"Ultra-MAGA"? Really?
President Joe Biden has rolled out a new moniker in the political lexicon: "ultra-MAGA." Unfortunately, this is probably a branding misstep, because while it is rather descriptive of the phenomenon Biden is trying to draw attention to (being a fanatical adherent of Donald Trump's "Make America Great Again" philosophy), it seems more like a positive term a supporter would come up with rather than a slur an opponent would use. So far, I haven't seen either Donald Trump or any other Republican fully embrace the term, but it seems like it's only a matter of time before they do.
It's pretty easy to see how they would successfully flip this script. All Trump would have to do is champion it once, and the rest would follow naturally: "So Sleepy Joe calls Republicans 'ultra-MAGA' like it's some sort of bad thing? Well, I say to him you're damn right [Candidate X] is ultra-MAGA! He's more MAGA than anybody! That is a good thing, Sleepy Joe!"
To me, this seems pretty obvious.
Biden, of course, wanted this to be a very scary term, something to be afraid of. Here's just one recent example of his framing: "This is not your father's Republican Party. This is a MAGA party. This is the MAGA party. And the head of their Republican campaign committee, Senator Rick Scott, the Ultra-MAGA Agenda he put forward, he raises taxes on 70 million people who make well less than $100,000." This is how the label started, in reference to Rick Scott's drastic GOP agenda, which Biden has gleefully started painting the entire Republican Party with. This is a good political tactic, because it is an extreme agenda.
But "ultra-"? Ultra just doesn't sound very menacing. "Hyper-" or "uber-" might have, or perhaps "fanatical" or "radical." But ultra sounds more like what a brand name would slap on a "new and improved" product ("New Ultra-Kleen gets your dishes ultra clean!"). Biden might as well have used "super-MAGA," to put it another way.
Maybe it's just me. Maybe others don't read it the way I do. Maybe it's because I grew up watching afterschool reruns of a dubbed Japanese television show called Ultraman as a kid. It is a subjective thing, I will fully admit.
But to me, "ultra" sounds sophisticated, superior, and almost downright sexy. I think "ultimate" (with a positive tone) when I hear it, to put it another way. I don't immediately think "extremist" or "radical" or any other bad connotation.
Maybe I'm mistaken. Maybe Trump and his followers won't embrace the term. But it sure seems inevitable, at this point.
Don't get me wrong -- I do applaud Biden for diving directly into the political fray. Democrats in Congress have recently complained that Biden is either too aloof from the midterm campaign or that he's actually undermining their message by continuing to glowingly speak of bipartisanship long after that ship sailed. So Biden deciding to attack is a welcome development indeed. And he's obviously trying not to paint all Republicans with the Trumpist brush, allowing voters to differentiate between extremists and non-fanatical GOP politicians. That's probably a good idea, politically.
The message itself, in other words, is a good one: Republicans are getting dangerously extreme, and if they regain power they are going to make some radical changes that the public will not support and will not like. This is all true. If Donald Trump had left the political scene it might not ring true, but these days the measure of any Republican politician seems to be how much fealty he or she has offered to the Dear Leader. That is worth pointing out, even (as Biden has been doing) without mentioning Trump by name.
It also feeds into the two big events that are looming on the political calendar: the final Supreme Court opinion being released which will either overturn or gut Roe v. Wade beyond recognition, and the January 6th committee hearings which will be televised starting early next month. Both are reminders of just how extreme Republicans have now become.
On the Roe decision, Republican politicians are now going to have to deal with their rhetoric becoming reality. Passing state laws banning abortion has, up until now, been an exercise in conservative messaging more than anything else. State legislatures and governors knew full well that most of their Draconian laws would be struck down by the courts, so they never really had to answer for the real-world effects of them. Now, however, they will have to. Republicans are already having to answer some uncomfortable questions about what their brave new world will actually mean, for rape victims and incest victims most especially. Sooner or later we're going to start hearing news stories about tragedies happening in these states (suicides of pregnant women, botched abortion attempts, etc.) which will focus the public's attention even more on the new laws. The Democratic message is an easy one to make: Republicans are extremists who care nothing about the human impact of their moralistic laws.
