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22 Feb, 4 tweets, 2 min read
It's like when distilled alcohol arrived in Europe after 1400. Human beings had long experience of wine and beer. But distilled liquor spread carnage through unprepared societies. Took a long time to learn to cope with it. Broadcast media => social media an almost equal shock
George Allen's "macaca" remark went viral in August 2006 - powered by YouTube, which had launched in February 2005. abcnews.go.com/Nightline/stor…
.@WindsorMann reminds me of Michael Richards' viral infamy - November 2006. cbsnews.com/news/kramer-ap…
@WindsorMann Cellphone cameras + YouTube exposed everyone to the kind of video notoriety once reserved for celebrities stalked by professional paparazzi

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More from @davidfrum

David Frum Profile picture
23 Feb
In an early episode of "Mad Men," the young striver Peggy Olson faces a traumatic experience. The principal character, a man whose life is built upon falsehood and evasion, offers his life advice: "It never happened. It will amaze you how much it never happened." 1/x
With the Tanden nomination, we are watching congressional Republicans put Don Draper's advice into effect.

They supported a profoundly corrupt, cruel, vituperative, and generally immoral and unethical president at the head of an inept and unethical administration. They knew it!
But of course those senators never said so. They were scared and they were shamed. Maybe they stopped some bad things - or at least they tell themselves they did. But the experience had to have been profoundly humiliating for almost all of them. And these are not humble people.
Read 8 tweets
David Frum Profile picture
21 Feb
Question I've been thinking about today. Was Ingrid Bergman a victim of "cancel culture" when she was caught in a firestorm of scandal in 1950 for having a child with one man while married to another? If not, why not? thevintagenews.com/2018/02/07/ing…
I don't mean this question as a random puzzle, it's helping me develop an idea about why so many feel that it's different to lose a movie career in 2021 for posting conspiracy theories on social media than to lose a movie career in 1951 for an unsanctioned love affair.
When John Lennon was quoted that the Beatles were bigger than Jesus, he triggered a wave of boycott against the band (even though he was expressing worry about declining spirituality, not boasting about his success) rollingstone.com/feature/when-j…
Read 7 tweets
David Frum Profile picture
20 Feb
Of all the Senate-confirmed jobs, OMB director is one that would seem to call for *utmost* deference to the president.

Unlike judgeships, it's not a lifetime appointment.

It is not a separate cabinet department, it functions within the Executive Office of the President. 1/x
Unlike, say, directorships of NIH, or NASA, or NOAA, the OMB directorship legitimately answers directly to the president. The budget drafted by OMB is always and only a *proposal* to Congress, which has the ultimate deciding power always. 2/x
And if Congress doesn't like what it's hearing from an OMB director, guess what? Congress has its own in-house functional equivalent, director of the Congressional Budget Office. 3/x
Read 8 tweets
David Frum Profile picture
17 Feb
They put these numbers on the Internet, anyone can find them in less than a minute eia.gov/state/?sid=TX#…
Oklahoma actually depends more on solar & wind than Texas does
Iowa depends more on solar and wind even than Oklahoma, vastly more than Texas eia.gov/state/?sid=IA#…
Read 4 tweets
David Frum Profile picture
16 Feb
So about the below tweet, which I somehow didn't see until today. I get the point Jim_Jordan *imagined* he was making. But the point he is *actually* making is more interesting ...
Yes it's true that wine drinkers are somewhat better educated than beer drinkers and somewhat higher income. But the starkest divide between beer and wine is gender, not class. Women prefer wine over beer by a margin of 2 to 1; men prefer beer over wine by a margin of 3 to 1
Saying "We're a party for beer drinkers, not wine drinkers," is an alcohol-benchmarked way of saying, "We're a party for men, not women."
Read 7 tweets
David Frum Profile picture
15 Feb
To recapitulate something I said on @MorningJoe

Before predicting continued Trump dominance of GOP, consider

- How will GOP electeds feel after Trump launches his revenge tour ?

- After he insists that 2022 be a referendum not on Biden but on the greatness of Trump?

1/x
@MorningJoe - After more months of Trump redirecting individual donations from GOP purposes to his own pockets?

- After Trumpist primary challenges cost GOP winnable seats?

- If Trump cult of personality Senate races fail in NC and Florida?

2/x
@MorningJoe - After prosecutors & Congress get hold of Trump's tax and business records ?

- After the legal proceedings that then ensue?

3/x
Read 5 tweets

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