Current possible meanings of "the tower is everywhere", I offer boldly while trembling....

Joseph Tracy brook7 at sover.net
Mon Jul 15 13:50:44 UTC 2024 

Then suddenly, about a quarter of an hour after the shooting,  an Alex Jones army of dybbuks invades the minds of thousands of paranoid Democrats as they bleat “staged “ in stirring choral unison. Whereas sensible fascist Christians know that Jesus sent a special angel to divert the bullet from Trump’s precious high functioning( he said so himself) lie manufacturing device, so that the shooter could only kill a churchgoing Christian who is now safely in heaven watching tenderly as Trump moves toward finishing the job in Gaza that good old AIPAC Joe helped along but may be faltering over as the marbles drop out and some remnant of childhood humanity leaks in.  And so the divine plan, carefully forged with the aid of God’s special hit men proceeds toward the final glorious conclusion and the arrival of the extra terrestrial landing crafts.  Meanwhile the pundits and noble speech writers of both sides of something we can all be proud of as these United States, call for a return to last week when all Americans got along and nobody was shooting anyone else and there was no mass slaughter anywhere and  we all were still living in the good old days with plenty of despicable but reasonably priced Chinese made consumer items for all to enjoy.  Ah men.

> On Jul 15, 2024, at 7:39 AM, David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> The pose. The area for photographers directly in front of the stage (in
> front of the front row).  Fits all the definitions of “staged.”
> 
> On Mon, Jul 15, 2024 at 7:19 AM Mark Kohut <mark.kohut at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
>> It was found in the moment by the war photographer [Iraq] who ran to
>> position himself. (He is also the photographer
>> who caught moment right after the shoe left the hand--all fingers
>> spread--of the guy who threw his at President Bush
>> back when.
>> 
>> Remember 'the tower is everywhere" is, in* Lot 49 *about a 'bad' America
>> that Oedipa flees.
>> 
>> On Mon, Jul 15, 2024 at 7:11 AM David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com> wrote:
>> 
>>> It was STAGED. No coincidence, its Iwo Jima composition.
>>> 
>>> But, practically speaking, I don’t think it moves the needle, even a
>>> smidge. It only excites the base which Trump was needing badly at that
>>> point. His polls were starting to sink. All kinds of questions are being
>>> raised about why the Secret Service would allow him to be so exposed
>>> immediately after having been shot once. No indication that they expected a
>>> second or third shot from anywhere. Like they were confident it was over
>>> already.
>>> 
>>> And a rooftop with a view directly to the stage where Trump will be
>>> speaking would be the first place. The Secret Service would stage
>>> protection for Trump. It would not be left exposed with a direct line to
>>> Trump. These people are stupid and they’ve been protecting people since,
>>> Bobby Kennedy. They check for everything.
>>> 
>>> Anyway, these are some tidbits that I’ve been leaning from the Internet.
>>> I hate conspiracy theories, but I admit this one looks staged. And if so,
>>> two people died for their dramatic production.
>>> 
>>> David Morris
>>> 
>>> On Mon, Jul 15, 2024 at 7:06 AM Mark Kohut <mark.kohut at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> 
>>>> That fuckin' Iwo Jima-like photo of Trump after he hurt his ear.
>>>> 
>>>> A Legendary American Photograph
>>>> 
>>>> The photo of Trump after the attempt on his life is a badly needed window
>>>> into the MAGA mindset.
>>>> By Tyler Austin Harper
>>>> <https://www.theatlantic.com/author/tyler-austin-harper/>
>>>> [image: Donald Trump with blood on his face, raising his fist, after an
>>>> assassination attempt at his rally]Evan Vucci / AP
>>>> JULY 14, 2024, 2:17 PM ET
>>>> SHARE & GIFT
>>>> SAVE
>>>> 
>>>> Donald Trump raises a fist. Blood streaks his face. The sky is high,
>>>> blue,
>>>> and empty except for an American flag caught in a hard wind. A Secret
>>>> Service agent has her arms around his waist. The former president’s mouth
>>>> is open, in the middle of a snarled shout. We know from video footage
>>>> that
>>>> he is yelling “Fight!,” that the crowd is chanting “USA!”
>>>> 
>>>> The photograph
>>>> <
>>>> https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/13/politics/gallery/in-pictures-trump-injured-at-pennsylvania-rally/index.html
>>>>> ,
>>>> by the Associated Press’s Evan Vucci, became immediately legendary.