This extremism message will be front and center during the January 6th hearings as well. A mob of out-of-control MAGA fanatics attacked the U.S. Capitol and they didn't do so in a vacuum. Republicans from Trump on down were encouraging them to do their worst before the insurrection attempt began. America will get a full accounting of the entire sordid story, from all reports, and some of it will be presented on primetime television. Republicans have been trying to shift the narrative and sweep the entire insurrection under the rug, but the hearings are going to focus everyone on the reality of what happened instead of GOP fantasies and euphemisms. Which will, once again, put the focus on how radical and extreme and out-of-control and divorced from reality almost the entire Republican Party has now become.
So Joe Biden's willingness to not only join in but lead some of this political fight is indeed welcome. It is not your father's Republican Party, and it's about time Joe said so in forceful and unequivocal terms.
But I end where I began -- to me "ultra-MAGA" is equivocal. I bet it won't take long before both Trump and the rest of them embrace the term, which will render it almost useless for Biden's purposes. Because all they have to do is say something like: "Ultra-MAGA? Hell yeah, I'm ultra-MAGA! Thanks for the compliment, Joe!"
Sooner or later Biden's going to have to go back to the drawing board and tell his messaging team to come up with a better (and more clearly negative) term. I would encourage him to do so before "ultra-MAGA" gets co-opted out from under him.
-- Chris Weigant
Follow Chris on Twitter: @ChrisWeigant
"Maga pie" would probably also not be sufficiently negative, because pie is so delicious.
MAGA- the words “Make America Great Again” themselves individually are not a bad thing, but when you are not talking about the sentiment… instead we are referring to the GOP’s plan to keep themselves in power by turning our government into a White Nationalist Christo-Fascist State.
“Ultra” means “superior”.
“UltraMAGA” would be “a more perfected evil”. The same as when they made Michelob Ultra beer. Awful! Pure evil!
He should call it "MAGA radicalism." "Hyper-MAGA," as you suggested, would be much better than "ultra-MAGA," but what really makes people tremble in their boots is the dark and evil sound of "-ism." Anything "-ism" is obviously an enemy to be fought with torches and pitchforks. Also, calling it "radicalism" would be throwing the Republicans' vocabulary back in their faces. "Radical" and "-ism" are the very sounds they use to alert their base to a satanic threat: "radical socialism," "the radical Left," and so on. Republicans know how to make something sound really bad, and in this case, we should learn from them.
I read Ultra the same way. And I'd bet my left
UNLESS Joe wants Repug politicians to embrace Ultra-MAGA! You know that a boatload of them will jump on it...
ONLY FOR the J6C to explode all over Trump and his Trumparty Formerly Known as Grand Old Party.
Throw in some indictment(s)*...
Throw some Orville Redenbacher in the nuker...
AND KICK# back and watch the show! I'd like think Joe's half a century in politics resulted because he's, well, good at politics. Ahem.
<a href="
Arrrrgh!
And I bet my left... over pizza that the Repugs will scramble to out-Ultra-MAGA each other. Cain't see most of them even debating whether or not to jump on this!
*Glenn Kirshner thinks once the very first (gulp!) Indictment against Trump gets filed there will be multiple other Prosecutors that follow.
#Hi KICK# I'm getting better with my object permanence issue!
Uber-MAGA would be okay except that you'd likely get sued for trademark infringement. Ahem.
And if this isn't Joe playing political chess and/or the other Dems fail to jump on the See? Repugs are all falling the opposite of Abe Lincoln! bandwagon (if competitive District Dems once again think that maybe if they campaign as Republican-lite then Repug voters might not vote for real Republicans, that is)...
(pause to breathe)
... then perhaps on this matter Joe didn't get all the best people.
We'll see. For the record I wouldn't be surprised if the Dems get a little Build Back Better action going in September. Or maybe a bunch of Stand alone votes on all the popular items in BBB.
With J6C and DOJ and the folks down in Georgia dropping indictments all up and down the gallery of rogues to include #45, we could be in a markedly different political climate then gloomy today. Just sayin.
Personally, I'm a big fan of Win The Future!
:-)
Liz,
I don't do twitter and so I don't care a whit about it.
So you don't have any problem with President Trump being unbanned from Titter??
Russ,
instead we are referring to the GOP’s plan to keep themselves in power by turning our government into a White Nationalist Christo-Fascist State.
Fear monger much?? :^/
I am going to assume that you are an intelligent person and REALLY don't believe this is factually accurate..
I am honestly surprised that no one made the connection between Ultra-MAGA and Hillary's DEPLORABLE comment..
