Journalist Ben Kesling said this: I’ll add that Finland (which declared independence from Russia in 1917) knows a thing or two about fighting Russian disinformation campaigns, and they have successfully resisted disinformation campaigns. It’s not a coincidence that the same people who spread disinformation are not interested in funding public schools. While doing research for …
Here’s my latest Op-Ed for NBC. If you read all my posts, this may seem repetitive, but my editor at NBC wanted me to write this up for her, and who am I to say no? You can read it on the NBC Think site here. I also cut and pasted it here: A simple …
Covid stimulus bill passes as Republicans use cancel culture to hide their obstruction Read More »
. . . they’re dangerous. What’s going on right now is that there is a pernicious effort across several states to make voting more difficult. The Republican Party has evidently decided if fewer people can vote, they’ll win. The move to make voting harder is based on the lie that there was widespread voting fraud. …
I’ll start with how and why right-wing extremists outrage their own people. Keeping their own people outraged is a fascist strategy. Yale professor Timothy Snyder calls it Sadopopulism. The formula works like this: Modern fascists leaders need to hurt their own constituents. You can’t have a white grievance party if the constituents are not grieving. …
This is the kind of thing people say to me often on Twitter: Fact: Republicans use hardball tactics. Remember when Mitch McConnell, then-Senate Majority Leder, refused to consider Obama’s nomination for the Supreme Court because it was March in an election year. But when Trump was president, he jammed a Supreme Court appointment through in …
A few days ago, I wrote about cynicism. Now it seems like it’s running rampant on left-leaning social media. When I try to comment on the ongoing litigation and investigations into Trump’s role in the January 6 Capitol insurrection, people (in droves) assure me that the criminal justice system is “broken,” and rich people escape …
Are you annoyed by all those lying liars—including U.S. Senators—who are still spreading the lie about the election being stolen? Yeah, me, too. Well, lying and presenting myths as a way to solidify power goes all the way back to the ancient world. Take the Behistun Inscription. In huge lettering on the side of a …
Before I talk about cynicism, an item of business. I am trying something new. People have asked me to host a podcast, but I have no time. I have 2 books in press and another in progress. But I did see value in summarizing my work over the past few years, so I recorded a …
Professor Brian Klaas observed the following: This is precisely what Yale Professor Timothy Snyder calls “governing by crisis and spectacle.” The purpose of a fascist government is to maintain order, which means keeping the ruling oligarchs rich and everyone else poor. This raises a problem for fascist leaders. How do they keep their constituents happy …
First, some news about a lawsuit, and then I’ll answer some questions. The N.A.A.C.P. filed a new lawsuit against Trump, Giuliani, the Proud Boys, and Oathkeepers on behalf of Rep. Bennie Thompson. The complaint is here. He accuses Defendants of violating the KKK act, which outlaws (among other things) preventing an official from discharging duties. …
