"Donald Trump is their [Russian propagandists] favorite weapon against America. Trump is described as a friend and ally, "our Trumpushka" and "Donald Fredovych." Out of office, he is described as Russia's great hope. He is "sorely missed"; Russia is "ready to elect you again". Russia propagandists had no trouble predicting that Trump would try a coup when he lost in 2020, because that is a familiar sort of behavior to them. They rejoiced when he did , because they thought that this could lead to a civil war in the United States. Their coverage of Trump's coup attempt was at first highly positive. When it failed, a very awkward pivot was made to the position that it had all been some sort of provocation by the Democrats.
One of the things that Russian propagandists expect not to be noticed, but which is brought home in the book [Julia Davis's new book on Russian television propagandists, In Their Own Words] , is that they believe that Trump is an idiot. Of course, it's hard to see, from their perspective, how they can believe anything else (except, perhaps, that he is a traitor, as is also sometimes hinted). In their public worldview, destroying the United States is the main aim, and here is an American who follows their talking points."
I think what neither HCR nor Snyder mentions is the elephant in the room: the foreign manipilators are not just counting on the candidates they prop up being useful idiots. They are operating under the assumption that the social media black hole in and of itself has made a whole population of useful idiots.
I am apparently one of a disappoingly slim percentage of my age cohort who does not have any sort of social media and never has. Avoiding being smug about it becomes more challenging by the day. People can always point to some benefit they feel they are getting out of it, yet they seem unwilling to do the cost part of cost/benefit analysis. The benefits are so dwarfed by the costs, on both an individual and global level. People of my brothers' age (24) have never been without it, so could be extended some sympathy for buying into the perception of social media as necessary, omnipresent, and inevitable. Yet I am flabbergasted at the number of older people who act as if they couldn't do without something that they did not need nor want for much of their adult life. This is not the invention of the telephone or the clothes washer we are talking about here! There is nothing that this product offers that could not be achieved just as well with another mode of communicative technology (or no technology), and it actively eats time from people's day rather than giving it back to them.
I am trying to impress upon people that literally everything you read, see, or hear on these sites that has anything to do with current events should be disregarded. If you aren't getting information from the online source of a reputable print journalism outfit, just assume it is not real. Period. Social media when it comes to news is wildfire inside a hurricane, an uncontrollably destructive whirl of disinfo and "hot takes." People understand by now that how "friends" represent themselves on Instagram is an unreliable view into their "authentic" lives. Why on God's Green Earth would you expect the representation of public figures or breaking news - positive or negative - to be any less of a crock? The constant influx of negative stimulus is definitely breeding paranoia among users, but why would one not take the chance to direct your conspiratorially-minded energy back to the stream of media itself? If experts are to be believed, seems like the one thing you actually have some cause to be paranoid about, no?
Long story short, everyone needs to give themselves a gift and get off this ride. I will be sitting under a tree reading a book. Come on over, it's nice here, you aren't missing anything you wouldn't want to miss. I promise!
I note that many of my social media contacts are people I "met" through forums (motorcycling and tuba playing) that I participated in from 2004 until either their demise (an amazing motorcycle forum where I have met some wonderful people) or until some changes in management (the tuba forum) really chased a lot of us away.
I cancelled my Facebook "page" the day I found out Mark Fukerberg sold data to Cambridge Analytica. Read "Burn Book," and listen to Pivot with Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway so at least you understand how unsocial social media is, how unintelligent AI is, how the Internet has deninished your choices not expanded them (Beyonce and Swift). It is about making the big four richer and richer. Facebook is Oxy for the masses and Mark cares zero about the patient, like the Sacklers. Media has lost to silicon valley.
I just never got the appeal of Facebook. I reconnected with people I thought I wanted to get to know better as adults. It was interesting but not enriching. No regrets about not following anybody or not being followed. Never had a twitter or tictoc account. Why do I need them?
Lately I've been wondering if I actually need a subscription to the NYTs (I'd miss the recipes and games) or WAPO (tepid tea)....because I've noticed a subtle change....one not so positive article about Biden interspersed with 10 articles about the latest Trump manifesto and spin pieces in guest opinions. Did the "media" learn nothing from 2016? I just don't understand why the average person doesn't already understand that their independence has been surrendered and the only way they can get it back is by abandoning the internet sites designed for narcissists and haters.
Instead of outright ‘Yellow Journalism’ of the late 19th century, they are practicing a beige-color journalism signifying a kind of marketing for the greatest number but still appeasing the capitalistic marketplace instead of import truthing.
I cancelled my NYT subscription after a week of finding nothing at all worth reading. And then they put up a very sweet video about the power of, of all things, knitting.
I would miss the recipes.
Just fyi, when I signed up again I got it for a dollar a week for six months. So every six months I'll cancel again. Until they figure it out,
I miss Facebook. I had friends from childhood to my work colleagues, hundreds, lost when it crashed in March. They want my SSN, driver's license /passport, so I will not be rejoining. Also banned on x.
IMHO it's because of my political views. I'm not alone.
Daniel, I missed fecebook when I first deleted my account in 2000, but now like a recovering addict consider myself fecebook-free for 4 years. (maybe I'll get a triangle tat with a 4 in it:) I missed a lot of friends from there, but were they? Those that I was quite close to connected by e-mail and I occasionally get response from them. The others are just digital manifestations that I thot were friends. I did find a half-sister that I lost contact with for 40 years and have since visited her and keep in touch by fone & e-mail. Before leaving, I discovered a very loving, liberal friend I knew from the '70s had become a MAGAt with her new husband so blocked her just as I did with any tRump supporter I knew IRL.
Oh, I have also been twit free-for 2 years and never missed it. My only social net now is MeWe and wish ppl & agencies would stop linking to fecebook & twit as if everyone is still wading in those cesspools.
Just a quick comment--I had become increasingly disappointed with the NYT, but love the crosswords and games (and didn't want to break my crossword streak, haha). I recently switched to "games only," which is about $6/month, and I now get the content I want. It was hard at first to let go of the recipes, but I can find much better recipes by googling, so aside from downloading a few favorites, I'm content to live without the recipes.
I still have. an fb account but don’t use it, aside from forwarding the occasional post I make to Instagram. But even that is becoming something of a hellscape, full of bots and/or knuckle-draggers in the comments anytime somebody has something to say about lgbtq+ issues or Gaza. I’m an artist but thank goodness I don’t try to promote anything there because it’s become completely useless for engagement.
As for the Times, I had a sub to them for a time but their continued both-sides slant made me give up. I moved to the WAPO…same thing happened. Then I landed on the Guardian and they do it as well. I bailed the day they published an article about that ridiculous “report” came out about Biden’s memory issues, with absolutely no mention of the political nature of the thing. So I’ve pretty much given up on these fronts. The daily Letters is about all I need (or can handle) for the ugly parts of the world.
Never signed up for Facebook but did start to signup for Linkedin thinking it was better suited to professionals I'd want to stay in touch with or converse with. It quickly turned into a mess with requests coming out of nowhere, or links to people I knew of in sensitive positions. The absolute worst was quickly finding out that many of the requests that appeared to come from people I knew didn't come from them at all.
I never look at LinkedIn any more since a woman I thought was a close friend started sending me Alex Jines stuff there, I should have known who she really was when she started praying for me and put a Ben Carson sticker on her company car, calling on scientists, whom I'm pretty sure would not at all appreciate her political beliefs. Smfh
I didn't have the problem of actual friends sending such stuff, I think because I started calling them to see if it was actually them who sent requests for links. Since half of them weren't actually from friends (just appeared to be from them), I had called the first dozen or so to tell them I wasn't going to respond to any Linkedin notices. That made it much easier to just let them know anytime I received something supposedly from them. I suspect that pretty much curbed their enthusiasm for Linkedin, too.
I cancelled my NYT subscription of 17 yrs due to their obvious bias for trump & anti Biden. It's over the top & ridiculous how they seem to be doing what they can to get trump elected. I don't believe anything in the NYT anymore & now I buy crossword books instead.
I never bother with the Post and I read selected bits from the NYT and always do the crossword and some other puzzles. I like the recipes, the science section, and the book review. Our local rag long ago ceased to be a newspaper when it was bought by Gannett.
You lost me after the Sackler comment. Are you inferring Zuckerberg, Sackler and by extension, Jews are dishonest and not to be trusted? Don't even tell me about your views on Israelis.
Facebook was likened to “Oxy” which is oxycodone—the highly addictive pain pill that The Sackler Family—owners of the company that promoted Oxy to doctors, encouraging them to write more prescriptions.
Call me paranoid! I'm accustomed to the siren calls. I see it in the propaganda used here in this country everyday of the week. I see it on college campuses, where Jews are being singled out for their religion. I hear it from attendees to religious institutions that have experienced these subliminal accusations. Yes, I see it in the commentary, where what most would call an innocent comment gets a ground swell of praise because the writer doesn't come right out and say what they think. Sought of like tRump. He doesn't have to say what he wants, his followers are well aware of what he wants, and they fall into line.
Lest you believe I am prejudiced, think again! My daughter married a Christian. My son is going with a religious Catholic. My granddaughter is in a serious relationship with a christian. I love them all. What gets my feathers up are comments like Fuckerrberg and Sackler. This isn't the first time Martha has made comments like these
Well stated. Since I retired, I got back into reading more and more. Something to the tune of 120 books since 2016. Read so much while working, did not take time to expand my brain. I will join you with a book. If you read my posts today, it will confirm what you are saying about how the MSM and social feeds are being used against us. Flood the zone with s..t is what those that seek to tear down democracy works. The social media universe is a perfect vehicle to do what they do and it is also the perfect example of how unregulated (libertarian) capitalism is dangerous for society.
As a retired academic librarian and 86, I applaud your reading of more books. I also receive the wise words of Phillip Gulley, a Quaker pastor in Indiana.
Ah yes, libertarian capitalism, in which the only acceptable objective is quarterly profit for the few, where there are no citizens, only consumers in search of new things to consume…in which soon the capital itself is consumed, leaving only a wasteland.
Propganda is a booming business. PhysOrg reports that the number of phoney/partisan news portals now outnumber mainstram news sites, and they're frequently employing AI to produce their content:
While I do spend time on the internet, I believe I am selective enough to actually benefit from the sources I've learned to respect. Beau of the fifth column is one of these. Heather is another. I also Like cat videos. 😊 But I agree wholeheartedly with many of the points you raise. I no longer always carry my phone with me. I ignore many of the feeds Google sends me since so many of their headlines turn out to be click bait. And yes, I have recently returned to actual book reading since I now have time away from my screens. So thank you for your post and have a great day under that tree of yours. 🌳
Will, using social media is not a bad thing...if you compare notes, you can discerne the truth. But, social media platforms need to be more accountable for ferreting out foreign manipulators.
I utilize FB as an amazing educational resource. I follow a wide variety of pages that cover topics of art, architecture, history, gardening, astronomy, animal rescues, vintage ceramics, cooking, kayaking, photography, gardening, and more. Plus I can easily stay in touch with friends & relatives around the world. And yes, I also follow political analysts like Heather Cox Richardson & Jay Kuo., and read books , too. So you can be smug if you like, but you might be underestimating what you are also missing.
Same! I love seeing what far-flung family and friends are up to. The rest of my Facebook feed is animals, photography, recipes, gardening and art. People who call Facebook a cesspool are interacting with content that causes the algorithm to create a cesspool.
Yes, I think unfortunately many people just don't realize how positive & enriching FB can be. They also don't utilize their power to shape their feed by simply deleting content that is objectionable, and electing to view pages that are more uplifting. I have a network of many amazing, talented friends who also use FB as a positive resource, so I know you & I are not alone. 😊
About social media. I have learned a lot about art, flowers, antiques, etc. The NatGeo site is great for following animals, archeology, and so much more! This is not to mention how much I love the photos sent by family and friends here and abroad.
I hear you, but without social media, we are left with mainstream media, which had been downplaying the threats, and both-sidsing the issues. I found HCR, Jay Kuo, Joyce Vance and others on social media. It's a two-sided coin--back in the day, we all had one news source (like Walter Cronkite), and we all believed what we were told, because that was pretty much all we had access to. That's kind of the problem now--lots of older folks watch and trust Fox News, because they assume it's a regular news channel, like the ones they had when they were younger. Misinformation is here to stay, whether it's in social media on on TV. It's our job to discern facts from propaganda. It's not easy!
They do not think it is their job to ethically manage what is posted, nor do they care to because they will lose money. It's a platform for making shareholders money, not a newspaper or a network. In that regard, hate, outrage, threats, blood, and sex sell, truth is not part of the algorithm.
I hear you and I’m on social media and it’s like the ridiculous things people write, I’m like is that a real person or a bot.... it feels like click baiting
I am with you young person. FB made is really difficult to officially delete. Instagram is overwhelming. And journalism/truth was once more reliable. It’s easy to see the bias and propaganda through some news writers. Such a shame. Bring on book reading!
Refreshing to hear. There was a time when people from diverse backgrounds kept themselves actively informed. My father who never finished grade school and mother who got her GED at age forty got their information from our small town’s two local papers and nearby larger Scranton Times and Scranton Tribune. And in addition on Sunday on our way home from church we brought home two of the New York City newspapers. Now reputable resources like those above are going under and replaced by sensationalizing lazy “ journalism “ spreading disinformation and propaganda that gives us the pablum we want. In place of taking an active skeptical and critical approach to getting our information we become cynical and complacent
I too avoid social media. I read books, a few substack authors, and articles from trusted news organizations.
We urgently need government
regulation of the SM platforms that includes taking down the bad actors and their bots. Immediately. Everyday. They should not be able to cross the digital line and post their divisive propaganda on any SM platform.
Very frightening to say the least. The key is to get families talking about politics, arguing out what they think American democracy is and means; that is, to re-engage in republican citizenship. NOTE: reference to a recent article in 'The Economist' deleted.🤔
By the way, Trump has called on the members of the 06jan21 Committee to be indicted for destroying evidence. I wonder if he is saying that because he wants to destroy evidence if he wins; that is, obstruct justice and blame it upon the special committee. 💔
EXTREMELY IMPORTANT regarding predictive model from The Economist (and others): Do not take it as an accurate assessment. IGNORE IT. Do not repeat it or share it with anyone.
The Economist model is going against the 538 Model (Biden ahead), the Moody's Model (Biden ahead), and the Economist's own polling averages (!!!) as of recently (Biden ahead). In 2022, that same model incorrectly predicted a bunch of losses that did not materialize. I'm not saying they built a poor model on purpose or anyone should be paranoid or only listen to the models that give you answers you like. But OMG people, I'm begging you, stop taking an individual poll or model as gospel, and don't assume that because something is shared more it is more true!
The idea that Republicans are winning against all historical precedent is a central - maybe THE central - component of their narrative right now. They are trading off the *perception* of having the upper hand because they don't actually have it. People like backing a perceived winner. This illusion of strength is essential to the rise of every authoritarian movement. Acting like pro-democracy candidates have "sobering" chances of success, when they have actually been on an almost unbroken winning streak nationally for six whole years, plays into those hands. We literally just had a special Congressional race in Ohio where the Dem overperformed by TWENTY points despite spending essentially no money. That doesn't happen if your party is weak and your standard-bearer is behind. It just doesn't.
In politics, you need to act like the presumptive champ even if you aren't ahead. To act like you are behind when you are actually ahead is simply inexcusable.
It shouldn't be surprising that the Economist, a publication that loves welfare for the rich, tax cuts, and anything that drives profits upward would support Cheetolini. They know he is a blithering idiot and a danger to the nation, but short-term, he promises to trash the economy once again with massive giveaways to corporations and the wealthy (i.e. their benefactors). Their opinions are less than worthless.
You'd THINK that would be true but the model espoused by (it seems) almost every high-end business school is that profits should be taken as often and as much as can be done, without regard for long-term economic health or any kind of shared, profit-sustaining prosperity across the socio-economic spectrum. In 2016, I was convinced that Big Money would eschew the kind of instability that Trump represented. Now we know they will embrace any potential for rapacious gains, the future be damned.
