I. Reflections on the 2022 Midterms
Before the election, we were hit with a barrage of warnings that we were in for a red wave. This was from 538:
In fact, as of this writing, the Democrats:
- Are holding the Senate and may pick up an extra Senate seat,
- As of tonight, it looks like Republicans will take the House, but with a razor-thin margin that will give them enough power to make a lot of noise, create spectacle, but accomplish nothing. The Republicans know how to be an opposition party, but they don’t know how to govern. Even when Trump had a trifecta, they couldn’t repeal Obamacare, and that was part of their platform.
- The election deniers in key states (Nevada, Arizona, and Pennsylvania) lost. The only election denier who won a significant race was for Wyoming Secretary of State, where he ran unopposed.
- Candidates who Trump endorsed lost (or, in the case of Herschel Walker, failed to win).
Had the Democrats kept the House and added 2 Senate seats, Democrats would have been able to:
- End the filibuster and make Washington D.C. a state, thereby adding 2 Senators,
- Add Supreme Court justices, thereby undoing McConnell’s court-packing. (The Constitution gives Congress the power to add Supreme Court Justices),
- Pass sweeping election reform; for example, requiring all voters to receive mail-in ballots and the ability to drop them off easily at designated offices. (The Constitution gives Congress the power to regulate national elections),
(Sinema and Manchin prevented these things after 2020.)
On the other hand, a red wave would have enabled the Republicans to pass widespread voter suppression laws. Election deniers would have been poised to hand the election to the Republicans in 2024. A Republican-held Senate would have blocked Biden’s judicial nominees. (There are currently 85 district and appellate judge seats for Biden to fill.)
Instead, we’re treading water. Even if the Republicans take the House, they won’t have enough power to do real damage (other than withholding money from Ukraine). The Democrats don’t have enough power to make rapid progress.
The Democrats can, however, continue making some progress: Judicial nominations will move forward. Biden controls foreign policy. The DOJ will continue taking an active role in monitoring the elections and dismantling white supremacy groups.
I think we can all breathe a sigh of relief and start looking to the Georgia runoffs and 2024.
II. Arrogant Entitled MAGA Men
Arrogant Entitled MAGA man #1: Stewart Rhodes
Oath Keeper’s founder Stewart Rhodes took the stand earlier this week in his own defense against charges of seditious conspiracy. He is a Yale law graduate. After presenting himself to the jury as a serious constitutional law scholar, he testified that in his view, everything he did on January 6 was perfectly legal. He didn’t deny that he tried to reach Trump to advise him to invoke the insurrection act. (I followed Adam Klasfield with Law and Crime live tweeting from the courtroom.)
I had a hard time wrapping my mind around his defense. “I was brainwashed” would have been a more sensible defense. Instead, he basically said: “I am a Yale law scholar who was armed and ready for Civil War, but I had no intention of disrupting the election, even though I believed the election was invalid. I was simply there to provide protection from Antifa.”
None of it makes sense. He seemed to be supremely confident all he had to do was talk and the jury would understand and agree.
Arrogant Entitled MAGA man #2: Donald Trump
Donald Trump will evidently announce himself as a candidate for president soon. The conventional wisdom is that he is trying to get ahead of an indictment to inoculate himself.
I don’t believe Trump actually thinks he’ll innoculate himself from prosecution by declaring himself a candidate. I believe it’s a way to keep himself at the center stage of the GOP by presenting himself as the target of left-wing radical hatred.
It will be his rallying cry. He will try to use the prosecution to present himself as a victim to keep the spotlight on himself and make it harder for someone like DeSantis to replace him. And yes, of course, he will use it for fundraising.
A meme that has always struck me wrong about Trump is that he files lawsuits as a delay strategy. It seems to me that attributing a motive like that to Trump is to assume that Trump thinks rationally. When people say, “He filed that lawsuit as a delay strategy,” they are projecting their own normalcy onto him. Example: Instead of complying with the January 6 committee subpoena, Trump filed a lawsuit against the committee. Instantly all the pundits said he was trying to get out of testifying and trying to run out the clock. The reality is that the committee is wrapping up soon, and nobody expected him to testify. At best, if forced, he’d walk in and take the Fifth, as he did in New York. The committee issued the subpoena as a ploy to force him to refuse so that he would look bad for refusing.
