January 12, 2021

"Trump’s Twitter feed... was a window into his deranged and disordered mind. The insults, grandiosity, lies, threats, bigotry and incitement..."

"He was a menace to the world, but he was a genius of the genre: nasty, irreverent, oddly addictive. It will be strange to revert to humdrum, cautious political platitudes after drinking the wine of uninhibited, free-association populism. Here are some recent tweets by President-Elect Joe Biden. 'In 10 days, we move forward and rebuild — together.' 'In 2020 we’re going to build a brighter future.' 'I’m filled with fresh hope about the possibilities of better days to come.'"

Writes Nicholas Goldberg (LA Times via Yahoo News).

Maybe people will drift away from social media. How did we get so caught up in it in the first place? Trump was part of a wave of excitement over Twitter, and with him banished — along with other vivid voices of the right — it might not have any energy at all. Why look? What's there? An old man babbles about his fresh hope of a brighter future?! If you don't have people to bounce off of, what will you tweet about? 

I remember when Twitter first got started. I already had a successful blog, but I thought this "microblogging" should work for me. But almost immediately, I saw how much it depended on going back and forth with other people who were right there next to you on the platform. I was used to sole possession of my blog's front page, and I could choose to interact with commenters on the comments page or link to other blogs, but I had a sense of this being my own place. I liked that. I'll embed a tweet here if I want to go after something I see over there. 

But I've watched Twitter develop. It's so full of journalists and politicos who snap back and forth, and Trump fit right in and amped everything up. It's so fast and vicious and crazy. Now, he's going to be extracted? Who will the lefties — the people who are left (in 2 senses) — engage with? Each other?

Do I hope the whole place falls flat? I hate the censorship. And if it falls flat as a consequence, that's poetic justice. 

230 comments:

1 – 200 of 230   Newer›   Newest»
Michael K said...

I think it is very nice of the Left top tell us of their plans for us now that Trump is gone.

A PBS staff attorney was caught on video calling for children of Republicans to be put in “reeducation camps” as retribution against supporters of President Trump.

“We go for all the Republican voters, and Homeland Security will take their children away. … We’ll put them into the reeducation camps,” principal counsel for The Public Broadcasting Service Micahel Beller said, according to Project Veritas, which published the video on Tuesday.


Twitter would never allow such a thing to be seen.

Nonapod said...

I don't know if Twitter will die off any time soon. I mean, sure now that Trump is no longer there it may lose its luster for many of the obsessive and deranged sorts of folks who Tweet daily. But I don't think most of them will quit it either. They're addicts after all.

eddie willers said...

An old man babbles about his fresh hope of a brighter future?!

Just as soon as he can muzzle half the country, he can be nice.

I only recently joined Twitter since Scott Adams Podcast became, "Here's what I said on Twitter yesterday". I may drop it soon.

Greg said...

I suspended my account Sunday. Don't miss it a bit. With all the censorship it's basically worthless anyway. All of the Facebook, Twitter, NYT, WAPO, CNN, MSNBC etc content could basically be replaced by a half dozen lowly paid interns for the DNC and nobody would notice.

Ken B said...

I have long loathed Twitter. If this kills it, good. At the moment it fulfills a necessary role for governments around the world. They need to replace or expropriate it. Not to do so is a security and safety risk to their citizens.
Balajis has good stuff on this on his feed.
Reminder: tweets are data. You can have tweets without Twitter just as you can have web pages without Netscape.

Vance said...

If and when Conservatives get control of much of social media or BigTech, or anything really, I do hope they put the screws to the left.

There was a discussion on Ars Technica on whether farmers could simply stop supplying the left coasts (including DC, Boston, NYC, etc). Would it be legal? They were forced to admit that yes, it would be legal... but then offered their ideas as to why such an attempt would fail.

Interesting that at least some of them are starting to worry about pushback. I think it would be fantastic to cut off the food supply to LA and San Fran.

Gunner said...

As long as there are still white children wearing MAGA hats who lefties want to stalk and murder, Twitter will exist.

Ken B said...

Most of the world seems to get this. And most of twitters users are outside the USA.

tcrosse said...

I hate the censorship. And if it falls flat as a consequence, that's poetic justice.

It's an object lesson.

Skeptical Voter said...

Rachel Maddow, Chris Hayes and Anderson Cooper hardest it. Somehow I don't think Rachel has it in her to snuggle up next to Biden's political posterior and smooch it each day. I mean "snark" is her shtick--and it will be forbidden to be snarky about the old Pony Soldier Joe.

As for Chris Hayes --what can I say. The only thing smart about him was the black plastic frame glasses.

Oh there may be some opportunity to cheer on the political posses hunting down and hanging conservatives or otherwise destroying their lives---but that's pretty dull work.

PM said...

An enduring problem with Twitter is the way lazy journalists use it to note that something is "trending" - as if a "bump' on a social media site is evidence of national importance - and making it, ironically, seem important. CNN was an early adopter of this kind of foolishness, a cheap substitute for actual reporting.

pacwest said...

Not sure how this is supposed to work. Does the bright future come after the long dark winter?

JK Brown said...

Having banned Trump has Twitter ensured that future office holders, such as Joe Biden or Kamala Harris, may have equal access problems if they distributed or interact too much on the platform? After all, a substantial number of citizens are now unable to interact with the office holders on the platform, not by their own choice. I would think that now, Twitter can never be a significant medium for the release of information from Agencies.

“Imagine being in the worst aspects of junior high school, 24 hours a day, forever.”
--Greg Lukianoff on social media

So is America about to graduate and mature beyond middle school?

Iman said...

I deleted my Twitter account around 5 years ago. It remains - for the most part - a cesspool of narcissistic behavior... virtue signaling... acting out... magical thinking...

Eleanor said...

Hardest hit will be the celebrities. Does anyone really care what Bette Midler, Rob Reiner, or Cher has to say?

I Have Misplaced My Pants said...

Boring Twitter:

"Our priority will be Black, Latino, Asian, and Native American owned small businesses, women-owned businesses, and finally having equal access to resources needed to reopen and rebuild." — President-elect Biden

Copied straight from the Biden-Harris Presidential Transition page.

Fuck you, white guys!

Twitter users not buying it, by the way. Lots of "as a Hispanic woman business owner, this is not helping, and also, stop pandering"

Mike Sylwester said...

A major reason why they hate Trump so much is that he intended to enforce our country's immigration laws. They do not want those laws to be enforced.

Shouting Thomas said...

Then there’s Uncle Joe’s recent tweet that COVID relief will go to everyone but white men.

Listen, I’m on the receiving end of the Democrat’s and Uncle Joe’s Hate Whitey rhetoric. It hasn’t affected me much because I’m retired.

There’s nothing measured or decent about Biden.

Watch his interrogation of Clarence Thomas or his attempts to blame the Branch Davidians of being responsible for their own immolation at the hands of the FBI.

I don’t use Twitter and never read Trump’s tweets much, but I assume that the real complaint against Trump’s tweets is that they were effective.

How are the Democrat’s getting away with this “incitement” bullshit when they spent the last year inciting Antifa and BLM violence and riots?

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

I'm expecting the fallout of the banning is going to mortally wound both Twitter and Facebook. Parler may be out now, but someone will start a similar service and there will be a mass exodus from Twitter.

chuck said...

I think it would be fantastic to cut off the food supply to LA and San Fran.

I'd start with electricity and water.

MayBee said...

