Oct
3
2025

Populist Demagoguery is Just a Few Keystrokes Away

My current CongressCritter, Chris Pappas, is running for the US Senate seat currently held by retiring Jeanne Shaheen. And I've noticed his tweets have switched from earnest can't-we-all-get-along bipartisan slop to … well, a different brand of slop. A recent example:

Yes, he's transformed himself into a brave "fighting fighter who fights". I am unsure to whom he's trying to appeal.

Anyway, once my eyes stopped rolling, I deployed some snark in reply:

That was from ChatGPT, triggered by my initial request for "200 bytes of populist BS", modified to make the result "a little longer and rantier please."

I hope Fightin' Chris isn't spending a lot of money having humans compose his tweets when ChatGPT can do it for free.

Also of note:

  • "Strip away the phony tinsel of Hollywood…" The classic quote continues "… and you find the real tinsel underneath."

    That's what came to mind when I read Tyler MacQueen's FIRE headline: Trump’s tinseltown tariffs threaten free speech.

    “The Movie Industry in America is DYING a very fast death,” declared the 47th president in a post earlier this year on Truth Social. To lure more film productions back to America, Trump ordered the Department of Commerce and the U.S. Trade Representative to place a 100% tariff on foreign films.

    Hollywood went into panic mode. But the summer months passed without any update from the White House. Then, on Monday, Trump renewed his calls for a foreign-film tariff.

    Much has been made about the financial implications of Trump’s shocking movie mandate. But beyond the economic concerns, both the industry and elected officials alike have failed to consider the broader constitutional implications of the president’s chaotic posts, should the tariffs actually be implemented.

    Nestled in his posts, declaring offshore film productions a “National Security threat,” Trump further justified the tariffs this year by labeling foreign films as “propaganda.” For any American who cares about free speech, that should be the cue to jump up and holler, “Cut!”

    So: You strip away Trump's phony demagoguery … and you find the real demagoguery underneath.

    But here's the nonsensical thing about Trump's proposed movie tariffs: Hollywood hates Trump. Why would he want to throw them any life preservers?

    And for the rest of us…

  • It's not as if American moviemakers deserve protection. Fox News notes that Hollywood is taking its own action against the real Foreign Movie Menace: Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo among stars boycotting Israeli film institutions.

    Over 1,000 Hollywood stars, directors and other film workers, including Emma Stone and Mark Ruffalo, have signed a pledge to boycott Israeli film institutions, according to the advocacy group Film Workers for Palestine.

    "Inspired by Filmmakers United Against Apartheid who refused to screen their films in apartheid South Africa, we pledge not to screen films, appear at or otherwise work with Israeli film institutions — including festivals, cinemas, broadcasters and production companies — that are implicated in genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people," the pledge said.

    Yeesh. Well, just as soon as I finish up watching the Task miniseries (which stars Ruffalo), I'll do a boycott of my own.

    Here's hoping Gary Oldman doesn't sign, I'd really miss watching Slow Horses.

  • "Manichean Paranoia" would be a good name for a rock band. Roger Pielke Jr. diagnoses Climate Politics as Manichean Paranoia.

    Recently, I had the opportunity to witness a stemwinding sermon by a climate scientist. Scientific authority was invoked, evocative graphs and videos were displayed, and we were warned of the coming end of the world — But not all hope was lost, as salvation through repentance was promised.

    Those who might disagree with his good word were cast not just as wrong, but evil.

    How did public discussion of climate get to a place where the angriest, most intolerant, and deeply partisan have come to represent climate science, journalism, and advocacy?

    Pielke is on my (regrettably short) list of people I can trust on climate issues.

  • Speaking of paranoia, though… Noah Rothman has some sage navigational advice for drivers: You Actually Don’t Want to Drive Your Opponents Crazy. (archive.today link)

    Republicans with long memories are experiencing some foreboding déjà vu.

    The Democratic Party’s loudest, if not most representative, voters are spitting mad. They appear to reserve most of their manic hostility not for their Republican opponents but their fellow Democrats. They demand catharsis from their legislators — grand futile gestures that trade tactical soundness for visceral pique. And they are increasingly succumbing to magical thinking.

    Of that, the ongoing government shutdown is illustrative. In the weeks leading up to the present impasse, Democratic lawmakers were positively funereal when describing their unenviable position to reporters. “We may not have the luxury of a victory scenario,” said Democratic Representative Jared Huffman. He was one of many Democrats who could not conceive of what a shutdown could possibly accomplish but who were resigned to one if only because they would be pilloried by the firebrands in their party if they didn’t surrender their better judgment to the mob.

    Maybe that's Chris Pappas's deal? Could be.