"These are not small lies. They are not political hyperbole. They are lies that cut to the core of our entire system of self-government. They undermine belief in our democracy and system of justice.
It is one thing for Donald Trump – a pathological liar and sociopath – to conjure up these lies. He is nuts...
But for an entire political party to wittingly repeat these lies amounts to organized treason."
In a misguided effort to be "unbiased," most news media have stopped calling Trump's Big Lie about the 2020 election what it is. Instead they're using terms like "false statements" or "claims without evidence."
Memo to the media: Calling out lies isn't "biased." It's your job.
@rbreich! The Media has failed, and will continue to fail, America for $$$ . Big Time. They appear to be vying to become Trump State Media outlets when he takes them over. #Politics
Convicted felon Donald Trump has succeeded in getting his three remaining criminal trials postponed indefinitely.
If he really thought he was innocent of the 54 remaining charges, don't you think he'd want the trials to happen before the election so he could clear his name?
@rbreich He won't win the election, so it's a futile exercise. The next 4.5 years will be more of the same whining from both sides of politics, with no real progress toward cohesion. All parties, right, left & centre, are on corporate payrolls, so I doubt we'll see any fundamental change. What I do however foresee is more people voting independent, which can only be a good thing #politics#trump#biden#independant
Justice Samuel Alito flew not one, but two pro-insurrection flags at his homes.
Alito not being forced to recuse from Trump's immunity case and upcoming Jan 6 cases tells you everything you need to know about the SCOTUS code of "ethics" established last year.
In April 2022, the Heritage Foundation introduced 'Project 2025' with the hope of guiding America toward authoritarianism. Now, with Donald Trump at the top of the Republican ticket, that threat has only grown more dire. But what exactly are the plans of Project 2025, and how can we fight against this right-wing movement? A Q&A with Thomas Zimmer, Professor of 20th-century U.S. and international history at Georgetown University, sheds light on this dangerous project. https://thinkbigpicture.substack.com/p/project-2025-thomas-zimmer-trump
It's always interesting when someone whose politics you think you know supports something unexpected: the NRA member who opposes capital punishment, the socialist who favours free trade, the pro-life feminist. How often are beliefs only found in a set because of a historical coalition, not any deeper principle? Do you hold any beliefs at variance with your political in-group?
@georgetakei
Anyone letting a single issue, like Gaza or abortion or guns or LGBTQ+ rights or religion or border nonsense or anything else is just BEGGING to be lied to and enables lying twits to get elected.
I can't believe I even have to say this, but it is not normal that the Supreme Court is taking its sweet time to decide if the president can incite an insurrection to overturn an election and maintain power. This should have been decided already. The answer is no!
“[Ford said] ".. On its world, the people are people. The leaders are lizards. The people hate the lizards and the lizards rule the people."
"Odd," said Arthur. "I thought you said it was a democracy."
"I did," said Ford. "It is."
"So," said Arthur, hoping he wasn't sounding ridiculously obtuse, "why don't the people get rid of the lizards?"
Trump keeps telling the lie that he's being prosecuted "by Biden."
False.
Four different grand juries, made up of ordinary citizens, voted to indict him after reviewing substantial evidence that he had committed crimes. That's how the criminal justice system work
Please understand that it's only a matter of time before what is happening today in Johannesburg—the collapse of their water system—happens where you live. When, not if.
If you're living in a democracy, every election is the opportunity to choose between the people who are trying to do the right thing but not doing enough, and the people who are trying to extract as much wealth as possible before everybody dies. The choice seems pretty obvious. 🤷 #politics https://apnews.com/article/south-africa-johannesburg-water-crisis-weather-fa8c921c6a063a31aec37e05864d61fb
So who are the corporations and billionaires funding the American far right?
A lot of the discourse around the US far right, on both the left and the right, has presented it as being essentially a working class movement.
White working class Southerners (perhaps with some manipulation from Russia) advocating for their prejudiced world view, the narrative goes.
But what if that's not the situation? What if the rise of the far right has been funded with millions of dollars from extremely wealthy individuals?
Where are the resources coming from?
You probably already know about Rupert Murdoch with Fox News and Elon at Twitter, but there's a few others...
"Two billionaire Texas brothers whose fortunes derive from oil and gas fracking have pumped millions of dollars into rightwing media outfits that have promoted climate-crisis denialism.
...
"Farris and Dan Wilks have each doled out millions of dollars through separate foundations over the last decade to a number of high-profile conservative and religious groups including the Heritage Foundation, Family Research Council and Focus on the Family.
"The Wilks brothers, for instance, have poured millions of dollars into PragerU and the Daily Wire
...
"In 2015, Farris Wilks gave $4.7m to help launch the Daily Wire and remains an owner of the media company, whose founding editor and co-owner Ben Shapiro has forged ties with Dennis Prager, the PragerU founder and talkshow host. Shapiro and Prager are slated to attend a PragerU “founders’ retreat” in September for donors who give at least $100,000 a year."
"[One America News] founder and chief executive Robert Herring Sr has testified that the inspiration to launch OAN in 2013 came from AT&T executives.
"AT&T has been a crucial source of funds flowing into OAN, providing tens of millions of dollars in revenue, court records show. Ninety percent of OAN’s revenue came from a contract with AT&T-owned television platforms ... according to 2020 sworn testimony by an OAN accountant."
"[Robert] Mercer is a Christian conservative, gun enthusiast, a climate change denier, religious, small-government proponent and a man who despises the political establishment as incompetent and corrupt. He has donated over $100 million (€84 million) to various right-wing candidates and think-tanks. Most of that money has gone through the Mercer Family Foundation, run by Robert Mercer's daughter Rebekah.
"The Mercers hold a major stake in a company called Cambridge Analytica, which uses digital data to tailor election propaganda to voters.
"The Mercers first met Andrew Breitbart, the founder of what is now Breitbart News Network in 2011 ... The Mercers also invested $10 million in Breitbart and gained a large stake in the nascent company."
High-functioning autistic people should come out of the shadows.
They should openly say that they are best suited to rule and have the best ideas, i.e. libertarian ones.
This should not be an insult to Korwin or Mentzen that they are autistic (Asperger's), it should be an open advantage, and only such people should be admitted to the party.