I remember when it first started, it was like a nowhere thing. People would just tweet where they were and what they were doing.
Then it became a place where you could actually ask questions, and I got an account.
At first I was disappointed because so many political journalists were on there, but they spent so much time talking to each other. I thought, "What's the point? Here's this way to interact with anyone in the world, and they just talk to each other!'
But eventually, I had some followers like Mike Allen from Politico, and the Mayor of LA and Corey Booker and I talked to journalists and asked questions and got answers. IT was fun.....but then I realized I was becoming crazy. I was getting upset in real life about things I didn't have to care about on Twitter. So I quit it cold turkey.

I stayed away for a loooooong time. I moved out of the country. During that time, Twitter really exploded. People who had just been commenters at Ace suddenly had tens of thousands of followers. The sheer number of followers people had exploded. And there were blue checkmarks. to separate kind of the haves from the have-nots.

I have another account, a just me account. I have no followers. Maybe 10. Nobody cares about me just saying "Oh the lights downtown are beautiful". And I know if I tweeted using that account to any of the people who followed me under my other account, they wouldn't care. I'd be a nobody.

That's kind of the sickness of Twitter. The thirst for followers and for engagement and to be somebody, and then what that can bring down on people.

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

Vance said...

There was a discussion on Ars Technica on whether farmers could simply stop supplying the left coasts (including DC, Boston, NYC, etc). Would it be legal? They were forced to admit that yes, it would be legal... but then offered their ideas as to why such an attempt would fail.

Interesting that at least some of them are starting to worry about pushback. I think it would be fantastic to cut off the food supply to LA and San Fran.


Doesn't even require the farmers to be on board, just truckers refusing to haul into major cities.

It's also going to be fun when they figure out that cities can be bottled up and laid siege to.

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

chuck said...

I'd start with electricity and water.

The key thing is to make sure you've got the capability to take down any and all private jets going outbound towards Aspen and Telluride.

Mike Sylwester said...

The only occasions when I ever look at Twitter is when I follow someone's link to a tweet.

I like to read blogs. I like the structure of a blogger's essay, followed by readers' comments.

Since I look at Twitter so sporadically, I am confused by a page's structure. I often do not understand which tweet is responding to which tweet.

I suppose that Twitter is a good medium for Donald Trump.

Bilwick said...

So this genius is offering us Slow Joe as an example of a mind that is NOT deranged and disordered???

Well, okay then . . .

dbp said...

If the left gets their way, Twitter and Facebook will become leftist echo chambers. Sad. Boring.

The party of "diversity" sure hates diversity.

Winnie said...

I was quite addicted to Twitter before this. Checked in every morning and afternoon. Sometimes hours in a day if there was big news in politics. I deleted the Twitter app Saturday.

I used to enjoy following reporters on both sides. I rarely tweeted, liked, retweeted, or commented. I found many non blue checks who engaged were blocked. I've withheld my opinion because I didn't want to give up the glimpse into the workings of far left minds. My favorites were the New York Times and Washington Post reporters. So un-self-aware. And such prolific tweeters.

There is a logic to most everyone's thinking flawed though it may be. It's addictively interesting to me. I'll miss it.

Owen said...

Never used it and thus wouldn’t miss it. It seems like digital crack: just keep tapping the bar and get another hit of pure snark.

Because of its cowardly repression and hypocrisy about “hate speech,” I will more than not miss it, if it should fail. I will pay good money to hear the lamentations of its people as their proud edifice burns; watch it being plowed under; and help to spread salt where it once stood.

mandrewa said...

TFIglobal: Australia begins crackdown on social media after what they did to Donald Trump

"We ask that, as a matter of urgency, you (Communications Minister Paul Fletcher) legislate to
ensure Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and other social media platforms can no longer ban, censor,
suspend, "fact-check" or shadow ban users for posting content which is lawful in Australia."

zipity said...


Burn all the "social" media platforms down to the ground.

And then salt the earth so nothing can grow there.

"Social" media is a cancer on our country, and must be destroyed

Gospace said...

The only twitter I read is quotes on blogs or threads on threadreaderappdotcom. I count on others to pay attention and pull out the useful nuggets.

MayBee said...

Twitter is a really good way to get customer service questions answered, though.

rhhardin said...

I object to misreading Trump. He's a humorist, and puts things together in new ways.

Read Trump's tweets with a checklist for jokes (jokes need two or more of the six)

1 Clever: "You recognize clever when you see it. It's just combining things that people didn't think you were going to combine, but yet you somehow made it work."
2 Naughty: "Naughty is usually just sex or bathroom jokes."
3 Bizarre: "Bizarre just means two things out of place."
4 Cruel: "Cruelty is a staple in humor. Cruel just means something bad happened to somebody or you said something unkind to somebody. You know cruel when you see it."
5 Cute: "Cute is usually just kids and animals."
6 Recognizable: "Humor usually requires that you recognize something about the subject of the joke being like your experience or like yourself. It's either like somebody you know, like you, but has to be familiar. Something you recognize."

And with the joke he has a purpose that he puts it to.

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

dbp said...

If the left gets their way, Twitter and Facebook will become leftist echo chambers. Sad. Boring.

No, quite the contrary! It would be long before they were at each other's throats, Twitter could never survive as a leftist echo chamber, especially with Sleepy Joe in the White House.

rhhardin said...

Trump's prepared speeches are deadly dull, but that's another matter.

Rick said...

It will be strange to revert to humdrum, cautious political platitudes...

like claiming Mitt Romney Republicans want to return black Americans to slavery.

Isn't it interesting how replacing X (generic ambiguity) with what Biden really believes completely proves the assertion wrong. How is it these supposed students of our political environment are universally wrong?

rhhardin said...

The point of the censorchip is to get everybody to turn in all Jews, lest they kill you too when they discover that you knew where they were hiding and didn't tell.

Hence banks refuse service to banned people, not as their choice, but as protection from the woke.

It's psy ops, not a literary entertainment choice.

tim in vermont said...

This seems kind of hateful to me, and certainly could be interpreted as inciting violence under the ostensible standard applied to Trump

Joe Biden@JoeBiden
The work of the next four years must be the restoration of democracy and the recovery of respect for the rule of law, [You mean like in Minneapolis and Seattle too, right Joe? We gonna bash heads? - Ed] and the renewal of a politics that’s about solving problems — not stoking the flames of hate and chaos.


Isn’t this the kind of stuff that Tom Cotton was saying that got that guy fired from the New York Times?

Joe wants to be a nice guy, but his enemies, your enemies, must be crushed! Sound like inciting violence to me. As soon as we get all of these haters out of the way, and I am not talking about Rachael Maddow fans who shoot Republicans at a softball game, but the real haters... Then we can finally march on together!

mccullough said...

There’s no misreading Trump. Multiple interpretations abound.

wildswan said...

Trump continually said that the Constitutional order, the Republican party and the media ratings would crash without him. So that somehow he was simultaneously reviving the USA of a patriot's dream and the Republican party while also keeping his principle opponents alive though on life support, with Twitter infusions from him needed, daily. Maybe the Twitter flock can't "see" him because "America is hard to see." In other words, the man for the times is hard to understand when the times are hard to understand.

stevew said...

I quite Twitter about four years ago, Facebook three or four months before that. Just didn't want or need the negativity that is so prevalent there in my life.

Trump made Twitter what it is today, in every sense. With him gone and nothing but a crowd of people that agree with each other tweeting, I expect it will revert to whatever it was pre candidate Trump.

Mike Sylwester said...

On some social-media platforms -- for example, Facebook and Twitter -- the user cannot be sure that posts are being transmitted.

For example, if I post something on Facebook, I do not know that my post is being transmitted to all my Facebook friends. Conversely, I do not know whether I am seen all my Facebook friends' posts. In fact, I know that such transmissions are limited. I don't like that.

