October 28, 2021

Afternoon Update:

Felicia Sonmez & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "Former New York governor Andrew M. Cuomo has been charged with a misdemeanor complaint for a sex-crime-related offense. A spokesman for the New York courts said Thursday that the complaint was filed in Albany City Court." This is a brief, breaking news story. AN NBC-4 New York News story, which is more detailed, is here.

Devlin Barrett of the Washington Post: "The Justice Department agreed Thursday to pay $88 million to victims of a racially motivated shooting at a historic Black church in South Carolina -- a substantial but also symbolic figure meant to compensate for a background-check failure that allowed the killer to buy a weapon. A lawyer for the victims, Bakari Sellers, said the figure was particularly meaningful because the number 88 is significant among white supremacists like gunman Dylann Roof, who was convicted on federal hate crimes charges and sentenced to death." An ABC News report is here. MB: According to an on-air report on CNN, the Trump DOJ stonewalled settlement negotiations re: the 2015 mass murder. I don't know if it's true, but it's believable, isn't it?

TucKKKer Jumps the Shark. Michael Luciano of Mediaite: "Tucker Carlson previewed a trailer on Wednesday for an upcoming three-part series for FOX Nation.... 'The domestic war on terror is here,' alleges a man's voice. 'It's coming after half of the country.' Carlson himself appears and says, 'The helicopters have left Afghanistan, and now they're here at home.' 'The left is hunting the right,' alleges another voice. 'Sticking them in Guantanamo Bay, for American citizens, leaving them there to rot.'... A clip of President Joe Biden denouncing White supremacy and calling it a 'lethal threat' as footage of the 1926 Ku Klux Klan march on Washington rolled. 'False flags have happened in this country,' says another voice. 'One of which may have been January 6th.' The trailer ends with a brief audio of the 'Battle Hymn of the Republic.' The trailer is, in a word, batshit." You can watch the trailer is here. His truth is marching on.

Lisa Mascaro, et al., of the AP: "President Joe Biden declared Thursday he has reached a 'historic economic framework' with Democrats in Congress on his sweeping domestic policy package, a hard-fought yet dramatically scaled-back deal announced hours before he departs for overseas summits. Biden's remarks at the White House came after he traveled to Capitol Hill to make the case to House Democrats for the still robust domestic package -- $1.75 trillion of social services and climate change programs the White House believes can pass the 50-50 Senate.... At least one pivotal holdout, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., struck a similar tone: 'I look forward to getting this done.' However, another holdout, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., was less committal: 'This is all in the hands of the House right now.'" ~~~

~~~ Kate Sullivan of CNN: "The $1.75 trillion proposal focuses on care for families, addressing the climate crisis, expanding access to health care, lowering costs for the middle class and tax reforms.... The new plan makes major concessions and does not have several key planks that Biden had initially proposed, including paid family and medical leave, prescription drug pricing provisions, free community college and vision or dental Medicaid coverage. Here's what is included in the plan[.]" ~~~

     ~~~ Here's the White House's summary of what's in the Build Back Better framework. ~~~

~~~ Sarah Ferris, et al., of Politico: "Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi revved their party toward a House vote as soon as Thursday on a $550 billion Senate-passed infrastructure bill, even as progressives remain undecided about taking what one called 'a leap of faith in the president.' Soon after the White House outlined a framework for a $1.75 trillion deal on social spending, Biden made a high-stakes appearance on Capitol Hill to sell Pelosi's caucus on it. While some liberal priorities were included in the package of climate, health care and other social policy investments, others were left on the cutting-room floor -- and House progressives remain noncommittal about whether to vote yes on infrastructure given their uncertainty about the framework's Senate future. The Congressional Progressive Caucus held its own meeting after Biden left, as its chair Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) held off on where her group stood after the president's pitch for its votes. Another of her members, Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.), said simply 'no' when asked if she would vote for the infrastructure bill after the president's push."

Hiroko Tabuchi & Lisa Friedman of the New York Times: "House Democrats have begun questioning the executives of some of the world's biggest oil and gas companies -- Exxon Mobil, Chevron, BP and Shell -- over allegations that the companies for years spread disinformation about the role played by fossil fuels in global warming in order to slow action on climate change. ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post is live-updating the hearing.