I'm a chemist not an economist, so when I subscribed when I was avidly reading economics, I was appalled at the absolute tripe it published. Total bullsh!t. I guess you had to be fully indoctrinated in the Chicago school to go along with it. Actually a bit frightening if it represents what policy is based on.
I thought this in 2016. Up until Comey. This does not nullify your point, but in Texas, the fix is in. I hope that is not the case everywhere. And I support Beto and every Dem in Texas. As to optimism, as Winston said, of what use is it to be anything else. He knew how to go from loss to loss with no drop in enthusiasm. The fight is on all fronts. Assume nothing.
So very disappointed in Texas. Lived there so long, am a native born, and refuse to admit being from there now. Family homestead was in Bosque County where sundown laws (not officially) still exists in some small towns.
Loved it when I moved here from East coast. Even rural areas were sane, except for one sign I saw W of Ft Worth calling the UN a communist front. Otherwise OK until Rove came with the savior W in 1994. At least on my turf.
I have been to the lone star state a few times for business. Have always rather liked its culture. But, from a distance, I am not crazy about the politics.
The politics used to be just fine. The change has been the result of lies, dirty tricks, and the most egregious actions. Bought by many who should have known better. And, of course, the macho guys I knew who bought an image that was total bullschitt.
You are right on, Jeri; starting in 1968. Though my parents were Midwestern moderate conservative supporting the ghastly war in Viêt Nam, I remember how sad my mother was when Senator Humphrey lost in 1968. 😢 Senator shady J.D. turns my stomach with his opportunism and he is an educated member of the cognitive under-class; much like the intellectuals flocking to the S.S. under Himmler. 🤢
1st DRAFT of this RESPONSE DELETED. I was getting, ahem, fussy. I will likely pull my initial response, too. Will has made some fine points and I need to chew the cud.
I liked your comment because of your suggestion that the "key is to get families talking about politics, arguing out what they think American democracy is and means; that is, to re-engage in republican citizenship." That is what's missing right now and badly needed. Nobody wants to talk about it. It's considered rude to even mention politics in certain circles. I have neighbors that ignore me. lol.
Fortunately, my neighbors are still talking to me even after we put up our Biden/Harris sign. The ONLY one 😔here in my neighborhood peninsula of nearly 800 people in Magaville, Florida .Come on HCR peeps, join us! 🪧 And while you’re at it ,sport a Biden/Harris t-shirt. I’ve been wearing one since Feb. and only ++ comments/discussions.👕🛒
As the weather heats up here in the land of “no climate change”, I’ve been encouraging my younger family members,with their frequent pool parties😎🍻, to have those conversations with friends.A GOP Admin that would restrict access to condoms and prioritize the rhythm method of birth control seems to get their attention. Fortunately they’re still talking to me too !
I’ve been using talking points from Andra Watkins, who has read and dissected Project 2025.⬇️
It was former Representative Kinzinger (R-IL) who called for this in his closing remarks in one of the 06jan21 Committee hearings. ✌️EDIT: but, hey, I worked in government long enough to learn how to take credit when and where it is not due. 🤫
Ned, if you need another resource to review here on Substack that undergirds Will’s points, read Simon Rosenberg’s Hopium Chronicles. Rosenberg is admittedly a Democrat but his analysis of current polls includes a much broader scope of statistics and methodology than most - and he correctly predicted that there would be no “Red Wave” in 2022 - something nearly every mainstream media outlet was leading with (I’m looking at you, NYT!).
Polling is a social science. It is nigh on impossible to do it without skewing the results to match the politics of those doing the work. And Republican pollsters are constantly flooding the zone with polls that are more propaganda than science - which then leads to red wavy bs being pushed around as gospel truth.
The Economist has a perspective. That perspective is definitively Capitalist- with a capital C. They are less concerned with my wellbeing as an American than with the wellbeing of the stock and financial markets. My point is to read any poll with an eye towards the politics of the polling agency. Polls are a snapshot in time and a skewed one. Better to spend time helping get out the vote, something that actually can change the outcome of this election!
Funny thing is, I usually do not pay attention to polls. I decide how I am going to vote and say so, if provoked, asked, or giving in to my curmudgeonly ways.
This is a great point. THe control of the MSM has consolidated to a very few right wing nuts out there. I call them nuts, because they deny facts and insert their own beliefs in place of facts. Like Reaganomics being so great, racism no longer a problem, and taxing the wealthy not good.
Sinclair is awful but what can we make of the NYT and WaPo embracing ridiculous memes about Biden's alleged mental decline over fair reporting about Trump's far more obvious lack of both intellect and stability?
Maybe "owns" should be in quotes, I don't know, but the station's DC news segment is always from Slanted Sinclair. For example, in covering President Biden's executive order re the border, with right-wing criticism about "too little too late," the anchor person never mentioned that the reason the bipartisan deal fell through was because Trump ordered his Congressional toadies to kill it.
I didn't realize Sinclair owned some CBS stations. Overheard the "news" broadcast at 6 pm at somewhere other than my house, and was surprised to see a CBS logo at the bottom of the screen. In suburban DC, that was the only identifier. If there'd been an honest one, I would have backed off like I'd come across a rattler or copperhead. Full info please!
Given the idiotic rhetoric coming out of the so-called "paper of record", the New York Times, one has to wonder if they, too, are Russian operatives . . .
When hearing about this poll or that poll, I always say “How many people did they talk to” What is the demographic” “Who are they talking to?”……Well, recently I was at a friends house when his phone rang and it was a pollster. As i sat and listened to my friend answer questions……contrary to what i know to be true about him, he was not truthful with the pollster. He was yanking the guys chain with ridiculous answers and even said he will vote for Rump. Now, I have known this person a very long time and i know that would never happen!! So, It goes to show…..people do yank the chain of the pollsters so you cant even trust those.
That is also a good point. There was some discussion after the 2016 election that some people had misrepresented their positions in polls because they did not want to admit to supporting Trump.
I'm going to express the same meaning in different words.
Don't be naively optimistic, but whatever you do, don't be pessimistic because pessimism is a self-fulfilling prophecy. If I act based on the assumption I won't catch a fish, then I won't fish, and then I won't catch a fish.
Very good point about pessimism. I do despair at times. Still trying to figure out what the HELL happened to 'my' America of the Great Society with Big Business support.
Back then, moderate conservatives, like my parents, viewed themselves as part of a larger system that included liberals. Like the pick used by an ice climbers, liberals would throw the pick ahead (prudently with the influence of moderate liberals).
The moderate conservatives would pull the rest of us in by making the progressive policies fiscally sustainable; at times the further right conservatives might intervene when a policy had failed or was repudiated by the populace.
It does show that what made the W.W.II generation was not the Depression; that made the generation good. Not the war; that made the generation great. It is what those men and women did AFTER W.W.II through 1968 that made them the Greatest Generation.
But that is likely my naïve view. After all, I was a deeply informed intellectual at the age of eight back then.
By describing the conservative/progressive interaction pattern, you're accurately describing a specific manifestation of a frequently observed and frequently described phenomenon that I would argue has been recurring for thousands of generations since the origin of our species. So, I would say your view is not naive. Instead, it's in the right direction. Keep going, and you'll get there.
Alternatively, click on my profile link. I think I can save you a lot of time, energy, and attention.
To me it is Mikey trying to blur the faces on so much of the Jan 6 video as they soon discovered it was revealing so many more participants that hadn't been identified yet. Mikey seems to want to destroy evidence more than anyone else.
Seemed clear to me in 2016, and then the blowback. But all chump does is “blowback.” IT’S ALL HE DOES. What a platform. Designed and promoted by brainless fools, who might otherwise might escape notice.
Would anyone care to comment on the quarantine we placed on Japan of oil leading up to the Pearl Harbor attack and if this forced the Japanese to attack us. Did FDR plan this in order to reduce the isolationists that wanted no part in what amounted to the Second World War. Not dissimilar was the Tonkin Gulf incident which was a falsely reported attack on the US that led us into a horrible war in Vietnam — a war totally useless and unnecessary. Not unlike the Iraq war that was predicated on total lies of WMD. Perhaps even the Russian invasion of Ukraine in which all that was needed was a no to Russia on admittance to NATO of Ukraine to avoid this bloody mess.
We are the most war hungry nation on earth. Today in our time. How many invasions and assassinations of South Americans and how vicious we were towards Porto Rican indipendistas? I ask.
"In 1938, the U.S. began to adopt a succession of increasingly-restrictive trade restrictions with Japan, including terminating its 1911 commercial treaty with Japan in 1939, which was further tightened by the Export Control Act of 1940. Those efforts failed to deter Japan from continuing its war in China or from signing the Tripartite Pact in 1940 with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, which officially formed the Axis Powers.
Japan would take advantage of Adolf Hitler's war in Europe to advance its own ambitions in the Far East. The Tripartite Pact guaranteed assistance if a signatory was attacked by any country not already involved in conflict with the signatory, which implicitly meant the U.S. and the Soviet Union. By joining the pact, Japan gained geopolitical power and sent the unmistakable message that any U.S. military intervention risked war on both shores:[citation needed] with Germany and Italy in the Atlantic and with Japan in the Pacific."
The oil embargo happened within the context of competing colonialisms. The attack on Pearl Harbor happened in context of Japan's increasing militarism and its alliance with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy."*
Your assertions of causality and your analogies seem far fetched efforts to make a dubious argument.
That is interesting. I have had the impression that German military leadership -- at least a big chunk of it -- thought Hitler made a mistake in declaring war against the U.S. It sounds like Hitler had a treaty obligation. If this is true, it is a parable for our time. Trump will break every promise and commitment, much as Hitler did, only to 'honour' commitments to other strongmen (except for the U.S.S.R., of course).
I'll go with you on Vietnam. Just watched a series called "The Sympathizer". Dark comedy exploring the idiocy of that conflict.
And Iraq? Insane. I'd even add Afghanistan. We attacked an entire nation, when surgery could have accomplished more. 20 years of pain and suffering and the Taliban still rule. Stupid and ineffective foreign policy.
But Ukraine? Putin only responds the way we want him to when he is faced with overwhelming force. I suggest that Ukraine should have been embraced by NATO before 2014 - Crimea would not have been snatched and today's conflict would be unthinkable.
Admittedly, it’s a confusing mess of everything including and let’s be honest, my considered point that dominant cultures seek dominance. Ukraine has much cross over relevance with Russia. Sometimes you give a little for the sake of regional peace. I understand Putin has wanted to reinstall the empire and he tries every chance he can get. One can argue that Ukraine was not supremely important. This can be argued in the reverse, too. Most of the former eastern block made it to the West. So how important has it been to stave off Putin with a no NATO at least through the remainder of his ending lifespan. Instead, war and death and a whole lot of suffering of the Ukrainian people. Understand, I’m now all in. It’s too late. Russia cannot be allowed to win. But they won’t totally lose either. They will likely get to keep Crimea it belonged to Russia anyway pre 1953.
I’m much more concerned over the rise of nationalism almost exclusively based opened migration and this, in my opinion, should never ever ever ever been allowed and as well in our own country.
I will comment, Bill. What you say is a major call for self-reflection we owe ourselves--and the planet. I wish I were wise enough to know how that is to be accomplished. Certainly our so-called defense industry and its insatiable appetite for costly weapons systems (e.g., the troubled F-35) is a factor. At the same time, we have exhibited some distinctly positive attributes as the largest, most diverse, most complex nation in history. What we owe ourselves is honesty, both positive and negative. Then we might have a basis for more constructive use of our immense power and influence. If there is anything that characterizes our political stage these days, it surely has nothing to do with introspection. Perhaps there is a glimmer of hope in some recent observations by a few leading news reporters of repute ( e.g., Lisa Desjardins earlier today) recognizing that fueling the partisan shouting match is not the best way to inform the public about what matters. However, the national arrogance you describe is another level of dialogue and I honestly don't know how that gets started or by whom.
The only answer I can come up with is, the best way to convince other nations that we have something of value to offer is by demonstrating it here, not imposing it. On that score, we are doing ourselves no favors, if you believe what we read in the news media and on social media, or tune in to the endless stream of pathetic political ads. If you pay attention to what Americans are doing that is spectacular and empathetic and constructive, it's a different picture. When you can find out about it.
We spend too much energy telling ourselves the wrong stories. The right ones can be brutal, but transforming. I have lost all hope that they can emanate from our political parties. Even more, there is no possibility of a declared dictator telling anything of use.
"What we owe ourselves is honesty, both positive and negative. "
I think working on elevating our culture's respect for honesty is crucial, as well as directing disdain for significant, provable lies from any source. I think everyone gets some things wrong, but lies are a choice. A lie is an intentional act. Perhaps one justified in some circumstances, but normally it's a form of malice where truth is needed. Freedom of speech is essential, but some lies can and do kill. Leaving aside for the moment what that might mean from a legal standpoint, we, the aggregated public are fools when we make excuses for lies and liars. Serious lies and liars are simply not worthy of the public's respect. I think we have been losing track of that in recent decades.
What works for me and, I would guess, for others is to pick out your trusted sources and rely upon them. There is a lot of free-floating scheiße careening through social media. But, if one is discriminating, there is good content, too.
Great post. The far right is out to prevent those honest conversations. The true meaning of book bans and legislation dictating what is to be taught and how it is to be taught. This is the playbook of autocracy, which I must say it the basis for the Lewis Powell Memo that leads to the Project 2025.
Deregulation of industry and over regulation of the government while making sure that the government is underfunded or redirecting the funding (military) to hamstring agencies from the needed resources to accomplish their jobs is a recipe for a democracy collapse.
Al Bell: I’m just a songwriter and sometime writer with no great achievements a small business owner who tend to think outside the box on matters near and far. In my time, from the 1950s though today, I’ve mostly witness America at war. And we wonder why more African states are more prone to listen Russia then us considering our colonial past.
I’ve always said that no distracts most political policy with some past element of morality in our past but not today.its all about conquest and power and funneling more money into fewer hands. Even with respect to Ukraine, our defense secretary was heard to quip “we’ll drain them” referring to Russian war on Ukraine. So it’s simple using Ukrainians as a proxy for death to drain Russia. Those are our morals.
But let’s be fair; all dominant cultures seek but one object which is to dominate. And to this we are only one of several who dominate. I don’t have any solutions . I only am able to hold up a mirror. Today we witness the worst that could potentially happen to a democracy or representative republic; the coming of authoritarianism.
I am not defending our war record but Russia has always been at war as much as we have. The difference being is when Russia cozies up to foreign governments, it appeals to their pride and ego with nationalistic fervor, whereas we promote democratic ideals such as free and fair elections until democratically elected leaders want to nationalize their country's oil and gas industries in the effort to pump money into the economy.
Well stated. The U.S.S.R. / Russia have evidently been planning for a major war in Europe and against the U.S. since 1945, if not earlier, with, perhaps, a ten year hiatus in the 1990s. U.S. troops have committed atrocities and most are held to account; we do not have the rep. of raping our way across militarily controlled territories.
I have a suggestion. I recognize this is complex, but in addition to being complex, it is also simple. If we're not making sure we're going in the right direction, we're simply going in the wrong direction.
America is the largest, most diverse, most complex nation in history because of the extent to which Americans have adhered the principle of treating others the way we would have others treat us. Adherence to that principle is the only source of real power. A system works because all its parts work together, and they work together because human beings see themselves as an integral part of that larger system.
As W. Edwards Deming put it, "It would be better if everyone worked together as a system, with the aim for everybody to win."
You're correct in saying national arrogance is another level of dialogue. I do honestly know how that gets started, and by whom. A person in a position of power has a large circle of influence that inevitably extends beyond their circle of concern, and then their actions are based on ignorance. At that point, one of two things happen. Either their ignorance is constrained by wisdom, meaning their circle of concern expands, or their ignorance is left unconstrained, and then they have no concern for the significant negative influence they are having on the lives of other human beings.
