Believe it or not, Nohero, Trump is not solely responsible for the paranoia and distrust in government the voters feel. It can be traced back to 9/11 for sure. But what is “reality” and what is “make-believe” gets blurred with lies and social media, and story lines from around the world.
Can the world be getting bamboozled by con artists?** Are we all being offered different flavors of Kool-Aid?
Trump, I believe, is taking advantage of the present social and secular climate. Perhaps because he sees world affairs through a different lens — he is certainly not a politician!
**my link re the man in France who made millions working a new Ponzi scheme drew no interest.
The primary season sloughs onward toward what exactly? A Socialist America, a far, far left America, or a lesser of two evils choice by the voters?
In interims between watching debates, many of us, along with me, stream political dramas with deception and anxiety, or deep state plots and counter plots, playing out on 55” screens in our own media war rooms at home. No weekly waiting periods to clear the mind — thanks to Netflix, etc.
I loved House of Cards, Homeland, Designated Survivor, etc etc, along with many similarly themed series from Europe. It got me wondering if we are being preconditioned toward seeing nefarious political intrigue as almost the norm in governments, with subsequent mistrust of government thinking instinctively on high alert.The bogeyman is everywhere.
Believe it or not, Nohero, Trump is not solely responsible for the paranoia and distrust in government the voters feel. It can be traced back to 9/11 for sure. But what is “reality” and what is “make-believe” gets blurred with lies and social media, and story lines from around the world.
Yes, its not Trump.
Distrust and paranoia had a wide start with the Vietnam war. A war where over 58,000 Americans died with numerous more crippled and wounded. To prevent a communist government. A government that we now very happily trade with.
We have the Iran-Contra affair. Where we supplied the government of Iran with military weapons.
We have Bush lying us into his Iraq war. Causing a destabilized Middle East and empowering Iran.
There are more examples.
Which does not inspire trust. I'll be awaiting our next stupidity.
Distrust and paranoia had a wide start with the Vietnam war. A war where over 58,000 Americans died with numerous more crippled and wounded. To prevent a communist government. A government that we now very happily trade with.
We have the Iran-Contra affair. Where we supplied the government of Iran with military weapons.
We have Bush lying us into his Iraq war. Causing a destabilized Middle East and empowering Iran.
There are more examples.
Which does not inspire trust. I'll be awaiting our next stupidity.
You missed a few, ie the Benghazi lies by Obama, Clinton, et al; The trumped up partisan impeachment inquiries to win an election; the whole Middle East fandango (Spanish for fiasco) etc etc
Distrust and paranoia had a wide start with the Vietnam war. A war where over 58,000 Americans died with numerous more crippled and wounded. To prevent a communist government. A government that we now very happily trade with.
We have the Iran-Contra affair. Where we supplied the government of Iran with military weapons.
We have Bush lying us into his Iraq war. Causing a destabilized Middle East and empowering Iran.
There are more examples.
Which does not inspire trust. I'll be awaiting our next stupidity.
This is all true. But the fact that Trump went completely unmentioned in the first post is absurd. He's taken not just lying but aggressively tearing down the credibility of so many aspects of the government including the weather service (!) to such a level that he deserves special mention, not exclusion.
It's been sneeringly used in the sense of bureaucratic bungle by elitist English-speakers since the era of the Grand Tours when the travellers could show off their ease with local phrases while also mocking local lack of sophistication.
In the fandango, the dancers look like they're weaving a fast and disorganised twirl of colour and fabric but in fact it's highly coordinated and timed to the second. Nothing is left to chance. Satisfying to perform, and breathtaking to observe. The very opposite of fiasco.
It's been sneeringly used in the sense of bureaucratic bungle by elitist English-speakers since the era of the Grand Tours when the travellers could show off their ease with local phrases while also mocking local lack of sophistication.
In the fandango, the dancers look like they're weaving a fast and disorganised twirl of colour and fabric but in fact it's highly coordinated and timed to the second. Nothing is left to chance. Satisfying to perform, and breathtaking to observe. The very opposite of fiasco.
Well, we could’ve gone with a Bohemian Rhapsody reference
I remember the day in Vienna, where we were searching for my Mother’s family history....drum roll....I learned that I was partly HUNGARIAN! (Think Eliza Doolittle at the ball)
Since you asked a direct question, I’ll reply: not much.
In the ‘60s, I was raising four children, three of whom were in diapers simultaneously (cloth, with safety pins) and the oldest, thanks be to God, finally in big boy pants!
Another embarrassing performance by Trump at his news conference in India.
What kind of a creep says, "Hey, love me because we didn't kill millions of people."
