Culture wars are largely being fought out on-line. Much of the bases for rightwing culture war artillery against the left are predicated on half-truths, whole lies, mythology, and conspiracies with the promotion of threats and violence all promoted as "truth."👇🏿 We know better, and so to the internet companies that permit it. Much, if not all of it, is easily, verifiably provable as false.👇🏿

Elise Stefanik.

Before a certain point in time not too long ago, the Gaza college protests were noisy, but peaceful. Each side was determined to be heard, and they had every right on an extremely thorny issue. Then the politicians got involved, and Elise Stefanik led the charge. Stefanik propagandized the protest at the university largely because her fragile feelings were hurt at Harvard's actions to remove her from her board position because of her noxious, odious politics.

Saboteurs, instigators, chaos agents, infiltrators, agitators, disruptors, accelerators - call them whatever you want - aren't a new phenomenon. We saw them at peaceful protest from Mike Brown to George Floyd, at peaceful BLM protests across the country, and now at Gaza protests. Wherever there's a peaceful protest like clockwork, the sh!tkickers show up. We know why politicians hyperventilate about them because they help to propel whatever political messages that are convenient or expedient at the moment or as political wedges.

Frank Bruni is on with @NicolledWallace attempting to create nuance in the "both sides" argument that doesn't exist. It's BS. Republicans may not be all MAGA, but all MAGAs are republicans, and there are enough of them enough such that they keep things from getting done for all. So the left attempting not to alienate them and making concessions to them on things wherein they will never compromise and never cooperate is simply foolish. It's also wghat republicans count on. Appeasing republicans isn't the goal. It never was, it never should be.

Up until about 16-18 years ago, I watched Fox about as much as I watched CNN and MSNBC. It had a bit of an addicting quality because it felt a little like watching fight club. But by the time Obama ran for president, the subtle racism and lies started becoming front and center. Suddenly, it wasn't subtle but over, direct, assaultive, and persistent. There was no coded language, cleverly cloaked rhetoric, or thinly veiled dogwhistles. It was as as if someone entered the room, flipped on the stereo switch, and turned the volume way past 10.

I know that we use the word "grift" a lot - and we should - because there are a lot of gnarly, nasty, greedy, self-interested grifting parasites attached to the government, most of whom are republicans. But sometimes I think we confuse '"grift" with "graft." Grifting is unethical; Graft is illegal. Ivanka, Bannon, Candace Owens are grifters. They hustle government, political processes, voters, etc., for their own benefit in every way possible. But while the collect all of the crumbs and scraps off the floor, they make no decisions.

It, apparently, never ceases to shock racists - or to humor me in a "look at that pathetic fool" kind of way - that they think that can simply look at black or brown faces and can say (or do) whatever they want. I run into it a lot from the "brave" keyboard terrorist and internet commandos on this platform. They are empowered to feel like either superheroes or megalomaniacs out of the cartoon comic strips as long as they can be in cognito and maintain their anonymity.

People, stop being shocked, surprised, horrified, and dumbfounded because the GOP hates:

-Women
-Blacks, Hispanics, Native Americans, other PoC
-LGBTQ,
-Children
-Seniors
-Veterans
-Anyone not white male christian
-Voting rights
-Labor rights
-Fair pay
-Reduced student debt👇🏿 It's maddening hearing that people are still "surprised" at what's happpening at this late date in history. WHY? Be honest. It's foolish and naive. We know who and what they are because they told us exactly who they are and what they're gonna do. Which part don't you get? 👇🏿

This is dark, but necessary. 👇🏿 Maybe it's just me and I don't known what it is, but there's something inside MAGA brains that won't allow them to process that people who are different from them or who disagree with them intellectually don't necessarily hate them. They can't or won't make that distinction.👇🏿

It's fascinating and almost comical how MAGAs and Qs post silly, ridiculous, outrageous, ignorant stuff, then cry when they aren't taken seriously and folks don't engage them in debate. Much to my delight, they hate being blocked and dismissed. It would be comical if they weren't so dangerous. They aren't just counterfactual. They're anti-factual. They're trolling, deliberately so, and they've received far more attention than they have ever deserved. So, the time for engaging them in active conversation is done.

Business and corporate leaders pretend like they have no dog in the fight when it comes to democracy. They, somehow, seem to believe that corporate structures and money will insulate them. They're wrong. When democracy goes away, so will their automony, wealth and possibly lives. The leaders of large corporations, especially huge transnationals, seem to have no patriotic duty or loyalty to any country, as if they don't need it or it doesn't apply to them, because their companies and responsibilites cross borders. Nothing is further from the truth.

