Unreconstructed Afrikaner Musk, heir to Afrikaner war crimes profiteers (they made their money in Blood Diamonds, Conflict Germs and stealing the ruby and emerald fields of Zimbabwe back when it was run by white supremacists as Rhodesia) is coming unclued sufficiently that his tinny toys are no longr the Official Car of Rich White Lib'ruls - sales are down 15% and the stock is down 20%. Musk is going to get pulled to pieces by the financial sharks who feed on morons like him. He was never the "inventor" or Paypal, or the "Chief Engineer". of Space-X, or the designer of Teslas. He was the rich brat who hired the people who knew how to do that and then stole the credit. His golden boy aura is now tarnished nearly completely.
As for Jack Smith, it's a Western. Tombstone was overrun by the Clanton Gang (Trump and the GOP) so they called in Wyatt Earp (Smith), who cleaned them out at the OK Corral (federal court). Smith's as relentless as the lawmen the Union Pacific hired to pursue Butch and Sundance.
I love framing this showdown as a Western. Let’s have Anthony Mann direct the next episode.
Even before I read confirmation, the idea that pious ex-VP was starting to squeak — the very same week of Smith’s appointment — was too deliciously orchestrated to miss. Mr. Smith had apparently already been to Washington, and lit a bonfire.
I am intrigued by the apparent disappearance of Pence's support of conversion camps. And now here he is, cleverly introduced for weeks as both victim and a wise hero who knew better than to get in that limo. But still loyal to a fault
sorry Old Mikey has to be dragged in. and forced to testify against the villain who wanted him hanged, What a guy. This is a dangerous man. A darling of the Federalist Society, This time in our history has coughed up some mighty peculiar heroes
I wonder why ANYONE would vote for Pence. He showed nothing but sycophancy toward tfg. He never even got irritated tfg was cool with having him killed. He refused to talk to the J6 committee, saying he didn't owe them anything. The man is a coward and a sycophant. Why in the world would I want to see this man as president?
I'll tell you why - because he "claims" to be a devout and pious Christian. That's all he has to say and the Evangelicals will eat it up. Same thing happened with Bush Jr. My god-fearing aunt once said about Bush "Well at least we have a Christian in the Whitehouse now". Apparently you don't ever have to do anything, you just have to mouth the words...or hold a bible upside-down after violently dispersing a crown of protesters.
Exactlymondo! ! Vonnegut walking his poodle - sigh I wish I had been there to see that. Class. Pence has a pinched face that says, someone just mentioned sexual pleasure…I wonder what that is… ick.
I'm ready for the failed insurrectionist to ride his horse over the cliff screaming "Oh s***" on the way down. Unlike Redford, his end will be in a jail cell.
On the button. Good call, TC. I've had Tombstone in my mind for months now. It's odd to me how many people get the good guy and the bad guy turned around in their recollections of that movie (and the real life incident that inspired it.
I agree with you: Musk has never been the brains behind his various enterprises. He simply smelled an opportunity and bought it up. He didn't invent Tesla, but he wanted to be the first to produce a modern electric car. Other people made it happen. Ditto Space-X, which is experiencing some unanticipated failures that eventually might require intervention. They keep falling out of the sky.
I think we are watching Musk coming apart, faced with the consequences of his own self-delusions. It's interesting, but not entertaining.
Thank you TC. I have been saying Musk didn't start, invent or design anything for awhile now. People claiming he did aren't too bright. Then again, I read trump was a gentleman yesterday....someone help me. I've fallen from laughing so hard and can't get up...*wink wink*
I haven’t followed his exploits much — prefer not to indulge his brand of personality cult — but he seems like an entitled, roaming scion to something vague and dark. I never noticed him explicitly waving a pro-apartheid flag. Yet the article link Robert Hubbell posted is excellent on how those tendencies (the narcissist / fascist complex) become radicalized and feed from the trough of public attention.
The passage you picked out from Talking Points Memo is exactly the one I was going to quote here and comment on. It is so right on.
It seems as though when some people become wealthy, they lose a sense of perspective about themselves and turn into jackasses. Musk certainly has done that, and Kanye West…what can you say, he’s sitting at the same table with a white nationalist and doesn’t realize that no matter how much money he, Kanye, has, that white nationalist still thinks he’s just a N-word.