Com'on people! Yer off yer game..
MC
*Glenn Kirshner thinks once the very first (gulp!) Indictment against Trump gets filed there will be multiple other Prosecutors that follow.
There won't be any indictment of President Trump.
I mean, even beyond the catastrophic precedent it would set, there simply are no facts to support an indictment..
An indictment of President Trump is a Democrat wet dream.. Much like the Russia Collusion delusion was a wet dream. Or Build Back Broke was a wet dream..
It's fun to dream, but then ya have a mess to clean up in the morning..
But, kudos for the J6C... I'll use that in the future, if you don't mind..
BBWWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA
Pelosi's tells protesters, "GET OUT THERE AND PROTEST!!! HARASS THEM IN THEIR HOMES!!! MAKE LIVES A LIVING HELL!!!"...
So, Left Wing protesters take her order to heart and protested.
AT PELOSI'S HOUSE!!!! :D
Nancy Pelosi's house targeted by pro-choice protesters demanding she investigate Supreme Court justices
'We have had careless and cowardly representation by [Pelosi],' group says
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/nancy-pelosis-house-pro-choice-protesters-supreme-court-justices
I mean, talk about being
Hoisted By Their Own Picard
:D
I mean, even beyond the catastrophic precedent it would set, there simply are no facts to support an indictment..
I mean, we're already going to see monthly impeachments of Joe Biden, thanx to Democrats and their hysterical PTDS...
Are ya'all NOW hoping to set the precedent that President's will be persecuted and harassed after they leave office, SOLELY to settle political scores??
Is THAT what ya'all REALLY want..
Ya'all have a 6-3 Conservative SCOTUS and RvW thrown on the trash heap of history SOLELY because of that limited and tunnel-visioned thinking..
Democrat really need to think things thru and quit responding to their hysterical PTDS..
If Biden is even a TENTH of the man he used to be then he would realize what a horrible idea persecuting former Presidents is and pardon President Trump for anything and everything.
Because... Assuming Joe Biden actually lives to see it, he is going to be the NEXT Former President...
And this sort of harassment and persecution works even BETTER on Democrat Former Presidents..
New York Times columnist admits Trump was right about TikTok
TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a Chinese company. This has prompted concerns that the popular app can be weaponized to spread CCP propaganda throughout the United States.
https://www.foxnews.com/media/new-york-times-columnist-donald-trump-was-right-about-tiktok
Another thing that President Trump was right about... :^D
It's amazing.. The further we move into a Joe Biden Administration, the smarter President Trump becomes.. :D
Uncanny.. Mind boggling..
I mean, ya'all's Democrats are all a'tizzy about "mis-information" and "disinformation". Democrats are so scared that they are creating a MINISTRY OF TRUTH, right out of the pages of Orwell's 1984...
And yet, SOLELY because President Trump is on the other side of the issue, Democrats jump on the CCP's bandwagon and say, "What?? You want us to embrace a perfect vehicle for your CCP propaganda and disinformation into the US and Trump is against it!!?? HELL YA!!! Come on in and make yerselves right at home.. Do you need any help from us?? Maybe we could protect your Disinformation Vehicle with our own MINISTRY OF TRUTH, eh?? How does that sound??"
Yea.. GREAT idea, Democrats.. :eyeroll:
"The social media platforms that hold and shape our attention need to be governed in the public interest. That means knowing who’s truly running them and how they’re running them. On this, Donald Trump was right, and the Biden administration should finish what he started."
-Democrat Ezra Klein
Wait. Why would Trump need a pardon is he's done nothing to break the law?
Why would Trump need a pardon is he's done nothing to break the law?
Because Democrats are harassing and persecuting President Trump for things that EVERY businessman does in business..
Put it another way.. Suppose you got on the bad side of a local cop and he followed you all over the place and did a deep dive into your entire history and found that, 20 years ago you jaywalked or something equally innocuous that, while being technically illegal, it's something everyone does..
You and I BOTH know that these things are being looked at SOLELY because it's President Trump...
President Trump is COMPLETELY and 1000% innocent of all accusations against him..
And Joe Biden is going to be the NEXT Former POTUS under a President Trump administration with a full GOP Congress..
One has to wonder what a deep dive into Joe Biden's past will turn up, eh??
Do you REALLY want this precedent established?? Are you going to ENJOY sitting thru monthly Joe Biden impeachments??
