I find this piece brilliant on the part of both commentators. Hitler studied propaganda. As you show advertising plus the projection of false images is a potent combination. And what a powerful use of iconography. In the more rational world I wish I lived in such insight would be rewarded by votes for Biden,
I'm glad you both focused on Trump's use of propaganda and how tightly it's linked to his narcissism. The comparison with Henry VIII"s well-known portrait is brilliant (that engorged codpiece!). Trump's lying performance should have been the lead story after the debate, no question. I've seen very few commentators point to how much the two-minute rule imposed by CNN played to his skill with sound bites and social-media rants – he always leads with a punch, the more outrageous the better, the perfect clickbait. The fact that even "serious" political commentators refer to him as "authentic" or a "straight-shooter" would be laughable if the implications weren't so depressing. He's a liar, people — say it again, if that makes it easier to put in a headline: *He's a liar.*
Meanwhile, there's Joe Biden. Susan, you and I likely disagree on what would be best for the country: I think Biden should step out of the upcoming election on his own terms, supporting Kamala Harris to maintain continuity and to allow her, the former prosecutor. to rip Trump to shreds. I doubt this will happen, but he deserves our respect and compassion for the job he's done — and I hate the idea of this Congress even starting to mutter about the 25th amendment.
I love Kamala, but I’ve followed how the media deals with her, and I suspect she’d have some of the same problems Hillary had. Women who are “too together” elicit the desire to smack them down. I hate it, but I haven’t seen it change. Of course, if Joe steps down I will throw all my support to whomever it is, and if it’s Kamala, I’ll have plenty of work to do. I also like Jamie Raskin, and think he’d have a better chance, for various reasons. (Don’t know how his being Jewish would play out!) For now, until Joe himself decides otherwise, and because I have no influence on that decision (!!!!!to put it mildly!!!) I’m with him, publicly and otherwise. I go where I see the craziness flowing and do what I can to inject sanity. Which is very little, but it’s all I’ve got. For now, that means reminding people of the disaster that Trump is and the great job Biden has done. My support of Biden staying in there could change—if I found out, for example, of a medical diagnosis that’s been kept hidden— but for now I honestly don’t know exactly what contributed to the debate disaster.
I agree that Trump's bullshit is being forgotten sue to Biden's performance. Ultimately, it's all performance. Biden was so embarrassing though, that it made Trump look tame. He totally played a different role during the debate, he was fairly calm, and he won because of it. It's a sad state of affairs for America.
What an unbelievably uplifting article—and while that sounds a bit strange to delight in such gruesome details, I think this history should be shared all over the world. I’ll do my little bit by restacking here.
Some have carefully counted the number of lies spoken by Trump and by Biden in the debate. I dont think Biden comes close. Im not saying Biden is completely honest. But i would say that Trumps speaks as if he doesnt care about honesty.
If the democrats put up Sanders they’d win in a landslide but they’d rather have Trump and cheated openly to try to install a total scumbag like Hillary to no avail. And look at Biden, always a warmongering, sycophantic and completely corrupt slime by necessity for he never had any talent but enriching himself at the expense of the voters. He is capping his horrendous career with genocide and descent into dementia, his own wife so drunk with power that she let him embarrass himself, treating him like a 5 year old child afterward. So it’s come down to Jill and the democrat leadership committing actual elder abuse and willing to have Trump or another corporate neocon democrat rather than serve the people with universal healthcare and living wages. But let’s write an analysis of Trump’s narcissism, 🙄, and blame the voters. Can we say, mutual admiration society?
You should thank us for giving you the opportunity to indulge in such a diatribe and get all that poison out of your system. (It’s always a giveaway when Hillary gets dragged into it.(
That you’re a bitter Sanders supporter who suffers from Hillary derangement syndrome, now carried over to Biden (and Jill! Truly pathetic slam.) I wrote a book about the 2016 election. I have receipts. Your comment is stuffed with jargon and talking points that I’m all too familiar with.
