The Transition Era; Part 8: Muir Begins To Grumble About The Republican Candidates.

As I said, Muir started 2008 shilling for Fred Thompson, who many on the Right were hailing as the natural-born savior for a faction whose party that looked like it had gone gummy on them.  They spoke of his natural charisma -- he was an actor, they stressed, just like Reagan! -- his folksy manner, and his rock-solid positions. He was, they insisted, the perfect candidate. Muir bought it completely.

Thompson flamed out in January, an awkward, stiff mess who was utterly out of his depth.

See, that's the thing about Muir. For all he likes to pose as a strong-willed original thinker, he's actually a pliable puppet who will buy just about any nonsense once it slips through his bigoted, reactionary priors. If people he trusts tell him a guy is amazing, his brain will immediately tell him he's seeing someone amazing, and I'm betting how he was able to keep convincing himself Trump was really with it makes sense now doesn't it? In essence, Muir bought into Thompson, because people told him this was a can't miss bet... and the bet busted.

Did this cause any self-awareness? Hell, no.

It did however leave him in an uncomfortable state of ideological orphanhood. Of the two remaining major candidates... well, let's start with Huckabee. Muir didn't like him for two reasons. Firstly, Huckabee's weak 'compassionate conservatism' pitch made Muir suspicious that he might be for something other than the 'cut taxes for the very wealthy' that Muir had been convinced was the best economic plan possible. Secondly, Muir was still very much the smug Rand follower at heart who viewed religion with personal suspicion, even if he was willing to keep those beliefs on the downlow because he believed evangelicals were an  important part of the great wall against evil liberalism. (He would change to being religious in the vague Right Wing way that lacked any real religion in the years ahead.)

And then there was John McCain, the eventual winner, and...

Well, there were two Republicans in the Mystery Business(tm) Era that Muir had a passionate dislike for. One was Trent Lott, who let him lash out at an establishment he resented, while convincing himself this was more proof he wasn't racist.

The other was John McCain.

Now, Muir's hatred of John McCain was both complicated and simple. Complicated, because he was always finding new things to hate about the man, and simple, because it all traced back to him being told to hate him by the Right Wing bloggers he followed for one reason. McCain, while fundamentally a conservative, had  a history of bipartisan action, and the most significant example of it was the McCain-Feingold Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, which sought to limit corporate money and sizable donations in elections. Muir hated this and regurgitated arguments he read on why it was bad, arguments it was clear he did not actually understand. Like I said, a pliable puppet who will buy just about any nonsense once it slips through his bigoted, reactionary priors. When the primaries started, Muir thought that clearly Republican voters would repudiate this unworthy heretic.

They did not. McCain cruised to a relatively easy victory, in part because this was probably the last Republican primary which saw a significant moderate voting presence. And as Muir adjusted to his growing unease,  the Democratic primaries were likewise seeing his priors being undermined...

Why, They Could Set The Strip There... Oh, Yeah, That Was The Original Setting.

It's the Day's Day of Days! Because Rustlers of Red Dog.

The greatest irony of Muir's little whine is that not only is he bitching about the actual Texas daring to not match the pathetic piece of wish fulfillment he's put on the page, but the state he's now salivating over is... his home.

Where, again, he originally set the strip, albeit while failing for most of that time to make it in any way a distinct setting.

And of course, the secondary irony is, well, Florida is this way not because of some incredible virtue, but because its smug retiree population is convinced that they can keep this scheme going forever and never have it fail, and that may be true for many of them, cause old, but not all of them.

So, yes, Muir is likely setting up another grand true constant law of the universe to watch crumble into dust.

In His Mind, The Founding Fathers Are Crude Assholes, Just Like Him.

It's the Day's Day of Days! Because The Indians Are Coming!

...As I said yesterday, when you strip out the newer, purer strain of antisemitism Muir's been injecting into the strip, this is very much his usual tactic when he's afraid bad things are coming for he and his. Whining that the GOP is all traitors to whatever the best and proper form of Right Wing is at the moment.

POSTSCRIPT--Muir's expanded on this from where I first saw it, and yet the fascinating thing is how empty all this pseudo-scholarship is, a man shouting bigoted nonsense he has heard third or fourth hand and thinking this proves what an insightful scholar of the human condition he is.

Take THAT, Mitch!

It's the Day's Day of Days! Because The Diamond Master.

There's something darkly amusing that all the service McConnell did for the Right still sees him hated and loathed by them.

"The Tsar Has Those Of The Tainted Blood Around Him!"

It's the Day's Day of Days! Because Perils of the Wild.

...

I see Muir is already picking his scapegoat in the Administration, and gosh, it's the Jewish son-in-law. It's astonishing how much of an out-and-out Nazi he's become, while imagining himself to be something that isn't.

A Reminder That Cicero Was A Politician.

It's the Day's Day of Days! Because Beasts of Paradise.

I know I keep saying this, but I find Muir's efforts to dress up his awfulness with the pretensions of high culture and historical knowledge so tedious. Because in the end, his knowledge is just like the philosophy he's using them to try to support--shallow and false.

Twisting Science And Politics Simultaneously.

It's the Day's Day of Days! Because Terror Trail.

This is a brand of Muir strip that I've seen before. He pulls this sort of smug both-siding when he sees defeat looming in the distance. Partially to create a reality where, no, no, a loss isn't coming up, the Dems are naturally inferior, they're scum, they can't win, and partially to tell himself that, nah, he's not gonna be the loser, it's the dirty GOP who just won't commit, if they were just more tuff, they'd win. And so he pretends he's not one of the guys attached to the loss, he's part of the vital resurgent new political movement that will soon claim its natural place!

It's more pleasant than admitting he's an old reactionary nitwit who's watching the program he backed collapse into disaster.

