ABrockwell @aebrockwell@social.cleverlibre.org

👀
"I've often raised concerns about the media's refusal to point out just how irrational and at times unintelligible #Trump is. Too many reporters are willing to clean up his syntax in print media and limit his TV coverage to soundbites. In doing so, they fail to convey how bizarre he is. Likewise, the #media consistently fail to point out how abnormal it is for an entire party to defend an someone who tried to overthrow an election"
~@JenRubin
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/08/23/jennifer-rubin-live-chat/

#USPol #Journalism #News

Several schools in Arkansas are defiantly teaching AP African American history. The state has warned them that the students will earn no credits.

Republicans continue to describe Black history as "indoctrination" and "teaching children to hate America" -- showing that they might benefit from the course themselves.

They believe Obama was born in Kenya and Hillary ran a child sex ring in the basement of a pizza parlor, but they find it completely unbelievable that a dumb TV host and shady real estate developer would commit treason.

Even after Trump bragged about committing treason.

Am I the only one who doesn’t understand why Al Franken had to resign for a joke photo he took years before he was a senator, but elected officials who participated in or encouraged an armed insurrection to overthrow our democracy are allowed to stay in government?

I find it's pretty reliable to judge people inversely by the calibre of their detractors. For example, take a close look at anyone who makes a point of tearing down Megan Rapinoe: they invariably turn out to be Jan 6 and/or police abuse apologists, that sort of thing. I don't know a thing about women's soccer but by that measure, Ms. Rapinoe's surely a damn goddess.

I don’t understand why journalists covering the biggest story of their career — the attempted overthrow of democracy — want to act like it’s routine politics. It’s as if they're covering the flood of the century and decide to save it for the regularly scheduled weather report.

It. Was. Not. A. Dispute.

It. Was. A. Murder.

A. Terrorist. Attack.

A. Hate. Crime.

At five years old, I couldn't grasp the concept of a scapegoat; all I understood was that, because of Japan’s aggression that pulled the United States into the war, my family and I had to leave our home at gunpoint, taking with us only what we could carry. As I got older, I understood scapegoating for what it is: a channel for hate, blame, and bigotry.

My lifelong mission has been preventing this from happening again, yet my heart aches as the LGBTQ+ community faces it now. We've fought for our rights to live, love, and be ourselves—a vibrant, misunderstood, and often mistreated rainbow of identities.

I have seen where scapegoating, if left unchallenged, leads. And it is a very dark place. This week, I chose to share my story with you in the hopes that we never repeat the heinous mistakes of the past. https://thinkbigpicture.substack.com/p/takei-scapegoating-lgbtq-japanese-internment

This.

Re-upping this again: I wish more lefties could internalize the idea that hypocrisy is not a meaningful accusation to the right. Of course they're being hypocrites. That you are bound, by rules, standards, logic, human decency, some fundamental moral consistency, anything at all, and they are not? That is their conception of what power is, and why they seek it. So they can exercise power, without constraint, and you cannot.

That's the whole point.

Hypocrisy is the virtue-signaling of fascism.

Trump is being arrested today. For the third time. So here’s a bold thought: Maybe he doesn’t belong in the White House. Like, ever again.

@timkmak

#Russia invaded Ukraine, bombed #Ukrainian cities into rubble, scattered #Landmines all over the country and committed uncountable #WarCrimes against the people of #Ukraine

Yet Russia is whining that Ukraine sent a few drones into Russia?

Russia started this war. Did they think Ukraine wouldn't fight back?

*Why shouldn't Ukraine attack Russian territory?*

Unlike Russia, Ukraine will aim for military and political targets, not innocent civilians.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/08/01/russia-ukraine-war-news/

Twitter / X sucks so much now.

Anyway, I'm back on here, and here's my latest:

"The Funhouse Mirror of Trumpistan"

Enjoy! And sign-up for the newsletter if you feel like it (it's free).
https://www.forkingpaths.co/p/the-funhouse-mirror-of-trumpistan

It's well worth blowing up the picture to read the #poster text.

Revisionist history is a lie. The Qpublican party is devoid of morality. Vote Blue

"Describing [RFK's] views as ‘controversial,’ I think, is dishonest. They’re not controversial. They’re false. He’s not spreading controversial views, he’s spreading lies. And so the framing matters enormously, and that’s something that I foresee being a huge, huge issue in the 2024 campaign."

Agreed!

Some key distinctions made by journalist Seth Mnookin in this sharp interview. (He wrote a book about the anti-vaccine movement in 2011.)

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/robert-f-kennedy-jr-seth-mnookin-panic-virus-deadly-immunity-interview_n_64c137b7e4b0ad7b75fadc32

#journalism #uspol #science

"What’s wanted here isn’t a civil discourse or an exchange of ideas.

What’s wanted is to agree that reality is not what it actually is, but what the person you’re dealing with says it is, which means you agree that they are the ones who get to set the terms of reality for everyone else."

@JuliusGoat has an awe-inspiring way with words and insights when evaluating Elon, or Bud Lite, or Barbie, or talking about almost anything.

https://armoxon.substack.com/p/the-dipshit-paradox?publication_id=376521&post_id=135430627&isFreemail=true

Don't know who came up with this, but the new Twitter logo as "sans-serif swastika" is...perfect.

*takes deep breath*

Dear Republicans,

We can't believe this needs to be said...But slavery did not 'benefit' Black Americans and the Holocaust did not did not help make Jews 'useful,' whatever that means.

Despicable.

Important sets:
ℂ the complex numbers
ℕ the natural numbers
ℚ the rational numbers
ℝ the real numbers
𝕏 the set of fascists wannabes
ℤ the integers