Ahoy, Another British/French Battle at Sea. Rick Noack of the Washington Post: "France escalated a fishing rights dispute with Britain on Thursday, announcing that French authorities had seized a British boat that lacked a license to operate in French waters and have issued a warning to another British vessel. France's minister of the sea, Annick Girardin, announced the seizure one day after the French government threatened a number of sanctions against Britain in the lingering dispute that has stirred emotions on both sides of the English Channel for months."

~~~~~~~~~~

** Tyler Pager & Sean Sullivan of the Washington Post: "President Biden plans to announce Thursday a revised framework for his social spending plan that he expects will gain the support of all Democrats, according to multiple people with knowledge of the situation, marking a potential breakthrough after months of lengthy negotiations and stalled talks. The White House plans to detail specific policies it expects to pass Congress after weeks of whittling down Biden's agenda, according to one of the people. Democrats on Capitol Hill were preparing written details of the revamped proposal for release on Thursday, according to the second person.... Biden will address House Democrats Thursday morning before delivering remarks from the White House about the plan." ~~~

~~~ Joseph Choi of the Hill: "President Biden is expected to attend a House Democratic caucus meeting on Thursday morning before he departs for Europe to attend a pair of global summits, in a last-minute attempt to push through the multi-billion dollar bipartisan infrastructure bill.... NBC noted the meeting will likely delay Biden's overseas travel plans, but White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki has said that 'flexibility' is built into the president's schedule." ~~~

~~~ Alan Rappeport & Jim Tankersley of the New York Times: "As they hunt for revenue to pay for their sprawling spending bill and try to unite a fractured caucus, Democrats are attempting to rewrite the United States tax code in a matter of days, proposing the kind of sweeping changes to how America taxes businesses and individuals that would normally take months or years to enact. The effort has effectively discarded trillions of dollars of carefully crafted tax increases that President Biden proposed on the campaign trail and that top Democrats have rolled out in Congress. Instead, lawmakers are throwing a slew of new proposals into the mix, including a tax on billionaires, hoping that they can pass muster both legally and within their own party. The frantic attempt to overhaul the complex U.S. tax code remained in a state of flux on Wednesday, with Senator Joe Manchin III and some House Democrats expressing reservations about a tax on billionaires that was proposed earlier in the day by Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon. On Tuesday, Mr. Manchin shot down a plan that would have given the Internal Revenue Service more visibility into certain taxpayers' bank accounts in order to catch tax cheats, forcing a group of Senate Democrats who support the provision to try to negotiate a compromise. Mr. Manchin's opposition to a new federal paid leave program also appeared to doom its chances of being included in the final legislation, although supporters of the provision said they would fight to keep it intact."

Seung Min Kim of the Washington Post: "President Biden -- who has made renewed international engagement a hallmark of his foreign policy ethos -- is headed to a pair of global summits in Europe this week with just a handful of his ambassadors in place, as most of his picks to represent the United States abroad remain mired in messy domestic politics. To date, only four of Biden's choices to be a U.S. ambassador to a foreign government have been approved by the Senate -- three of them just on Tuesday.... The delays stem from threats by some Republican senators, led by [Snidely Whiplash] Ted Cruz (Tex.), who has been angling for a fight with the Biden administration over matters of national security. That is prolonging the usually routine process of getting ambassadors formally installed, while several high-profile posts are also vacant because the White House has yet to put forward nominees for them." MB: Sorry about that.

Jason Horowitz of the New York Times: President "Biden, a Catholic who rarely misses Sunday Mass, arrives [at the Vatican Friday] at a moment when the political polarization in America has seeped deeply into its Catholic church. The president and pope, who share common ground on many issues, have become common targets of powerful conservative American bishops seeking to undercut them. The most hostile among them, appointed by [Pope] Francis&' conservative predecessors, have either ignored or resisted the pope's efforts to reorient the priorities of the church toward inclusion and social justice, and away from culture war issues like abortion and L.G.B.T.Q. rights. They have amplified their critiques of both men through a conservative Catholic media constellation that is Trump-friendly. Despite a clear warning from the Vatican, they have pursued an effort to deny holy communion to Roman Catholic politicians supportive of abortion rights -- including Mr. Biden."

Tierney Sneed of CNN: "Attorney General Merrick Garland defended his memo responding to threats aimed at school officials, pushing back on pointed criticism from Republicans at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Wednesday. The memo, Garland said, 'responds to concerns about violence, threats of violence, other criminal conduct.'... Several GOP committee members battered Garland with questions about the memo, which Republicans have sought to make a focal issue in the Virginia gubernatorial election. Republicans have equated the Justice Department's approach with treating parents like 'domestic terrorists' for protesting schools' Covid protocols and methods of teaching about race in American history. (The memo makes no reference to domestic terrorism.)... Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democrat from Rhode Island who serves on the committee, asked Garland specifically if the criminal investigation [into the January 6 insurrection] was constrained to those who physically breached the Capitol. 'The investigation is being conducted by the prosecutors in the US Attorney's Office and by the FBI field office. We have not constrained them in any way,' Garland said." ~~~

