Flashpoint! Kathy Griffin's ill-conceived Trump "beheading"
Flashpoint: a spark which initiates an explosion.
Although there are rarely human events involving many individuals, which are caused solely by a single, solitary event, most major events, especially wars, are set in motion by many factors but do not erupt until a definitively aggressive act occurs. Two examples will be cited here as ways of illustration. Neither of these events are unknown, in fact they are indeed famous. Although many other examples abound, these two events are such clear flashpoints that they are chosen for this essay.
Flashpoint number one: the shot heard round the world at the twin battles of Lexington and Concord. And so began the actual fighting of the American Revolution against Britain. We all know there were myriad reasons for the outbreak of hostilities, but this was the flashpoint.
Flashpoint number two: the Assassination of Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of AustroHungary. Again, the history of the event is complex, including the end of colonial empires/ kingdoms in Europe (and derivatively elsewhere). But the flashpoint was in Sarajevo.
The war about which I now write is not bloody (yet) but will lead to the overthrow of a regime. Which regime it will be is yet to be determined.
The two regimes are in the United States. One is the Deep State inhabited by bottom dwellers like Hillary Clinton and her minions. The other regime is of anti-globalist, self-aggrandizing Donald Trump.
Today marks the 131st day of Trump's presidency. This presidency has been under attack even before day 1. In fact, it began at least in early 2016 after Hillary's plan went into effect: promote Trump for the Republican nomination so that she could handily defeat him in the general election. Be careful what you wish, because you just might get it.
I doubt that many readers here are unaware of all the infighting occurring between Deep State (DS) and Trump. Obama holdover and Hillaryites combined with neocons and entranced DC bureaucracy have fought a more vicious battle than even Mitch McConnell did against Obama. McConnell stifled government by his "just say no" approach to most Obama goals. But there was neither violence nor intimations of violence. Government was at a standstill, a circumstance which many hold is actually good for 99% since by their inaction, government can't screw us over too much.
Obama was busy laying booby traps for Trump before he left the WH. Some of the devices included spreading information unintended for wide dissemination broadly across the executive branch. Another maneuver was to convert some WH staffers from political appointees to civil service employees, much more difficult to fire. Yet another measure was to reactivate his original grassroots organization, now called Organize For America, to subvert Trump and colleagues any way they could. Of course the MSM continued their collusion with Democrats.
Appendages of MSM are the "late night comedians" who used to funny before they became uniformly vicious. Examples include John Oliver, Trevor Noah, Stephen Colbert, Bill Maher. This now brings us to the flashpoint in the war between DS and Trump. This flashpoint is not ideological, it is not policy-based. It is sheer nastiness. I am no Trump fan but he in no way is even close to equalling the venality of Clinton or Obama, or at least not yet.
A cardinal rule of presidential press coverage has been to leave the (minor) children out of the limelight; no smears, no cutesy pictures. Just leave them alone. But the sheer unreasoning Trump-hatred has now crossed a line. The breacher is Kathy Griffin, who has offended twice, and threatens more (even though her career is now in tatters).
Her first mis-step was to mock Barron Trump, age 10 at the time. He is still just a kid, not a politician. Common decency would require him to be off-limits to political savagery, but Griffin (like Rosie O'Donnell before her) thinks that 10 year olds are fair game. Trump initially was relatively silent about this except for a few tweets. But his other children, all adults, were and still are furious. No matter what you feel about his politics, can you blame them?
So now Kathy Griffin thought it would be great to thrust the "comedic" knife in deeper.
This very ISIS-looking photo had a very negative and repulsing effect on many Americans including Democrats. It is said that Barron, watching television saw this picture, ran screaming to his mother fearful that his father was dead.
Think about that cruelty. Would all those allegedly humorous people dare besmirch or ridicule Chelsea Clinton's two children? Hell, if Obama were still in the WH, he would have found some way to curtail their careers permanently in short order.