Furthermore, some such limitations are ideological. You might be shadow-banned, and your Facebook friends might be shadow-banned.

I think that shadow-banning is less of a problem on Blogger, but it will become an increasing problem. For example, blog essays and comments that allege voting-fraud soon will be shadow-banned -- maybe they already are shadow-banned now.

Iman said...

Blogger Mike Sylwester said...
A major reason why they hate Trump so much is that he intended to enforce our country's immigration laws. They do not want those laws to be enforced.


An excellent point!

Freeman Hunt said...

I liked Twitter at first, but then it became obvious that the format didn't lend itself to reasoning together. It's an arena for repartee. A diversion. People shouldn't treat it as something more important than that.

Rick said...

Michael K said...
“We go for all the Republican voters, and Homeland Security will take their children away. … We’ll put them into the reeducation camps,” principal counsel for The Public Broadcasting Service Micahel Beller said, according to Project Veritas, which published the video on Tuesday.


Wow, got someone on tape.

Beller also called for people to “go to the White House and throw Molotov cocktails” in the event President-elect Joe Biden didn’t win the election in November.

"There is no place for hateful rhetoric at PBS, and this individual’s views in no way reflect our values or opinions,"


This does reflect their values and opinions. This is indistinguishable from what I've heard a hundred times living in the DC suburbs.

Static Ping said...

What happened with Twitter is what happens with a lot of things. Early on people are not sure what to make of this new toy, and there is a lot experimentation to find out what this thing can do. People find all sorts of ways to enjoy the thing, some which work and some which don't. As the service matures, the user base evolves to focus on what the system is good at and that becomes the experience, regardless of what it was when it started out. You can see this in all sorts of systems. The way chess was played in 1800 is a lot different than how it is played now. Some of the standard plays in 1800 are pretty close to blunders in 2021, at least on the high levels.

Unfortunately, Twitter lent itself to a toxic system. The whole point of it is quick, short communication. This in itself is not necessarily a problem. However, it has several flaws:

1. You never have to physically meet anyone you tweet, which eliminates many of the safeguards to being rude. For that matter, you don't have to think as the other person as even human. It is a glorious empowerment of assholes who otherwise would get beat up on a regular basis.
2. Since tweets are quick to create, if you want to be relevant about a trending topic you need to send out your tweet quickly. This leads to a lot of hot takes that often involve no actual thinking or research but lots of emotion and irrationality.
3. Twitter provides lots of instant gratification as your tweet could get tons of likes and therefore you suddenly feel important. And that feeling is great, so you now have to watch Twitter like a hawk so you can send out your next tweet and keep your audience. It becomes an addiction. Furthermore, you don't want to alienate this audience you have attracted. Your prior comments become solidified not as much because you still believe them after further introspection, but because you need them to be true to feed your addiction.

So, yeah, what could go wrong with an addiction that encourages people to be jerks to each other without thinking? I mean, who would have thought?

Oh well.

Howard said...

The Dems are serving you people slow fat ones over the plate. I advise to concentrate on making contact and not winding up for a jack.

DEEBEE said...

Is this like Elaine Chao, but only in reverse for you?

gilbar said...

so, he's saying that now that we'll have "President" Biden we can look forward to surrealistic fantasy posts that have NO Basis in the real world?

NYC JournoList said...

Biden’s tweets reflect the banality of his emerging dictatorship. The Triumvirate of Joe, Nancy and Chuck. Fortunately, they are all too old to last long. Unfortunately the next generation of leaders have only known ruthless politics.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

I'd say there were probably more LIES about his tweets.

"bigotry"

when?

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

Freeman Hunt said...

I liked Twitter at first, but then it became obvious that the format didn't lend itself to reasoning together. It's an arena for repartee.

It's like texting. It's cool that I can sit here in Phoenix have a sort of real time conversation with a friend on the East Coast, but after your 5 or 6th "Where you at?" texts you realize how small some peoples minds really are and that kills it.

GingerBeer said...

Twitter is a cesspit.

Iman said...

I got your fat one right here, Howie.

Lurker21 said...

I only joined Facebook and Twitter because some contest made me. On the rare occasions I go there it's all just stuff people want me to buy and not politics. I sometimes check out somebody's political twitter -- Mickey Kaus (like him) or Anne Applebaum (don't love her) -- but can't see signing up to get every random thought running through somebody's head.

I'm Not Sure said...

"I'd start with electricity and water.

Newsome has already got a start on electricity and water has been an issue for years. They're doing it to themselves, imagine if they had control of *your* power and water.

chuck said...

People would just tweet where they were and what they were doing.

I was part of a group that visited SpaceDev in Poway near San Diego the week after the Witch fire in 2007. We were all watching the fire news to decide whether to go and one of the ways to follow the spread was tweets from people on the ground. That was the first time I noticed that twitter could actually be useful. But it was a very different beast in those ancient times.

iowan2 said...

Doesn't even require the farmers to be on board, just truckers refusing to haul into major cities..

Truckers could refuse to haul into or OUT of Los Angeles It would shut down the ports.

The problem is truckers are capitalist. When the rate doubled, there would be fist fights of getting loads.

stevew said...

C'mon Howard, don't you know, chicks dig the long ball.

JPS said...

Part of my process of lowering my political blood pressure has ben recognizing how many inflammatory headlines amount to "Some Random Jackass You've Never Heard Of, Nor Ever Will Again, Said...".

The ratio of awful to awesome on Twitter may be higher than in the average YouTube comments section, and that's going some.

"The only way I can describe Twitter at this point is that everyone is convinced the Asshole Rapture is nigh, and they're all making a desperate last ditch attempt to make it into Asshole Heaven."

- David (IowaHawk) Burge, June 28, 2020

Mike Sylwester said...

Trump’s Twitter feed ... was a window into his deranged and disordered mind. The insults, grandiosity, lies, threats, bigotry and incitement ... He was a menace to the world

Trump violated a social/political taboo by advocating policies that would benefit White Americans -- in particular White blue-collar workers. For example, Trump advocated the enforcement of our country's immigration laws. As another example he tried to impede the export of manufacturing jobs.

Anyone may advocate policies that benefit various minorities and "marginalized people". In fact, everyone must advocate them.

Nobody, however, may advocate policies that benefit White Americans -- in particular, White blue-collar workers. Such advocacy will be denounced as "threats, bigotry and incitement".

Trump violated that social/political taboo, and so he was demonized as "a menace to the world".

Readering said...

White!

tim in vermont said...

When did “allegedly” disappear from media style books?

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

iowan2 said...

The problem is truckers are capitalist. When the rate doubled, there would be fist fights of getting loads.

True. So are farmers, for that matter. Not much chance they're going to let things rot in the fields and lose money.

But it is fun to think about!

Readering said...

Still remember when I discovered twitter and first logged on: photo of Sully's plane in the Hudson being evacuated. I was thinking, wow this great. But never joined.
.

Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...

Biden’s Twitter feed will be a window into his...

Oh that’s right, Biden’s staff will be churning out standard issue DNC talking points on Twitter while Joe sits at his Oval Office desk wearing Depends and mumbling something about how he was just elected to the Senate.

Robert Cook said...

I've never found Twitter in the least appealing. Also, it's not immediately intuitive or easy to use. I don't bother with it.

Edu said...

Frankly, if any of these "people" liked or approved of me, I would be seriously concerned.

daskol said...

George Conway’s Twitter feed is my virtual home page.

It's little comments like these, throwaways in a longer post, that leave me convinced that Chuck is a parody account. A genius parody account.

Howard said...

