Josh Duggar has been charged with downloading and possessing child porn - some of which depicts the sexual abuse of children under the age of 12, in May 2019.
“The federal investigation [into the plot against Governor Whitmer] dates to early [2020] when the FBI learned through social media that individuals were discussing the violent overthrow of several state governments and law enforcement.”
TBF, it was probably an editor who chose the headline, but the point still stands.
On Dems’ messaging weakness, and “Faculty lounge” politics - he is absolutely, 100% right about this.
Much of the language Dems use has an underlying assumption built into it - that voters already get the way our understanding has evolved and led to these terms.
To those who want to promote the idea that democracy doesn’t work, every issue is a potential culture war wedge to be leveraged, to pit Americans against each other, and to heighten/trigger the fears of those with authoritarian tendencies.
And the actions that these folks engage in are so offensive that they are essentially designed to go viral, amplifying the “culture war,” and essentially speaking it into existence.
Lots of accounts here on social media are happy to help.
This is why the ACLU has worked to block these same motions in other states.
Every time the GOP takes control of a state legislature, they pass one of these Koch “model bills,” adding that state to the list calling for a convention.
One caveat: The GOP & its bill mills (ALEC) are already planning tactics to sabotage Biden’s policies at the state level, similar to the way they blocked Obamacare Medicaid expansions.
Short thread here discussing one of these approaches.
At least two GOP state legislatures are attempting to create a parallel state court system for what they consider “constitutional” matters, and using an untested antebellum “nullification” theory to block Biden policies.
On a separate front, GOP state governments are attempting to push a “block grant” model as an alternative funding method that they claim will allow them to better manage Medicaid expansions.
It’s a trap.
Biden appears to be wise to this already, and is pushing back.