It's always so easy to blame women, isn't it?

William Lindsey :toad:

Another Jewish American voice warning of how disinformation not only corrupts our minds, but also erodes our hearts, the center of our moral awareness:

"As a matter of truth and morality, the idea that immigration hurts Americans, or that immigration is immoral, is just a lie. …

It is simply a lie to say that anything that trans people are doing in America is harming other Americans...."

~ Peter Beinart

#Trump #fascism #cruelty #future
/15

Don’t Confuse Popularity with Truth

Just Because People Vote For Something Doesn’t Make It Right

(peterbeinart.substack.com)

Hamish Buchanan

Active conscription in the United States ended in January 1973. That age group is well insulated from its realities.

@wdlindsy

MylesRyden

@wdlindsy

I have to agree with the couple of analysts who are saying, "It's the racism, stupid." You yourself may have posted some essay referring to this. It was not about the price of eggs or gas. It was not about some economic policy like tariffs. It was not about either stopping or encouraging either of the two genocides currently happening.

It was voting for four more years of white privilege/supremacy. White women would rather retain their white privilege than gain equal rights. Latinos and blacks that voted GOP think they are rich enough or been here long enough that they are "white" now.

There was no argument that Harris or the Dems could have made that would have convinced these people that allowing others to have rights is somehow a good thing.

Trump is a symptom of white supremacy. Every successful GOP candidate since Nixon has been a racist criminal. Romney and McCain weren't overtly racist enough and they lost. Unfortunately for our country, the problem is the people who vote, not the people that win.

MrRaccoon

@wdlindsy

Disinformation, lies, has been around since humans have speech. That is not the problem.

All messages need a sender and a receiver. The readiness of Americans to receive and accept lies, like they want to be fooled, was the problem.

It could be that they didn’t know those were lies, and was fooled. That means their ability to tell lies from facts is the problem. There may be ways to fix it.

Or, they know these are lies and chose to believe lies. That’s hopeless

William Lindsey :toad:

And on the white male side of the ledger, there's Elon Musk — though remember that the Democrats are the problem, as lots of white male commentators (and fellow travelers who are white women) want to tell us now:

"Elon Musk's influence with Donald Trump is one of the biggest stories in media, tech and politics right now."

~ Brian Stelter

#Trump #fascism #cruelty #future
/16

(view.newsletters.cnn.com)

William Lindsey :toad:

"Musk has 'loomed over' all the action at Trump's Mar-a-Lago club since Trump's election night victory, CNN's Kaitlan Collins reported last night. Musk has been dining with Trump on the patio, hanging out on the golf course, and, more importantly, 'weighing in on staffing decisions, making clear his preference for certain roles.'"

#Trump #fascism #cruelty #future #ElonMusk #TechBros
/17

William Lindsey :toad:

"Much of Musk's immense wealth comes directly from the federal government, which has handed billions of dollars in contracts and subsidies to Tesla and SpaceX, raising the potential for enormous conflicts of interest as Musk helps Trump create winners and losers of his new administration."

#Trump #fascism #cruelty #future #ElonMusk #TechBros
/17

William Lindsey :toad:

"His ownership and clear support for Trump on X also raises concerns he will use the social platform to push political narratives that further his business interests…."

But don't forget as you read this that the real problem is Democrats, and "wokeness," and "identity politics" centering people of color and women who have long been shoved to the margins. The real problem is Black women like Kamala Harris. /s (!)

#Trump #fascism #cruelty #future #ElonMusk #TechBros
/18

@wdlindsy

long live the #testosteronarchy

Vanessa A. Shafer

@wdlindsy This is especially chilling to me. Do we essentially have a foreign-born President now?

William Lindsey :toad:

"Trump broke American journalism; and it is likely to get worse as power and influence shifts toward platforms that honor algorithms more than truth. …

When we are done flagellating other institutions, we need to admit the possibility that something is profoundly broken in the American psyche and character. …

We found out last week that we are a profoundly unserious country."

~ Charlie Sykes

#Trump #fascism #cruelty #future
/19

Are We Sanewashing the Voters Now?

“Wrong does not cease to be wrong because the majority share in it.” ― Leo Tolstoy

(charliesykes.substack.com)

floydgump

@wdlindsy If that is true why do people believe it?I hear and see shit on the internet everyday most of it I file away as BS or click bait.I stopped watching corporate media billionaire Bs outlets years ago.Most of my thoughts if not all are of my own thinking.Its up to the person to believe what they want to believe and most seem to be sheep or want to fit in I like to be an original not regurgitated elite talking points.

Piousunyn

@wdlindsy So far Trump has refused to sign the ethics clause for president, I find this amusing, because could could sign it and say he didn't really mean it. SCOTUS may have set the example with the ethics thing.

1gadgetgaga

@wdlindsy where is @GovPolis ?

janggolan

@wdlindsy thanks for this thread… I'll be reading these articles

Philip Cardella

@wdlindsy the rest of the wealth comes from the economic collapse in 2008. People forget that part. Billionaires benefit from economic recession and depression.

While they lose perhaps more of their wealth in a concrete percentage than the average person, they don't need the vast majority of their wealth to even maintain their standard of living.

So when a recession hits a person worth $10m or $100,000 is destroyed--but their wealth is gobbled up by the super rich.

Dianora (Diane Bruce)

@wdlindsy Ellul predicted this would happen. Those that own the media control the propaganda.

William Lindsey :toad:

"Fascism is now in the algorithms, the neural pathways, the social interactions. How did we fail to see all this?"

~ Timothy Snyder

#Trump #fascism #cruelty #future
/20

What Does It Mean That Donald Trump Is a Fascist?

Timothy Snyder, the author of books including "On Tyranny" and "Bloodlands," on how the President may use the Internet to try to become a dictator and create a cult of January 6th.

The New Yorker (www.newyorker.com)

Platypusman

@wdlindsy The United States is not a democracy and has never been a democracy. It is a democratic republic, or at least that was the way it was designed in the original Constitution. The two major differences between our government and a democracy are the Electoral College and the Senate. In a democracy there would be one vote for one citizen and there would be more senators to more equally represent the widely varying populations between states, like New York and Montana. For that matter, the size of the Supreme is ridiculously small considering the current population to that of the original 13 colonies. Throw in the Citizens United decision by our totally corrupt and lawless SCOTUS, and you get a big fat oligarchy, which is what our Republic, for which our flag stands, has become. So asking people if this so-called democracy is what they would prefer, is basically a joke.

Patrick Leavy

@wdlindsy you're missing the point. All those groups can live side by side (even if not really interested in each other) - it's the #algorithmicmanipulation from #bigtech #platforms that is stoking anger.

It's dividing people from other people way further than they normally would be.

Look at where people got their #news before the election...