Unserious and More than a Little Authoritarian
Imagery and the White House Twitter account.
Forget issues of offense for the moment, or even questions of whether things like the following are distractions meant to divert us from paying attention to more serious matters. The bottom line is that stuff like Trump-as-Pope tweets from the official White House Twitter feed is a combination of juvenile and bush-league authoritarianism.
And, stuff like this is likewise so very Kim Jung Un-esque. (Not to mention that Sith are the ones with red light sabers–but a guy with a geeky podcast can’t help but point that out).
The whole make-Trump-a-muscleman thing is also just so profoundly strange.
But, of course, these are the same folks who brought us the following.
Ultimately, this is just propaganda to prop up the Strong Man (because he is actually weak).
I am reminded of the role of the leader in fascist regimes. I am also reminded of Stanley stating, in the introduction of his book, How Fascism Works, the following: “The most telling symptom of fascist politics is its division. It aims to separate a population into an ‘us’ and a ‘them’” (xxx).
I usually think about such divisions as the kind of thing we see with Trump and his view of immigrants. But the whole point of these tweets is to signal which team one is on. If you “get the joke,” then you are on Team Trump, but if you react negatively, you are one of the others. It is intended to divide. It is an official White House communication source actively trolling the population.
I would also note that we see here unreality via propaganda. For more on this, see my post Defining and Discussing Fascism (Part I).
I long wondered why fascism was called an “aesthetic” movement.
I no longer wonder.
I get official government emails from Social Security, Medicare, and DoD. Beyond the necessary facts of the emails, there seems to be embedded a lot of propaganda and puffery. I didn’t notice that during the Biden Administration. It is both irritating and eye-rolling.
When your fascist movement is predicated on something something macho alpha male something something master race — but your leader is… how do I put this delicately… a slovenly and unattractive whiny bitch — you need altered images.
Because what else is the right going to use? Actual photos of Trump? Gag. Videos of him rambling about riots in Harlem in response to a question about Harvard? Not good recruitment material.
Then there’s President Trumpflation’s historically poor 100-day polling, his broken promises to lower egg prices and end his master Putin’s genocidal Ukraine attacks Ukraine “on day one,” and his incompetent clown car cabinet that’s drunk texting top secret war plans and disappearing people into foreign prison camps without due process.
These failures isolate our rapist convicted criminal president, so his failing regime focuses instead on childish distractions. (Their unseriousness and misplaced focus is also why they are failing.)
Glad you noted that point about Red lightsabers as always being coded as evil.
Also, as with iconography from the first Trump administration, the repeated over the top Tom of Finland imaging of Trump as a muscle daddy has more than a tinge of homoeroticism to it. I mean, embracing more or less gay iconography to own the libs is… a choice.
Who is the artist who created the image of Trump as a cross between Rambo and the Terminator? I want to commission a portrait of me in that style maybe adding in a Frank Frazetta styled female acolyte. I will put it in my living room for my next birthday. My kids will love it.
Kind of reminiscent of Putin and his athletic events and photos. I am particularly fond of the ones of him playing hockey with a bunch of guys much younger than he was and them letting him score (it was obvious given how much slower he was than everyone else). After, they would all talk about what a wonderful hockey player and athlete he was and how he embodied the virility of the country.
Steve
That red lightsabers are associated with the Dark Side is not just SW subtext. It’s text. There is terminology for it. And now let’s engage in maximum nerdiness:
Lightsabers are made with crystals – typically kyber crystals. All Jedi (and probably all Sith) learn to make a lightsaber for themselves, and making one is a rite of passage for Jedi. When someone (usually a Sith) feeds negative emotions into a kyber crystal, it turns the emitted light red.
This was depicted in a recent SW miniseries called “The Acolyte” which I recently watched.
So. Text. Not subtext.
By the way, this is the kind of thing that in other contexts gets folks really wound up about ‘cultural appropriation’. Using imagery without really knowing much about it.
But it’s also possible that they really want to depict Trump as Darth Vader. It’s amazing how many people want to be Darth Vader.
Speaking of unserious.
Hegseth Works Hard to Portray Himself as a Man of the Troops. They Might Not Be Buying It.
BTW, I haven’t met many military members who enjoy marching in a parade. And I would look askance at any who was eager to do so.
