<
https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/commentary/media-2020-election-trump-authoritarianism-20230827.html>
"They stood on an arena stage in Milwaukee under a massive sign that read
“Democracy” — the metaphorical 800-pound gorilla that loomed over this strange
political event but was never really discussed. When the dust finally settled
after two hours of the first televised debate of the 2024 GOP primaries,
nothing — from the rude kids-table outbursts from the impertinent Vivek
Ramaswamy to the doomed efforts by Nikki Haley or Mike Pence to be the
grown-ups in the room — actually mattered inside the airy Fiserv Forum except
for one thing.
All those not-so-wonderful people out there in the dark. A mob that raged, and
ultimately ruled.
This audience seemed to only care about The Man Who Wasn’t There — Donald
Trump, who was too busy refueling his private jet for his next arrest to bother
attending. The restive crowd reached its peak when its bête noire, the
anti-Trump turncoat Chris Christie, dared try to challenge Ramaswamy’s outburst
that POTUS 45 “was the best president of the 21st century.” It filled the
basketball arena with boos.
The pro-Trump ruckus was such that
Fox News coanchors Bret Baier and Martha
MacCallum dramatically turned around to face the audience. “So listen,” Baier
said, “the more time we spend doing this, the less time they can talk about
issues you want to talk about.”
LOL. As the night dragged on, the only “issues” the crowd seemed jazzed about
were brash challenges to scientific truths that it considers elite liberal
pieties — like Ramaswamy’s false claim that climate change solutions have
killed more people than climate change — or authoritarian vows of violence,
like Ron DeSantis’ promise to render any drug dealers at the border “stone cold
dead.” None of the eight people on that stage “won” — only Trump, his angry
mob, and a 21st-century brand of American fascism that is the enemy of
democracy, the writing on the wall.
If you watched the hours of TV news coverage during an especially momentous
week in August, there was little sense of that reality, and for long stretches
of pundit blather, none at all — as talking heads gave earnest high school
debating marks to candidates who are all but ignored by the GOP voter base. The
disconnect deepened the next night as Trump turned what would surely be his
comeuppance — his surrender at Atlanta’s bug-infested county jail for
fingerprinting and a mug shot ― into an outlaw display of authoritarian force.
It was a remarkable night of imagery over substance, yet there was little
discussion of why this accused felon was getting a phalanx of dozens of
motorcycle cops, comprising police who are drawn to Trump’s authoritarian
bluster like moths to the light. Trump’s glowering mug shot instantly became
the most talked about picture in American history — yet not one pundit was able
to explain why tens of millions of everyday voters are so eager to return to
the White House this man who attempted a coup on Jan. 6, 2021, or why his poll
numbers rise with each indictment. I guess the 20th-century author and
socialist Upton Sinclair really nailed it when he wrote, “It is difficult to
get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not
understanding it.”"
Via Kevin O'Brien.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