When Nixon resigned, a group of diehards, including Roger Stone, wanted Nixon to keep fighting. Trump is their fighter. He files these lawsuits to show he’s tough. It’s a way of posturing and flexing his muscles. He wants to show that he takes a combative stand toward anyone who crosses him.
Arrogant Entitled MAGA man #3: Elon Musk
One of Elon’s first Tweets after he took over Twitter was to amplify an ugly, homophobic conspiracy theory about the attack on Pelosi’s husband. When advertisers pulled back, he indicated that it would be a good idea to shame, boycott (and try to harm) advertisers who left Twitter:
No surprise—that failed to reassure advertisers. (Most Twitter revenue is from advertisers.) Then, right before the election, Musk endorsed Republican candidates, another move likely to drive away advertisers.
Next, Musk decided that “power to the people” meant that anyone should be allowed to pay $8 for a verification badge. So he started selling verification badges for $8 despite warning from all sides that this was a stupid idea.
Twitter verified Jesus Christ, who marveled at the fact that he had more than 12 followers. Jesus reassured people that it didn’t hurt, and he told his father that not everyone should have to endure the kind of childhood he had:
Twitter also verified George Washington. The Twitter algorithm suggested I should follow George Washington, presumably because Twitter has curated my feed and knows I’m interested in American history and politics.
Then the mischief began. Someone impersonated Nintendo and posted obscene material. Because the blue verification badge has always indicated that the account was real, people became confused. The real Nintendo tweeted “That’s not us. This is us.”
Elon Musk responded in public that he thought selling verification for $8 was a good money-making strategy:
Musk declared himself a proponent of free speech and humor . . . until people like Kathy Griffith started impersonating him, like this:
Elon then got mad and permanently banned Kathy Griffith’s account. Evidently, humor and satire are okay unless someone is poking fun at Musk.
A person impersonate Ely Lily and posted this:
In response to comments, the impersonator tweeted this:
Eii Lilly posted this:
About this time, Elon Musk smugly tweeted that at least twitter wasn’t boring. Then Eli Lilly’s stock tumbled and the company lost billions:
I expect all of these companies to sue Elon Musk for damages.
Satire accounts began posing as the real account denouncing the satire:
Chaos online wasn’t the only chaos. Layoffs were clumsily handled, resulting in multiple state law violations. One person, when told to lay off his staff, threw up in a trash can. The head of Twitter safety resigned.
With the safety crew and other key personnel gone, Twitter was reported to be in violation of FTC regulations. The FTC isn’t like the SEC. The FTC doesn’t hesitate to impose criminal penalties. Musk’s answer: I put rockets into space. I’m not afraid of the FTC.”
Well, he should be afraid. We are in unchartered territory: A billionaire who appears to have something wrong with his brain purchased a company worth about $20 billion for $44 billion and appears to be doing everything possible to destroy it.
Ella Dawson, who worked for 5 years at Ted Talks, had this to say about Musk:
As Elon Musk drives Twitter into a ditch, I’m struck by the sheer loss: People losing their jobs. Running a company into the ground. Putting people in jeopardy and stress. Billions lost. Think what good could be done with that money. It’s just sad. Civil rights lawyer Sherrilyn Ifill wrote about how Twitter enabled communities of civil rights activists and women (particularly Black women) to have a voice.
Basically, Elon Musk is doing to Twitter what Trump did to the US government: He’s causing the place to lose all credibility and descend into chaos.
Future of Social Media
If Twitter falls, something will take its place. This is getting long, so next week, if time permits, I’ll write about a social media model for creating a true public sphere.
And now I’m sure you need some Kitty Content
This kitty has the confidence of a white MAGA man:
One difference is that when an arrogant white billionaire fails and takes down a company, he wreaks a lot of havoc on others.
Also, arrogant white billionaires are not cute.
You rock, Teri! I have been following you for a few years at that bird place. Since migrating, I decided to try your columns out and it’s even better! Glad I signed up! (I follow you on Mastodon too!)
Welcome!!!
The more people who sign up, the more time I put into these. OH, THE PRESSURE !!!!!
I made sure to chase you down and to subscribe because it’s certainly a better use of $ than a blue check! Grin.
Oh, one joy of twitter tonight which I can hardly stop smiling about. There was a post tonight about Katie Porter’s bribery investigation. Her news page offers a lot of context and a link to the DOJ criminal freaking referral, but a different link describes the request to DOI for all the Hammond documents. Whassat?