This miserably stupid set of actions has inflamed Trump supporters like nothing else so far.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q81wzMO0toc]
The gloves are off. Alex Jones has more than 3 million subscribers--probably more than watch CNN. Mike Cernovich is a close friend of Steve Bannon and is on speaking terms with Donald Jr. They are mobilizing for a full-on assault against the DS/Clinton/Democrat factions. They will be and already are, pressuring Jeff Sessions to rapidly proceed with criminal investigations and indictments against many of Trump's enemies.
Sun Tzu said: the wise general picks his own battles. The thoughtless neoliberal democrats/neocons seriously misjudged the battle-field and the opponent.
Comments
It is said that Barron, watching television saw this picture
Not buying it. "Mommy, mommy. The nasty Z-list celebrity killed daddy". Barron is 10, not 6.
Griffin did break a cardinal rule though..."Never wrestle with a pig. You only get dirty and the pig likes it".
" In the beginning, the universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry, and is generally considered to have been a bad move. -- Douglas Adams, The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy "
It doesn't matter if he thought it was real or not
"Obama promised transparency, but Assange is the one who brought it."
Did Kathy Griffin put this on television?
I don't know, I'm not really following this story, but I read a couple of brief articles and thought she put it on twitter or some other social media. If tv networks showed it, that's on them, not her. I also seriously doubt the whole "poor little baron was traumatized" thing - very unlikely.
But you know what, even if that's all true, so what? Trump has ruthlessly murdered hundreds, maybe thousands, of people already with his bombs, with countless more to come. Those people and their families and communities are devastated. They are dead. Their lives destroyed. Kathy Griffin's unfunny photo was Upsetting? Bah.
When Obama was president we had Trump pushing the birth certificate nonsense and his followers sending around lynching images, among others. My brother's girlfriend, a big fan of Sarah Palin, sent me a photoshopped image of a lynching "joke" with Obama in it. I was horrified and asked her WTF? She said "oh sorry meant to send that to someone else" -- right, that makes it ok I guess.
I don't remember the media outrage over those pictures. Did anyone cry about poor little Malia and Sasha seeing such images of their daddy? Not as far as I know. Does anyone believe that baron trump actually thought Kathy griffin chopped off Donald's head? Please.
The picture is weird and not funny, I don't know what she was thinking, but the over the top outrage strikes me as absurd-- especially given Trump's murderous rampaging across the world. He is literally murdering people and destroying lives. Little billionaire Baron will survive. A lot of other children won't.
True, Malia and Sasha were exposed to a lot of ugliness
I doubt it will have any lasting impact
Time will tell, but I'm not seeing it as likely to be a flashpoint. I think it's probably more like a brushfire, started on purpose by people looking for things to set on fire.
Now having lived six years in Southern California, I know all too well that brush fires can get out of control and do major damage. Some do, many don't. This feels like an outrage de jour to me.
I'm also well aware of how emotions drive human beings. But your essay isn't just observing the phenomena, it's fanning the flames by labeling Kathy griffin as "cruel" for making this photo, and supporting the narrative that Trump - and his wild-eyed following - are justified in their outrage. Letting him and them off the hook for their own hypocrisy. I don't agree with that interpretation of this event. Trump is not a victim here. Kathy Griffin can rightly be criticized for having bad taste and poor judgment in thinking this was somehow funny, but the rest is off base imo.
Because what she actually showed is just how deep and visceral the hatred and fear of Trump is for many people. The fact that about half the population is frightened - to the point of near insanity - of our president --- that is why she did this, if you think about it. She's always outrageous- I remember her saying "suck it, Jesus" when she won an Emmy or some such award. I'm an atheist and I cringed at her doing that, even though I got her "joke" and why she did it. But to post this picture, she's gone into an altered state. People are losing their minds. On both sides. That is a serious problem. I agree with that. I don't agree with scapegoating KG because of that one weird photo. She may have made a spark, but this fire was already going and fire starters are looking for targets to burn.
Your comment requires a detailed response.
