1/ Don’t talk about this much publicly, but 3.5 years ago, I was in one of the darkest places I had ever been. I had applied to about 60 jobs and gotten zero of them. On seven occasions, I was a finalist for a reporting job I really wanted. All seven times, I got rejected. 2/ I had no idea what to do. My gig at the time, where I'd been for 7 years, was turning into a full on video outlet. I was no longer writing. I had ideas I wanted to execute but no idea how. Then my former colleague/boss/friend @catematthews mentioned something called Substack.

Here are 5 of the most interesting political misconceptions that exist and persist in America today 🧵 1. “The Supreme Court is hopelessly divided.” Actually, over the last decade, 43% of all SCOTUS decisions were 9-0 *unanimous* decisions. In 2021-2022, roughly 60% were 9-0, 8-1, or 7-2 decisions. scotusblog.com/2022/07/as-una…

Every day, I write to one of the most politically diverse audiences (maybe *the* most?) in all of political news. Here are the five pieces from @TangleNews that got the most positive feedback from across the political spectrum this year:

1. Seeing Ghosts readtangle.com/seeing-ghosts/ 2. The whole point of Tangle, and why you need to get out of your bubble: readtangle.com/the-whole-poin…

If you think the NYTimes purposefully included a swastika in its crossword puzzle please get to therapy

1/ A few preemptive "election fraud" notes & what to expect on #ElectionDay2022

First, Pennsylvania's votes will take a while to count. You can take it to the bank that Dr. Oz will open with a big lead when the first tallies are released, and it will get closer as it goes on... 2/ That's because Republican state legislatures in states like PA, WI, and MI do NOT allow mail-in voting to be processed before election day. In OH and FL, Republicans allow this, so the count comes in quicker. It's an easy fix but they didn't fix it. 🤷‍♂️

1/ HELLO: I believe a lot of people are missing the point about Jan. 6th and what the #January6thCommitteeHearings are showing.

The Capitol riots were a horrible stain on our history.

But what led up to them was more dangerous.

To summarize what we now know: 2/ As the last returns began to trickle in on the early morning after election night, Trump's team understood that final results were still days away. Trump responded by announcing prematurely that he had won the election.

If you're just waking up, the primary overview:

— Madison Cawthorn loses

— Mehmet Oz in the lead, but race could be headed for a recount

— John Fetterman wins despite news of stroke

— Trump endorsement getting very mixed results yesterday (wins in PA, NC, losses in ID) — None of the Trump-endorse candidates waltzed. But his endorsement still carried a lot of weight

— Lots of "stop the steal" candidates won narrow victories

— A few races are being moved to 'toss up' or 'lean Dem' because of the primary wins on the Republican side

1/ I'm weirdly seeing a LOT of "The Great Replacement theory is dangerous" discourse and not a lot of explaining why it's *wrong* — which seems a lot more important to me.

So let me give it a swing. 🧵 2/ The central premise of the theory is that Jews/Dems/Libs are “importing” immigrants, specifically nonwhite ones, in a hostile takeover of white America. The idea is that by bringing in minority immigrants Democrats will entrench their political power & transform white America

Incredible. @TuckerCarlson claims no president has ever framed another party as a threat to the country... did he sleep through the Trump presidency?

“The radical left is hellbent on destroying everything we love and cherish." - Donald Trump at a Florida campaign speech in 2020 “Joe Biden and the Democratic socialists will kill your jobs; dismantle your police departments; dissolve your borders, release criminal aliens; confiscate your guns — no more 2nd Amendment, get used to it; destroy your suburbs, and drive God from the public square" — Trump

I don't think Tucker is responsible for this shooter's actions any more than Maddow is responsible for the GOP baseball shooter.

But this content is reprehensible. And it's undeniable that the ideology is rooted in fear of immigrants, POC, etc.

The connection is not subtle!

https://twitter.com/mehdirhasan/status/1526006611751448582

The appropriate framing here is that Tucker's shows, and the ideologies he create, have an obvious endgame: Hatred of people that look and sound unlike your standard white American.

This is why ppl are right to be upset about what he does on his show over and over again.