The irony of some duped black people is extraordinary, is it not? Identifying and hanging out with their oppressors/enslavers/haters is glaringly strange...the narcissism and desperation is truly running rampant in a certain percentage of odd humans, no matter their tint, who believe they are superior to the rest of us...peons. What money, power and fake love of both can do to some humans...is frightening, especially when their egos inflate like that diapered, trump balloon flying in the UK. Their exhausting 20 minutes of fame, maybe 25, before their balloon pops and they are swept off the popularity stage with their anti-social, hate rages. America needs to move the needle from the adolescent development stage of self-absorption to maturity pretty damn quickly.
That I have just been to S. Africa and witnessed the colonial blanket over the indigenous people there, despite their "freedom," gives me shudders to see Elon in our country promoting the same fricking oppressive, white colonial sh_t.
In MHO, I think it's more appropriate to say "duped people" rather than "duped black people". This is applicable to any person who is used by others, and still craves more because they think it will elevate them.
I’ve said this in other places, so I hope I’m not repeating myself here, but it reminds me of wealthy Jews in Germany and Austria who thought they were immune to the Nazi scourge because they were wealthy and were somehow not in the same category as their poorer brethren.
No, those poor wealthy Jews did not think they were in the same category as their poorer brethren. They thought they were assimilated and as German as their Christian neighbors. That was their mistake. They never envisioned that the civilized Germans would turn on them. They saw the Nazis as thugs as I look at the Proud Boys or any of those militias. and think they are an aberration. We can not allow them to become main stream .
Love your witnessing, your adjectives, and your look into the future. Cannot be improved upon “…their egos inflate like that diapered, trump balloon flying in the UK.” Priceless…
Thank you for putting your finger on what so deeply troubling about Elon musk. Thank you for never looking away. The tremendous risks to Jack Smith and his family should never be obscured. We need to know that the government is taking care of security concerns. And yes I think the abortion ban may have some effect on voters who might not have come out otherwise.
About the appointment of Jack Smith. I wonder whether when Merrick Garland writes his memoir 10+ years from now, we will find out that he recognized that his temperament was not what this prosecution needs. And that he purposely looked for the aggressive prosecutor we all want to see heading the case. If so, I consider this deeply wise and honorable. And while I'm at it, that "lost" year? His first year in DOJ? How much of it was internal cleaning up the mess (personnel) Barr installed?
I do believe that Garland would be out with a GOP president, but the special prosecutor isn’t automatically removed. That might be reason enough to have one.
Actually, I think that Garland's temperament is exactly what this case needed during the phase we've been in, and would be still if we could be sure we had the time to continue. I do also agree that he picked the right kind of prosecutor for the next step. But Garland's careful, tight investigation and analysis helps ensure that Smith will have the solid case he needs in order to proceed with a successful prosecution. Not a matter of either/or. It's taking stock of the circumstances and making the choices that hopefully will take it to the best outcome for our democracy.
Agreed, and there are other mitigating factors as well. We do not know how long Garland had already been planning this move, nor the extent of his internal search for the ideal appointment. I am also unclear on the operations during the first year, but I concur — there must have been intensive investigation conducted at a very high level, as well as other urgent cases and management.
Lastly, this past 6 + months held two unexpected, stunning developments: the MAL seizure in June, and the influential Jan 6th hearings. To have pushed forward without these developments, and factoring in the 60-day election rule on top of Garland’s innate temperament, would not have brought what we see playing out before us.
As you point out, the Russian campaign "to freeze the Ukrainian people into submission will not work. Never underestimate the will of people who are fighting for something bigger than themselves. This is a lesson we should never forget."
Beautiful! The same indomitable fighting spirit we have witnessed in the war in Ukraine was also expressed in our recent midterm elections when We, the People surfed the fascist Red Wave with finesse and resolve, thanks in large part to Today's Edition Newsletter, a powerful beacon of Democracy in this dark and turbulent passage in American history!
