You'd think they would understand something about optics

It seems to work enough that their partisans don't really question their leadership. Like it looks farcical to us, but idk how libs perceive it.

This also reminded me of how the dems all sang a song on some terribly inappropriate day (roe V wade? School shooting? I can't remember), and when asked just went "well it was scheduled in advance".

I remember Nancy Pelosi introducing a thing for the one year anniversary of the Jan. 6th riots, and saying something to the effect of "Jan. 6th was a horrible day for our democracy where our sacred halls were desecrated. Now, here's a performance from the cast of Hamilton."

Don't know if that's what you're thinking of, but it was peak lib.

Because Kaepernick.

This also reminded me of how the dems all sang a song on some terribly inappropriate day (roe V wade? School shooting? I can't remember), and when asked just went "well it was scheduled in advance".

i think you hit on something here that absolutely confirms the truth of your last sentence. a real political project responsive to its stakeholders and constituency would absolutely pivot at the last second to meet the conditions of the moment. for example, if a "great hero" were to be receiving honors in an event and it came out that the hero was a monster, the event would be cancelled because to do otherwise would be insane and undermine people's faith in the institution, right? in a real democracy, the lack of faith is fatal to authority.

but what we're looking at here is the mentality of theater and spectacle, i.e. "the show must go on." it doesn't matter if the theater is on fire or the ship is sinking, the music can't stop, the actor must act & stay in character, to keep the audience's attention. it's a smoke and mirrors political system, not a democracy. it is here to ensorcell, anesthetize and distract us from efforts to reform.