My conclusion? We need to keep reminding ourselves that we, along with roughly eight billion other human beings, are tied for first place as the most important human being on Earth. When all the people living in the world agree, that will be the answer.
I know some people will never agree, but then we need to make sure they're in Nowhere Land making their nowhere plans for nobody.
Very insightful. Thanks a lot, James. I still believe in American exceptionalism but not based on genetics, commercial might, soil, or military power. It is based upon the fact that this country, flawed as it is, was founded on an idea. The challenge is to maintain the humility to criticise ourselves so we do not go where we have been going: might makes right or winning is the only thing.
For me, the problems are that we are no longer king of the mountain and we find it challenging to adjust to a post American Century world as well as many of us are forgetting that ideology breeds idiocy.
Foreign policy was orchestrated by "business" interests in South America. It was what lead to the overthrow in Iran putting the Shah in charge. The fear of communism was a powerful tool to use to interfere in other nations which lead to the Vietnam debacle.
Yesterday, a coworker (Air Force vet) was sure that the Reagan focus on bankrupting the USSR was a good thing. Although, the truth of how their system would have eventually collapsed without Reagan sending us down the hole of deficits we see today seems to escape him.
I agree with you, though I wonder if I am indulging is wishful thinking. If I were Xi, I would simply declare Taiwan as a sixth autonomous region and twenty-fourth province with all governance devolved onto the island. When Taiwan would buy F-16s? Congratulate the autonomous region for contributing to the coastal defense of China. What could the U.S. et al. do?
I would agree Taiwan is the 'point' of highest tension; but I think the recent overwhelming success of Israel's US built Iron Dome in the face of a 300 missile and drone and ballistic missile attack from Iran, possibly gave China pause. On the other hand, China may have much better weapons than Iran, and lastly, I also suspect that there was a deal regarding the scope and nature of the Iran attack; it may have been as performative as Israel's response.
I believe Xi has already made the declaration that Taiwan is a province of the PRC. But at the moment Taiwan is still not standing up and saluting.
Well, our $5B Chip Act was an initiative to START to reduce our huge dependence on SMC, but MANY state and multinational actors (incl US and PRC) have this same dependence at the moment - will take 5+ years to stand up a high end chip foundry in Texas. MOST of Nvidia's high end AI chips are made in Taiwan, and Nvidia provides over 80% of the world supply. EVERYONE who wants to win the AI race, MUST have 10x more Nvidia chips than they had last year. (The 'Moore's Law' of LLM's is a factor of 10 every 18 months.)
It is roughly 1,000,000,000 times easier to break a chip foundry than to make high end AI chips - this is what Taiwan's freedom and security depends on - if it doesn't blink.
All very good points American pressure on cutbacks to the Japanese were basically meant to oppose the vicious (rape of Nanjing) Japanese war of conquest in China. For the Japanese "ww2" had begun in 1937 as a regional war of conquest. Iraq was inexcusable... self? deception, always wondered if it wasn't more under Bush Cheney et al neocons.
Trump is a useful idiot to the dark outside forces trying to destroy our country from within. I believe he reads very little. I believe he's incapable of thinking through things with any sophistication. I believe he is entirely transactional and is always on the look-out for things that will benefit him and his family. And his instincts for personal benefit are well developed.
Trump has to be referred to as not only a weapon used by Russian propaganda but also as an AGENT of Russia in a broader sense. He extols Putin and degrades Ukraine. He interfered with the passage of the aid package for Ukraine. He commented publicly that Russia can do whatever it wants to do to its neighbors such as Ukraine.
He is an idiot. A dangerous one. And it has led to civil war in America. Sadly, I spent yesterday at an art workshop with a well informed liberal woman who declared that we "need a revolution". And she was talking violence.
"You can fool some of the people all of the time, and those are the ones you want to concentrate on." Pres. G.W. Bush, White House Correspondents' Dinner, 3-31-2001.
A later update: To support Dr. Heather's words on propaganda, here's a June 19 article from Axios about well-known chatbots being flooded with Russian propaganda - once they saw an opportunity, the GRU wasted no time in exploiting it.
In 1917, my 7 year old father had a dog, a Dachshund, for a pet. It was named "Kaiser." That summer, his father told him the dog's name was now "Teddy," and that he must be out in the yard with Teddy when he had to do his business, because being a Dachshund had become dangerous, since "patriots" thought they were supporting the war when they killed "German" dogs.
In 1918, my 4 year old mother, whose family name was Weist, was woken by her parents one morning because the barn of their farm outside Alamosa, Colorado, was on fire - it burned to the ground, killing all their livestock. The arsonist(s) were never found. Ironically, the first "Weist" of the family in America was her grandfather, Dr. Frederick Weist, a professor of humanities at the University of Frankfurt and a member of the Congress of Frankfurt in the 1848 revolution against Prussian rule. He arrived in the United States with a Prussian price on his head for his anti-Prussian activities.
Two of the many reasons I have never liked "narrow-minded Southern bigot" (in the words of those who knew him) Woodrow Fucking Wilson., the greatest hypocrite to ever occupy the White House and the most over-rated president ever. The Unreconstructed Confederate who nationalized Jim Crow.
Wow, it got personal. Can’t imagine killing a “German” dog. Or burning a barn full of livestock. Although a MAGAt fool bragged on FB that he killed his beloved dog to see if he would be able to kill a stranger. Sometimes I don’t think humanity is very human.
I have thought of that several times lately. That and “Freedom isn’t free” they all spouted as W had us invading Iraq which had absolutely nothing to do with our freedom. Same idiots burning the cd’s of the Dixie Chicks as those pouring out and boycotting Bud Light. Cut off your nose to spite your face because “you know.” Fighting that mentality is so exhausting…but absolutely necessary now.
Oh, my bff’s son was a W lover. Made me puke. I thought that we aren’t that stupid back then, with daily proof that some are. He was a major jerk when he was in jr high. Took after his dad. Lord, what memories. So depressing. And then we get chump, hard to fathom. The tea party, was the connection.
This was another action that happened to us, which is similar to the dachshund story. When JFK was assassinated we were terrified on a Los Angeles freeway by a crazed driver who tried to force us off the road because our VW bug had Texas plates. (My Naval officer husband had just come off active duty; he had registered car in his hometown, Lufkin, TX before we met. We were fairly recently married in CA, and hadn’t changed the plates. We did then.)
Hmmm TC reading your post, I am stumped? Has the world made progress since then, regressed or same level of ignorance/Southern Bigotry? Wilson vs Trump? Burning a farm vs sacking the Capitol? Killing a dog because of German origins vs Kristi Noem shooting her own dog? I am still stumped?
T.C. is the sort of person to believe that, since we haven't entirely cured the nation of bigotry and ignorance, it was all for naught and everything is still terrible.
I guess this is the silver lining to being clinically diagnosed OCD. I used to *feel* like because an otherwise cozy blanket had a wrinkle in it, that made it no better than garbage. (I'm not kidding. I have spent months of my life unable to either sleep or get up because my blankets and clothes were constantly "wrong." It's a disease.) However, years of therapy has forced me to realize that I *know* that perception is not actually true. I had no choice but train myself out of the cognitive distortions, because the only other alternative was my brain literally destroying me from the inside out. It is now amazing to me to see how most people walk through life with some smaller form of this, never questioning the validity of these thoughts.
It is a battle you recognized and overcame. Not an easy one. A lesson for us all, even those of us who never had a clinical diagnosis. No, everything is not for naught, but lessons learned at a cost. Thank you.
I don't actually believe it; that was a throwaway snarky joke. In fact we have made much progress politically and socially, and I am very proud of the fact that my ancestors played important (if small) roles in making that progress. Which is why I do what I do politically and professionally. I don't want to lose that progress to the Know Nothings, who have been there working their malign influence from the beginning.
I also know about (and respect you for what you did) things like OCD, being myself Autistic/ADHD (if you know what it is, as I have learned, it becomes a superpower when you use its capabilities, rather than the curse I thought it was all my life before going to work on the issue).
The one thing folks like us have to learn is not to be so literal minded all the time - use that power when necessary. Good on you!
I really liked what your were saying until the last paragraph, not because you dislike President Wilson, but because of tone of expression. ln any case, I am sorry that your forebears had to endure that. This trumpism is not new, just packaged differently.
Go read Wilson's record. The first thing he did on taking office was institute Jim Crow in the Federal civil service, which had been a light of progressive hiring and one of the few employers in America that did give Blacks equal treatment in hiring and promotions. When it came to World War I he really did run as a hypocrite "He kept us out of war!" and when he went in, he was the one who got the Espionage Act passed, He sent antiwar activists to some really bad prisons (I knew some of them like Ammon Hennacy back in the 60s and heard the stories of Atlanta Federal Prison first-hand). As to his "internationalism" with the Fourteen Points and all, that was limited to the white Europeans of the countries re-emerging from the wreckage of the Austro-Hungarian Empire; he was fine with carving up the Ottoman Empire between France and Britain and handing Germany's African colonies to the British and South Africans, in the name of "leading them to civilization." When Nguyen Ai Quoc tried to get him to support independence for Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos under the 14 Points, he wasn't even given an appointment, being "Asian," so the man who would become Ho Chi Minh and make life difficult for Wilson's successors became a Communist since the Bolsheviks supported "national liberation." Nothing Wilson did was like the "progressive" movement made him out to be until his Confederate white supremacy couldn't be swept under the rug anymore and the truth came out starting in the 60s as those of us who wanted to deal with truth in history began researching how we got into Vietnam.
A word of advice: don't McDoodle with someone who does this professionally.
Thanks TC for that information … I immediately read up on Thomas Woodrow Wilson. At times, there seems to be so little time with so that I want to do - hence, I sleep less as I narrow in on 4 score.
The war information effort must have been at least somewhat effective in the run-up to World War II. I recent read my father's English class journal in high school during the 1940-41 year. It was obvious to him that the U.S. would be going to war and he was busy readying himself for the task.
Thank you, TC. I thought that the best thing about Wilson's term was when he had his stroke and his wife was running things. He was truly a "narrow-minded Southern bigot".
He's never been listed by observers as anything but the Dumbest President Ever. Wilson had this undeserved reputation as a Big Progressive when what he was was a Big Regressive.
During WWI, my grandfather and his brother used to get beat up walking to and from school in Oregon for their German accents and German name. They were Russian immigrants, but from German-speaking villages established in Russia in the 1700’s. They both served in the US Army between the big wars. After WWII, my great uncle changed his last name from Hamburg to Hammond.
My maternal grandmother was born within the German Empire, emigrating here when she was a young girl. According to my mother, she was ostracized during WWI… I wish I’d asked more questions! My aunts Anglasized their German name. Again, wish I had asked questions. So my family experienced lots of negativity…
NewsGuard has identified the fugitive Florida Deputy Sheriff & Putin's disinformation agent as JOHN MARK DOUGAN. On 6/3/24, the New York Times reported that Dougan has been granted asylum in Moscow.
Thursday 6/13 Update: On Dougan's status, I will review data from Clemson University's Media Forensics HUB.
I've done video work with the Liberty Ship John W Brown in Baltimore which is the only 1942 Liberty ship built in Baltimore that is still operating and taking people out on Living History cruises on Chesapeake Bay.
The poster art put out during the 40's to inspire the workforce is truly impressive. They hammered home the idea that what the workers (many female and people of color) did to build these ships was as important as the soldiers the ships were built to serve. There was also a body of photography of these people doing their jobs that was distributed to the masses to see this work in action.
German U Boats were sinking a huge number of cargo ships just off of our coast early in the war. We had to replace those ships and build more to overwhelm the ability of the U Boats to sink ships. Guarded convoys were born and by 1944 we had the upper hand, between sinking U Boats and building new cargo ships. A Naval historian that I interviewed said that the Liberty Ship and LST were the 2 most important vessels built during WWII.
By working together in a focused fashion we defeated the Nazi's. We can defeat the fascist right wing here again, by staying focused and working together.
I was a four-year old in Dundalk, near Baltimore, in 'forty-four'; what I remember best were the trains carrying tanks, guns, jeeps and trucks, rattling past, day and night, on the railroad tracks behind our apartment- you could see them passing all night, in the lights of the distillery on the other side of the tracks. All the equipment was headed for Europe; it was an exciting time for us kids.
My father was not in the military during WWII, but was a mechanical engineer with Mack Trucks here in Allentown, PA. I’m sure some of what you saw going by came from Mack!!!
I grew up in Hagerstown which also has a Mack Truck plant. My father managed a ready mixed concrete facility in Hagerstown and they bought Mack trucks exclusively. They gave my dad a Bulldog hood ornament ashtray.
Does sound exciting for kids. Your tale reminds me of the scene in 'The Best Years of Our Lives' when Fred Derry visits his parents. Being close to that machinery would have been fun.
Dundalk was a hot bed of activity. They built more Liberty Ships near there than in any other location in America and a huge amount of weapons, trucks, etc were shipped out of Baltimore as you witnessed.
It's nice to be missed and good to be back. We recently sold our over 100 year old house, bought a condo, downsized and moved. It's been VERY consuming. I'm just getting time to write again.
All the best in your new home. BTW, where I live in VA is about 40 minutes from Hagerstown and had jobs there during my working days. I keep forgetting I don't live in Maryland anymore...even though it's been over 20 years 😕
I was an independent contractor for a few court reporting agencies. We covered several depositions of witnesses who were employed at the hospital off of Route 40 in Hagerstown. I also went to a few law firms in the area. Mostly, I enjoyed the journey, passing by Burkittsville where the Blair Witch Project movie was made, the surrounding areas of Antietam/Sharpsburg, Boonsboro, Funkstown, and other notable places like Williamsport and seeing what the Potomac River looked like compared to what it looks like nearer to where I live. Funny thing about that river, I have always lived near it, starting back when I was born in Washington, D.C.!
I used to do video depositions before 1999 as a part of our services. I'm sure we know a lot of the same people. Shirley Nigh, Art Schneider and a bunch of other lawyers. I always loved it when attorneys from Balt or DC would come up and think they had some real hayseed hick lawyers on their hands. Some of the Hagerstown lawyers could give them a very good run for their money.
A fine, interesting column, as is almost always the case with the remarkable Dr. Richardson. I first learned about George Creel and the USG propaganda efforts during WW1 when I served as a graduate teaching assistant for an introductory US History class. Never learned anything about those topics either in HS or as an undergraduate at a different institution. It appears that the USG learned a lot from the WW1 experience that helped guide their efforts during WW2 but they squandered that experience almost immediately by scattering the human resources that had obtained it and failing to develop new practitioners.
Still, having grown up in the immediate post-WW2 era, I remember staring at our new black-and-white TV in the early morning hours waiting for the test pattern to give way to short programs like "The Big Picture," and "Industry on Parade" and later watching documentaries like "Victory at Sea" or dramas like "Navy Log," "The Silent Service," and "West Point." It could be that this was a form of propaganda that helped maintain confidence in the political, military, and commercial establishment of the '50s.
If so, it led to a complacency among both the establishment and the American people that was shattered by the revelations that accompanied the Vietnam War.
I had forgotten about "Victory At Sea". My recollection is that there was something special about that program. As children of WW2 parents, we learned more about the war from programs on our "new-fangled" TV sets than we heard from our parents.
There were more than a few special things about that series. The score, by Robert Russel Bennet and Richard Rogers, was an outstanding accompaniment to the documentary images. And we got the main theme with every episode. Another was the documentary footage itself. Who could ever forget the clip of the damaged aircraft attempting to land on its carrier then breaking apart as it skittered across the flight deck?
Some of the footage was sobering, even for a little kid. We were the good guys, and so we always won. My dad had to explain to his dumbfounded son that in some of these clips the good guys were getting bombed, shot down or sunk. Yes, we won, but there was a cost to be paid.
