Contributor Post Created with Sketch. #NotMyFirstLady

 

It is well known that dictatorial regimes employ religious symbolism to appropriate God to their secular causes. The National Socialists in Germany in the ’30s (i.e., the Nazis) were an outstanding example of this, endorsing “positive Christianity” and asserting that “God is with us” on propaganda posters. The Trump regime has now taken the next step on their road to ultimate power by sending the First Lady of the United States, whom many until now regarded as an innocent, simpleton concubine of the great leader, to lead a mass rally of sheep in the Lord’s Prayer as a preliminary to a Trump rally.

So it begins.

Ms. Trump’s choice of prayer, also known to Christians as the “Our Father,” was clearly a deliberate attempt to invoke the idea of the Fatherland. The prayer is filled with autocratic, monarchial imagery of a subservient people, thanking the leader for a crust of bread and begging for pardon from the king. Numerous observant SJWs noted that Melania Trump, dressed in bright red reminiscent of the Nazi flag, appeared to read the prayer, and that her middle European accent was comical when it wasn’t blood chilling. Some even suggested that her hair was more blonde than usual.

Leni Riefenstahl could not have arranged a better motif and more convincing imagery for a dictatorship rally. But free Americans standing together for the rights of all races and creeds, for immigrants and for women and for the oppressed LGBTQ community are not duped by this vulgar circus. The case for impeachment is even stronger now with the wanton attempt by the First Lady to establish a state religion in violation of the first amendment.

Now is not the time to falter or sleep. Now is the time to maintain the #Resistance.

#NotMyFirstLady! Right on!

[On this week’s edition of the Harvard Lunch Club Political Podcast we will be joined by Washington Examiner columnist Byron York. Tune in!]

 

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  1. drlorentz Member
    drlorentzJoined in the first year of Ricochet Ricochet Charter Member

    Randy Webster (View Comment):

    Doctor Robert (View Comment):
    the fact that so many ricochetti were duped by this utterly transparent satire shows how deranged are both the Left and the unforgiving Never Trumpers

    I don’t follow you. I thought it was “The Lord’s Prayer,” and she acted like she meant it. What’s to be deranged about?

    That’s so meta! Not getting what the OP was the satirical part.

    • #61
    • February 20, 2017, at 9:01 PM PST
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  2. Brian Member

    Michael Stopa (View Comment):
    Some even suggested that her hair was more blonde than usual.

    Those who made it past “Some even suggested that her hair was more blonde than usual” and didn’t realize the point of it! Wow. It’s the conservative with no humor that also lacks any notion of a slow, incremental success. Mock thine enemy, or at least your ideological foe.

    • #62
    • February 20, 2017, at 10:42 PM PST
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  3. Marion Evans Inactive

    Maybe it’s “fake satire”, no?

    • #63
    • February 21, 2017, at 2:53 AM PST
    • Like
  4. Viator Inactive
    ViatorJoined in the first year of Ricochet Ricochet Charter Member

    Michael Brehm (View Comment):
    Cool yer jets, it’s a satire.

    Not very good satire. Or possibly lousy satire.

    • #64
    • February 21, 2017, at 4:32 AM PST
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  5. Tommy De Seno Contributor

    Usually when something is satire, since the internet lacks intonation, there is an indication of satire found somewhere on the page – in a category listing, before or after the column, etc.

    But thank you to those who pointed out that this is satire. I was about to bust a cap in Michael Stopa’s rear-end.

    • #65
    • February 21, 2017, at 4:46 AM PST
    • Like
  6. Percival Thatcher
    PercivalJoined in the first year of Ricochet Ricochet Charter Member

    Viator (View Comment):

    Michael Brehm (View Comment):
    Cool yer jets, it’s a satire.

    Not very good satire. Or possibly lousy satire.

    Do better.

    • #66
    • February 21, 2017, at 4:47 AM PST
    • Like
  7. Miffed White Male Member
    Miffed White MaleJoined in the first year of Ricochet Ricochet Charter Member

    Anyone who could read this post and not instantly get the joke really needs to take a step away from the internet for a week or two.

    • #67
    • February 21, 2017, at 4:57 AM PST
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  8. Rick Harlan Inactive

    This was so obviously satire, it was closer to parody. I checked if it’s a full moon today (not even close), then I understood that Ricochetti are mad with grief at Milo’s, brutal, Matthew Sheppard-like treatment by CPAC. There is a time for humor, and a time for sackcloth and ashes; this is the later. Even Leno waited a week before doing jokes again after 9/11. Mr. Stopa, you could at least show that much restraint.

