In a perfect world, people would focus on the political content and, despite Biden's suboptimal form on the day, would take time to read the transcript of the debate, check the truthfulness of the statements made by both candidates and analyse on this basis who has the better plan for the US. If that was the case, I am guessing Joe Biden could win the election in a landslide. The fact that he himself is by now old and slow would be irrelevant, because he would gather around him an extremely capable team.
Perhaps the central weakness of democracies is that they are based on the assumption that the majority of the people acts on the basis of rational considerations, able to justify their voting decisions with arguments and willing to discuss them in the hope that the best argument will ultimately prevail.
Instead: A coup, and the junta wears judges' robes. And the media has a field day.
Also this:
Trump's Fetish about Abortion at Term
And why the media is unfit to ask about abortion in a debate (click on this headline to read the full post by the excellent Jen Gunter)
These Trump abortion lies about “after birth” abortion and abortions at eight or nine months are shiny things for the media because they evoke imagery of wanton, careless women and evil doctors. As if at 36 or so weeks (because the women getting these abortions at or close to term were previously too busy with their hair and nails), scores of women finally book a $99 abortion they easily found on their For You Page on TikTok. Unless they can find a friend who was also just too bored to get her abortion earlier, then they can take advantage of the Monday BOGO abortion deal and split the cost. And if they can’t make it to the local strip mall abortuary because of important reasons, such as shopping, for an extra $20, after they deliver, they will get the doctor to kill their now newborn as part of some kind of package deal. It is a grotesque conspiracy theory, and to let these lies fly by several times in the debate falsely implies they are grounded in reality instead of what they are–fascist lies shrouded in double-speak. And unfortunately, replying to them rationally in real time doesn’t work.
And the media can’t help themselves, because a shiny thing from Trump is just the best.
9 comments:
Thanks for the link to that article, it was excellent. Just when I think, well the US, and trump in particular, can't get anymore insanse, he drags it even further down and the author of that article is right, why weren't the facts checked during the debate? Why weren't there relevant follow up questions? Does CNN want trump to win the election? It wasn't a debate, it was a debacle.
Your analysis is spot on. I wish the electorate were as rational as you describe. Then we wouldn’t be in this mess. A coup in which the junta wore judges robes. Wow. You’re not wrong.
Your use of the chilling words coup and junta when it comes to six of the judges on the Supreme Court is apt and sobering. As always, I'm grateful for your observations as witness to what is unfolding in the United States. May sanity prevail and the voters turn the tide in November. Even then, the struggle will continue in our country which has always been divided and paradoxical in the shadows that are now illuminated.
Excellent article link. Thank you.
Can you imagine finding yourself living in a country where all of this is happening? It's unbelievable and terrifying. I don't even know where to put my fear, what to do with it. I keep thinking of the German people who saw Hitler coming to power and who later said, "I didn't know. We didn't know..."
And I wonder- even if they had known, what would they have done?
When all the Powers That Be come together to support such horror, what can be done beside voting? And are there enough of us who are rational to save the country?
I truly never saw this coming.
The media in the US has become a disaster, their only concern is views, clicks, etc. The orange psychopath gives them all of those things. A good man surrounded by good people doing a good job for the country just doesn't get them views like they want. Trump's a clear & present danger and I fear just enough of the American electorate is too stupid to realize it.
My reason for writing this post: Hitler was elected in January 1933 in what was then a democracy. Less then three months later, in April 1933, the so-called Law to Remedy the Distress of People and Reich was pushed by him and his cronies. This resulted in the rapid rise of nazi rule and you all know what happened next.
The core of democracies has always been that absolutely nobody is above the law, not even governments and heads of state. Their immunity, which protects them from prosecution, can be waived at any time by parliamentary resolution. In the US, that is now a thing of the past.
The American president will now enjoy immunity even if he breaks the law in the exercise of his office. Ultimately, this means that nobody can do anything to him. For the first time in history, the US has a king.
Watching that debate left me with a sensation of a rock in my stomach. I have fear the likes of which I have never before felt. I can only hope that the majority of Americans will pull through. But even if Trump is denied the office a second time, Steve Bannon and the others of his ilk will just find a new candidate to elevate for the nutty crowd. And what will they do if they don't need to fear breaking the law? The sky is the limit.
Nina
sad but true. few Americans choose their candidate rationally. some just vote party line, some are single issue voters and damn the torpedoes. this country is as close to being lost as it has ever come. the slow but steady push for decades to turn it into a christian nationalist autocracy, placing people slowly in the right places is finally coming to fruition. if people here don't wake up our elections will be about as real as Russia's. I'm just sick at how close we are to losing it all. but then empires rarely last more than a couple of hundred years.
I think most will ask themselves, as is usualy the case, are they better off now than they were 4 years ago. Wish I could say yes, but I can't. I find it sad we in the USA can't come up with 2 better choices. I'm one of the undecideds and it's a very tough place to be. Much easier for the always vote Democrat or always Republican; I wasn't raised with either of those biases. Alwasy thought that was narrow thinking. Kim in PA (USA)
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