… Trump’s speech clearly conveys the opinion of his administration. Some have compared it to Reagan’s “Tear down this wall” address in Berlin in 1987. This is mistake. Reagan wished to break the will of the Soviet Union. His rhetoric was post-war: We need to overthrow authoritarian controls, to open and loosen things up. What Trump said in Warsaw was keyed to a very different threat, that of a velvet nihilism, a disposition of cultural and moral disarmament that cannot rouse itself to affirm or defend much of anything. In such circumstances—our circumstances—what’s needed are consolidating motifs, to rally people to causes that are worthy of their loyalty, even to the point of self-sacrifice.See also this, from Snopes: The Lies of Donald Trump’s Critics, and How They Shape His Many Personas.
I intend this to be the last post I shall put up having to do with politics. See the post that follows for an explanation.
I agree that Trump's critics should not resort to lies and misleading claims. There's no need of such tactics, since the man provides more than enough real examples of his flaws, failures, and overwhelming unsuitability for the job.
ReplyDeleteThe Snopes piece, which accuses critics of cherry-picking, does exactly the same thing.
As to the Beyond Velvet Nihilism piece, I don't understand how Reno can fail to mention one of the key aspects of Trump's speech: its influence on the current political turmoil in Poland itself.
ReplyDeleteWell, let us see what happens. Because whatever does won't come about because of me.
ReplyDeleteOr because of me. At best, I'm a mere observer -- and hardly that.
ReplyDelete;-)