    • #68
    • February 21, 2017, at 5:28 AM PST
    • Like
  9. Kozak Member
    KozakJoined in the first year of Ricochet Ricochet Charter Member

    Percival (View Comment):

    • #69
    • February 21, 2017, at 6:45 AM PST
    • Like
  10. Kozak Member
    KozakJoined in the first year of Ricochet Ricochet Charter Member

    Miffed White Male (View Comment):
    Anyone who could read this post and not instantly get the joke really needs to take a step away from the internet for a week or two.

    The problem is other posts by distinguished contributors that should be satire, but are serious. Takes satire to another level here.

    • #70
    • February 21, 2017, at 6:47 AM PST
    • Like
  11. Miffed White Male Member
    Miffed White MaleJoined in the first year of Ricochet Ricochet Charter Member

    Kozak (View Comment):

    Miffed White Male (View Comment):
    Anyone who could read this post and not instantly get the joke really needs to take a step away from the internet for a week or two.

    The problem is other posts by distinguished contributors that should be satire, but are serious. Takes satire to another level here.

    This one struck me as about as subtle as George Carlin’s seven words you can’t say on television.

    • #71
    • February 21, 2017, at 6:48 AM PST
    • Like
  12. Larry3435 Member

    I can’t tell whether the people who are claiming that they didn’t recognize this post as satire are themselves engaged in satire, or not. Such is the world in which we have come to find ourselves. I’m very sure, though, that if this was posted on Facebook it would go viral as it was shared by people who take it dead seriously.

    • #72
    • February 21, 2017, at 6:59 AM PST
    • Like
  13. Larry3435 Member

    Rick Harlan (View Comment):
    This was so obviously satire, it was closer to parody. I checked if it’s a full moon today (not even close), then I understood that Ricochetti are mad with grief at Milo’s, brutal, Matthew Sheppard-like treatment by CPAC. There is a time for humor, and a time for sackcloth and ashes; this is the later. Even Leno waited a week before doing jokes again after 9/11. Mr. Stopa, you could at least show that much restraint.

    So, you’re saying “too soon”?

    • #73
    • February 21, 2017, at 7:01 AM PST
    • Like
  14. Bob Thompson Member

    Doesn’t one need to know the contributor to recognize satire? We have other contributors at Ricochet for whom such recognition would not occur. Since it was not of the @michaelhenry style I kept waiting for the turnabout since I do know @Michael Stopa

    • #74
    • February 21, 2017, at 7:39 AM PST
    • Like
  15. The Reticulator Member

    Viator (View Comment):

    Michael Brehm (View Comment):
    Cool yer jets, it’s a satire.

    Not very good satire. Or possibly lousy satire.

    Actually, some of the best satire I’ve read here. The OP sustained it all the way through without faltering.

    • #75
    • February 21, 2017, at 7:46 AM PST
    • Like
  16. Bob Thompson Member

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    Viator (View Comment):

    Michael Brehm (View Comment):
    Cool yer jets, it’s a satire.

    Not very good satire. Or possibly lousy satire.

    Actually, some of the best satire I’ve read here. The OP sustained it all the way through without faltering.

    A technique to inspire conversation?

    • #76
    • February 21, 2017, at 7:56 AM PST
    • Like
  17. Michael Brehm Coolidge

    Viator (View Comment):

    Michael Brehm (View Comment):
    Cool yer jets, it’s a satire.

    Not very good satire. Or possibly lousy satire.

    On the contrary, It’s possibly too good. It nestles right up against Poe’s Law. If Michael Stopa wasn’t the author and/or I read it over at Salon, I would think it was completely in earnest.

    • #77
    • February 21, 2017, at 8:08 AM PST
    • Like
  18. Bob Thompson Member

    Michael Brehm (View Comment):

    Viator (View Comment):

    Michael Brehm (View Comment):
    Cool yer jets, it’s a satire.

    Not very good satire. Or possibly lousy satire.

    On the contrary, It’s possibly too good. It nestles right up against Poe’s Law. If Michael Stopa wasn’t the author and/or I read it over at Salon, I would think it was completely in earnest.

    And on the main feed it gets readers of all political persuasions and perhaps causes some who otherwise would not to read more Ricochet. And the commentary is better than what we would see if it were one of our contributors doing a serious post.

    • #78
    • February 21, 2017, at 8:12 AM PST
    • Like
  19. Kozak Member
    KozakJoined in the first year of Ricochet Ricochet Charter Member

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):
    Doesn’t one need to know the contributor to recognize satire? We have other contributors at Ricochet for whom such recognition would not occur. Since it was not of the @michaelhenry style I kept waiting for the turnabout since I do know @Michael Stopa

    Personally I think the writers who are the greatest at satire here are Zubrin and Epstein.

    • #79
    • February 21, 2017, at 8:21 AM PST
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  20. Lily Bart Inactive

    Percival (View Comment):

    The Lightbringer!

