Fun with Doublethink

“It’s difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on him not understanding it." -Upton Sinclair

MAGAs have been EV haters. Pretty much accepted, red state gospel. No battery vehicles, no hybrids, no charging stations. Oh wait, I'm being told something in my ear... This Just In! BREAKING NEWS! MAGA loves EVs! Tesla EVs are fantastic and you're encouraged to buy one at the White House Used Car Lot. Recently fired federal workers get a free bucket of KFC chicken with every Cybertruck purchase. Trump said “I’m going to buy a brand new Tesla tomorrow morning as a show of confidence and support for Elon Musk, a truly great American." African immigrant Musk is a little miffed that his stock is tanking worldwide and his car lots are being vandalized. A fairly organic boycott has resulted and Tesla owners are trying to unload their spontaneously combustible coupes. Trump said “radical left lunatics” are “illegally and collusively” boycotting Tesla. (Bud-Light is on the phone and would like a word...) 

Will we see Cybertrucks with gun racks? Model 3s with the rebel flag painted on the hood? Only time will tell. 

Several memes pointed out the obvious ...

but I 'digest'...

Trump, now angry about the Tesla boycott, once led the anti-EV charge, while rolling coal in a Ford F-350 probably. Around Christmas 2023 he suggested that “...Electric Car Lunacy” promoted by political enemies “are looking to destroy our once great USA. MAY THEY ROT IN HELL.” He also posted on his social media site that then-President Joe Biden, a Democrat, sold autoworkers “down the river with his ridiculous all Electric Car Hoax.” He suggested that promoting electric vehicles “was the idea of the Radical Left Fascists, Marxists, & Communists” and that “Within 3 years, all of these cars will be made in China.”

If Tesla's stock keeps tanking, EVs will all be made in China.

everything is transactional...

“I’m for electric cars. I have to be because Elon endorsed me very strongly,” Trump said during an August election rally in Atlanta. Yeah. It's funny how $288 million campaign contribution can enlighten even the most stubborn climate change denier. And so Elon set up a pop-up car dealership on the White House lawn.

The whole thing reminds me of that classic, hysterical movie, "Used Cars." I think you'll see some Tesla commercials like this one..

In the Spring of '24, Trump Toadie Sean Hannity kept hammering a (now discredited) study that falsely concluded that EVs were worse for the environment than gas-powered vehicles. “The Biden administration is moving forward with their gas-powered vehicle ban...Did they not see the report a week and a half ago about electric vehicles being bigger polluters?”

Seeing that Sugar Daddy TrumpleTesla made a U-turn on battery power, he couldn't wait to tell Musk, on his Fox cable show, "I bought one of your Teslas! It's like the greatest cars ever invented, and I'm not just saying that."

Settle down, Sean. Get off of your knees, man. Have some self-respect.

But the White House Oprah show, ("YOU get a Tesla, and YOU get a Tesla, and YOU get a Tesla!) isn't the half of it. Choose an issue, choose an accepted American value (freedom, democracy, authentic Christianity) and you will see how the Gasbag in Chief can flip his mindless gaggle of groupies inside out if he smells profit or power.

The USA was once the "shining city on the hill," or so said Reagan, reflecting on author Manly P. Hall and his book The Secret Destiny of America, which alleged a secret order of philosophers had created the idea of America as a country for religious freedom and self-governance.

I have quoted John Winthrop's words more than once on the campaign trail this year—for I believe that Americans in 1980 are every bit as committed to that vision of a shining city on a hill, as were those long ago settlers ... These visitors to that city on the Potomac do not come as white or black, red or yellow; they are not Jews or Christians; conservatives or liberals; or Democrats or Republicans. They are Americans awed by what has gone before, proud of what for them is still… a shining city on a hill. -Ronald Reagan, 1980, and beyond.

(John Winthrop, first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, was featured in Hall's book, specifically a famous sermon delivered on the deck of the ship Arbella in 1630 on his way to the New World. He referred to the city on a hill as his vision for shaping the soon-to-be colonists' religious and political future.)