I’m old enough to be called a historical relic. Rereading my original post I see a syntactic issue that could lead readers to amused comments. I was not a graduate student during WW1. I’m old, but not THAT old 😁
Thank you for bringing a smile to my face. 🤝 The 'tuition' quip is a humorous way of complimenting you for fine content. 😉 If messing up on spelling and grammar is indicative of fading cognition, I am already a gonner. 🤭
From Encyclopedia Brittanica: Loyalists constituted about one-third of the population of the American colonies during that conflict. They were not confined to any particular group or class, but their numbers were strongest among the following groups: officeholders and others who served the British crown, Anglican clergymen and their parishioners; Quakers, members of German religious sects, and other conscientious pacifists; and large landholders and wealthy merchant groups. The most common trait among all loyalists was an innate conservatism.
And it's 1,2,3 what are we fighting for? Don't ask me I don't give a damn the next stop is Ukraine man... Country Joe and the Fish (with apologies).
This is why it's so easy for MAGAs to support Putin. Virtually every Republican blindly believes the MAGA lies and Convicted Felon Donald Trump knows it.
Struggling to find new ways to mislead people? Worried a pesky reporter will expose you?
Use this INSIDER'S GUIDE adapted by Democracy Labs from research by Dr. Rand Waltzman, disinformation expert to improve your ability to lie, evade questions, intimidate journalists and spread disinformation.
If you read the linked article, the opener is using sarcasm to draw people in, leading them to a graphic showing them how to recognize the disinformation tactics in action. This is a website dedicated to COUNTERING disinfo using pro-democracy messaging. They are making the point you have to understand how the enemy operates in order to counter them effectively.
I am reminded on the daily just how many people are not fluent in sarcasm.
Thank you for saying that, Will. 🤝 I am grateful you did. 🙏 Now I can go to sleep (sic). 🤞 I may pull my comment in the morning; it is alarmist and raise some good points. 💡 Thank you, again. 🤝
¿Can the fairness rule be re-instituted and enforced, not only upon specific news outlets, but also in the information-feeding algorithm in the various social media? If nothing else, the user-experience on social media would then have 'pro' and 'con' misinformation. That 'fairness' may stimulate users to exercise discrimination rather than slide into an echo chamber of passivity.
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I have always believed that getting one's news from the social media is like trying to catch flying croutons with one's mouth and calling that dinner. Truth in packaging: ¡I have acquired a taste for bits of burnt toast! We have a lot of information gathering and dissemination to do. NOTE: link to an article in 'The Economist' and references to it removed owing to reasonable objections.✍️
I posted farther up the page about The Economist's current model. Not only is it very much going against the grain should not be shared or repeated. Individual models cannot be trusted to tell the whole story accurately, and perceptions of strength are an important weapon in politics.
Reminder: Bloomberg had an economic model that predicted a 100% chance of recession in 2022. So much for that.
1st DRAFT of THIS RESPONSE DELETED. I was throwing a bit of a hissy-fit. I should know better. But, then, it is the middle of the night here in Maryland -- when I am apt to write something I regret. Bottom-line: listen to Will's concerns.
Sorry, Ned. I realized I responded to the wrong original comment and copy/pasted it where it should have been. I did not delete this one entirely because I thought that would be rude in case you were busy responding. You are free to copy/paste your response up there as well.
No problem. I think you are right. There are other gaps in the methodology applied in the polling by 'The Economist'. One biggie is that the "fundamentals" used based upon incumbency does not account for third parties.
'The Economist' describes its methods and acknowledges the other polling results. In fact, the article states that, per its model, it assigned an 83% probability of President Biden winning at this stage in the 2020 campaign. Sorry, I do not think one should put his or her head in the sand on this one. This is going to be an razor-thin race. The up-shot of 'The Economist', for me at least, is that we need to get cracking on stratcomms.
🤞
Personally, without the aid of statistics and just going on my often inaccurate gut, President Biden will be re-elected because Mr Kennedy will siphon off more votes from Trump than President Biden as blue-collar Trump supporters, mostly Reagan Democrats, migrate toward Mr Kennedy's mix of iconoclasm and traditional welfare state politics. That is where messaging from neutral sounding entities would be helpful.
Restoring the "fairness doctrine" wouldn't do much to restore balanced media reporting because it could only apply to broadcast media that are regulated by the Fed. Communications Commission. Most media outlets today, including cable and, of course, Internet-based outlets, are not regulated.
Well, I was hoping it could be extended to all media -- substacks and social media, too. I know that is mission implausible, likely impossible; simply a wish.
WE ARE LOSING THE GLOBAL INFORMATION/PROPAGANDA WAR
Anne Applebaum’s May, 2024 The Atlantic article DEMOCRACY IS LOSING THE PROPAGANDA WAR highlights what Heather discusses.
“Disinformation” is a high priority in Russia, China, Iran, and elsewhere in the global struggle between ‘democracy’ and ‘authoritarians.’ The bad guys are tremendously focused, high budgeted, and they are winning.
In this age of rampant social media, the authoritarians seek to highlight the glaring weaknesses of others while whitewashing what’s going on within their police states. One of their greatest assets are what Trump and his sycophants say about the United States. When a recent American president bloviates about the massive weaknesses of the United States, this is corn for authoritarian propaganda geese.
I remember when the United States had a reasonably well organized ‘public relations’ organization. It was called USIA (United States Information Agency). It was initiated under Ike early in the Cold War.
It had offices attached to embassies worldwide. It produced Voice of America, Radio Free Europe, and numerous cultural/information programs with a Cold War focus.
Jim Brown, a cousin, was a USIA officer in India. A first-class newsman, eventually he spent a decade on the New York Times editorial board. Edward R. Murrow, at the time the leading American newsman, in 1961 became director of USIA.
In 1999 USIA was ‘merged’ into the State Department. As a former Foreign Service Officer, I believe that our ‘information/propaganda’ focus has virtually disappeared in this Fudge Factory.
WE ARE IN A GLOBAL WAR FOR THE HEARTS AND MINDS OF BILLIONS OF PEOPLE. THE AUTHORITARIANS, MIGHTILY ASSISTED BY THE NEGATIVISM OF TRUMPISTS, HAVE A TREMENDOUS ADVANTAGE IN THIS SOCIAL MEDIA WAR.
I don’t believe that we currently have the capacity to wage this war effectively. I expect the authoritarians to meddle in our 2024 presidential elections.
Thank you for this, Keith. I don't like your conclusions, but I see that happening in my own small world. I have a wondering if this isn't exacerbated by the "hard wiring" differences between self-identified liberals (who tend to access the frontal lobes when evaluating information) and self-identified conservatives (who tend to access the midbrain when evaluating information). I also have a personal belief that forces both within and without our government have been utilizing propaganda to influence our elections.
USIA could range from excellent to poor, often depending on the individuals involved. When I was researching NASSER’S NEW EGYPT: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS, Bill Weatherby was the USIA head in Cairo. He was excellent and eventually given the rare accolade of being named ambassador elsewhere.
In 1960, after my book was published, I returned to Egypt and stopped by the see the new USIA. He was surprised to hear of my book (which Nasser had banned more than two months earlier). He insisted that I immediately go in to see the new ambassador. i demurred, but he insisted.
The ambassador and I had nothing much to discuss. When he was counselor at Atate and named ambassador to Egypt, I had sent him galley proofs of my book.
In Chile, Ambassador Korey desperately wanted to get hold of some correspondence involved the Catholic archbishop. When USIA couldn’t held, he asked if I could get it. It took me less than an hour, dealing with an Opus Dei close buddy of mine, to obtain what the ambassador wanted.
At its best, USIA had a cadre of communications professionals who often were good at their jobs. Once USIA was disbanded and slivered into the State Department, NOPE. Long ago CIA would support some publications and engage in ‘news placements.’ Don’t know if they are so involved these days, though burgeoning social media would complicate their past practice of bribing media folks.
FDR was one of the greats on so many fronts. And Eleanor Roosevelt was no slouch. We haven't really had anyone who has risen to their level. Jack and Bobby Kennedy launched some good programs. But, I have to say that man's inhumanity to man seems to be getting worse. There was a brief period when I had high hopes, despite my work as a climate activist and my ongoing concerns about Climate Change. America is now rated as the nation with the most guns per capita. No other country comes close. We are the only country in the world with more guns than people. And our prison system is the biggest profit industry in the nation.
The ME is 'on fire' again. And close to 60% of Israelis say no one respects their country. Personally, I believe they need to take a closer look at Netanyahu as the source of lack of respect. Globally Biden has more respect... and leads over Trump by 20%. Seems kind of low to me... Trump never has been nor will be a diplomat.
Good that Heather at the end gets to the work of America's great photographers then.
Yes, Roy Stryker's array of incredible talent roamed the American land -- artists all, they knew how to see the human and to let those photos all tell so much more.
That's what decent humanities do -- so absolutely in contradistinction to bureaucracies.
We have the equivalent now to that great corps of photographers then at the Farm Security Administration. So many in-touch film makers, musicians, novelists, memoirists -- and we need our Dems to tout them, name them, their work, and the larger stories they exemplify.
We need them for another reason. As Heather shows elsewhere in hers today, Russia has enrolled most U.S. Republican higher-ups in its campaign to vilify America, sow distrust in our institutions. It's working. These Republicans, working both clandestinely and openly for Putin, do as much damage or more than the U.S. social media billionaires also spreading hatreds and divisiveness.
Right up to the Clarence court, where Taliban Alito openly admits the need for his side to win in its campaign for state coerciveness to curtail, erode, control first American women, finally destroy our nearly 250-year-long secular American democracy.
If knowledge is power, then the attack on that knowledge via lies, propaganda, and disinformation represents power as well. State-sponsored propaganda campaigns are now a well-funded component of any serious adversary. The Mueller Report provided an array of evidence of Putin's involvement in efforts to destabilize and polarize Americans leading up to the 2016 Presidential campaign. The polarization fit nicely with the continuing GOP efforts to divide Americans along the lines of race, gun violence, women's rights, climate, and more. Putin's desire for a weak America, and the MAGA/Trump/GOP's interest in anti-democracy authoritarianism are neatly aligned.
People who understand that any meaningful form of democracy requires an educated, informed, and engaged society know that a society is far more susceptible to disinformation campaigns when:
a typical education becomes an indoctrination into obedient hyper-consumerism instead of an exposure to a wide-array of knowledge and experiences with research and critical thinking.
The profit motive has also provided the dry kindling for the fires of lies, propaganda, disinformation, and conspiracy theories. While a certain amount of cynicism is healthy -when people are rejecting fundamental public health initiatives such as a measles or polio vaccine because of Big Pharma or Bill Gates, or whatever some wild beast is shouting into a microphone in their basement, distributed by "fee" speech absolutist (provided it's not attacking him or questioning his intellect) Elon Musk's former Twitter) and then picked up by Fox "News" it is a major problem for society. It's why you need a government of, for, and by the people -to establish agencies that will assess drug and vaccine efficacy and safety.
We don't need foreign propaganda, we have faux snooze.
I have been spending time with a new friend. She's hates the donvict but tells me she doesn't like President Biden much either.
So I tell her that while President Biden isn't perfect, he's trying to work for ordinary people like me and her.
I'm hoping that by talking to her about what President Biden is trying to do and what repubs are trying to stop, she will see that he is the one to vote for, rather sitting out the election.
She is not the first person I've talked to about this.
It's these conversations that can make a difference.
And it's easy to do in a way that you're not telling them who to vote for.
"Donald Trump is their [Russian propagandists] favorite weapon against America. Trump is described as a friend and ally, "our Trumpushka" and "Donald Fredovych." Out of office, he is described as Russia's great hope. He is "sorely missed"; Russia is "ready to elect you again". Russia propagandists had no trouble predicting that Trump would try a coup when he lost in 2020, because that is a familiar sort of behavior to them. They rejoiced when he did , because they thought that this could lead to a civil war in the United States. Their coverage of Trump's coup attempt was at first highly positive. When it failed, a very awkward pivot was made to the position that it had all been some sort of provocation by the Democrats.
One of the things that Russian propagandists expect not to be noticed, but which is brought home in the book [Julia Davis's new book on Russian television propagandists, In Their Own Words] , is that they believe that Trump is an idiot. Of course, it's hard to see, from their perspective, how they can believe anything else (except, perhaps, that he is a traitor, as is also sometimes hinted). In their public worldview, destroying the United States is the main aim, and here is an American who follows their talking points."
- Timothy Snyder
I think what neither HCR nor Snyder mentions is the elephant in the room: the foreign manipilators are not just counting on the candidates they prop up being useful idiots. They are operating under the assumption that the social media black hole in and of itself has made a whole population of useful idiots.
I am apparently one of a disappoingly slim percentage of my age cohort who does not have any sort of social media and never has. Avoiding being smug about it becomes more challenging by the day. People can always point to some benefit they feel they are getting out of it, yet they seem unwilling to do the cost part of cost/benefit analysis. The benefits are so dwarfed by the costs, on both an individual and global level. People of my brothers' age (24) have never been without it, so could be extended some sympathy for buying into the perception of social media as necessary, omnipresent, and inevitable. Yet I am flabbergasted at the number of older people who act as if they couldn't do without something that they did not need nor want for much of their adult life. This is not the invention of the telephone or the clothes washer we are talking about here! There is nothing that this product offers that could not be achieved just as well with another mode of communicative technology (or no technology), and it actively eats time from people's day rather than giving it back to them.
I am trying to impress upon people that literally everything you read, see, or hear on these sites that has anything to do with current events should be disregarded. If you aren't getting information from the online source of a reputable print journalism outfit, just assume it is not real. Period. Social media when it comes to news is wildfire inside a hurricane, an uncontrollably destructive whirl of disinfo and "hot takes." People understand by now that how "friends" represent themselves on Instagram is an unreliable view into their "authentic" lives. Why on God's Green Earth would you expect the representation of public figures or breaking news - positive or negative - to be any less of a crock? The constant influx of negative stimulus is definitely breeding paranoia among users, but why would one not take the chance to direct your conspiratorially-minded energy back to the stream of media itself? If experts are to be believed, seems like the one thing you actually have some cause to be paranoid about, no?
Long story short, everyone needs to give themselves a gift and get off this ride. I will be sitting under a tree reading a book. Come on over, it's nice here, you aren't missing anything you wouldn't want to miss. I promise!
Except that I found HCR on social media.
As did I and let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater!
HCR and so many others.
I note that many of my social media contacts are people I "met" through forums (motorcycling and tuba playing) that I participated in from 2004 until either their demise (an amazing motorcycle forum where I have met some wonderful people) or until some changes in management (the tuba forum) really chased a lot of us away.
And I for one, am glad I met you here, Ally.
And I, you.
I found her on Facebook. I feel so blessed to have accidentally had a pop up that I read. I have learned so much in the last few years.
I connected with friends from elementary school! Baby & the bath water for sure…
I cancelled my Facebook "page" the day I found out Mark Fukerberg sold data to Cambridge Analytica. Read "Burn Book," and listen to Pivot with Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway so at least you understand how unsocial social media is, how unintelligent AI is, how the Internet has deninished your choices not expanded them (Beyonce and Swift). It is about making the big four richer and richer. Facebook is Oxy for the masses and Mark cares zero about the patient, like the Sacklers. Media has lost to silicon valley.
I just never got the appeal of Facebook. I reconnected with people I thought I wanted to get to know better as adults. It was interesting but not enriching. No regrets about not following anybody or not being followed. Never had a twitter or tictoc account. Why do I need them?
Lately I've been wondering if I actually need a subscription to the NYTs (I'd miss the recipes and games) or WAPO (tepid tea)....because I've noticed a subtle change....one not so positive article about Biden interspersed with 10 articles about the latest Trump manifesto and spin pieces in guest opinions. Did the "media" learn nothing from 2016? I just don't understand why the average person doesn't already understand that their independence has been surrendered and the only way they can get it back is by abandoning the internet sites designed for narcissists and haters.
Instead of outright ‘Yellow Journalism’ of the late 19th century, they are practicing a beige-color journalism signifying a kind of marketing for the greatest number but still appeasing the capitalistic marketplace instead of import truthing.
