"Trump owes his victory in great part to low-propensity voters of all races, including young men, and those voters don’t necessarily form their views based on mainstream media reporting.

William Lindsey :toad:

And while I'm talking about my contempt for Bezos, let me say a word about Los Angeles Times' Patrick Soon-Shiong, who has shown himself to be beyond contemptible. He thinks he can simultaneously virtue-signal about his refusal to endorse Kamala Harris by saying this was about her Gaza stance, and at the same time say his paper needs more right-wing journalists to "balance" its "liberal" views.

#Trump #fascism #disinformation #media
/14

LA Times owner says Harris’ stance on Gaza war contributed to non-endorsement, plans editorial board revamp | CNN Business

In an interview with CNN, Soon-Shiong stated publicly for the first time that Harris’ support for Israel’s war in Gaza played a role in his decision to block the endorsement and said he plans to “balance” the paper’s opinion page with more conservative and centrist voices.

CNN (www.cnn.com)

William Lindsey :toad:

Does he think we're too stupid to see that the second assertion cancels out the first one, and that the obviously sincere assertion of the two is that he intends to "balance" his paper? Does he think we don't know he's a friend of Elon Musk?

Does Soon-Shiong have no shame at all?

#Trump #fascism #disinformation #media
/15

William Lindsey :toad:

"In many ways, what Trump has done is expose the rot that has always plagued this country beneath the veneer of liberal democracy. When one looks at our plight in these terms, it becomes clearer what the Harris campaign was up against—and why the struggle for the future is all the more essential.

This is generational, not just of-the-moment."

~ Elliot Kirschner

#Trump #fascism #disinformation #democracy
/16

Are We Pointing Fingers?

Let's see this for what it is

(elliotkirschner.substack.com)

William Lindsey :toad:

@Godfrey642 Thank you so much for the encouragement. I'll admit to feeling bleak and depleted of energy these days — but I intend to keep trying, since so much is at stake. I think when they take total control of the federal government, we're going to see a total blackout of news coverage, insofar as they can accomplish this — e.g., people rounded up in large numbers, incarcerated, shipped out of the country, with no one able to follow and monitor this so we can see what's happening.

William Lindsey :toad:

@Godfrey642 A very good question. An elderly friend in Germany contacted us before he was elected and asked, "Have large numbers of Americans just lost their minds?"

MoiraEve

@wdlindsy Very, very true! The rot has always been with us.

William Lindsey :toad:

@bronakins Yes, you're right. And before the final (though the vote-counting isn't complete even now) numbers began to come in, I myself swallowed that landslide meme.

William Lindsey :toad:

@the_blackwell_ninja Same here — same frustration.

William Lindsey :toad:

@MoiraEve I think that Keith Owens' commentary on that point (see /11 above) is really good. He says that Democrats have to learn to be loud in pushing back against MAGA loudness. And, of course, he doesn't mean actually shouting loudness, but speaking as forcefully and convincingly back to MAGA as MAGA speaks to all of us.

William Lindsey :toad:

@MoiraEve From the outset of the flawed Democratic experiment that placed all power in the hands of white property-owning males.

Godfrey642

@wdlindsy
Yes.
Tho journalists will find other ways.
Independent underground outlets if MSM is silenced.
Don't give up hope.
It'll be rocky but maybe USA needs this dark period to realise the sham of right wing politics. MAGAs will only realise when it directly affects them and their loved ones. That's yet to come.

MoiraEve

@wdlindsy Democracy may be flawed, but it’s better than all the other experiments that have been tried.

Godfrey642

@wdlindsy
Yes.
They have. This is large scale national brain washing.

And a huge appetite for cheap ugly sensationalism à la Jerry Springer. Baying for the blood and demise of others they consider ppl-not-like-them

RogueDharmaBum

@wdlindsy

Everything else I agree with but this misses the mark.

The problem isn't that there are no jobs, it's that the jobs are awful. The stock market only tangibly affects rich people(talk about 402ks and I'll respond with articles about how useless 401ks are) and inflation slowing down isn't good enough. The prices are too high and companies aren't raising wages.

Will Trump solve any of these? No, but those are the problems.

BronMason

@wdlindsy

I cannot figure out what happened (I know trump happened).
Enthusiasm for Harris was off the charts. The last few weeks Trump was “anti-campaigning.” I think I have too much faith in my PPP fellow Americans.

🇺🇸My Head’s Exploding🤯

@wdlindsy This is a part of the MAGAts that drives me bonkers. You can’t even have a conversation/ discussion/ debate with the majority without having to scream your head off.

William Lindsey :toad:

@leswarden Yes, that's so true. And when people feel the need to scream other people down, what they're really saying is that they recognize the position they're pushing is weak. This has long been apparent to me with the "pro-life" folks. If they really have a moral position to push, why the need to coerce and silence others? The minute you take that route, what you're admitting is you're not promoting a morally sound cause at all.

William Lindsey :toad:

@bronakins I think the long and short of it is that misinformation and disinformation are prevailing. People who told pollsters they know they themselves are doing better economically then went on to say that the economy is bad. How do you put those two things together? They make no sense unless you factor in the disinformation and misinformation that have made people — increasingly — believe what's not true. The pandemic gave us a case study in folks' willingness to believe nonsense.

William Lindsey :toad:

@RogueDharmaBum The problem of awful jobs goes way beyond the Democrats, Biden, and Harris and is a long pre-existing problem that the Democrats can't resolve quickly when empowered to do so. It's a problem that neoliberal-leaning Democrats have been far from helpful in addressing, but it's a problem no Republican anywhere can resolve, because the Republican party exists quite overtly to benefit the rich. That working people voting GOP refuse to see this is also a big problem.

William Lindsey :toad:

@Godfrey642 I veryt much agree.