Let’s not pat ourselves on the back as if We the People are a huge majority that can overcome all the money and lies and hate and fear mongering just because we held back a red wave. The gop controls the house and has almost half the Senate. There is no good reason to take a victory lap. The danger is real and persistent. Focus now on school board elections and teaching critical thinking and civics. .
And the Dems barely mentioned the threat to SS and Medicare. What were they thinking, or were they? Dems leave me confused, repubs leave my gast flabbered.
Jeri, I beg to differ with you regarding the Dems not talking about the threat to SS & Medicare. Biden talked about it, Pelosi talked about it, many Dem candidates talked about it.
This messaging was also adopted by groups who were phone banking and canvassing, (such as Indivisible and others), once Rick Scott and Ron Johnson made their plans clear. It was part of the Big Three talking points - Reproductive Rights, Safety Net Benefits & Climate Action, to remind voters why this election was so critical.
Agree, Angela. And even MSM had those points out front, depending on how you define MSM. The narrower your definition of MSM, the less likely one was to see anything but echoes. Widen out a little, and they were all over the place. I saw these topics regularly, and at the state level especially they were (and remain) huge.
Thanks Annie, good to hear that there was more focus on the SS and Medicare threat. I admit that the closer we got to the election, I turned off on the MSM messaging as it was so focused on the horse races and the ephemeral nature of the polls.
Angela, I work to keep my text app clear of everything but personal stuff. I do use my cell as my primary phone, but I am careful not to give it out to orgs unless they allow opt-outs (or better yet, use the opt-in approach). If an org breaks that, I let them know. If it continues, I block them and am not shy about ending my connection with them if that's what it takes. I NEVER do political polls, period. I had training long ago in how to create meaningful polls. Just about everything that purports to be a poll these days clearly do not meet even basic standards. Not worth the space they take up.
There was way too much going around this last election, though I do recall the threats to SS and Medicare being mentioned a lot (hence why we’re talking about it). Thing is, keeping *focus* on so many issues is incredibly difficult with so many issues at stake. It’s all a part of adapting to this political landscape, which is stable as nitroglycerin.
I am backing out of twitter, unfollowing etc., but will stay because of #medtwitter and to follow UK war. So far I really like Post.news. it is beta code and working hard to ramp up.
I’m really hoping to see some entrepreneurial types with a taste for technology step in and fill the void brought about by Musk’s takeover of Twitter. Social media is such a fundamental part of modern communication, and we need RELIABLE sources.
I have a question hopefully someone knows the answer to. ( TCinLA?)
I’m on Twitter a fair amount and have started to follow Jack Smith. But with all the confusion now over cloned accounts, I wonder if it’s really him. He is followed by some other people I follow, but they could be clones as well, given the insanity at Twitter right now.
Some of “Jack Smith’s“ comments seem a bit unbecoming of a federal prosecutor (they’re real zingers and I find them amusing, but I’m suspicious). Supposedly if you pay for the checkmark then you are verified, but my understanding is that even that mechanism is completely out of control. Any thoughts?
DW, there is an enjoyable account that is a parody account with Jack Smith name and photo of him. However, it is a parody as stated in the bio. Many people follow as do I. It is hilarious. The person running the account makes some funny jokes. Someone even thought the word veritas meant it was associated with the group Project Veritas which is far right nonsense. Anyway, though it’s parody and hilarity ensues it is safe to say that it is from a left of center perspective and a roaring good time. I don’t think the real Jack Smith, Special Counsel is on twitter nor would have the time to be tweeting as he seems very busy with his new assignment. I didn’t see a check mark though so perhaps you found a different one.
I’m glad I could help. There was a funny exchanges of tweets about this subject. He or She really knows how to respond. In all the grim news and the horrible tweets on that site now it is nice to find something to smile about there.
It’s my hope that the Georgia action regarding the six week abortion ban this close to the runoff will be the last straw in the final push to get women to the polls.
One important piece about Elon Musk this week people are overlooking—his actions are mostly to distract from how badly he’s run Twitter to the ground, and his reinstatement of banned accounts is an effort to reframe the media’s narrative about Twitter’s decline. While he is a radical and political hack, a lot of what he does is for publicity. He’s much more PT Barnum than Nikola Tesla, though Barnum was brilliant in his own right.