@Slugger: The proper place for any Frazetta picture is painted on the side of a van! How dare you, sir.
@Scott:
He might have a tad more luck if he didn’t break rules, mishandle classified operational information, and evaded even a rebuke.
There’s no officer, non-commissioned officer, or private who doesn’t know what would befall them if they did one tenth what the lush did in his open, unsecured chats.
@Jay L Gischer:
Also, too, from the post with that misappropriated imagery, you’ve got “You’re not the Rebellion – you’re the Empire.”
Even though they control all three branches of the US government, both politically and through intimidation, the Trumpers very badly want to be seen as the scrappy heroes fighting the oppressive state. The need to be admired as good just reeks of desperation.
Notes;
– the incompetence in giving Trump the red light-saber of the Dark Side and of the Sith is totally on-brand.
– the death of “congestion pricing” is, as Twain said, exaggerated. To the point of being completely untrue.
– I’m on board with the Franzetta style art work. Can we get a group discount, perhaps? Unfortunately Ralph Steadman would probably better suit me.
Trump the muscle man is just so sad.
Buying into that is so clearly intellectually dishonest that it becomes an act of self-abasement. MAGAts all have some weird humiliation kink. These people are psychologically unwell.
I just don’t get how they can’t see that it turns them into toadies sucking up to a bully as they are actively rejecting the proposition of being a free and equal citizen of a democratic society.
Or maybe they just don’t mind?
Cartoonist Ben Garrison has been depicting Trump as young, muscular, and godlike for the past nine or ten years:
http://www.grrrgraphics.com/trumps-superhuman-efforts/
Jon McNaughton is even more sickening:
http://www.jonmcnaughton.com/crossing-the-swamp/
Aren’t they supposed to be the weapons experts? Why is he carrying an M-60 machine gun with a Soviet style RPG stuck on the barrel?
Looking again at the first photo, I find myself wondering what a “commie” is.
Is that a grammar thing? You know, don’t people talk about the “Oxford commie”?
Or didn’t Boy George sing about them? Wasn’t the song “Commie, commie, chameleon”? Something like that.
Or maybe it’s those guys who did suicide bombing from airplanes in WW2? Weren’t they called “commie kahzy”?
(Hmmm, I seem to be in a better mood than I was a few weeks ago. Interesting.)
Childish Gamblerino regressing America’s E.Q. and I.Q. Twofer one.
Breaking: Trump announces tariffs on Asian weather crossing Pacific onto U.S. territory.
What does it say when the diplomatic gaffe of portraying our country’s leader in the official regalia of a foreign head of state doesn’t even rise to the level of mention among all of the other offenses? Imagine how the Drumpfists would lose their sh!t if an official Canadian website showed their PM sitting behind the resolute desk wrapped in an American Flag…
@drj:
I think they see such depictions of Trump as owning the libs.
@CSK:
Yeah, that’s what they say.
But does this mean that the MAGAts are owned if the Dems decide to hawk around pictures of a bare-chested Obama holding a big gun? How does this “owning” even work? It makes no sense.
Deep in their sad little hearts, these asshats really want to be subjects instead of citizens.
It’s the only thing that makes sense.
@Slugger: Make sure that you give the nymphs some hooters.
@drj:
They want Big Daddy/The King to take care of them.
@Jay L Gischer:
“Darth” rhymes with dart, and “vader” sounds similar to father are the Dutch language words for “dark father.”
@Barry: There is an Instagram site for Frazettagirls. Your concerns are addressed.
BTW, I am not a 15 year old. Many of Trump’s ideas are so ridiculous that mocking is the only rational response. Rehab Alcatraz, images of him as a muscle man, etc, are prima facie ridiculous. Remember his plan for steam powered catapults for aircraft carriers from his first term? https://news.usni.org/2019/05/28/experts-navy-would-spend-billions-to-answer-trumps-call-to-return-carriers-to-steam-catapults The man is unserious. I do have a great job at Foxconn in Wisconsin; I commute using $1.98 gas.
@Jay L Gischer:
Who wouldn’t want to be a disfigured amputee in constant, unrelenting pain, unable even to breathe without mechanical help?
