Improv psyops underway about Chicago

[JackRiddler]

So Trump called 1/3 of the country rapists, drug dealers, terrorists and scum, which most of the country doesn't like, and then he scheduled a rally in the center of a city where that 1/3 is the majority. A rally in this case means an an open gathering in which people line up at a door and are let in. A crowd representing the majority of this particular city, Chicago, showed up at the door. Thousands inside, and the majority there happen to be against, and not for, Trump. That's how it is, and that is no surprise. So he announces a cancellation. Videos of what's going on in the arena are everywhere. A peaceful and boisterous gathering. Meanwhile, outside something usual happens, and the cops go at the protesters. I don't have to tell you how this is being played out: riots, chaos, blood, horrors, run away, arrests, oh what a tragic insult to the republic's virtue, extremists of the left and right making trouble, will it run out of control, is Bernie involved, etc. (And some Alex Jones-style was it all a plan etc. etc.) The improv psyops is the operation here, not some false-flag fantasy. This is a predictable spontaneous and encouraging response, and I think most people can see it.

[FourthBase]

Does your tolerance for predictable spontaneity include the swarms of "peaceful and boisterous" right wingers who'll now inevitably crash public assemblies of the left?

[Grizzly]

Does your tolerance for predictable spontaneity include the swarms of "peaceful and boisterous" right wingers who'll now inevitably crash public assemblies of the left?

What left?

[FourthBase]

Does your tolerance for predictable spontaneity include the swarms of "peaceful and boisterous" right wingers who'll now inevitably crash public assemblies of the left?

What left?

Gee, I don't know, how about a Bernie Sanders rally?

[Wombaticus Rex]

I think we can all agree the coverage is amplified absurdity.

I saw Pax D./NRx Duck talking about "rapes" at the protests, I saw local activists writing paeans to "crushing Fascism," I saw ol' Chris Hayes running a very deft mix of damage control & historical justification. Watching Trump fans and AltRight kids whining about "free speech" or their First Amendment was particularly sad -- you'd expect more brass from a movement with such heroic aspirations and militant overtones, but then again, you really would not. I saw a few bleeding cops, a lot of fights inside the venue, but no police brutality, although I'm sure that footage will surface. (If they can't find any, they'll just recycle some classics from '99 Seattle or Miami '03.)

It's all pretty stupid, especially considering nobody even got killed.

If that sounds flippant, bear in mind I'm talking about the United States of America here.

There are definitely some Don Quixotes on the right who see this as a blank check to "return the favor" -- shit, I know a few getting mobilized today -- but they're in for some cold water to the face re: Demographics and scale. Edit: that said, all that is really needed is symbolic victory aka Mere Spectacle. A dozen Oath Keepers at a Bernie rally in AZ would be enough to send Team Microagression into a really gruesome pique of victimhood; that image would stay for the whole campaign.

On the plus side: all this means that the next few months will be a perfect test lab for AD's "Fascists are the Tools of the State" thesis.

Also on the plus side, maybe Chicago can use some of this feel-good momentum to, you know, fucking fix Chicago and get Emanuel out.

[tapitsbo]

was there an assassination attempt?

Trump and Emannuel have close ties, am I right?

[Wombaticus Rex]

Trump and Emannuel have close ties, am I right?

http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magaz ... -the-Deal/

Meh. 2011 vintage brainfood:

Within minutes of the White House’s release of Barack Obama’s Hawaii birth certificate yesterday, Donald Trump took the credit, saying, “I’m very proud of myself”—only he could get the president to do what he should have done a long time ago.

Trump’s campaign to vilify Obama is dominating headlines these days, so it’s worth a look to examine the real estate tycoon’s ties to two of the president’s most energetic backers: Rahm Emanuel and his younger brother, Ari.

“Deal” would be the best word to describe the relationship among Rahm, Ari, and Trump, who employs Ari as his agent and gave Rahm $50,000 for his run for mayor last December.

First, the Rahm connection: Trump, who opened the Trump International Hotel and Tower here in 2008 and will undoubtedly hope to add another pastel namesake to Chicago’s skyline, recognized that Rahm would soon be running the nation’s third largest city. Why wouldn’t he want to curry favor? Trump has given more money to Democrats than Republicans—among them Ed Rendell, Harry Reid, Hillary Clinton, Charles Schumer—people Trump hoped would be friendly to his buildings, casinos, and golf courses.