>>>> However
>>>> you feel about the man at its center, it is undeniably one of the great
>>>> compositions in U.S. photographic history. Although I am deeply relieved
>>>> that Trump survived this assassination attempt, I am no fan of his. But
>>>> the
>>>> first time I saw the photo, I felt an emotion that I later recognized,
>>>> with
>>>> considerable discomfort, as a fluttering of unbidden nationalist zeal.
>>>> What
>>>> encapsulates our American ideal more than bloody defiance
>>>> <https://x.com/EsotericCD/status/1812289350865948960> and stubborn pride
>>>> that teeters just on the edge of foolishness? No hunkering and no
>>>> hiding—standing undaunted and undeterred, fist-pumping your way through
>>>> an
>>>> attempted murder. It was a moment when Trump supporters’ idea of
>>>> him—strong, resilient, proud—collided with reality.
>>>> 
>>>> I can’t help but be moved by this remarkable image, taken by a Pulitzer
>>>> Prize winner
>>>> <
>>>> https://www.thedailybeast.com/ap-photographer-evan-vucci-spills-on-historic-trump-rally-shooting-pic
>>>>> 
>>>> who ran toward the danger <
>>>> https://x.com/RonenV/status/1812282594584916108>,
>>>> camera in hand, rather than away from it. There is a perverse and
>>>> paradoxical disjunction between Trump the man, who many argue is a threat
>>>> to American democracy, and this image of Trump, which seems to capture
>>>> that
>>>> same democracy in all its pathology, mythos, and, yes, glory. The
>>>> *Compact* editor
>>>> Sohrab Ahmari tweeted
>>>> <https://x.com/SohrabAhmari/status/1812275114580509145> that Trump’s
>>>> instinct—to reflexively gesture in rebellion after being shot at—is
>>>> “evidence of a truly extraordinary man.” He is more than a little right.
>>>> Extraordinary, after all, is not so much a moral descriptor as an
>>>> aesthetic
>>>> one.
>>>> 
>>>> David Frum: The gunman and the would-be dictator
>>>> <
>>>> https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/07/donald-trump-democracy-dictator/679006/
>>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> The image of Trump, bloody with a raised fist, is destined to adorn
>>>> T-shirts, magazine covers <
>>>> https://x.com/yashar/status/1812513859690999941>,
>>>> full-page spreads in history books, campaign ads. I do not think it is an
>>>> exaggeration to say that the photo is nearly perfect, one that was
>>>> captured
>>>> under extreme duress and that distills the essence of a man in all his
>>>> contradictions.
>>>> 
>>>> Many commentators have already surmised that this image alone will cost
>>>> our
>>>> current president his reelection bid. Some rushed
>>>> <https://x.com/ritaresarian/status/1812267751471460831> to juxtapose
>>>> pictures of Joe Biden, staring awkwardly and looking frail, with an
>>>> angry,
>>>> almost-assassinated Trump. One writer took to X to place the Vucci photo
>>>> side
>>>> by side <https://x.com/mannyfidel/status/1812278618019803593> with a
>>>> still
>>>> from the film *Oppenheimer*, implying that the photographer, like the
>>>> inventor of the atomic bomb, may one day come to feel that his greatest
>>>> achievement slipped out of his control and ushered in a darker world. The
>>>> left-wing political commentator Cenk Uygur summarized
>>>> <https://x.com/cenkuygur/status/1812386902236160373> things more simply
>>>> still: “Trump sticking the hand up and saying, ‘Fight, fight, fight!’
>>>> while
>>>> the crowd chanted ‘USA, USA, USA!’ was bad ass.”
>>>> 
>>>> All of these reactions, whether fear or resentment or grudging
>>>> admiration,
>>>> are understandable. But I wonder whether they miss the point. The real
>>>> subject of this photograph is not Donald Trump but his supporters. Many
>>>> of
>>>> us have mocked Trump stans—their ridiculous fan art
>>>> <
>>>> https://www.vox.com/culture/2018/8/8/17376824/trump-fan-art-maga-dinesh-dsouza-jon-mcnaughton
>>>>> 
>>>> that
>>>> reimagines him with bulging muscles or fighting in the Revolutionary War
>>>> <https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-mocked-bizarre-july-4-133353095.html>;
>>>> their unshakable and cultish belief in his vigor; their desperate desire
>>>> to
>>>> see him as he wants to be seen rather than as he is. Yesterday, for a few
>>>> moments at least, the Trump of MAGA’s imagination and reality became
>>>> indistinguishable. Not even the most slavish devotee of the former
>>>> president could have dreamed up a more iconic portrait.
