Chauncey DeVega's quote should be terrifying and mind-boggling

 By Hal Brown

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Pictured above, would be Queen of the New Confederacy Marjorie Taylor Greene holding a $2400 Honey Badger firearm, because inquiring minds probably don't want to know. I am not an expert on firearms. I used Google Image search (here) to find out about the weapon.

The following paragraph is from Chauncey DeVega's article in Salon. 

Stop mocking Marjorie Taylor Greene

It's not just trolling. Republican threats of civil war should be taken seriously

We have just experienced a nightmare here in America (and the world) where what many "centrists" and "mainstream" political thinkers and voices said was impossible came true. If someone in 2015 or 2016 had told you that a professional wrestling heel, fake billionaire, willful ignoramus, white supremacist cult leader and TV host, a man credibly accused of rape many times, a failed casino owner and real estate developer, con artist would become president of the United States, make choices in response to a pandemic that would kill at least a million Americans, bring the country and its democracy to a breaking point, attempt a coup, surrender America's interests to its enemies such as Russia, commit an endless number of serious crimes while in office, be impeached twice and almost win reelection, and then announce a second presidential candidacy all the while not being held responsible for his crimes many people would – and did — mock any person willing to say such a thing. They labeled it "Trump derangement" syndrome. We all know what happened next.

Fo those who mercifully have forgotten:

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It should be as terrifying as it is mind-boggling that the things described above actually occurred. That there is a significant minority of the entire population of the United States who are happy about this is is beyond the pale, that is, outside the bounds of morality, good behavior or judgement in civilized society.

The reasons how and why the things DeVega describes in chilling words happened have been addressed by political and social scientists and by mental health experts. I don't feel like delving into these when others have done a thorough job.* I really am devoting this blog about it to share DeVega's description.

The portion of the DeVega article that Salon highlighted, the concluding sentence, follows:

Marjorie Taylor Greene and the other Republican fascists and the larger white right and their allies are very dangerous. Your laughter does not change that fact. Your laughter will not save you from them or the new American nightmare they are forcing into being. He who laughs last laughs loudest. The laughter of Marjorie Taylor Greene and the other American fascists will be very deafening indeed.

About DeSantis from: 

Introducing the first-ever, sort-of-annual Bulls**t Awards: Not just for Republicans! by Brian Karem in Salon

A Mini-Me Bullshit award goes to Ron DeSantis, who while proving to be smarter than Trump (at least in some ways) has the charisma of roadkill and the smell of a dead skunk in the middle of the road. (That's a reference to an obscure song lyric — actually, DeSantis is so far to the right he's off the road). He mimics Trump's fascism in every move he makes, but takes it even further as he tries to turn the state of Florida into a Disney version of Germany in 1937. 

Here's Loudon Wainwright III singing Dead Skunk in the Middle of the Road:

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* Footnote:

 DeVega regularly addresses these topics. For example just in the past week:

The science behind why conservatives are so easily triggered

The media's biggest addiction: Trump voters

UFOs and CRT: Republicans are in a constant state of panic about the "other"

Addendum:

I wanted to use the sign I made to use to illustrate yesterday's blog, DeSantis's great Florida fascist experiment, with a new background. I changed the background and also added five new elements.

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Thanks to Chauncey DeVega for his retweet:

DeSantis's great Florida fascist experiment

 By Hal Brown

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Ron DeSantis, with his Harvard undergraduate degree and his Yale Law School degree, is now conducting an experiment worthy of a PhD dissertation in political science or a related field. He is conducting an experiment and the entire voting age population of the country are the subjects. He will attempt to determine whether the fascist leader of one state with a fairly unique population mix can attract a significant number of voters in a wide variety of other states. 

He is obviously going to run for the GOP nomination for president and has already taken his campaign on the road to test the waters in various states. He may be working on honing his performative skills so he comes across as more likable realizing, if he has any insight into himself, that he'll never have the odd charisma of Donald Trump.

There's no way DeSantis can beat Trump at the game of street, or rally, theater. One thing he has to do to beat Trump is wipe out as many early primary candidates as possible probably through raising far more money that they do.

However, the main thing DeSantis has to do is make the Florida fascist experiment a rousing success that sells to the likely voters in states with a large group who agrees with his anti-woke and pro-white agenda. 

