“The Rot of Fake News”
An essay by Todd Zwillich.
Todd VanDerWerff on progressive politics and rural America
The perfect characterization of a mindset that prevails in my immediate environs.
A Word of the Year
“After much discussion, debate, and research, the Oxford Dictionaries Word of the Year 2016 is post-truth.”
Sixteen writers on the election
Online (no subscription needed) and in the November 21 New Yorker.
Nell Irvin Painter on the election
“Conveniently, for most white Americans, being white has meant not having a racial identity. It means being and living and experiencing the world as an individual and not having to think about your race. . . . The Trump campaign has disrupted that easy freedom.”
Mark Shields on the election
“We basically have two political parties; if you demonize the people who support the other party’s candidate as moral lepers and ethical eunuchs, you’re probably not going to win either their goodwill or their votes.”
Naomi Klein on the election
“What we know from the 1930s is that what it takes to do battle with fascism is a real left.”
Bernie Sanders on the election
“I am saddened, but not surprised, by the outcome.”
Frank Bruni on the election
“The Democrats Screwed Up.”
About last night
Donald Trump’s Improv Tour has revealed his contempt for the rule of law and for the house we live in, which holds countless varieties of human identity, ability, and purpose. As head birther, he had already long revealed his contempt for fact. Without fact, you don’t have much of a reality other than that which those in power declare: 2 + 2 = 5.
“There is no such thing as not voting”
From David Foster Wallace.
“Seriously”
Featured on This American Life. Composed by Sara Bareilles, sung by Leslie Odom Jr.
An anecdote from Mark Shields
“Wading through WikiLeaks makes you doubt whether Bill Clinton ever knew Joseph Heller.”
Awkward metaphor of the day
“He’s not going to be a wallflower that’s going to get pushed around.”
A Face in the Crowd
Disturbingly prophetic.
#TrumpBookReport
“And btw- I was AGAINST the war in Troy.“
Dunning K. Trump
Watching the presidential debate last night left me convinced that Donald Trump is, among other things, a victim of the Dunning-Kruger effect.
I. Voted. Early.
“Well now that’s done: and I’m glad it’s over.”
Our state rep in action
He doesn’t do his homework.
Michelle Obama speaks
“This is not normal. This is not politics as usual. This is disgraceful. It is intolerable. And it doesn’t matter what party you belong to.”
Block that metaphor
“They’re trying to find the middle ground where they can straddle this awkward situation.”
Duce redux
In 2016 the helmet is made of hair.
The new normal
Emily Nussbaum: “Are full-body chills & nausea the normal symptoms of a Presidential debate?”
Reality TV?
Is the cheap-looking background in Donald Trump’s self-serving taped “statement” meant to look like the kind of background one sees on cable news? Is the background meant to give (someone) the impression that Trump is answering an anchor’s question and not merely reading from a script?
David Letterman on Donald Trump
“I don’t know anything about China devaluing the yuan. But if you see somebody who’s not behaving like any other human you’ve known, that means something. They need an appointment with a psychiatrist. They need a diagnosis and they need a prescription.”
Recently updated
An old SNL skit is online.
Donald Trump on PTSD
To tell an audience of veterans that they’re “strong” and “can handle it” is to deny the realities of war — as does joking about having always wanted a Purple Heart.
Steve Bushakis and Donald Trump
“I’ve had gonorrhea five times.”
Donald Trump and Leona Helmsley
For all their differences, Helmsley and Trump found at least some common ground.
About last night
A thirteen-second-long debate spoof.