Musk did donate a substantial amount of money to the RNC right after the January 6th attack, so he IS a conservative ideologue, but everything he does is to support himself in the end. Online radicalization is a definite problem and it worries me greatly, though it seems the US in general has less tolerance for it than in 2016. If anything good came from the former guy, it’s that people in this era were reminded that hate doesn’t work. Hate will learn from its mistakes, but so will everyone else. ❤️
I really loved your comments about the Georgia Supreme Court decision and how it may affect the runoff election. Never underestimate how much women care about this issue. Thanks. 
“ Voters have been tuned out, traveling, seeing family, watching football, not necessarily talking about politics or reading about politics . . . And people aren't going to vote in a referendum on an abortion issue.”
I’ve got news for him - the 6 women at my family Thanksgiving dinner spent our after dinner conversation discussing the recent election results and the need to help support Raphael Warnock, and our engagement and strategies for continuing to fight for our democracy going forward. We will be doing whatever we can from our Michigan homes to help Reverend Warnock hold his Senate seat.
This household spent Thanksgiving and the weekend writing and mailing, Vote Forward letters and a batch if 100 postcards for the Georgia runoff, and heard from others doing the same, even by “No’s” turned to “Yes’s” for writing for the runoff.
The commitment and energy is dynamic.
Vote Forward must have replenished Voters to be “adopted” four times through the weekend.
Your observation, “Never underestimate the will of people who are fighting for something bigger themselves. That is a lesson we should never forget”, is a double-edged sword. Far-right White Nationalists and anti-Semites also fight for their larger, albeit very dark and evil, ideals.
What does “misrepresented the holding in a case” mean? (from Robert’s paragraph below)
What is a “holding in a case”?
-Smith sent a letter to the 11th Circuit after oral argument noting that Trump’s attorney, Jim Trusty, misrepresented the holding in a case cited by Trusty during oral argument. Such post-argument correspondence to an appellate panel are unusual—unless the panel requests additional briefing. Smith’s move was aggressive but appropriate given the expedited nature of the appeal.
The holding is the result in the case on appeal. It applies the law to the facts and comes to a conclusion. Trusty misrepresented the facts of the case and therefore misrepresented the legal conclusion to be drawn from the result on appeal.
Thanks Robert. I appreciate the reply/ follow up but the crux of the biscuit is the word “holding”. That said in legalese what is a “holding”, what does it mean?
Unreconstructed Afrikaner Musk, heir to Afrikaner war crimes profiteers (they made their money in Blood Diamonds, Conflict Germs and stealing the ruby and emerald fields of Zimbabwe back when it was run by white supremacists as Rhodesia) is coming unclued sufficiently that his tinny toys are no longr the Official Car of Rich White Lib'ruls - sales are down 15% and the stock is down 20%. Musk is going to get pulled to pieces by the financial sharks who feed on morons like him. He was never the "inventor" or Paypal, or the "Chief Engineer". of Space-X, or the designer of Teslas. He was the rich brat who hired the people who knew how to do that and then stole the credit. His golden boy aura is now tarnished nearly completely.
As for Jack Smith, it's a Western. Tombstone was overrun by the Clanton Gang (Trump and the GOP) so they called in Wyatt Earp (Smith), who cleaned them out at the OK Corral (federal court). Smith's as relentless as the lawmen the Union Pacific hired to pursue Butch and Sundance.
I love framing this showdown as a Western. Let’s have Anthony Mann direct the next episode.
Even before I read confirmation, the idea that pious ex-VP was starting to squeak — the very same week of Smith’s appointment — was too deliciously orchestrated to miss. Mr. Smith had apparently already been to Washington, and lit a bonfire.
I bet that Pence’s wife, mommy, told him to be good boy and tell the truth as Jesus taught him!
Ye think, whose truth. Do they recognize it?
I am intrigued by the apparent disappearance of Pence's support of conversion camps. And now here he is, cleverly introduced for weeks as both victim and a wise hero who knew better than to get in that limo. But still loyal to a fault
sorry Old Mikey has to be dragged in. and forced to testify against the villain who wanted him hanged, What a guy. This is a dangerous man. A darling of the Federalist Society, This time in our history has coughed up some mighty peculiar heroes
Damn you’re good. Federalist sleeper in Pence.
