Open letters are the hissy fits of our times, petulant and tedious expressions of collective outrage. It is also by some considerable measure the laziest form of protest.
In other words, the terminally aggrieved could take to the barricades but that would mean having to walk all the way to the barricades, standing around, feeling uncomfortable and what if it rained? It’s much easier to simply put names to a letter someone else had written in strident agreement with its contents.
There is one particularly egregious example of the open letter that caught my eye last night. It comes from the Columbia Journalism Review and is allegedly an open letter from the American press corps to President-elect Donald Trump.
As if journalists weren’t despised enough by the community, along comes this haughty expression of well … a journalist’s basic job description albeit dripping in sanctimony and self-importance. It even includes the grammatical venal sin of writing ‘you’re’ as ‘your’. Tsk, tsk, tsk.
Full column here.
i rather like the open letters,
my personal favourite was the bunch of australian progressives inviting hugo chavez to aus to show us how it is done.
Everyone of them should be asked, on camera, why they got it so wrong.
Wow!
Wasting no time the Trump administration has “erased” nearly all mention of Climate Change from the Whitehouse.gov website Mr Insider, which may bring many gasps around the world and from a few astute bloggers on here too. Methinks the “Trump Eraser” may only be getting warmed up. Strewth!
http://tinyurl.com/glhxyjd
A technique beloved of Joe Stalin:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Censorship_of_images_in_the_Soviet_Union
Looks like he’s doing a bit more than just erasing: Because no-one showed up at his inauguration, he used a photo from Obama’s inauguration as his Twitter background:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4143364/Trump-uses-Obama-s-inauguration-photo-background.html
Naturally this was immediately noticed, and the photo was hastily switched. Shades of Melanomia’s speech. It’s worrying to me that the Trump team a) tries to get away with stuff like this, and b) doesn’t seem to realise that we have internets nowadays.
Trump, the only President EVER to have a lower popularity vote being inducted as President than during his campaign…..
Trump 40%/Obama outgoing POTUS 84%
This says it all….. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahh9kLmI7Cs&feature=youtu.be
Great to see The Australian award ”Australians of the Year 2017” to the 3 QUT students and Tony Morris.
Here’s hoping the Donald can make American hookers great again!
Are you saying American hookers are not so great Milton? How, from your experience do they compare to say, Russian hookers or Hong Kong hookers?
But you have a point, by the time Trumps has finished with the US dollar they will be really great value.
All I see is a fake orange bully with a comb-over & a fat wallet who appears to hold more positions on any given issue than the Kama Sutra.
Some people seem smitten with a reality show celebrity but don’t understand how a ruthless businessman becomes a ruthless businessman. I’d seriously bet the house Trump won’t change his behavior and being a President will only make it easier to trample over and intimidate anyone who gets in his way.
Don’t believe me? Watch the doco ‘You’ve Been Trumped’.
Regards, Bella
Loved one of the protesters signs “We shall overcomb”
“Fight Like A Girl”
Hear, hear Bella.
Crikey! Trump in Kama Sutra positions. Yukko mucho!
Thanks for the heads up on the doco.
RE: plmo says:
January 21, 2017 at 11:23 am
RE: Dwight says:
January 21, 2017 at 3:44 am
Dwight,
Just finished – Hillbilly Elegy by J D Vance.
It explains most if not all of what we have witnessed in the last few months re President Trump and the state of USA politics!
Read it a few weeks ago myself. It’s a clue, but not the whole story. I think he’s more Yalie than hillbilly nowadays. Good insights though!
Yvonne 08:22am.
Great maturity you showing educating the ‘ haters’ that just can’t except their defeat still trying to generate hate with division over the Trump selection.
Didn’t take Washington Post long doing a 180 degrees in the Australian today to reverse into the Trump camp. Seems much hysteria of the mob violence red necks anti Trump protesters may now disintergrate after failing in their
strategies to exchange abuse bringing their paint bombs along on earlier reports of confrontation.
I think Yvonne we may see a settling period soon putting their weapons away for another day while digging around the prostitutes quarters trying to get them to speak lies on Trump creating more firestorms .
Americans have more brains then people think on voting patterns needing jobs now , health , higher growth and health . Lets hope maturity as you refering with , begins now and all get back to work.
Trump’s managed to “generate hate with division” all by himself mate.
What struck me was the tons of empty space today in the National Mall since Trump predicted “an unbelievable perhaps record-setting turnout” for his inauguration. Eight years ago Obama managed a record 1.8m people whilst President Trumps numbers are estimated to be almost 600,000.
Some 20 million Americans who rejoiced in Obamacare will be thrilled to know his first order of business today was to begin dismantling their only affordable health care plan.
https://www.rte.ie/news/2017/0121/846700-trump-obamacare-action/
Great to see Americans ‘taking back the power’ Rodent.
Regards, Bella
As I was saying Jack…. Trump tells Fox News he will play a role in selecting which journalists are allowed into the press briefing room in the West Wing. Democracy, transparency overboard!
https://youtu.be/WePOsRgwtus
&
http://www.smh.com.au/video/video-news/video-world-news/trump-to-choose-white-house-reporters-20170119-4pkmz.html
Maybe he just wants to weed out the wankers who ask 8 point questions and waste everyone’s time.
Oh ses, I’m sure we can trust him to select only the finest journalists, in good faith and without the slightest hint of self-interest, to ensure that his actions are subject to the most stringent scrutiny. Because that’s the kind of guy he is:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PX9reO3QnUA
Ah, grammar. The difference between knowing your shit and knowing you’re shit.
Good one, Perentie!
Ah brilliant Perentie. But then again, how do you know if it’s your shit, or you’re no shit?
Watch it Perentie. That’s my muvvers muvver your talking about there.
gramma’s grandpa’s wife isn’t she?
Nah, grampas wife.
The Guardian has gone completely hysterical it seems. Geez….
Most newspapers lose their s**t every now and then, e.g.:
http://resources.news.com.au/files/2014/07/08/1226981/781985-aus-web-file-50b-2012-front-page.pdf
Re the Guardian, I’m not sure what you’re referring to, but here is an “open letter” to Trump — more a fictionalised journey into his mind — from “The Thick of It” creator Armando Iannucci, that I found amusing:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/21/letter-to-donald-trump-president-armando-iannucci