[John Isbell]

:-)
I think it's easy to want what I for one see as a nightmare to end.

Cheers,
John

[A. Sterling]

The other day, I was looking on the website of an indy bookstore – in a certain disgusting rat and rodent-infested city in which no human being would want to live, apparently—and noticed they had a list of their bestsellers posted. Number one was the Mueller report. I notice it’s pretty high on Amazon’s list, too, which suggests it’s not just a local thing. And, in case you were wondering, this was before the aforementioned rodent comments. Baltimore is a city where people express their civic pride by putting bumper stickers on their cars with the letters BALT affectionately enclosed within the silhouette of a rat, and so Mr. Trump is definitely kicking a hornet’s nest here. And kicking it, and kicking it….

But yeah, we’re in an interesting position here – so near D.C. that I doubt anybody is more than a couple degrees of connection away from one of the participants in the latest drama while, at the same time, we don’t have a first-hand view of the forces that brought Trump into office. But it sounds as if it may not be so different in other places.

[James Brancheau]

Well, A., Trump has always been a racist (I heard his father was active in, um, official racism). Because he can't control himself, now they're just trying to figure out how to use that for political gain. Seriously. While republicans stay silent or just call everyone a communist (which is such a ridiculous throwback-- really, you can't write this stuff).

[John Isbell]

Well, everyone's a communist but the former KGB agent they're so fond of.

Cheers,
John

[James Brancheau]

Hahaha, yeah, John, whatever's convenient. Not that I was ever a fan of that party, but they've become so nakedly unprincipled and corrupt.

[A. Sterling]

Yeah, ‘out-of-control’ seems like the right word here. It boggles the mind to think about what controversies we’ll be discussing even a month from now.

Originally Posted by James Brancheau

Seriously. While republicans stay silent or just call everyone a communist (which is such a ridiculous throwback-- really, you can't write this stuff).

Oh, they’re doing that now, are they? I guess the stigma of being called a socialist must have worn off. Interesting. If I were a communist, I'd be feeling a bit pleased about that.

[John Isbell]

Actually I think the right finds the term socialist unendingly useful in blurring the lines between, say, Castro and Maduro and Denmark. They’re not averse to throwing Hitler in the mix for good measure. Not Putin though. Or Kim Jong Un for that matter.

Cheers,
John

NB they is vague. Let’s say prominent people on the American right.

[James Brancheau]

I'd be willing to bet that over 60% of Americans couldn't tell you the difference between communism and socialism. Among republicans, that's gotta be pushing 80%.

[John Isbell]

Now that is the trace of decades of successful propaganda. Agitprop, if you will.

Cheers,
John