Made me laugh out loud!
I wonder why ANYONE would vote for Pence. He showed nothing but sycophancy toward tfg. He never even got irritated tfg was cool with having him killed. He refused to talk to the J6 committee, saying he didn't owe them anything. The man is a coward and a sycophant. Why in the world would I want to see this man as president?
I'll tell you why - because he "claims" to be a devout and pious Christian. That's all he has to say and the Evangelicals will eat it up. Same thing happened with Bush Jr. My god-fearing aunt once said about Bush "Well at least we have a Christian in the Whitehouse now". Apparently you don't ever have to do anything, you just have to mouth the words...or hold a bible upside-down after violently dispersing a crown of protesters.
Yes, that is apparently all it takes. Only say the words, never mind the deeds.
Perhaps faux piety! Pompous, definitely!
That dour face, that weird white vampire hair. As Kurt Vonnegut said, “I could carve a better man out of a banana.”
That fly!
The ultimate satanic fascinator.
RBG sent it. https://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2020/10/09/i-sent-the-fly-meme/
Thanks, Beth. I'd not seen that before.
He really casts an evangelist-ghoul shadow. I’m surprised more weren’t spooked by his Frankenzeal.
Vonnegut used to walk his poodle down our street. Way more class and insight than any of these political goons.
Exactlymondo! ! Vonnegut walking his poodle - sigh I wish I had been there to see that. Class. Pence has a pinched face that says, someone just mentioned sexual pleasure…I wonder what that is… ick.
so funny
🤣👏
I’ll never look at a banana the same way again. Thanks Robin😁That’s the best thing I’ve read and I don’t know how long.
Scathing!
Yeah, I can’t wait for high noon 😂
I'm ready for the failed insurrectionist to ride his horse over the cliff screaming "Oh s***" on the way down. Unlike Redford, his end will be in a jail cell.
Gitmo
Gitmo would be nice, he'd be in good company with the other terrorists.
On the button. Good call, TC. I've had Tombstone in my mind for months now. It's odd to me how many people get the good guy and the bad guy turned around in their recollections of that movie (and the real life incident that inspired it.
I agree with you: Musk has never been the brains behind his various enterprises. He simply smelled an opportunity and bought it up. He didn't invent Tesla, but he wanted to be the first to produce a modern electric car. Other people made it happen. Ditto Space-X, which is experiencing some unanticipated failures that eventually might require intervention. They keep falling out of the sky.
I think we are watching Musk coming apart, faced with the consequences of his own self-delusions. It's interesting, but not entertaining.
Interesting yes, and certainly not entertaining. Unless trainwrecks in crowded cities are your thing.
Rich metaphors, succinct exposition. Must be a screenwriter/ historical novelist.
Thank you TC. I have been saying Musk didn't start, invent or design anything for awhile now. People claiming he did aren't too bright. Then again, I read trump was a gentleman yesterday....someone help me. I've fallen from laughing so hard and can't get up...*wink wink*
One thing confuses me a bit about the description of Musk as the heir to a South African mining fortune: his parents are apparently still living.
He came here with a few million from his trust fund.
So . . . Not actually an heir to anything so far.
I haven’t followed his exploits much — prefer not to indulge his brand of personality cult — but he seems like an entitled, roaming scion to something vague and dark. I never noticed him explicitly waving a pro-apartheid flag. Yet the article link Robert Hubbell posted is excellent on how those tendencies (the narcissist / fascist complex) become radicalized and feed from the trough of public attention.
Not technically, but certainly a beneficiary of the dodgy family finances.
So so well stated!
The passage you picked out from Talking Points Memo is exactly the one I was going to quote here and comment on. It is so right on.
It seems as though when some people become wealthy, they lose a sense of perspective about themselves and turn into jackasses. Musk certainly has done that, and Kanye West…what can you say, he’s sitting at the same table with a white nationalist and doesn’t realize that no matter how much money he, Kanye, has, that white nationalist still thinks he’s just a N-word.