Alex Mooney beats House GOP colleague David McKinley in West Virginia primary
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/campaigns/alex-mooney-beats-house-gop-colleague-david-mckinley-in-west-virginia-primary
And President Trump wins again!!! :D
NOPE.. STILL not tired of winning!! :D
Looks like WOKE corporations are getting the message..
Ya mess with da bull!!! Ya get da horns!!! :D
Corporations are getting the message..
GO WOKE?? GO BROKE..
And Joe Biden is going to be the NEXT Former POTUS under a President Trump administration with a full GOP Congress..
One has to wonder what a deep dive into Joe Biden's past will turn up, eh??
Do you REALLY want this precedent established?? Are you going to ENJOY sitting thru monthly Joe Biden impeachments??
Or are you of the mind that, damn the risks, you just want to get President Trump and to hell with the consequences..
THAT kind of thinking is EXACTLY why we have a 6-3 Conservative SCOTUS and RvW on the trash heap of history..
One would think that, after being burned SOOO bad by limited and emotional thinking, Democrats could overcome their PTDS and see things with a clear head..
But apparently, hate and PTDS is a LOT more fun for Democrats. :^/
It's amazing what a shot across the bow will do, eh??
The message has been received LOUD AND CLEAR by corporate America...
GO WOKE?? GO BROKE..
If Justice Roberts sincerely wants to insure that the SCOTUS is perceived as being above politics and not subject to political pressure....
Then Roberts needs to insure that the RvW decision goes down exactly as it appears it will go down.. Perhaps even join Justice Alito's bad of merry men and women..
If he doesn't, then Democrats will use extortion and violence every time there is a decision they don't like..
Don't give the bullies and criminals a win, Justice Roberts. Hold fast...
Democrats seem to be upset with the SCOTUS ruling regarding the Voting Rights Act..
And who is to blame for that ruling??
A Democrat...
The Decline of a Democratic Superlawyer
Marc Elias, the left's go-to attack dog, is laughed out of court, accused of lying to the special counsel, and on the losing end of several voting-rights cases
https://freebeacon.com/democrats/the-decline-and-fall-of-a-democratic-superlawyer/
Once again, Democrat over-reach brings about the VERY thing that Democrats were hoping to avoid.
The ISHMAEL Effect...
Democrats are FAMOUS for it..
Then Roberts needs to insure that the RvW decision goes down exactly as it appears it will go down.. Perhaps even join Justice Alito's bad of merry men and women..
Well THERE'S a Freudian Slip if ever there was one, eh? :D
Of course, that should read BAND of merry men and women. Not BAD... :D
And DESANTIS keeps on winning!! :D
President Trump and Governor DeSantis....
UNSTOPPABLE!!! :D
And, in the OH SNAP!! department:
If Biden is even a TENTH of the man he used to be then he would realize what a horrible idea persecuting former Presidents is and pardon President Trump for anything and everything.
For the record, I am 1000% consistent on this..
I also advocated for President Trump to pardon Hillary Clinton for all her crimes..
The ACLU Has Lost Its Way
The organization now seems largely unable or unwilling to uphold its core values.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/05/aclu-johnny-depp-amber-heard-trial/629808/
Very good read.. It epitomizes not only the decline of the ACLU but also of the Democrat Party in general..
https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2022/05/918/516/222cartoon-5.11.jpg?ve=1&tl=1
Sums things up PERFECTLY....
Biden, of course, wanted this to be a very scary term, something to be afraid of. Here's just one recent example of his framing: "This is not your father's Republican Party. This is a MAGA party. This is the MAGA party. And the head of their Republican campaign committee, Senator Rick Scott, the Ultra-MAGA Agenda he put forward, he raises taxes on 70 million people who make well less than $100,000." This is how the label started, in reference to Rick Scott's drastic GOP agenda, which Biden has gleefully started painting the entire Republican Party with. This is a good political tactic, because it is an extreme agenda.
Except it's not... Even your Washington Post says it's not..
In other words, this entire commentary attempts to paint an entire political Party with the brush of a single person's opinion...
Something ya'all claim that yer against..
I'm just sayin'...
“I want every American to know that I’m taking inflation very seriously and it’s my top domestic priority.”
-Joe Biden, May 2022
"Inflation is transitory and not going to be with us very long."