~~~ Harper Neidig of the Hill: "Attorney General Merrick Garland on Wednesday clashed with Republican senators over the Justice Department's efforts to crack down on violent threats against school boards, with one GOP member [Tom Cotton (Ark.)] telling the former judge, 'Thank God you're not on the Supreme Court.'" Let's give Tommy from Arkansas a big hand for winning the second-runner-up prize in the Best Impression of a Senator Feigning Outrage category. What a colossal prick: ~~~

     ~~~ ** Anderson Cooper takes on the lying lizards on the committee. A good (short) segment.

Kareem Fahim & Karen DeYoung of the Washington Post: "Iran has agreed to return to nuclear negotiations in Vienna by the end of November, Tehran's top negotiator said Wednesday, signaling the possible revival of a process aimed at restoring the 2015 nuclear deal that has been stalled for months and surrounded by uncertainty. In a message posted on Twitter, the negotiator, Ali Bagheri, the deputy foreign minister, who has been meeting with European diplomats in Brussels, said the exact date of the negotiations would be announced next week. Bagheri said he had engaged in 'very serious and constructive dialogue' with Enrique Mora, the European Union's deputy secretary general for political affairs, 'on the essential elements for successful negotiations.' But Peter Stano, a foreign affairs spokesman for the European Union, said 'there is nothing to announce at the moment.'"

Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "On Monday, the right-wing youth organization Turning Point USA had an event during which founder Charlie Kirk took questions from members of the audience. At one point, a bearded man asked one, as seen in video obtained by Media Matters. 'At this point, we're living under corporate and medical fascism. This is tyranny,' he said. 'When do we get to use the guns?' Members of the audience applauded. 'No, and I'm not -- that's not a joke,' he continued. '... I mean, literally, where's the line? How many elections are they going to steal before we kill these people?' Kirk's response was not, as you might hope, a strident rejection of the premise. He argued that an embrace of violence was what the left wanted, allowing for the creation of 'Patriot Act 2.0.'... The problem with these false claims of election fraud -- these false, nonsensical, debunked, irrational, garbage claims of election fraud -- is that people believe them."

WSJ Broadcasts Trump's Lies. Jeremy Barr of the Washington Post: "The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday published a lengthy letter to the editor from [Donald] Trump charging, inaccurately, that the 2020 presidential election won by Joe Biden was 'rigged.' The nearly 600-word letter is replete with loosely sourced and largely debunked claims of fraud in Pennsylvania, a state that President Biden won by 81,660 votes, handing him 20 electoral college votes that helped secure his victory.... The Journal's decision to publish the letter drew a backlash on Wednesday from some journalists and political commentators, who accused the publication of amplifying election misinformation. 'Most newspapers don't allow op-ed writers to just make up nonsense lies. Apparently the Wall Street Journal is not among them,' HuffPost White House correspondent S.V. Dáte wrote on Twitter." A Mediaite post is here. ~~~

~~~ Philip Bump of the Washington Post lists 14 things the Wall Street Journal failed to contextualize in publishing a lie-laced letter Donald Trump wrote about the 2020 election.

Charles Homans in the New York Times Magazine (Oct. 26) on "Kyle Rittenhouse & the New Era of Political Violence": "Prosecutors have yet to produce evidence that Rittenhouse held extremist views or associations before the shootings.... This is likely to center the [murder] trial on Rittenhouse's actions over a series of brief and fateful moments, and not the much larger question of what brought Rittenhouse and so many others to the streets of Kenosha equipped for war.... The city had simply been first to experience the inevitable consequences of a moment when partisan politics, rather than providing a alternative to political violence, had become an accelerant of it -- when the rhetoric swirling around those politics, and the voices amplifying it, had persuaded a large number of people with military-style weapons that the time for talking in America was over."

Elizabeth Dwoskin of the Washington Post: "Facebook sent out a companywide notice on Tuesday ordering employees to preserve documents and communications dating back to 2016 in response to legal inquiries from around the world, according to internal documents obtained by The Washington Post.... The Facebook Papers [released by a whistleblower] show how researchers knew that the platform caused polarization in numerous countries, led people down misinformation rabbit holes, failed to stop a violent network that led to the January 6 insurrection, and had negative impacts on the mental health of young people." ~~~