I suppose there are degrees of cruelty. Why else would there be nine rings in the Inferno? Yes, saying KG was cruel is true. But that is NOT to say there have been other facts and issues which are much more cruel. This essay was not about general morality but about political reality.
The Trump hatred, although initially inspired by reasonable, logical policy issues, has far surpassed any rational explanation. It, like the Trump-Russia garbage, has been pushed beyond the extreme of reason.
Once again, what matters is neither your nor mine personal opinions about blame or shame. What matters is how the Trumpistas feel about it.
I excuse nothing. The whole of recent US politics is vile and corrupt to the core.
Why do their fee fees matter but ours don't?
Just curious. That seems like an odd perspective to me. The feelings of those who hate trump are not rational, of course. That's why it's an emotional thing. As you said above, emotions drive people's behavior and thinking. This is just as true of those who are sickened and/or terrified of Trump as of those who defend him no matter what and act outraged on his behalf.
I think their so-called outrage is mostly fake, political posturing and is transparently hypocritical.
You can deem my opinion and that of everyone here irrelevant if you like; in the grand scheme of things it probably is. But no more so than theirs. People all have a right to think, feel and speak about their take on things anyway. We're a talkative species. (As an alligator, you might not realize how chatty humans are.)
So, irrelevant or not, discussion is about sharing opinions and viewpoints. That's what we do.
I don't agree that the professed emotions and showy reactions of Trump's political faction, who are using this KG for their own ends, is all that matters. They are hypocrites. I'm not sure why their apparent upset even matters at all. It looks like a show. None of the trumpsters in my family and acquaintances care about this KG thing either. They seem to realize they are being somewhat manipulated. I think that's a good sign.
Your feelings matter, greatly. To discuss them is valuable.
c99 is a discussion forum. I discuss, you discuss, we discuss. (the whole declension). The point is not the hypocrisy nor the irrationality of the response. This essay is about the response itself. Had we been alive when Franz-Ferdinand was assassinated, it might have made no difference to either of us--but it was sufficient to start a World War.
As a leaping off point, this was a model mini debate.
I knew when you and CS in AZ began the back and forth you were both bringing it to the game. I hadn't formed an opinion yet and you introduced even more context and complexity. I feel very nuanced
The fact is, presenting it as a tipping point event, historically, took it to a much higher level where we the observers are being examined. I was reminded again of the terrible intellectual casualties of those we lost. Bill Moyers and Michael Moore ceased to exist for me. 2016 was a watershed year; the lines drawn and the die cast. There's no coming back from the delusions that swallowed them whole. So, that was sobering. This place feels a lot more spacious than a tent with a longer focal point than a Party.
Well played, debaters.
Thank you for your comment.
Apparently it wasn't on television
"Obama promised transparency, but Assange is the one who brought it."
I wasn't following it either
As I said it looks like a fake tempest in a teapot to me. But I looked it up just now. KG posted it on instagram and twitter. It is unclear from the complaints about how the Boy Billionaire was traumatized after supposedly seeing it on TV, just where and by whom it was supposedly broadcast. Trump is almost certainly lying about that even happening.
Political game playing, lying through his teeth, going after her with highly personal vindictiveness -- all entirely typical of Trump. All this wailing and crocodile tears for his kid, while ignoring his murderous reign of terror on other people's familes, is downright offensive to me, now that I've paid attention to it. Grrr. I think I will go back to ignoring this whole non-story now, it's not worth the energy. Free speech includes KG, trump needs to grow up. The government - and the president, personally - should not be shutting it down through intimidation. Tasteless and unfunny, yes, but the retaliation is unbelievable.
The retaliation is believable even though the cause
I'm with you.
Poor taste or not, there is freedom of speech. I'm tired of the bickering over who mommy is nicest to. While Nugent is telling Obama to suck his AK47, and the snowflakes are in a tizzy over who said what and who is speaking at what school, the bombs keep falling, people keep dying, the planet is about to be destroyed, and life in this country as we know it is about to end.
