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Teri Kanefield Profile picture
@Teri_Kanefield
Sep 21, 2020 • 6 tweets • 2 min read • Read on X
Yes. I think it's safe to assume that McConnell will push a nomination through. Biden is likely to win the election. If the Democrats also win the Senate, they'll be able to undo much of the damage.

The White House and House without the Senate will create a holding pattern.
It will stop the slide toward fascism, but the Democrats will be limited in the progress they can make.

On the other hand, win the House, Senate, and White House and McConnell's appointment won't matter.
What I meant by "it won't matter" is that we have three branches of government.

One branch (particularly the judicial) can't overpower the other two.

I'm also confident that if McConnell rams a justice through, and the Democrats take the Senate . . .
. . . House and White House, they will increase the number of justices. That would be the right thing to do, the fair thing to do, and it can be justified under numerous theories. I did a blog post in this a few days ago.
Schumer and Pelosi might have a way to stop it. An impeachment trial may or may not stop an appointment if McConnell is determined to push one through.

Leveraging the GOP's power grab to win the election by a large margin may be the only recourse.
The executive branch, particularly if backed up by Congress, can overpower the judicial branch. It's a matter of who has the muscle.

But the judiciary alone simply can't overpower Congress + the White House.

The judiciary branch is largely reactive.

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More from @Teri_Kanefield

Teri Kanefield Profile picture
Mar 11
Finished. (Whew)

As promised, all about Legal pundits and the Outrage Industry, with a few cherished conspiracy theories carefully debunked.

Click here to start:

For years, I was perplexed by what I saw on Twitter. . .

1/ terikanefield.com/can-democracy-…
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It seemed to me that the dynamics of social media were making people more authoritarian.

Then I started reading experts in political communication and it all started making sense.


2/ terikanefield.com/can-democracy-…
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I wrote parts 1 - 5 in November. I thought I was finished, but I wasn't.

There were still things I didn't understand.

Writers often write to understand, so I kept reading, thinking, and writing.



3/ terikanefield.com/can-democracy-…
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Read 5 tweets
Teri Kanefield Profile picture
Mar 9
Whew! I finished.



Everything I promised: How to listen (or not listen) to legal pundits.

It's also about what is dangerous about the entire industry of punditry, speculation, and cable talk shows.

1/terikanefield.com/invented-narra…

For years I was perplexed by what I was seeing on left-leaning Twitter, political blogs, and partisan reporting.

I had the feeling that, in its way, what I was seeing was comparable to Fox: Lots of bad information and even unhinged conspiracy theories.
2terikanefield.com/invented-narra…
Of course, if I suggested that, I was blasted for "both-sidesing."

Then I discovered an area of scholarship: Communications and the overlap between communications and political science.

I read these books and light bulbs went on.

3/ Image
Read 11 tweets
Teri Kanefield Profile picture
Mar 2
If Trump can win with everything we know about him, what make people think a finding of guilt would change that?

It makes no sense.
Also what if the jury acquits? It can happen.

I do recall the same people thought impeachment and indictment would cause Trump to crumble.
Another contradiction: when people demanded indictments RIGHT NOW (in 2021 and early 2022) the reason was, "Everyone knows he's guilty! Look at all the evidence!"

We saw the J6 committee findings.

Trump isn't saying "I didn't do it." He's saying, "I had the right to do it."

2
We all know what he did. The question is, "Do people want a president who acts like Trump?"

A lot of people do.

People show me polls that a guilty finding would change minds.

I say rubbish. Use common sense. He lost in 2020 and he lost the popular vote in 2016. . .

3/
Read 6 tweets
Teri Kanefield Profile picture
Feb 29
The news takes 2 minutes to convey.

"Here is what the court did." That is news.

Listening to people speculate about why the court did it and what it means is not news.

It is entertainment.

But it is a special kind of entertainment.

1/
. . . because it is designed to keep people hooked. People need to stay glued to the screen for hour after hour.

But to hook people, you need to scare them. The Facebook whistleblower testified that content that produces strong emotions like anger gets more engagement.

2/
Fox does the same thing. There is a few minutes of news, but the facts get lost as commentators and TV personalities speculate and scare their audiences.

Before you yell at me for comparing MSNBC to FOX, read all of this:

3/terikanefield.com/can-democracy-…
Read 5 tweets
Teri Kanefield Profile picture
Feb 29
If I write another blog post addressing the outrage cycle here on Twitter and in the MSNBC ecosystem, it will be to explore why so many people who believe they are liberal or progressive actually want a police state.

1/
Today alone, a handful of people who consider themselves liberal or progressive told me that the "traitors need to be arrested and prosecuted."

In 2019, back when I wore myself out tamping down misinformation, I explained the legal meaning of treason.

2/
Back then, I now realize, people asked politely: "Can Trump be prosecuted for treason (over the Russia election stuff).

I explained that wouldn't happen.

Now it's different. It's more like fascist chants.

3/
Read 4 tweets
Teri Kanefield Profile picture
Feb 29
I spent 5 years writing FAQ pages and "talking people off the ledge" each time there was a collective meltdown.

I stopped doing that because it is never-ending.

I keep saying the same things over and over.

1/
In 2021, when people were demanding indictments, I said, "Indictments are the start of a long harrowing process."

I explained that trials are harrowing.

Judges make bad decisions.

Juries don't always get it right. A person can be guilty but be acquitted.

2/
I told people to stop thinking that the criminal justice system will solve a political problem.

Eventually, I came to believe that the 10% of people who are "highly engaged" with politics are the least informed.

They will always be in a misinformation-outrage cycle.

3/
Read 7 tweets

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