A couple days ago, Salon published a very good article by Chauncey Devega, titled -- "Stop calling the GOP fascists 'hypocrites': No one cares, and they have no shame." His point is basically that liberals waste too much time trying to make an issue of the hypocrisy of Republicans, and that's a waste of time and focus, since hypocrisy is almost one of the features of today's GOP.
He goes into a lot of thoughtful detail. And I liked the article very much. But I do have a couple of disagreements with it. The first is the title (which, in fairness, he likely didn't write) and the other is what he gives as his only reason why liberals and Democrats call Republicans hypocrites (which directly leads to why he says calling Republicans "hypocrites" is meaningless). 1) If the GOP doesn't care about being called hypocrites, they won't care much or at all about being called fascists, and so calling them that won't stop them either -- yet he does so. And rightly does so. It's flawed logic, largely based, it seems, on his preferred choice of name-calling nouns. Yes, Republicans would vehemently deny they're fascists, but then they also generally deny being hypocrites, usually coming up with contortions to explain why their positions aren't hypocritical at all. (Sort of in the same vein as, "We don't listen to what Trump says, only what he does." Which is further twisted by the reality that they listen to him all the time. They just weed out the things that would force them to admit being hypocrites.) Also, just on general principle, I rarely like when someone says "No one cares." While there might be some things in life where almost no one -- or even actually no one -- cares, for the most part it means "I don't care, and many others don't either." But it's clear that A LOT of people care that Republicans are hypocrites. If the title had said, "None of them care," it might have still been an exaggeration, but one that hews much closer to the truth. The headline writer might have though "None of them" was implied, but it wasn't. "No one" is pretty clear. 2) He's right, too, why liberals and Democrats call GOP hypocrites. It's along the lines of "God's judgment is called down to punish the 'hypocrite'' who has transgressed against the democratic order and its supposed commitment to truth and facts." And also they want Republicans to admit they were wrong and so await an "expression of repentance and a kind of conversion experience, in which Republicans and their followers come back to reason and fully commit themselves to 'normal' social and political behavior." I'm sure that's a reason, and he's right about it -- but not as the only reason, which is how he dogmatically states is. Life is far too complex for just one reason to explain something so deeply central to the core idea of truth. And among many of those other reasons, perhaps, I would suggest, even the most important reason, is that Democrats and liberals also call out hypocrisy so it isn't accepted as normal. If you ignore pointing out hypocrisy, then words and positions lose their meaning. You can say whatever you want without ever being held to account for who you are and what you stand for, and you will continue to do so. And that's why it's important to keep calling hypocrisy. We just shouldn't expect it to matter to GOP fascist hypocrites. But then, we don't live by their standards. Those two points aside, the article is sharp, insightful and well-worth reading. You can find the whole thing here. Well, since the other day I posted the classic Berlin Wall hand ballet from Burr Tillstrom, the creator of Kukla, Fran and Ollie, I thought it only right to post some holiday videos and songs from KF&O themselves. Here then is Fran singing to Kukla and Ollie, "Christmas is a Time." It's not my favorite of holiday songs, though has a sweetness that's the hallmark of the show. What I like most about this clip is something that occurred often in the show -- Kukla just flopping on Ollie's head and laying there in adoring friendship. And as a holiday bonus, here's a medley of Christmas songs that the Kuklapolitans sing. (With a little help from Burr Tillstrom, of course...) This is not TV footage, but comes from an album they put out, but that lets Burr Tillstrom to have all the characters performing together. This last song is the treat, since the song they sing is what I was specifically looking for. It's their version of "Deck the Halls." (Deck the halls with boughs of holly. Hang the mistletoe for Ollie..) But why it's a particular joy for me is that the sequence includes a rare appearance by my favorite Kuklapolitan, Cecil Bill -- pronounced Sess-uhl. Cecil Bill is a bit lunatic and speaks in a language unknown to man, but which the others all understand perfectly, merely different incarnations of "toi ta toi toi toi." And yes, as a results, it's perfect that he's the one who gets to sing the fa-la-las... And...y'know, we're going to throw in one more bonus video - because this is the 50th anniversary to the day when it aired on ABC's The Hollywood Palace on December 20, 1969!! It's Kukla and Ollie on the Christmas Show with Perry Como hosting. Alas, there's no Fran (she was still around, and would be for another 20 years, but for whatever reason she was unavailable) but instead guest Diahann Carroll (then starring in the TV series Julia) briefly fills in, of a sort. The sketch leads into one of the Kuklapolitan's traditional oddity songs, "Ril-tilly-bill-bob" and at the end you get to see Burr Tillstrom step out for a bow. Earlier during the Fest, I posted a song from one of my favorite holiday albums, Christmas Goes Baroque by Peter Breiner. This is another of my favorites -- it's called Yulestride, performed by pianist Butch Thompson. Thompson was a long-time music director of A Prairie Home Companion. In fact, I think he was the second one, after the Powdermilk Biscuit Band. "Stride" is a kind of Dixieland jazz, which is how he arranged all the songs and plays them. And that's what I love about the album, its freshness of style. That's a tricky thing with Christmas recordings. Most are just pretty straight-forward arrangements that are familiar and comfortable. Stray too far off that path, and you risk the artistic sin of drawing attention to yourself and away from the work. The "I'm being different for the sake of being different" syndrome. The new arrangements aren't inherently valid for the music, but just because the artist didn't want to be The Same. I find this arrangements by Butch Thompson, though, to be vibrant and thoroughly joyful interpretations of the familiar, that bring out different sides to the music. (If you like the music, you can find Yulestride here. The CD is out of distribution, so it's a bit pricey, but the MP3 files can be downloaded for a very reasonable price.) By the way, though he left A Prairie Home Companion eventually, and Richard Dworskin took over the musical director chores, when they made the PHC movie a few years ago, they thoughtfully brought back Butch Thompson to appear in it -- if not in a featured role, at least sitting in. Here are a couple of songs from the album that I particularly love. The first is "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear," which might be one of the last songs you'd think of with stride jazz. But it works as it eventually kicks in his fingers fly across the keyboard. Everything on the CD isn't just like this, but it's all with this sensibility and flavor. And from the other end of the spectrum, slowed down and full of lovely stride texture, we'll follow that up with "God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen."