~~~ Poland, Another Country Where Facebook (Allegedly) Abets Extremists. Loveday Morris of the Washington Post: Facebook content posted by Poland's far-right Confederation party "generally does well, including a slew of anti-lockdown, anti-immigration, vaccine-skeptic posts often punctuated with large red exclamation marks.... That Facebook might be amplifying outrage -- while driving polarization and elevating more-extreme parties around the world -- has been ruminated on inside the company for years, according to the internal documents known as the Facebook Papers, which were disclosed by the whistleblower Frances Haugen...."

The Pandemic, Ctd.

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Thursday are here. The Washington Post's live Covid-19 updates are here.

Stephanie Nolan of the New York Times: "Merck has granted a royalty-free license for its promising Covid-19 pill to a United Nations-backed nonprofit in a deal that would allow the drug to be manufactured and sold cheaply in the poorest nations, where vaccines for the coronavirus are in devastatingly short supply. The agreement with the Medicines Patent Pool, an organization that works to make medical treatment and technologies globally accessible, will allow companies in 105 countries, mostly in Africa and Asia, to sublicense the formulation for the antiviral pill, called molnupiravir, and begin making it. Merck reported this month that the drug halved the rate of hospitalizations and deaths in high-risk Covid patients who took it soon after infection in a large clinical trial."

New York. Andrew Jeong of the Washington Post: "A judge on Wednesday denied a request from a New York City police union to temporarily halt Mayor Bill de Blasio's (D) order requiring all municipal employees, including law enforcement officials, to receive at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine by later this week or face unpaid leave. Richmond County Supreme Court Judge Lizette Colon ruled that de Blasio's mandate -- which the Police Benevolent Association of the City of New York is seeking to overturn -- can proceed, reportedly citing a previous state appellate ruling that upheld a vaccine mandate for measles."

Beyond the Beltway

New Mexico. Simon Romero, et al., of the New York Times: "Before he handed a revolver that he had declared 'cold' to the actor Alec Baldwin on the set of the film 'Rust' last week, Dave Halls, an assistant director on the film, told a detective he should have inspected each round in each chamber, according to an affidavit that was released Wednesday. But he did not.... The gun went off..., killing the film's cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins, 42, and wounding its director, Joel Souza, 48. The sheriff said that the 'lead projectile' that Mr. Baldwin had fired from the gun had been recovered from the director's shoulder, and said that it was apparently the same round that had killed Ms. Hutchins. Asked if it was an actual bullet that had been fired -- and not a blank — he said, 'We would consider it a live round, a bullet, live, because it did fire from the weapon and obviously caused the death of Ms. Hutchins and injured Mr. Souza. We also believe that we have the spent shell casing from the bullet that was fired from the gun,' he said. Sheriff [Adan] Mendoza said that investigators believe they recovered more live rounds on the film's set at Bonanza Creek Ranch, and that they would be sending some of the ammunition they seized to the F.B.I. crime lab for analysis."

Oregon. Andrew Selsky of the AP: "Former New York Times journalist Nicholas Kristof announced his candidacy Wednesday for Oregon governor, saying the state needs a political newbie to solve problems like homelessness and rural despair.... Kristof joins a crowded field of Democrats seeking their party's nomination to be the candidate in the 2022 election, including Oregon House Speaker Tina Kotek and state Treasurer Tobias Read. Democrats have held the governor's office since 1987."