It's amazing that, generally, the poorer people are, greater their willingness if not their ability to share and reciprocate. It's often because the willingness and ability to share are matters of survival. Poor people tend to rely more on each other to take care of each other.👇🏿 There are a variety of definitions and descriptions for "poor." But for the purposes of this conversation I'll describe the poor as all of the people who are not independently wealthy, who rely on periodic wages and income, and have no ability to escape their responsibilities.👇🏿

There seems to be something suspect and a bit amiss in the reporting here. How is it that some folks are already declaring that there is some sort of "retrenchment" in criminal justice reform when:
1. The Bill that Trump signed never had huge impact,

msn.com/en-us/news/us/… 2. Follow-up legislation was killed by republican's thus sabotaging real criminal justice reform progress, and
3. In the aggregate, nevertheless, all crime but especially violent have experienced record declines in recent history.

I like David Jolly some days. He seems to be a good guy. Other days he pisses me off. I'm sick of the stupid false dichotomy posed by so-called Never Trumpers when they ask how does Biden thread the needle to pull together pro-business republicans and Bernie Sanders progressives. When you have the strong GDP growth, record oil producton, new companies, new jobs, higher profits, stronger onions, higher wages, record low unemployment that currently exists, and improved infrastructure, there's no way on earth to seriously claim that Biden is anti-business.

Good morning.

For all in the nation who want to paint DA Willis as the "angry black woman," STFU and STFD. Her character was impugned, and her reputation defamed as much as E. Jean Carroll's. She has every right to defend herself and doesn't have to "act right" to do it. And she doesn't have to be silent and should not have to step down because she "might compromise the case." That's bullsh!t. She's not obligated to sacrifice herself on behalf of America. No one would expect the same of Jack Smith. But she's a black woman, and America does that.

My son has a bunch of friends. I've met them. They're smart, inquisitive, ambitious, creative guys (well most of them anyway - chuckling...) I'm sure he talks to them about "stuff." But when it comes to the really serious stuff, the hard questions, the stuff that goes deep... 👇🏿 ...he invariably goes to the old guy, the one with a few miles under his belt and the scars to prove it. The one who will look him in the eyes, ask the hard questions, will give it to him straight, but won't judge him. 👇🏿

I don't want to hear your support for the Palestinians or for Isreal. I don't care whether or not you hate Joe Biden because of the Palestinian situation. Don't scream at me about who started what on 10/7 and why retaliation is right. Those are all empty excuses. What happened on 10/7 was egregious and unforgettable. But when you push a million Palestinians into one area, but you want your military to evacuate them clearly with nowhere to go, then your intentions are deliberate genocide.

Some well-meaning people abhor the idea that politics boil down to good vs. evil. They want to believe that there's a good, pragmatic, practical, balanced fair zone of reason somewhere in the middle. In reality, one party is far more prone to evil and malevolence than the other. That's not speculation or hyperbole. It's not polemics or demagoguery. Their words, deeds, and actions have borne that out over and over. Until we're ready to be clear-eyed, accept that reality, and deal with it accordingly, there will be extreme consequences. .

Winter In America is a song released by Gil Scott Heron and Brian Jackson almost exactly 50 years ago. Back then they were discussing the trials and travails of the post-civil rights era, Vietnam War and other big, critical issues of the day. 👇🏿
But prescience with which their words then hew to our situations and circumstances today amazes me. While much of what they said applied to Nixon and American society a half century ago, they could easily be talking about the fight for democracy and the soul of America today. 👇🏿

It's past time to end the argument (because it isn't a rational debate or discussion) of whether removing Trump from ballots "disenfranchises" voters. It's asinine. Disenfranchisement means barring people from voting. Removing Trump from ballots doesn't do that in any way.
🧵... Nothing in the constitution guarantees voters the candidate of their choice. That is not a proscribed right. If their preferred candidate doesn't meet constitutional criteria, they are free to choose another or to not vote. That is not disfranchisement. That is choice.

Elie Mystal (@ElieNYC) does a great job laying out the dangers of the judicial power grab currently afoot concerning the Chevron Deference case currently before the court.
🧵...

thenation.com/article/societ… The word activism seems to have been really abused by politicians because of the inverse and adversarial roles and positions that liberal/progressive activism have in relation to conservative activism.