As for Ari, pit-bull co-CEO of William Morris Endeavor Entertainment and the model for Jeremy Piven’s Ari Gold in HBO’s Entourage, he seems made-to-order for Trump, who has called the younger Emanuel a “close friend.” Why wouldn’t the boldest, hyper-aggressive builder (and host of NBC’s The Apprentice), and the boldest, hyper-aggressive agent get together?

And despite Donald’s nonstop anti-Obama diatribes, apparently he and Ari are still doing business. When I called Ari Emanuel, I was instructed by an underling to email my request. I specifically asked for confirmation that Ari still represents Donald. No response yet, but no denial either. I also emailed Mayor-elect Rahm’s press spokesman, Tarrah Cooper, and asked about the Ari/Donald tie. “The Mayor-elect is not going to comment on his brother’s relationship with his clients,” she emailed back.

I called Trump’s office and talked to Michael Cohen, the registered Democrat and former Obama backer who is choreographing Donald’s run for president, presumably on the Republican ticket. Cohen told me that Trump is booked for the next few days; after New Hampshire, he heads to Las Vegas and then to D.C. for the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. I asked Cohen in an email to confirm that his boss’s agent is still Ari Emanuel. No response as of post time.

"Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me."

Trump as Neocon campaign to elect Clinton is not altogether implausible. Those wacky bastards have done crazier things.

[JackRiddler]

Does your tolerance for predictable spontaneity include the swarms of "peaceful and boisterous" right wingers who'll now inevitably crash public assemblies of the left?

I'm sure there will be a few on a fallacious tit-for-tat logic and the media will cover it in a way that caters to your particular prejudices. "Swarms" are unlikely, of course. The numbers at Trump rallies don't translate into those kinds of protesters. They tend to be old and consumerist in their approaches. They want the Trump show.

I also missed the part where, say, Sanders went on TV 24/7 with statements to the effect that a) Trump supporters are an identity category (although they do fit "white") and b) "most if not all" of them are rapists, terrorists, scum, etc. Do you really believe Trump can do this to Mexicans, Muslims and (still mostly indirectly) black people, and celebrate the beating of lone protesters from the podium at his rally, and effectively invite KKK support for his cause -- and then schedule a rally in downtown Chicago! -- and there will not be such a response? All the secret organizing and Soros money in the world wouldn't get thousands of protesters walking in to a Trump rally. Trump's statements and actions organized that. 48 hours of lead time on social media were enough to activate a pretty broad coalition of groups and people who walked on in to the public event. My "tolerance" for it (hell yeah I would have been there too) is not relevant here. It is what it is, something that Trump set up with wht he has done in recent months.

[JackRiddler]

On the plus side: all this means that the next few months will be a perfect test lab for AD's "Fascists are the Tools of the State" thesis.

In Trump's case, not that it's going to happen, the state would be the tool of fascism at home.

Little would change about the foreign policy, except for whatever gets induced through crisis, of which there is going to be plenty no matter who wins the election. At least initially, I'm sure the MIC/NSS will meet no challenges from him when they lay down the line. We know the latter may even be true of Sanders, 1980s support videos for the Sandinistas against the Reagan death squad wars notwithstanding.

There are definitely some Don Quixotes on the right who see this as a blank check to "return the favor" -- shit, I know a few getting mobilized today -- but they're in for some cold water to the face re: Demographics and scale.

Yeah, so I think too.

Edit: that said, all that is really needed is symbolic victory aka Mere Spectacle. A dozen Oath Keepers at a Bernie rally in AZ would be enough to send Team Microagression into a really gruesome pique of victimhood; that image would stay for the whole campaign.

As I also said above, very likely an equivalence narrative will be provided by the media. But if your characterization is going to be of a "Team Microaggression," I think you're accepting a media-driven exaggeration. It's not exactly a big thing in demographics and scale, either. You can choose how far you want to be concerned with it. It may annoy you on social media but it's not going to punch you in the face. And the biggest groups in Chicago seem to have been immigrant campaigns, unions, Sanders people on their own, and (probably the majority) those who picked it up from social media, none of whom fit that characterization very well. MoveOn pushed it.

Also on the plus side, maybe Chicago can use some of this feel-good momentum to, you know, fucking fix Chicago and get Emanuel out.

Amen. Keep your eyes on the prize. Sanders to win Tuesday, Emanuel to resign by the summer would be lovely outcomes.