@drj: I think art of a pregnant Donald Trump would be the way to go. Direct mockery rather than propping up “one of ours”.
A lot of the weird Trump iconography was a reaction to the Fox News claims of Democrats idolizing Obama. Just as they believe there are litter boxes in classrooms for students who identify as cats*, they also thought that Democrats idolized Obama, all had that “hope” poster framed on their bedroom walls, and revered him as a secular messiah antichrist thing. It’s largely a parody of a thing that they made up and convinced themselves was real.
But mpreg. Are they ready for mpreg? Aside from the inherent comical bit (Arnold Swartzenegger in “Junior”), it places him in the role of a woman and they hate women**. Could probably work in the natalism “America needs more (white) babies” thing they are playing with.
*: in reality, it is far more common for the cat-identified students are just let outside to do their business, and sometimes return with a dead bird in their mouths. For every credible report of litter boxes, you can find ten credible reports of this.
**: an exception is made for a very specific type of “hot” women, of the Kristy Noem or 2012 Sarah Palin variety, and porn stars. And women who can blend those personas.
@Jay L Gischer:
I get that this was a cool idea, but it undermines the story of Count Dooku, who was always depicted as more of a “doing evil for the greater good” kind of guy, never developing the yellow eyes or any other Sithy attributes. He was always less angry than absolutely determined.
Also, Anakin’s lightsaber should have changed colors after he slaughtered the Younglings with the Acolyte-rules, if not earlier when he slaughtered the Tuscan Raiders. (The comedy of him always having to “lose” his lightsaber to hide when he gave into his darkest emotions in the Clone Wars cartoon would have been great though)
Trump claims he has no idea how the Pope Trump picture got on his Truth Social account, raising the question (not for the first time) of how many excited media stories about what Trump said on Truth Social are about something that was actually written by Trump.
He also trotted out the usual screw them if they can’t take a joke excuse, which I’m sure offended Catholics even more than the image.
@Gustopher:
Stepford wives?
Not sure if I’m banned or not….
[SLT here: I don’t even remember which one you are, but being insulting is a great way to get your comment deleted. So, congrats!]
@Scott:
And … we’ve heard the rumors that Trump is looking forward to a military parade and review on his birthday.
He doesn’t even know what the Declaration of Independence is, yet he’s going to preside over the 250th anniversary of The Declaration on July 4th, 2026. I’m not sure that AI could come up with this sordid/depressing scenario.
@Gustopher: yup. Fortune argued with me a few months ago that the Obama Hope poster (which was, you know, a campaign poster, like politicians have used for generations) was no different than the gold Trump statue that the MAGAts bowed down to at CPAC a few years ago.
@Ken_L:
Completely possible. Trump has forgotten he took an oath to preserve, protect, and defend the US Constitution. And his characteristically incoherent babbling the other day indicates he’s also confused about the difference between Harvard and Harlem, or else hard-of-hearing, or both. He’s cooked.
@Gustopher: Ever since the prequels came out, I can’t help put transpose “Dooku” with”Dookie.” I feel as though I’m disrespecting the memory of Christopher Lee with a poop joke, but I can’t help it.
I guess I’m a f#cking idiot. I don’t see where Article II gives the president the power to send anybody to life imprisonment. Or to set tariffs.
@Gustopher: As I understand it, “bleeding” the crystal is a specific act that must be carried out. Anakin didn’t have time to do that before Obiwan cut off both his legs (and his arms? I think his arms?) and took his lightsaber. He of course made another one. And bled it properly. Because it’s powerful you know! You don’t know the power! We have the best power!
@Kathy: You know I said that to a friend (“lots of people want to be Darth Vader”) and he reacted skeptically. Until he took a trip to Disneyland and returned saying that he was amazed how many people were buying and wearing Darth Vader merch, like masks and such.
DV is powerful. That’s why people are interested.
@charontwo: ““Darth” rhymes with dart”
Darth really doesn’t rhyme with dart. It does rhyme with Garth, and if you were a fan of Fernwood Tonight, it rhymes with Barth. There are words that rhyme with dart — mart, art, fart — but none of them has that h on the end…
This moment of pedantry is brought to you by WR…
@Jay L Gischer:
I’d understand if people wanted to be James Earl Jones playing the voice of Vader.
