Trump and his allies have gone to war against Mueller and the FBI. They are winning big.
Trump allies are using the language of disgust.
Disgust is a moral sentiment that causes one to recoil from the impure, the putrid, the defiled. Trump is a well known germaphobe. He understands the emotion and he evokes it. He said the American polity has been defiled by criminal rapist Mexicans and terrorist Muslims. A lot of people agreed.
Borders keep us safe. Wash your hands with Purex.
Trump and his allies are not disagreeing with Mueller. Disagreement implies parity and equality. That raises the question of whether or not Mueller is finding dangerous or illegal activities. This is dangerous terrain. Instead, Trump is delegitimizing Meuller, using the language of corruption and impurity. If and when Trump shuts down the Mueller investigation it will be Trump saving Americans from vermin.
Trump is moving the debate to "court of public opinion." He does not need a majority, only a substantial plurality within the Trump/Fox media silo. Republican voters are secure in this silo and Republican officeholders must--first of all--not lose favor with their base voters, voters who will keep GOP officeholders in line. He needs a majority of Republicans.
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Trump's line of approach was well chosen. Disgust is a moral value that cultural traditionalists particularly experience, objecting to changes in rituals and traditions. Cultural traditionalists discomfort with homosexuality, inter-racial marriage, unfamiliar religious practices, and foreigners link back to this orientation against impurity. Trump and his allies have a message: the FBI investigation of Trump is corrupt, fraudulent, biased, politically motivated, expensive, utterly illegitimate. Disgusting. There will be no "constitutional crisis" if and when Trump shuts down the investigation. Republican voters agreed.
There is a steady, relentless drumbeat of criticism of Mueller and the FBI within the Republican media silo.
Today's lead Fox story:
"insidious plot. . . unprecedented. . . hatched. . . improperly influence. . . conspirators. . . fraudulent. . . Machiavellian. . . deep state. . . secret. . . impose. . . defiance of democratically elected. . . politically motivated. . . nefarious. . . dangerous." Click here for the story
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Newt Gingrich, too, uses the language of disgust. For twenty five years Newt Gingrich has guided the GOP on the choice of words best to describe opponents. He is on message: "appalling. . . sick. . . corrupted. . . staggeringly corrupt". Click Here
Note the kinds of words used. This is not a head-to-head war, nor a disagreement between equals. Hour after hour Fox hammers on the illegitimacy of the Mueller investigation using words of secrecy, corruption, and dark plots.
There is a big distinction between this and the firing of Archibald Cox in 1973 by Nixon try to shut down the Watergate investigation. Archibald Cox was perceived as a person of virtue and rectitude, as was Elliot Richardson. Cox and Richardson had defenders.
Trump has made Mueller a rat to be trapped and removed. No one defends the constitutional rights of rats.
Trump has made Mueller a rat to be trapped and removed. No one defends the constitutional rights of rats.
4 comments:
You could easily substitute Rachel Maddow, Don Lemon and several other "show hosts" for Trump or Hannity as to who "is moving the debate to the court of public opinion." You will find an inexhaustible supply of "disgust" for Trump on those shows, indeed in commentary to this blog. Trump and journalists have plenty of disgust for each other as do both parties.
The court of public opinion is, has been and likely will remain the only court on RussiaGate. Mueller looks political and tainted in that court. Special prosecutors pursue political prosecutions and they get bruised in the process. Ken Star never recovered his reputation, nor likely will Mueller. In that is the real valor of their public service.
In what kind of parallel universe is Donald Trump and his ilk a respectable human being?
There is a fundamental difference between Regressive paranoia and reality. Accepting false equivalency is intellectually lazy, not to deny it's pervasive influence in the current discourse, and is the gateway to fascism. Wisdom and Truth matter, and all the loud hyperbolic rhetoric will not change facts, history or basic human decency. Steve Schmidt said it with enviable eloquence:
“That Fox News panel––the breathtaking dishonesty of it is beyond my ability to articulate. That is no longer a news organization. That is what American state media looks like. That is what White House-controlled in-the-service-of-the-president misinformation looks like. That is indistinct from propaganda in authoritarian countries. It is aimed directly at weakening essential institutions and misinforming the American people. It is appalling.”
As this blog has pointed out many times “Delegitimization” of opponents has been A very effective strategy for Trump. What is truly astonishing is his seeming immunity to that tactic against him.
Thad, maybe 2018 will prove me wrong, but your predictions seem to reflect the fantasies of Trumpsters. The lies that have already been exposed in regard to Russiagate will result in more convictions - or this is not a nation ruled by law. A more complete picture of moneylaundering will eventually emerge. Evidence of obstruction of justice is plain to see, but rational citizens hope for an exceedingly thorough investigation of all these intertwined issues. They are now in the hands of investigative agencies, not in the "court" of public opinion. Wishing that public opinion will decide the guilt or innocence of all involved will not empower the kangaroo "court" that you are banking on. However, if we are truly sinking into lawlessness, then your prediction will be accurate.
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