Some comments on this thread reminded of the lyrics to Revolution 1.

effinayright said...

Just wait until the Woke SJWs at Twitter, Facebook and Google start censoring anything favorable about Israel or any other country they deem "problematic".

Netanyahu will likely be an early target.

But the Ayatollah? No problemo.

Any criticism of an exhumed and resurrected Iran Nuclear deal will go straight into the Memory Hole.

Just you wait.

I'm Not Sure said...

"in particular White blue-collar workers. For example, Trump advocated the enforcement of our country's immigration laws."

If they helped white workers, they helped brown and black ones, too.

Just sayin'.

Inga said...

I’ve never commented on Twitter and only occasionally read it. If Twitter disappeared as far as I’m concerned, I’d say no big loss. However people who do love Twitter will continue to find things to keep it lively, I bet.

effinayright said...


"The problem is truckers are capitalist. When the rate doubled, there would be fist fights of getting loads."
***********************

I dunno...French truckers have gummed things up pretty badly in France, on numerous occasions.

You could fight for a load, but the roads were blocked by the trucks of those who dug in.

Here are some examples:

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=french+trucks+block+roads&ia=web

tim maguire said...

Hard to imagine how Twitter broke into world's consciousness through the green revolution. Today Twitter would be helping to put down the green revolution.

effinayright said...

Ha ha...the PBS attorney asshole has been fired and sent to a re-education camp....

OK, just the first part, but...in my best Nelson Muntz imitation: HA ha!!

dreams said...

I never use Twitter. It was smart to remain independent of Twitter, it's obvious now.

n.n said...

Ha ha...the PBS attorney asshole has been fired and sent to a re-education camp....

Progress. That said, Propaganda Broadcasting Service was a viable choice when they had an American orientation.

Mike Sylwester said...

I do not perceive that Donald Trump's mind is deranged and disordered.

I do perceive, however, that he is a scatter-brain.

He does not try much to organize his thinking into a philosophical system. For example, he does not ponder what it means to be a conservative or a liberal. Rather, he thinks pragmatically. His thinks more about what efforts will succeed and win elections.

Relatively few people think philosophically. Most people, like Trump, think more pragmatically.

I suppose that pragmatic thinking is more "disordered", but philosophical thinking sometimes becomes "degranged".

Trump's major political innovation was to advocate two major issues in 2016 -- 1) enforce immigration laws and 2) impede the export of manufacturing jobs. He was able to do so as a Republican because he was so rich that he did not need donors' money. Thus, he stole the White working class from the Democrats and defeated Hillary Clinton. He was very clever.

Perhaps that gambit never will be repeated in US politics. During the coming years, the Democrats will flood the USA with colored immigrants. White blue-collar workers are doomed in the USA.

Here is the Democrats' plan:

1) Import millions of colored, poorly educated immigrants.

2) Raise the minimum wage to $15 and then higher and higher.

3) Use stricter regulation and more expensive energy to reduce manufacturing in the USA.

4) Tell all the unemployable colored people that they are victims of Republican racists

5) Crush all opposition to the Democrat Party.

Achilles said...

Twitter became a way for Trump and other people to the right of Mao to get around the media filter. Dorsey agreed that his creation had to be sacrificed.

The Oligarchs demand to be in control of everything in the political sphere and Twitter gave outsiders and little people a voice.

Fascists cannot allow little people to have a voice.

n.n said...

"The problem is truckers are capitalist. When the rate doubled, there would be fist fights of getting loads."

Capitalism: retained earnings; market system, including: price discovery, supply and demand allocation

n.n said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Mike Sylwester said...

Correction to my comment at 3:45 PM

I inadvertently used the expression colored immigrants.

I meant to write Immigrants of Color.

I apologize and will not repeat that mistake.

Please make the mental correction.

Gravel said...

Well, they just shut down ar15.com as well, no explanation given.

The pretense that the tech oligarchs are anything other than agents of leftists in government is over. This isn't free market at work, it's government censorship by proxy.

Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...

Democrats make a mistake thinking they control Twitter. China controls Twitter. It just so happens Democrats currently have much in common with the Chinese communists.

Will Cate said...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZUrsKDsk8A

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

New profile who dis? said...

Well, they just shut down ar15.com as well, no explanation given.

No they didn't. It's still up and you can read the forums.

I'm Not Sure said...

Ha ha...the PBS attorney asshole has been fired and sent to a re-education camp....

Progress.


Perhaps. Or maybe he was fired for saying out loud what everybody there thinks to themselves.

Mike Sylwester said...

I'm Not Sure at 3:25 PM
If they [immigration laws] helped white workers, they helped brown and black ones, too.

Many brown and black workers perceive that they will benefit socially and politically from the mass immigration of more browns and blacks.

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

New profile who dis? said...

Well, they just shut down ar15.com as well, no explanation given.


No they didn't. It's still up and you can read the forums.


No, it looks like GoDaddy dropped them, but haven't pulled them from every DNS yet. But there still out there on their backup domain.

Leland said...

So the Project Veritas video opens a new question:

Were the claimed molotov cocktails and zipties there because PBS personnel thought Trump would march with the crowd and they could attack him?

They certain expressed motive. The opportunity didn't arise, but that doesn't mean they didn't prepare. Seems like an investigation would determine the answers.

donald said...

I have long loathed Twitter. If this kills it, good. At the moment it fulfills a necessary role for governments around the world. They need to replace or expropriate it. Not to do so is a security and safety risk to their citizens.
Balajis has good stuff on this on his feed.
Reminder: tweets are data. You can have tweets without Twitter just as you can have web pages without Netscape.

Uganda? Sure. Here? Nope.

Gahrie said...

"The problem is truckers are capitalist. When the rate doubled, there would be fist fights of getting loads."

If starving out the cities ever becomes a tactic, it will be simple to make the interstates impassable and to set up roadblocks on the side streets.

Winnie said...

If all conservatives leave Twitter it will make it easier for those on the left to think the middle has shifted to their far left view. Anything short of socialism will seem to them the moderate left of center opinion. Anything further right will seem extremist.

It will go back to NPR type discussions where everyone stays calm, uses dulcet tones while voicing illiberal leftist ideas. Nobody will be there to dispute false premises.

Leland said...

Well, they just shut down ar15.com as well, no explanation given.

No they didn't. It's still up and you can read the forums.

No, it looks like GoDaddy dropped them,


I can get to that site too. But why are they being dropped? Were ar15's present? I heard molotov cocktails (are they shutting down Skyy.com) and zipties (Frys.com is pretty much shutdown on its own). It almost seems like big tech is censoring whoever Democrats don't like, because they feel confident that Democrats will protect their ability to censor.

But no worries, I'm sure Antifa will be there to stop this fascist behavior of corporations doing the bidding of the government...

Gahrie said...

True. So are farmers, for that matter. Not much chance they're going to let things rot in the fields and lose money.

That would happen sooner than you think. Put in some price controls that make harvest unprofitable, and they will start plowing crops under.

Gahrie said...

Nobody will be there to dispute false premises.

This is the only reason I intend to stay on Facebook until they ban me.

Douglas B. Levene said...

I quit twitter about 1-1/2 years ago when my wife said it was making me angry all the time. Don't miss it. Will be happy to see it fall into the sea.

J. Farmer said...

Maybe people will drift away from social media. How did we get so caught up in it in the first place?

It's the same mass media model we've had since radio, but now everyone has a camera, a microphone, and a means of transmission. We've universalized the listener call-in segment or man-on-the-street interview. Everyone's a star in their own reality show.