Virginia State Race. Meagan Flynn & Shawn Boburg of the Washington Post: "Across Virginia, the GOP 'election integrity' push has largely driven[an] influx of election observers in this year's gubernatorial race, according to local, state and national Republican officials. In some trainings, prospective poll watchers have been taught to see themselves as a bulwark against election fraud, and some groups have been corralling their own poll watcher armies.... Numerous GOP officials described the poll watcher trainings as a branch extending from election integrity efforts -- something Republican candidate Glenn Youngkin has seized on as a core tenet of his gubernatorial campaign, calling for an audit of Virginia voting machines and repeatedly encouraging poll watchers to volunteer."

Way Beyond

Brazil. BBC News: "Brazilian senators have voted to recommend charging President Jair Bolsonaro over his handling of the devastating Covid pandemic. A Senate panel backed a report calling for charges against Mr Bolsonaro including crimes against humanity, after 600,000 deaths from coronavirus. The report has been handed to the chief prosecutor, a Bolsonaro appointee.... There is no guarantee this vote will lead to actual criminal charges, as the report's recommendations must now be assessed by Prosecutor-General Augusto Aras, who is expected to protect the president."

News Lede

AP: "The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell to a pandemic low last week as the job market continues to recover from last year's coronavirus recession. Jobless claims dropped by 10,000 to 281,000, lowest since mid-March 2020, the Labor Department said Thursday."

Comments

[Akhilleus]

I watched Faux today (Wednesday) break in with huge fanfare to a press conference in which local New Mexico officials announced that they’re still looking at the death of a cinematographer on that movie set. Of course the way Faux presented it was “Alec Baldwin! Criminal Charges on the Table!!!”

It was nothing of the kind, but what ever stops these disgusting assholes from twisting things to fit their fantasy narratives? The Faux douche on the scene demanded to know if Baldwin was being charged. The official said that they didn’t have enough information to charge anyone.

This didn’t stop Faux studio scumbags from whining about how Baldwin was responsible for the death. Then they brought in one of their “experts” to do the usual Faux philippic about the irresponsibility of Hollywood generally and Baldwin specifically. Then came the bit about how dangerous movie sets are with all those weapons on site and the need for training and safety measures to keep innocents from being killed, and how it’s ridiculous to have as many as two or three real guns on the set.

Wait. What?

What about the millions of irresponsible, untrained Faux-loving gun owners, many of whom own enough REAL GUNS and ammo to recreate the D-Day assault? No criticism of all those gun nuts who are untrained, unlicensed, and crazy? No demands that assholes who shoot their partners or whose kids get killed because they have loaded, unsecured weapons sitting around the house be appropriately charged?

Oh, wait. They vote confederate. And they have never made fun of the Fat Fascist.

Never mind.

[Marie Burns]

@Akhilleus: Yes, as we learned yesterday, Kyle Rittenhouse, apparently a boy hero of the right, was somehow able to pull off two "victimless" (alleged) murders and a "victimless" (alleged) non-fatal shooting.

[Marie Burns]

@Ken Winkes: After concocting a persona as a West Virginian, I did write to Senator Joe yesterday. I'm absolutely, 100 percent positive this is why Manchin agreed to the Build Back Better framework. It's comforting to know that I have changed the course of American history (though less comforting, I suppose, to those who realize I suffer from delusions of grandeur):

"I heard a brief interview you gave to reporters this morning and was shocked that you do not understand the national debt. At all. You said you didn't want your grandchildren to be saddled with debts incurred now. They won't be. Seventy percent of the U.S. debt is purchased by Americans or U.S. entities. Thus, it's Americans who PROFIT from the interest on that debt and can, if they wish, pass that profit on to their descendants. So your grandchildren will actually BENEFIT from the national debt. You also said you were concerned that Social Security would run out of money. But the Social Security Admin. is the biggest purchaser of the national debt -- and therefore the agency that earns the most interest on the debt and thus PROFITS the most from it. The national debt is a sort of GIFT to younger Americans, not a liability.

"In addition, if you think Social Security will run out of money, you and your fellow Democrats can scrap the cap (currently at $143,800) on Social Security taxes, at least for employees. When you work to curb the Build Back Better plan, you are hurting your grandchildren and their friends, not helping them. If you think I'm wrong, ask a macroeconomist, like Nobel Prize winner Paul Krugman. The federal debt is NOTHING like the sort of debts you or I might incur because it is mostly a debt to ourselves, and we -- and our progeny -- will reap the benefits."

