Wednesday, July 18, 2018

The Art of the Anti-Trump Dog Whistle

What do Barack Obama and Queen Elizabeth have in common (besides, that is, being the carefully manufactured celebrity public images which mask and protect the private pursuit of power and wealth by neoliberal capitalism at the public's expense)?

They have perfected the fine art of pissing all over Donald Trump without ever having to unzip their lips and soil themselves by mentioning his name. That would just be too, too untoward.

Obama gave what's being praised (by the corporate media) as a momentous put-down of The Donald at a speech he had to travel all the way to South Africa to give, ostensibly in honor of the late Nelson Mandela. 

Lilibet was even more circumspect. As she stiff upper-lipped her way through the odious chore of meeting and greeting Trump last week, she wore a giant brooch given to her by Barack and Michelle Obama. She couldn't have stabbed Trump in the ass more effectively if she'd unpinned the magical amulet and stabbed him in the ass with it. She is the Merriest Wife of Windsor evah, or at least in the past half-millennium.

You go, Girl!  


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She Is Not Amused

It's a tiny secret anti-Trump club of elites out there, folks, and you ain't in it. All you regular people can do is experience your daily Five Minutes of Hate in online comment boards when you're not feeling the vicarious outrage along with such Russophobic cable news stars as Rachel Maddow and Anderson Cooper.

The coded anti-Trump snootiness possibly reached an apogee of hilariousness in the pages of The Guardian:
 Casual royal observers such as myself barely noticed the Queen’s fashion choices during Trump’s visit, because we were too busy cringing at Trump’s behaviour around her. Whether you give a fig about the royals or not – and I come very much from the “no fig” end of the spectrum – watching Trump galumph around in front of her, get in her way and generally act as if she wasn’t even there was, just on a human level, throw-up-on-your-own-shoes nauseating. She’s a 92-year-old woman, show her some respect, you giant Oompa-Loompa! But, of course, expecting thoughtfulness from a man who, earlier this year, was photographed holding an umbrella over his own precious head leaving his young son exposed to the elements, brings to mind words such as “blood” and “stone”.

 And the Queen, wisely, appeared to expect none either, because it turns out she was sending us all coded messages via the medium of her brooches. Yes, her brooches – read on and bow down in awe, James Bond. Twitter user @SamuraiKnitter has pointed out that on the first day of the Trump visit, the Queen wore a simple green brooch that was given to her by the Obamas to signify their friendship. On the second day, she wore a brooch given to her by Canada, a country with which Trump is less than pleased at the moment (also, it was in the shape of a snowflake, a classic Trump term for people who disagree with him.) And, for the last day, she chose a brooch she wore to the funeral of her father, so not one associated with happiness and joy. Queen’s brooches: 3. Trump: 0.
Barack Obama sported no royal jewelry with which to broadcast his own elite disdain for the Human Dorito, but he still retains his silver tongue and his vocabulary of gold. And thus he broached the topic. Unlike other mere liberal mortals, currently frothing at the mouth in an inchoate group frenzy of Treasonous Traitor Terror Tirades, though, Obama was able to add to the epidemic of Trump Derangement Syndrome by seeming to tamp it down with his calm, cool, dispassionate, "coded" rhetoric.

Trump's Tweets: 0. Obama's Speech: 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.

You'd think he was a computer geek with all the praise he's getting from the media about his "coded" message to Those In The Know, a message they imagine totally bypassed the thick skulls out there in Deploraville, who wouldn't know the meaning of "ascendant strongman politics" and nuance if their asses depended on it. As the New York Times reported,
Mr. Obama seemed to to take direct aim at Mr. Trump over his administration’s policies and his propensity for exaggerations and falsehoods. He said he was stunned how the notion of objective truth was now up for debate and how politicians make up facts and stand by baseless claims even after they are proved wrong.
“We see the utter loss of shame among political leaders, where they’re caught in a lie and they just double down and lie some more,” he said. “Look, let me say: Politicians have always lied, but it used to be that if you caught them lying, they’d be like, ‘Ah, man.’”
Unlike Trump, Obama has a refined sense of humor. When he was caught out in his epic "if you like your health plan, you can keep it" lie about the Affordable Care Act, for example,   his aides were able to importune the Obama-friendly media into treating it like a huge joke, with the uninsured and underinsured public as the giant punchline. And with stunning book, speech and Netflix deals worth least $100 million in his first post-presidential year alone, Obama has very much to be amused about when he's not giving his very serious (with many a knowing grin) coded speeches.