    • #80
    • February 21, 2017, at 8:39 AM PST
    • Like
  21. ctlaw Coolidge

    Kozak (View Comment):

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):
    Doesn’t one need to know the contributor to recognize satire? We have other contributors at Ricochet for whom such recognition would not occur. Since it was not of the @michaelhenry style I kept waiting for the turnabout since I do know @Michael Stopa

    Personally I think the writers who are the greatest at satire here are Zubrin and Epstein.

    Is it satire or performance art on their part?

    • #81
    • February 21, 2017, at 8:41 AM PST
    • Like
  22. Percival Thatcher
    PercivalJoined in the first year of Ricochet Ricochet Charter Member

    Lily Bart (View Comment):

    Percival (View Comment):

    The Lightbringer!

    That’s his gesture for slowing the rising of the oceans. Or healing our planet. Or hailing a cab. One of those.

    • #82
    • February 21, 2017, at 8:59 AM PST
    • Like
  23. MichaelHenry Inactive

    Damocles (View Comment):
    Everybody who (a) was fooled or (b) had a great laugh should go buy Michael a cup of coffee now!

    Susan Quinn (View Comment):

    Columbo (View Comment):
    All together now … I’m Michael Henry the 8th I Am …

    Darn it, Columbo–now I’m going to be singing that stupid song all afternoon!


    I got married to the widow next door. She’s been married seven times before.

    And every on was an ‘enery; ‘ENERY!!! Never was a Willie or a Sam.

    Would someone please tell me what the hell we are talking about? Tks. MH

    • #83
    • February 21, 2017, at 9:49 AM PST
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  24. MichaelHenry Inactive

    Columbo (View Comment):
    In this sad day and age, when satire is no longer as obvious to a reader, Mr. Stopa has become quite adept at lampooning the Left (while alarming the right) as he produces prose that would get a thousand likes from those commenting on DU …

    Of course, the OP could try to make it not so realistic … ala @michaelhenry ….

    All together now … I’m Michael Henry the 8th I Am …

    • #84
    • February 21, 2017, at 9:51 AM PST
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  25. MichaelHenry Inactive

    OK. Now I get it. Thanks for your patience. My thinking is a bit muddled because I’ve just left the my dentist. He gives out these little cannisters of Nitrous Oxide now instead of mini-tubes of Colgate and dental floss. I’m seeing him once a week, now. Teeth are fine, but he has some serious gas(N.O. variety).

    • #85
    • February 21, 2017, at 9:54 AM PST
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  26. MichaelHenry Inactive

    MichaelHenry (View Comment):
    I’ve just left the my dentist

    See what I mean?

    • #86
    • February 21, 2017, at 9:54 AM PST
    • Like
  27. Paul DeRocco Member
    Paul DeRoccoJoined in the first year of Ricochet Ricochet Charter Member

    The reference to the “oppressed LGBTQ community” was the give-away. Not even the most anti-Trump conservative could write that.

    This post could, however, have been placed word for word on many leftist sites, without raising the slightest suspicion that it was trollery. I’m not sure something that pitch-perfect can be seen as successful satire. What if I plagiarized an actual post from some leftist site and posted it here, or on another leftist site? Would I be able to claim I had successfully trolled someone if they took it seriously, given that its original author had intended it to be taken seriously? There has to be some clue in there, beyond the identity of the poster and everyone’s foreknowledge of how that poster thinks, that the post is satire.

    That said, since I know Michael’s writing, I had a good laugh. Sometimes it seems that leftist ranting is beyond parody anyway.

    • #87
    • February 21, 2017, at 10:18 AM PST
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  28. Sash Member

    You are one sick puppy.

    Grow up, you see what you are programmed to see.

    I thought it was nice.

    • #88
    • February 21, 2017, at 10:21 AM PST
    • Like
  29. Sash Member

    Larry3435 (View Comment):
    I can’t tell whether the people who are claiming that they didn’t recognize this post as satire are themselves engaged in satire, or not. Such is the world in which we have come to find ourselves. I’m very sure, though, that if this was posted on Facebook it would go viral as it was shared by people who take it dead seriously.

    No, I have been conditioned by reading the Washington Post to truly believe this could be a leftist theory.

    I am actually still unsure it is satire.

    • #89
    • February 21, 2017, at 10:23 AM PST
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  30. Bill Nelson Member

    Michael Stopa: The National Socialists in Germany in the ’30s (i.e., the Nazis) were an outstanding example of this, endorsing “positive Christianity”

    It is a falsehood that the Nazis had any interest in religion, they were an odd bunch, but religious: no.

    The Christian Churches were not cooperative and so they started their own version, to try to marginalize the churches. The Positive Christianity of Kerrl’s Minister for Church Affairs removed the Jewish roots and became an anti-Jewish voice.

    The Confessing Church, which included Martin Niemöller and Dietrich Bonhoeffer were strident opponents.

    • #90
    • February 21, 2017, at 11:14 AM PST
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