Dan Gillmor

There is no vile promise Trump can make that will cause Big Journalism to take seriously the dire threat he poses to democracy and fundamental liberties.

Take his weekend Purge talk. He can't wait to unleash the worst police -- the racists and bullies who otherwise decent cops and public officials allow to operate with impunity. And standing beside those rogue cops will be his brownshirt brigades who can't wait to kill some of their neighbors.

This is real. But journalism just shrugs.

Sep 30, 2024 at 4:47pmWeb
Show threadGeoff BernerSep 30, 2024
@dangillmor I don't understand your strange concept of the "otherwise decent" people who let cops hurt people with impunity? How does that make moral sense to you? How are they "otherwise decent" if you're saying they're complicit in police state crimes?
Show threadDan GillmorSep 30, 2024
@Geoffberner Fair point, but they feel trapped in a system that punishes integrity.
Show threadGeoff BernerSep 30, 2024
@dangillmor I don't care how they feel. I care about what they do. I don't understand why it matters what they feel? I care about their victims' feelings.
Show threadGeoff BernerSep 30, 2024
@dangillmor MLK seems to have understood those very "otherwise decent" people to be the main problem he was dealing with, the real reason police harms happen. And Arendt. She saw that too. I don't think they'd buy the "otherwise decent" concept.
Show threadTimo GrünSep 30, 2024
@dangillmor
Can’t someone get a couple of these wonks in front of a camera and ask them point blank, “What the fuck are you thinking? *Are* you thinking?”
Show threadSharon McCarthySep 30, 2024
@dangillmor And how many of us are "some of their neighbors"? My anxiety ridden daughter worries about my safety because I have a (now defunct!) Biden sticker on my car.
Show threadElsie!Sep 30, 2024
@dangillmor The implications of such rhetoric can be terrifying, especially with the potential for violence. It feels like there needs to be more accountability in how these issues are reported. Clearly.
Show threadArandmoorSep 30, 2024

@dangillmor "the racists and bullies who otherwise decent cops and public officials allow to operate with impunity"

If you allow racists and bullies to operate with impunity, you are not a decent cop. You're just a *vicarious*, racist bully.

Show threadZhi Zhu 🕸️Sep 30, 2024

@dangillmor

"You know who is not afraid to go out and about in Springfield? #ProudBoys. #NeoNazis. People handing out #KuKluxKlan fliers. Some of these people paraded #swastika flags & rifles during our #jazz festival...

#Trump & #Vance hope to make every town #Springfield...

As someone who has lived through this transformation, trust me: You don’t want to live in Trump’s America."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/09/29/springfield-immigration-haiti-germany/

#GOP #Hate #Bigotry #Violence #Politics #USPol #USA #News #US #USNews #UnitedStates

I’m from Springfield. What Trump did to us should be a warning.

An Ohio city that once welcomed immigrants has been changed by the campaign — and not for the better.

The Washington Post
Show threadZhi Zhu 🕸️Sep 30, 2024

@dangillmor

"Historians understand the terror of #Kristallnacht ... a modern #pogrom against #Jews in #Germany. On that “one violent night,” SS paramilitary forces attacked #Jewish shops, businesses & synagogues while #Nazi government authorities looked on & did nothing.

It is the responsibility of #news organizations to inform the #public & for their analysts to draw relevant, #historical parallels. They are failing in that responsibility"
https://statuskuo.substack.com/p/legacy-media-is-failing-us-hard

#Trump #Press #Media #US

Legacy Media Is Failing Us Hard

Trump delivered some of his most terrifying remarks to date, but the press shrugged. And now it’s refusing to fact check Tuesday’s debate.

The Status Kuo
Show threadMasterMischiefSep 30, 2024
@dangillmor Rittenhouse already killed a couple of his neighbors.
Show threadCassandraVertOct 1, 2024
@dangillmor
From his POV, he has to say increasingly extreme things to get quoted in the media.
This is not the kind of immunity he wants!
Call him crazy, but don't call him boring.
Show threadJoy Aliza DenebeimOct 1, 2024

@dangillmor the red hats and the brown shirts. Probably destined for the same fate if he wins. I mean they're shooting at him, no way he'll let them live if he's put in power.

And yeah ordering millions of people shot is a presidential act.