Remember the uber militia Bundy Occupation of Malheur NWL supported by an Oathkeeper Sheriff, the GOP Rep in CD2 in Oregon, and the WA rep who was building a Christian army to behead non Christian men? The Hammonds (known for poaching, arson, reckless endangerment of a fire crew in a big fire year, and threats) were the cause celebre for that. And it appears Trump or high officials are getting caught in a pay to play investigation.
Forgive my overenthusiasm. That was my home area growing up, and all that led to threats to LE, women in the grocery story, and community meetings and thefts while the Occupation took place. I guess I’ve neither forgotten nor forgiven.
https://porter.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=467
https://naturalresources.house.gov/imo/media/doc/2022.12.02%20Grijalva%20Porter%20to%20Haaland%20re%20Hammond%20pardon%20REDACTED.pdf
I originally joined Twitter to get fire notifications from Cal Fire, as I live in a fire-prone area. It has become an invaluable source of timely, critical info for me, and many others. It’s really disturbing that the child-man Musk is destroying this app.
Teri – thanks as always for your insights.
I don’t know if Musk bought Twitter because his buddy Jack asked him to, because he and his Isaac Asimov wannabe (spread worthy humans into space and the hell with everyone else) billionaire buddies want to kill it as part of their fascist/oligarchic project or just as a destined to spin out of control ego project, but there’s a very good chance he will complete his suicide dive into the ground.
While Twitter can be a cesspool, it’s also an indispensable locus of information sharing and organizing. It’s therefore imperative that we prepare the ground elsewhere so we can continue our democracy preserving and other progressive work. It will take some time to rebuild all of our networks; it will be time well spent.
I’ve set up joeinwynnewood@mstdn.social as well as a similar Counter.Social account (with civ.works in the back of my mind to replace Facebook), though my gut says Mastodon is the better option.
With Mastodon, key sets of people, journalists, historians, economists, authors/writers, scientists, doctors/epidemiologists/public health professionals, elected officials/politicians etc. can congregate on applicable home-base instances (servers) and then network with activists/organizers & grassroots members across the federated network, secure in the knowledge that their instance will reflect the zeitgeist of their peers.
Time will tell…
“Even if the Republicans take the House, they won’t have enough power to do real damage (other than withholding money from Ukraine)”
Do not overlook the debt ceiling. The lunatic wing of the House Republicans are not afraid to use it and that terrifies me!!!
Yes, this is of concern to me, as well. Nevertheless, it could have been a lot worse.
And thanks to Teri as always for her on point reflections.
And don’t overlook Trump being named Speaker. Yikes!
Hi Teri, I have one comment on Arrogant and Entitled whie MAGA man #2.
The only thing he is credible on is trash talking, that’s it. That’s likely the sole outcome of growing up in Queens. He probably thought Saturday Night Fever was about him!
In every other area of expertise, he is woefully over his head. Whatever he thinks he knows about law he learned at the feet of Roy Cohn, lawyer to the mob. My sense is the counter sue, rinse repeat isn’t strategy, it’s simply rout.
The sooner he gets taken off the chessboard, the better!
“Part II: I dunk on entitled rich white MAGA men”
I hope you don’t mind my soapbox: “entitled”, as a word, has become abused and is misunderstood as a consequence. In particular, I am entitled to my SSA benefits as I’ve earned them. SO: “earned benefit” instead of “entitlement.”
Similarly, “narcissistic” or “vein” in lieu of “entitled”? 🙂
Thank you, as always – Bruce
I am not eliminating the word “entitlement” from my vocabulary because Republicans misuse it. So no.
🙂
“I expect all of these companies to sue Elon Musk for damages.”
What form of legal liability does Elon and/or Twitter have for other people making parody accounts and posts?
Doesn’t section 230 (and the 1st amendment) protect them? Or does the Twitter consent decree with the FTC provide an avenue for liability?
He deliberately created the policy allowing this, knowing it might happen.
Even after it happened, his response was joy that he could make more money by continuing to allow it.
Good point about 230, but I’m pretty sure that a good torts lawyer could come up with a cause of action.
I would like to add a great alternative to Twitter or Mastadon: Counter.social. This site started up in 2017 as a way to escape the trolls and bots on the Twitter site. I joined to find out what was what.
