Outside the Beltway

Tabo Tuesday

Steven L. Taylor
19

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Trump’s campaign responded by seemingly taking issue with the “ridiculous” framing. But in the same breath, it also promised that Trump’s “snowflake” critics’ “entire existence will be crushed when President Trump returns to the White House.” (It later sought to amend that to “sad, miserable existence.”)

Well, then (emphasis mine). I recommend the entire piece, which does a good job of underscoring the similarities in rhetoric.

It might be tempting to dismiss the former president’s rhetoric and plans as either jokes or the ravings of a lunatic who may eventually find himself in jail. But to borrow an overused phrase, it is important to take the words of both presidents and presidential candidates seriously as well as literally.

[…]

the mundane truth of American politics is that much of what we want to know is in plain view. You don’t have to search hard or seek it out; you just have to listen.

And Donald Trump is telling us, loud and clear, that he wants to end American democracy as we know it.

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19 responses to “Tabo Tuesday”

  1. Gustopher Avatar
    Gustopher

    Via TNR: Why Is Mike Johnson Flying a Christian Nationalist Flag Outside His Office?

    I think I can guess the answer to this one.

    6
  2. CSK Avatar
    CSK

    “Tabo” Tuesday? Is this a play on words I don’t understand?

  3. gVOR10 Avatar
    gVOR10

    Re: windmill person, POLITICO mentioned that it’s a bench trial. Seems to me they should have added that’s not some quirk of the system or imposition by the prosecutor or judge, but because Trump’s lawyers didn’t ask for a jury trial.

    1
  4. Just nutha ignint cracker Avatar
    Just nutha ignint cracker

    @Gustopher: Yeah. My reaction was “that’s a rhetorical question, right?” Still, I DO wish that the Speaker would open that book that he claims guides his worldview and conduct and consider what the passage that goes “If any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him” says about a life given to seeking temporal power and authority.

    I understand that he won’t, but I’d still like him to.

    2
  5. Just nutha ignint cracker Avatar
    Just nutha ignint cracker

    @CSK: I think it’s a play on “Taco Tuesday,” but I haven’t invested a lot of thought on it.

    3
  6. gVOR10 Avatar
    gVOR10

    @Just nutha ignint cracker: Perhaps reflecting Taco John’s abandonment of the trademark on”Taco Tuesday” because they couldn’t afford to fight Taco Bell?

    2
  7. Just nutha ignint cracker Avatar
    Just nutha ignint cracker

    @gVOR10: I don’t think so. Adding that would be commenting that needs to be redirected to the OpEd pages–which in the brave new world of future are going to be a full section larger than international, national, regional, local and sports combined given that virtually every story will need an opinion article or three written about it.

    3
  8. Just nutha ignint cracker Avatar
    Just nutha ignint cracker

    @gVOR10: I thought their trademark was on “Taco Twosday,” but it’s been a long time since I saw either the add or the phrase–the last time for “Taco Tuesday” being on the menu board at the dining hall* at the school where I did my grad studies.

    *Which was not a Taco John franchise, I will note.

  9. CSK Avatar
    CSK

    @gVOR10:

    Apparently Trump’s lawyers (he hires only the best, you know) neglected/forgot to request a jury trial.

    1
  10. CSK Avatar
    CSK

    @Just nutha ignint cracker:

    Thank you.

    1
  11. MarkedMan Avatar
    MarkedMan

    I think this bit from a ’90s era Vanity Fair piece is worth revisiting:

    Last April, perhaps in a surge of Czech nationalism, Ivana Trump told her lawyer Michael Kennedy that from time to time her husband reads a book of Hitler’s collected speeches, My New Order, which he keeps in a cabinet by his bed.
    …
    “Did your cousin John give you the Hitler speeches?” I asked Trump.

    Trump hesitated. “Who told you that?”

    “I don’t remember,” I said.

    “Actually, it was my friend Marty Davis from Paramount who gave me a copy of Mein Kampf, and he’s a Jew.” (“I did give him a book about Hitler,” Marty Davis said. “But it was My New Order, Hitler’s speeches, not Mein Kampf. I thought he would find it interesting. I am his friend, but I’m not Jewish.”)

    Later, Trump returned to this subject. “If I had these speeches, and I am not saying that I do, I would never read them.”

    FWIW, I think a straight news story reporting on Trump’s “Vermin” speech, should add this context.

    4
  12. dazedandconfused Avatar
    dazedandconfused

    On the topic of vermin, Trump’s call for a citizen’s arrest of Letitia James even has Turley running for cover. The shrillness gives me the impression he’s starting to panic.

  13. Steven L. Taylor Avatar
    Steven L. Taylor

    @Just nutha ignint cracker: This was my joke, such as it was, yes.

    1
  14. Rick Smith Avatar
    Rick Smith

    @MarkedMan: I can believe that Trump never read the speeches, but that is because I am not convinced he can read.

  15. James Joyner Avatar
    James Joyner

    @gVOR10: @Just nutha ignint cracker: Providing factual comment in the reporting has been part and parcel of news coverage as long as I’ve paid attention. If Trump’s team asked for a bench trial/declined a jury trial, that’s definitely worthy of inclusion in the story. Speculation as to what it means, however, is best left for the editorial pages.

    1
  16. Kylopod Avatar
    Kylopod

    I’m not a fascist, and anyone who calls me one goes straight to the firing squad.

    2
  17. Kathy Avatar
    Kathy

    @Steven L. Taylor:

    Took me a few seconds to figure it out.

    Of course, now we’ll expect it every time you post tabs on Tuesday.

  18. Franklin Avatar
    Franklin

    @Steven L. Taylor: I’m all for wordplay, but I struggled here. Oh I got it right away, but my problem is how to pronounce the ‘a’ – as in tab or as in taco. This is critical.

    1
  19. fredw Avatar
    fredw

    The comparisons of Trump to Hitler are just a little insulting; Hitler was a veteran.

    2

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