The National Foundation of Tergiversating
Nincompshits: Our world is about possibilities and capacities. To control it, we
would, if we only could, shit on you.
A Deliricum of Wisdom
|
Republicans and Democrats have always gone
to amazing lengths to block and derail each other’s policies. There is nothing
new here. This is how this country has operated since the foundation the
Republic. To keep reminding each other of the times when Nancy Pelosi did this and
Mitch McConnell did that is to distract ourselves from the real issues, and
dangers, at hand.
The issue of Russia’s dabbling in the elections
is real. The overall impact of it might be exaggerated by some and the whole affair
might indeed backfire against Putin, but these considerations do not make the
phenomenon itself less real. There is a pattern here that we cannot ignore:
contacts between Trump advisers and Russian officials which the Trump Campaign
and now the Trump Administration have insistently tried to deny until the
mainstream media broke the story wide open, and the fact that Russia is doing the
same thing in France and Germany as well in a more overt manner. It’s this
latter point should particularly alarm us, as it shows that Russia’s leaders
are actively waging war against democracy and the liberal democratic order on a
global scale.
Moreover, the growing concerns over Trump’s
business interests and temperament are quite legitimate. He is the first entrepreneur
ever to be elected into office, and he brings with him a set of unique challenges
that the system has never faced. The president has been clearly unwilling to disassociate
himself from his business interests, the result: taxpayers now have to pay Mr. Trump’s
businesses millions of dollars in order to protect the President and his family.
There is no precedent for that on this scale, and scale does matter when the discrepancy
is so big. More importantly, and as officials and businessmen from other
countries begin to invest in Mr. Trump’s businesses, as they have already begun
doing, concerns over the possibility of quid-pro-quo arrangements down the road
should not be underestimated. After all, these foreign officials and
businessmen have embarked on this course exactly in hope and anticipation of
such arrangements. The appearance of impropriety here is by itself quite damaging
to America’s image and interests. The fact that Mr. Trump himself doesn’t seem
to be bothered by any of this is troubling.
Indeed, it’s Mr. Trump’s temperament that
is the most problematic thing of all. Keeping track of his lies, his wild
accusations and his silly and petulant rants against celebrities have a deleterious
effect on public trust and on America’s standing in the world.
We now have an American President who,
while in office, is claiming that the elections are rigged, that America is not
innocent when it comes to dealing with political opponents and that an American
president actually can spy on his opponents, a president who, by his own actions,
shows that it’s OK for political leaders to use their public position to enrich
themselves and their families.
The world is watching, and corrupt elite and
autocratic leaders all over the world can now point to President Trump is doing
to support their claim that democracy is a sham.
Those who are ignoring this or are making
light of it, be they members of Congress, policy circles or the media, and who
want us to do the same, are allowing their partisan belonging to cloud their
judgment. Trump should be opposed not because he is a Republican, but because
he is Trump – a banal, narcissistic man-child who believes that his own wants, needs
and desires are inherently compatible with national interests and should, therefore,
never be questioned. The fact that he managed to get away with behaving like an
entitled brat for so long has made him impervious to any advice that conflicts
with his opinions, and unwilling to admit wrong or to being corrected. Trump
needs to be opposed because the future of American democracy is what’s at
stake.
No one is calling for a coup d’état here or
for denying the results of the elections. The checks and balances already in
place are more than off to do the job of saving this country from the danger
posed by this man and some of his advisers. But first we need to agree to take
off the ideological visors through which we keep examining everything, and see
the man for what he truly is, and the dangers and stakes for what they truly
are: it’s the future of the entire country that’s at stake here, and that of democracy
itself, not that of a particular political party.
The Delirynth
|
A rundown of developments from around our labyrinthine world. Readers
are advised to constantly remind themselves that we actually do live in the
world where these things are happening.
|
Russia Gate
After issuing at least 20 denials of
contacts with Russia, more and more advisers from the Trump Administration
are now admitting to meeting with
Russian officials. While the meetings in themselves may not be problematic, as
this depends on what was exactly discussed, denying them is extremely troubling,
especially when done while under oath as is the case with Jeff Sessions. Why
could they possibly be hiding? An official inquiry is needed to help us
determine the answer. Now
it's revealed that Jared met with the Russian ambassador, too – after getting
smuggled into Trump Tower for a get-together with ex security advisor Mike
Flynn.