I found the atmosphere to be entirely different from the Bird: lots of different opinions and lots of listening. None of the sniping or trolling so popular on Twitter. Folks who care about the planet, democracy and facts – not democratic or republican facts, but verifiable facts. I also enjoy the art, music and craft folks hanging out there. In the darkest days, counter.socia (CoSo) is the place to be for sound reasoning and a friendly chat.
No ads, no trolls, no bots. Period. There is a subscription mode IF you want to contribute. There is no need for “validation” for some strange reason. People signing on who have mischief on their mind, are soon shown the door. Which is not to say, users are all of the same stripe – far from it. We love lively discussions with different points of view. But everyone is respectful because that is the norm and not the exception.
Not to make CoSo out to be nirvana, but it is a place to keep in touch with the outside world, learn, share, and relax. Caveat Emptor: CoSo is NOT for everyone: respect is key.
Anyway, just my 2¢ as long as Musk’s Twitter circles the drain, might was well test out the waters. Of course, none of these alternate sites have the reach that Twitter does at this moment. But who knows! Or, maybe humans just cannot maintain a public social media platform without falling prey to vultures. I prefer to think otherwise. We shall see.
I have an account there and I do like it (although I got overwhelmed posting in 3 different places, but once I get past a deadline I’ll start up again.)
I can tell you the reason people are not migrating there in large numbers: It’s owned by an anonymous person.
I have a feeling once I have the time, I’ll enjoy being there, but the journalists are migrating to Mastodon with their own server because it’s more secure and they don’t have to spend years building a community only to have the guy sell or do something else. See what I mean?
I think you hit the mark on why Mastodon is going to be successful and the place everyone is going to consolidate. Being owned by no one it can’t be destroyed in the same way as Twitter is currently experiencing.
My cats and kittens have wreaked PLENTY of havoc, so is there really a difference? 😀
HAHA they can be quite destructive, yes.
Just recently began getting your newsletters, so appreciate your straightforward presentation!
Fantastic blog Teri (especially the part about arrogant entitled white MAGA men ). Thank you!
Angry white MAGA men have taken narcissism to new highs (or would that be lows) without any limits on the damage they wreak. That they act out this way isn’t surprising. The surprise is that they have any supporters at all. The midterm results are encouraging that the tide is changing and many of their supporters are starting to realize what they’ve done.
As for Twitter, despite the chaos, there is still some good content out there, like the legal Twitter ecosystem that tries so hard to educate the public. Your draft on the Mastodon model is interesting, but I don’t think that social media will be an all or nothing proposition with either framework, i.e., the profit-driven/algorithmic model vs. the distributed/chronological/free version offered by Mastodon taking all. As long as there are ways around the profit and algorithms of the Twitters and Facebooks of the world, they still have their merits. Unless of course the behemoths cease to exist due to having no staff or funding to function at all.
Ahhh yes, the arrogance of men has caused chaos and wars throughout history. Too bad their narcissism cannot allow them to lead productively. I am just happy that they are so off putting with their chest beating that many can see through them.
Excellent post, Teri. I would venture to guess that while not all MAGA, the pollsters are predominantly over- confident mediocre white men as well.
Good point!
Thank you. It’s a complicated world and your assessments are very enlightening. Joined Mastodon after your last post and really like the vibe.
Thank you Teri.
Thank you for sharing your voice of reason and knowledge.
An anchor in the storm.
Thank you.
Thank you for this. I always learn from you. And now I can share this to friends who love Cat Videos but try to avoid politics and such when I keep asking they must pay attention. ❤️
Ms. Kanefield,
I believe your link for Mastodon should be:
https://mstdn.social/@Teri_Kanefield
(I think it’s missing the at symbol).
Thank you for your interesting and educational writing.
Re Twitter
I was in IT and have avoided social media because of privacy concerns. But I have been stuck alone at home with illness for a couple of years now. I can’t go out and no one can visit. A few months ago I decided to try Twitter. I found it to be like an ongoing 24/7 party where I can pop in when I’m craving a chat.
Twitter has kept me from isolation. I am very sorry to see the pals I have made drift away. I created an account on Mastadon and one on Tribel. But I doubt we can recreate the community we are losing.
Once again a selfish, entitled white man ruins things for many of us.
That is the best cat video ever. I can watch it all day.
I think I realized how awful Musk is when he went after that dive team leader. That was sickening.
I don’t understand why he bought Twitter. Is he just such a megalomaniacal narcissist that he actually thinks the world needs to hear his musings?