The Stuttering Lede, Sept. 4, 2024
62 days until we know if we can stop fascism
“These calls for the destruction of democracy. These Nazi apologists. This flirtation with outright fascism. They didn't come out of nowhere. The Right is pushing hard hard hard to normalize these things. They're not just playing around. It isn't innocuous.” Jared Yates Sexton
Fascism
Tucker Carlson is making headlines because he openly acknowledged his true colors by touting an actual fascist who just might be a nazi too. Darryl Cooper is a literal fascist who advocates eliminating democracy and embracing literal fascism. James Surowiecki writes, “Darryl Cooper has said "non-racist fascist" is a "decent description" of his politics, and tweeted that Nazi rule over France would be preferable to having people in drag in the Olympics' opening ceremony. So it's predictable he'd argue Hitler was forced to kill millions of people.”
Elon, of course, happily promotes the whitewashing of Hitler and Nazis. The Community Note does not mention the grotesqueness of the suggestion that there was a "Jewish problem" that needed a "solution" is kind of missing the point.
Just as unsurprising,
the GOPerr Moscow’s NSDAP candidate for Vice President, is also a follower.
But wait, there’s more…
Mark Cuban’s response to Elon was great, alas the neo-nazi only deleted his tweet.
Elon may have deleted it but screenshots are forever.
Mehdi Hassan reminds that some people tried to warn about Tucker in the past.
Mental Health
New study led by Dr. Myles Moody (with UAB co-authors Drs. Clay and Durant) finds "vicarious exposures to major discrimination through spouses’ experiences were linked with increased levels of symptoms of both depression and anxiety" among Black adults.
Russia
Kind of astonishing that all the jokes about the “Russia, Russia, Russia hoax” especially about conservative media being nothing more than a loudspeaker for Russian fascist propaganda. DOJ indicted two RT employees for covertly funding and directing U.S. company that published thousands of videos in furtherance of Russian interests. I still remember how often I was called silly for exaggerating the threat, yet here we are.
The Economist: American restrictions on hitting Russia are hurting Ukraine: “The claim that there are not enough worthwhile targets [for US-provided ATACMS] is equally questionable. The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington think-tank, argues that 'Ukrainian long-range strikes against Russian military targets within Russia’s rear are crucial for degrading Russian military capabilities throughout the theatre, and the lifting of restrictions on Ukraine’s use of Western-provided weapons would allow Ukrainian forces to strike a wide range of significant targets undergirding Russia’s war effort.'" "The institute assesses that some 250 military 'objects' are within range of ATACMS, of which only 17 are airfields from which aircraft may have departed. Many of these are large military bases, communications stations, logistics centres, fuel depots and ammunition warehouses that would be hard to move without serious consequences for Russia’s war effort."
Finland looks to stop Russians buying property within its borders.
Now, they are arresting scientists. This is so familiar!!
2024 Elections
Former Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney endorses Kamala Harris.
Meanwhile forger Secretary Condoleezza Rice seems to be chill with fascism and warns about isolationism.
Jimmy McCain, the late John McCain’s youngest son, is speaking out against Trump’s appearance at Arlington National Cemetery, calling Trump’s attempt to turn the sacred grounds into a campaign ad and fighting with staff a “violation.”
From Bill Kristol, Reading Trump’s Mind: Go Low. Win. “Trump: “I miss Roy Cohn… Well, Roy, your spirit will be alive the rest of this campaign. And if you’re looking down from somewhere—I know you’re not—but I’m telling you, I’m gonna make you proud next Tuesday night. I’m going low. And I’m gonna win.”
Meanwhile Iran is accelerating their efforts to undermine US Elections via cyberthreats.
After nearly four years of falsely claiming that he won the 2020 election, Trump admits he actually lost "by a whisker." I did not have this on my bingo card.
Josh Marshall writes how the so-called ‘liberal’ media works against us: “Republicans in the national political conversation have trained the press to think, 'We play hard. We break the rules sometimes.' That’s just how they operate, so that’s normal."
Michael Imperioli, a former Sopranos star. says he saw Kamala Harris perform at NYC’s Danceteria in 1984: “they closed with a 20 minute cover of VENUS IN FURS…”
Goldman Sachs predicts stronger GDP and job growth if Democrats sweep White House and Congress.
