Thread by @MollyMcKew

Every 2020 disinfo thing you were warned about is happening

But @JoeBiden isn’t doomscrolling America, and neither should you

Biden understands the corrosive effect that Trump’s presidency has had on all of us—and a way out, maybe

My latest for @SURfdn
standuprepublic.com/joe-biden-isnt…

Pretty much EVERYTHING that every disinformation watcher warned you was going to happen is happening (except deepfakes):

1-malign foreign interference continues
2-POTUS drumming up rumors of election fraud and rigged results
3-“poll-watching” will add to the mess+intimidation /2

4-fears of inevitable violence and unrest are amplified from all directions
5-spurious Biden health rumors
6-Russia, others amplifying our attacks on each other instead of making their own
7-POTUS wackadoo conspiracies-of-the-day are getting way more extreme, pro QAnon /3

8-BUT HER EMAILS is now BUT THE “LAPTOP” with Rudy playing the role of Assange
9-forgeries and altered content
10-pro-Trump actors still aim to split Democratic vote and amplify intra-D divides
11-social media response is still uneven
12-media still unsure how to cover /4

Among others.

Only it’s worse in 2020 than 2016 because one party (Republicans) is totally open to using disinfo. And part of the other side doesn’t hear it when they echo it back just as loud.  /5

What we see every day is an endless series of stories about the stories that seek to influence us & what that means.

Is it true, manipulation, conspiracy?

It’s an exhausting process that leaves us frayed, frail, frustrated, deep in our own doomscroll of American decline. /6

You’ve constantly heard me and others speak about how vital and essential leadership is to fixing the problem of the effectiveness of disinformation — in terms of establishing values, calling balls and strikes, setting us to the task of building instead of tearing down. /7

Now, I have an example of this to show you. Biden, in his half of the “dueling town halls” on Thursday night, repeatedly avoiding taking swipes at Trump supporters or Republicans, or saying that all is lost or that we are close to the abyss. /8

Over and over, @JoeBiden didn’t go for a zinger or a throat punch.

He spoke of a better America. Offered a way out of polarized congressional discourse, poisoned media discourse.

Reminded us that—despite what we see on twitter—everything doesn’t need to be the bloody Alamo /9

Biden repeatedly avoided blaming the challenges we are going to face on any one faction — he just accepted that they will be his burdens to carry, his problems to solve.

@JoeBiden is serious about unity. I think maybe we are all underestimating how serious he is about unity /10

Probably no one will be ready for a president actually focused on unity — at least, not initially.

But maybe Biden can turn down the temperature enough that we can focus on the hard work that needs to be done instead of just living in the adrenaline haze of the last 4 years. /11

The Kremlin hacked our perceptions of who we are and what we can accomplish

Trump hacked our perceptions and convinced Americans of a sense of doom & powerlessness that simply isn’t real /12

Maybe @JoeBiden can convince us the American demise is not imminent and turn us back to the hard, non-reality show work of building a functional country that will lead the way through these coming decades of transformative human transition before it’s too late /13

It’s time to unhack our perceptions of ourselves and our nation and limit the power of disinformation to shape reality

Read more: /14

standuprepublic.com/joe-biden-isnt…