I’m not a Sanders supporter as he was clearly not genuine in anything but corralling progressives into the corporate democrat party. I’m saying he’d obviously win with his stated views but he’s the last thing the democrats want and Bernie himself doesn’t even want to run and win as just stated. He did much better than expected and thus he had the “problem” of how to give the candidacy away and the democrats were forced to deny the public what it wanted.
I like Jill Stein. At least she has the principle to protest the genocide. I’d like Ralph Nader, too. This is a little bit of a blunt question, though, as all of Congress virtually is corrupted by AIPAC and other bad forces. You can’t possibly slap on a decent person to lead to lead a system that won’t allow a decent person. I don’t have the answers but I’m not buying into this pathetic theater and not affirming it one iota.
Thanks to you Jonathan, and hopefuly other readers who have a different view, for reading and commenting so that this is not just about mutual admiration. I hope you agree that the leadership qualities and liabilities of these two men are of the highest importance.
On the surface, yes, that is of highest importance. Underneath, it’s the fact we have a sham democracy run by imperial tyranny with no discernible values. In reality it’s that we have gotten to the point of worldwide lawlessness and bald-faced plunder with an openly perpetrated genocide in historic Palestine—perpetrated by the exact countries that did the Holocaust itself (Germany, Western Europe and the U.S. which funded Hitler and espoused apartheid and eugenics). In reality of utmost importance is humanity being able to hold these mass murdering criminals and plunderous oligarchs to account rather than believing their projected cartoon version of themselves via failing legacy media.
I find this piece brilliant on the part of both commentators. Hitler studied propaganda. As you show advertising plus the projection of false images is a potent combination. And what a powerful use of iconography. In the more rational world I wish I lived in such insight would be rewarded by votes for Biden,
Thanks. Yes Hitler practiced and auditioned hand gestures with his photographer and also based some of his persona on Musolini
I'm glad you both focused on Trump's use of propaganda and how tightly it's linked to his narcissism. The comparison with Henry VIII"s well-known portrait is brilliant (that engorged codpiece!). Trump's lying performance should have been the lead story after the debate, no question. I've seen very few commentators point to how much the two-minute rule imposed by CNN played to his skill with sound bites and social-media rants – he always leads with a punch, the more outrageous the better, the perfect clickbait. The fact that even "serious" political commentators refer to him as "authentic" or a "straight-shooter" would be laughable if the implications weren't so depressing. He's a liar, people — say it again, if that makes it easier to put in a headline: *He's a liar.*
Meanwhile, there's Joe Biden. Susan, you and I likely disagree on what would be best for the country: I think Biden should step out of the upcoming election on his own terms, supporting Kamala Harris to maintain continuity and to allow her, the former prosecutor. to rip Trump to shreds. I doubt this will happen, but he deserves our respect and compassion for the job he's done — and I hate the idea of this Congress even starting to mutter about the 25th amendment.
I love Kamala, but I’ve followed how the media deals with her, and I suspect she’d have some of the same problems Hillary had. Women who are “too together” elicit the desire to smack them down. I hate it, but I haven’t seen it change. Of course, if Joe steps down I will throw all my support to whomever it is, and if it’s Kamala, I’ll have plenty of work to do. I also like Jamie Raskin, and think he’d have a better chance, for various reasons. (Don’t know how his being Jewish would play out!) For now, until Joe himself decides otherwise, and because I have no influence on that decision (!!!!!to put it mildly!!!) I’m with him, publicly and otherwise. I go where I see the craziness flowing and do what I can to inject sanity. Which is very little, but it’s all I’ve got. For now, that means reminding people of the disaster that Trump is and the great job Biden has done. My support of Biden staying in there could change—if I found out, for example, of a medical diagnosis that’s been kept hidden— but for now I honestly don’t know exactly what contributed to the debate disaster.
