1. United States
2. Texas
3. Letter

MAGA world’s over-the-top outrage over a photo former FBI director James Comey posted is straight out of WWE. Please. Give us a break for god’s sake. “Eighty-six” originally meant something was out of stock. It is a common term, also used by MAGA to refer to getting rid of somebody…until now. MAGA-land insists that this image was a threat to assassinate the president. Giddily, Trump ran to Fox like a kid running to his mom to tattle…”that meant assassination. And it says it loud and clear.... [H]e's calling for the assassination of the president...that's gonna be up to Pam and all of the great people.... He's a dirty cop.” And true to form, HS Sec. Kristi Noem released the hounds. DHS and the Secret Service are investigating Comey. It’s hard to keep track, but someone has… Bruce Springsteen Taylor Swift “Shellgate” Proposing Gaza as Arabian Riviera Cuts to PEPFAR White South Africans fleeing genocide These are just a few recent examples of what is being called “narrative warfare.” Or “political technology.” Or “virtual politics.” This strategy was pioneered in Russia under Putin. It’s designed to get people to vote an authoritarian into office by creating a fake world of outrage. For those left who can smell the BS, there is another tool: flood the zone so that people stop being able to figure out what is real and tune out. Trump and his administration has clearly adopted this plan, because it works. They don’t simply confront critics, they drown them out with a constant barrage of sound bites, interviews with loyalists, memes slamming Democrats, and attack lines. And faux outrage. Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung, formerly a spokesperson for the UFC, said their goal was “FULL SPECTRUM DOMINANCE.” Dominating means controlling the narrative. That starts with perceptions of the president himself. Sadly for that plan, Trump’s public appearances have been embarrassing. He can’t follow a coherent thread. Falls asleep. Invariably veers into nonsense. And repeatedly says he doesn’t know about the operations of his government. When it was noted that only about 20% of Trump’s actual words were posted, Cheung replied “You must be truly f*cking stupid if you think we’re not transparent.” Lastly we get to read that Kristi Noem has been in talks with producers of the reality show Duck Dynasty. Immigrants would compete against each other in cultural contests to win the chance to move their US citizenship applications ahead faster. Real? Or made-for-TV to distract us from all the other crap we don’t like? Created solely to distract from the truly unpopular policies that are stripping rights and benefits from ordinary Americans? From burgeoning lawlessness? And making Trump and his transactional cronies even richer? Either way, that such a thing could be proposed even in diversion is a profound perversion of the American dream. But that’s where we are right now isn’t it?