so powerful -- image transcends words.

Actually an illustration, and just as powerful.

and fitting for tsf...

Trump is truly into Lovecraft/Cthulu territory.

dark ages will be upon us if....

gotv

That says it all. No words needed.

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

...General Starkey, The Stand, as he tidies up pursuant to the coming of the Superflu.

So many famous quotes have been drawn from it. Very timely for today.

Now I need to read up on the background. You may have just turned me into a Yeats fan...

Last edited Tue Sep 10, 2024, 05:01 AM - Edit history (1)

First of all, I want to say that I love this poem. It's depressing and scary, but also incredibly powerful. The imagery blows me away every time I read it.

My favorite quote in relation to what's happening in the world right now is this:

"The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity."

In addition to being endlessly quoted, many authors have used quotes from this poem as book titles, for example:

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion

The Center Cannot Hold: My Journey Through Madness by Elyn Saks

Ceremony of Innocence - used as a title by multiple authors

The Blood-dimmed Tide - also used by multiple authors

And many more, I'm sure.

I don't think I've ever heard of a poem being as generative as this. Thanks for the info.

And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

While you and I see this as ominous I think the MAGA crowd thinks it's pretty cool. Never forget that the German SS had a deaths head skull on their shoulder patches. A vast majority of the MAGA world would be quite comfortable following in their footsteps.

This appears to be a sea change.

Is this AI generated?

If so it's an even darker warning.

and I'll guess artists. It is a fantastic magazine - splurge and read a copy!

Thanks erronis.

I had to ask.

This cover is astounding.

Published monthly since the mid-fifties... The 1850s

all the more reason to stop this unfit POS. We need to stop this darkness and get into the light.

Please vote.

nt

The Atlantic and now the NYT, which just reran its July Op-Ed criticizing Trump’s fitness to lead.

I wonder if this is in response to Mike Barnicle’s scathing takedown of MSM’s failure to question Trump’s mental state (https://newrepublic.com/article/185622/finally-top-journo-erupts-media-ignoring-trumps-mental-state)

In 2020 they ran articles about the danger that he presents. One article especially warned that he would not accept the outcome if he lost in 2020 and would resort to violence to try to stay in office. It outlined specific things that he might do. They were eerily close to what happened on J6.

i remember because someone linked that article in a DU post. Whenever I referenced it in one of my posts, I got pushback from other posters who said that I was being alarmist and that Trump was all bluster and his followers were just couch potatoes.

Storm clouds, falcon or raven, Imperial coach, Kremlin red roof and velvet curtains, gilded trim, elephant in chains

Scare the beJesus out of them

You can either take that as a sewage overflow, or a hidden way in (ie not abiding by the election results).

That certainly packs a punch. Bravo to The Atlantic.

Link to tweet

The Atlantic
@TheAtlantic

Inspired by the visual language of old Ray Bradbury and Stephen King paperbacks, Justin Metz created this illustration, which may be the first cover without a headline or typography in The Atlantic’s 167-year history.

Read our October issue: https://theatln.tc/AghaSJ3J

Thanks for putting that matter to rest!

I haven't bought a copy of The Atlantic in years but will seek out and purchase next month's issue. Metz's illustration is a significant contribution to political art.

Something Wicked This Way Comes, indeed!


The vampire circus is coming to town. It's up to us to stop it before it crosses the city line.

That one horse that we can see is too fine; I would expect the poor thing to be neglected and abused, that close to traitortrump.

A chilling work of art.

Rather sympathetic to the republican party, portrayed as a captive, when, in reality, they are helping to pull the hearse.

remind me of the coaches of the traveling snake oil salesmen in the old Wild West who mislead people into believing that they had cure all medicines for every ailment.

In that imagery, the elephant in the coach becomes the medicine that people need. "Just vote Republican and we will cure everything." At the same time, Trump is the driver, in control of the medicine/party that he is selling.

Has anyone considered splashing holy water on this evil entity?

All the holy water boils away when it gets anywhere near him.

Remember that rally he did in a church a while back? When the church people got back there, all the holy water vessels had burst and there was not a drop left in the place.

That is a scary image!

Jesus....

But some MAGAts might find it kinda cool...

That's exactly what Trump wants to do, burn down democracy and install himself as the King/Dictator

Last edited Mon Sep 9, 2024, 12:18 PM - Edit history (1)

Here's my thought.
Fuck these people.
Ask not for who the bell tolls... it tolls for thee.

We are not going back

not going back in more ways than one. The felon is.

We do not want to live like Hungary.

This perfectly captures the current state of affairs, both with Trump and the GOP circus elephants

Last edited Mon Sep 9, 2024, 07:27 PM - Edit history (1)

Their audience has known, and unless a significant number of them are young, this won't increase GOTV.

I keep looking at the usefulness of news these days based on whether it can increase the Democratic battleground vote.
So far, WE -- donors, DNC and the Harriz/Walz campaign -- get the credit for increased likely Democratic voters.

Either the toothlessness (spinelessness) of the members of the GOP or
It’s humiliation of the once Grand Ol’ Party by Trump
Or
Both.

k&r
RT
(& fbooked)

thanks for posting this!

Deleted

Frightening

Deserved.

cover with the colors and symbols is scary .

The GOP is hardly a "prisoner". They had their chance to get rid of him when he was impeached. They are all willing participants in his crimes.

Remember, the RNC was hacked at the same time the DNC was.

ass requires Clydesdales. A lot more.

Look above Fatfuk's head.

Give you chills to look at.

is too big



✌🏻

A weak, quivering, cowering toddler and the dumbest elephant that ever existed, convinced wrongly that the bars of its cage are real and are not of its own cowardly creation.

Many Trump supporters like him because they view the country (and world) as already being a terrifying place. They view Trump as riding to the rescue. They think he'll attack the people they fear and resent. These are the people who are drawn to authoritarianism.

Others will like the image because they are drawn to nihilism. The darker the better, they think. These people think they want anarchy. They think life is a video game.

Both groups are wrong but by the time they figure it out it will be too late for them and all of us.

Are there more of us than them?

The perfect visual for the republican party.

It's brilliant.

... of nearly six decades, I will say that is one beautiful piece of art!

underappreciated by many in our world today made up of so much video. I had the pleasure many years ago of working with a man who did illustrations for a weekly publication. Marvelous person and the ability to create works of anything a person could think about. I also lament the loss of appreciation for the art of the printer. I don't know if you remember a magazine called "GEO" from back in the '70's/'80's time period. Absolutely jaw dropping quality in print of tremendous photographs. To master the translation of the exposures, through the color selection process and then have the highest skilled pressman keeping everything exactly in register and tone was a joy to see.

I'm the one who buys the old books that show the bookbinder's talent. I recently bought a couple of more or less "forgotten" works by photographer Larry Fink. All black and whites on high quality stock and nicely bound. One is of the period of the unrest in the '50's and '60's and the other is of early days of Andy Warhol and the Factory mixed with a few of city scenes from the times. Some rare shots of the Vietnam Moratorium marches. One in particular stands out with the Washington Monument standing tall in the background of the huge crowd.

I went to Art College. In my second year I had a class where we went to a printer's company. The owner, and skilled explainer (they did medium to higher end work) went through all the processes. He was so good!
Fun memories.

Last edited Mon Sep 9, 2024, 06:20 PM - Edit history (1)

I stab at thee"

given that he was the voice of Darth Vader, Trump's hero!

“By the pricking of my thumb, something wicked this way comes!”

And sadly, so appropos.