A stack about Kamala from a while back: https://open.substack.com/pub/susanbordo/p/kamala-harris-a-cautionary-revisit?r=384ha&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Really good analysis that captures my experience with narcissists.
we havent. THEY have.
Unfortunately “they” probably include the Supreme Court too. We’ll find out tomorrow!
everything so far they have done has been to help him. I have little hope.
I agree that Trump's bullshit is being forgotten sue to Biden's performance. Ultimately, it's all performance. Biden was so embarrassing though, that it made Trump look tame. He totally played a different role during the debate, he was fairly calm, and he won because of it. It's a sad state of affairs for America.
Trump calm and tame???? I don’t think we were watching the same debate, Jo!
What an unbelievably uplifting article—and while that sounds a bit strange to delight in such gruesome details, I think this history should be shared all over the world. I’ll do my little bit by restacking here.
Thank you!
Some have carefully counted the number of lies spoken by Trump and by Biden in the debate. I dont think Biden comes close. Im not saying Biden is completely honest. But i would say that Trumps speaks as if he doesnt care about honesty.
If you think Trump is a bigger liar than Biden, then you ain’t black. He is even worse, a repeat plagiarist. That makes him a lying thief
If the democrats put up Sanders they’d win in a landslide but they’d rather have Trump and cheated openly to try to install a total scumbag like Hillary to no avail. And look at Biden, always a warmongering, sycophantic and completely corrupt slime by necessity for he never had any talent but enriching himself at the expense of the voters. He is capping his horrendous career with genocide and descent into dementia, his own wife so drunk with power that she let him embarrass himself, treating him like a 5 year old child afterward. So it’s come down to Jill and the democrat leadership committing actual elder abuse and willing to have Trump or another corporate neocon democrat rather than serve the people with universal healthcare and living wages. But let’s write an analysis of Trump’s narcissism, 🙄, and blame the voters. Can we say, mutual admiration society?
You should thank us for giving you the opportunity to indulge in such a diatribe and get all that poison out of your system. (It’s always a giveaway when Hillary gets dragged into it.(
Giveaway to what?
That you’re a bitter Sanders supporter who suffers from Hillary derangement syndrome, now carried over to Biden (and Jill! Truly pathetic slam.) I wrote a book about the 2016 election. I have receipts. Your comment is stuffed with jargon and talking points that I’m all too familiar with.
I’m not a Sanders supporter as he was clearly not genuine in anything but corralling progressives into the corporate democrat party. I’m saying he’d obviously win with his stated views but he’s the last thing the democrats want and Bernie himself doesn’t even want to run and win as just stated. He did much better than expected and thus he had the “problem” of how to give the candidacy away and the democrats were forced to deny the public what it wanted.
So if you don’t mind my asking, who would you like to see as POTUS?
I like Jill Stein. At least she has the principle to protest the genocide. I’d like Ralph Nader, too. This is a little bit of a blunt question, though, as all of Congress virtually is corrupted by AIPAC and other bad forces. You can’t possibly slap on a decent person to lead to lead a system that won’t allow a decent person. I don’t have the answers but I’m not buying into this pathetic theater and not affirming it one iota.
Thanks to you Jonathan, and hopefuly other readers who have a different view, for reading and commenting so that this is not just about mutual admiration. I hope you agree that the leadership qualities and liabilities of these two men are of the highest importance.
On the surface, yes, that is of highest importance. Underneath, it’s the fact we have a sham democracy run by imperial tyranny with no discernible values. In reality it’s that we have gotten to the point of worldwide lawlessness and bald-faced plunder with an openly perpetrated genocide in historic Palestine—perpetrated by the exact countries that did the Holocaust itself (Germany, Western Europe and the U.S. which funded Hitler and espoused apartheid and eugenics). In reality of utmost importance is humanity being able to hold these mass murdering criminals and plunderous oligarchs to account rather than believing their projected cartoon version of themselves via failing legacy media.
I’d like us not to get into a discussion of the Middle East on this thread. Hope you will respect that.