The Art of Coded Trump-Pissing, Complete With Urinal-Inspired Podium

Those smugly In The Know just can't resist juxtaposing Obama's legendary arcane brilliance with Trump's latest Tweet, in which he not only misspelled "colusion" but he so deranged that he thinks he is immune from the Trump Derangement Syndrome bug going around. He is so deranged that he is even, as Politico reports, "walking back his walk-back on Russia interference."   
President Donald Trump on Wednesday returned to a defiant posture, insisting his deeply controversial meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin will prove to be a great success “in the long run” and complaining that his critics are suffering from “Trump Derangement Syndrome.”
One day after issuing a rare mea culpa — in which Trump claimed he meant to say there’s no reason to believe it “wouldn’t” have been Russia that meddled in the U.S. election — Trump appeared to be walking back his walk-back.
“While the NATO meeting in Brussels was an acknowledged triumph, with billions of dollars more being put up by member countries at a faster pace, the meeting with Russia may prove to be, in the long run, an even greater success. Many positive things will come out of that meeting” Trump tweeted.
Since I recently cancelled my ripoff cable TV service, I was late watching the TrumPutin Armageddon press conference that has Anderson Cooper, Rachel Maddow and the New York Times writhing in such conniption fits of outrage. And you know what? I didn't find the con at all out of the ordinary. Leaders of state preen for the cameras and fawn all over one another - check. Corporate media ask questions about the Golden Showers Dossier and other click-baity things, and said leaders react with disdain. Check.

I was, like, oh man, where is the beef? Where's the charred Mar-a-Lago sirloin? Where's the Strogonoff with sour cream and mushrooms? It was painfully obvious that these media personalities were so pumped before the fact of The Summit From Hell that they had their disgusted talking points all lined up to recite for the cameras the minute that Trump and Putin left the stage

But lo and behold. It is now two whole days since the Summit, and the capitalistic world is still spinning.  Amazon Prime deliveries are still running right on schedule. The pay is still too damned low and the rent is still too damned high. The United States still has between 800 and a thousand military bases all around the world, and Russia still has a very scary grand total of Nine. NATO still exists. So does NAFTA, despite all of Trump's deranged trade war rhetoric.

You know what is really bothering me? I'm discovering that I am developing more sympathy and empathy for Trump voters (dare I say even for Trump himself?) than I am able to even remotely identify with the hysterical McCarthyite liberals of the Democratic Party, who seem to be yearning for World War III by actually attacking the Trump regime from the right. No wonder James Comey is urging everybody to vote Democratic. They've got Intelligence on their side, and I don't mean in a good way.  

Sad. And scary as hell.

6 comments:

Jay–Ottawa said...

Surely Obama at the urinal had his fingers crossed when he issued these lines:

“We see the utter loss of shame among political leaders, where they’re caught in a lie and they just double down and lie some more,” he said. “Look, let me say: Politicians have always lied, but it used to be that if you caught them lying, they’d be like, ‘Ah, man.’”

Can no one find a way of making him say 'Ah, man" with that certain rising inflection that begs for exculpation?

On a more important dog whistle matter, why was the Queen wearing fleur-de-lis blue on the day England faced France in the finals for the World Cup?

Anna Radicalova said...

Ok, so Trump tells lies, but he lives an authentically selfish, indulgent life.

Obama's whole life is a lie, or as Bill Clinton called it, 'the biggest fairy tale I've ever seen.'

Who told the biggest whopper of all - that we are the One Exceptional, Indispensable Nation? Obama, the global imperialist true believer. Trump, on the other hand, thinks we should mind our own damned business and take care of our own country for a change. That resonates with ordinary voters if not with the establishment whose interest is in maintaining the status quo.

It's beyond tragic that the one President who wants to pull back from global imperialism is viciously attacked by all quarters. It's funny that that now that people are questioning why Obama did nothing other than some wrist slaps after he was already a lame duck, Russian 'hacking' is being watered down in the media to 'meddling' and to 'influencing' the election (under Obama) but we're under an ongoing 'attack' and we're 'at war' (under Trump).

Trump is trying to reverse global military imperialism, and while he will almost certainly fail, good could come out of the efforts, such as repairing relationships with foreign 'enemies'. Enough of the 'We need to assure our allies' garbage. Trump is asking why we aren't assuring our own citizens, f**K the 'allies'. That resonates with voters.

Trump is trying to fundamentally change the system so that it works for workers via business, believe it or not, and that's why voters elected him, not because they loved and admired his character and personality. I'm sure they'd rate him as a pathetic liar and shallow materialist, but no one else talked about putting our people's interests over our allies and other global interests.

Professor Obama taught the nation over 8 years to be skeptical of 'just words', especially ones such as 'If you like your doctor/health plan, you can keep your doctor/health plan.' Obama needs to own his responsibility for this mess and Trump's election. The media gave Trump a flunking grade as President on Day 1 and ever since then, but voters are willing to give him time to prove himself.

The Trump bashing and anti-Russia hysteria has Hillary written all over it. If the Democrats and their media partners keep playing Follow the Leader (Hillary), Trump will be re-elected - unless he's impeached or otherwise removed - and Democrats will be going down for the count and for good because they just don't get it.

