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2024 Presidential Primaries and Election

Do we have a 2023 elections thread? Some big elections tomorrow.
 
Could go under Republican debacle thread or here…

journalnow.com

Page A7

View the Winston-Salem Journal for Tuesday, November 7, 2023
journalnow.com journalnow.com

You probably know what a "zombie lie" is, but, just in case, it's an idea or proposition or theory that is demonstrably, logically and intuitively false but which, like a zombie, refuses to die. And it will eat your brain.

The term's origin is uncertain, but I associate it with Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman, who uses it to describe CRISP certain right-wing economic theories, such as the idea that the federal government can increase revenue by cutting taxes on the wealthy.

This notion isn't logical, and, in fact, Krugman, other economists and experience have demonstrated that it doesn't work.

Yet Republicans continue to embrace it, as embodied in the 2017 Trump tax cuts that mostly benefited the wealthy. By the way, during Donald Trump's administration, the national debt increased by nearly $8 trillion.

Still, the idea won't die. Like a zombie. Maybe this is why President George H.W. Bush called it "voodoo economics."

Then there's the election denial zombie lie. Former President Donald Trump contended that the 2020 election was rigged before, during and after it occurred. He hasn't stopped, and he's beguiled nearly 70% of his party into saying that they believe the same, despite the lack of evidence. In fact, considerable evidence puts the lie to the election denial zombie lie. But it lives on.

These two zombie lies are dangerous. The first one channels money to the already wealthy, who, in turn, channel money back to politicians who accept and propagate the lie, undermining equality and equity in our society.

The second zombie lie damages our republic; if we don't believe in the validity of elections and the peaceful transfer of power, what sort of future does democracy have in our country?

But the third zombie lie can kill uncured. He hasn't stopped, and he's beguiled nearly 70% of his party into saying that they believe the same, despite the lack of evidence. In fact, considerable evidence puts the lie to the election denial zombie lie. But it lives on.

These two zombie lies are dangerous. The first one channels money to the already wealthy, who, in turn, channel money back to politicians who accept and propagate the lie, undermining equality and equity in our society.

The second zombie lie damages our republic; if we don't believe in the validity of elections and the peaceful transfer of power, what sort of future does democracy have in our country?

But the third zombie lie can kill us. Literally. This lie surfaces after every mass shooting, as it did last month after 18 people were killed during youth night at a bowling alley and at a bar in Lewiston, Maine.

Here's how Sean Hannity expressed it during an interview with new House Speaker Mike Johnson: "If somebody really wants to kill innocent people, there's a lot of ways they can do it beyond using a gun." He found a compliant audience in Johnson, who said, dismissively: "In Europe and in other places they use vehicles to mow down crowds at parades … it's not the weapon, it's the underlying problem…"

The heart of this particular zombie lie is the idea that the type of weapon used by a killer is irrelevant. If someone wants to kill, he could use a baseball bat or an ax or a paperweight or, as some right-wing radio commentators put it, a butterknife or a No. 2 pencil. Yes, they actually said that.

But you can be assured of the absurdity of this lie by asking yourself whether you would rather be trapped in a bowling alley with a deranged killer wielding a baseball bat or even a sixshooter or one with a high-powered assault rifle with several 30-round magazines.

In terms of killing capacity, an assault rifle has the same relationship to the muskets of 1789 as a Lamborghini has to an oxcart. High-capacity, semi-automatic weapons make mass shootings possible, and they make law enforcement's response to them much more difficult and dangerous. Would police officers have hesitated for 74 minutes before taking on the shooter who massacred 19 students and two teachers in Uvalde, Texas, if he had been armed only with an ax? Unlikely.

How do these zombie lies continue to rise from the dead like Lazarus and Jesus when they do our society so much harm?

First, they require people who really, really want to believe them. In the case of these three zombie lies, a minority of the citizenship — the rich, the fervent right wing as embodied in the cult of Trump, the gun fetishists as embodied in the National Rifle Association—is sufficient.

And zombie lies require an indifferent or compliant majority. Therefore, wealth inequality grows, mass shootings persist and, if we're not careful, Donald Trump will reclaim the presidency, insisting that American democracy was rigged all along.

John M. Crisp, an op-ed columnist for Tribune News Service, lives in Texas and can be reached at jcrispcolumns@gmail.com.
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Republican debate tonight. Vivek calls on Joe Rogan and Tucker Carlson to moderate the debate. That should fix everything.
 
deactherunner said:
Republican debate tonight. Vivek calls on Joe Rogan and Tucker Carlson to moderate the debate. That should fix everything.
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I've seen a lot of right-wing pandering over the years. That may be the worst.

Thanks for the update. There are 14 NBA games tonight, so I won't watch the Republican shitshow.
 
The audience for this one seems to be exclusively right-wing chain e-mail recipient. There is no islamophobia here, only sleeper terrorist cells from Yemen
 
So you’re saying they haven’t learned the lessons of the 2023 elections.
 
They aren't letting candidates respond to direct attacks, which at this point seems to be mostly a problem for Haley. Vivek especially is going full lunatic.

PhDeac said:
So you’re saying they haven’t learned the lessons of the 2023 elections.
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No mention of abortion yet, just some vague blaming of "messaging" in the opening statements.
 
I love Trump the bestest! That's why you should vote for me! Also be very afraid of all those very scary people!
 
deactherunner said:
They aren't letting candidates respond to direct attacks, which at this point seems to be mostly a problem for Haley. Vivek especially is going full lunatic.


No mention of abortion yet, just some vague blaming of "messaging" in the opening statements.
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No mention of Zionist space lasers either.
 
deactherunner said:
Wonder how long it will take for someone to name-drop Soros after complaining about all the antisemitism on tiktok and college campuses.
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Look, “globalists” is not just another name for “Jews.”
 
I assume that's a shot at DeSantis. Not sure why it's aimed at Vivek.
 
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