Zone1 The Gonzo Playbook

[Tom Paine 1949]

The mid-term elections demonstrate how democratic governance has fundamentally changed. Consider Arizona’s 2022 governor contest. Prior to the August primary election, candidate Kari Lake said, “We’re already detecting some stealing going on.” A few days before the November election she stressed “If we don’t win, there’s some cheating going on. And we already know that.” On election day she told reporters, “I’m going to be your worst fricking nightmare for eight years, and we will reform the media as well. We are going to make you guys into journalists again, so get ready.” When she lost the election to Katie Hobbs, she called the 2022 election the shoddiest election ever, in history, run by imbeciles. A few weeks later she contested the election and filed suit against Maricopa County election officials.

This is the new normal of Gonzo Governance that has emerged from our communication order featuring digital media that provide instantaneous, personal, and visual information. This entertaining conflict-ridden media logic promotes evocative reaction rather than referential and reflective communication. Gonzo, or breaking the mold of a conventional activity, was popularized by Hunter Thompson’s deviant-drugged-edgy lifestyle and approach to journalism…


A key feature of a Gonzo perspective is that individual actors use media performances to rail against a fearful disorder that needs drastic correction. Politicians cultivate and pursue the emotional appeals to audiences and potential constituents. Gonzo is justified by a perceived crisis and a breakdown in institutional and conventional means of dealing with a problem or issue, whether in journalism, criminal justice sentencing, or social organization. A dramatic resolution is offered that resonates with an audience who shares the sense of disorder.

The solution is extraordinary—even deviant, illegal or immoral – breaking boundaries and violating the parameters of social and discursive participation within a community of actors, typically promoting raw emotional meanings and symbols. Gonzo rhetoric requires attention-grabbing bold action that only the savior can provide, such as Kari Lake or Donald Trump. Gonzo Governance is becoming institutionalized as routine resistance to the election process and the rule of law….

The Gonzo Playbook

 

[Tom Paine 1949]

I’m old enough to remember the Abbie Hoffman / Jerry Rubin - type left-wing performance version of Gonzo posturing. It was repulsive to many (myself included), but entertaining to some I guess.

That “Gonzo” performance art was not then meant as a means for governing, however! Nor was it in general used for getting politicians elected. It did at times express the emotions of a large section of that unique generation of young people repulsed by the Vietnam War, unwilling to go halfway around the world to kill and die in service to very questionable goals of Uncle Sam.

I wonder if rightwing politicians and propagandists today who grew up attacking the often comical nonsense and limited vision of individuals acting out their anti-war frustrations in those days realize that they have been for years encouraging a similar sort of even more crude and dangerous “Gonzo” politics, especially in supporting MAGA “Trumpism.”

The article above also has some interesting statistics about how extensive the problem is among the new Trump Republican Party, even as Trump’s personal star seems to be fading a bit.

 

[Donald H]

I’m old enough to remember the Abbie Hoffman / Jerry Rubin - type left-wing performance version of Gonzo posturing. It was repulsive to many (myself included), but entertaining to some I guess.

That “Gonzo” performance art was not then meant as a means for governing, however! Nor was it in general used for getting politicians elected. It did at times express the emotions of a large section of that unique generation of young people repulsed by the Vietnam War, unwilling to go halfway around the world to kill and die in service to very questionable goals of Uncle Sam.

I wonder if rightwing politicians and propagandists today who grew up attacking the often comical nonsense and limited vision of individuals acting out their anti-war frustrations in those days realize that they have been for years encouraging a similar sort of even more crude and dangerous “Gonzo” politics, especially in supporting MAGA “Trumpism.”

The article above also has some interesting statistics about how extensive the problem is among the new Trump Republican Party, even as Trump’s personal star seems to be fading a bit.

I think you're making an effort at having a rational discussion, as opposed to it being an attempt to troll. So you're hitting the mark with me on all the talking points, with one exception and that is in making reference to Kari.

Can it become a reference to the losing Georgia candidate instead? I just can't go with you on Kari, on account of there being no possibility of her losing her election.

What was the Hoffman/Rubin performance? Even though I'm old enough, it rings no bells?

 

[jwoodie]

The mid-term elections demonstrate how democratic governance has fundamentally changed. Consider Arizona’s 2022 governor contest. Prior to the August primary election, candidate Kari Lake said, “We’re already detecting some stealing going on.” A few days before the November election she stressed “If we don’t win, there’s some cheating going on. And we already know that.” On election day she told reporters, “I’m going to be your worst fricking nightmare for eight years, and we will reform the media as well. We are going to make you guys into journalists again, so get ready.” When she lost the election to Katie Hobbs, she called the 2022 election the shoddiest election ever, in history, run by imbeciles. A few weeks later she contested the election and filed suit against Maricopa County election officials.

This is the new normal of Gonzo Governance that has emerged from our communication order featuring digital media that provide instantaneous, personal, and visual information. This entertaining conflict-ridden media logic promotes evocative reaction rather than referential and reflective communication. Gonzo, or breaking the mold of a conventional activity, was popularized by Hunter Thompson’s deviant-drugged-edgy lifestyle and approach to journalism…


A key feature of a Gonzo perspective is that individual actors use media performances to rail against a fearful disorder that needs drastic correction. Politicians cultivate and pursue the emotional appeals to audiences and potential constituents. Gonzo is justified by a perceived crisis and a breakdown in institutional and conventional means of dealing with a problem or issue, whether in journalism, criminal justice sentencing, or social organization. A dramatic resolution is offered that resonates with an audience who shares the sense of disorder.