"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon
I do believe in Amendment I very strongly
Boris, reread the essay, I said Barron was 10--not 6
And...
...who may or may not be on the autism spectrum.
I don't understand the commenters here that think it's no big deal because he's 10 (actually 11; his birthday was in March) or that rightwingers did things that Obama's children may have seen or that his father is continuing Obama's wars in the Middle East. He's still a kid.
@boriscleto The point here is not
The point is this: you do not deliberately invoke violence into American domestic politics. For very good reasons.
Olbermann is now somewhere in the digestive tract of the Deep State, but back when he could still speak for himself, he said this--and he was right:
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
Very disturbing
Horrible foolishness
Marilyn
"Make dirt, not war." eyo
I walk among the "salt of the earth".
Usually these people are excessively polite. The few that have spoken out perceive Kathleen Mary Griffin as a less than civil person. The image and context presents Kathleen Mary Griffin as advocating violence of a particularly heinous variety.
They all run from the facts and truth
reporters and politicians alike. I thought this clip of Max Blumenthal holding Rep. Raskin feet to the fire is what we need...more reporting and insisting on the use of facts (about 5 min)
http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&I...
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Right on top of the news, Lookout!
@Lookout Terribly sad. Jamie
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
The hypocrisy, once again is what drives me insane.
When Obama was in office, every single yahoo who decided to go full racist on the president was trotted out as PROOF that the right wing was violent, and it's one of the reasons Obama put returning veterans on the terror watch list. (OK, to be fair, the NHS director did it. Same result either way.)
When the MSM neolibs do it, it's just a joke! Why don't people have a sense of humor about it.
Honestly, joking about killing your political opponents is fine, and has been around forever. Of course, people have the right to judge you for those statements.
For example, I think it would be a good move to bring back the Guillotine for public punishment of political corruption. I have not mentioned a single name, but you KNOW who everyone will accuse me of threatening with that statement.
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
There seems to be an unlimited appetite for hypocrisy
There was a plastic surgeon in Lebanon recently, who's a notorious quack (he recently killed a patient, and it's not the first time). He was arrested, but the next thing you know, he's on a plane to Cyprus. He clearly greased the wheels of justice.
Imagine if we had the guillotine for corruption! You'd probably only have to actually use it once or twice, and it's likely this kind of thing would disappear.
"Obama promised transparency, but Assange is the one who brought it."
@detroitmechworks Joking about killing them
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
Unlike the shot heard round the world...
...Kathy Griffin was meaningless. I agree it provides excellent fodder for the right wing reactionaries to rally, but they will make up other reasons if none are available.
This beheading-bruhaha is a nothing burger. Meanwhile Trump ends thousand upon thousands of lives by ramping up war in Syria and Afghanistan while planning more of the same in Iran and North Korea. There will be a large body count from his new healthcare plan, from promoting fossil fuels and offering up national treasures for natural resource plunder.
Poor Barron sees a Halloween picture featuring his daddy and he allegedly freaks out. Meanwhile people like Alex Jones were suggesting Obama's daughters weren't really his - but yeah, Griffin is the p.o.s. Now I am no fan of #44, but the hypocrisy is drippy.
Exactly
I should have read through all the comments before I posted mine. This says exactly what I thought too. Thanks.
You missed the point entirely I suspect
@Alligator Ed I'm with you.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
@Blueslide The point is not whether
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
Nothing Burger (as Blueside
suggests). There was and is a reason Griffin is on the D list, and her making a schtick about it hasn't moved her up any. But, the beheading of Griffin for the beheading of tRump is over-the-top fauxrage. Still...
Could this Griffin thing be the new Shot Heard Round the World that sets off the war between Those that Rule and the rest of us? I don't know if there's enough there there.
the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.
See my response to Blueside.
Look at the Max Blumenthal interview of Jamie Raskin where Raskin is seen denying saying things he was recorded as saying only minutes before. If that isn't lying, it is at least severely hypocritical.
