Category: Rightwing claptrap

The Troubling Lack of Empathy Among Conservatives

MAGA cultists / Psychology & Sociology / Rightwing claptrap / Talibangelists and pseudo-Christians / What I'm Reading Now9 Comments

Loading

Empathy is a nasty word to conservatives. Elon Musk recently showed his contempt for the very notion of considering another’s feelings, calling it “civilizational suicidal empathy.” And then, to make sure everyone knew his views, the technocrat added in an interview with fellow rightwing MAGA cultist Joe Rogan, “The fundamental weakness of Western civilization is empathy, the empathy exploit.” Which means he sees empathy as a weakness he can exploit. Information-warfare.com noted, “Musk’s perspective on empathy aligns with certain ideological frameworks, particularly technocracy and the … click below for more ↓

What if Julian Jaynes Was Right?

Evangelicals / MAGA cultists / Politics / Rightwing claptrap / US PoliticsOne Comment

Loading

In 1977, Princeton University psychologist Julian Jaynes published his controversial book, The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind. Hardly a title that should have captured the public imagination, but it managed to create a stir in the media, among Jaynes’ peers, as well as among other scientists. And, surprisingly for an academic work, it sold out its first printing. It went through new printings in 1990, 1993, and 2000. It was criticized, attacked, and debunked at the time, but also praised, … click below for more ↓

The Honeymooners: The Imaginary Greatness That MAGA Wants to Return To

Culture / Culture wars / MAGA cultists / Politics / Rightwing claptrapOne Comment

Loading

Ever see The Honeymooners? Unless you’re at least as old as I am, it’s unlikely you ever saw the TV show when it was first broadcast in the mid-50s. It starred Jackie Gleason and, in lesser but crucial roles, Art Carney, Audrey Meadows, and Joyce Randolph. I was young, and today can barely recall seeing it on our TV set at the time; it wasn’t a parental favourite like some other shows, but I have since seen many episodes, most lately through the DVD set … click below for more ↓

WTF Canada? We Needed to do Better!

Canadian Politics / Ideologies / Politics / Rightwing claptrap6 Comments

Loading

The Canadian federal election is over and the counting has finally finished. The Liberals under Mark Carney got 168 seats, four short of a majority. That’s disappointing because it weakens our government’s ability to cohesively manage the Canadian response to the assault from the fascist dictator Trump and his administrative cabal. A strong majority would have sent a better message about Canadian resistance to the MAGA cult. We should have showed MAGA we are strong, we are united, we won’t be bullied. Instead, CONservatives showed … click below for more ↓

Can Mark Carney Save Canada From Trump? Let’s Hope So.

Canadian Politics / Ideologies / Politics / Rightwing claptrap9 Comments

Loading

Mark Carney, our new Liberal leader, is campaigning to be Prime Minister of Canada. His main opponent, the rage-farming, grievance-mining Trump mimic Pierre PoiLIEvre, is campaigning to be governor of a 51st state. Canadians generally think PoiLIEvre is the candidate most likely to cave in and do whatever is necessary to appease Trump. That includes giving away our country just for a pat on the head from the US dictator. PoiLIEvre’s party caucus all know this, they know how their leader has aligned himself with … click below for more ↓

Trump Mimic PoiLIEvre Voted The Most Likely to Roll Over to Trump

Canadian Politics / Ideologies / Politics / Rightwing claptrap6 Comments

Loading

The grievance-mining, rage-farming, puerile Trump mimic Pierre PoiLIEre was voted by Canadians the political leader most likely to cave in to Donald Trump rather than stand up for Canada against the fascist bully. That’s not surprising, given the piffleswipe PoiLIEvre has been using Trump’s playbook since Trump started his own campaign some years back: lie, deflect, gaslight, accuse, lie again, insult, never take responsibility, attack, lie some more, and blame everyone else. PoiLIEvre’s own corrosive mix of far-right bombast and bumper-sticker slogans gained him a … click below for more ↓

Rage-Farming Trump Mimic Poilievre Scrambles to Pretend He’s Pro-Canada

Canadian Politics / MAGA cultists / Politics / Rightwing claptrap / Trump fascism / US Politics13 Comments

Loading

The trade war that the racist and fascist felon and Putin asset Donald Trump initiated against American allies Canada and Mexico, as well as against China, Colombia, and other nations has brought out the stark differences between Canada’s conservative parties and our centrist and leftist parties. Suddenly caught like deer in the headlights by Trump’s attacks, the federal CONservatives are flailing to try and convince Canadians that they aren’t really the rightwing Maple MAGA extremists they’ve been pretending to be for the last few years. … click below for more ↓

The New Fascists Have Arrived. American Democracy is Dead.

