At this increasingly optimistic hour, here's a short thread reminding us about what we all face. The appalling threat which democracy everywhere will continue to face long into the future. A threat which will likely become ever more sophisticated; ever more dangerous.
Three anecdotes.

1. I teach many students. They're all smart, kind, decent people. On Tuesday, I asked one of them if she was following the US election. She said:

"Well, I don't know too much... but I've seen a video of Biden with children. He's a bad man".
2. On Wednesday morning, with me having been up almost all night following the results, I asked another student. He said:

"I've heard there's been lots of fraud".
3. I've just got off the phone with a close, dear, much loved friend. She's not at all stupid; in fact, she's one of the most emotionally intelligent, perceptive people I've ever known. She's American and voted for Biden - so I thought she'd be happy. Nope.

She said this:
"I really wanted to talk to you before I voted because I couldn't decide... it's like pick your poison...

I don't trust Biden. He's a racist... He has dementia...

Shaun, instagram have been banning conservative accounts just for having an opinion!"
She also thinks Covid is man made. 😐

I repeat: she is not stupid. Very far from it. She knows about and she sees all the problems in the world - she knows that *something is very very wrong* with that world.

And then she goes on social media and her head is filled with shit.
Like those students I mentioned go on social media and their heads are filled with shit.

Watching videos which *seem* legit - I mean, the camera never lies, right? And if social media are shutting people's accounts, what are they trying to hide, right?
I've had, um, stern words with two of these individuals this week. Pleading with them to stop and think. Demanding they educate themselves from authoritative sources, and stop assuming everything they read must be true.

But I doubt I got very far.
It's very very hard to change people's views without patronising them and without them feeling like they're being insulted. They have as much right to their opinions as anyone else - but without wanting to sound like a twat, ignorance will never, ever be equal to knowledge.
My friend is the most incredibly kind, gentle soul. She is desperate for action on the environment. She knows we're destroying the planet.

But 'pick your poison'? When at this very moment, Trump is trying to incite violence and endanger electoral officials?!
It's insane. I was about to say "people just can't see through it" - but they have. 51-52% of Americans have. They've seen through the lies, the bullshit, and have helped save their country.

But my God, do we need education about fake news. Everywhere. Its impact is terrifying.

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Shaun Lawson

Shaun Lawson Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @shaunjlawson

7 Nov
I'm laughing at many of the responses to *that* thread. I did say I was a small and bitter man ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Predictably, many of the comments just repeat a bunch of myths. Which I'll run through now.
1. "Biden's only just scraped it!" Wrong.

The only reason they're still counting now is because so so many voted by mail. In normal circumstances - almost everyone voting in-person - we'd have known the result by Wednesday morning.
Biden's electoral college outcome is going to be 306-232. That is NOT 'only just scraping it'. Nor is the highest number of votes for any Presidential candidate in history (the previous record was in 2008); nor is a popular vote margin which will keep rising and hit 5m and above.
Read 17 tweets
7 Nov
In many ways, I am a small and bitter man. So I hope you can forgive me - everyone's a bit of an arse from time to time - but I'm gonna have a bit of fun.

This thread is about the epic number of political illiterates on this platform who insisted that Biden would lose.
I also want to make something clear before I begin. Everyone makes wrong calls. I have plenty of times. The problem is the constant dogma and ideology which lies behind calling it so wrong, ie.

"I'm a socialist. Biden is a centrist. Ergo, Biden will lose!"
Not only that, but:

"You are crazy / you are a disgrace for supporting Biden / thinking he'll win!"

That level of dogmatic tribalism is a massive problem on social media. But I hope those I highlight in this thread will at least think about it. Reflection is good for everyone.
Read 105 tweets
6 Nov
Yesterday, I explained the ridiculous set-up in the Senate: which has 2 seats for each state. There is a mounting chance that, after 2 special elections in Georgia on Jan 5, the Senate will be tied at 50-50.

We're also on track for Biden to win 25 states; Trump to win 25 states.
That's assuming that Pennsylvania and Nevada are confirmed Biden (which they will be for sure); Georgia is (pretty likely but not certain); and Arizona is (likely but not certain).

I'm not sure if any Presidential race ever has finished 25-25 in states. The Senate matches it.
Few things better sum up how incredibly polarised the US is now. But it's a false polarisation: because there's far, far, FAR more people in the 25 Democrat states than the 25 GOP ones.

Remember too that DC, the most liberal place in the whole US, doesn't have any senators.
Read 4 tweets
5 Nov
As we all wait, and wait, and wait, here's an article by @OwenJones84 . Which gets right to the heart of "where do the Democrats go now?" - and the constant, uh, lively debate on and off here between socialists, social democrats, liberals and centrists.

theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
I like Owen a huge amount. He is an awesome campaigning journalist - and I agree with at least 90% of what he says on most things.

This isn't one of those times - but that doesn't make me blind to the factors leading to his conclusions. Not in any way.
Take a look at this graph. Which shows clearly and precisely what, above all, is destroying America.
Read 69 tweets
5 Nov
NEW: Kathy Boockvar, Pennsylvania secretary of state, has just told CNN that the winner of the state could be announced tonight.

There are still 550,000 ballots left to be processed, but officials are ahead of schedule and most will be counted by this evening, Boockvar said.
The key is Philadelphia, where there’s about 100,000 outstanding ballots and where Joe Biden is winning a whopping 80% of votes.

This means it may not matter that Allegany county, home to Pennsylvania’s second-largest city of Pittsburgh, has suspended counting until tomorrow.
Boockvar also said that Donald Trump’s legal appeal to discount mail-in ballots posted by 3 November, but which arrive before the end of Friday 6 November, would not make a significant difference as there’s only a few thousand.
Read 4 tweets
5 Nov
Increasingly strong chance that Biden's gonna sweep almost all remaining close states. In order of likelihood (from virtual cert to strong):

- Nevada
- Arizona (ignore Trump's smoke and mirrors)
- Georgia
- Pennsylvania

That'd give him 306 electoral votes. A very different look
Not only that, but the popular vote margin's gonna rise substantially:

1. In Georgia and especially Pennsylvania, where there are tons of Democrat votes still to come

2. In California, which is only at 66% reporting.

It makes the initial ridicule of pollsters look ridiculous.
I'm also watching the Senate races closely. Depending on how much early vote is still outstanding, initial pessimism there may end up proving (somewhat) misplaced.

In January, we might well be looking at two Georgian special elections which, if won by Dems, would make it 50-50.
Read 4 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!