As usual, Mr. Trump seems to have chosen
to go on war-footing with his critics through recourse to his favorite tactic: sending
a barrage of outrageous tweets that demonstrate how little he understands the
complexity of our system of governance, and how little he cares about the
damage he does to America’s standing in the world each time he engages in such
tirades.
If
the Feds Did Wiretap Trump Tower, It’s Not Obama Who Should Worry. “If nothing else, Trump’s tweets
show he doesn’t understand how the FISA system works. If he did, he may
have limited himself to tweeting
about Arnold Schwartzenegger quitting The Apprentice this morning.”
Meanwhile, the Golden Shower report seems
to have more legs than previously thought: BBC
claims a second source backs up Trump dossier.
And another one of Trump’s advisers have
come under the spotlight: The Curious Case
of Sebastian Gorka, Trump’s New Terrorism Guru. Check the
entry on Sebgorkalogy below.
ЯeveЯsed Polarity (ЯP)
|
Real headlines, news and
comments that strain credulity.
|
Sebgorkalogy: An academic
nondiscipline that focuses on digging up ancient grievances lingering in the
backgrounds of one’s unconscious then projecting them onto one’s analysis of
contemporary realities leading to such farcical conclusions as: Radical
Islamic Terrorism poses a serious and existential threat to Western
civilization. The conclusion is farcical of its failure to explain how
terrorists operating in small cells and groups armed with improvised weapons or
weapons purchased on the black market and who come from mostly underdeveloped
countries, often from failing states, or from marginalized classes within
western societies that represent a small fraction of their overall population
can actually pose an existential threat to the richest most developed countries
on earth protected as they are by the most powerful and advanced armies and
most sophisticated law enforcement agencies in the world. Sebgorkalogy texts
are considered holy by the Bannonites
who use them to rationalize their inherently shitty attitude towards Muslims
and others. Indeed, Sebgorkalogists are considered to be a subsect of the
Bannonites and, like them, they maintain a strict diet of shit and hot air. The
founder of Sebgorkalogy, Seb the Ass, is known to be one of Bannon
the Stiff’s close disciples. Temples dedicated to the study of Sebgorkalogy
are known as Sebtic Tanks.
Kissing the Yak: In
political circles, Kissing the Yak is treated as the equivalent of kissing the
ring of one’s political overlords and benefactors, or any of their official
representatives. Although the practice seems to have originated in Russia, it
has recently been introduced into American policy circles as well, mainly
thanks to the activities of Russia’s Ambassador, Sergey Ivanovich Kislyak. The practice is
said to have originated in the gulags of Siberia in the late 19th century
before being officially approved by Stalin and incorporated as a standard
practice by the KGB. In the Kremlin, a special Kiss the Yak ceremony is said to
be held on a monthly basis with Putin’s ass now used as a substitute for the Yak.
In doing this, Putin is said to be following in Stalin’s footsteps.
Trumpshitting: A unique
formula for bullshitting introduced by now president of the United States,
Donald J. Trump. The formula goes as follows: lie, lie biglier, lie
crassier, then, lie with a smile and most people, even your enemies, will think
that you have finally become presidential. Trump’s address to the Joint
Session on February 28, 2017 is considered to be a great example of the formula
in action.
Imbeachment: The term used
by people who like peaches to refer to “impeachment.” In a manner of speaking,
this would be the political equivalent of beaching the whales, but where people
are expected to empathize more with the beach than the whales.
* In a democracy, each of us can all live
under the illusion that we are right. In an autocracy, only the Leader is right,
and that’s no illusion.
* In a democracy, we can all lie if and
when we want. In an autocracy, only the Leader has the privilege of lying, and
all his lies are true.
* In a democracy, no one counts your
breaths because they are not considered precious. In an autocracy, your breaths
are always counted for they are always precious, that is, so long as you use
them in service of the Leader.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please stick to the topic(s) being discussed in this particular entry. Hate speech will not be tolerated.