Reflecting on Pause

I try not to fill this newsletter with too much about the day to day craziness from the Trump campaign or the inside-baseball views on how often the NYT and other publications attempt to sanewash that craziness. But sometimes the crazy coverage of the crazy behavior drives me so crazy I have to share. Last night at one of his rallies, Trump stopped taking questions and instead decided to play some songs at the venue, and sway back and forth. This music and swaying lasted for 39 minutes. In an era of weird, this stood out. As David Graham accurately points out in The Atlantic (Gift Article): Trump Breaks Down Onstage. “To watch the event is to see signs of someone having a breakdown. Like Joe Biden’s disastrous debate against Trump in June, when the president’s fumbling performance and struggle to get sentences out made it impossible to believe he was up to the task of serving for four years, Trump’s rally last night would force any reasonable person to conclude that he is not up to the grueling task of leading the world’s greatest nation, handling economic crises, or dealing with foreign adversaries.” I asked my friend, a renowned psychoanalyst, for his take on Trump’s 39 minute freeze and he responded: “Even Freud would lay down his arms at this point.” WaPo’s headline stated that Trump sways and bops to music for 39 minutes in bizarre town hall episode. The NYT’s headline got close to what happened, but then the article cleaned things up, bigly. Trump Bobs His Head to Music for 30 Minutes in Odd Town Hall Detour. “The playlist session was a glimpse of the private version of Mr. Trump seen more often at Mar-a-Lago, his residence and club in Palm Beach, Fla., than at political events. The former president has been known to take out an iPad that is connected to the speaker system there and play D.J. for his guests.” Wait, that’s how they covered a 39 Trump freeze that could have filled a chapter in the DSM? The demented fascist is the life of the party. Proving that even the NYT can be outdone on these things, here’s the headline from The Conversation: Trump’s musical interlude is a twist on the long tradition of candidates enlisting musicians’ support, from Al Jolson to Springsteen to Swift. (Yeah, sort of like losing your mind is a twist on having a mind.)

+ Look, I know that there are no swing state undecided voters who are going to be moved one way or another by the nuances of NYT coverage, so let’s get back to the heart of the matter. Trump’s overt fascism and the enablers who go along with it. Tom Nichols in The Atlantic (Gift Article): Donald Trump’s Fascist Romp. “The term fascism has been so overused as a denunciation that many people have understandably tuned it out. But every American should be shocked to hear a presidential nominee say that other Americans (including a sitting member of Congress) are more dangerous than two nations pointing hundreds of nuclear warheads at America’s cities. During the Cold War, conservative members of the GOP would likely have labeled anyone saying such things as a ‘comsymp,’ a fellow traveler, or even a traitor. Indeed, one might expect that other Republicans would be horrified to hear such hatred directed at their fellow citizens and such comfort given to the nation’s enemies. Pretty to think so.”