Trump on Afghanistan: "We could win that easily if I wanted to kill millions of people. I don't want to kill millions of people ... I'm very impressed with the kind of kudos we're getting." pic.twitter.com/qEkGBwfUL9
Obviously no-one caught the scenes of masses of people leaving during Mr Trump’s speech in Ahmedabad? Quite obvious, as the cameras panned round the audience. One BBC journo commented that it was unfortunate. I’m trying to find the reference for you, but it seems to have been buried under the weight of Delhi riots, COVID-19 updates, and Weinstein headlines. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-51582996 a lengthy article. The footage is in a tweet about halfway through.
I’m really sad that mtierney can’t recognise a Queen reference after all this time, given the all the popular culture prominence of the group, Freddie Mercury, their song Bohemian Rhapsody, the recent film, etc. (Honestly, the same with Procul Harum) Variety comedy and advertising were rife with fleeting references to their clever lyrics including dancing the fandango, and having an opera singer lost in a 4min rock song or vice versa. I’m sure the NYT would have prominently featured many many articles on Queen, Mercury, Bohemian Rhapsody, the touring of the group’s new line-ups, what the song’s lyrics mean and how it came to be written, how the film came to be, all those awards etc.
Since you asked a direct question, I’ll reply: not much.
In the ‘60s, I was raising four children, three of whom were in diapers simultaneously (cloth, with safety pins) and the oldest, thanks be to God, finally in big boy pants!
My mum raised 4 kids in the 50s and 60s, moved from Glasgow to Swansea to Oxford and still had time to listen to the radio. Lordy, she moved again to London, had me in 1971 and still knows what Bohemian Rhapsody is, but I think she's a couple of years younger than you, so maybe that's the difference.
culturally insensitive wordplay ain't what it used to be.
It's not exhausting to try to have good manners.
And I will do you a favor with this recommendation if you ever find yourself looking for a dinner spot in Newark. Best Spanish food in NJ. One of my favorite restaurants anywhere. It's 180 degrees opposite of a fiasco.
I’ve posted this before, but maybe it’s relevant again here. I learned a hard lesson when I expressed disbelief that a colleague I admired, who was about my age, didn’t recognize a photograph’s similarities to the cover of Abbey Road. She coolly told me that growing up listening to Black radio in D.C. gave her some different cultural references from mine.
Closer to home, my mother, who’d be 82 now, didn’t listen to the radio and would’ve had no familiarity at all with Procol Harum or Queen lyrics. (And she would’ve been shaky on the Beatles.)
I’ve posted this before, but maybe it’s relevant again here. I learned a hard lesson when I expressed disbelief that a colleague I admired, who was about my age, didn’t recognize a photograph’s similarities to the cover of Abbey Road. She coolly told me that growing up listening to Black radio in D.C. gave her some different cultural references from mine.
Closer to home, my mother, who’d be 82 now, didn’t listen to the radio and would’ve had no familiarity at all with Procol Harum or Queen lyrics. (And she would’ve been shaky on the Beatles.)
my mom would be 97 this year. But she knew from Bruce
I know I’ve read discussions on the poetry of Freddie Mercury’s songs; the influence of his Parsi background on his songwriting; his drive for combining the richness of operatic story and sound (including voices) with rock compositions and instrumentation... all within the online NYT and it’s supplements back when I could access more widely through my library subscription and through Arts & Literature Daily (an abstract links service) going back over 14 years. so familiarity doesn’t even depend on actually listening to their music; enough articles have been published in all kinds of high-brow, low-brow, music, art and women’s publishing over recent years to have gathered an idea. Gosh! It’s almost 2:30am! I really should sleep!! I have some Galician recipes if anyone wants, and can’t make it to Casa d’Paco. (My dad didn’t know pop culture but for some reason he adored Cleo Laine. And he knew his folk dances of the world, and listened to 45s of the music all the time.)
ETA: not piling on, really am sad. Mtierney has had a rich & full life, but has missed a huge swathe of modern culture. Even June Dally-Watkins in her 90s found things to learn and enjoy in modern youth culture.
so familiarity doesn’t even depend on actually listening to their music; enough articles have been published in all kinds of high-brow, low-brow, music, art and women’s publishing over recent years to have gathered an idea.
You and I, joanne, just don’t share the same assumptions about the mass-ness of exposure to mass media.
Believe it or not, Nohero, Trump is not solely responsible for the paranoia and distrust in government the voters feel. It can be traced back to 9/11 for sure. But what is “reality” and what is “make-believe” gets blurred with lies and social media, and story lines from around the world.
Can the world be getting bamboozled by con artists?** Are we all being offered different flavors of Kool-Aid?
Trump, I believe, is taking advantage of the present social and secular climate. Perhaps because he sees world affairs through a different lens — he is certainly not a politician!
**my link re the man in France who made millions working a new Ponzi scheme drew no interest.