The solution is extraordinary—even deviant, illegal or immoral – breaking boundaries and violating the parameters of social and discursive participation within a community of actors, typically promoting raw emotional meanings and symbols. Gonzo rhetoric requires attention-grabbing bold action that only the savior can provide, such as Kari Lake or Donald Trump. Gonzo Governance is becoming institutionalized as routine resistance to the election process and the rule of law….

The Gonzo Playbook

"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." -Voltaire

 

[Tom Paine 1949]

I think you're making an effort at having a rational discussion, as opposed to it being an attempt to troll. So you're hitting the mark with me on all the talking points, with one exception and that is in making reference to Kari.

Can it become a reference to the losing Georgia candidate instead? I just can't go with you on Kari, on account of there being no possibility of her losing her election.

What was the Hoffman/Rubin performance? Even though I'm old enough, it rings no bells?

I meant their publicity-seeking hippie “performance art.” It could sometimes be amusing. The yippies were a tiny group, not “quintessential lefties,” or even real leftists, as they were often made out to be. They just knew how to play the media of those days.

They got lots of publicity: “Levitating the Pentagon.” Throwing money from the gallery down onto the floor of the NY stock exchange. Letting loose “pigs” at government meetings to protest the police and military. Appearing in Uncle Sam costume when called before the Un-American Activities Committee.

They probably ended up hurting their cause. They really weren’t very serious, just very egotistical. They did make some money selling books about themselves. Like a lot of others, as the war wound down they went from being “Yippies” to becoming “Yuppies.” The “anti-imperialist” movement lasted longer, but it too faded by the early 1980s. The Left’s “Anti-Establishment” rhetoric and paranoia was later taken up … by the populist Right.

As for Kari Lake … we’ll just have to disagree here. I think she was a nut job, and I’m glad she lost her election.

 

[badbob85037]

I’m old enough to remember the Abbie Hoffman / Jerry Rubin - type left-wing performance version of Gonzo posturing. It was repulsive to many (myself included), but entertaining to some I guess.

That “Gonzo” performance art was not then meant as a means for governing, however! Nor was it in general used for getting politicians elected. It did at times express the emotions of a large section of that unique generation of young people repulsed by the Vietnam War, unwilling to go halfway around the world to kill and die in service to very questionable goals of Uncle Sam.

I wonder if rightwing politicians and propagandists today who grew up attacking the often comical nonsense and limited vision of individuals acting out their anti-war frustrations in those days realize that they have been for years encouraging a similar sort of even more crude and dangerous “Gonzo” politics, especially in supporting MAGA “Trumpism.”

The article above also has some interesting statistics about how extensive the problem is among the new Trump Republican Party, even as Trump’s personal star seems to be fading a bit.

You picked the wrong election. Lake was favored by 10 points. Hobbs didn't campaign, Hobbs wouldn't debate, but she does know how to cheat an election. A worthless piece of shit and Arizona knew that.

 

[Tom Paine 1949]

You picked the wrong election. Lake was favored by 10 points. Hobbs didn't campaign, Hobbs wouldn't debate, but she does know how to cheat an election. A worthless piece of shit and Arizona knew that.

What nonsense. Which poll and when said there was a “10 point” lead for Lake?

Even the latest FOX poll from a few days before the election showed the race tightened dramatically within the last weeks to within a few percentage points, within their own margin of error.

“Polls” had Hillary winning, a “red tide” sweeping the nation — what did they prove? You talk about a supposed +10% lead in a poll — without any context or link. Yours is wishful thinking, conspiracy thinking, Trumpian “election denial.” The Republican / Trump nutters in Arizona lost both the Senate and Governorship — fairly.

But I’m sure you just can’t believe it — just like many pathetic liberals couldn’t believe their beloved Hillary could ever lose to the conman Trump.

Arizona Senate, governor’s races tighten: Fox News poll
2022 Arizona Election Poll: Lake leads Hobbs in governor's race by 3 points, Senate race tied

 

[Tommy Tainant]

What nonsense. Which poll and when said there was a “10 point” lead for Lake?

Even the latest FOX poll from a few days before the election showed the race tightened dramatically within the last weeks to within a few percentage points, within their own margin of error.

“Polls” had Hillary winning, a “red tide” sweeping the nation — what did they prove? You talk about a supposed +10% lead in a poll — without any context or link. Yours is wishful thinking, conspiracy thinking, Trumpian “election denial.” The Republican / Trump nutters in Arizona lost both the Senate and Governorship — fairly.

But I’m sure you just can’t believe it — just like many pathetic liberals couldn’t believe their beloved Hillary could ever lose to the conman Trump.

Arizona Senate, governor’s races tighten: Fox News poll
2022 Arizona Election Poll: Lake leads Hobbs in governor's race by 3 points, Senate race tied

The subsequent court case has not enhanced Lakes reputation.