Because I’m consuming almost zero cable news, I’ve become one of those people that watch podcasts. I have to say, this is one of the best! An intellectual hug with a side of funny optimism.
V. good article. Anyone who wants to tear her hair out could revise to 5th-8th grade reading level & send to community organizers w/suggestion to substitute social issue as needed
Regulated Internet, including Twitter & Facebook could’ve helped a lot with how much disinformation the right wing throws out. Why we didn’t get that done I can’t recall, but I do remember the hearings. It’s like no one in elected office knew how they worked.
@mariaressa.bsky.social "How to Stand up to a Dictator" lays out the social media manipulation tactics Trump and his oligarchs are using to spread lies and gain political power. Unfortunately the lesson is lost on MAGA and things won't change until they too feel the pain of their decision.
I'm just your average person living in your average suburban town in Pennsylvania and I have been saying this for YEARS. You can pick out the people who regularly listen/watch right wing media by their attitudes. The anger and grievance is palpable.
Agree with your premise. The right wing media echo chamber is very powerful. I lost my brother, sister and 3 daughters to it. Mine came in through the Covid lockdown and they grabbed them and never let them go!
Jen, thank you for saying all this so explicitly! I’ve been on this same soapbox for years—ever since I watched Fox News swallow my once educated and intelligent brother….
Don’t forget churches, telling people every Sunday that voting blue is a sin because it goes against “the sanctity of life”. Liberals need to pull it together and organize.
This painfully hits the nail on the head. The mighty far-right propaganda machine can only be beaten by a better, well funded, liberal counterpropaganda machine. It's sad, but facts and truth alone won't work.
Current TV which Al Gore founded was supposed to be tip of the spear for progressive network but it never took off and he sold it to Al Jazeera in 2013.
It's even easier than that. HALF of the country doesn't vote. The apathy in this country is off the charts. Only half the country votes, and half of the people who vote willingly believe EVERYTHING insane people tell them.
I’m not gonna ‘like’ this post, Jen, but you are absolutely right. Dispassionate statements of true things have no chance in the face of rage-driven fantasies that appeal to the basest fears of much of the public.
Also, they took the death penalty off the platform and supported increased policing instead of talking about raising wages so that people wouldn’t need to steal to live. Although Trump was lying, he said he would help the working class. Dems didn’t. I still voted for Harris.
While a lot of this is true, the Democrats made errors too. Nothing on the platform about supporting the working class. It was a slap in their face to hear the Democrats saying what a great economy we had. Only the upper class were having a great economy.
The one thing wrong in the article is that instead of turning away from the Dumpster after his escalator descent, the MSM gave him free coverage. MSM was as complicit as RW “news” in keeping the Dumpster on the front page.
It is so frustrating reading about peoples overly complicated takes on why dems lost. It wasn't the economy, it was the perception. It wasn't eggs. It was the perception... etc.
My millionaire (libertarian) relative with a house *on* the beach in Hawaii STILL asks me the cost of bacon in my area. 😆
And the awesome @katestarbird.bsky.social is showing (& pre-bunking) how Trump plants a narrative frame for his propaganda team to adopt and verify. It's very important to track these moves, to see how the frame wars will develop: https://bsky.app/profile/katestarbird.bsky.social/post/3lbz7lgu5yk2o
Linking drugs (poison) + immigrants (invasion) provides the rhetorical cover Trump needs to carry out his "purge" while claiming national defense. His followers' minds are being programed to think of the body politic as being poisoned by invaders. Immigrants & migrants aren't invaders they're people
Even folks who don't consume rw propaganda will be programmed by these frames. It's easy to see "others" as enemy hate-objects & even easier when they're actively "poisoning" the nation. People will shrug & think it's necessary (or maybe unpleasant or tragic). That's how genocide works. 😬
When one group of people can be turned into enemy hate-objects, then we can all be turned into enemy hate-objects. Think of Trump's enemy list, see if you could be counted among these people:
"Antifa"
"Journalists"
"Professors"
"Immigrants"
"Socialists"
"Enemy of the people"
"Terrorists"
"Groomers"
Considering that to sociopath Trump, “Enemy of the people” means enemy of him, and all you had to do to become his enemy was vote for Harris, 74+ million of us are in that group.
Unlike the other labels, "terrorist" by definition, actually does describe somebody who deliberately engages or threatens to engage in acts of violence.
"Professors", "immigrants", "journalists, et cetera, by definition, do not.
These are capacious categories, meant to be fluid. There will be "posse" mechanisms deployed, which urge people to turn other people in for being a member of one of these despised groups. People will absolutely do this. These same posse mechanisms are already being used for abortion, bathrooms & SYG
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Psst: it's the racism.
My millionaire (libertarian) relative with a house *on* the beach in Hawaii STILL asks me the cost of bacon in my area. 😆
here's chuck
"Antifa"
"Journalists"
"Professors"
"Immigrants"
"Socialists"
"Enemy of the people"
"Terrorists"
"Groomers"
"Professors", "immigrants", "journalists, et cetera, by definition, do not.
Will have to up my game.
To hell with Trump and all his fellow weaklings and cowards.