I cancelled my NYT subscription after a week of finding nothing at all worth reading. And then they put up a very sweet video about the power of, of all things, knitting.
I would miss the recipes.
Just fyi, when I signed up again I got it for a dollar a week for six months. So every six months I'll cancel again. Until they figure it out,
That's how I do it. I think I get a 3 months for 5 bucks deal about every 6 months (after dropping it after 2 months and 29 days).
I am thinking of it too. But I would miss the editorials by Thomas Friedman.
Me too because I like the recipes.
I miss Facebook. I had friends from childhood to my work colleagues, hundreds, lost when it crashed in March. They want my SSN, driver's license /passport, so I will not be rejoining. Also banned on x.
IMHO it's because of my political views. I'm not alone.
I ask people who are on Facebook to protest.
Daniel, I missed fecebook when I first deleted my account in 2000, but now like a recovering addict consider myself fecebook-free for 4 years. (maybe I'll get a triangle tat with a 4 in it:) I missed a lot of friends from there, but were they? Those that I was quite close to connected by e-mail and I occasionally get response from them. The others are just digital manifestations that I thot were friends. I did find a half-sister that I lost contact with for 40 years and have since visited her and keep in touch by fone & e-mail. Before leaving, I discovered a very loving, liberal friend I knew from the '70s had become a MAGAt with her new husband so blocked her just as I did with any tRump supporter I knew IRL.
Oh, I have also been twit free-for 2 years and never missed it. My only social net now is MeWe and wish ppl & agencies would stop linking to fecebook & twit as if everyone is still wading in those cesspools.
Just a quick comment--I had become increasingly disappointed with the NYT, but love the crosswords and games (and didn't want to break my crossword streak, haha). I recently switched to "games only," which is about $6/month, and I now get the content I want. It was hard at first to let go of the recipes, but I can find much better recipes by googling, so aside from downloading a few favorites, I'm content to live without the recipes.
Yes I quit FB then too Martha for all the same reasons. It was such a relief. I find the practice of mindfulness is the enrichment ingredient now.
I still have. an fb account but don’t use it, aside from forwarding the occasional post I make to Instagram. But even that is becoming something of a hellscape, full of bots and/or knuckle-draggers in the comments anytime somebody has something to say about lgbtq+ issues or Gaza. I’m an artist but thank goodness I don’t try to promote anything there because it’s become completely useless for engagement.
As for the Times, I had a sub to them for a time but their continued both-sides slant made me give up. I moved to the WAPO…same thing happened. Then I landed on the Guardian and they do it as well. I bailed the day they published an article about that ridiculous “report” came out about Biden’s memory issues, with absolutely no mention of the political nature of the thing. So I’ve pretty much given up on these fronts. The daily Letters is about all I need (or can handle) for the ugly parts of the world.
Never signed up for Facebook but did start to signup for Linkedin thinking it was better suited to professionals I'd want to stay in touch with or converse with. It quickly turned into a mess with requests coming out of nowhere, or links to people I knew of in sensitive positions. The absolute worst was quickly finding out that many of the requests that appeared to come from people I knew didn't come from them at all.
Unfortunate that LinkedIn actually was begun as a legitimate place for business/resumes/job searching/hiring.
I never look at LinkedIn any more since a woman I thought was a close friend started sending me Alex Jines stuff there, I should have known who she really was when she started praying for me and put a Ben Carson sticker on her company car, calling on scientists, whom I'm pretty sure would not at all appreciate her political beliefs. Smfh
I didn't have the problem of actual friends sending such stuff, I think because I started calling them to see if it was actually them who sent requests for links. Since half of them weren't actually from friends (just appeared to be from them), I had called the first dozen or so to tell them I wasn't going to respond to any Linkedin notices. That made it much easier to just let them know anytime I received something supposedly from them. I suspect that pretty much curbed their enthusiasm for Linkedin, too.
I cancelled my NYT subscription of 17 yrs due to their obvious bias for trump & anti Biden. It's over the top & ridiculous how they seem to be doing what they can to get trump elected. I don't believe anything in the NYT anymore & now I buy crossword books instead.
I never bother with the Post and I read selected bits from the NYT and always do the crossword and some other puzzles. I like the recipes, the science section, and the book review. Our local rag long ago ceased to be a newspaper when it was bought by Gannett.
That "molasses" accident must have been something to have actually experienced, actually living there, right on your street! Gawwwd!!!
You lost me after the Sackler comment. Are you inferring Zuckerberg, Sackler and by extension, Jews are dishonest and not to be trusted? Don't even tell me about your views on Israelis.
Facebook was likened to “Oxy” which is oxycodone—the highly addictive pain pill that The Sackler Family—owners of the company that promoted Oxy to doctors, encouraging them to write more prescriptions.
Just an observation - you are the one 'inferring' things. You're trying to say that the person you're writing to is 'implying' them.
Call me paranoid! I'm accustomed to the siren calls. I see it in the propaganda used here in this country everyday of the week. I see it on college campuses, where Jews are being singled out for their religion. I hear it from attendees to religious institutions that have experienced these subliminal accusations. Yes, I see it in the commentary, where what most would call an innocent comment gets a ground swell of praise because the writer doesn't come right out and say what they think. Sought of like tRump. He doesn't have to say what he wants, his followers are well aware of what he wants, and they fall into line.
Lest you believe I am prejudiced, think again! My daughter married a Christian. My son is going with a religious Catholic. My granddaughter is in a serious relationship with a christian. I love them all. What gets my feathers up are comments like Fuckerrberg and Sackler. This isn't the first time Martha has made comments like these
Cancelled mine awhile ago, the WAPO too
It has become a cesspool, and we are as stuck as the people in the flood of molasses in 1919. But some of us can wade out.
Well stated. Since I retired, I got back into reading more and more. Something to the tune of 120 books since 2016. Read so much while working, did not take time to expand my brain. I will join you with a book. If you read my posts today, it will confirm what you are saying about how the MSM and social feeds are being used against us. Flood the zone with s..t is what those that seek to tear down democracy works. The social media universe is a perfect vehicle to do what they do and it is also the perfect example of how unregulated (libertarian) capitalism is dangerous for society.
As a retired academic librarian and 86, I applaud your reading of more books. I also receive the wise words of Phillip Gulley, a Quaker pastor in Indiana.
I love cats and Mysteries. 🐈⬛🐈
I am also a retired librarian, high school and I have always been a reader. And while we no longer have a cat, we do read lots of mysteries.
Flood the zone....
It's the firehose strategy.
https://yadontknow.blogspot.com/2022/02/a-gloved-fist.html
Ah yes, libertarian capitalism, in which the only acceptable objective is quarterly profit for the few, where there are no citizens, only consumers in search of new things to consume…in which soon the capital itself is consumed, leaving only a wasteland.
Propganda is a booming business. PhysOrg reports that the number of phoney/partisan news portals now outnumber mainstram news sites, and they're frequently employing AI to produce their content:
https://phys.org/news/2024-06-phony-news-portals-surpass-newspaper.html
Good Lord, Goebbels would be orgasmic
BRAIN BLEACH, STAT!!!!
Lower than whale-poop.
Now I can't unthink that.
It is as disgusting as it gets
While I do spend time on the internet, I believe I am selective enough to actually benefit from the sources I've learned to respect. Beau of the fifth column is one of these. Heather is another. I also Like cat videos. 😊 But I agree wholeheartedly with many of the points you raise. I no longer always carry my phone with me. I ignore many of the feeds Google sends me since so many of their headlines turn out to be click bait. And yes, I have recently returned to actual book reading since I now have time away from my screens. So thank you for your post and have a great day under that tree of yours. 🌳
Will, using social media is not a bad thing...if you compare notes, you can discerne the truth. But, social media platforms need to be more accountable for ferreting out foreign manipulators.
I utilize FB as an amazing educational resource. I follow a wide variety of pages that cover topics of art, architecture, history, gardening, astronomy, animal rescues, vintage ceramics, cooking, kayaking, photography, gardening, and more. Plus I can easily stay in touch with friends & relatives around the world. And yes, I also follow political analysts like Heather Cox Richardson & Jay Kuo., and read books , too. So you can be smug if you like, but you might be underestimating what you are also missing.
Same! I love seeing what far-flung family and friends are up to. The rest of my Facebook feed is animals, photography, recipes, gardening and art. People who call Facebook a cesspool are interacting with content that causes the algorithm to create a cesspool.
Yes, I think unfortunately many people just don't realize how positive & enriching FB can be. They also don't utilize their power to shape their feed by simply deleting content that is objectionable, and electing to view pages that are more uplifting. I have a network of many amazing, talented friends who also use FB as a positive resource, so I know you & I are not alone. 😊
Sunni, this is exactly how I feel
About social media. I have learned a lot about art, flowers, antiques, etc. The NatGeo site is great for following animals, archeology, and so much more! This is not to mention how much I love the photos sent by family and friends here and abroad.
I hear you, but without social media, we are left with mainstream media, which had been downplaying the threats, and both-sidsing the issues. I found HCR, Jay Kuo, Joyce Vance and others on social media. It's a two-sided coin--back in the day, we all had one news source (like Walter Cronkite), and we all believed what we were told, because that was pretty much all we had access to. That's kind of the problem now--lots of older folks watch and trust Fox News, because they assume it's a regular news channel, like the ones they had when they were younger. Misinformation is here to stay, whether it's in social media on on TV. It's our job to discern facts from propaganda. It's not easy!
Bullseye!
"Lots of older folks" listen to 2 minutes of Fox Entertainment and say: "WTF??" The disability goes deeper than age, imho.
Or, we can pull on our big girl panties and learn how to operate within the newest technology while protecting ourselves.
Yeah but we succeeded in building the tower where Nimrod failed. So there’s that.
They do not think it is their job to ethically manage what is posted, nor do they care to because they will lose money. It's a platform for making shareholders money, not a newspaper or a network. In that regard, hate, outrage, threats, blood, and sex sell, truth is not part of the algorithm.
I hear you and I’m on social media and it’s like the ridiculous things people write, I’m like is that a real person or a bot.... it feels like click baiting
I report the profiles that are clear bots and propaganda. Not that the platform does anything
with their references to "Russian Times & Epoch times"....meh
I am with you young person. FB made is really difficult to officially delete. Instagram is overwhelming. And journalism/truth was once more reliable. It’s easy to see the bias and propaganda through some news writers. Such a shame. Bring on book reading!
Refreshing to hear. There was a time when people from diverse backgrounds kept themselves actively informed. My father who never finished grade school and mother who got her GED at age forty got their information from our small town’s two local papers and nearby larger Scranton Times and Scranton Tribune. And in addition on Sunday on our way home from church we brought home two of the New York City newspapers. Now reputable resources like those above are going under and replaced by sensationalizing lazy “ journalism “ spreading disinformation and propaganda that gives us the pablum we want. In place of taking an active skeptical and critical approach to getting our information we become cynical and complacent
I too avoid social media. I read books, a few substack authors, and articles from trusted news organizations.
We urgently need government
regulation of the SM platforms that includes taking down the bad actors and their bots. Immediately. Everyday. They should not be able to cross the digital line and post their divisive propaganda on any SM platform.
The people who believe the propaganda you are talking about are not reading your post.
Very frightening to say the least. The key is to get families talking about politics, arguing out what they think American democracy is and means; that is, to re-engage in republican citizenship. NOTE: reference to a recent article in 'The Economist' deleted.🤔
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6946424340980645888/ 🗽
By the way, Trump has called on the members of the 06jan21 Committee to be indicted for destroying evidence. I wonder if he is saying that because he wants to destroy evidence if he wins; that is, obstruct justice and blame it upon the special committee. 💔
EXTREMELY IMPORTANT regarding predictive model from The Economist (and others): Do not take it as an accurate assessment. IGNORE IT. Do not repeat it or share it with anyone.
The Economist model is going against the 538 Model (Biden ahead), the Moody's Model (Biden ahead), and the Economist's own polling averages (!!!) as of recently (Biden ahead). In 2022, that same model incorrectly predicted a bunch of losses that did not materialize. I'm not saying they built a poor model on purpose or anyone should be paranoid or only listen to the models that give you answers you like. But OMG people, I'm begging you, stop taking an individual poll or model as gospel, and don't assume that because something is shared more it is more true!
The idea that Republicans are winning against all historical precedent is a central - maybe THE central - component of their narrative right now. They are trading off the *perception* of having the upper hand because they don't actually have it. People like backing a perceived winner. This illusion of strength is essential to the rise of every authoritarian movement. Acting like pro-democracy candidates have "sobering" chances of success, when they have actually been on an almost unbroken winning streak nationally for six whole years, plays into those hands. We literally just had a special Congressional race in Ohio where the Dem overperformed by TWENTY points despite spending essentially no money. That doesn't happen if your party is weak and your standard-bearer is behind. It just doesn't.
In politics, you need to act like the presumptive champ even if you aren't ahead. To act like you are behind when you are actually ahead is simply inexcusable.
It shouldn't be surprising that the Economist, a publication that loves welfare for the rich, tax cuts, and anything that drives profits upward would support Cheetolini. They know he is a blithering idiot and a danger to the nation, but short-term, he promises to trash the economy once again with massive giveaways to corporations and the wealthy (i.e. their benefactors). Their opinions are less than worthless.
Interesting since with a full economy are the Dems corporate profits are doing "just fine" thank you!
You'd THINK that would be true but the model espoused by (it seems) almost every high-end business school is that profits should be taken as often and as much as can be done, without regard for long-term economic health or any kind of shared, profit-sustaining prosperity across the socio-economic spectrum. In 2016, I was convinced that Big Money would eschew the kind of instability that Trump represented. Now we know they will embrace any potential for rapacious gains, the future be damned.
I'm a chemist not an economist, so when I subscribed when I was avidly reading economics, I was appalled at the absolute tripe it published. Total bullsh!t. I guess you had to be fully indoctrinated in the Chicago school to go along with it. Actually a bit frightening if it represents what policy is based on.
Give me Stephanie Kelton any day.
I thought this in 2016. Up until Comey. This does not nullify your point, but in Texas, the fix is in. I hope that is not the case everywhere. And I support Beto and every Dem in Texas. As to optimism, as Winston said, of what use is it to be anything else. He knew how to go from loss to loss with no drop in enthusiasm. The fight is on all fronts. Assume nothing.
So very disappointed in Texas. Lived there so long, am a native born, and refuse to admit being from there now. Family homestead was in Bosque County where sundown laws (not officially) still exists in some small towns.
Loved it when I moved here from East coast. Even rural areas were sane, except for one sign I saw W of Ft Worth calling the UN a communist front. Otherwise OK until Rove came with the savior W in 1994. At least on my turf.
Rickey and Jeri,
I have been to the lone star state a few times for business. Have always rather liked its culture. But, from a distance, I am not crazy about the politics.
I miss friends and Texas food. Don't miss the dust storms of the south plains.
The politics used to be just fine. The change has been the result of lies, dirty tricks, and the most egregious actions. Bought by many who should have known better. And, of course, the macho guys I knew who bought an image that was total bullschitt.
You are right on, Jeri; starting in 1968. Though my parents were Midwestern moderate conservative supporting the ghastly war in Viêt Nam, I remember how sad my mother was when Senator Humphrey lost in 1968. 😢 Senator shady J.D. turns my stomach with his opportunism and he is an educated member of the cognitive under-class; much like the intellectuals flocking to the S.S. under Himmler. 🤢
1st DRAFT of this RESPONSE DELETED. I was getting, ahem, fussy. I will likely pull my initial response, too. Will has made some fine points and I need to chew the cud.
I liked your comment because of your suggestion that the "key is to get families talking about politics, arguing out what they think American democracy is and means; that is, to re-engage in republican citizenship." That is what's missing right now and badly needed. Nobody wants to talk about it. It's considered rude to even mention politics in certain circles. I have neighbors that ignore me. lol.