[PufPuf93]

was there an assassination attempt?

Trump and Emannuel have close ties, am I right?

Recall Rahm Emanuel also was on the finance committee for Bill Clinton when running for POTUS and subsequently was a policy advisor to Bill Clinton until being elected to Congress. Rahm was also the first Chief of Staff for Obama. He is close personal friends with David Axelrod, currently Hillary Clinton campaign advisor with a long history as a political advisor.

That is very interesting about the two Emanuel brothers and Trump. Rahm's other brother Ezekial is a medical doctor and advised Obama on health care.

[JackRiddler]

Ari Emanuel is Trump's agent? Really? Marvelous if directly true. (NOTE: CORRECTED NAME ERROR.)

Meanwhile, compare and contrast:

Sanders Statement on Donald Trump
March 12, 2016

CHICAGO – U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders issued the following statement today on disturbances of Donald Trump rallies:

“As is the case virtually every day, Donald Trump is showing the American people that he is a pathological liar. Obviously, while I appreciate that we had supporters at Trump’s rally in Chicago, our campaign did not organize the protests.

“What caused the protests at Trump’s rally is a candidate that has promoted hatred and division against Latinos, Muslims, women, and people with disabilities, and his birther attacks against the legitimacy of President Obama.

“What caused the violence at Trump’s rally is a campaign whose words and actions have encouraged it on the part of his supporters. He recently said of a protester, ‘I want to punch him in the face.’ Another time Trump yearned for the old days when the protester would have been punched and “carried out on a stretcher.’ Then just a few days ago a female reporter apparently was assaulted by his campaign manager.

“When that is what the Trump campaign is doing, we should not be surprised that there is a response.

“What Donald Trump must do now is stop provoking violence and make it clear to his supporters that people who attend his rallies or protest should not be assaulted, should not be punched, should not be kicked. In America people have a right to attend a political rally without fear of physical harm.”

[backtoiam]

wombat said:

Trump as Neocon campaign to elect Clinton is not altogether implausible. Those wacky bastards have done crazier things.

Agreed. I am cynical enough to totally consider it a distinct possibility. We may not know until enough hindsight kicks in as the facts slowly dribble out after the show is over...

[FourthBase]

Does your tolerance for predictable spontaneity include the swarms of "peaceful and boisterous" right wingers who'll now inevitably crash public assemblies of the left?

I'm sure there will be a few on a fallacious tit-for-tat logic and the media will cover it in a way that caters to your particular prejudices. "Swarms" are unlikely, of course. The numbers at Trump rallies don't translate into those kinds of protesters. They tend to be old and consumerist in their approaches. They want the Trump show.

#1 - What particular prejudices?

#2 - The number of right wingers willing to go tit for tat exceeds the Trump crowd.

I also missed the part where, say, Sanders went on TV 24/7 with statements to the effect that a) Trump supporters are an identity category (although they do fit "white") and b) "most if not all" of them are rapists, terrorists, scum, etc. Do you really believe Trump can do this to Mexicans, Muslims and (still mostly indirectly) black people, and celebrate the beating of lone protesters from the podium at his rally, and effectively invite KKK support for his cause -- and then schedule a rally in downtown Chicago! -- and there will not be such a response? All the secret organizing and Soros money in the world wouldn't get thousands of protesters walking in to a Trump rally. Trump's statements and actions organized that. 48 hours of lead time on social media were enough to activate a pretty broad coalition of groups and people who walked on in to the public event. My "tolerance" for it (hell yeah I would have been there too) is not relevant here. It is what it is, something that Trump set up with wht he has done in recent months.

Ah, so Trump deserved it. Because he's bad, and you're good. So you get to do to him what you would decry as evil if done to you. YOU ARE FUCKING EVIL.

[DrEvil]

^^Pfff! He's barely chaotic neutral.

[PufPuf93]

Ari Fleischer is Trump's agent? Really? Marvelous if directly true.”

[/quote]

Did someone type Ari Fleisher?

The Ari above is Ari Emanuel, one of Rahm Emanuel's two brothers.

Excuse me if I missed something.

No political manipulation would surprise me.

Maybe a plot to make Hillary Clinton look good in comparison to violence by backers of Trump and Sanders and Trump as a stalking horse / decoy for Clinton while enjoying an attention whore's wet dream??

Media vignettes tell a confusing story. Some accounts blamed Chicago on Black Lives Matter.