MAGA cultists / Politics / Rightwing claptrap / US Politics21 Comments

Loading

I get no satisfaction from saying ‘I told you so’ and ‘I warned you about them.’ But I did, over and over. So did many, many others, all of them far more informed and experienced in politics, reporting, and history than I. They warned about fascism. They warned about racism. They warned about criminal behaviour. They warned about the oligarchs. They warned about Project 2025. But millions of Americans ignored them and elected a convicted felon, a blatant grifter in cognitive decline who openly lied … click below for more ↓

Normalizing Fascism: The Paradox of Tolerance

Critical Thinking / Media / Politics / Rightwing claptrap6 Comments

Loading

The Brexit campaign succeeded on a platform that cultivated anger, fear, conspiracies, and racism based on lies and disinformation. Donald Trump’s campaigns have succeeded twice on platforms that increasingly cultivated anger, fear, misogyny, conspiracies, and racism based on lies and disinformation. Pierre PoiLIEvre, head of Canada’s now far-right MAGA-mimicking CONservative Party campaigns on a platform that cultivates anger, fear, conspiracies, and racism based on lies and disinformation in the hope of succeeding as the next Prime Minister. If Canada’s electorate is ignorant enough, and has … click below for more ↓

Enemy of the State

MAGA cultists / Trump fascism / US Politics15 Comments

Loading

It was very clear from his first presidential campaign that Donald Trump was adversarial to the very notion of the USA, to its Constitution, to its judiciary, laws, courts, police, military, schools, to its free speech, its allies and trading partners, and its media. It was very clear from the outset that he intended to be a dictator, not a president, and he cared nothing for established processes, laws, and institutions. He intended to rule by himself, for himself. And he did, for four years. … click below for more ↓

Why Are People Leaving Xitter En Masse?

Culture wars / Internet & Social Media / MAGA cultists / Trump fascism6 Comments

Loading

The exodus from X to Bluesky has happened – the era of mass social media platforms is over. That’s the headline for a piece in today’s Guardian newspaper. People and corporations are turning to other social media platforms because of what Xitter has become since Musk bought it and started using it as his own platform to spread racist hatred, lies, disinformation, and AI fakes, while enabling the far-right extremists to spread their own propaganda. Anyone surprised that users and advertisers are fed up with … click below for more ↓

Class Struggle, Slavery, TV, and Trump

MAGA cultists / Rightwing claptrap / Trump fascism / US Politics4 Comments

Loading

Long before Blandings, long before Downtown Abbey, long before Upstairs, Downstairs (both the 1971 original and the short-lived 2010 remake), even long before The Duchess of Duke Street, there was a popular TV show about class, servitude, and servants. And, surprisingly, it wasn’t British (or more properly, English): it was American. That show was called Hazel and it ran for five seasons from 1961 to 1966. It was so popular that it spawned a short-lived competitor on a different network, Our Man Higgins, featuring the … click below for more ↓

Democracy or Fascism?

MAGA cultists / Musings / Politics / US Politics10 Comments

Loading

We are, today, watching the most momentous decision that Americans have had to make in the entirety of their — and my own — lifetimes. Compared to the choice between Harris and felon Trump, all other elections seem almost inconsequential. That’s because never before was the whole fabric of democracy at risk. Never before has an openly racist, misogynist, totalitarian, cognitively-addled felon come so close to winning the presidency. Never before has the entire American experiment been on the scales. The choices are stark: between … click below for more ↓

Imagine There’s No Heaven…

MAGA cultists / Politics / Talibangelists and pseudo-Christians / Theocracy / US Politics3 Comments

Loading

The title above is how Imagine, the iconic 1971 song by John Lennon, begins. It is still being played and sung, more than 50 years later. Wikipedia tells us it is “one of the 100 most performed songs of the 20th century.” The song was re-released as a single in 1980 following Lennon’s murder, reaching number one on the UK charts. It was re-released in 1988 and again in 1999. For some listeners, myself included, that first verse was an opening to an atheist anthem … click below for more ↓

Back to Top