Reagan, the defacto father of (what was) the modern Republican party, in that one paragraph paid lip service to racial diversity, bipartisanship, pluralism, and Christ's benevolent Sermon on the Mount ("You are the light of the world. A city located on a hill can't be hidden..." -Mathew 5:14) Reagan, around this period, would label the (then) Soviet Union as the "evil empire," and the Cold War as a battle between "good and evil."

How about that wildly liberal RINO Richard Nixon? “The independence of Ukraine is indispensable. A Russian-Ukrainian confrontation would make Bosnia look like a Sunday-school picnic. Moscow should be made to understand that any attempt to destabilize Ukraine - to say nothing of outright aggression - would have devastating consequences for the Russian-American relationship. Ukrainian stability is in the strategic interest of the United States.”

JD Vance? “There are economic tools of leverage, there are of course military tools of leverage” the U.S. could use against Putin, Vance said. “There are any number of formulations, of configurations, but we do care about Ukraine having sovereign independence." -Vance, as quoted in the WSJ, Feb. 13 of this year.

But oh how times they are a changin'. Barely a month later, Vance was the first to attack Ukrainian President Zelenskyy in the Oval Office while Z was explaining how Putin had never kept any promise or treaty, and that he could not make any ceasefire agreement without a security guarantee. Vance interrupted in an attempt to humiliate Zelenskyy, “Have you said thank you once?” He smirked and fluttered those amazing eyelashes as he watched Zelenskyy squirm.

Vance, of course has flipped on other consequential values. During the 2016 presidential election cycle, Vance wrote that he goes “back and forth between thinking Trump is a cynical a–hole like Nixon who wouldn’t be that bad (and might even prove useful) or that he’s America’s Hitler.” He called him “reprehensible” and an “idiot.” Peter Thiel's millions and a Trump endorsement for his Senate race seemed to inform J.D.'s change of heart. “I’ve been very open that I did say those critical things and I regret them, and I regret being wrong about the guy,” Vance said. “I think he was a good president, I think he made a lot of good decisions for people, and I think he took a lot of flak.” A good president, J.D.? Or the BEST president?

The recognition that Russia is antithetical to democracy and freedom and specifically a threat to Ukraine is nothing new. Again, our hippie friend Richard Nixon: “The independence of Ukraine is indispensable. A Russian-Ukrainian confrontation would make Bosnia look like a Sunday School picnic. Moscow should be made to understand that any attempt to destabilize Ukraine - to say nothing of outright aggression - would have devastating consequences for the Russian-American relationship. Ukrainian stability is in the strategic interest of the United States.”

And oh, look, Marco (Polo!) Rubio speaks from his (short-lived) campaign for president in 2016. “Under my administration, there will be no pleadings for meetings with Vladimir Putin. He will be treated for what he is – a gangster and a thug.”  And last week, that turned into: “The president wants a ceasefire. That will be hard. It will involve a lot of hard work, concessions from both sides, but it has to happen."

Damn, Marco, "it feels good to be a gangsta."

I guess the grand example of how meaningless traditional American values are to Republicans is the insurrection on Jan 6. We all watched it live on TeeVee. We saw the terrified Congress run and hide for their very lives as Capitol police officers were terrorized and beaten, - some would end up dying as a result. We'd heard Trump agitate and then direct his followers to attack the seat of government. We clearly heard the bipartisan disgust with the president, as he watched the day unfold from the White House, making no effort to call out the cavalry or denounce the violence.

Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas characterized Jan 6th as “a violent terrorist attack on the Capitol." He later appeared on Fox News to retract, saying his phrasing was “sloppy” and “frankly dumb.” No one ever accused you of being smart, Tedly. Mitch McConnell called Trump’s actions “disgraceful” and said the rioters “had been fed wild falsehoods by the most powerful man on Earth because he was angry he lost an election.” He flipped shortly thereafter, saying he would back whoever became the Republican Party nominee. Remember Kevin McCarthy? He was House speaker for a minute or two and called Jan. 6 the “saddest day” he ever had in Congress. No surprise when he went on to endorse Trump for president. Sadly, the groveling was too late. It wasn't enough to get him a cabinet position.

It's not just Trump and EVs that were once poison and are now precious. It's education, National Parks, Civil Rights, workplace protection, consumer financial protection... the list goes on and on and every morning is to wake up with a feeling of dread. What will be destroyed today?

