Michael Kinsley famously wrote that:
“It used to be, there was truth and there was falsehood. Now there is spin and there are gaffes. Spin is often thought to be synonymous with falsehood or lying, but more accurately it is indifference to the truth. A politician engaged in spin is saying what he or she wishes were true, and sometimes, by coincidence, it is. Meanwhile, a gaffe, it has been said, is when a politician tells the truth — or more precisely, when he or she accidentally reveals something truthful about what is going on in his or her head. A gaffe is what happens when the spin breaks down.”
Yesterday provided an example of what Kinsley was talking about. The Washington Post reports:
A Republican lawmaker called the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the nationwide right to abortion established nearly 50 years ago in Roe v. Wade a “victory for white life,” which was met with cheers at a rally held by former president Donald Trump.
“President Trump, on behalf of all the MAGA patriots in America, I want to thank you for the historic victory for white life in the Supreme Court yesterday,” Rep. Mary E. Miller (R) said at the rally Saturday night in Mendon, Ill., referring to Trump’s former campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again.”
She began clapping her hands as spectators, some clutching red “Save America” placards, also began to applaud.
In the United States, the truth keeps getting uglier and uglier.
Image: You Tube
6 comments:
That was no gaffe - the video shows her reading from a prepared speech and making no effort to correct herself. She said what she meant to say to a receptive audience. That's even uglier than a gaffe.
Trump's lesson, repeated over and over, is that ugliness can be publicly revealed without consequence, i.e. let your fascist freek flag fly freely.
Cap
Our mothers used to teach us that there were things we might think but didn't say, Cap. Put another way: It's wise to filter your thoughts. That wisdom has long since been abandoned.
there’s entire new vernaculars, phrasings, terms, defences, deflections, practices employed to put toothpaste back in the tube. For some it may be their entire ‘language’ - we hear ‘misquote & misspoke’ - and of course ‘fake news’ - as well, seems everything is ‘alleged’ or ‘taken out of context’
But then we also hear parasites like Poilievre, Donald Trump, Candice Bergen, Giuliani call people liars via Twitter, Facebook. As we know, it’s one thing to win a libel or slander case or sexual assault case.. but it’s another to actually collect a dime. Political Animals now take advanced ‘framing’ workshops & vast hordes of lawyers & law firms service them as well. Speechwriting now resembles a litany of self fluffing & self righteousness - long winded to boot !
The safe way these days is to be kept so busy appearing righteous that a spokeswank or house troll can fill in for you & emplace the denials.. or proclaim ‘it’s before the courts’ ! Yet on occasion the smartest guy in the room.. ever.. aka Stephen Harper harrumphed in person, ‘I have no knowledge of these matters’ & ‘to be honest, it wasn’t on our radar’
At the bitter end of ‘the gravy train’ or deep in the entitled money pit becomes gibberish.. jabberwocky level.. & codified re what is really being said or deflected. ‘Spend More Time With Family’ (Scott Brison or James ‘Ride Me Wilfred’ Moore) ‘Personal Time’ sniffed Jason Kenney & Doug Ford
In the end, they all retire. sal. But they stay on for what seems to be forever.
Cap
"Ugliness can be publicly revealed without consequence" is our understanding, the horrified listeners. The speaker certainly doesn't believe it is ugly.
Obviously, hels, she lives in a very small world.
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