George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on Amazon

Re:George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on... by toyg on Wednesday January 25, 2017 @02:38AM (#13479514)

Berlusconi used to do the same. They know the media cycle and play it to their advantage. It's a sort of "fire and motion" strategy where you keep enemies talking about the previous position while you're already gaining a new one. Anyone can play it, but your "suppressing fire" must be strong enough to distract effectively; that sort of bombastic bravado doesn't come naturally to "reality-based" personalities on the left who are constantly walking a tight rope between very different positions in their base.

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Re:George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on... by brennebeck on Wednesday January 25, 2017 @03:00AM (#13479615)

I think your description is definitely spot on and Trump has also been playing this game — in one form or another — since the 80s.

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Re:George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on... by joeguilmette on Wednesday January 25, 2017 @04:55AM (#13480107)

The similarities between Trump and Berlusconi are terrifying - and Berlusconi was in power for what, 10 years?

Trump has tapped in to something and I fear it's going to work quite well.

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Re:George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on... by edran on Wednesday January 25, 2017 @05:32AM (#13480270)

More like 20, considering the years in which he passively controlled part of the political narrative.

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Re:George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on... by toyg on Wednesday January 25, 2017 @08:15AM (#13481126)

More like 20 years, but Italy does not have the hard culture of "8 years and GTFO" that is so ingrained in the US. There are no term limits for Prime Ministers, election losers are not required to step down from party-leadership roles, and even the unofficial limits for President (which is mostly a ceremonial role) reelections, have recently been broken.

It is one of the great achievements of US democracy, although one has to question how much meaningful change can realistically be achieved in a massive country with little more than 7 years available (because re-election campaigns and lame-duck status in practice will consume a full year). For all the drama that they generate and the feeling of electoral power, strict term limits are a very conservative measure. On the other hand, you're guaranteed Trump will be gone by January 2025 at worst.

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Re:George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on... by sorokod on Wednesday January 25, 2017 @11:41AM (#13482928)

I think that Joel Spolsky popularized "fire and motion" (https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2002/01/06/fire-and-motion/) but the Hebrew original more accurately translates to "fire in motion" or, more awkwardly "firing while moving"

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Re:George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on... by digi_owl on Wednesday January 25, 2017 @04:58AM (#13480119)

Makes me think of a certain tech personality that is no longer with us...

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