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This is what it’s about

JD Vance admits he is willing to ‘create stories’ to get media attention
Republican vice-presidential candidate defends spreading false, racist claims demonizing Haitian immigrants

OK, some will call it lying and demonising.

But the entire art of politics is to create memes which cut through:

We have our own more recent example domestically. Until just a few weeks back it was an absolute truth of British politics that there had been “austerity”. The Tory B’stards had deliberately and with malice aforethought slashed away at government. Those of us who pointed out that, acshully, real spending, nominal spending, spending as a proportion of GDP, had – absent the fall back from the pandemic and financial crash highs – risen over the years were pooh-poohed as spouting nonsense. Yet we were right. As the current mumblings from the current government are showing. There are “black holes” in the government accounts, too much has been spent and not enough taxed. Despite taxation being the highest, as a proportion of everything, since the War. Thus these “difficult decisions” that must be taken.

The proof that there was no austerity being that we’re now told there is no unspent pot of money, no austerity that can be reversed.

But the meme won. That’s the way politics works. It is not about reality, it’s about what people believe.

That’s just what the game is.

18 thoughts on “This is what it’s about”

  1. Republican vice-presidential candidate defends spreading false, racist claims demonizing Haitian immigrants

    Haitians are butchering and eating the local pets and wildlife, so here’s the Guardian to claim that you’re a hatey racist liar for believing eyewitness accounts, photographs, local news reports, and testimony that this is exactly how they behave back in Haiti.

  2. So, adding dogs & cats to the list of animals that Haitian ‘refugees’ have been eating (I have seen photos of them carrying ducks and geese around) is evil lying propaganda, but a decade of bleating about imaginary Russian interference, fascism and coups is fair comment?

    BTW, the resident halfwit on the Adam Smith blog really is thick, isn’t it?

  3. His justification is that I snarl at Spud a lot. So, someone should snarl at me a lot. Fair’s fair after all.

    Would help if the IQ were above room temp and sprinkled with a modicum of wit……

  4. It’s funny that the Left can produce outrageous lies, but that’s “their truth” and the end justifies the means. Those who aren’t Lefties are always lying, racist, islamophobic, transphobic bastards if we say something they don’t like…

  5. Creating memes is several orders of magnitude less of an issue than dreaming up fake criminal charges and rape allegations and jailing the other side’s supporters for years for walking into a public building. Not to mention all the rest of it. Especially when the memes are in fact essentially true.

  6. They’re great memes: politics meets the dopamine hit of cute beasties. I am torn between the Top Gun dogs getting airborne, full of steely resolve and DJT saving Taylor Swift’s cats. Truly glorious!

  7. They are really worried about this one because it’s smart, funny, effective and most importantly has more than a hint of truth about it.

    Does anyone recall the late unlamented Harry Reid lying through his teeth about presidential candidate Romney’s tax affairs and then, when proved to have been spouting bullshit, remarking “Well it worked didn’t it?”.

    And that was absolutely fine.

  8. I would not support JD Vance becoming President of the USA.
    JD Vance compared Trump to a famous moustached German leader in WW2.
    JD Vance has said some pretty awful stuff about women without children.

  9. This week it’s a “conspiracy theory” so you know the media are preparing their “it is happening, but it’s a good thing” articles for next week. In a couple of months the progressives will be publishing cookbooks and calling people bigots if they don’t eat cats.

  10. @Steve – “eyewitness accounts, photographs, local news reports, and testimony”

    That’s fantastic. You have the evidence to conclusively settle them matter. So, let’s have it then. Don’t keep it all to yourself.

  11. You are right and ‘outsiders are a threat and you must elect me to protect you from them’ is a simple meme that had proven to be 100% effective. Just ask any jew, Palestinian, Armenian or Southern Irish protestant. That is why thinking people disapprove of politicians that play with fire lest we all get burned.

  12. Funny how this story is “racist” when nobody mentioned anyone’s race.

    And the old/left media declared the story “false” without much of an investigation, apparently if the local
    Mayor (a Dem, I presume?) says it’s not true, that’s Gospel then.

  13. Something about this story that just occurred to me.

    Assume, for argument’s sake, that the pet-eating story is true, at least a few instances of illegals eating pets have occurred. Proving this could be fairly easy or quick – several people testifying under oath, photos or videos, etc.

    Assume the opposite – proving this would be rather difficult. You could interview hundreds of locals who say it’s false, but they could be wrong or lying.

    And yet, the left/old media declared it false or “baseless” straightaway.

    Hmm…

  14. @Esteban – “Assume, for argument’s sake, that the pet-eating story is true, … Proving this could be fairly easy or quick… And yet, the left/old media declared it false or “baseless” straightaway”

    You have explained it yourself. Anyone making the original assertion who knew anything of politics woulkd have known that it would be challenged, and could easily have had proof ready in advance. The fact that they didn’t means that they either knew it was false or didn’t care, so it was fairly safe to assume it was false if even its advocates didn’t believe in it. The more it got chal;lenged with none of this easy evidence appearing to prove it, the more obvious it got that it was false.

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