Matthew Sheffield Profile picture
Dec 28, 2020 8 tweets 6 min read Read on X
What's known as American conservatism is mostly rural white cultural sensibilities that have been marketed as a political philosophy. This is nowhere more evident than the many children's books that have been published to fulfill a supposed need for "godly" kid-lit. ImageImageImageImage
A few more. Please note that these are all real and that I've provided only a small sampling here. ImageImageImageImage
More: ImageImageImageImage
Still more. You'll notice that Rush Limbaugh has an entire series of kids' books. ImageImageImageImage
The content of some of the books is terrible as well. The "Pepe and Pede" book is anti-Muslim propaganda and promotes white nationalist themes. It was written by a (since-fired) junior high assistant principal vice.com/en/article/vbb…
And then there's the author of the Donald the Caveman series, Trumpvangelical radio host Eric Metaxas.

He hosted Alex Jones and other crazies to call for a coup against the election and has said he'd be "happy to die" for Trump religionnews.com/2020/11/30/eri…
This is cultic politics, something you dedicate your entire life to, & the lives of your children, whether they want it or not.

Adults listen to Rush at work, the kids homeschool and read My Parents Open Carry, & everyone gathers round at night for Carlson, Ingraham, and OAN.
Via @tina_nguyen, here's another addition to this thread. Mike Huckabee has decided to get into the kiddie Trump worship business. ImageImageImage

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More from @mattsheffield

Mar 29
🧵 Christian fascists have had a prominent place among Republicans since the rise of Barry Goldwater, but Donald Trump made them the senior partner in the party.

But instead of telling this truth, MSM execs elevated fictitious Republicans like Ronna McDaniel. This must stop.
This thread is a summary of my latest @DiscoverFlux essay. You can continue here or click through for the prose version. plus.flux.community/p/ronna-mcdani…
With the exception of ex-CNN president Jeff Zucker, America's largest news organizations didn't hire the congenital liars like Kellyanne Conway as commentators.

Instead, they hired fictitious Republicans, soulless shills like Hugh Hewitt w no constituency and nothing to say.
Read 8 tweets
Mar 11
🧵 Everyone's still talking about how weird Katie Britt sounded last week. It's even more interesting once you realize that she doesn't normally talk in that breathy and melodramatic voice.

That she chose to speak that way is an interesting story...
This thread is a summary of my latest @TheoryChange episode. I left the link out in the previous post since the doofus authoritarian who owns this site downranks posts with links to external sites.

You can continue here or click through: plus.flux.community/p/katie-britt-…
From the outside, the American right seems very unified, but as a former right-wing political activist, I can tell you that it really isn't.

Among other things, there is a huge divide between the highly educated operatives who run things in DC and the rabid fundamentalist voters
Read 15 tweets
Mar 5
🧵 Talking to Trump super fans about politics is often a surreal experience. And that's because they literally do not understand what you are talking about.

Why is that? Because Trump devotees actually believe that truth derives from authority rather than reality...
This thread is a summary of my latest @DiscoverFlux piece, which you can find here. I am not including the link because a certain authoritarian billionaire deliberately downranks links in posts.

You can continue here or click through: plus.flux.community/p/trump-suppor…
People generally use the word "authoritarian" as a synonym for jerk, but it has actual philosophical and historical meaning.

Authoritarian thinking is as old as humanity itself and was manifested in ancient societies in which politics and religion were unified.
Read 21 tweets
Feb 5
🧵 Disinformation is everywhere, especially because of right-wing politicians.

But all of the tactics at use in the internet age have a history, one that begins with Big Tobacco and continues straight through to climate change.

Can learning the history provide hope?
This thread is a summary of the latest @TheoryChange episode, a discussion with Salon climate change writer @MatthewRozsa.

You can get the full episode on YouTube:

Apple Podcasts:

Spotify:
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tod…
open.spotify.com/episode/06pqah…
Our story begins during the JFK administration when the new surgeon general worked w/Congress to force tobacco companies to disclose that their products caused cancer and birth defects.

Needless to say, Big Tobacco didn't like this, so they started to manufacture doubt.
Read 16 tweets
Jan 23
🧵 I know everyone is thinking about New Hampshire right now, but can I get your attention on something that's going to be key in the 2024 general election?

Republicans have given up on winning over Gen Z and Gen Alpha and so instead they've decided to gaslight them to hell...
Younger people historically don't vote in high numbers, but due to the terrible political environment created by Boomers and Silents, Generation Z and Alpha are starting to vote in self-defense.

Right wing activists have responded by flooding the web with "post left" nihilism.
"Post left," as in wanting a leftish politics that is somehow not involved in any way with the Democratic Party.

The right wing is desperate to splinter the voting power of Gen Z and misdirect it toward hopeless third-party candidates or to just give up and stay home.
Read 10 tweets
Jan 5
🧵 A lot of people have been mystified by the sudden and incredible attacks Claudine Gay faced which led to her downfall.

As a former right-wing media entrepreneur who was part of the anti-Dan Rather blogger corps, there are a few things I think you should know...
Just for reference, the clip in the previous post is from the latest @STJH_pod episode. You can get the full version of it here:

(I have to structure the thread this way given a certain anti-free speech billionaire's unwritten rules.)plus.flux.community/p/the-attacks-…
The firestorm of criticism Claudine Gay faced from reactionaries like Elise Stefanik or Christopher Rufo has nothing to do with antisemitism or plagiarism.

We know this because Stefanik herself is a plagiarist. Hypocrisy is mandatory on the right now. huffpost.com/entry/elise-st…
Read 18 tweets

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