More abstractly, I think people flooded into social media in an effort to make up for a loss of more genuine community connectedness and rootedness. So people have 200 "friends" but don't know the names of the people in their neighborhood. They're trying to mask the anxiety of their own atomization. Social media satisfies a very primeval primate urge: to be members of groups.

The Anglo-American ethnic identity that developed in the first half of the 20th century was dismantled during the 60s civil rights era. Since then, no new national identity has taken its place. Instead, we have some kind of amorphous multiculturalism in which everyone is hyphenated, African-American, Latin-American, Italian-American, Irish-American, Jewish-American, Chinese-American. But not German-American, English-American, or Norse-American. That's white supremacy.


p.s. I think it's without a doubt that Trump has a very bizarre personality. He seems like a Queens Boulevard bullshit artist motivated almost entirely by ego and status. There are two kinds of billionaires in the world: the kind that let everyone know they're billionaires and the ones that keep it on the low. Money talks; wealth whispers.

Rabel said...

"A lawyer who worked for PBS has resigned after being caught in a right wing sting operation describing President Donald Trump as ‘close to Hitler.’ Michael Beller, a contracts lawyer, was recorded offering political opinions in what appeared to be a barroom conversation with a woman. It was released by Project Veritas. The conservative group is known for using undercover tactics to reveal supposed liberal bias."

That's from the AP. "Political Opinions."

Mother Fuckers.

MountainMan said...

"Doesn't even require the farmers to be on board, just truckers refusing to haul into major cities."

Plenty of truckers who feel that way already. My son is a middle manager for a big trucking company and during the riots in Atlanta this summer they had a hard time getting deliveries made because drivers were reluctant to go there. For a time, when things were at their worst, the company itself refused to deliver into the downtown area at all.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Here are six videos of Democrats calling for violence or physical confrontations that are still active on Twitter

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

Leland said...

I can get to that site too. But why are they being dropped? Were ar15's present? I heard molotov cocktails (are they shutting down Skyy.com) and zipties (Frys.com is pretty much shutdown on its own). It almost seems like big tech is censoring whoever Democrats don't like, because they feel confident that Democrats will protect their ability to censor.

It's a firearms forum. GoDaddy dropped them as domain host, no reason given except they violated terms of service.

Lurker21 said...

Trump was faced with Nixon's nightmare 1960: What do you do when you think an election has been stolen? Do you grit your teeth and take it for the good of the country or do you go public and make it an issue?

Now Pelosi, Schumer and company have Nixon's dream 1970: a chance to put half the country on an enemies list and take retribution.

*

The word now is that McConnell is looking forward to Trump's impeachment.

True, or just more speculation?

Lurker21 said...

Many brown and black workers perceive that they will benefit socially and politically from the mass immigration of more browns and blacks.

Not so much. That's why Trump's vote went up with Black men and Latinos.

I'm not sure that the others really want mass immigration. Many recent immigrants definitely want their relatives over here. But African-Americans and Latinos whose families have been around for a while aren't so tempted by that. Many just like voting for the same old politicians who share their ethnic identity, but don't buy into the ideology or the party program.

Of course, there are always people like DNC Chairman Tom Perez, whose family was very privileged in the Dominican Republic but who makes a career in the US as a tribune of the underclass. The bigger the underclass, the better it is for him.

n.n said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

The senate convenes 1 day before Trump is out.

Impeachment is theater for the lunatic left, and Nancy's insane hatred.

Meanwhile - much of the violence at the Capitol was more than likely Antifa.

tho - No evidence found in the MSM(D)

n.n said...

Fascists cannot allow little people to have a voice.

A conspiracy of public and private interests to disenfranchise demos. Demos-cracy is aborted in darkness, behind a wall, at the Twilight fringe, denied a voice, denied arms. Progress (i.e. unqualified monotonic change) is notably a one step forward, two steps backward process.

BUMBLE BEE said...

Truckers take an awesome personal risk in dem cities. Many are self insured and risk theft and hijack in the hood.

n.n said...

Many brown and black workers perceive that they will benefit socially and politically from the mass immigration of more browns and blacks.

Democrat-affiliated community leaders, yes. A cycle of redistributive and retributive change a la Hutu/Tutsi. Also, in fond memoriam of the lynching episodes from post-apartheid progressive South Africa. The very model of diversity dogma rejected by people who do not exercise liberal license to indulge diversity [dogma] that denies individual dignity, individual conscience, intrinsic value, and normalizes color blocs, color quotas, and affirmative discrimination under the Progressive Church's Pro-Choice, selective, opportunistic, relativistic ("ethical") quasi-religious philosophy. #PrinciplesMatter #BabyLivesMatter

Howard said...

I predict McConnell will preside over a quick acquittal to appear both anti and pro Trumpco.

I'm Not Sure said...

"Many brown and black workers perceive that they will benefit socially and politically from the mass immigration of more browns and blacks."

I'm not saying there aren't any that don't think that way but based on an admittedly small sampling of brown people (American citizens) I'm friends with, they are muy opposed to mass immigration. Anecdote or data? You decide.

Amy Welborn said...

Well, they suspended the account of Ricky Gervais' cat, so we can rest easy now.

https://twitter.com/rickygervais/status/1349066084155068416

Richard Aubrey said...

A truckers' strike isn't necessary to empty the shelves. Talk of a strike will do it.

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

Amy Welborn said...

Well, they suspended the account of Ricky Gervais' cat, so we can rest easy now.

https://twitter.com/rickygervais/status/1349066084155068416


Those bastards!!!!!!

The Crack Emcee said...

"Trump’s Twitter feed... was a window into his deranged and disordered mind."

And Democrats got off on rattling it as much as this woman got off on watching Chuck Schumer squirm.

tim in vermont said...

The Yellow Vests in France actually caused so much trouble they won some concessions. Cheap and easy.

The Crack Emcee said...

I'm Not Sure said...

"I'm not saying there aren't any that don't think that way but based on an admittedly small sampling of brown people (American citizens) I'm friends with, they are muy opposed to mass immigration. Anecdote or data? You decide."

I live in a town that's about 50% Mexican and I agree.

StephenFearby said...


U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D.

U.S. Capitol Police just shared this picture with me. This man is wanted for questioning in connection with the murder of fallen Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick.

https://twitter.com/SenBillCassidy/status/1348998640099094528/photo/1

Wearing a dark blue kit cap with these large white letters on the front: CFD

The Chicago fire department either sells or licenses sales of what appears to be exactly this hat for $35.00.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ErjFUYRUcAEQW6A?format=jpg&name=small

"David Quintavalle is a 62-year-old retired Chicago Fire Department (CFD) employee ***allegedly the man*** who was seen throwing a fire extinguisher at a police officer during the Capitol Protests on January 6, 2020."

https://wikitrusted.com/david-quintavalle/

Allegedly. Perhaps more than likely, but I'd definitely wait for the proof.

Browndog said...

Hmm...nobody has mentioned Uganda yet?

Reuters
@Reuters
Facebook takes down Ugandan pro-Museveni accounts ahead of election


@UgandaMediaCent
WATCH: We demand that @Facebook
& @Twitter
write directly to the individuals that lost their accounts. Since @Facebook
cited @MoICT_Ug
in their statement, let them write to us so that there’s a chance for a fair hearing.
Accounts lost on Facebook belong to @GovUganda
employees.


