Kaz Weida Profile picture
22 Apr, 9 tweets, 5 min read
In our #ThursdayThread we're discussing how Majorie Taylor Greene wants to debate @AOC on the Green New Deal. Should Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez consent to debate Greene in a public forum?

Fuck no.
Here's the top five reasons why.

(THREAD)
(2) Reason #1:
Greene hasn't even bothered to read the bill, which is only 14 pages and pretty easily digestible.

There's no surer sign that this is a publicity stunt than Greene's lack of awareness about the topic she's proposing debating.

businessinsider.com/mtg-debate-aoc…
(3) Reason #2:
Greene is a professional provocateur. She's not there to debate policy. She's a clout chaser.

The easiest way to get her to stop poisoning political discourse is to ignore her bad faith antics.

independent.co.uk/news/world/ame…
(4) Reason #3:
Debating Greene and providing her the media exposure such a debate would garner would 100% contribute to her fundraising efforts.

She wants free media exposure so she can exploit it for campaign dollars. Don't give it to her.

propublica.org/article/how-jo…
(5) Reason #4:
Even entertaining Greene's ludicrous ideas opens the door to the premise that her conspiracy theories are somehow worthy of debate.

They're not. Full stop. This is dangerous stuff. We don't need to give it a platform.

theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/…
(6) Reason #5:
While feeding this frenzy is the tempting equivalent of political rubbernecking, it doesn't advance progressive policy.

The real work is not convincing the Majorie Taylor Greenes of the world. It's convincing the Mitt Romneys.

thehill.com/opinion/energy…
(7) All of this is to say that @AOC should not entertain Greene's bizarre stunt for even a minute and neither should you. STOP paying attention to this nonsense. Block mentions of Greene on your timeline.

If you move on, the media will too.

(8) We are all responsible for the media landscape. As consumers, we can choose to shape it in productive ways or allow it to shape public discourse in ways we find infuriating.

In this sphere at least, we have a lot of power. Don't squander it.

npr.org/2020/12/30/949…
(END) Thanks for stopping for the #ThursdayThread , suggestion courtesy of @MajikaZulJin . Come back next week and we'll do this again.

Like threads like this and want to keep them coming? You can support my work here:
paypal.me/kazweida
patreon.com/kazweida

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More from @kazweida

20 Apr
In our #TuesdayThread , we're discussing deplorables Majorie Taylor Greene & Lauren Boebert. The cartoon villianesque evil duo seem to have become the center of every controversy in Washington.
Why?

The answer is simple.
Cold hard cash.
(THREAD) Image
(2) Majorie Taylor Greene is a textbook provocateur who perversely enjoys taunting and terrorizing people on camera. This is her entire persona in a nutshell.

If it gleans even a trickle of media attention, she's there to slurp it up. So very thirsty.

chicagotribune.com/nation-world/c…
(3) Boebert fits the same provocateur profile except she has a niche to exploit. Gun rights. And she'll go wherever the profits from 2A advocates take her.

She even runs a restaurant based on pissing off people in a state traumatized by gun violence.

kunc.org/2021-01-27/boe…
Read 11 tweets
8 Apr
For our #ThursdayThread , we're asking a question that has no easy answers.

How do you solve a problem like Joe Manchin?
I mean honestly. What the hell does this dude want?
(THREAD)
(2) Manchin's come forward again today with more bluster about how he will never ever eliminate the filibuster, which certainly means any hope for significant voting rights legislation is withering on the vine.

So what are we gonna do about Joe Manchin?

washingtonpost.com/opinions/joe-m…
(3) There isn't much Dems can do. Historically, West Virginia was a Democratic stronghold but those days are long gone. Today the GOP dominates the state.

Manchin isn't up for re-election until 2024. And it's not clear he'll run again.

fivethirtyeight.com/features/why-j…
Read 11 tweets
6 Apr
This morning in our #TuesdayThread , we're asking how the failure of a toxic wastewater reservoir happened and what it means for Florida.

Could this catastrophe have been avoided?
The short answer is absolutely.
This is a tragedy of our own making.
(THREAD)
(2) In case you missed it, crews are frantically pumping water out of a leaking reservoir near Tampa Bay in an effort to avert total collapse.

The water is contaminated with high levels of nitrogen and phosphorus from a phosphogypsum stack.

usatoday.com/story/news/nat…
(3) What's so bad about this wastewater? Well, the level of phosphorus and nitrogen in the water that has already leaked is like dumping 60,000 bags of fertilizer into the bay.

It causes algae blooms, which depletes oxygen in the water and kills the fish

wtsp.com/article/tech/s…
Read 10 tweets
23 Mar
I dunno who still needs to hear this but voting rights are vital to democracy.

Republicans have rigged the system so they choose their voters rather than voters choosing them. This has eroded democracy & held progress hostage through the oppression of minority rule.
(THREAD)
(2) So how are we going to fight back against a wave of gerrymandering and voter suppression laws that threaten a new era of Jim Crow?

This is a fight that'll be fought on 3 fronts.
In our legislatures. In the courts. And in our communities.

brennancenter.org/our-work/resea…
(3) First, we need national action on voting rights in order to curb voter suppression efforts in GOP-held state legislatures.

Right now, there are 43 states that have introduced over 253 bills to curtail voting rights.

brennancenter.org/our-work/resea…
Read 11 tweets
23 Mar
When people ask what Fibro pain is like, I describe it this way:

Imagine feeling hungry or your leg or neck muscles are sore. Now imagine that instead of feeling that as hunger or stiffness, nerves tell your brain you’re being stabbed by knives.

That’s what my fibro feels like.
The thing is you are certainly not being stabbed by knives and often there’s no real reason for the pain except something in that area has attracted the attention of your nervous system.

So while the pain is very real, the reason is often a miscommunication.
This is why meditation & yoga has been a huge help for me. Yoga helps me stay in my body and be gentle with it. Mediation helps find some distance from my pain and experience it without judgment.

I eat well. I exercise daily.
I take care of myself.
The rest isn’t up to me.
Read 4 tweets
11 Mar
For our Thursday thread today we’re trying to answer a pretty simple question.

What the hell is wrong with the media and what can we do to stop enabling false equivalences and “both sides” coverage?

(THREAD)

kqed.org/education/5319…
(2) I think there are two things fueling the current infuriating headlines and leading to false equivalences and both sides coverage.

The first is competence.
When government is functioning as it should, outrage clickbait becomes harder to manufacture.

nymag.com/intelligencer/…
(3) The second factor in play here is pure laziness and a reliance on access journalism.

Far too many media outlets have leaned into this problematic approach for far too long. It prioritizes scoops from those in power over independent accountability.

pressrun.media/p/access-journ…
Read 11 tweets

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