GOP BRANDING, AGAIN - BOGGGLING THE MIND (AS THEY DELIGHT IN DOING)

 The Perched Eye blog is 12+ years old, from 2009 with President Obama's first term. The focus has been eclectic ...  the ways and directions of American politics and culture, and occasionally summarizing the potential impacts of new technologies. Pericles21's observations sometimes attract a critical eye, but the 'pen' remains unblunted.                         -----------

Republicans call their boneheadedness 'just Branding'. In a perverse way, they are correct except for the real damage banding can bring upon the gullible. 'Branding' is waving a flag empty of real meaning yet ringing with sonically resonant (but often designed-with-malice, illogical-upon-close-inspection) slogans that identify one's group and, by default, one's enemies who are not gullible enough to repeat them. But close-up inspection causes the sonics of branding to fall apart like wet cardboard instead of solid bricks ... and such was, and still is, the case with the Trump-era's 'Covid Denial' self-identity branding. 

 'Denial of Covid' was, and remains a political genius idea to 'brand' actual pandemic disease as a belief system by painting over a deadly illness with a coat of brightly emotional, quasi-religious noise that defined who not to trust regardless of their medical expertise (shades of Nixonian-Goldwater faux anti-elitist 'egghead-ism'). Christian evangelism and end-times ecstasy's support of Trump were unexpected 'wins' that were woven into the fabric of Covid Denial. Those were Strange Times ...which are still going strong with Trump's rants getting ongoing media coverage as if he isn't the fraudulent conman he is.