The Army statement added that it considered the incident closed as the employee was not pressing charges. NPR has identified the Trump campaign officials allegedly involved in the incident and has reached out to them for comment. Why do we still not know the names of these “heroes?”
Disenfranchising Pennsylvania voters over "inconsequential" date errors on mail ballot return envelopes violates voting rights, a state court ruled Friday. The GOP says it will appeal. If they can’t suppress votes, they can’t win.
Voter suppression is now a primary political tool for Republicans.
Climate
Tech
Shocker. OpenAI pleads that it can’t operate without using copyrighted materials for free. It’s the same playbook over and over again - the Uber, DoorDash, AirBnB business model: break the law hard enough that you force it to change. Perhaps it’s time to say, don’t let the door hit you on your way out Sam!
From what I’ve read, Nanowrimo has been pretty bad for quite a while now. However, this is clearly the final nail in the coffin: AI steals from artists and authors, see above.
For his part in the Russian propaganda warfare, Elon Musk happily promoted nonsense peddled by Tenet Media:
Internet Archive Responds to Appellate Opinion in Hachette v. Internet Archive "We are disappointed in today’s opinion about the Internet Archive’s digital lending of books that are available electronically elsewhere. We are reviewing the court’s opinion and will continue to defend the rights of libraries to own, lend, and preserve books."
Senior enlisted personnel on USS Manchester secretly installed Starlink dish and private WiFi network (named "STINKY") on board to check sports scores, text home and stream movies. Great, all we need is for Elon to have ability to track our warships!
Even CNN (!!!) warns that Elon Musk’s posts, and the lack of scrutiny they receive from his company’s own fact-checking system, “lay bare how Musk has turned X into a pro-Trump machine.” That was before Tucker/Cooper fiasco.
The President of Brazil has issued a statement about Twitter: “The world isn’t obliged to put up with Elon Musk’s far-right free-for-all just because he is rich.”
Elon Musk suggests support for replacing democracy with government of ‘high-status males.’
All in all… here’s one of the reasons why Elon purchased Twitter:
Lobbymatic, the AI lobbying firm secretly run by convicted fraudster Jacob Wohl, showed demo screenshots that it had massive clients, including Microsoft, Palantir, Lockheed Martin, etc. Six of those companies they've never been clients. Well, that Jacob Wohl for ya.
Politics
Jack Smith filed an ex parte under seal notice regarding classified discovery for the new DC indictment.
Stochastic terrorism here in Philly A 41-year-old man stabbed a park ranger in the heart of the city, screaming "Go back to your country, you immigrant! If you flipped this, and an immigrant attacked someone, New York Times would make it front page news. This sure as hell belongs on the front page, because hateful rhetoric against immigrants leads to violence like this.
US officials say in internal memos that Israel may be violating international laws. You don’t say?!
Maduro decrees Christmas will start in October as Venezuela cracks down on dissent.
Not that Georgia is getting a lot of positive news, but what the actual fuck?? “This story is absolutely unreal. First Annalinda's kids were taken away when her family became homeless. Then Georgia started BILLING her for the cost of foster care. Unable to pay, she lost her driver's license. Now she's being threatened with jail time.”
Dov Waxman writes: “The choice facing Israel is not simply between saving the hostages and keeping the IDF deployed on the Philadelphi Corridor. The stakes for Israel are much higher than that.”
Sudan is experiencing a starvation crisis of historic proportions.
Houston homicides are on track to reach a five-year low while fatal crashes could reach a five-year high by year’s end. Yet we see, read, and hear a never-ending deluge of lies about crime riddled cities.
France’s former PM Philippe: ‘I will be a candidate in the next presidential election.’
China detains artist for scathing Mao works created more than a decade ago.
TBI agents raid Millersville Police Department as criminal probe of troubled agency intensifies.
Misc.
U.S. reports more than 1,000 new COVID deaths for the 3rd week in a row. Oh right, we cancelled COVID.
For Black archaeologists, the Atlantic Ocean is an ancestral graveyard.
Family of deceased Alabama man claims surgeon removed liver, not spleen, before his death. How does this even happen????
Truly, we live in the stupidest possible timeline.
An amazing thread of alternative history by ChrisO_wiki on what would’ve happened if Trump’s grandfather was not kicked out from his homeland.
“Our great democracies still tend to think that a stupid man is more likely to be honest than a clever man, and our politicians take advantage of this prejudice by pretending to be even more stupid than nature made them.”
Bertrand Russell
