This post in McSweeney’s was inspired by the news that the gun-toting couple from Missouri who threatened BLM protestors have been invited to speak at the Republican Convention.
Here is the first day:
Monday, August 24
9:00 pm
The Creatures From Beyond the Mist scream the national anthem.
9:05 pm
Morgon, Devourer of Children, discusses his proposal to drastically decrease education spending.
9:20 pm
Marjorie Taylor Greene, QAnon congressional candidate, explains why COVID-19 can’t be transmitted through the air because there is no such thing as “air.”
9:40 pm
Scott Baio triggers libs from his hot tub.
10:20 pm
Silicon Valley CEO Peter Thiel shares a PowerPoint about how minimum-wage workers can balance their budgets by scavenging for edible weeds and building traps to catch small rodents.
10:40 pm
Keynote speech: Axulythor, Sorcerer of Darkness, on the importance of restricting women’s access to reproductive healthcare.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
And Boris and Natasha from The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show? Are they appearing on the second day?
LOL. Perfect.
The Creatures From Beyond the Mist shriek “Turkey In the Straw.”
With the original lyrics, ofc.
When is Pennywise scheduled? Bozo? When do the Flying Wallendas perform? Will they be firing Pence from a cannon?
The Huffington Post reported this morning that the party platform is basically a pledge to the cult of the Idiot. I perused the “document” and read their interpretation of the Bill of Rights (starting on page 12) and education (page starting on page 33). The former section would get an F in any government class, the latter is ghoulishly predictable.
https://prod-cdn-static.gop.com/docs/Resolution_Platform_2020.pdf?_ga=2.165306300.2055661719.1598124638-455285808.1584478680
The insane clown posse will have to do without Kellyann Conway who is stepping down at the end of the month. Democrats should cut this short video and use it as an ad for Joe Biden. https://twitter.com/actdottv/status/1296881001168158720
Kellyanne is a member of the National Council for Public Policy. The SPLC posted the names of members (2014). Not surprisingly, Steve Bannon and the usual suspects are on the list.
Just in: Kellyanne is leaving at the end of the month to “spend more time with family.” (WaPo, 8/23)
And:
https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/23/politics/kellyanne-conway-george-conway-white-house-lincoln-project/index.html
Trump the Fascist
Trump is not a thinker, obviously. He has instincts, like wasp larvae. But his instincts are those of the fascist. We shall see those on excruciating display over the coming days.
A couple years ago, a brilliant friend of mine reacted to a post I made elsewhere in which I had called Donald Trump a fascist, saying that I was wrong. Perhaps it was Trump’s inability to think enough to formulate an ideology that he had in mind. However, consider this:
Fascists are myth makers. The term fascist comes from the ancient symbol of Roman power, the fasces, a bundle of sticks bound together. What binds the people together into a fascist state is a shared set of mythoi, as follows:
The mythos of a superior Volk. The Volk, or people, have shared characteristics that make them exceptional and superior to other peoples.
The mythos of the nation as the united Volk. The nation IS the Volk united, with individual wants or desires subordinated to service to the nation in achievement of its destiny.
The mythos of the destiny of the Volk. The Volk have a destiny to lead and/or rule the world.
The mythos of winners and losers. In every transaction, there are winners and losers. There is no such thing as a win-win for both parties. Because of their innate superiority, the Volk are destined to be winners and others are destined to be losers.
The mythos of victimhood. The Volk can achieve their destiny only by overcoming particular enemies that have kept it from winning by cheating it and bringing about a degeneration into decadence. These enemies include any people with different political beliefs, racial or national origin, or religions.
The mythos of return to prior greatness, to a golden age. The Volk formerly was able to achieve its greatness, due to it because of its superiority, but it cannot now do so until its enemies are eliminated.
The mythos of Great Leader. In order to overcome decadence and achieve their rightful destiny, the Volk must be united by singularity of purpose under a Great Leader, the one and only one who can so unite them with the necessary singularity of purpose. For this to happen, the Great Leader must have all power and authority—a sole monopoly on violence. He or she is the embodiment of the united Volk (of the nation).
The mythos of transfiguration. For individuals to become the Volk and achieve their destiny, they must be remade, violently, by eliminating elements within the Volk that prevent its becoming a united, single tool in the hands of the Great Leader for achieving its destiny and the return to the Golden Age. Such transformation comes violently, via secret police and militarization.
Sound familiar? Look for these themes at the Trump National Convention this week.
All of this is simply pathological narcissism writ large. And Trump, ofc, is a textbook exemplar of this disorder. Character is destiny.
This is a tried-and-true formula for capturing the imaginations, such as they are, of the ignorant. It can happen here. It is happening.
Is is why they want public education to fail. The weak minded and ignorant are much easier to control.
YUP. Trump himself said, “I love the poorly educated.”
It does me good, in these scary times, to read a piece as funny and on point as this one in McSweeney’s by Carlos Greaves. Bravo, Mr. Greaves! Brilliantly done!
I will not be surprised when Trump claims King Joffery Baratheon from “Game of Thrones” infamy endorses him for president since these two have so much in common.