Heard part of NPR interview with her yesterday. Not impressed, though that’s a re-affirmation, not a realization.
1 Like
Dumber than a cold hamberder with a side of covfefe.
1 Like
There is a direct correlation between the rise of social media, the growing stupidity and inability to think critically of average people, the diffusive nature of news and entertainment delivery and dumbing-down of their content, the perfection of online manipulation, and the rise of Trump. It’s like a perfect storm of ignorance, idiocy and brainwashing. There’s a reason that your average Trumpie is a clueless racist moron. They’re the ones most likely to fall for his nasty carny act. In fact almost the only ones.
You’re right but the time scale is much wider than you think. The major difference between Facebook conservative groups and KKK parties in the 1920s is that the former are easily disseminated. Most of the underlying ideology and stupidity are the same, but there was a lot more physical separation. (I did a summer in Dallas and, while it was definitely more right wing than Mass., I did not realize how many homicidal batshit crazy maniacs were right outside the Dallas SMSA.)
Lev has been thinking about Mr. Epstein. It probably ocurred to Lev that Epstein died because there were further things he could reveal.
1 Like
Agreed. And the House should refuse to replace him.
It has occurred to me that the Republicans know Pence better than we do. It is possible that he is Trump’s impeachment insurance .
3 Likes
I’m hoping that both she and Pompeo have succeeded in destroying whatever slim chances they had of becoming President.
2 Likes
It’s not that hard to recruit, I’m guessing, if you know where to look, who is a likely target, and how to lure them in, whether it’s via social media, traditional one-way media, pamphlets, or face to face. Social media just makes it somewhat easier and faster. It’s ultimately about culture and psychology, no different from mass marketing or politics.
The Nazis had no problem transforming much of Germany into obedient Nazis in just a few years, before computers. Popes raised vast Crusader armies way before the technological revolution. So, same basic methods, different medium.
It also works both ways, in that the medium that makes recruiting easier and faster also makes it easier to uncover and interdict such efforts and the groups that engage in them. Yes, there’s strong encryption, but there are ways of overcoming that, less in breaking ciphers than in manipulating encryption codes to proved back doors to law enforcement, as well as pattern detection and analysis. And wingnuts tend to be stupid and make mistakes. If anything technology will help us deal with these movements more than they help them harm us. But most of it is about effective law enforcement methods.
Trump’s tantrums work less well with women: instead of seeing absolute strength they see someone who never made it out of the Terrible Twos.
2 Likes