Very telling that when I checked yesterday, the YouTube video of the memorial had fewer than 30,000 views. They’re trying to will this into being and it doesn’t look like it’s working.
I think there's something to your polling skepticism and Henry Farrell's observation about distorted publics at work here. The administration is trying to override some American civics common knowledge around free speech, dissent etc egged on by an online mob. If polling is a desaturated, lossy JPEG of public opinion, then the online rabble is a blocky JPEG with the contrast blown-out. Both parties have done a bit of leaning too hard on these partial, imperfect representations of public sentiment, and have offered only partially responsive political programs perhaps as a result. Mistaking the digitally-juiced "common knowledge" of these snapshots for common knowledge on the ground seems to come at the expense of political power.
Particularly good take, the colossal affects of the Leviathan, when, reportedly, tens of thousands show up to mourn their fallen illiberal prince. The scary intimidating part isn't Trump's chintzy nightmarish fantasy but that so many people and so many major institutions appear to support that fantasy.
“It is the public that is incomprehensible and fearsome to the would-be rulers, not the other way around.”
Indeed. And the greater the fracture between civil society and the political class, the more they are driven to dramatic spectacles of metaphysical purification. Political rallies become calls for mass exorcism, a reckoning with pollution taboos.
Couple of days ago an opposition conservative MP in Canada used the word “evil” six times in a two-minute speech to describe Canada’s recognition of Palestinian statehood. As civil society knocks at the door, reality recedes, replaced by crusade, by holy war. It’s a dialectic of weakness, of desperation, of a cornered animal.
A brilliant, and bracing, piece. But I still worry about the fact so many of the players in this drama seem eager to see Leviathan, wearing a cotton-candy wig and pancaked in orange makeup, rise again.
As often, though, I'm concerned about democratic power not constrained by decency or the liberties or a constitution (written and un-) that could establish both—illiberal or anti-liberal democracy.
And what percentage of the viewership do they cover?
Kimmel’s return audience notwithstanding, his normal live viewing audience is small.
I guess the question is just what size is the audience that Kimmel has of live Nexstar and Sinclair viewers—who, by the way, have access to the show via streaming and clips via YouTube etc.
Something to keep in mind is that establishment media reporting on tv reporting is framed as if shows still have mass live audiences. They don’t, not even close.
I should also throw out the theory that as soon as the Nexstar/Sinclair merger or the latter’s sale of the nation’s to the former is assured of being allowed by the Fuhrer, Kimmel will be back on their stations.
Which is to say I’m not sure how huge a W this is.
for me, the really hateful stuff (putting aside the president for a moment) was that bullshit, inept performance from the deeply unattractive (despite her beauty pageant past) bleach blonde trophy wife (and probable beard). that's NOT how you're supposed to cry on camera.
yes, T***p was hateful, but that's true every time he opens his halitotic mouth...
"if the incentives are in disobeying rather than obeying, we may yet be saved."
I'll take it.
Will the Kimmel affair one day be seen as the turning point? Seems so trivial, just another media screwup... but media are at the center of it all.
"Americans can always be trusted to do the right thing, once all other possibilities have been exhausted".
I'll take even that!
Very telling that when I checked yesterday, the YouTube video of the memorial had fewer than 30,000 views. They’re trying to will this into being and it doesn’t look like it’s working.
A brilliant use of the Leviathan image.
I think there's something to your polling skepticism and Henry Farrell's observation about distorted publics at work here. The administration is trying to override some American civics common knowledge around free speech, dissent etc egged on by an online mob. If polling is a desaturated, lossy JPEG of public opinion, then the online rabble is a blocky JPEG with the contrast blown-out. Both parties have done a bit of leaning too hard on these partial, imperfect representations of public sentiment, and have offered only partially responsive political programs perhaps as a result. Mistaking the digitally-juiced "common knowledge" of these snapshots for common knowledge on the ground seems to come at the expense of political power.
Shana tovah, John! Great piece.
This is excellent work, John.
Particularly good take, the colossal affects of the Leviathan, when, reportedly, tens of thousands show up to mourn their fallen illiberal prince. The scary intimidating part isn't Trump's chintzy nightmarish fantasy but that so many people and so many major institutions appear to support that fantasy.
“It is the public that is incomprehensible and fearsome to the would-be rulers, not the other way around.”
Indeed. And the greater the fracture between civil society and the political class, the more they are driven to dramatic spectacles of metaphysical purification. Political rallies become calls for mass exorcism, a reckoning with pollution taboos.
Couple of days ago an opposition conservative MP in Canada used the word “evil” six times in a two-minute speech to describe Canada’s recognition of Palestinian statehood. As civil society knocks at the door, reality recedes, replaced by crusade, by holy war. It’s a dialectic of weakness, of desperation, of a cornered animal.
It may be that the online right-wing mob is a kind of chimera, but their real-world followers are armed and can be extremely dangerous.
A brilliant, and bracing, piece. But I still worry about the fact so many of the players in this drama seem eager to see Leviathan, wearing a cotton-candy wig and pancaked in orange makeup, rise again.
Nobody wants what the regime is pushing. Keep resisting.
Good hook for a Jimmy Kimmel riff
If Kimmel walks out on stage tonight and reads from Job, it will all have been worth it.
As often, though, I'm concerned about democratic power not constrained by decency or the liberties or a constitution (written and un-) that could establish both—illiberal or anti-liberal democracy.
As I said re John’s note in Substack Notesland:
These are small markets, no?
And what percentage of the viewership do they cover?
Kimmel’s return audience notwithstanding, his normal live viewing audience is small.
I guess the question is just what size is the audience that Kimmel has of live Nexstar and Sinclair viewers—who, by the way, have access to the show via streaming and clips via YouTube etc.
Something to keep in mind is that establishment media reporting on tv reporting is framed as if shows still have mass live audiences. They don’t, not even close.
I should also throw out the theory that as soon as the Nexstar/Sinclair merger or the latter’s sale of the nation’s to the former is assured of being allowed by the Fuhrer, Kimmel will be back on their stations.
Which is to say I’m not sure how huge a W this is.
Time will tell.
for me, the really hateful stuff (putting aside the president for a moment) was that bullshit, inept performance from the deeply unattractive (despite her beauty pageant past) bleach blonde trophy wife (and probable beard). that's NOT how you're supposed to cry on camera.
yes, T***p was hateful, but that's true every time he opens his halitotic mouth...