onfocus

"I asked about the possibility—floated by many critics of the account—that by sharing extremist rhetoric to a broad audience with little other information, PatriotTakes is effectively re-platforming people who have been removed from the public square for a reason. The account’s owner was uninterested in discussing it."

If an account reposts racist and fascist garbage does the intention (pointing and laughing or "monitoring") really matter? The account is amplifying and spreading racist and fascist garbage.

"The Fox pipeline is pretty simple. Fox News stokes a constant sense of outrage among its base of viewers, largely by highlighting narratives of white resentment and threats to Christianity. This in turn forces Republican politicians to follow suit. It’s a positive feedback loop that has no obvious braking system, and it’s already radicalized the conservative base so much that most Republicans literally believe that elections are being stolen and democracy is all but dead if they don’t take extreme action."

Looking at the roots of polarization since 2000 there’s a certain cable TV elephant in the room.

If you didn’t see the Capitol Police officers testify about the mob violence they fought on 1/6, this Twitter thread has clips that will give you a sense of their powerful stories.

See also: Officer Michael Fanone on CNN.

See also: Dan Rather says Enough.

"They thought it was a hoax. They thought it was political. They thought because they had a certain blood type or a certain skin color they wouldn’t get as sick. They thought it was ‘just the flu’. But they were wrong. And they wish they could go back."

A doctor in Alabama talks about treating covid now that we have vaccines.

"The Republican operatives, who dismiss the expositions of critical race theorists and anti-racists in order to define critical race theory and anti-racism, and then attack those definitions, are effectively debating themselves. They have conjured an imagined monster to scare the American people and project themselves as the nation’s defenders from that fictional monster."

Ibram X. Kendi with the best definition of the CRT "debate" happening in the media.

"Walmart’s moral stand lasted three months. In January, the retail giant said it would suspend all donations to the 147 lawmakers who objected to the election results. But in April, the company gave $30,000 to the National Republican Congressional Committee, the party organization that supports House Republicans in elections. Two-thirds of those House members voted against certifying Biden’s win."

We can’t rely on corporations to provide a system of accountability. We can still make decisions about where to spend our money and attention though.

"Over 70% of the videos flagged by respondents came through YouTube's suggestion algorithm — an effect that's impossible to study because the algorithm is a closely-guarded secret at Google. That means YouTube users aren't primarily finding misinformation through search, but through YouTube feeding users those videos."

Hosting disinformation is bad enough, but actively recruiting people—at scale—is awful.

"A six-month Times investigation has synchronized and mapped out thousands of videos and police radio communications from the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, providing the most complete picture to date of what happened — and why."

This is disturbing. Not a tourist event.

"Toyota gave more than twice as much — and to nearly five times as many members of Congress — as the No. 2 company on the list, Cubic Corp., a San Diego-based defense contractor."

Not the feeling I was looking for Toyota. Toyota to AT&T: hold my beer.

Update (7/8): Where have I heard this one before?

"Democrats are still far too reluctant to give serious consideration to filibuster reform as the right thing to do on the merits, let alone to the idea that making a confident, affirmative case for it might be better politics than their oft-relied-upon theater of reluctance."

Theater of reluctance sounds like the entire strategy of Democratic leadership. I still think filibuster reform should be the top priority and Dems should be making their case for it in the media every day.

"Yet because of the 60-vote requirement to pass most legislation, 41 Republican senators representing just 21 percent of the country can block the bill from moving forward, even though it’s supported by 68 percent of the public, according to recent polling."

One party is working hard to entrench this minority rule and the other party is hesitant to change the status quo.

"The ultimate significance of the Trump era in American history is still being written. If Democrats fail to act in the face of Republican efforts to insulate their power from voters, they will find themselves attempting to compete for an unrepresentative slice of the electorate, leaving the vulnerable constituencies on whom they currently rely without effective representation and democratic means of self-defense that the ballot provides."

A good explanation of why disenfranchising voters and blocking popular legislation is a good strategy for republicans.