I'm sure Pence will make everyone feel soooo much better.

Erik Roth said...



With Trump-Pence it’s like we’re getting a Nixon-Agnew zombie redux, but into a far more imperiled world.
Impeachment is no solution.
The Justice (sic) Department is too complicit and corrupt to prosecute anything.
The corporate-owned main scream cheer-leading media has no journalistic impulse to investigate or any concept of ethics to guide that.
All we can hope for are multiple resignations.
And be wary of this:

"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.” ~ John F. Kennedy

Violence will be provoked in order to enforce martial rule.

“Protection is the first necessity of opulence and luxury.” ~ Joseph Conrad
And the militarized police state is in place to protect and serve the rulers.

We have what Alexis de Tocqueville observed, in “Recollections on the French Revolution.” ~
“Society was cut in two: those who had nothing united in common envy; those who had anything united in common terror.”

Now as to what we, as a country, deserve, I think “we” need to come to terms with what “our country” means.
That requires honestly facing its history, thoroughly addressing its present state, and clearly defining what together we aspire to become.

At my 40th college reunion in October 2010, I attended a symposium moderated by classmate James Fallows.
Its subject:
"I Hear America Singing ... or is it Moaning? Do we need a plan for renewal?
"What is America to us and to the rest of the world? What did we used to sing, what do we think we are singing, what do we want to be singing and what are others hearing us sing? America has been many things at many times, not the least of which has been a 'can do' country. Have we lost some of this spirit? Can it be recaptured? How can we address the growing number of complex and expensive problems facing us? "

However provocative and on point that was, I felt compelled to qualify the very premise, that there exists a viable “we.”
So, I rose to quote Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., who wryly remarked during the so-called Reagan Revolution, that America suffers from “… too much pluribus and not enough unum."

To further make the point, I recounted the joke about the Lone Ranger & Tonto suddenly finding themselves surrounded by hostile Indians.
Terrified, old Kemo Sabe says to his side-kick: “They want to kill us, what'll we do?!?"
To which, Tonto replies: "What do you mean we, white man?"

Fact is, distressingly, we do not really have a fully, fairly functioning democracy.
As Justice Brandeis said:
"We may have democracy, or we may have wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both."

Now we have a plutocracy.
What’s public is up for grabs, the commonwealth looted by the rich for their private profit.
In America now it’s every man for himself and the devil take the hindmost.
That is neither respectable, nor sustainable.

Jay–Ottawa said...

(Good grief, the cover page of Sardonicky just came down with a bad case of jaundice. That's what happens when you make a habit of mixing with bad company.)

There are basically two ways Trump might legally be ejected from the Oval Office before 2020.

If Trump is convicted of impeachment because Mueller proves (ha!) to the post-2018 House and Senate that (1) Trump is Putin's poddle and (2) Russian meddling was key to Hillary's loss in 2016, that would amount to treason as well as a high crime, no?

Wouldn't such a conviction also void in its entirety the election of 2016? Because the outcome would have been seen as a distortion of our democratic system (cough) by an unfriendly foreign power. If the election of 2016 were voided, not only would Trump and Pence, both president and vice-president on the same compromised ticket, be thrown out of office, so would all their political appointees up and down the line. It might also be argued that the two Trump appointments (so far) to the Supreme Court should also be taken back.

All wishful thinking. Such a conviction of impeachment (for treason and election meddling) will never happen. You heard it first here.

The only way Mike Pence will ever take over is if the presidential election of 2016 continues to stand as valid but Trump is judged by competent authority to be incapacitated. (I know, I know, lots of people think he's already incapacitated.) In the event, Pence would still be the recognized V-P, thus authorized to step in for the incapacitated president.

As for whether Trump's shady business deals, costly philandering, bad sleep habits, anti-Mediterranean diet and titubating neurons will ever render him incapacitated while in office, only the Lord knows, as Mike Pence might put it. Otherwise, two and 1/3 years to go with Trump, unless the Dems again shoehorn him into another term.

Anna Radicalova said...

Very nice colorful upgrade to Sardonicky!

Jay–Ottawa said...

The Revolution for the common man and woman is happening, of all places (once again), within the Democratic Party itself. Who was expecting this? According to reports by the NYT and other pubs, like The Intercept, it looks like we commoners will soon be able to return to the Democratic fold with a clear conscience and hopes for a newer New Deal, Fair Deal, Democratic Socialism, whatever.

The socialist-at-heart sheepdogs are multiplying and soon will be replacing the neocon-neolib shepherds. Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez and lots of like-minded leftish puppies who form the Blue Wave are on a roll. Bye, bye Chuck Schumer.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/21/us/politics/democratic-party-midterms.html?emc=edit_th_180722&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=481699050722

https://theintercept.com/2018/07/21/bernie-sanders-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-kansas-james-thompson-brent-welder/?comments=1#comments

Now, about this bridge I was telling you about....