Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #altamerica
Most recents (4)
I think it goes beyond simply being boring. I think the entire mythology of heroism embodied by superheroes is destroying us, culturally, ethically, and otherwise. Short thread follows.
splinternews.com/heres-a-commen…
splinternews.com/heres-a-commen…
By setting heroes up as our role models, our idealized selves, we are seizing an ethos in which the highest good is to be a hero ourselves. Look around and think about how many people you know who conceive themselves as different kinds of heroes. Especially our would-be leaders.
This happens to be acutely true of right-wing extremists. Militiamen want to heroically save us from the evil New World Order. Nativists want to save us from evil immigrants and refugees. Alt-righters want to save us from evil globalists and cultural Marxists.
1) Donald Trump’s press conference Wednesday, and the responses to it, are an important and perhaps historic moment, beyond the controversy. It made irrevocably clear that Trump intends to rule as an authoritarian, and his followers want that. Ridiculously long thread follows. 
2) @ThePlumLine has already limned the authoritarian nature of the behavior of both Trump and his minions in searing detail. I urge everyone to read this thread so they can understand the dynamic at work here.
3) This is hardly the first time Trump has attempted to assert that his version of reality is the only legitimate one, and that all others are “fake.” It’s been a trademark of his tenure. He uses the gap as a wedge to drive his followers closer.
bit.ly/2JOX8Tb
bit.ly/2JOX8Tb
1) Let's talk, a la Kevin Williamson, about how the mainstream media censors journalists whose views it finds inconvenient and uncomfortable. As we saw over the weekend, what genuinely horrifies the Establishment press is anything that speaks real truth to power.
2) They’re also afraid of anything (Hello, Ms. Wolf) that confronts and attacks the tide of authoritarianism that is drowning our democracy, mainly because of the authoritarian backlash they will receive. They have been conditioned to respond this way for years.
3) The primary conditioning is practically embedded into American newsroom ethos: namely, a stark raving fear of being accused of “liberal media bias.”
1. Most of the discussion I have seen of the ramifications of the unfolding Russian-assault-on-democracy story has tended to focus almost entirely on the relatively limited and ultimately secondary considerations it raises.
2. These prominently include the extent of its effects on the outcome of the election, or whether the evidence establishes collusion on the part of the Trump campaign, or how deeply Russian influence extends into the administration.