If he can do this it wouldn't matter that he's duller than dirt or that there will always be a contingent of hard-core Trump cultists for whom nobody can substitute for the original.

If he can peel away enough Republican Trump voters from the far-right bigoted base he has a chance of winning the primary.

Should DeSantis be the candidate the rest of the country has to decide whether they want the entire country to look like Florida.

Update about DeSantis from: 

Introducing the first-ever, sort-of-annual Bulls**t Awards: Not just for Republicans! by Brian Karem in Salon

A Mini-Me Bullshit award goes to Ron DeSantis, who while proving to be smarter than Trump (at least in some ways) has the charisma of roadkill and the smell of a dead skunk in the middle of the road. (That's a reference to an obscure song lyric — actually, DeSantis is so far to the right he's off the road). He mimics Trump's fascism in every move he makes, but takes it even further as he tries to turn the state of Florida into a Disney version of Germany in 1937. 

Disney? I would say it would be a show from horror icons John Carpenter, Wes Craven, and George Romero. 

Why hasn't Trump nicknamed his rival Ron DeAnus?

 By Hal Brown

Caricature by DonkeyHotey

I've been waiting for Trump to start using Ron DeAnus as his primary nickname for Ron DeSantis. It was so obviously I was surprised that he hadn't started using it. I find it hard to believe Trump hadn't thought of it.

No matter what the actual meaning of "de" is in French most Americans would take it as meaning "the", thus they would read the nickname as Ron The Anus. They would get it, understanding that Trump is saying DeSantis is an asshole.

I can't imagine that Trump would think his cult would be offended by his use of the word "anus".  Therefore what is there about the anus that keeps him from introducing this nickname, at least from testing it out.

All I can think of are two possibilities. One is derived from depth psychology, from Freudian theory, and involves Trump being stuck in the anal developmental phase which children pass through between the ages of one and three.

During the anal stage, Freud believed that the primary focus of the libido was on controlling bladder and bowel movements. The major conflict at this stage is toilet training—the child has to learn to control their bodily needs. Developing this control leads to a sense of accomplishment and independence.

According to Freud, success at this stage is dependent upon the way in which parents ​approach toilet training. Parents who utilize praise and rewards for using the toilet at the appropriate time encourage positive outcomes and help children feel capable and productive.

Freud believed that positive experiences during the toilet training stage serve as the basis for people to become competent, productive, and creative adults.

However, not all parents provide the support and encouragement that children need during this stage. Some parents punish, ridicule, or shame a child for accidents.

According to Freud, inappropriate parental responses can result in negative outcomes. If parents take an approach that is too lenient, Freud suggested that an anal-expulsive personality could develop in which the individual has a messy, wasteful, or destructive personality.

If parents are too strict or begin toilet training too early, Freud believed that an anal-retentive personality develops in which the individual is stringent, orderly, rigid, and obsessive. From VeryWell Mind

If Trump had conflicts during these years any reminder of bowel movements might be anxiety provoking for him.

The other possibility for not using this nickname is much more mundane. Considering how his diet habits, lack of exercise, and his obesity it is simply that he now is struggling with hemorrhoids. It may be merely that using the word "anus" reminds him of his itchy bleeding butt.

Another blog from today:

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How Trump could use "The Wire" defense to get off all charges against him

 By Hal Brown

I consider "The Wire" to have been one of the best  crime themed television series of all time:

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Law and Crime is the website run by Dan Abrams. The site was referenced here in an article in Raw Story.  I'd seen Law and Crime referenced previously so I thought I look at the website. This is the story that caught my eye:

Click above to read article

"The Wire" ran from 2002 to 2008. The man arrested for murder is accused of committing the crime in 2011. There is evidence he was a such a big fan of "The Wire" that he identified with one of the major criminals depicted on the show and that he used a method of silencing a gun shot from the show.

According to a report from Boston ABC affiliate WCVB-TV, prosecutors said that investigators at the residence found a phone which was “attached to” the name Marlo Stanfield. Marlo Stanfield is the name of a fictional character in “The Wire,” who headed up the most ruthless and feared drug ring in Baltimore.

In another nod to “The Wire,” authorities also reportedly said that they recovered a sweet potato from the scene of the fatal shooting. In season four of the HBO show, one of the fictional police investigators solves a murder in which the shooter used a potato as a makeshift silencer when fatally shooting his victim.

