"Trump and Vance are teaching us that the government cannot do anything except turn us against one another.

William Lindsey :toad:

"Trump and Vance are teaching us that the government cannot do anything except turn us against one another. They do so by spreading disinformation about critical matters like hurricanes, so that people despise and disrupt the government, the only institution that can help. This is impotence politics, and it leads to fascism."

~ Timothy Snyder

#Trump #JDVance #hurricane #ClimateChange #fascism #lies #disinformation #PoliticsofHate
/1

https://snyder.substack.com/p/from-the-storm-to-the-stormtroopers

William Lindsey :toad:

"As climate change worsens, the fascism will worsen too. This is the politics of catastrophe, which is where we are heading next. When we face a truly existential problem, and when our politics is not about policy but about enmity, we will blame the victims."

It will be all about the migrants, who will necessarily try to escape the effects of climate change in areas to the south hit hardest by this.

#Trump #JDVance #hurricane #ClimateChange #fascism #lies #disinformation #PoliticsofHate
/2

William Lindsey :toad:

"And none of this is new. Hitler too denied the science that would have solved the basic problems of survival; Hitler too promoted ecological crisis as a reason for race war; Hitler too started from mass deportations of migrants (largely carried out by a non-governmental actor deputized for the purpose, the SS)."

#Trump #JDVance #hurricane #ClimateChange #fascism #lies #disinformation #PoliticsofHate #Hitler
/3

Christo. London, England

@wdlindsy
Evacuees from Climate Disaster

William Lindsey :toad:

"The truth is, it’s getting harder to describe the extent to which a meaningful percentage of Americans have dissociated from reality. ...

Even in a decade marred by online grifters, shameless politicians, and an alternative right-wing-media complex pushing anti-science fringe theories, the events of the past few weeks stand out for their depravity and nihilism."

~ Charlie Warzel

#Trump #JDVance #hurricane #ClimateChange #fascism #lies #disinformation
/4

I’m Running Out of Ways to Explain How Bad This Is

What’s happening in America today is something darker than a misinformation crisis.

The Atlantic (www.theatlantic.com)

William Lindsey :toad:

"This is more than just a misinformation crisis. To watch as real information is overwhelmed by crank theories and public servants battle death threats is to confront two alarming facts: first, that a durable ecosystem exists to ensconce citizens in an alternate reality, and second, that the people consuming and amplifying those lies are not helpless dupes but willing participants."

#Trump #JDVance #hurricane #ClimateChange #fascism #lies #disinformation
/5

William Lindsey :toad:

"It is difficult to capture the nihilism of the current moment. The pandemic saw Americans, distrustful of authority, trying to discredit effective vaccines, spreading conspiracy theories, and attacking public-health officials. But what feels novel in the aftermath of this month’s hurricanes is how the people doing the lying aren’t even trying to hide the provenance of their bullshit."

#Trump #JDVance #hurricane #ClimateChange #fascism #lies #disinformation
/6

William Lindsey :toad:

"Similarly, those sharing the lies are happy to admit that they do not care whether what they’re pushing is real or not. ...

What we’re witnessing online during and in the aftermath of these hurricanes is a group of people desperate to protect the dark, fictitious world they’ve built."

#Trump #JDVance #hurricane #ClimateChange #fascism #lies #disinformation
/7

William Lindsey :toad:

"You know what’s funny? When a storm hits a blue state, Republicans are quick to say, ‘God is punishing those woke libs and gays!’

But as soon as a hurricane slams into a red state, suddenly it’s, ‘OMG, the Democrats are controlling the weather!’ Make up your minds! Am I punishing you, or did Nancy Pelosi unlock the secret to hurricanes?

WHICH ONE IS IT, DAMMIT?!

~ God

#Trump #JDVance #hurricane #ClimateChange #fascism #lies #disinformation
/8

https://www.thegodpodcast.com/p/wait-i-thought-i-controlled-the-weather

Robert Link

@wdlindsy "Heads we win, tails you lose." It's the GOP way for decades.

Håkon Alstadheim

@wdlindsy "It's just lolz man" . Must say that owning up to my inner grumpy old man is getting easier and easier. It's getting to where I need to sit down and close my eyes if I see a frog.

Catherine is Procrastinating

@wdlindsy I have house plants whose critical thinking skills are better than Sorbos’.

Piousunyn

@wdlindsy Now I keep getting 504 on my posts. After I used hash tags.

Piousunyn

@wdlindsy I have always thought God was a women, thanks for clearing that up.

Hel O'Ween

@wdlindsy

I keep this quote around. It's from 1980. It's not a new problem. And although Asimov specifically mentioned the United States, unfortunately I can assure you it is not restricted to the U.S.:

It’s hard to quarrel with that ancient justification of the free press: “America’s right to know.” It seems almost cruel to ask, ingenuously, ”America’s right to know what, please? Science? Mathematics? Economics? Foreign languages?”

None of those things, of course. In fact, one might well suppose that the popular feeling is that Americans are a lot better off without any of that tripe.

There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there always has been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that “my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.”
-- Isaac Asimov

Wallyapplebee 🌈 ☀️🌵

@wdlindsy what do you think #kevinsorbo will be most remembered for? His lack of talent? Or his stupidity?

William Lindsey :toad:

@HelOWeen Yes, the cult of ignorance has always been there in the US. Richard Hofstadter dissected it for us powerfully.

But something is new today. That cult is on steroids due to the internet and especially social media. And it's being exploited by some exceptionally maleficewnt and powerful fascists from Trump and Vance to Musk and Bannon.

William Lindsey :toad:

@Piousunyn You'll have to thank the anonymous person writing that blog and speaking on God's behalf for gendering God as male. The God I envisage is beyond gender and manifests herself as female over and over in the Jewish-Christian scriptures.

Miss Gayle

@wdlindsy

Also, republicans are allowed to say their god is punishing blue states for women's lib and lgbtq folks and all that, but if a democrat dare says that their god is punishing THEM for misogyny, bigotry, racism, greed, selfishness, hate and violence, people jump all over you. It's a weird double standard.

William Lindsey :toad:

@Piousunyn You'll have to help me understand what you mean. I don't know what you're saying — that you post replies here and get 504 messages? This is the second reply to me you've posted today, that I've seen, so some are coming through. Can you please help me understand what you mean and I'll see if I know a solution?