Originally published at: Trump tries and fails to turn a crowd against DeSantis | Boing Boing
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Has it been, though? Has it?
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Depends on the definition of success, I’m sure.
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this time the noted liar offered a very made-up sounding story about how DeSantis begged him for help.
Just a narcissistic and bullying old grandpa. Sad!
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For the crickets on desantis impugning there’s a complementary editorial in today’s new york times (yes yes i know, generally a dubious source) written by a right leaning columnist David French declaring that trump is the head of his ‘cult’ only because he parrots what they insist he should say. As supporting evidence the column provides the recent boos that trump got when he asserted that he got the covid booster. Of course trump will say/do anything as long as it profits him, but it does support the view that these views aren’t natively trump’s, who likely has no philosophical framework however vile, but that of the racist deluded conspiracy minded crowd. Here’s hoping that the crowd will eventually get around to the Robespierre conclusion; as unlikely as that may be -sigh-
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I think the big story out of the Waco Whacko Fest is this. It was in Heather Cox Richardson’s newsletter this morning and I’ve not seen it covered anywhere else:
“…the danger to democracy at home was crystal clear last night, as former president Trump held a rally in Waco, Texas, where in 1993 a 51-day government siege of the headquarters of a religious cult gave birth to the modern anti-government militia movement. Since then, Waco has been a touchstone for violent attacks on the government. There, last night, Trump stood on stage with his hand over his heart while loudspeakers played not the national anthem but a song recorded by January 6 insurrectionists. Footage from the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol played on a screen behind him.”
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David French is the NYT’s latest “respectable conservative” columnist, an import from the National Review who’s upset that fascists like Biff and his followers say the quiet parts out loud and – unlike him – are too clumsy in their hypocrisy.
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Glad to hear this pointed out!
Like most of us, I remember the Waco disaster. I was growing up in Canada at the time, but we all watched it on TV just like the US did. We sort of knew it was a clusterfuck, but I personally never knew how bad it was until I saw the Netflix special. I know we have to take Netflix specials with a grain of salt (they do have a tendency to dramatize and tell narrow versions of stories) but two main points seem valid:
- There were two competing sides of the FBI that weren’t coordinating which made everything 10x worse. They decided to bulldoze the building and nobody seems to know why.
- Timothy McVeigh had a front row seat for it and it was a major contributor to his decision to commit the Oklahoma City bombing.
It doesn’t surprise me to hear that event also created the modern anti-government violence movement in general (or at least crystallized it). It can’t be an accident that Former Guy would have his rally there.
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Having a definition of success implies forethought and consideration, things I don’t believe TFG is capable of.
I’ve got too many negative associations with FL to be unbiased, though. Maybe it’s been very successful in some sense of the phrase. ¯_(ツ)_/¯
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Hard to tell. I guess it is. Especially if you track the increased number of disabled vans in Orlando parked on the side of the road and in mall shopping lots covered in conspiracy theories, let’s go brandon stickers and waving tump flags.
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If that’s success, wow am I (and the state I live in) a loser.
And proud of it, I guess?
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Here’s hoping that they weaken the field bigly before the general.
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There’s probably lack of enthusiasm about attacks of other GOP strongmen because they don’t really care as long as some strongman is up there to “stick it to them woke libs”.
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Trump absolutely has a philosophy.
It is: Look out for number one
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Florida’s current state is the result of people with goals working toward those goals. Often with great diligence.
Those goals just happen to be ones which you and I might struggle to perceive as goals, because we don’t see “enrich myself and ensure my political power through persistent degradation of the fundamental values of social obligation, functioning government, and the rights of anyone who is not a white Christian male” as a goal.
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I guess if one were to imagine Florida from Trump’s point of view it would be a land of exclusive golf courses and country clubs with nary a poor person in sight.
I mean, just because he lives in the state doesn’t mean he’s about to go visit some trailer park community in DeSoto county.
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I’m sure he just chose it because he was a big Fixer Upper fan. He’s really into real estate and reality TV. You just know he has a Joanna crush.
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The Guardian covered it - the event sits firmly in the middle ground between high camp and fascist nightmare:
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Atrocity sites used as backdrops for Republican rallies and major announcements go back at least as far as candidate Ronald Reagan speaking at the Neshoba County Fair in Philadelphia, Mississippi in 1980. Philadelphia, Mississippi was the site of the Freedom Summer murders in 1964. The Freedom Summer murders are what the movie “Mississippi Burning” was based on.
I’m not surprised Trump’s supporters are getting tired of the same old political grievance spiel he’s been spouting. It’s like watching an old man shouting at clouds. Initially amusing but nothing you want to stand around and watch for a couple of hours.
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