ALSO Joe Biden, June 2021
"Inflation has peaked at 6.8%. It will start coming down."
ALSO Joe Biden, December 2021
So, this begs the question..
Why does Joe Biden think he has *ANY* credibility left??
https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/GasPrices.jpg?quality=75&strip=all
"I did that."
-Joe Biden
:eyeroll:
Michale,
I think Trump and Twitter make a good pair. They were made for each other.
Liz,
I think Trump and Twitter make a good pair. They were made for each other.
Fair enough.. :D
Thank you for your honest answer.. It's appreciated.. :D
Anytune.
Hehehehe Freudian Slip?? Think that Weigantia should be an ALL MUSIC forum?? :D
I used to be on twitter ... for five minutes. Got tired real fast of having to post in multiple parts. Heh.
Heh.Yeah, anytune, Michale. Hehehehehehehehe.
An all music forum would be sweet.
Don, men have always had and some have exercised their right not to be responsible for the baby.
Don, men have always had and some have exercised their right not to be responsible for the baby.
If we're talking 'equity' here....
If the father has no rights BEFORE the baby is born...
Then he should not have any responsibility AFTER the baby is born...
Simple as that..
President Trump is COMPLETELY and 1000% innocent of all accusations against him..
From your lips to God's ears. The jury's still out, so to speak.
From your lips to God's ears. The jury's still out, so to speak.
God has nothing to do with it.
This is America and President Trump is completely and unequivocally INNOCENT of all accusations against him..
It's the rights that you and I fought and bled and killed for...
I think a mostly non music format best scratches my daily political itch but when a song dominates my every waking hour for days I need to feel free to just post it Africa -- Wheezer.
(4:04)
I think a mostly pie format would be best.
It took President Trump an hour to condemn the 6 Jan violent protests.. Democrats lost their minds.... They screamed President Trump was complicit..
It took Biden a week to condemn the violence of the Pro Baby Killing scumbags..
From Democrats??
<> <>
Hypocrisy much?? :eyeroll:
Awwww carp!!
It took President Trump an hour to condemn the 6 Jan violent protests.. Democrats lost their minds.... They screamed President Trump was complicit..
It took Biden a week to condemn the violence of the Pro Baby Killing scumbags..
From Democrats??
{{ccchhhhhiiiirrrrrppppp}} {{ccchhhiiirrrrrrrrppp}}
Hypocrisy much?? :eyeroll:
Nobody who touts Mitch McConnell's denial of Obama's appointment 8 months before an election and his rush job on trump's appointment less than 2 months before an election has any business calling anyone else a hypocrite.
Nobody who touts Mitch McConnell's denial of Obama's appointment 8 months before an election and his rush job on trump's appointment less than 2 months before an election has any business calling anyone else a hypocrite.
The circumstances were different..
Politics is a contact sport..
If you could step back and look at it objectively, you would see it as the brilliant political maneuver it was..
And I would be willing to wager that NO ONE was more surprised that it actually worked than McConnell...
Manchin to vote no on Dems' Roe v. Wade bill, saying it goes too far
The West Virginia Democrat said the current bill is not what he was hoping for
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/joe-manchin-no-vote-senate-roe-v-wade-bill
Manchin is a NO.. Sinema is probably a NO.. Murkowski is a NO. Collins is a NO..
Democrats lose again...
Tim Scott delivers ‘stunning rebuke’ of Janet Yellen over Black abortion comments: ‘I am thankful to be here’
'Nothing better than a multi-millionaire old white woman lecturing a black man about how his mother was a loser because she let him be born,' said one Twitter user
https://www.foxnews.com/media/tim-scott-delivers-stunning-rebuke-janet-yellen-black-abortion-comments-im-thankful-here
So.. Democrats believe that black women MUST be able to kill their babies at will in order to succeed.. :^/
For those of you who don't have a problem with protests at Justices' homes??
https://www.thetrafalgargroup.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/COSA-SCOTUS-Protests-Full-Report-0509.pdf
You are in the minority.. Even amongst your own Democrats..
Federal judge extends order blocking Biden admin from rolling back Title 42 early ahead of hearing
21 Republican states are seeking a preliminary injunction to stop the Trump-era policy being lifted
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/federal-judge-biden-admin-ftitle-42-early-hearing
Democrats just can't seem to catch a break.. Would almost feel sorry for them if they weren't trying to destroy this country..