The irony of some duped black people is extraordinary, is it not? Identifying and hanging out with their oppressors/enslavers/haters is glaringly strange...the narcissism and desperation is truly running rampant in a certain percentage of odd humans, no matter their tint, who believe they are superior to the rest of us...peons. What money, power and fake love of both can do to some humans...is frightening, especially when their egos inflate like that diapered, trump balloon flying in the UK. Their exhausting 20 minutes of fame, maybe 25, before their balloon pops and they are swept off the popularity stage with their anti-social, hate rages. America needs to move the needle from the adolescent development stage of self-absorption to maturity pretty damn quickly.
That I have just been to S. Africa and witnessed the colonial blanket over the indigenous people there, despite their "freedom," gives me shudders to see Elon in our country promoting the same fricking oppressive, white colonial sh_t.
In MHO, I think it's more appropriate to say "duped people" rather than "duped black people". This is applicable to any person who is used by others, and still craves more because they think it will elevate them.
He/she goes on to include a broader group of people
I’ve said this in other places, so I hope I’m not repeating myself here, but it reminds me of wealthy Jews in Germany and Austria who thought they were immune to the Nazi scourge because they were wealthy and were somehow not in the same category as their poorer brethren.
No, those poor wealthy Jews did not think they were in the same category as their poorer brethren. They thought they were assimilated and as German as their Christian neighbors. That was their mistake. They never envisioned that the civilized Germans would turn on them. They saw the Nazis as thugs as I look at the Proud Boys or any of those militias. and think they are an aberration. We can not allow them to become main stream .
Love your witnessing, your adjectives, and your look into the future. Cannot be improved upon “…their egos inflate like that diapered, trump balloon flying in the UK.” Priceless…
Having lived in South Africa during and after Apartheid..I deeply hoped the “colonial blanket” would/could be removed. I wait..!!
They were always jackasses (a milder term than I would use). It's just coming to the surface where we can see it.
That is the ultimate ostrich…
Thank you for putting your finger on what so deeply troubling about Elon musk. Thank you for never looking away. The tremendous risks to Jack Smith and his family should never be obscured. We need to know that the government is taking care of security concerns. And yes I think the abortion ban may have some effect on voters who might not have come out otherwise.
I think so. It’s clear to me he intentionally chose someone aggressive. Garland certainly is “slow” but he knows what he’s doing
About the appointment of Jack Smith. I wonder whether when Merrick Garland writes his memoir 10+ years from now, we will find out that he recognized that his temperament was not what this prosecution needs. And that he purposely looked for the aggressive prosecutor we all want to see heading the case. If so, I consider this deeply wise and honorable. And while I'm at it, that "lost" year? His first year in DOJ? How much of it was internal cleaning up the mess (personnel) Barr installed?
I do believe that Garland would be out with a GOP president, but the special prosecutor isn’t automatically removed. That might be reason enough to have one.
Actually, I think that Garland's temperament is exactly what this case needed during the phase we've been in, and would be still if we could be sure we had the time to continue. I do also agree that he picked the right kind of prosecutor for the next step. But Garland's careful, tight investigation and analysis helps ensure that Smith will have the solid case he needs in order to proceed with a successful prosecution. Not a matter of either/or. It's taking stock of the circumstances and making the choices that hopefully will take it to the best outcome for our democracy.
Well said
Agreed, and there are other mitigating factors as well. We do not know how long Garland had already been planning this move, nor the extent of his internal search for the ideal appointment. I am also unclear on the operations during the first year, but I concur — there must have been intensive investigation conducted at a very high level, as well as other urgent cases and management.
Lastly, this past 6 + months held two unexpected, stunning developments: the MAL seizure in June, and the influential Jan 6th hearings. To have pushed forward without these developments, and factoring in the 60-day election rule on top of Garland’s innate temperament, would not have brought what we see playing out before us.
As you point out, the Russian campaign "to freeze the Ukrainian people into submission will not work. Never underestimate the will of people who are fighting for something bigger than themselves. This is a lesson we should never forget."
