Oh no!

Another Post? So soon?

Observing the almost humorous scrambling of the R party after the Kamala Harris / Joe Biden switch this last week, I find myself wondering at the political “tells” of Republican policy. I have been more than a casual observer of politics. It was almost a given, since my first “political” observation was the JFK assassination; and it’s only gotten more astounding since then. However, the most astounding thing to date has been the MAGA reaction to the one-term Joe Biden and the unexpected arrival of Kamala Harris who in less than two days, garnered more than enough Democratic support to make her the nominated Democratic candidate for the D Party nomination for President in 2024.

Since the nomination and subsequent election of DJT for president in 2016, the MAGA twisting of facts has become more and more elaborate. A pattern became obvious over time. Yet, if you’ve never played poker, you would not have recognized it. In gambling parlance, you might have called it a “tell”. In that definition, poker relies on a “poker” face. Winning in poker requires that the other player(s) watch each other very closely. Over time, they are able to recognize a “tell” — some subtle action that the observed player has whenever he has a winning (or a losing) hand. Learning this trick is either a shortcut to winning the “pot”, or losing everything to someone else.How does this relate to political practice? How is gaining a “tell” accomplished in the game of politics? In a word, spoken by Trump loyalist, Kellyann Conway, “There are facts — and then there are alternative facts”. Just as a refresher, here is the Oxford Languages definition:

1. propaganda

1. Dictionary

   Definitions from Oxford Languages · Learn more

   noun information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view."he was charged with distributing enemy propaganda”

To see a list of similes to the word propaganda is even more revealing. This information is from Thesaurus.com: https://thesaurus.com/browse/disinfo

Synonyms: Strongest matches

disinformation, hype, indoctrination, publicity

Synonyms: Strong matches

advertising, agitprop, announcement, brainwashing, doctrine, evangelism, handout, hogwash, implantation, inculcation, newspeak, promotion, promulgation, proselytism, publication

If we were playing a game of “This Thing is NOT like the other”, we would lose. If we were to play the game of “This Thing IS Like the Other”, we would stand a change of staying in the game. Isn’t it interesting that the “strong matches” synonyms for “Propaganda” sends a cautionary shiver down our spines, and yet, the “strongest matches” synonyms have more to do with advertising and selling, the twin counterweights of Capitalism? I am NOT advocating for one ism or another, I just find it telling that in the 1980s, we started with “Greed is Good!” at the movies, and now find that we are hedged all about with the Strong Matches to advertising, brainwashing, hand washings, et alia of the synonyms for propaganda?

Perhaps we need to take seriously that The Vote should be a sacred duty rather than an inconvenience that enters our lives on occasion.