Yesterday, when writing about the CBS series, Ghosts, I mentioned that they were airing the two-part pilot tonight. I just checked the CBS schedule for tonight, and they changed things. They are NOT airing the two-part pilot. Instead, they are airing five different episodes starting at 8:30 PM. Oddly, they’re random, not in order. They’re all good episodes – but then the whole series has been – but still odd. And surprising that they’re not showing the two-part pilot in this “marathon.” BUT – they’re showing the first-part of the two-part pilot next week. Perhaps they’ll show the second part the week after. Still, that strikes me as a weird scheduling change.
But ultimately, the two-part pilot -- and all the episodes -- are available On Demand. So, Trump says "It seems like" the FBI staged the false flag Jan. 6 coup. Well, gee, blaming another power authority to create mistrust of them...what a very fascist thing to say. Of course, if I was on the verge of being caught for preparing a coup attempt, I'd probably blame everyone else I could. Though blaming the FBI, the very people investigating me, is admittedly more than a bit nuts. It's sort of like when the authorities have a manhunt for the mastermind of a bank robbery, and they discover a trove of damning security camera photos and air-tight evidence all pointing at you, are finally closing in on your home, sirens roaring, and the local newspaper calls you for a comment, and you say, "Actually, it seems to me like the police actually did it." Mind you, beyond being fascist, even by Trump standards, how odd a thing to even suggest. After all -- If the goal was to stage a coup, why go only halfway and stop? But if that wasn't the goal, and it was instead to support Biden to make sure he won -- Biden already won and had the Electoral Votes, and those were being counted...so why interrupt the counting?? And...if the FBI was involved, why would they now be investigating those involved? And arresting them? And giving them their day in court -- so they can point the finger at the FBI and give proof? I mean, usually when you attempt to stage a coup, you try to cover it all up, refuse subpoenas, plead the 5th and cry that it's all partisan. And…and…if the FBI was who staged the attempted coup, why on earth did “first degree” Proud Boy Matthew Greene just plead guilty yesterday to a conspiracy charge? Especially since Trump specifically said to the Proud Boys – “Proud Boys, stand back and stand by.” It seems like Mr. Greene got impatient for Trump to come to his aid and just didn’t “stand by” long enough. Yes, yes, yes, I know full well why Trump is saying this. It's just odd even by crazy Trump standards. But not even odd for only the reasons above, but perhaps most of all for this -- Because for anyone who actually believes Trump, that Jan. 6 was a false flag coup staged by the FBI...surely then they must support a major investigation to find out -- right?!! Create a Select House Committee to investigate it. Put together a Senate committee to investigate it. Get the DOJ to investigate it. Sue in federal court over and over -- Republicans have shown in their 60 "Stop the Steal" (sic) lawsuits they're all for that. Give out subpoenas. Track down witnesses and get them to testify under oath. Find the documents. And if anyone refuses to come testify, throw them in jail!!!! Right?? And for all those who support a major investigation into this -- as Republicans who follow Trump surely must -- they must therefore certainly want Trump most of all to testify under oath, because he was still president on Jan. 6 when this all took place, and when it was all planned and set up, in charge of the FBI. So, more than most anyone, Trump himself would want what he knows on the official record to undercut all the traitors -- and so would all his supporters want to hear from him, too. Right?? Either that, or...well, if not, then you must think Trump is just nuts and terrified of being investigated himself. UPDATE: After posting this, I now read in today's Washington Post the far-right's latest conspiracy theory that the Jan. 6 bomber is an inside job. Even with Marjorie Taylor Greene calling for phone records to be subpoenaed! So, I look forward to them crying out loudly for a Special Counsel to investigate all that!!! And demanding phone records are subpoenaed for everyone being looked into. You can read the full article here. |
AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. Feedspot Badge of Honor
Archives
May 2024
Categories
All
|
© Copyright Robert J. Elisberg 2024
|