Yet again.

Muir Whines How He Can't Just Have The Fascist Dictatorship He Wants.

It's the Day's Day of Days! Because The Adventures of Peg O' the Ring.

A reminder that Muir isn't talking about the January 6th thugs, whose release by pardon he saw as just and good, but about the various people that the Trump Regime has had to let go because they arrested them speciously. Because due process is for he and him, except, no, they also want a free out when it finds them guilty of the crimes they inevitably commit.

A Confirmation Muir Has Never Read 'Oliver Twist'.

It's the Day's Day of Days! Because A Woman in the Web.

So, this is the next week and a half, eh? Muir whining and begging for more money while insisting, no, no, that's not what he's doing.

...

Oh, boy, that's going to be tiresome.

How Dare The Fascists Turn On The Nazis!

It's the Day's Day of Days! Because The Green Archer.

I'm torn between the delight of watching Muir sporadically attack Trump and Company in his latest Purity Spiral, the quiet horror that it's because he's achieved a new level of Actual Nazi, and the sad amusement was that was what it took for him to realize that, no actually Israel's government is kind of awful and a terrible ally. 

Complicated feelings for such an awful strip.

He Dares Consider Anything To Stop Sacred Gun Violence!

 It's the Day's Day of Days! Because The Adventures of Tarzan.

Muir's always been prone to grumble whenever Trump's shown any openness to gun control. But the grumbling seems a bit nastier these days, and his faith in the man much much shoddier.

His Imaginary Self Talking To His Imaginary Version Of The President Will Ease His Mind About What's Real.

It's the Day's Day of Days! Because The Phantom Rider.

Man, at the bottom of it all, this is just sad.

I mean, there's a lot of clutter here. We see Muir celebrating the Trump Administration's elevation of crudity and sexism, him talking about how look how him attacking Federal agencies and alliances is good, great, so amazing. Because he's locked himself in a hermetic bubble and thinks this drivel is patriotism. But the doubts are still there, and have if anything grown worse. Note that they've spread from Sam, who remember as his feminized Id is supposed to be saying things that his toxic masculinity sees as too emotional, to Zed, his idealized self, the version who is supposed to be him as he wishes was. He's supposed to feel that it's worth staying the course.

And so we get this strip of Zed talking about how he needs reality to see through the fake things online.

Ignoring that he and this strip are... fake things online.

Going To A High Society Soiree With The President, As One Does.

It's the Day's Day of Days! Because The Purple Monster Strikes.

Ahh, Muir's cast is going to have a chat with the imaginary version of Trump they're sort of friends with. I expect an epic attempt at squaring the circle.

Muir's simultaneous hatred of and longing to belong to the upper class explains so much of his character. Especially when you add in that his political stance, with its lack of any belief in economic justice, leaves him muttering how he knows that obviously, he doesn't resent their wealth, oh no, that's totally okay.

Right, Forget What We Said Earlier, This Is The Actual Brilliant Plan.

It's the Day's Day of Days! Because Federal Operator 99.

The Gnostic reality shifts and Muir insists this shows how clever he is, as he sneers at alliances, sneers at Congress, and imagines that this boondoggle is somehow going to be a cost-saving measure.

This is simultaneously creepy and sad.

The Worm Turns.

It's the Day's Day of Days! Because The Masked Marvel.

...

As I have noted, there is no idol Muir and his ilk won't discard if it becomes inconvenient.

Muir Desperately Grapples With Things Being Ungood When He Thought They'd Be Good-Good.

It's the Day's Day of Days! Because Daredevils of the West.

While I'm certain Muir's leaving room to assert that he still believes in Il Puce, really, it's hard not to see this as fairly stark demonstration of his present alienation. He saw Trump 2.0 as a victory, and he's gotten this muddle. Partially because he trusts the worst people, and partially because he's a whiny little fascist who wants the worst things, many of which they couldn't give him if they were actually... well, competent.

Astonishing How Every Savior Of The Cause Turns Out To Be A Dirty Traitor, Eh?

It's the Day's Day of Days! Because The Lone Ranger Rides Again.

And Muir once again indulges in this bathetic whining, insisting that the only reason electing an incompetent, clownishly corrupt narcissist hasn't worked out is some evil conspiracy, and insisting that his people don't really control things, and also, all his opponents are pedophiles.

All of which is a bit much in the present circumstances.

Clearly The Only Thing Holding These Fools Back Is A Treacherous Lack Of Will!

It's the Day's Day of Days! Because The Vigilantes Are Coming.

Sometimes, Muir imagines worlds where his losses are really victories. And sometimes, he does this, imagines worlds where his causes are incredibly popular and self-evidently right, held back only by the treachery of the weak establishment. (To make it clear, while a few portions of the SAVE Act are broadly popular, largely because many people don't know they aren't necessary and don't understand how disenfranchising they'd be, it's not enjoying some immense groundswell of support.)

Does He Think The National Debt Is Resting In An Account Somewhere?

It's the Day's Day of Days! Because Philo Vance's Gamble.

I won't lie, as bad as the strip is, it's a bit of a relief seeing Muir finally noticing the national debt during a Republican administration, instead of just pretending it doesn't matter. Of course, that noticing is couched in paranoia, delusion, and a complete misunderstanding of government spending, finance and economic realities. But it all suggests that Muir's rapidly shifting into just abandoning caring about actual politics because 'conspiracy', and that cheers me.

He Knows This Is True Because He Wants It To Be True!

It's the Day's Day of Days! Because The Cole Murder Case. 

There's something almost awe-inspiring in the number of times Muir has declared the conspiracy theory of the day proven, and then just moved on when, no, it wasn't, actually, in fact it was bullshit.