'Shock the Monkey'
The fact that so many working class Americans fell for a conman who dons a tux for New Year’s Eve and hangs out at his private club with the world’s richest man will never make sense to me.
That Trump is more popular now than he has even been should give us all pause and make us reconsider how we share information online. Especially in light of Zuckerberg’s acquiescence to Trump and the dismantling of third-party fact checking on Meta.
Basically most of social media is X now. The ‘resistance’, as it stands, is not working because much of it turned into an online grift early in Biden’s term and it has remained that way ever since. It’s the same cast of characters retweeting Trump’s pics and latest outrages 24/7 to generate online impressions and giving their followers the illusion of activism.
It simply doesn’t work; much of the ‘progressive influencer’ strategy has been a failure in messaging and a triumph for narcissistic trolls who possess no particular insight other than being obnoxious and constant in their need for attention.
Sound familiar? Of course it does, it pays well so everyone wants in on the act.
Folks weren’t being honest about how the internet worked.
There was a giant bubble but everyone still became obsessed with reach and follower counts. Ignoring the fact that many large accounts were loaded with bots, mainstream media and everyone else played along in the hopes of getting the almighty impressions.
This strategy was especially damaging within the Democratic Party where folks became enthralled with brand-building influencers for the wrong reasons - and we paid a heavy price for it at the polls.
They also missed out on much more organic expertise and grass roots organizations which were mostly left in the shadows this past election; erroneously viewed as an analogue relic from a bygone era.
It didn’t matter how much resisters appeared to trend or progressive talking points turned into incessant hashtags when the dude who owned twitter was in Trump’s corner and spending a quarter of a billion dollars to become co-president.
Democrats more or less put all of our social media eggs in one basket and it had a hole in the bottom.
Meanwhile Trump & Musk and the other tech titans only become richer and more powerful in their influence and ownership of our information space.
That is because far too many on the left are doing their bidding, unwittingly or not; chasing algorithms and clicks for cash will not be good for what is left of our democracy.
If it worked V.P. Harris would be preparing for an inauguration and Trump would be heading back to court to stand trial for his actions four years ago on January 6th, 2021.
Instead he was able to win all of the swings states and rewrite the narrative around his failed coup d’etat.
Which was in reality more like a bomb with a delayed fuse, its payload the explosion of Trump escaping all accountability from the D.O.J. and sending in his henchmen and women to disembowel our institutions and our democracy.
The man who delivered that rambling and infuriating press conference today has raked in over 200 million dollars since November for his inaugural fund.
Billionaires like Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg hoping it works out for the best and curating their newspapers and platforms to shine favorable coverage on Trump, while cutting fat checks and pledging fealty to MAGA, will NOT lead to more freedom and prosperity for the common man.
If they continue to get their way, the hoi polloi will have to make do with the scraps that fall from the table. While Elon and the chosen ones compare rocket ships and foment fascism across western democracies and beyond.
With the emotional maturity of stunted adolescents, these addled morons gather around Trump’s Mar-a-Lago dining table to carve up our future over Costco shrimp and cold meatloaf.
Many millions will suffer if they continue on their current trajectory - that means we must be laser focused and effective in our counterbalancing of their message.
It is not enough to simply repost MAGA clips with a few ‘f’ bombs thrown in for snark. Offer insight and compassion where you can, elevate those who see the big picture and do the hard work of trying to explain the consequences of where we are heading as a nation.
It will be our ability to tell the story in real time that will effect whether or not it has a happy ending.
At best it’s already exceptionally bittersweet; now we must decide if we’re gonna except the fate these men have planned for us. The billionaires behind Trump want full control of our democracy and they know he is the easiest way to achieve that end.
The kind of people who voted for Donald Trump have no idea how dangerous his rhetoric truly is - they think it’s cute.
His macho and idiotic flexing regarding expansion into Panama, Greenland and basically suggesting a trade war with Canada is pure insanity and the worst of American ugliness on the world stage.
If you’re not deeply embarrassed and ashamed by Donald Trump’s press conference today you’re not paying attention.
Anyone who is going along with it, who voted for this lecherous criminal, can certainly count themselves among the most misguided and misinformed citizens in our nation's history.
The folks who fell for the MAGA con will be a stain on this land and a hindrance to its survival. Their children may rue the day their parents were led astray by a conman. Most of them come from a class of people that will be seen as cannon fodder by the very same forces they helped to unleash.
Putin’s plans were always to bring the U.S. to its knees and he has no better helper in that plan than Donald Trump.
I can’t help but think back to Trump’s Helsinki presser in 2018 and the fact that he both took the translator’s notes and Vladimir’s word over our own intelligence agencies regarding election interference.
A dangerous clown and a corrupt fool doing more damage to the United States than the KGB ever dreamed of - and it is all happening right before our eyes with seemingly very little pushback.
We can and will stand up to the destructive forces that are at play but we must be clear-eyed in separating the helpers from the opportunists.
Noel, you are terribly right. We are headed down a dark path to oligarchy. Putin now has an office in the West Wing. I fear it will be too late when the idiots that supported him wake up to realize there is no one but himself and his billionaire buddies that he intends to help; and help themselves they will. I hope the Statue of Liberty is nailed down. He'd probably like to have it at Mar-A-Largo.
Living in Australia, it's been horrifying to watch the dramatic descent of the US , most especially since 2016. Blame has been laid at the feet of Reagan and his destruction of the education system there, which seems to have been the start of the rot. What else can explain the millions who voted against their own interests? The ability to think critically and analytically has obviously been lost by the majority of the electorate who bother to vote.
When we heard of the shocking election result, my son said he was glad he didn't live in America. Unfortunately, what the US has done in electing Trump and his coterie, will be inflicted on the rest of the world! And all because of GREED and the love of money, which is the root of all evil.