Government of Uganda
@GovUganda
The President warns that if the social media channels like @Facebook
and @Twitter
are not being friendly and equitable to some of the Ugandans, then there is no reason as to why we should have them operate here. @OfwonoOpondo
#M7Address


Don Wanyama
@nyamadon
Big techs like @Twitter
& @Facebook
are being used by opponents of @NRMOnline
to stifle pro-NRM voices in Uganda. They should "unfreeze" accounts they froze yesterday & today. We pray @UCC_Official
is watching & can act to ensure a fair digital playfield.
#StopTechcolonisation


Jack Posobiec
Flag of United States
@JackPosobiec
Wow. Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram were censoring accounts in Uganda during an election, so Uganda banned them from the country.


Twitter then whines they are not able to influence foreign elections:

witter Public Policy
@Policy
Ahead of the Ugandan election, we're hearing reports that Internet service providers are being ordered to block social media and messaging apps.

We strongly condemn internet shutdowns – they are hugely harmful, violate basic human rights and the principles of the #OpenInternet.

DavidUW said...

I want an impeachment trial to take 100% of the full senate’s time for, oh, 22 months or so.

JaimeRoberto said...

A menace to the world who didn't start any new wars and who has some pretty impressive results in the Middle East. I don't get it.

Leland said...

I was about to mention the Uganda stuff. I suspect a few lawsuits will be happy that Twitter provided this testimony.

Leland said...

I see Uganda also blocked Facebook, which is a good idea, since that seems to be a preferred platform for planning violent protests.

Joe Smith said...

I think the liberal media outlets are terrified that with a president Biden in the White House their ratings will crash and they will lose billions of dollars.

So now they will gin up every kind of conspiracy theory about the 'violent' right that they can in order the maintain ratings and viewers.

Readering said...

Ratings of CNN and MSNBC top Fox regularly these days.

Joe Smith said...

"Ratings of CNN and MSNBC top Fox regularly these days."

Tell us something we don't know.

Hating Trump brings more viewers than 24/7 of 'isn't Biden great.'

Francisco D said...

I never had any use for Twitter or Facebook. After spending the last 15 years of my career as a psychologist in treatment and assessment modes, I really don't want to know all the details of others' lives. Some are interesting, most are boring and self serving.

I also have little interest in using those platforms for political activities, like some of the trolls here. I am retired. I do not need another job.

Another reason to avoid social media for me is that I have increasingly less tolerance for stupidity and conflict.

Francisco D said...

Blogger Readering said...Ratings of CNN and MSNBC top Fox regularly these days.

Chris Wallace and Neil Cavuto should be proud.

Doug said...

See the documentary "The Social Dilemma". Tech leaders do NOT let their children have access to social media. Ever.

chuck said...

Ratings of CNN and MSNBC top Fox regularly these days.

Old news. FOX went Democrat and a large part of their audience bailed and headed to Newsmax and OANN. FOX is on their shitlist.

Sally327 said...

Perhaps Dorsey is deliberately trying to drive the share price down so he do some kind of buy back or spin off or something else that will create value and make money? Twitter right now has some financial difficulties and its recent moves, which are causing its appeal to become more selective, seem counter-intuitive for an entity that exists to make money for its shareholders.

He's also the founder and CEO of another publicly traded company, Square Inc. Its stock has been doing really well although it took a hit today apparently.

CEOs are supposed to be all about the dollars, making money, showing a profit. If we want morality, we'll go to church. If I had lots of money, enough money to burn some, I'd think about trying to accumulate enough of a position in Twitter stock so I could make a stink at the next shareholders meeting. Which reminds me, I need to see if my mutual funds have any Twitter holdings.

Narayanan said...

Nicholas Goldberg
Mon, January 11, 2021, 4:29 PM CST

Here are some recent tweets by President-Elect Joe Biden.
“In 2020 we’re going to build a brighter future.
-----------=========
is this bidens covfefe moment ??!! and no retweets?!!

Doug said...

Truckers: it's a supply and demand issue. When the price gets high enough to haul a load into a dem cesspool, an owner-op will take it. Don't expect truckers to deny self-interest in favor of politics. They're humans who want to make a living.

Quayle said...

Twitter and Facebook each just told the world that shutting off its service to popular political leaders to stop harm, is A-O-K.

I wonder if they considered how much that example will be used in other countries to suppress political rivals. Of course Twitter and Facebook will later try to clarify and classify what constitutes harm or not, but when they get to that point they’ve lost the game.

Doug said...

Chris Wallace and Neil Cavuto should be proud. Brian Kilmeade, Steve Doocey, Martha McCallum, Chris Stirewalt, Jonah Goldberg, Steve Heyward ... the list goes on.

chuck said...

they are muy opposed to mass immigration.

I'm so old I remember being taught that the steel and coal industries had recruited immigrants in order to break the unions. I'm sure immigration also served the garment industry well.

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

Quayle said...

I wonder if they considered how much that example will be used in other countries to suppress political rivals. Of course Twitter and Facebook will later try to clarify and classify what constitutes harm or not, but when they get to that point they’ve lost the game.

No, nor did they reckon with the eventual cost in lost customers, lost revenue. That decision was rooted in politics, fear and "somebody do something" thinking.

Browndog said...

Joe Smith said...

I think the liberal media outlets are terrified that with a president Biden in the White House their ratings will crash and they will lose billions of dollars.


Which is why they're never letting go of Trump.

Watch.

Meade said...

DavidUW said...
I want an impeachment trial to take 100% of the full senate’s time for, oh, 22 months or so.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I totally agree.

Then Brer TrumpRabbit stuck his head up from inside the briar patch and shouted, "You must have forgotten, Brer RINODonk, that I was born and bred in the briar patch! Finest place for a TrumpRabbit that there ever could be!"

Michael K said...

Blogger Readering said...
Ratings of CNN and MSNBC top Fox regularly these days.


Fox has pretty much cratered since the Murdoch boys took a left turn. My wife keeps it on for noise but, if I am around it, I turn off the sound. We do have Newsmax on cable. I just don't watch TV.

Just now I read the McConnell has said he is in favor of impeaching Trump. It's the NY Times but, if true, the GOP will crater next. I wonder if he said it. Sounds like suicide to me. Does he wish to shed 90% of 74 million voters?

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

DavidUW said...

I want an impeachment trial to take 100% of the full senate’s time for, oh, 22 months or so.

That may happen. I'm again being subjected to CNN's wonder "coverage" of the situation and they've had talking head after talking head on sermonizing how it will just *ruin* Mitch's career if he doesn't vote to impeach Trump. To me, that says they're worried that he's going to stall or reject it out right.

gilbar said...

https://www.krem.com/article/news/local/idaho-internet-provider-blocks-facebook-and-twitter/293-867cc22b-fb90-4142-a296-8d800d2a03fb

Obviously, they will Go to Jail if they try to follow through on this

Browndog said...

John Hayward
@Doc_0

One of the big reasons Twitter stock is cratering is that no other nation on Earth - from dictatorships to democracies - is going to subject itself to the control of Silicon Valley tech oligarchs. They'll all begin moving away from U.S. social media platforms at varying speeds.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

"Ratings of CNN and MSNBC top Fox regularly these days."

And will plummet over the next few months. Partisans of the Out need the juice or there's no point.

Twitter is done for. If the Right leave Twitter for Parler or it's equivalent, then the Left will not be able to stop itself from following them there.

Howard said...

It takes 67 votes to convict. Very doubtful.

Joe Smith said...

"Which is why they're never letting go of Trump."

I think I covered that in my next sentence...

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

Twitter is done for. If the Right leave Twitter for Parler or it's equivalent, then the Left will not be able to stop itself from following them there.

Big Tech bringing about it's own demise.

MountainMan said...

@Browndog, thanks for sharing that Uganda thread.

Just days before the GA Senate runoff election Facebook suspended the fundraising pages for the Purdue and Loeffler campaigns.