Beautiful! The same indomitable fighting spirit we have witnessed in the war in Ukraine was also expressed in our recent midterm elections when We, the People surfed the fascist Red Wave with finesse and resolve, thanks in large part to Today's Edition Newsletter, a powerful beacon of Democracy in this dark and turbulent passage in American history!
Let’s not pat ourselves on the back as if We the People are a huge majority that can overcome all the money and lies and hate and fear mongering just because we held back a red wave. The gop controls the house and has almost half the Senate. There is no good reason to take a victory lap. The danger is real and persistent. Focus now on school board elections and teaching critical thinking and civics. .
And the Dems barely mentioned the threat to SS and Medicare. What were they thinking, or were they? Dems leave me confused, repubs leave my gast flabbered.
Jeri, I beg to differ with you regarding the Dems not talking about the threat to SS & Medicare. Biden talked about it, Pelosi talked about it, many Dem candidates talked about it.
This messaging was also adopted by groups who were phone banking and canvassing, (such as Indivisible and others), once Rick Scott and Ron Johnson made their plans clear. It was part of the Big Three talking points - Reproductive Rights, Safety Net Benefits & Climate Action, to remind voters why this election was so critical.
Now the Mainstream Media - not so much.
Agree, Angela. And even MSM had those points out front, depending on how you define MSM. The narrower your definition of MSM, the less likely one was to see anything but echoes. Widen out a little, and they were all over the place. I saw these topics regularly, and at the state level especially they were (and remain) huge.
Thanks Annie, good to hear that there was more focus on the SS and Medicare threat. I admit that the closer we got to the election, I turned off on the MSM messaging as it was so focused on the horse races and the ephemeral nature of the polls.
Angela, I work to keep my text app clear of everything but personal stuff. I do use my cell as my primary phone, but I am careful not to give it out to orgs unless they allow opt-outs (or better yet, use the opt-in approach). If an org breaks that, I let them know. If it continues, I block them and am not shy about ending my connection with them if that's what it takes. I NEVER do political polls, period. I had training long ago in how to create meaningful polls. Just about everything that purports to be a poll these days clearly do not meet even basic standards. Not worth the space they take up.
There was way too much going around this last election, though I do recall the threats to SS and Medicare being mentioned a lot (hence why we’re talking about it). Thing is, keeping *focus* on so many issues is incredibly difficult with so many issues at stake. It’s all a part of adapting to this political landscape, which is stable as nitroglycerin.
In pcs to GA, both Medicare and social security are mentioned.
(I couldn't wait until Monday for today's newsletter, smile.)
I quit Twitter.
I did find it useful the years before Musk.
In particular, had a wide "family" of friends with similar interests that buoyed me through the pandemic years.
But the combination of
* arbitrarily (and foolishly) firing half the employees,
* inserting himself into the midterms with "vote for GOP" message, and
* bringing back hate, lies and violence with his own ridiculous "poll" reinstating TFG made the decision necessary.
It is the same as if a person has a gangrenous limb - better to amputate and save one's life than allow the infection to spread and to kill you.
I'd also vote to name the ongoing assault on people's mental health after DJT - "trumpitis" is dangerous and deadly.
I am backing out of twitter, unfollowing etc., but will stay because of #medtwitter and to follow UK war. So far I really like Post.news. it is beta code and working hard to ramp up.
I’m really hoping to see some entrepreneurial types with a taste for technology step in and fill the void brought about by Musk’s takeover of Twitter. Social media is such a fundamental part of modern communication, and we need RELIABLE sources.
Robert, I hope it’s kosher to post this here…
I have a question hopefully someone knows the answer to. ( TCinLA?)
I’m on Twitter a fair amount and have started to follow Jack Smith. But with all the confusion now over cloned accounts, I wonder if it’s really him. He is followed by some other people I follow, but they could be clones as well, given the insanity at Twitter right now.
Some of “Jack Smith’s“ comments seem a bit unbecoming of a federal prosecutor (they’re real zingers and I find them amusing, but I’m suspicious). Supposedly if you pay for the checkmark then you are verified, but my understanding is that even that mechanism is completely out of control. Any thoughts?