1/ Alright, everyone. I watched @DineshDSouza's new film #2000Mules (twice) and have put together a review of the movie. I cover what they got right, what they got wrong, and what they fail to prove. I think this is an important piece. Please share and RT. readtangle.com/2000-mules-fac… 2/ I want to first remind everyone that this is a *new* theory. The stolen election theories started with the granddaddy of them all -- Dominion Voting Systems. But they have changed, repeatedly, and now landed here. Back at election fraud.

Since people are still discussing the (much less important) story of the leaker... let me just say a few things:

1. Not at all clear to me who benefits most from this leak.
2. Not at all clear to me that a liberal clerk would be more likely to leak this.
3. Not at all clear... ... that this decision is final and won't change. I think it's *likely*, but it's not 100%.

4. A conservative clerk may have leaked this opinion as a celebratory move just as easily as a liberal clerk may have leaked it to tank the vote.

One thing overturning Roe v. Wade will do politically is expose the deepest fractures on the right. It's hard to overstate how much support today's Republican party has from the anti-left-wokeness crowd, who aren't just uninterested in abortion issues but on the other side A lot of the "political normies" who love Elon Musk buying Twitter and have fears about "gender ideology" in school will also be repulsed by a state making abortion illegal in all cases, including rape. But there are a number of traditional Rs who are going to go that route.

Mehdi isn't calling Republicans nazis. He is calling out House Rs (like MTG and Paul Gosar) who do, quite literally, chum it up with neo-Nazi factions in U.S. politics.

This isn't really up for debate, it's a fact.

The future owner of Twitter would do well to know about it!

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1521181798067224578

I mean, @elonmusk can find this stuff pretty easily: azmirror.com/blog/paul-gosa…

I wrote about the moral panic around Disney, the misleading work of Christopher Rufo, and the deranged accusations that Democrats/LGBTQ people/teachers are "groomers" and "pedophiles" readtangle.com/otherposts/the… A snippet:

1/ Florida's "don't say gay" bill isn't really a ban on saying gay, as many have claimed/apparently intuited.

It is *mostly* a parental rights bill.

And it is still really bad. Here's why... 2/ The offending language is not long or hard to read:

“Classroom instruction by school personnel or 3rd parties on sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in K-3 or in a manner that is not age appropriate or...

1/ Tucker Carlson suggests the U.S. intentionally sought war with Russia, Putin invaded because Kamala Harris supported Ukraine joining NATO, & Trump was impeached for "not supporting a proxy war."

Too many ppl are just saying how absurd this is without explaining. So let me:

https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1501002245457862659

2/ First, the U.S. / Joe Biden did not “intentionally seek war” with Russia. The suggestion is backwards. The U.S. spent years trying to *avoid* war with Russia but also trying to prevent it from doing what it’s doing now: Invading its neighbors who want to align with the West.

1/ I still view a no-fly zone as far too risky to actually act on, but I also think its worth reserving a *little* bit of skepticism in the debate that instituting one would automatically turn into World War III or a nuclear bombardment. Why is this now the consensus? 2/Putin categorized a no-fly zone the same way he did supplying weapons to Ukraine or cutting Russia off from the world’s banking system. He said it’d be an act of war. We’ve now done both, and Putin has not responded like they were act of wars. He hasn’t really responded at all

1/ I agree with a lot of Tucker's "anti-war" positions, so I am very familiar with the sleight of hand he (and folks on the left) are using in these conversations. This clip, and his coverage this week, is a beautiful exhibit of how it works and why it's worth calling out. 🧵

https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1485780422734737409

2/ The basic shtick goes like this: First, make faraway places seem equivalent. Ukraine has corruption and its people are divided and their language is a lot like Russian, so how different are they really? And is it worth your son dying over there in some trench?

My wife just tested positive. Here is how it went:

- Weds, Thurs, Fri - negative tests, no symptoms
- Fri night, slight symptoms cough + sniffles
- Sat morn, 9am negative rapid test
- 12:15pm, 101 fever + positive test

Really, really wild.

https://twitter.com/Ike_Saul/status/1471198267258060800

Another family member is also now positive. Here are two rapid tests they took today - 3 hours apart. On the left is *barely* showing. 3 hours later, on the right it's clear:

1/ Actual overheard experience happening right now: I’m in a Fridays in Queens (don’t ask) sitting at the bar. 3 middle aged dudes talking politics, Rittenhouse trial is on. So far they have: 2/ Suggested that they start a new trial on the charges “of being a complete fucking moron”