Your friend Marie, a West Virginia woman

[P.D. Pepe]

Joe Manchin is about to leave his office when his secretary says, "Whoa, Joe, you gotta read this. It's a letter to you from a Marie from West Virginia and she pretty well puts you in the hot seat re: what she says you don't know squat about. "

Joe, who is up to here with pleas and criticism tells Alice, the secretary, that he has no time to read another bloody letter , slams the door as he exits.

But Alice, who knows her stuff and secretly thinks her boss is out to lunch, puts the letter INTO his lunch (Manchin eats in his office). We can therefore assume he, indeed, did read the letter and yes, we can conclude Marie is responsible for Joe's turn of mind. Wisdom within a baloney sandwich and sour pickles---way to go!

[Akhilleus]

Our real president has been working hard trying to make sure his $1.7 trillion bill, designed to help actual Americans, as opposed to corporations and the gun lobby, is completely paid for. For the life of me, I cannot recall a single R prez (real or not) who EVER worried about how their bills would be supported financially. Ever. But don’t you know that R’s and their media shills are all screaming about this now. They never uttered a peep when Fatty was spending money right and left and giving away hundreds of billions to himself and his rich pals, or when the Decider and his lying henchmen were dumping trillions into an invented war. Who paid for their bills? Why, us. Of course. Who got out of paying a penny? Trump. Of course.

[Forrest Morris]

@Marie; Your letter has a certain Jenna Say Qwah. (That's West
Virginian for Gene Se Qua).

[P.D. Pepe]

The display of those Republicans at the hearing with Merrick Garland made me sick with fury! How I wished Garland would have raised his voice and said, "You people are distorting the truth here and I'm not about to sit here and take your vitriol! And until you get your facts straight and you can treat me with a minimum of decorum I'm leaving."
and then someone––maybe Whitehouse–-could address these bastards and say:

Have you no decency? At long last have you completely lost your minds?

[Ken Winkes]

https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-endorses-bolsonaro-brazilian-president-9-criminal-charges-recommended-2021-10

Whadda surprise.

Now if our own Senate could summon a little South American backbone, that would be the real surprise....but they won't....they can't even tax billionaires..

And, Marie, nice letter.

I wondered again yesterday how genuine is the economic stupidity (ignorance) of so many politicians, which BTW is a state not limited to the Repug brand.

They must have some inkling of how to add, subtract and foresee consequences. Yet the flow of drivel never seems to stop.

My tentative conclusion: In our culture, money and its pursuit are so close to our ego and our deep urge to "possess" that many can't pull their minds far enough away from it to think rationally about the large part it plays in almost everything we do, so large that its pursuit has become a self-perpetuating enterprise, sans social and moral context.

So while there's often a political motive behind the dumb things politicians say about taxation and debt, I suspect many of them don't really have a clue...They are just repeating the kind of dumb things they're heard all their lives that result in the kind thoughtless head-nodding agreement that makes them think they're said something smart.

[Jeanne]

All of you are smarter than I. I did not watch Slimey Cruz and his Confederates and so I appreciate the updates. I don’t think they know we know they are only following their agenda talking points. They can only blab dangerous nonsense. All those law degrees and not one of them can tell the difference between truth and lies. Manchin so wishes he could join them. MeanGirl Sinema thinks she is all that…and she dresses like she is headed to a bar at lunchtime. How in the name of goddess did we deserve any of this?

[Patrick]

"I don’t think they know we know they are only following their agenda talking points."

I have often thought that the most outlandish of the R congresspersons are like TV pro wrestlers ... they know that we know that they practice the moves to provide maximum entertainment in the ring, not to engage in an actual athletic (political? intellectual?) contest. They get paid for their entertainment value.

We here in this forum don't take pleasure form their performance, but their fans do, and that's who they're playing to. Even if their fans know it's fake, they still enjoy the show.

And we get to feel superior to all of them, because we see the phoniness is not really fun, but harmful. But that's small comfort when we consider that playing to highly ignorant and spiteful crowds historically leads to mob action. And many of those people are now armed with weapons designed to kill people efficiently at a distance. Scary.