Perhaps the worst flip for conservatives, (though it's such a close race,) is their abandonment of the rule of law. A foundational principle for the Republican Party, they've dropped support for Constitutional law quicker than a prom dress. Co-President Musk and his sidekick Trump have decimated agencies, budgets, and departments all in defiance of the courts. Their minions have begun to echo that there is "no such thing as the separation of powers," and that the president has "unlimited power." This is all being fed to the bamboozled bobbleheads of the MAGA movement.

And now, they're coming for the courts, ramping up their threats to federal judges, and even dismissing the Supremes. From Heather Cox Richardson's Substack:

Fox News Channel hosts were also unhappy that when President Donald Trump called for Boasberg’s impeachment, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court John Roberts issued a relatively mild statement that did not mention the president by name but criticized his call for Boasberg’s impeachment by saying: “For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision. The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose.” Roberts was nominated for his position by Republican president George W. Bush and was the author of the Donald Trump v. United States decision establishing that a president cannot be prosecuted for crimes committed as part of his official duties, a decision that upended centuries of precedent to allow Trump to avoid criminal prosecution. Roberts can hardly be considered a member of the radical Left. And yet, on (Fox News) The Five, Greg Gutfeld exploded: “Maybe a guy in a robe in D.C. can follow all the protocols, but Trump is the ‘f-ing’ president of the United States who protects 300 million plus people. He is a leader who does not have the luxury of opening up his little books to read ‘Oh my god, maybe he didn’t do it the right way.’ Roberts, shut the ‘f’ up. This is something that a president has to do. He HAS to do this.” Gutfeld’s outburst shows just how far today’s right-wing has slid toward autocracy. It is a grim marker for our democracy, when a commentator with a wide audience openly calls for the replacement of the rule of law with a dictator.

How can it be so easy to flip on core personal values? and Why??

Money and power! D'uh! With the help of a LOT of tribalism (the need to belong to the in-group is a baked-in instinct.) Fill and ice that Republican cake with layers of Fear. Fear of being primaried out of office, fear of having your name called out by the Dear Leader in public, (resulting in your family being threatened by MAGAts,) fear of losing status, fear of being ostracized by the only community that you've known for decades, and fear of losing the future spoils of holding a GOP office - corporate board seats, speaking fees, easy political appointments and lobbying jobs. Those fears are real, as death threats are frequent and vicious (see: Jan 6.)

So up can be down. Sunshine can be rain. Canada is led by a "loser," and Russia is led by a "very savvy genius." NATO is bad, annexing Greenland is good. The Afghanistan withdrawal (under Trump's own plan) was the ‘most humiliating’ moment in history, but we might use the military to retake Panama. Or in Mexico to fight drug cartels. Down can be up. Rain can be sunshine.

Liberals forever like to describe GOP policies and politicians as "Orwellian." This is usually due to...
• Republican's use of deceptive language
• the constant use of propaganda
• their recent admiration of dictators and oppressive totalitarian control
• engaging in "doublethink" - the ability to hold two contradictory beliefs simultaneously.
I used to tire of and roll my eyes at this overused, hair-on-fire characterization. No more. We are in that dystopian, Orwellian nightmare.

...as Winston well knew, it was only four years since Oceania had been at war with Eastasia and in alliance with Eurasia. But that was merely a piece of furtive knowledge which he happened to possess because his memory was not satisfactorily under control. Officially the change of partners had never happened. Oceania was at war with Eurasia: therefore Oceania had always been at war with Eurasia. The enemy of the moment always represented absolute evil, and it followed that any past or future agreement with him was impossible...
The Party said that Oceania had never been in alliance with Eurasia. He, Winston Smith, knew that Oceania had been in alliance with Eurasia as short a time as four years ago. But where did that knowledge exist? Only in his own consciousness, which in any case must soon be annihilated. And if all others accepted the lie which the Party imposed -if all records told the same tale – then the lie passed into history and became truth. 'Who controls the past,' ran the Party slogan, 'controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.' And yet the past, though of its nature alterable, never had been altered. Whatever was true now was true from everlasting to everlasting. It was quite simple. All that was needed was an unending series of victories over your own memory. 'Reality control', they called it: in Newspeak, 'doublethink'. -George Orwell, 1984