LaffyAug 27, 2023

"America is on the brink, so of course the #media doesn't get it. Last week, the disconnect between rising GOP #fascism - on a debate stage, in #Trump's arrest posturing - and journalists covering 'a normal election' was really jarring

Now what?

The media is really not getting it about 2024, GOP authoritarianism and the election"

If @willbunch wrote it, you should read it.©.. & I thread it. 1/...🧵

https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/commentary/media-2020-election-trump-authoritarianism-20230827.html#loaded

Journalism fails miserably at explaining what is really happening to America

Momentous week of GOP debate, Trump's arrest gets "horse race" coverage when the story's not about an election, but authoritarianism.

https://www.inquirer.com
Show threadLaffyAug 27, 2023
2/ "If you watched the hours of TV news coverage during an especially momentous week in August, there was little sense of that reality, and for long stretches of pundit blather, none at all — as talking heads gave earnest high school debating marks to candidates who are all but ignored by the GOP voter base. The disconnect deepened the next night as Trump turned what would surely be his comeuppance —his surrender...― into an outlaw display of authoritarian force."
Show threadLaffyAug 27, 2023
3/ "..There was little discussion of why this accused felon was getting a phalanx of dozens of motorcycle cops, comprising police who are drawn to Trump’s authoritarian bluster like moths to light. Trump’s glowering mugshot instantly became the most-talked-about picture in American history—yet not one pundit was able to explain why tens of millions of everyday voters are so eager to return to the White House this man who attempted a coup on Jan6, or why his poll numbers rise w each indictment"
Show threadLaffyAug 27, 2023

4/ "America is entering its most important, pivotal year since 1860 & media doing terrible job explaining what is actually happening. Too many still covering elections like it was 20th cent., as if old touchstones like debates or 30-sec spot still matter.

What we are building toward on 11/5/2024, might have outward trappings of election but it is really show of force. What we call GOP is barely a political party...but a dangerous antisocial movement that has embraced many tenets of fascism"

Show threadLaffyAug 27, 2023
5/ "There is no “Trump scandal” because — for them — each new crime or sexual assault is merely another indictment of the messenger, the arrogrant elites from whom their contempt is the No. 1 issue. These foot soldiers stopped believing in “democracy” a long time ago — no matter how big an Orwellian sign Fox erects."
Show threadLaffyAug 27, 2023
6/ "DC pundits like Parker, Baker are trained to talk to folks on stage & their high-priced consultants, not mob that moves modern Repub'ism away from believing in elections. I’ve been inside/outside of Trump rallies in Hershey, West Chester, Wildwood & what I learned is only issue that matters isn’t an issue at all, but contempt for media outlets like CNN they believe look down on them & their savior. Of cs, salary of Baker or Parker or CNN punditocracy depends on not understanding that"
Show threadLaffyAug 27, 2023
7/ "News media better get comfortable talking about what is really happening in places like Anthony’s Farmville, Va.,ought to be explaining both the legit anger over “working overtime hours for {BS] pay,” manip of that anger by demagogues like Trump, + uncomfortable ques about how much of the rage is over threats to outdated, detestable hierarchies of white supremacy & the patriarchy."
Show threadLaffyAug 27, 2023
8/" Ramaswamy went on CNN w a dark, rt-wing appeal that is the change that far too many people are seeking, in stunning riff that blamed racist mass shooting in Jacksonville by a white gunman who targeted Black people not on racism but on antiracism & media. Ramaswamy insisted that media, universities, certain politicians have rekindled racism & “I can think of no better way to fuel racism in this country than by taking something away from people based on their skin color.” Meaning white people"
Show threadLaffyAug 27, 2023
9/ "These are the stakes: dueling visions for America — not Democratic or Republican, with parades and red, white, and blue balloons, but brutal fascism or flawed democracy. The news media needs to stop with the horse-race coverage of this modern-day March on Rome, stop digging incessantly for proof that both sides are guilty of the same sins, and stop thinking that a war for the imperiled survival of the American Experiment is some kind of inexplicable “tribalism.”
Show threadLaffyAug 27, 2023
10/ "We need to hear from more experts on authoritarian movements, and fewer pollsters and political strategists. We need journalists who’ll talk a lot less about who’s up or down and a lot more about the stakes — including Trump’s plans to dismantle the democratic norms that he calls “the administrative state,” to weaponize the criminal justice system, and to surrender the war against climate change — if the 45th president becomes the 47th."
Show threadLaffyAug 27, 2023

11/11 🎯 "We need the media to see 2024 not as a traditional election but as an effort to mobilize a mass movement that would undo democracy and splatter America with more blood like what was shed Saturday in Jacksonville. We need to understand that if the next 15 months remain the worst covered election in U.S. history, that it might also be the last."👈

PLEASE read the entire column. I left out a lot.

Show threadCynBlogger ❌👑

@GottaLaff

VOTER TURNOUT in a presidential election has not reached 70% since 1900. This is one factor we can control and certainly one we can improve upon, even when voting laws and dirty politics muddle progress.

Person-to-person engagement is key. Volunteer efforts are critical. Funding campaigns is vital.

YOU can make a real difference, even if your bank account and volunteer time are limited. EVERY SINGLE EFFORT IS VALUABLE.

🔷 It’s not too early to #DonateToDems
🔷 It’s not too early to join activist organizations.
🔷It’s not too early to get involved locally to register voters, encourage others to check their registrations, to help young people register.

You know what the stakes are if MAGA-GOP candidates prevail.
You’ve experienced the disaster of a Trump administration.

DONATE TO DEMS. JOIN ACTIVISTS. WORK TO GET OUT THE VOTE.
#TootTheTruth about Biden/Harris Administration’s successes.

#BidenHarris2024
#GOTV

Aug 27, 2023 at 9:23pmWeb
Show threadPrickly Pam (D-PA)Aug 28, 2023

@cynblogger @GottaLaff

Call your county Democratic Party office and offer to do one or more of these things:

- Make phone calls
- Canvass
- Write postcards
- Staff their office
- Assemble yard signs
- Deliver yard signs
- Put signs in your own yard
- Give them money

You'll do good and build your own community.