• Using rhetoric that feeds bigotry and hate against gay, lesbian, and trans people.
• Intimidating the college board so they strip the Black Lives Matter movement out of their advanced placement African-American Studies curriculum.
• Lying to asylum-seekers to get them on a plane to Martha’s Vineyard as a stunt to elevate his own political fortunes.
• And now as many as 2 million more Floridians will join the ranks of the uninsured in the coming months.

In giving examples of Mussolini-like things DeSantis has done, Hartmann inserts these lines eight times:

Quote of the day is from Mika Brzezinski 

"I mean, we're saying this with all seriousness and without trying to -- I mean, it's hard," she said. "You have to say it like it is. We have a stupidity problem on the Republican side, literal stupidity, or something worse then -- stupidity with a violent edge to it. I mean, they want to have loaded -- this is -- what has become of Republicans in Congress?" In 

'Headache-inducing' Lauren Boebert claim shredded by MSNBC's Mika

This relates not only to many members of Congress, particular those in the House Freedom Caucus, but probably more significantly and tragically to many of the people who voted for them and are eager to vote for Trump, DeSantis, or another far-right candidate. 

It has become, perhaps always has been, a third rail of American politics to disparage the intelligence of one's opponents lest you be considered an elitist. Whether it is true or not doesn't matter.

Here's another way to put it:

For my aprox. 200-300 weekly readers in Russia:

Лучшим веб-сайтом для чтения последних американских новостей является Raw Story. Я суммирую статьи на веб-сайтах, доступных только по подписке, а если вы подписаны на Raw Story +, на нем есть отличные эссе с мнениями.

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