Posts Tagged Kim Kardashian
Michael Gerson: Romney’s risky ties to Trump – The Washington Post
Posted by Michael B. Calyn in GOP on August 21, 2012
Michael Gerson
Opinion Writer
Romney’s risky ties to Trump
By ,
The appearance is further evidence of one of the oddest flirtations in American politics. Trump and Mitt Romney appeared together at a Las Vegas fundraiser in May. The Romney campaign raffled off a meal with the pair as a reward for campaign donors.
Romney supporters tend to be perplexed by his ties to Trump but dismissive of their importance. No one is likely to confuse the members of a couple this odd. On the plus side, this connection may help unbutton Romney’s public image. Add a little pop culture sizzle. Bring in some extra cash.
All of these justifications would make sense if we were talking about Kim Kardashian, who is famous merely for her fame. But Trump is also famous for spreading conspiracy theories. He is the nation’s highest-profile “birther,” who sent investigators to Hawaii to uncover proof of Obama’s duplicity. Finding none, he moved on to the sinister mystery of the president’s unreleased college transcripts. Turning his attention from politics to medicine, he has asserted that multiple vaccinations cause babies to be “different,” based on this evidence: “I’ve known cases.” When informed that most physicians disagree, he responded: “I know they do. . . . I couldn’t care less.”
Set aside that vaccine skepticism is the medical equivalent of encouraging children to play in traffic. Trump represents not merely wealth and brashness but an attitude toward authority and knowledge. He has developed a standing among some populist conservatives by arguing that mainstream information is fundamentally biased, that public officials are engaged in elaborate deceptions, and that only a courageous few can understand and uncover the alarming reality. Politics, in this view, is not the contest of ideas; it is the exposure of a plot. It matters little if hard evidence is nonexistent; that is taken as further evidence of the plotters’ diabolical sophistication.
This isn’t new in American history, but that doesn’t make it less damaging. In “Voodoo Histories,” an entertaining demolition of modern conspiracy theories, David Aaronovitch argues that tolerance for conspiracy thinking amounts to a kind of “relativism,” which “doesn’t care to distinguish between the scholarly and the slapdash, the committed researcher and the careless loudmouth, the scrupulous and the demagogic.” Everyone becomes entitled to their own “alternative narratives,” at the expense of rationality, earned authority and objectivity. And conspiratorial narratives are often divisive and disturbing.
That is certainly true of presidential conspiracy theories — that Bill Clinton ordered a series of murders, or that George W. Bush was complicit in the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, or that Obama illegally holds the presidency through deception. These charges are designed to delegitimize presidents. Instead of being opponents with different views, they become aliens or oppressors, unworthy of power and respect.
This brings the fracturing of America to a new level. It is more difficult to unite people following an election when a significant portion of political activists, based on the finest Internet sources, are convinced that a president is a fraud or a monster. Once the narrative of conspiracy is accepted, unity becomes a vice. Divisions and contempt become permanent.
A few official campaign appearances by Trump do not imply a full embrace of birtherism by Romney or the Republican Party. But it is not healthy to take even a little bit of this hemlock. Trump’s appearance at the Republican convention represents a disturbing tolerance for disturbing ideas. What does it say about the modern GOP that the leading advocate of the theory that Obama is Kenyan is on the convention schedule, while the leading advocate of , say, mainstream climate science would risk being booed off the stage?
And there is a cost to Romney himself. The mainstreaming of Trumpism, in a small but significant way, undermines the authority and standing of the office Romney seeks and further divides the nation he hopes to govern. And if Romney uses part of his convention speech to confront the Obama campaign’s relentless negativity and nastiness — which he should — his opponents will have a simple riposte: Your convention had Donald Trump.
Michael Gerson: Romney’s risky ties to Trump – The Washington Post.
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Kim Kardashian and Other Garbage | breezespeaks
Posted by Michael B. Calyn in Entertainment, Humor/Parody, Opinion on November 1, 2011
November 1, 2011 by breezespeaks
I know I should not give Kim Kardashian any more attention than she already gets, but I can’t resist. Did you see the quote where Kim said she thought marriage was forever? I don’t know which pool she was in, but I don’t think many went past six months. Besides Kim, I don’t know anyone in America who gave this marriage a chance. Even Kim’s brain-dead sisters knew better.
By the way, the fact these three bimbos are famous is a definite sign of an impending apocalypse.
Herman Cain has now been accused of sexual misconduct. It has been said that he paid two different women six figure sums to make the charges go away back when he headed the restaurant lobby. The GOP stalwarts are claiming, “Hey, if Clinton can do it, what’s the problem.” But didn’t Clinton get brought up on impeachment charges by those same Republicans? If it’s not a problem, why did they try to kick him from office? And why did they spend 60 million investigating the charges in the first place? Can you say double standard.
(I love paraphrasing Mr. Rogers. I’m starting to think we live in the land of make-believe.)
Personally, I don’t care what Cain has done, I hope he doesn’t become president because his ideas are farcical. The real race is between Perry and Romney. Cain is a flash in the pan.
And finally, Tony LaRussa, the manager of the World Champion St. Louis Cardinals, has announced his retirement. What’s that? You didn’t know the Cards had won the World Series? Don’t worry, you’re not alone. Hell, I like baseball and I didn’t watch it. Plus, I don’t like LaRussa. He’s an old man but doesn’t have a fleck of gray in his hair. And he doesn’t like to admit mistakes. He is often regarded as some sort of baseball genius, but the fact that Mark McGwire played with him for over a decade while using steroids escaped his attention. I call this selective blindness, and it is related to selective hearing, an affliction my twins possess. And, to top it off, the Cards beat my beloved Phillies to knock them out of the play-offs, a major black mark. I shall not miss LaRussa.
Halloween was last night, and I took Cait out around the neighborhood. Will decided he didn’t want to go, and resisted peer pressure to change his mind. He’s different, but in a good way. Not as many people were trick or treating, or giving out candy. Cait got only half of her usual haul. The weather also played a part in this decline, as many towns cancelled Halloween outright, rescheduling it for this weekend. But the kids didn’t care if there was snow on the ground, and would not be denied. After all, candy was involved.
I hope you had a good Halloween.
Kim Kardashian and Other Garbage | breezespeaks.
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