Fortunately, my neighbors are still talking to me even after we put up our Biden/Harris sign. The ONLY one 😔here in my neighborhood peninsula of nearly 800 people in Magaville, Florida .Come on HCR peeps, join us! 🪧 And while you’re at it ,sport a Biden/Harris t-shirt. I’ve been wearing one since Feb. and only ++ comments/discussions.👕🛒
As the weather heats up here in the land of “no climate change”, I’ve been encouraging my younger family members,with their frequent pool parties😎🍻, to have those conversations with friends.A GOP Admin that would restrict access to condoms and prioritize the rhythm method of birth control seems to get their attention. Fortunately they’re still talking to me too !
I’ve been using talking points from Andra Watkins, who has read and dissected Project 2025.⬇️
https://open.substack.com/pub/project2025istheocracy/p/reader-question-what-does-project?r=fqsxl&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Just imagine the fun we could drum up if we were neighbors!! I appreciate your passion so much. Thank you for sticking your neck out there.
I have shirts like “Make Racism Wrong Again.” Nothing political as yet, but one coming up.
Your enthusiasm is infectious, Kathy.
People won’t talk in Texas, unless you are a cult nut.
It was former Representative Kinzinger (R-IL) who called for this in his closing remarks in one of the 06jan21 Committee hearings. ✌️EDIT: but, hey, I worked in government long enough to learn how to take credit when and where it is not due. 🤫
Ned, if you need another resource to review here on Substack that undergirds Will’s points, read Simon Rosenberg’s Hopium Chronicles. Rosenberg is admittedly a Democrat but his analysis of current polls includes a much broader scope of statistics and methodology than most - and he correctly predicted that there would be no “Red Wave” in 2022 - something nearly every mainstream media outlet was leading with (I’m looking at you, NYT!).
Polling is a social science. It is nigh on impossible to do it without skewing the results to match the politics of those doing the work. And Republican pollsters are constantly flooding the zone with polls that are more propaganda than science - which then leads to red wavy bs being pushed around as gospel truth.
The Economist has a perspective. That perspective is definitively Capitalist- with a capital C. They are less concerned with my wellbeing as an American than with the wellbeing of the stock and financial markets. My point is to read any poll with an eye towards the politics of the polling agency. Polls are a snapshot in time and a skewed one. Better to spend time helping get out the vote, something that actually can change the outcome of this election!
Thank you for the suggestion of Mr Rosenberg.
Funny thing is, I usually do not pay attention to polls. I decide how I am going to vote and say so, if provoked, asked, or giving in to my curmudgeonly ways.
Cud can be useful sometimes
😇
P.S. as a moderate conservative, long gone from the G.O.P., consider me not part of the 'new' right but the 'moo' right. 🤭🤫😊
This is a great point. THe control of the MSM has consolidated to a very few right wing nuts out there. I call them nuts, because they deny facts and insert their own beliefs in place of facts. Like Reaganomics being so great, racism no longer a problem, and taxing the wealthy not good.
Read my post about the Sinclair media group.
Sinclair is awful but what can we make of the NYT and WaPo embracing ridiculous memes about Biden's alleged mental decline over fair reporting about Trump's far more obvious lack of both intellect and stability?
These outlets are trying to play bothsidesim. Sadly, they are killing their reputation.
Sinclair owns the area CBS outlet here; spin masters to the max. I can't stand them.
Bill Moyers warned about Sinclair eons ago.
Judd Legum was on Alex Wagner last night talking about Sinclair’s overreaction to his report on corporate’s talking points re Biden’s age.
https://open.substack.com/pub/popularinformation/p/update-sinclair-lashes-out-calls?r=3hlhv&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
Maybe "owns" should be in quotes, I don't know, but the station's DC news segment is always from Slanted Sinclair. For example, in covering President Biden's executive order re the border, with right-wing criticism about "too little too late," the anchor person never mentioned that the reason the bipartisan deal fell through was because Trump ordered his Congressional toadies to kill it.
I didn't realize Sinclair owned some CBS stations. Overheard the "news" broadcast at 6 pm at somewhere other than my house, and was surprised to see a CBS logo at the bottom of the screen. In suburban DC, that was the only identifier. If there'd been an honest one, I would have backed off like I'd come across a rattler or copperhead. Full info please!
Given the idiotic rhetoric coming out of the so-called "paper of record", the New York Times, one has to wonder if they, too, are Russian operatives . . .
When hearing about this poll or that poll, I always say “How many people did they talk to” What is the demographic” “Who are they talking to?”……Well, recently I was at a friends house when his phone rang and it was a pollster. As i sat and listened to my friend answer questions……contrary to what i know to be true about him, he was not truthful with the pollster. He was yanking the guys chain with ridiculous answers and even said he will vote for Rump. Now, I have known this person a very long time and i know that would never happen!! So, It goes to show…..people do yank the chain of the pollsters so you cant even trust those.
That is also a good point. There was some discussion after the 2016 election that some people had misrepresented their positions in polls because they did not want to admit to supporting Trump.
Thank you Cal! Certainly food for thought and you are right.
Excellent points, Will!
I'm going to express the same meaning in different words.
Don't be naively optimistic, but whatever you do, don't be pessimistic because pessimism is a self-fulfilling prophecy. If I act based on the assumption I won't catch a fish, then I won't fish, and then I won't catch a fish.
Very good point about pessimism. I do despair at times. Still trying to figure out what the HELL happened to 'my' America of the Great Society with Big Business support.
Back then, moderate conservatives, like my parents, viewed themselves as part of a larger system that included liberals. Like the pick used by an ice climbers, liberals would throw the pick ahead (prudently with the influence of moderate liberals).
The moderate conservatives would pull the rest of us in by making the progressive policies fiscally sustainable; at times the further right conservatives might intervene when a policy had failed or was repudiated by the populace.
It does show that what made the W.W.II generation was not the Depression; that made the generation good. Not the war; that made the generation great. It is what those men and women did AFTER W.W.II through 1968 that made them the Greatest Generation.
But that is likely my naïve view. After all, I was a deeply informed intellectual at the age of eight back then.
By describing the conservative/progressive interaction pattern, you're accurately describing a specific manifestation of a frequently observed and frequently described phenomenon that I would argue has been recurring for thousands of generations since the origin of our species. So, I would say your view is not naive. Instead, it's in the right direction. Keep going, and you'll get there.
Alternatively, click on my profile link. I think I can save you a lot of time, energy, and attention.
Well said, Will.
Ned, I definitely agree.
He always accuses others of the crimes and misdeeds he himself has done, is doing, or plans to do.
His accusations are the ‘tell’ for his own approach.
Great ploy, isn't it?
EDIT: my biggest fear is that the militias have become a plain-clothes S.A.
To me it is Mikey trying to blur the faces on so much of the Jan 6 video as they soon discovered it was revealing so many more participants that hadn't been identified yet. Mikey seems to want to destroy evidence more than anyone else.
Mikey is a creep!
I may go to the appellation of Squeaker Mikey Mouse.
Seemed clear to me in 2016, and then the blowback. But all chump does is “blowback.” IT’S ALL HE DOES. What a platform. Designed and promoted by brainless fools, who might otherwise might escape notice.
Would anyone care to comment on the quarantine we placed on Japan of oil leading up to the Pearl Harbor attack and if this forced the Japanese to attack us. Did FDR plan this in order to reduce the isolationists that wanted no part in what amounted to the Second World War. Not dissimilar was the Tonkin Gulf incident which was a falsely reported attack on the US that led us into a horrible war in Vietnam — a war totally useless and unnecessary. Not unlike the Iraq war that was predicated on total lies of WMD. Perhaps even the Russian invasion of Ukraine in which all that was needed was a no to Russia on admittance to NATO of Ukraine to avoid this bloody mess.
We are the most war hungry nation on earth. Today in our time. How many invasions and assassinations of South Americans and how vicious we were towards Porto Rican indipendistas? I ask.
"In 1938, the U.S. began to adopt a succession of increasingly-restrictive trade restrictions with Japan, including terminating its 1911 commercial treaty with Japan in 1939, which was further tightened by the Export Control Act of 1940. Those efforts failed to deter Japan from continuing its war in China or from signing the Tripartite Pact in 1940 with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, which officially formed the Axis Powers.
Japan would take advantage of Adolf Hitler's war in Europe to advance its own ambitions in the Far East. The Tripartite Pact guaranteed assistance if a signatory was attacked by any country not already involved in conflict with the signatory, which implicitly meant the U.S. and the Soviet Union. By joining the pact, Japan gained geopolitical power and sent the unmistakable message that any U.S. military intervention risked war on both shores:[citation needed] with Germany and Italy in the Atlantic and with Japan in the Pacific."
The oil embargo happened within the context of competing colonialisms. The attack on Pearl Harbor happened in context of Japan's increasing militarism and its alliance with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy."*
Your assertions of causality and your analogies seem far fetched efforts to make a dubious argument.
*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prelude_to_the_attack_on_Pearl_Harbor
That is interesting. I have had the impression that German military leadership -- at least a big chunk of it -- thought Hitler made a mistake in declaring war against the U.S. It sounds like Hitler had a treaty obligation. If this is true, it is a parable for our time. Trump will break every promise and commitment, much as Hitler did, only to 'honour' commitments to other strongmen (except for the U.S.S.R., of course).
Well, for sure some of the Japanese military thought attacking the U.S. could be a problem.
Wasn't one of the senior naval officers worried about waking a sleeping giant in attacking the U.S.
It was Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto.
Yamamoto.
Thank you, Rickey and Kathy. 🙂
Thank you Lin; you have saved me from some typing.
Excuse my shallow understanding of mid-century history. I still get a B+ on the rest of the wars predicated on lies and manipulations.
I'll go with you on Vietnam. Just watched a series called "The Sympathizer". Dark comedy exploring the idiocy of that conflict.
And Iraq? Insane. I'd even add Afghanistan. We attacked an entire nation, when surgery could have accomplished more. 20 years of pain and suffering and the Taliban still rule. Stupid and ineffective foreign policy.
But Ukraine? Putin only responds the way we want him to when he is faced with overwhelming force. I suggest that Ukraine should have been embraced by NATO before 2014 - Crimea would not have been snatched and today's conflict would be unthinkable.
Admittedly, it’s a confusing mess of everything including and let’s be honest, my considered point that dominant cultures seek dominance. Ukraine has much cross over relevance with Russia. Sometimes you give a little for the sake of regional peace. I understand Putin has wanted to reinstall the empire and he tries every chance he can get. One can argue that Ukraine was not supremely important. This can be argued in the reverse, too. Most of the former eastern block made it to the West. So how important has it been to stave off Putin with a no NATO at least through the remainder of his ending lifespan. Instead, war and death and a whole lot of suffering of the Ukrainian people. Understand, I’m now all in. It’s too late. Russia cannot be allowed to win. But they won’t totally lose either. They will likely get to keep Crimea it belonged to Russia anyway pre 1953.
I’m much more concerned over the rise of nationalism almost exclusively based opened migration and this, in my opinion, should never ever ever ever been allowed and as well in our own country.
I will comment, Bill. What you say is a major call for self-reflection we owe ourselves--and the planet. I wish I were wise enough to know how that is to be accomplished. Certainly our so-called defense industry and its insatiable appetite for costly weapons systems (e.g., the troubled F-35) is a factor. At the same time, we have exhibited some distinctly positive attributes as the largest, most diverse, most complex nation in history. What we owe ourselves is honesty, both positive and negative. Then we might have a basis for more constructive use of our immense power and influence. If there is anything that characterizes our political stage these days, it surely has nothing to do with introspection. Perhaps there is a glimmer of hope in some recent observations by a few leading news reporters of repute ( e.g., Lisa Desjardins earlier today) recognizing that fueling the partisan shouting match is not the best way to inform the public about what matters. However, the national arrogance you describe is another level of dialogue and I honestly don't know how that gets started or by whom.
The only answer I can come up with is, the best way to convince other nations that we have something of value to offer is by demonstrating it here, not imposing it. On that score, we are doing ourselves no favors, if you believe what we read in the news media and on social media, or tune in to the endless stream of pathetic political ads. If you pay attention to what Americans are doing that is spectacular and empathetic and constructive, it's a different picture. When you can find out about it.
We spend too much energy telling ourselves the wrong stories. The right ones can be brutal, but transforming. I have lost all hope that they can emanate from our political parties. Even more, there is no possibility of a declared dictator telling anything of use.
Now it's back in our court.
Do you have any suggestions, Bill? Anyone?
"What we owe ourselves is honesty, both positive and negative. "
I think working on elevating our culture's respect for honesty is crucial, as well as directing disdain for significant, provable lies from any source. I think everyone gets some things wrong, but lies are a choice. A lie is an intentional act. Perhaps one justified in some circumstances, but normally it's a form of malice where truth is needed. Freedom of speech is essential, but some lies can and do kill. Leaving aside for the moment what that might mean from a legal standpoint, we, the aggregated public are fools when we make excuses for lies and liars. Serious lies and liars are simply not worthy of the public's respect. I think we have been losing track of that in recent decades.
What works for me and, I would guess, for others is to pick out your trusted sources and rely upon them. There is a lot of free-floating scheiße careening through social media. But, if one is discriminating, there is good content, too.
Great post. The far right is out to prevent those honest conversations. The true meaning of book bans and legislation dictating what is to be taught and how it is to be taught. This is the playbook of autocracy, which I must say it the basis for the Lewis Powell Memo that leads to the Project 2025.
Deregulation of industry and over regulation of the government while making sure that the government is underfunded or redirecting the funding (military) to hamstring agencies from the needed resources to accomplish their jobs is a recipe for a democracy collapse.
Thank you, Rickey. Reminds me of one of my PGH heroes, Branch Rickey. 💓
Al Bell: I’m just a songwriter and sometime writer with no great achievements a small business owner who tend to think outside the box on matters near and far. In my time, from the 1950s though today, I’ve mostly witness America at war. And we wonder why more African states are more prone to listen Russia then us considering our colonial past.
I’ve always said that no distracts most political policy with some past element of morality in our past but not today.its all about conquest and power and funneling more money into fewer hands. Even with respect to Ukraine, our defense secretary was heard to quip “we’ll drain them” referring to Russian war on Ukraine. So it’s simple using Ukrainians as a proxy for death to drain Russia. Those are our morals.
But let’s be fair; all dominant cultures seek but one object which is to dominate. And to this we are only one of several who dominate. I don’t have any solutions . I only am able to hold up a mirror. Today we witness the worst that could potentially happen to a democracy or representative republic; the coming of authoritarianism.
I am not defending our war record but Russia has always been at war as much as we have. The difference being is when Russia cozies up to foreign governments, it appeals to their pride and ego with nationalistic fervor, whereas we promote democratic ideals such as free and fair elections until democratically elected leaders want to nationalize their country's oil and gas industries in the effort to pump money into the economy.
Well stated. The U.S.S.R. / Russia have evidently been planning for a major war in Europe and against the U.S. since 1945, if not earlier, with, perhaps, a ten year hiatus in the 1990s. U.S. troops have committed atrocities and most are held to account; we do not have the rep. of raping our way across militarily controlled territories.
I have a suggestion. I recognize this is complex, but in addition to being complex, it is also simple. If we're not making sure we're going in the right direction, we're simply going in the wrong direction.
America is the largest, most diverse, most complex nation in history because of the extent to which Americans have adhered the principle of treating others the way we would have others treat us. Adherence to that principle is the only source of real power. A system works because all its parts work together, and they work together because human beings see themselves as an integral part of that larger system.
As W. Edwards Deming put it, "It would be better if everyone worked together as a system, with the aim for everybody to win."
You're correct in saying national arrogance is another level of dialogue. I do honestly know how that gets started, and by whom. A person in a position of power has a large circle of influence that inevitably extends beyond their circle of concern, and then their actions are based on ignorance. At that point, one of two things happen. Either their ignorance is constrained by wisdom, meaning their circle of concern expands, or their ignorance is left unconstrained, and then they have no concern for the significant negative influence they are having on the lives of other human beings.