@wr: It looks to me like you are talking about pronunciation in English, I was talking pronunciation in Dutch.
But I misspoke, I should not have said “rhymes.” I have heard “Darth” spoken in Dutch, it sounds to me like I say “dart” in English.
(I.e., back from when I was working in Den Haag. Darth in Dutch still translates to dark in English, vader is still the Dutch word for father, the”a” is a short “a.”)
@Kathy: At a dinner party on Friday, I listened to a side discussion between my Ex and my BF on whether James Earl Jones or Jeremy Irons did the best voice work in The Lion King.
Blah, blah, blah….I hate using the “appeal to authority” argument, but I’m not some yahoo redneck buffoon you think Trump supporters are. I have a BS in physics from Missouri State U with a dual minor in mathematics and astronomy; I’m a retired USAF Lt Col, been to Korea three times, Croatia and Italy…dodged IEDs and indirect fire in Iraq (2004) and Afghanistan (2006) so yeah, I think I can have a say….don’t agree with me, fine, but don’t tell me to shut up.
I’ll say this once more, and then I’m likely done as I’ll get banned for good…but for a good reason….I also earned a MA in International Relations, and one of the courses had us studying a particular historical figures….this was almost 15 years ago, we were given a list of, say, four dozen historically famous people….Thomas Jefferson, St Augustine, Plato, etc etc…..one of the names was Adolph Hitler, and I selected that name not because I was a Hitler worshipper that the commentariat here thinks I am but because I knew a lot about him. I read “Mein Kampf” and it was a tough read; 1) because Hitler sucked as a writer, and 2) it was a brutal subject of what he wanted to do.
I say this because the usual suspects here who equate Trump with Hitler are goddamned fucking morons. I’ll say that again, before I get banned by the s0-called “respectable” people running this blog….Trump =/= Hitler. You stupid dumbfucks aren’t even accounting for the the gold (Mao) and silver (Stalin) award winners for most people killed by their own governments. Hitler is a distant third in the race of body counts….but yet, you fucking a-holes equate Trump with Hitler…..
@rondo1342: So how do you feel about a little punk like Miller calling the shots?
He’s never even served. Neither has Trump, or any of his children.
@rondo1342: “I go back and forth between thinking Trump might be a cynical asshole like Nixon who wouldn’t be that bad (and might even prove useful) or that he might be America’s Hitler.”
— JD Vance
You’re right: Trump’s phony, opportunistic Putin slave VP is a giant a-hole.
President Trumpflation is an Epstein-bestie rapist who smeared Obama with racist birther lies, mocked a disabled reporter, trashed fallen US troops, and incited a terror attack on Congress — an echo of Hitler’s Reichstag attack — part of an attempted coup after Trump lost by millions of votes, his COVID incompetence having contributed to countless deaths.
Trump told his chief of staff that Hitler did some good things and that he needed generals like the ones Hitler had.
Now Trump is disappearing people into a foreign prison camp without due process, violating the 5th Amendment and a 9-0 Supreme Court ruling.
Among those sent to this violent El Salvadorian gulag are Venezuelan makeup artist Andry Romero, a legal asylum seeker never accused or convicted of any crime — unlike thug Trump himself.
You who defend the fascist inhumanity happening to Andry Romero are not just dumb: you are toxic, soulless, and not an “authority” on anything but depravity.
You lash out because the decency here guilts your corrupt conscience, as you support the wicked acts of your malignant, childish orange God-king.
Trumpers will be remembered in history like Hitler’s brownshirts. Trump is scummy and amoral, so are you yahoos who enable him. Own it.
@rondo1342: Is deaths caused by a leader the only metric we’re permitted to use for comparison? Or are things like attitude, choice of imagery, tactics, use of propaganda, etc. also allowable?
I find Trump’s statements and attitudes towards the infirm and handicapped reprehensible. I also find his father’s interest in eugenics appalling. Pointing to others who have historically held the same opinions is apparently not permitted?
General reminder, we try our best to avoid banning people (because it’s typically a PIA). Here’s what won’t get you banned:
– Disagreeing with the hosts or commenters of the blog.
– Profanity
– Basic insults
That includes the many different combinations of those three things.