Does anyone know
DW, there is an enjoyable account that is a parody account with Jack Smith name and photo of him. However, it is a parody as stated in the bio. Many people follow as do I. It is hilarious. The person running the account makes some funny jokes. Someone even thought the word veritas meant it was associated with the group Project Veritas which is far right nonsense. Anyway, though it’s parody and hilarity ensues it is safe to say that it is from a left of center perspective and a roaring good time. I don’t think the real Jack Smith, Special Counsel is on twitter nor would have the time to be tweeting as he seems very busy with his new assignment. I didn’t see a check mark though so perhaps you found a different one.
That’s what I suspected. Yes, very funny, whoever it is
I’m glad I could help. There was a funny exchanges of tweets about this subject. He or She really knows how to respond. In all the grim news and the horrible tweets on that site now it is nice to find something to smile about there.
The real Jack Smith would never have any social media account.
Run for the exit
It’s my hope that the Georgia action regarding the six week abortion ban this close to the runoff will be the last straw in the final push to get women to the polls.
Bravissimo for your put down of that fathead “political expert” from Georgia!
Warm regards, Brian
Thank you for the update on Jack Smith. Very encouraging. We’ve been waiting for this!
One important piece about Elon Musk this week people are overlooking—his actions are mostly to distract from how badly he’s run Twitter to the ground, and his reinstatement of banned accounts is an effort to reframe the media’s narrative about Twitter’s decline. While he is a radical and political hack, a lot of what he does is for publicity. He’s much more PT Barnum than Nikola Tesla, though Barnum was brilliant in his own right.
Musk did donate a substantial amount of money to the RNC right after the January 6th attack, so he IS a conservative ideologue, but everything he does is to support himself in the end. Online radicalization is a definite problem and it worries me greatly, though it seems the US in general has less tolerance for it than in 2016. If anything good came from the former guy, it’s that people in this era were reminded that hate doesn’t work. Hate will learn from its mistakes, but so will everyone else. ❤️
Thank you, Robert, for these highlights. Just enough to keep us updated during the holiday weekend!
I really loved your comments about the Georgia Supreme Court decision and how it may affect the runoff election. Never underestimate how much women care about this issue. Thanks. 
“ Voters have been tuned out, traveling, seeing family, watching football, not necessarily talking about politics or reading about politics . . . And people aren't going to vote in a referendum on an abortion issue.”
I’ve got news for him - the 6 women at my family Thanksgiving dinner spent our after dinner conversation discussing the recent election results and the need to help support Raphael Warnock, and our engagement and strategies for continuing to fight for our democracy going forward. We will be doing whatever we can from our Michigan homes to help Reverend Warnock hold his Senate seat.
Becky B,
This household spent Thanksgiving and the weekend writing and mailing, Vote Forward letters and a batch if 100 postcards for the Georgia runoff, and heard from others doing the same, even by “No’s” turned to “Yes’s” for writing for the runoff.
The commitment and energy is dynamic.
Vote Forward must have replenished Voters to be “adopted” four times through the weekend.
Fingers crossed for Warnock.
Your observation, “Never underestimate the will of people who are fighting for something bigger themselves. That is a lesson we should never forget”, is a double-edged sword. Far-right White Nationalists and anti-Semites also fight for their larger, albeit very dark and evil, ideals.
True. But not all ideas generate the same passion. Russians are trying to expand their empire. Ukrainians are defending their home.
What does “misrepresented the holding in a case” mean? (from Robert’s paragraph below)
What is a “holding in a case”?
-Smith sent a letter to the 11th Circuit after oral argument noting that Trump’s attorney, Jim Trusty, misrepresented the holding in a case cited by Trusty during oral argument. Such post-argument correspondence to an appellate panel are unusual—unless the panel requests additional briefing. Smith’s move was aggressive but appropriate given the expedited nature of the appeal.
The holding is the result in the case on appeal. It applies the law to the facts and comes to a conclusion. Trusty misrepresented the facts of the case and therefore misrepresented the legal conclusion to be drawn from the result on appeal.
Thanks Robert. I appreciate the reply/ follow up but the crux of the biscuit is the word “holding”. That said in legalese what is a “holding”, what does it mean?