My conclusion? We need to keep reminding ourselves that we, along with roughly eight billion other human beings, are tied for first place as the most important human being on Earth. When all the people living in the world agree, that will be the answer.
I know some people will never agree, but then we need to make sure they're in Nowhere Land making their nowhere plans for nobody.
Yes, Citizen Donald, that means you.
Very insightful. Thanks a lot, James. I still believe in American exceptionalism but not based on genetics, commercial might, soil, or military power. It is based upon the fact that this country, flawed as it is, was founded on an idea. The challenge is to maintain the humility to criticise ourselves so we do not go where we have been going: might makes right or winning is the only thing.
For me, the problems are that we are no longer king of the mountain and we find it challenging to adjust to a post American Century world as well as many of us are forgetting that ideology breeds idiocy.
Greed kills, Bill.
Foreign policy was orchestrated by "business" interests in South America. It was what lead to the overthrow in Iran putting the Shah in charge. The fear of communism was a powerful tool to use to interfere in other nations which lead to the Vietnam debacle.
Yesterday, a coworker (Air Force vet) was sure that the Reagan focus on bankrupting the USSR was a good thing. Although, the truth of how their system would have eventually collapsed without Reagan sending us down the hole of deficits we see today seems to escape him.
Rickey, horrible what we did to Iran and the Shah. It’s no wonder they hate us.
And may I add that if we were China, we would have already wiped out the government of Taiwan.
Yeah. No. Don't keep digging.
Doubt that!! It would not serve our interests anymore than it will theirs.
They want the SMC chip foundry intact!! As do we, and every AI oriented multinational.
I agree with you, though I wonder if I am indulging is wishful thinking. If I were Xi, I would simply declare Taiwan as a sixth autonomous region and twenty-fourth province with all governance devolved onto the island. When Taiwan would buy F-16s? Congratulate the autonomous region for contributing to the coastal defense of China. What could the U.S. et al. do?
I would agree Taiwan is the 'point' of highest tension; but I think the recent overwhelming success of Israel's US built Iron Dome in the face of a 300 missile and drone and ballistic missile attack from Iran, possibly gave China pause. On the other hand, China may have much better weapons than Iran, and lastly, I also suspect that there was a deal regarding the scope and nature of the Iran attack; it may have been as performative as Israel's response.
I believe Xi has already made the declaration that Taiwan is a province of the PRC. But at the moment Taiwan is still not standing up and saluting.
I don't think so.
Well, our $5B Chip Act was an initiative to START to reduce our huge dependence on SMC, but MANY state and multinational actors (incl US and PRC) have this same dependence at the moment - will take 5+ years to stand up a high end chip foundry in Texas. MOST of Nvidia's high end AI chips are made in Taiwan, and Nvidia provides over 80% of the world supply. EVERYONE who wants to win the AI race, MUST have 10x more Nvidia chips than they had last year. (The 'Moore's Law' of LLM's is a factor of 10 every 18 months.)
It is roughly 1,000,000,000 times easier to break a chip foundry than to make high end AI chips - this is what Taiwan's freedom and security depends on - if it doesn't blink.
All very good points American pressure on cutbacks to the Japanese were basically meant to oppose the vicious (rape of Nanjing) Japanese war of conquest in China. For the Japanese "ww2" had begun in 1937 as a regional war of conquest. Iraq was inexcusable... self? deception, always wondered if it wasn't more under Bush Cheney et al neocons.
Trump is a useful idiot to the dark outside forces trying to destroy our country from within. I believe he reads very little. I believe he's incapable of thinking through things with any sophistication. I believe he is entirely transactional and is always on the look-out for things that will benefit him and his family. And his instincts for personal benefit are well developed.
Timothy Snyder, a man worth listening to.
His recent Alito inspired article about revenge culture was really good.
Yes.
Trump has to be referred to as not only a weapon used by Russian propaganda but also as an AGENT of Russia in a broader sense. He extols Putin and degrades Ukraine. He interfered with the passage of the aid package for Ukraine. He commented publicly that Russia can do whatever it wants to do to its neighbors such as Ukraine.
And I would not be surprised if he leaked confidential, high-security documents to Russia. For a price, of course.
He is an idiot. A dangerous one. And it has led to civil war in America. Sadly, I spent yesterday at an art workshop with a well informed liberal woman who declared that we "need a revolution". And she was talking violence.
It doesn't help our situation with our adversaries that Jackson and Perry have been named to the House Intelligence Committee!
"You can fool some of the people all of the time, and those are the ones you want to concentrate on." Pres. G.W. Bush, White House Correspondents' Dinner, 3-31-2001.
A later update: To support Dr. Heather's words on propaganda, here's a June 19 article from Axios about well-known chatbots being flooded with Russian propaganda - once they saw an opportunity, the GRU wasted no time in exploiting it.
See: https://kyivindependent.com/axios-ai-chatbots-spread-russian-propaganda
Well, he is an idiot. A clever idiot. But still an idiot.
In 1917, my 7 year old father had a dog, a Dachshund, for a pet. It was named "Kaiser." That summer, his father told him the dog's name was now "Teddy," and that he must be out in the yard with Teddy when he had to do his business, because being a Dachshund had become dangerous, since "patriots" thought they were supporting the war when they killed "German" dogs.
In 1918, my 4 year old mother, whose family name was Weist, was woken by her parents one morning because the barn of their farm outside Alamosa, Colorado, was on fire - it burned to the ground, killing all their livestock. The arsonist(s) were never found. Ironically, the first "Weist" of the family in America was her grandfather, Dr. Frederick Weist, a professor of humanities at the University of Frankfurt and a member of the Congress of Frankfurt in the 1848 revolution against Prussian rule. He arrived in the United States with a Prussian price on his head for his anti-Prussian activities.
Two of the many reasons I have never liked "narrow-minded Southern bigot" (in the words of those who knew him) Woodrow Fucking Wilson., the greatest hypocrite to ever occupy the White House and the most over-rated president ever. The Unreconstructed Confederate who nationalized Jim Crow.
Wow, it got personal. Can’t imagine killing a “German” dog. Or burning a barn full of livestock. Although a MAGAt fool bragged on FB that he killed his beloved dog to see if he would be able to kill a stranger. Sometimes I don’t think humanity is very human.
It appears not to be - probably more often than some times!?!?!
Do you remember "Freedom Fries" from the early 00's? The more things change, the more they stay the same...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_fries
I have thought of that several times lately. That and “Freedom isn’t free” they all spouted as W had us invading Iraq which had absolutely nothing to do with our freedom. Same idiots burning the cd’s of the Dixie Chicks as those pouring out and boycotting Bud Light. Cut off your nose to spite your face because “you know.” Fighting that mentality is so exhausting…but absolutely necessary now.
Oh, my bff’s son was a W lover. Made me puke. I thought that we aren’t that stupid back then, with daily proof that some are. He was a major jerk when he was in jr high. Took after his dad. Lord, what memories. So depressing. And then we get chump, hard to fathom. The tea party, was the connection.
Not just necessary, but crucial.
They want all of us exhausted and broke, and powerless.
This was another action that happened to us, which is similar to the dachshund story. When JFK was assassinated we were terrified on a Los Angeles freeway by a crazed driver who tried to force us off the road because our VW bug had Texas plates. (My Naval officer husband had just come off active duty; he had registered car in his hometown, Lufkin, TX before we met. We were fairly recently married in CA, and hadn’t changed the plates. We did then.)
Yikes!!!
That is heavy, Dude. Respect. ✊
Hmmm TC reading your post, I am stumped? Has the world made progress since then, regressed or same level of ignorance/Southern Bigotry? Wilson vs Trump? Burning a farm vs sacking the Capitol? Killing a dog because of German origins vs Kristi Noem shooting her own dog? I am still stumped?
What is this "progress" of which you speak?
We all had better calm down or go get psychotropic meds.
T.C. is the sort of person to believe that, since we haven't entirely cured the nation of bigotry and ignorance, it was all for naught and everything is still terrible.
I guess this is the silver lining to being clinically diagnosed OCD. I used to *feel* like because an otherwise cozy blanket had a wrinkle in it, that made it no better than garbage. (I'm not kidding. I have spent months of my life unable to either sleep or get up because my blankets and clothes were constantly "wrong." It's a disease.) However, years of therapy has forced me to realize that I *know* that perception is not actually true. I had no choice but train myself out of the cognitive distortions, because the only other alternative was my brain literally destroying me from the inside out. It is now amazing to me to see how most people walk through life with some smaller form of this, never questioning the validity of these thoughts.
But this isn't about me lol.
It is a battle you recognized and overcame. Not an easy one. A lesson for us all, even those of us who never had a clinical diagnosis. No, everything is not for naught, but lessons learned at a cost. Thank you.
I get it Will.
I don't actually believe it; that was a throwaway snarky joke. In fact we have made much progress politically and socially, and I am very proud of the fact that my ancestors played important (if small) roles in making that progress. Which is why I do what I do politically and professionally. I don't want to lose that progress to the Know Nothings, who have been there working their malign influence from the beginning.
I also know about (and respect you for what you did) things like OCD, being myself Autistic/ADHD (if you know what it is, as I have learned, it becomes a superpower when you use its capabilities, rather than the curse I thought it was all my life before going to work on the issue).
The one thing folks like us have to learn is not to be so literal minded all the time - use that power when necessary. Good on you!
I really liked what your were saying until the last paragraph, not because you dislike President Wilson, but because of tone of expression. ln any case, I am sorry that your forebears had to endure that. This trumpism is not new, just packaged differently.
Go read Wilson's record. The first thing he did on taking office was institute Jim Crow in the Federal civil service, which had been a light of progressive hiring and one of the few employers in America that did give Blacks equal treatment in hiring and promotions. When it came to World War I he really did run as a hypocrite "He kept us out of war!" and when he went in, he was the one who got the Espionage Act passed, He sent antiwar activists to some really bad prisons (I knew some of them like Ammon Hennacy back in the 60s and heard the stories of Atlanta Federal Prison first-hand). As to his "internationalism" with the Fourteen Points and all, that was limited to the white Europeans of the countries re-emerging from the wreckage of the Austro-Hungarian Empire; he was fine with carving up the Ottoman Empire between France and Britain and handing Germany's African colonies to the British and South Africans, in the name of "leading them to civilization." When Nguyen Ai Quoc tried to get him to support independence for Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos under the 14 Points, he wasn't even given an appointment, being "Asian," so the man who would become Ho Chi Minh and make life difficult for Wilson's successors became a Communist since the Bolsheviks supported "national liberation." Nothing Wilson did was like the "progressive" movement made him out to be until his Confederate white supremacy couldn't be swept under the rug anymore and the truth came out starting in the 60s as those of us who wanted to deal with truth in history began researching how we got into Vietnam.
A word of advice: don't McDoodle with someone who does this professionally.
Thanks TC for that information … I immediately read up on Thomas Woodrow Wilson. At times, there seems to be so little time with so that I want to do - hence, I sleep less as I narrow in on 4 score.
Perhaps Wilson's greatest gift to America was his stroke which apparently left him inert.
We've already had a woman lead the country (no offense to the other amazing First Ladies like Dolly Madison and Michelle Obama) and she did just fine.
and never forget the movie he screened in the White House giving the racists credibility.
Oh, I get it. Simply said, l found the language a bit hard to take.
I have a tendency to say it as I see it, and I dislike being nice to the ones who are the problem.
And TC brings the receipts.
Fair enough. In your position, I would likely feel the same way.
The war information effort must have been at least somewhat effective in the run-up to World War II. I recent read my father's English class journal in high school during the 1940-41 year. It was obvious to him that the U.S. would be going to war and he was busy readying himself for the task.
We have got to teach more critical social thought in this Democracy minded country.
I wish I shared your optimism that most Americans could possibly grasp the concept and if they did, practice it.
Better to try and hope for the best than not ? : )
Thank you, TC. I thought that the best thing about Wilson's term was when he had his stroke and his wife was running things. He was truly a "narrow-minded Southern bigot".
Hum….. are you forgetting the numero uno fucken manic from 2016 me thinks so.
He's never been listed by observers as anything but the Dumbest President Ever. Wilson had this undeserved reputation as a Big Progressive when what he was was a Big Regressive.
Yep
During WWI, my grandfather and his brother used to get beat up walking to and from school in Oregon for their German accents and German name. They were Russian immigrants, but from German-speaking villages established in Russia in the 1700’s. They both served in the US Army between the big wars. After WWII, my great uncle changed his last name from Hamburg to Hammond.
I am sorry your forebears had to bear that.
My maternal grandmother was born within the German Empire, emigrating here when she was a young girl. According to my mother, she was ostracized during WWI… I wish I’d asked more questions! My aunts Anglasized their German name. Again, wish I had asked questions. So my family experienced lots of negativity…
Whoa...
NewsGuard has identified the fugitive Florida Deputy Sheriff & Putin's disinformation agent as JOHN MARK DOUGAN. On 6/3/24, the New York Times reported that Dougan has been granted asylum in Moscow.
Thursday 6/13 Update: On Dougan's status, I will review data from Clemson University's Media Forensics HUB.
Whoa, bye bye
Here is a gift link to nyt story about john mark dougan.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/29/business/mark-dougan-russia-disinformation.html?unlocked_article_code=1.zU0.0XPW.ATHot_l4TNbg&smid=url-share
😯😠
I've done video work with the Liberty Ship John W Brown in Baltimore which is the only 1942 Liberty ship built in Baltimore that is still operating and taking people out on Living History cruises on Chesapeake Bay.
The poster art put out during the 40's to inspire the workforce is truly impressive. They hammered home the idea that what the workers (many female and people of color) did to build these ships was as important as the soldiers the ships were built to serve. There was also a body of photography of these people doing their jobs that was distributed to the masses to see this work in action.
German U Boats were sinking a huge number of cargo ships just off of our coast early in the war. We had to replace those ships and build more to overwhelm the ability of the U Boats to sink ships. Guarded convoys were born and by 1944 we had the upper hand, between sinking U Boats and building new cargo ships. A Naval historian that I interviewed said that the Liberty Ship and LST were the 2 most important vessels built during WWII.
By working together in a focused fashion we defeated the Nazi's. We can defeat the fascist right wing here again, by staying focused and working together.
I was a four-year old in Dundalk, near Baltimore, in 'forty-four'; what I remember best were the trains carrying tanks, guns, jeeps and trucks, rattling past, day and night, on the railroad tracks behind our apartment- you could see them passing all night, in the lights of the distillery on the other side of the tracks. All the equipment was headed for Europe; it was an exciting time for us kids.
My father was not in the military during WWII, but was a mechanical engineer with Mack Trucks here in Allentown, PA. I’m sure some of what you saw going by came from Mack!!!
I grew up in Hagerstown which also has a Mack Truck plant. My father managed a ready mixed concrete facility in Hagerstown and they bought Mack trucks exclusively. They gave my dad a Bulldog hood ornament ashtray.
Does sound exciting for kids. Your tale reminds me of the scene in 'The Best Years of Our Lives' when Fred Derry visits his parents. Being close to that machinery would have been fun.
Dundalk was a hot bed of activity. They built more Liberty Ships near there than in any other location in America and a huge amount of weapons, trucks, etc were shipped out of Baltimore as you witnessed.
Nice to "see" you here, Mike. It's been a while. As always, your posts are so informative. Many thanks!
It's nice to be missed and good to be back. We recently sold our over 100 year old house, bought a condo, downsized and moved. It's been VERY consuming. I'm just getting time to write again.
All the best in your new home. BTW, where I live in VA is about 40 minutes from Hagerstown and had jobs there during my working days. I keep forgetting I don't live in Maryland anymore...even though it's been over 20 years 😕
You should go check out the new Ballpark and the Aviation Museum. Both are very cool. Where did you work in Hagerstown ?