@Alligator Ed It makes me so sad.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
I too have read through the comments.
I've come to the same conclusion, a nothingburger slathered in hypocrisy.
Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.
@earthling1 How would you feel if it
In fact, recently the editor of Ms. tweeted this:
"Rejoice, for someday Bernie Sanders will retire or die."
"Gonna build a monument to all the women who were right and erect it on Bernie Sanders' grave."
As I recall, people here were disgusted by that, and rightly so.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
She should have shown a picture of the children beheaded
by the bombs and drone strikes Trump has ordered. Maybe those that are outraged would be less outraged.
Really?
I don't remember her showing pictures of the kids that OBama's bombs and drone strikes beheaded. Or is that different somehow?
No, because Griffin is just as hypocritical as
I agree with that suggestion
Jones and Cernovich appear to be approaching this
as republicans against democrats by their defense of Trump and hatred of democrats and "liberals". These fuckers are idiots. If Clinton was president doing the same damn things as Trump, and some conservative comedian did the same thing Griffin did only about Clinton, you can bet they would be singing a completely different tune.
That's the fucking problem.
Absolutely. When there are two sides, you only need one coin
coin?
With the two "sides" we've got right now, you only need one Möbius strip.
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
Arrgh! Got me.
one side
..... and that's where you should have stopped, as a Möbius strip only has one. Exactly like modern American politics. You can't vote against Goldman Sachs.
Why did the chicken cross the Möbius strip? To get to the same side, of course!
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
My compliant is that Griffen's act was comedically inept.
She is a comedian, and what she produced was not funny. Not funny because it was crass. Swift wrote about eating babies and is considered a great satirist. She showed a violent image and put the burden totally on the viewer to get the satire or even what the intent was. Her cultural reference to acts of ISIS (or the Saudis maybe) just adds to the confusion.
Is why she's on
the D List. Now on the F.U. List. (not where I would put her, but...)
the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.
Show this Kathy Griffin picture to your kids and ask them,
if this was being passed around at Hogwarts, who would more likely have been behind it? Which lot would it appeal to?
The Slytherins led by Draco Malfoy?
Or the Gryffindors led by Harry Potter, Hermione, and Ron?
Personally I think it pushes emotional buttons in a way that makes the Left look like Malfoy — that is to say, it works strongly against the Left.
Here’s Scott Adams’s take based on his idea that Americans are “living in two completely different movies.”
http://blog.dilbert.com/post/161281215881/the-kathy-griffin-controversy
Your conclusion is as mine
As was written above, this act will not redound to Democratic success. But Democrats are paid to lose.
I think it amounts
to d!ck. Regardless of buttons pushed it amounts to a nothing burger. If any on the Left take this photo to be anything more than bad taste, then that's their take. Two movies on the same screen or not, it's still a nothing burger. Just a D-Lister acting like a D-Lister. Nothing to see, move along, move along. your mileage may vary.
the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.
@Wink As a campaign
If I saw, for instance, Bill Maher holding up an (obviously fake) decapitated and bloody Bernie Sanders head, I would be concerned.
But fine. Let's just call it nothing and pretend we live in a rational world where silly things like images don't affect people.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
the American Left
Actually, it makes Democrats -- the ilk of Hillary Clinton -- look like Malfoy, thereby working against them.
Methinks the reaction of the actual American Left is better typified by this Essay itself, and the comments thereon!
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
Agreed. On all points.
Completely agreed and very well said. Thank you.
I'm sorry, but she's just tacky.
This just perpetuates an already violent division in this country. While I "get" her hatred and fear of Trump, I share that with her every day, I think this is just more of the same damned ugliness the RWNJ have been spewing all these decades. We know the Democratic party seems to be fine with all the division because it works for them, and here she is adding fuel to the fire. And yes, a D list "celebrity" trying hard to gain some visibility.
Only a fool lets someone else tell him who his enemy is. Assata Shakur
When the Dems add fuel to the fire these days