Here's a third similarity:

According to a 2011 report from Cape Wide News, Lampley was inside of his home at night when he was shot by someone standing outside of his bedroom window, a possible third link to “The Wire.” In season one of the show, a fictitious woman who is cooperating with police is killed when the shooter stands outside of her window at night, taps the glass to get her attention, waits for her to approach the window, and then fires a fatal shot into the home.

Hampton and Lampley also had a previous connection, with Hampton testifying in court that Lampley was involved in the July 2007 murder of Jacques Sellers in the same neighborhood, CWN reported. Sellers was also reportedly shot inside his home by someone shooting through a window from outside.

This seems to have nothing to do with politics, or so it would seem. 

The defense this accused murderer could use is that he was brainwashed into being a killer by identifying with the criminals on "The Wire". Notably, the show tried to depict criminals in a way that showed them in a somewhat sympathetic manner.

His lawyers would introduced the case of an actress who played a ruthless hit woman on The Wire who was convicted of second degree murder:

Felicia Pearson (born May 18, 1980) is an American television actress, rapper, published author and convicted murderer. She played Felicia "Snoop" Pearson on The Wire and wrote a 2007 memoir, Grace After Midnight, detailing her troubled childhood and time in prison for second-degree murder. Wikipedia profile

Above from Atlanta Black Star

I don't know whether Felicia Pearson used her playing a murderer in a TV show as part of her defense, but she could have. 

Donald Trump could use the defense that he also was brainwashed from identifying with characters depicted heroically on television as breaking the law for the greater good or to render justice on shows like "24" where Jack Bauer used torture literally to save the entire world, and on "Dexter" where Dexter Morgan was a serial killer who killed serial killers, a surefire way to stop their killing sprees.

Another blog from today:

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Morning Joe, please don't call Marjorie Taylor Green a freak or weirdo

 By Hal Brown

These guys were freaks:

The Mothers of Invention touring Europe in 1968. Back row: Roy Estrada, Frank Zappa, Don Preston. Front row: Jimmy Carl Black, Bunk Gardner. 
Ron Kroon for Anefo - Nationaal Archief CC0

This woman may be freakish, but she's not a freak like members of The Mothers, Alice Cooper,  and Iggy Pop.

Neither is her former BFF:

 Of course her new BFF is Kevin McCarthy.

This morning Joe Scarborough repeated at least two times that the GOP is being run by freaks, weirdos, and insurrectionists.

Read article here 

GOP will 'suffer' because it's led by 'freaks' like Marjorie Taylor Greene'.

I take exception to his describing people like Marjorie Taylor Greene as a freak. He is not only being too kind but is using a term which could be, if not complementary, at least not derogatory. 

In my younger days when I was a student at Michigan State (see photos) in the 1960 through the early 70's the word described people who were unabashedly and proudly nonconformists.

The freak scene was originally a component of the bohemian subculture which began in California in the mid-1960s, associated with (or part of) the hippie movement. The term is also used to refer to the post-hippie and pre-punk period of the early to mid-1970s. It can be viewed as encompassing a range of disparate groups including hippies, pacifists, politicized radicals, as well as psychedelic and progressive rock fans. Those connected with the subculture often attended rock festivals, free festivals, happenings, and alternative society gatherings of various kinds. (Wikipedia)

As for calling these people weirdos, the weirdos of the world ought to be offended. Children sometimes call other kids who march to the beat of their own drummers weirdos. They may bully them just because they are different or eccentric. There's even an anti-bullying web series called Weirdos.

Children today who the conforming kids may call weirdos include lots of youngsters who will grow up to be more successful than those who were the popular kids. 

History is replete with examples of  celebrities, innovators, and world leaders who were unpopular when they were children. Here's a list of celebrities who were bullied as children. "Bill Clinton As a junior high schooler was picked on relentlessly for being a 'fat band boy' with bad taste in clothes. Their taunting culminated in an incident at a junior high dance: one older student teased Clinton about his carpenter’s jeans, and even hit Clinton in the jaw." (Reference) Love him or hate him, Elon Muck was bullied as a child. 

What then would I call the current leadership of the GOP? This is a cop-out, but don't get me started. I'll just leave it with what Joe Scarborough called them and quit the nitpicking. In current parlance we might as well call them freaks, weirdos, and insurrectionists.

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