I was an independent contractor for a few court reporting agencies. We covered several depositions of witnesses who were employed at the hospital off of Route 40 in Hagerstown. I also went to a few law firms in the area. Mostly, I enjoyed the journey, passing by Burkittsville where the Blair Witch Project movie was made, the surrounding areas of Antietam/Sharpsburg, Boonsboro, Funkstown, and other notable places like Williamsport and seeing what the Potomac River looked like compared to what it looks like nearer to where I live. Funny thing about that river, I have always lived near it, starting back when I was born in Washington, D.C.!
I used to do video depositions before 1999 as a part of our services. I'm sure we know a lot of the same people. Shirley Nigh, Art Schneider and a bunch of other lawyers. I always loved it when attorneys from Balt or DC would come up and think they had some real hayseed hick lawyers on their hands. Some of the Hagerstown lawyers could give them a very good run for their money.
Morning, Lynell. I second your "nice to see you" to Mike.
Ally, good to see you here also. After months of downsizing, selling our house, buying a condo and moving I have time to write again.
Always nice "seeing" you, too, Ally; morning!
Really interesting and ties in history much the way Dr Cox Richardson does.
Thanks. I love her style and commitment to history and current events. When I can add something, I try.
Well, this time, "you done good."
Thanks so much. Have a good weekend
Wow, the original Rosie the Riveter!
That's a great photo.
I thought the same when I saw the photo.
A fine, interesting column, as is almost always the case with the remarkable Dr. Richardson. I first learned about George Creel and the USG propaganda efforts during WW1 when I served as a graduate teaching assistant for an introductory US History class. Never learned anything about those topics either in HS or as an undergraduate at a different institution. It appears that the USG learned a lot from the WW1 experience that helped guide their efforts during WW2 but they squandered that experience almost immediately by scattering the human resources that had obtained it and failing to develop new practitioners.
Still, having grown up in the immediate post-WW2 era, I remember staring at our new black-and-white TV in the early morning hours waiting for the test pattern to give way to short programs like "The Big Picture," and "Industry on Parade" and later watching documentaries like "Victory at Sea" or dramas like "Navy Log," "The Silent Service," and "West Point." It could be that this was a form of propaganda that helped maintain confidence in the political, military, and commercial establishment of the '50s.
If so, it led to a complacency among both the establishment and the American people that was shattered by the revelations that accompanied the Vietnam War.
I had forgotten about "Victory At Sea". My recollection is that there was something special about that program. As children of WW2 parents, we learned more about the war from programs on our "new-fangled" TV sets than we heard from our parents.
There were more than a few special things about that series. The score, by Robert Russel Bennet and Richard Rogers, was an outstanding accompaniment to the documentary images. And we got the main theme with every episode. Another was the documentary footage itself. Who could ever forget the clip of the damaged aircraft attempting to land on its carrier then breaking apart as it skittered across the flight deck?
Some of the footage was sobering, even for a little kid. We were the good guys, and so we always won. My dad had to explain to his dumbfounded son that in some of these clips the good guys were getting bombed, shot down or sunk. Yes, we won, but there was a cost to be paid.
That music is really fun to play, as well. RRB wrote some fantastic wind band music.
Couldn't agree more. We played some of it in our HS band for a spring concert.
Same here, David. That’s why I keep saying, I wish I’d asked more questions!
Thank you for a sweeping historical perspective. ✌️
My tuition check is in the mail. 😉
I’m old enough to be called a historical relic. Rereading my original post I see a syntactic issue that could lead readers to amused comments. I was not a graduate student during WW1. I’m old, but not THAT old 😁
Thank you for bringing a smile to my face. 🤝 The 'tuition' quip is a humorous way of complimenting you for fine content. 😉 If messing up on spelling and grammar is indicative of fading cognition, I am already a gonner. 🤭
Helping the Russians anyway they can is the Republican majority in the US House of Representatives, led by Speaker Mike Johnson.
“None dare call it treason.”
I do.
Imagine that one-third of Americans did not know what we were fighting for in WWII.
I fear that in 2024, it’s now two-thirds of Americans who do not know what we’re fighting for.
From Encyclopedia Brittanica: Loyalists constituted about one-third of the population of the American colonies during that conflict. They were not confined to any particular group or class, but their numbers were strongest among the following groups: officeholders and others who served the British crown, Anglican clergymen and their parishioners; Quakers, members of German religious sects, and other conscientious pacifists; and large landholders and wealthy merchant groups. The most common trait among all loyalists was an innate conservatism.
Oh, how people have changed! (Not.)
And it's 1,2,3 what are we fighting for? Don't ask me I don't give a damn the next stop is Ukraine man... Country Joe and the Fish (with apologies).
This is why it's so easy for MAGAs to support Putin. Virtually every Republican blindly believes the MAGA lies and Convicted Felon Donald Trump knows it.
No, Herb, hasn't grown to two-thirds.
Not only still one-third, but the same one-third -- continuous intervals of cousins breeding with cousins.
I loved this Letter. So educational. Thank you, Prof. Heather.
Struggling to find new ways to mislead people? Worried a pesky reporter will expose you?
Use this INSIDER'S GUIDE adapted by Democracy Labs from research by Dr. Rand Waltzman, disinformation expert to improve your ability to lie, evade questions, intimidate journalists and spread disinformation.
https://thedemlabs.org/2023/12/09/how-to-spread-disinformation/
If you read the linked article, the opener is using sarcasm to draw people in, leading them to a graphic showing them how to recognize the disinformation tactics in action. This is a website dedicated to COUNTERING disinfo using pro-democracy messaging. They are making the point you have to understand how the enemy operates in order to counter them effectively.
I am reminded on the daily just how many people are not fluent in sarcasm.
I knew you were kidding. I thought it was funny. Masterful emoji use!
Thank you for saying that, Will. 🤝 I am grateful you did. 🙏 Now I can go to sleep (sic). 🤞 I may pull my comment in the morning; it is alarmist and raise some good points. 💡 Thank you, again. 🤝
¿Can the fairness rule be re-instituted and enforced, not only upon specific news outlets, but also in the information-feeding algorithm in the various social media? If nothing else, the user-experience on social media would then have 'pro' and 'con' misinformation. That 'fairness' may stimulate users to exercise discrimination rather than slide into an echo chamber of passivity.
⚖️
I have always believed that getting one's news from the social media is like trying to catch flying croutons with one's mouth and calling that dinner. Truth in packaging: ¡I have acquired a taste for bits of burnt toast! We have a lot of information gathering and dissemination to do. NOTE: link to an article in 'The Economist' and references to it removed owing to reasonable objections.✍️
I posted farther up the page about The Economist's current model. Not only is it very much going against the grain should not be shared or repeated. Individual models cannot be trusted to tell the whole story accurately, and perceptions of strength are an important weapon in politics.
Reminder: Bloomberg had an economic model that predicted a 100% chance of recession in 2022. So much for that.
1st DRAFT of THIS RESPONSE DELETED. I was throwing a bit of a hissy-fit. I should know better. But, then, it is the middle of the night here in Maryland -- when I am apt to write something I regret. Bottom-line: listen to Will's concerns.
Sorry, Ned. I realized I responded to the wrong original comment and copy/pasted it where it should have been. I did not delete this one entirely because I thought that would be rude in case you were busy responding. You are free to copy/paste your response up there as well.
No problem. I think you are right. There are other gaps in the methodology applied in the polling by 'The Economist'. One biggie is that the "fundamentals" used based upon incumbency does not account for third parties.
Thanks, Will.
'The Economist' describes its methods and acknowledges the other polling results. In fact, the article states that, per its model, it assigned an 83% probability of President Biden winning at this stage in the 2020 campaign. Sorry, I do not think one should put his or her head in the sand on this one. This is going to be an razor-thin race. The up-shot of 'The Economist', for me at least, is that we need to get cracking on stratcomms.
🤞
Personally, without the aid of statistics and just going on my often inaccurate gut, President Biden will be re-elected because Mr Kennedy will siphon off more votes from Trump than President Biden as blue-collar Trump supporters, mostly Reagan Democrats, migrate toward Mr Kennedy's mix of iconoclasm and traditional welfare state politics. That is where messaging from neutral sounding entities would be helpful.
✌️🤔🙏
LAST PARAGRAPH DELETED; too hostile on my part.
Wil, Democrats take their mascot, Eeyore, as a guiding light towards self realization.
Republicans will follow any ass if it's big enough.
Restoring the "fairness doctrine" wouldn't do much to restore balanced media reporting because it could only apply to broadcast media that are regulated by the Fed. Communications Commission. Most media outlets today, including cable and, of course, Internet-based outlets, are not regulated.
Well, I was hoping it could be extended to all media -- substacks and social media, too. I know that is mission implausible, likely impossible; simply a wish.
True--we can argue that cable and Internet need to be regulated in some way, but right now it isn't very likely to happen.
WE ARE LOSING THE GLOBAL INFORMATION/PROPAGANDA WAR
Anne Applebaum’s May, 2024 The Atlantic article DEMOCRACY IS LOSING THE PROPAGANDA WAR highlights what Heather discusses.
“Disinformation” is a high priority in Russia, China, Iran, and elsewhere in the global struggle between ‘democracy’ and ‘authoritarians.’ The bad guys are tremendously focused, high budgeted, and they are winning.
In this age of rampant social media, the authoritarians seek to highlight the glaring weaknesses of others while whitewashing what’s going on within their police states. One of their greatest assets are what Trump and his sycophants say about the United States. When a recent American president bloviates about the massive weaknesses of the United States, this is corn for authoritarian propaganda geese.
I remember when the United States had a reasonably well organized ‘public relations’ organization. It was called USIA (United States Information Agency). It was initiated under Ike early in the Cold War.
It had offices attached to embassies worldwide. It produced Voice of America, Radio Free Europe, and numerous cultural/information programs with a Cold War focus.
Jim Brown, a cousin, was a USIA officer in India. A first-class newsman, eventually he spent a decade on the New York Times editorial board. Edward R. Murrow, at the time the leading American newsman, in 1961 became director of USIA.
In 1999 USIA was ‘merged’ into the State Department. As a former Foreign Service Officer, I believe that our ‘information/propaganda’ focus has virtually disappeared in this Fudge Factory.
WE ARE IN A GLOBAL WAR FOR THE HEARTS AND MINDS OF BILLIONS OF PEOPLE. THE AUTHORITARIANS, MIGHTILY ASSISTED BY THE NEGATIVISM OF TRUMPISTS, HAVE A TREMENDOUS ADVANTAGE IN THIS SOCIAL MEDIA WAR.
I don’t believe that we currently have the capacity to wage this war effectively. I expect the authoritarians to meddle in our 2024 presidential elections.
Thank you for this, Keith. I don't like your conclusions, but I see that happening in my own small world. I have a wondering if this isn't exacerbated by the "hard wiring" differences between self-identified liberals (who tend to access the frontal lobes when evaluating information) and self-identified conservatives (who tend to access the midbrain when evaluating information). I also have a personal belief that forces both within and without our government have been utilizing propaganda to influence our elections.
I don’t like my conclusions either! But I am being honest based on my personal experience and the available evidence.
USIA could range from excellent to poor, often depending on the individuals involved. When I was researching NASSER’S NEW EGYPT: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS, Bill Weatherby was the USIA head in Cairo. He was excellent and eventually given the rare accolade of being named ambassador elsewhere.
In 1960, after my book was published, I returned to Egypt and stopped by the see the new USIA. He was surprised to hear of my book (which Nasser had banned more than two months earlier). He insisted that I immediately go in to see the new ambassador. i demurred, but he insisted.
The ambassador and I had nothing much to discuss. When he was counselor at Atate and named ambassador to Egypt, I had sent him galley proofs of my book.
In Chile, Ambassador Korey desperately wanted to get hold of some correspondence involved the Catholic archbishop. When USIA couldn’t held, he asked if I could get it. It took me less than an hour, dealing with an Opus Dei close buddy of mine, to obtain what the ambassador wanted.
At its best, USIA had a cadre of communications professionals who often were good at their jobs. Once USIA was disbanded and slivered into the State Department, NOPE. Long ago CIA would support some publications and engage in ‘news placements.’ Don’t know if they are so involved these days, though burgeoning social media would complicate their past practice of bribing media folks.
FDR was one of the greats on so many fronts. And Eleanor Roosevelt was no slouch. We haven't really had anyone who has risen to their level. Jack and Bobby Kennedy launched some good programs. But, I have to say that man's inhumanity to man seems to be getting worse. There was a brief period when I had high hopes, despite my work as a climate activist and my ongoing concerns about Climate Change. America is now rated as the nation with the most guns per capita. No other country comes close. We are the only country in the world with more guns than people. And our prison system is the biggest profit industry in the nation.
The ME is 'on fire' again. And close to 60% of Israelis say no one respects their country. Personally, I believe they need to take a closer look at Netanyahu as the source of lack of respect. Globally Biden has more respect... and leads over Trump by 20%. Seems kind of low to me... Trump never has been nor will be a diplomat.
Good that Heather at the end gets to the work of America's great photographers then.
Yes, Roy Stryker's array of incredible talent roamed the American land -- artists all, they knew how to see the human and to let those photos all tell so much more.
That's what decent humanities do -- so absolutely in contradistinction to bureaucracies.
We have the equivalent now to that great corps of photographers then at the Farm Security Administration. So many in-touch film makers, musicians, novelists, memoirists -- and we need our Dems to tout them, name them, their work, and the larger stories they exemplify.
We need them for another reason. As Heather shows elsewhere in hers today, Russia has enrolled most U.S. Republican higher-ups in its campaign to vilify America, sow distrust in our institutions. It's working. These Republicans, working both clandestinely and openly for Putin, do as much damage or more than the U.S. social media billionaires also spreading hatreds and divisiveness.
Right up to the Clarence court, where Taliban Alito openly admits the need for his side to win in its campaign for state coerciveness to curtail, erode, control first American women, finally destroy our nearly 250-year-long secular American democracy.
Fine, trenchant analysis. It really engenders the intellectual terror we may all be facing if Trump wins.
Goons under him, Ned, will do to Americans what his idol Putin did to Alexei Navalny.
Thank you Professor Richardson.
If knowledge is power, then the attack on that knowledge via lies, propaganda, and disinformation represents power as well. State-sponsored propaganda campaigns are now a well-funded component of any serious adversary. The Mueller Report provided an array of evidence of Putin's involvement in efforts to destabilize and polarize Americans leading up to the 2016 Presidential campaign. The polarization fit nicely with the continuing GOP efforts to divide Americans along the lines of race, gun violence, women's rights, climate, and more. Putin's desire for a weak America, and the MAGA/Trump/GOP's interest in anti-democracy authoritarianism are neatly aligned.
People who understand that any meaningful form of democracy requires an educated, informed, and engaged society know that a society is far more susceptible to disinformation campaigns when:
a typical education becomes an indoctrination into obedient hyper-consumerism instead of an exposure to a wide-array of knowledge and experiences with research and critical thinking.
The profit motive has also provided the dry kindling for the fires of lies, propaganda, disinformation, and conspiracy theories. While a certain amount of cynicism is healthy -when people are rejecting fundamental public health initiatives such as a measles or polio vaccine because of Big Pharma or Bill Gates, or whatever some wild beast is shouting into a microphone in their basement, distributed by "fee" speech absolutist (provided it's not attacking him or questioning his intellect) Elon Musk's former Twitter) and then picked up by Fox "News" it is a major problem for society. It's why you need a government of, for, and by the people -to establish agencies that will assess drug and vaccine efficacy and safety.
We don't need foreign propaganda, we have faux snooze.
I have been spending time with a new friend. She's hates the donvict but tells me she doesn't like President Biden much either.
So I tell her that while President Biden isn't perfect, he's trying to work for ordinary people like me and her.
I'm hoping that by talking to her about what President Biden is trying to do and what repubs are trying to stop, she will see that he is the one to vote for, rather sitting out the election.
She is not the first person I've talked to about this.
It's these conversations that can make a difference.
And it's easy to do in a way that you're not telling them who to vote for.
Just the facts, ma'am.
Thanks Sgt.Friday!