Biden releases a list of 2,700 (!) regulatory actions planned by his executive branch. These measures will improve lives & prevent disasters, but they unfold in the background & most people never hear about them. reginfo.gov/public/do/eAge…
By & large, Americans are unaware of how big & sprawling the federal regulatory machine is & the extent to which it undergirds the safety & prosperity they take for granted. Everyone should read The Fifth Risk. amzn.to/3pSFO5h
This, to me, is one of the most striking things about the modern Trumpist right wing. They think the media culture war IS politics; they seem genuinely unaware that, outside, in the world, there is a vast apparatus of agencies & rules that keep things running smoothly/safely.
Today's thread on the impending demise of US democracy.
Start with this absolutely essential piece from @bartongellman. As he convincingly argues, Trump successfully stealing the 2024 election is not just possible, it's currently the likely outcome. theatlantic.com/magazine/archi…
This is really good -- both in identifying how toxic & absurd Hawley's offering is & in identifying the lack of any clear non-toxic alternative models for men.
Here's a question for you all: who is modeling the kind of masculinity you would like to see more of? Who strikes you as a "real man" but in a *good* way?
The good men list so far (at least two votes):
Keanu Reeves
Dave Grohl
B. Obama
Steve Kerr
Nick Offerman
Jose Andres
Guy Fieri
Stephen Colbert
Tom Hanks
Levar Burton
George Clooney
A reminder that every reactionary movement, in working itself up to violence, starts by convincing itself that its opponents -- the immigrants, intellectuals, & elites -- are a giant monolithic force that is right on the verge of destroying civilization. It's well-worn script.
I was just listening to a podcast about McCarthyism the other day & his rhetoric was practically identical to what you hear today. The commies are everywhere, right on the verge of taking over! They're all in league w/ one another! We have no time to worry about civil liberties!
You see it in the evolution of Proud Boys rhetoric too. First it was about "being ready" for when the left launched its inevitable purge. Then people get guns, get fired up, get tired of waiting, & the rhetoric shifts to "we can't afford to wait, we must preemptively strike!"
Everyone on the internet has already told you to read @RottenInDenmark's excellent dissection of the "evidence" the Cancel Culture Cult uses to justify its hysteria. But I'm gonna tell you again anyway: read it. michaelhobbes.substack.com/p/students-sel…
Over time I've noticed that there are certain specific issues that cause normally sober, reasonable analysts to indulge in obvious motivated reasoning. And on some level I think they're aware because they also get very huffy & defensive about those issues. Of course ...
... this kind of thing is easy to see from the outside but difficult to see from inside. I'm sure there are issues about which I'm the same way! But some issues seem to really invite it. I would include Israel (which I'm not gonna touch). Meat eating. Cars. But ...
One of the most pernicious aspects of political commentary is how much it relies on polls & surveys that give people a list of options & ask which they care about or believe. It gives the impression that the mass of voters are out there knowing things & worrying over "issues."
In fact, anyone who looks into it closely finds basically the same thing: voters don't know anything. They have all kinds of wacky & weird beliefs. They don't necessarily care about -- can't even necessarily identify -- "issues" as political types think about them.
So, so, so much of political commentary is DC/NYC political obsessives retconning voter behavior to render it a rational, or at least legible, response to actual facts & circumstances. It's like a fun pattern-finding game they all play together.