5M - Eckstine said...

Middle East peace. Jobs. non wokeism. Competition with China. Wall. 3 Supreme Court justices. Faith in hard work for the everyday person. Zero tolerance for bullies. Nork de-escalation.

Just the tip of the iceberg of proper positive words.

J. Farmer said...

Old news. FOX went Democrat and a large part of their audience bailed and headed to Newsmax and OANN. FOX is on their shitlist.

Retreating further into the echo chamber as they become increasingly marginalized from society. It’s just another form of identity politics with all the emotionality and tribalism that entails. Trump was an avatar in the culture war. A means for a declining demographic cohort to make its voice heard after finding most traditional routes cut off to them.

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

Browndog said...

John Hayward
@Doc_0

One of the big reasons Twitter stock is cratering...


Facebook is, too.

Narayanan said...

stevew said...
I quite Twitter about four years ago, Facebook three or four months before that. Just didn't want or need the negativity that is so prevalent there in my life.

Trump made Twitter what it is today, in every sense. With him gone and nothing but a crowd of people that agree with each other tweeting, I expect it will revert to whatever it was pre candidate Trump.
----------=============
given Trump predilection for 'sobriety'/no drugs alcohol etc. >>>>
he himself was not addicted.
But it was genius for him to turn Twittering into addiction for his enemies and thus bring them down or show them for what they are.

how shall their withdrawal symptoms manifest?

5M - Eckstine said...

Michael K said...
Just now I read the McConnell has said he is in favor of impeaching Trump.

** Gloves would come off then. Jan 6th will look like a picnic.

MountainMan said...

"One of the big reasons Twitter stock is cratering is that no other nation on Earth - from dictatorships to democracies - is going to subject itself to the control of Silicon Valley tech oligarchs. They'll all begin moving away from U.S. social media platforms at varying speeds."

Encouraging to see foreign nations standing up the Silicon Valley oligarchs when no one here will. I have seen no support from any other world leaders for what was done to Trump and what is being done to conservatives here in the US; several have out with outright condemnations.

My wife and I have been discussingmoving to a foreign country for the next 2-4 years. That's looking more and more every day like that might be a good decision.

5M - Eckstine said...

We need some ballot escrow and a neutral arbitrator on a large scale.

5M - Eckstine said...

MountainMan said...
"One of the big reasons Twitter stock is cratering is that no other nation on Earth - from dictatorships to democracies - is going to subject itself to the control of Silicon Valley tech oligarchs

** If any country wakes up today with Twitter or Facebook active in their country they put themselves at risk. Unless they are friends with China and on a path to integrate with China top to bottom like the US Congress.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

"Just now I read the McConnell has said he is in favor of impeaching Trump."

I read that but don't believe it. Not because McConnell is principled but because he's smart. Someone is being chummed.

Bunkypotatohead said...

This like when ABC fired Roseanne from her own TV show and expected her fans to continue watching the rest of the cast doing woke humor.
That didn't last long.

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

Michael K said...

Just now I read the McConnell has said he is in favor of impeaching Trump.

Did they quote him verbatim? There's no telling what he said or how they're spinning it.

chickelit said...

Howard said...It takes 67 votes to convict. Very doubtful.

It still lookss like Kammy wants to cast two of them and no one is planning to stop her.

5M - Eckstine said...

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...
iowan2 said...
The problem is truckers are capitalist. When the rate doubled, there would be fist fights of getting loads.

True. So are farmers, for that matter. Not much chance they're going to let things rot in the fields and lose money.

*** Farmers with several million dollars of yearly debt load will dump milk, kill pigs, commit suicide in large numbers when banks foreclose. There was an outbreak of this in the late 70's early 80's. Nothing like the Kulak purges in Russia when Pelosi took over there.

5M - Eckstine said...

chickelit said...
Howard said...It takes 67 votes to convict. Very doubtful.

It still looks like Kammy wants to cast two of them and no one is planning to stop her.

** I hear one of the first orders of the new administration is to install Dominion servers to count Congressional votes. Eating your own dog food. Makes Sense.

Lurker21 said...

The Yellow Vests in France actually caused so much trouble they won some concessions. Cheap and easy.

France has a lot of civil disturbances, but if protestors went after the seat of government and actually got inside and did damage, there would be a crackdown. People in the US should have thought that out in advance.

Achilles said...

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

Quayle said...

"I wonder if they considered how much that example will be used in other countries to suppress political rivals. Of course Twitter and Facebook will later try to clarify and classify what constitutes harm or not, but when they get to that point they’ve lost the game."

No, nor did they reckon with the eventual cost in lost customers, lost revenue. That decision was rooted in politics, fear and "somebody do something" thinking.


They don not care about lost revenue.

They have enough money.

Their goal is to kill competition and control over people's lives. They would rather have a 1 Trillion dollar economy they own 95% of than a 10 trillion dollar economy they 50% of.

Achilles said...

Lurker21 said...

The Yellow Vests in France actually caused so much trouble they won some concessions. Cheap and easy.

France has a lot of civil disturbances, but if protestors went after the seat of government and actually got inside and did damage, there would be a crackdown. People in the US should have thought that out in advance.

The media has been lying openly for 5 years and you are taking what they said about January 6th at face value.

What does that make you?

DavidUW said...

Ah yes,

Here's supposedly where the "favoring impeachment" comes from:

McConnell told Biden that the Senate parliamentarian would have to rule whether the Senate could work on legislative business other than impeachment

Of course, we also don't know if that's really true, because, well, media lies.
But that sounds more like the Turtle getting a filibuster when he otherwise wouldn't have one.
I have a feeling the Turtle already knows the answer.

chuck said...

... no other nation on Earth - from dictatorships to democracies - is going to subject itself to the control of Silicon Valley tech oligarchs.

“Oft evil will shall evil mar”

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

It's important to avoid the echo chamber on both sides and support HONEST journalism.

tho most echo chamber is found at CNN-MSNBC and the other alphabets.

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

Achilles said...

They don not care about lost revenue.

They have enough money.


@Jack, The ZuckBot and Bezos might not care, but you can be damn sure their shareholders do.

chuck said...

Retreating further into the echo chamber as they become increasingly marginalized from society.

Shouldn't you be wearing your mask?

DavidUW said...

So
The Parliamentarian comes back and says, no, you have to spend all your time on the trial.

Does the Turtle tell slow joe?
Does the Turtle tell Nancy?
Does the Turtle sit back and watch Slow Joe try to rein in the Squad and Nancy so that he can try to fill his cabinet?
Does the Turtle watch the first split of the non nutty Democrats from the communists and take notes on who he could possibly peel away to block the worst communist acts?

I bet the Turtle would find that most amusing.

Achilles said...

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

Achilles said...

They don not care about lost revenue.

They have enough money.

@Jack, The ZuckBot and Bezos might not care, but you can be damn sure their shareholders do.

Um. Do you know the share structure of Twitter, Amazon, and Facebook?

The very small number of people who own controlling shares, i.e. 3 or possibly 4 depending on how many controlling shares Bezos's ex-wife got, do not care.

Amazon utterly destroyed all of their competition with COVID as well.

Howard said...

Chickelit: Kamala will have it coming and going. What's creepy about her is she's a slightly more evil, slightly more palatable version of Hillary. However, she's another ripe low hanger for the Republicans to pick off.

Francisco D said...

Michael K said... McConnell has said he is in favor of impeaching Trump. It's the NY Times but, if true, the GOP will crater next. I wonder if he said it. Sounds like suicide to me. Does he wish to shed 90% of 74 million voters?

They will never have the vote. McConnell likes playing games as the minority leader which he will be until he retires.

