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Matthew Sheffield Profile picture
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21 Dec, 4 tweets, 2 min read
As I've said before, the best way to counter large-scale far right lies is in the legal system. You can't libel people and expect no consequences. Nice to see Smartmatic getting results.

Fox News is also being forced to air retracting segments, too:

mediaite.com/tv/jeanine-pir…
This bar complaint against Sidney Powell and the other attorneys who brought a frivolous Arizona election lawsuit is also an important example of seeking accountability in the legal arena: 12news.com/article/news/p…
Powell and her allies are facing a similar bar complaint in Michigan. We need many more such sanction efforts against her and attorneys who slander in news conferences while saying different things in court. forbes.com/sites/jemimamc…
Here's a look at the Smartmatic legal effort via @benyt.

The headline is too declarative since this is only a start of what needs to be done. Lawsuits and threats of lawsuits against far-right media are the "corporate philanthropy" that we need right now nytimes.com/2020/12/20/bus…

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More from @mattsheffield

Matthew Sheffield Profile picture
22 Dec
Sane people must learn and never forget that the stupidity of the far right is much less important than its dangerousness.

The more deluded people become, the more they will justify to promote their beliefs.
In fact, the constant stream of absurdities constantly spewed from Trump's mouth and Twitter fingers is actually what binds many of his supporters to him.
Trump doesn't personally care about religion but he knows that fundamentalists are mocked for their beliefs. All he has to do is wrap himself into the mythology and then his stupidities become their doctrine.
Read 13 tweets
Matthew Sheffield Profile picture
21 Dec
Most conservative media outlets are much more biased than any source they deem to be "liberal."

So often, the articles fail to mention basic facts that might upset readers. It's partly why base conservatives get triggered by facts.

I'll update this thread periodically.
Here's Townhall talking about a desperate Trump lawsuit trying to throw out PA's Electoral College votes that have already been certified.

It leaves out the two huge losses SCOTUS has already dished out to Trump allies, one of which concerned PA: townhall.com/tipsheet/bethb…
Dishonest and incompetent articles like this that refuse to admit the truth is why Trump followers still think he has a chance.

The article also fails to mention that even if Trump miraculously won vs PA, Biden would still be president since he won so many other states.
Read 5 tweets
Matthew Sheffield Profile picture
20 Dec
Thread: People love to rag on Nate Silver for his arrogance & they should, but he's merely an example of a larger issue that the web has made it easy to draw inferences from data without knowing the context in which it lives. 1/x
Alexander Pope's warning that "a little learning is a dangerous thing" has never been more true than an age in which we can obtain information about anything without being able to understand it.

Having data doesn't mean you can use it.
Western society has a very significant problem that expertise in one area is often conflated with expertise in others.

Men are the main culprit. We have been socialized to think we know more than we do. There are many studies showing this. Here's one: journals.physiology.org/doi/full/10.11…
Read 15 tweets
Matthew Sheffield Profile picture
17 Dec
I don't think there is any one phrase that so adequately summarizes the global moment we're living in than this one attributed to David Hume, the Scottish philosopher who died in 1776:

"Mistakes in philosophy are merely ridiculous, those in religion are dangerous."
I haven't been able to find which work of Hume's the phrase is from so if you know of it, please chime in. But let's talk a bit about what the phrase means and why it's so important.
The word "mistake" here is not explicitly a reference to any person or group's particular dogma but rather to how society acts upon religious or moral concepts.

Humans individually and collectively are fallible so thus the biggest error is fundamentalism.
Read 23 tweets
Matthew Sheffield Profile picture
13 Dec
The most fascinating figure from the God-Trump "Jericho March" was its emcee, Chrystal Christian radio host Eric Metaxas.

He started off hosting "Socrates in the City" pop philosophy discussions in NYC but his insatiable desire for fame took him to hosting Alex Jones. 1/x
It's a terrible story but, sadly, it's one that is extremely typical of aspiring conservative media figures.

People who try to bring nuance and to mix it up with religion skeptics always get stymied.
Because there is no center-right power in America, only far-right, this means that if you want to have a media career as a reasonable conservative, you must somehow win the NYT or WaPo lottery or labor in relative obscurity, regardless of your talent or achievements.
Read 15 tweets
Matthew Sheffield Profile picture
11 Dec
How can we as a society overcome a GOP that cynically embraces insanity?

By using grace to educate the mistaken while never enabling the malicious.

It won't be easy, but there is no other way.
What does this mean in practice? 1) Reformed defamation laws that contract the definition of a public figure so that liars can be sued. 2) Actively debunking extremist figures as they make their lies and hate. 3) Getting people to read more instead of using TV and radio.
4) Talking & taking action about racial injustice as matters of inclusion rather than exclusion. 5) Exposing how ignorant & emotional that right wing pundits are. 6) Helping conservative Christians see that a better faith community exists outside the GOP & would love to have them
Read 13 tweets

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