Cliff Burton's Notes

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M.Ed., Board Certified Behavior Analyst, Dad. Follow Eli Rector on Spotify. @supervidoqo
Musichttps://elirector.bandcamp.com/
Old Bloghttp://supervidoqo.blogspot.com
Cliff Burton's NotesJan 27, 2023
Seth CotlarJan 27, 2023
In 1961 a group of middle class white "patriots" gathered for target practice in someone's suburban basement to prepare for the day when they'd have to fight off the liberals, Marxists, and bureaucrats who sought to impose an "anti-fascist People's Democracy" on America.
Cliff Burton's NotesJan 2, 2023
Show threadSeth CotlarJan 2, 2023
In the 70s & 80s, the conspiracy-addled conservative I'm researching, Walter Huss, looked around and saw a bunch of things he didn't like--gay rights activists, sex ed in schools, anti-racist children's television, calls for police reform, Roe v. Wade, renaming streets after MLK, pornography, etc.--and to his mind all of it could be explained as manifestations of "the communist conspiracy" and "the Jewish controlled media." So called "wokeness" plays a similar role for today's reactionaries.
Cliff Burton's NotesJan 2, 2023
Kevin M. KruseJan 2, 2023

Had a great time chatting with @andylevy about my Southern Strategy chapter in the new Myth America collection:

https://www.thedailybeast.com/proof-that-republicans-know-exactly-how-racist-they-are

Proof That Republicans Know Exactly How Racist They Are

Historian Kevin M. Kruse joins this episode of The New Abnormal politics podcast to set the record straight on one of the biggest conservative myths.

The Daily Beast
Cliff Burton's NotesDec 28, 2022
Radley BalkoDec 28, 2022

One of my goals for The Watch is to shed some light on under-seen parts of the CJ system by interviewing the folks who work in it.

Today's post is part 1 of a 2-part interview with Andrew Sowards, a retired defense investigator. Sowards also worked on the Barry Jones case.

https://radleybalko.substack.com/p/nobody-gives-a-shit

"Nobody gives a shit"

Part one of a freewheeling interview with Andrew Sowards, a recently retired, longtime defense investigator who worked on death penalty cases

The Watch
Cliff Burton's NotesDec 23, 2022
Erick FernandezDec 23, 2022
For a year and a half I have been advocating for the passage of federal legislation that would regulate the prison telecom industry and the prices these corporations can charge families with incarcerated loved ones. It was an uphill climb and especially as we got closer to the end of the 117th Congress, but it passed the Senate on 12/21 and passed the House on 12/22.
May this bill be a step towards greater phone justice for families that have incarcerated loved ones.
Cliff Burton's NotesDec 22, 2022
Victor PickardNov 18, 2022

One small silver lining to the Twitter debacle is that it's forcing people to think about the political economy of platforms. Calls for structural alternatives based on cooperative governance and public ownership are increasingly common.

Hopefully Twitter's collapse will lead to a more expansive conversation about the relationships between capitalist imperatives and the communication/information needs of democratic societies. Are they compatible? What are the alternatives?

Cliff Burton's NotesDec 22, 2022
Show threadSeth CotlarDec 22, 2022
I expected Fetterman to win because he activated precisely that sort of populist tradition that spoke to progressives but also some self-described "conservatives" in PA. Since when do independent-minded Americans vote for snake oil salesmen like Oz or narcissistic and corrupt billionaires like Trump, or smooth talking former Goldman Sachs bankers like Steve Bannon who get into politics in order to do favors for their billionaire pals?
Show threadCliff Burton's NotesDec 22, 2022
Whether by fear, or laziness, or some other deep psychological neurosis, they cannot truly interrogate the assumptions and scaffolding of their own thoughts. This rickety, weakly supported belief system is vulnerable to collapse. So it must generally be defended against by brute force. This explains some of the reactionary's favorite mechanisms: denial, conspiracy, projection, personal attack, out-group demagoguery - all to protect their thin-skinned, lily-livered ignorance and cowardice.
Show threadCliff Burton's NotesDec 22, 2022
But to the reactionary, new ideas must always be subservient to their own accepted, adopted (generally by tradition) dogmas. In fact, they rarely even move past the 3rd level with their own ideas, for to properly analyze, evaluate and expand upon, they must think critically about them. This the reactionary cannot do. It is verboten.
Show threadCliff Burton's NotesDec 22, 2022
They have their ideas that they remember and understand, and can apply. However, moving into the 4th level and beyond, they must begin to repeat these early levels with *other*, new ideas. And to really get into the 5th level, to really evaluate these ideas, they must earnestly be open to them on their own terms.