Michael Tomasky in The New Republic asks:
Why Does No One Understand the Real Reason Trump Won?
He goes on to assert that:
"The answer is the right-wing media. Today, the right-wing media—Fox News (and the entire News Corp.), Newsmax, One America News Network, the Sinclair network of radio and TV stations and newspapers, iHeart Media (formerly Clear Channel), the Bott Radio Network (Christian radio), Elon Musk’s X, the huge podcasts like Joe Rogan’s, and much more—sets the news agenda in this country. And they fed their audiences a diet of slanted and distorted information that made it possible for Trump to win."
and, "...I’ve written this before, but I’m going to keep writing it until people—specifically, rich liberals, who are the only people in the world who have the power to do something about this state of affairs—take some action."
That observation about the tidal wave of right-wing media is not inaccurate. I would suggest however, that it leaves something to be desired as the basis for an action plan in the moment. It seems to me that focus on media is something of a distraction right now, and that it is a prescription mostly for tinkering with the status quo. It also overlooks the fact that fascist regimes of the past achieved power without the benefit of social media.
What is most needed right now is a strategy for survival, including identification of the most obvious threats and feasible plans for harm mitigation. Rather than trying to build a bigger and better social media response, financial support would be better devoted right now to supporting immigrant defense organizations.
There is no question that Trump and his allies will be working to put the right-leaning billionaires like Musk in charge of the country. However, that is a long, slow process. In the near term, the executive powers available to the Presidency will enable an immediate massive assault against millions of immigrant families.
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See also: Rebecca Solnit on Hope in the Dark ( A podcast at The Nation)
1 comment:
The stupid true followers will soon start to feel economically what happens to the cost of commodities and foodstuffs when immigrants have been expelled. They will get the government they deserve.
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