Wednesday, August 26, 2020

Lampoonish spectacle of cultish authoritarianism

Because of the nasty guy saying he wants to make the cut in payroll taxes permanent if he’s reelected, several prominent Democratic senators asked Stephen Gross, chief actuary for Social Security, how long our retirement payments would last. Joan McCarter of Daily Kos reported his answer: Social Security would be depleted in 2023, well before the end of the next presidential term. The disability payments would end next year.

Nancy Altman, president of Social Security Works, pointed out that, “Trump is claiming the authority to defund Social Security with no action from Congress whatsoever.”



The GOP convention, into day three, has been claiming that the nasty guy’s response to the coronavirus has been absolutely the best ever (they’re of course saying it was Democrats who caused the five million cases and the 175,000 dead). That brought Mark Sumner of Kos to write:
Trump’s handling of COVID-19 hasn’t been bungled or mishandled or poor. It’s been murder. It’s been deliberate. It’s been death-as-a-political-strategy. And now the Trump convention is running film clips from Thailand as part of a propaganda piece claiming it was Trump who took the virus seriously, Trump who took action, and Trump who whatever.

This level of propaganda might not quite match that of the Nazis … but it’s getting damn close. Not only should Trump’s actions in canceling a national testing strategy be the subject of a second impeachment, they are crimes against humanity deserving of a trial before the world. That the media is sitting quietly by as Trump claims to be the hero of the crisis he created, should be the focus of outrage.

Kerry Eleveld of Kos listed five of the top lies being told at the convention. Since nearly all of it is lies, these are definitely the standouts of the bunch.

* Ronna McDaniel said: “Raising taxes on 82% of Americans is not nice.” Yeah, raising corporate taxes may indirectly increase expenses for poor people. But, that’s not “taxes.” Also, Biden’s tax plan includes tax reductions for poor people while raising taxes on the rich.

* Nikki Haley said, “President Trump brought our economy back before, and he will bring it back again.” No, Obama was the president after Bush II who brought the economy back.

* Don Jr. said, “After eight years of Obama and Biden's slow growth, Trump's policies have been like rocket fuel to the economy and especially the middle class.” No, since the nasty guy took over and even before the pandemic the economy, especially the economy of the middle class, has been slowing.

* The nasty guy said, “We're taking good care of our postal workers.” Now that overtime has been cut their work hours are about to be hit too.

* The nasty guy also said, “I didn't back down from my promises, and I've kept every single one.” Such as the promise to get Mexico to pay for the wall that hasn’t been built yet.

Umairh tweeted:
The point of this lampoonish spectacle of cultish authoritarianism isn’t you. It’s to harden and commit the mere 30% or so of committed fanatics it takes to destroy a society. That you treat it as a joke is just a really major side benefit.

The convention’s message is to reinforce the GOP claim that the Democrats are lying to them, that the Democrats are going to destroy the country, that the base had better be ready for battle after election day.

A few days ago some show on NPR had a sound clip of the nasty guy who said it is impossible for the Democrats to win without cheating. And yeah, that’s another bit of projection – the GOP can’t win without gerrymandering, voter ID laws that suppress the vote in black areas, consistently not having enough voting machines in black precincts, using voting machines that have been compromised, destroying the USPS, inviting Russia to interfere, and sending thugs to polling places in black areas to intimidate voters.

Of course, those lapping up what the GOP is saying this week rather like the idea of poor people not being able to vote and may consider it cheating on behalf of Democrats if they did.



A smile for today: A panda caretaker is trying to rake leaves. The pandas help. It’s a two minute video.

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