J. Farmer said...

@chuck:

Shouldn't you be wearing your mask?

Feel free to insult me all you want. I hope you get something out of it. But it isn't a response to anything I said. You don't have to take being disagreed with personally.

Lurker21 said...

Trump wasn't really a political animal. He didn't have the focus. That was a weakness of his. It undid him in the end, but it also made him appealing to voters who were tired of the usual political animals. Much of the criticism of Trump - the talk about how he wanted to "build an autocracy" - didn't have much to do with Trump and what he was doing. It was more a reflection of what his critics would do if they had his audience and could imagine themselves as being as free of restraints and inhibitions as they believed Trump was.

“Trump turned out all right at the end; it is what preyed on Trump, what foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams that temporarily closed out my interest in the abortive sorrows and short-winded elations of men.”

You can sort of see Trump as a Gatsby -- somebody trying to live up to popular mid-century images of success in the same way that Gatsby tried to realize the dreams of a half-century before. I don't think Trump had a Daisy Buchanan though.

Lurker21 said...

Trump was a wedge issue. It was Trump hatred that enabled Biden to pick up votes in traditionally Republican areas. It was Trump hatred that got the left to support Biden-Harris, who were the pick of some of the most powerful corporate interests in the country. Talk of racism and climate change also did much to bring together voters who had very different interests and values from each other and from the Democratic ticket. "White racism" was often seen as a wedge issue that drove the White working class from the Democratic Party, but "Black Lives Matter" functioned well as a wedge issue in this election, uniting suburban White moderates who didn't have much of a clue as to what was going on the cities with leftists whose views on economic issues don't fit well together with those of the corporate overlords who gave us Biden and Harris.

Michael K said...

A means for a declining demographic cohort to make its voice heard after finding most traditional routes cut off to them.

All 74 million of them? In a country with 130 million registered voters?

Of course, there is Slow Joe's 80 million but we know about the mail in voters.

effinayright said...

chickelit said...
Howard said...It takes 67 votes to convict. Very doubtful.

It still lookss like Kammy wants to cast two of them and no one is planning to stop her.
****************

Article 1, Section 6, Clause 2 of our formerly ruling document says she can't simultaneously hold both offices.

So she can want in one hand and shit in the other...etc.

In any case she can't vote at all in the Senate unless she breaks a tie. But a tie results in no conviction.

So it's moot to the nth.

MeatPopscicle1234 said...

These people are no longer our countrymen... They are acolytes of the Deep State and enemies of the Republic...

effinayright said...

Lurker21 said...
Trump was a wedge issue
***************

bullshit. He was the CANDIDATE, not an issue.

Sheesh.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Why not ban twitter - the whole thing?

ban it.

Same with facebook. ban it.

Howard said...

thanksforthesplainin'

I'm pretty sure we were not having a serious conversation

Sheesh

Howard said...

tax it

tax it

Iman said...

Wow... important take from the birdcage lining LAT.

Howard said...

fund ubi for the heartland. I'll vote for that

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Meanwhile, disgusting old WHITE whore Nancy Pelosi declares that "whiteness" is violence.

"I thought it was going to be an epiphany for those who were in opposition of our democracy to see the light," Pelosi said. "Instead, it was an epiphany for the world to see that there are people in our country, led by this President, for the moment, who have chosen their whiteness over democracy. That's what this is about."

what level of pandering is that? Orange or red? Purple?

ever see an Antifa riot? - Under the black masks, it's all WHITE boys and girls.

chuck said...

You don't have to take being disagreed with personally.

Got under your skin, did I?

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

Well, at least it's one thing to look forward to:

CNN Airport Network to Shut Down on March 31

Unknown said...

Trump broke the code to Middle East peace.

As it turns out, the US didn't need to arm Al-Qaida affiliates, like John McCain advised, dipping his beak into the military aid.

I broke a tooth in Sedona in '98. Dentist said $800 bucks. I didn't have that kind of money.

I bore the pain. At the worst of it, I thought of John McCain in his captivity. I respected that man. When I woke up in the middle of the night with pain radiating into my brain, I tried to think about what he went through.

I got to vote against John McCain for Senator twice in my sojourn in Arizona. Every 6 years he trotted out his bio. Prisoner of war. People wanted to say thanks. I did too.

Didn't vote for him. Fact is, he was a bad Senator. He was a good prisoner of war. I respect him for that. Bad Senator though. Two different things.




pacwest said...

declining demographic cohort

The nail in the coffin so to speak.

Bilwick said...

"They were careless people, Bill and Hillary --they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their power or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made."

(Thanks for the inspiration, Lurker 21!)

narciso said...


Indeed

https://mobile.twitter.com/RaheemKassam/status/1349168029935022081

Unknown said...

In the 2016 Republican Party, I was all in for Scott Walker. That man tamed the 'Teachers Union'! Then...he gave a national speech.

"...for those who work hard and play by the rules..."

OMG. Was he a quisling? A pod person? No. Turns out he hired 'Republican' consultant, Steve Schmidt. I don't blame Walker. 1st time on the National Stage.

Ted Cruz looked pretty good, but this guy Donald Trump was sucking up a lot of oxygen.

Trump gave a speech where he mentioned 'anchor babies'. A Reporter chastised him for being racist for using that term.. And then something miraculous happened.

Now understand, Trump was running as a Republican. But...he didn't curl up into a fetal position, mewling, 'I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Please don't hurt me', as Republicans always did. The spell was broken.

Unknown said...

In the 2016 Republican Primary, I was all in for Scott Walker. That man tamed the 'Teachers Union'! Then...he gave a national speech.

"...for those who work hard and play by the rules..."

OMG. Was he a quisling? A pod person? No. Turns out he hired 'Republican' consultant, Steve Schmidt. I don't blame Walker. 1st time on the National Stage.

Ted Cruz looked pretty good, but this guy Donald Trump was sucking up a lot of oxygen.

Trump gave a speech where he mentioned 'anchor babies'. A Reporter chastised him for being racist for using that term.. And then something miraculous happened.

Now understand, Trump was running as a Republican. But...he didn't curl up into a fetal position, mewling, 'I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Please don't hurt me', as Republicans always did. The spell was broken.

J. Farmer said...

@chuck:

Got under your skin, did I?

Oh, sure! Someone being mean on the Internet. I've never seen that before. I don't know you; you don't know me. You typing insults at me is about as worrisome as a cloudy day.

I was, however, attempting to give you some friendly advice. Acting petulant in response to a dissenting opinion does not convey much confidence in your own opinion. Quite the opposite in fact.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Amen and Awoman

Qwinn said...

Hey lefties.

You know what hasn't changed?

No justice.

No peace.

J. Farmer said...

@Michael:

All 74 million of them? In a country with 130 million registered voters?

No, I was talking about a "demographic cohort" (white working class), not Trump voters. I'm pretty sure Newsmax and OANN do not have 74 million viewers. I'm not criticizing the white working class by describing the decline in their social, political, and economic power. I have spent the last 20 years saying that the white working class is declining and that the GOP is insufficiently attentive to their condition. One of the reasons the GOP is so discombobulated is because the neoliberal policies they've supported for the last 40 years are a big cause of the problem. That is why so much of the critique came from outside the traditional party structure, from the so called "dissident right" or "alt right."

Trump distinguished himself in the GOP primary by going to the right on immigration and the left on trade and wars. That is exactly the kind of triangulation the new GOP needs, but it's hard to achieve when the base is so wedded to a partisan narrative that considers "the left" tantamount to evil.


p.s. Your 130 million figure is inaccurate.

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