What will get you banned (usually after repeat behavior and ignored warnings):
– Persistent and deeply personal attacks on the hosts or other commenters
– Derailing comment threads with off-topic posts
– Posting incomprehensible posts (a subset of the above ones)
– Direct threats of violence
– Constantly writing about how you are about to be banned (and other annoying ticks)
– General racism, homophobia, hatred, etc. that would be unacceptable in most modern neighborhood bars/pubs*
In keeping with that final point, pretty much anything that is the text-based equivalent of masturbating in public or taking a dump in the punch bowl.
As I said, this happens typically after repeated, ignored warnings. But not always. There will always be people who decide they want to be Leroy Jenkins. Still the best way to get banned is to ignore when we (James, Steven, Myself, and Kingdaddy) keep asking you to change your behavior pattern and you just keep doing what you are doing Leroy Jenkins** style.
Is this a subjective system?
Yup. And much like what Potter Stewart said about pornography: We know ban worthy behavior when we see it.
Do the different hosts have different thresholds?
Yup. And we also support each other’s decisions–especially because OTB is a hobby and we care more about curating what we think is a good cocktail party discussion than anything else.
Do longtime commenters get treated differently?
Yes. They’ve put in the time and “earned” a bit more slack–especially when compared to the people who have contributed very little to the community beyond constantly taking that metaphorical dump in the punchbowl. And we have had to ban some long-timers after they ignored multiple warnings (seeing a pattern here).
What about [X, Y, or Z] who has been banned in the past and is back?
Ok, so here’s the real truth–the reason why we try to avoid banning people is because technology makes bans hard to enforce. User names can be changed. IP address can be changed. The reality is it’s all but impossible to shut someone up on the internet. And usually when someone is banned and walks back in months later under a new name, it takes a while to realize we’re talking about the same person (as they often conceal their writing ticks for a bit).
As a result, by the time their identity is firmly reestablished, it’s a bit of a PITA to ban them again (especially knowing that they will return). So, for better or worse, we will usually let them slide (again, see “Do longtime commenters get treated differently?”). We will make exceptions, especially when it’s really clear who that person is or if they decide to go down that path that led them to be banned in the first place.
Also, a few regular commenters have benefited from returning after a ban, so this applies to both sides.
Also, a request to commenters: Please don’t repeatedly ask for someone to be banned, even if they have been banned in the past.
This gets the final point: Like every other website, OTB isn’t an actual public space. So, we control the limits of speech, and we can be arbitrary and capricious about those controls. We try our best not to be, but we’re all human and are trying to have fun here. If you don’t like the house rules, you are encouraged to just read the site and then go comment somewhere else that has discussion rules more to your liking.
* – Yes I am sure that some of your neighborhood pubs/bars allow some freaky stuff to go on in them. Understand you are going to the exception that proves the rule.
** – If you don’t get this reference, google it as words cannot really unpack that particular meme.
@rondo1342: Here’s what I will say.
First, you didn’t learn as much as you think you did if you can’t understand that calling someone a fascist doesn’t equal calling them Hitler. Hitler was a fascist, but not all fascists are Hitler.
Calling someone Stalin is different, for example, than calling someone a communist. I expect your book of famous people should have helped delineate that.
Second, you didn’t learn as much as you think you did if you think insulting people is a refutation of an argument.
BTW, you may have earned an MA in IR, but I used to teach students at that level for that degree, and I would note that you are doing a piss-poor job of making any kind of argument whatsoever, certainly not one at the graduate level.
Third, I won’t delete these comments nor ban you at this point, just so that the readers can see what you have said and judge for themselves, and wonder why it might be that it seems that all the Trump supporters have to be jerks. BUT, any more of the insults, and yes, I will gladly delete every one of your comments and ban you from the site.
Can you understand that, Colonel?
And BTW, if you want people to respect your expertise, show some of it.
When I see Trump depicted as some sort of muscular superhero, I reminded of a joke involving two guys in the locker room at the gym.
Guy 1: I thought you said you had six-pack abs.
Guy 2: I did. In 1982.
Guy 1: So what happened?
Guy 2: When I got older, I decided I wanted a keg, not a six-pack.
Much of this could be avoided if States’ electorates were strengthened: https://tinyurl.com/3kv6vftz