>>>> RECOMMENDED READING
>>>> 
>>>>   - [image: A human caregiver uses a laptop to operate a robot caregiver
>>>>   in the hallway of a nursing residence.]
>>>>   <
>>>> https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/02/ai-keeps-mastering-games-but-can-it-win-in-the-real-world/554312/
>>>>> 
>>>>   AI Keeps Mastering Games, But Can It Win in the Real World?
>>>>   <
>>>> https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/02/ai-keeps-mastering-games-but-can-it-win-in-the-real-world/554312/
>>>>> JOSHUA
>>>>   SOKOL <https://www.theatlantic.com/author/joshua-sokol/>
>>>>   - [image: A woven bag containing carrots, apples, two oranges, and
>>>> some
>>>>   greens, against a lavender background]
>>>>   <
>>>> https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2021/04/rules-eating-fight-climate-change/618515/
>>>>> 
>>>>   Your Diet Is Cooking the Planet
>>>>   <
>>>> https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2021/04/rules-eating-fight-climate-change/618515/
>>>>> ANNIE
>>>>   LOWREY <https://www.theatlantic.com/author/annie-lowrey/>
>>>>   - [image: a chimpanzee covering its eyes]
>>>>   <
>>>> https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2022/01/cringe-culture-everywhere/621272/
>>>>> 
>>>>   How Did We Get So ‘Cringe’?
>>>>   <
>>>> https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2022/01/cringe-culture-everywhere/621272/
>>>>> KAITLYN
>>>>   TIFFANY <https://www.theatlantic.com/author/kaitlyn-tiffany/>
>>>> 
>>>> Today, Americans are not unified. We are not “All MAGA,” as a viral
>>>> headline this morning suggests
>>>> <
>>>> https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/today-were-all-maga-trump-shooting-assassination/
>>>>> .
>>>> We are angry, bitter, and divided; paranoid and afraid; governed by two
>>>> parties that seem constitutionally incapable of putting America above
>>>> their
>>>> own interests. What happened yesterday does nothing to change that. Nor
>>>> do
>>>> a few seconds of real bravery absolve Trump of his sins, or make his
>>>> political platform more palatable. But I would suggest that Democrats and
>>>> anti-Trumpers take a break from contextualizing and problematizing and
>>>> hypothesizing and worrying, and instead spend some time contemplating, if
>>>> only for a minute or two, this photograph. The man, the flag, the blood,
>>>> the fist.
>>>> 
>>>> Pete Wehner: The power of restraint
>>>> <
>>>> https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/07/trump-pennsylvania/679004/
>>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> It is often difficult for Trump critics to inhabit the mind of one of his
>>>> supporters, to understand Trump’s appeal without immediately defaulting
>>>> to
>>>> simplifications like racism and misogyny, explanations that have become
>>>> less of a skeleton key and more of a shibboleth, particularly as the
>>>> former
>>>> president continues to see his support among minorities swell. Vucci has
>>>> provided us not with an alternative theory of the case but with a badly
>>>> needed window into the MAGA mindset, allowing all of America, and indeed
>>>> the world, to see Trump through the eyes of his devotees, people we share
>>>> this country with.
>>>> 
>>>> If Democrats hope to beat Trump and Trumpism, they need to understand the
>>>> appeal. Which means they need to be able to look at this image and see a
>>>> promise—one I do not believe Trump can deliver, but a promise
>>>> nonetheless—of toughness, vitality, and unbowing resolve at a moment when
>>>> we are wavering, weak, and irresolute before a graying future. The
>>>> photograph is not a portrait of a man but a through-the-looking-glass
>>>> vision of America as she would have herself and as many in this country
>>>> would have her. Our oldest myths briefly became real one bright evening
>>>> in
>>>> Butler, Pennsylvania.
>>>> Tyler Austin Harper
>>>> <https://www.theatlantic.com/author/tyler-austin-harper/> is an
>>>> assistant
>>>> professor of environmental studies at Bates College and a contributing
>>>> writer at *The Atlantic*.
>>>> ReplyReply allForward
>>>> Add reaction
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