Brutkey

Matthew Sheffield
@mattsheffield@mastodon.social

8/ Never in history has a president demanded that comedians be fired for joking about him.

From an institutional standpoint, this may seem less significant, but from a cultural standpoint, the pressure on comedians from Trump right now has not been seen since the beginning of standup comedy.

Now he's threatening Kimmel again and Jimmy Fallon https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-jimmy-kimmel-fallon-stern-b2803584.html

Matthew Sheffield
@mattsheffield@mastodon.social

9/ In his second term, Trump has been far more censorial than any modern American president.

He signed executive orders banning "improper ideology" from museums. He's removed thousands of web pages honoring historical figures--simply because they were not European Americans.

Republicans love censorship. It's their primary intellectual vehicle. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-administration/trump-targets-improper-ideology-smithsonian-museums-executive-order-rcna198503

Matthew Sheffield
@mattsheffield@mastodon.social

10/ Reactionary beliefs lost in the "marketplace of ideas" decades ago. Science proved the Bible's creation, Babel, & flood stories were fables.

Tax cuts don't pay for themselves. The fiscal multiplier is real. Vaccines work.

Trump wasn't lying when he said "I love the poorly educated."

To think that he's competent, honest, intelligent, or fair is an obvious delusion. He needs ignorance. https://plus.flux.community/p/the-science-behind-why-donald-trump

Matthew Sheffield
@mattsheffield@mastodon.social

11/ The only way Republicans win elections is ignorance. They can't govern. They have no reform ideas.

They just slash and burn because they hate the idea of community and shared responsibility. We saw that with their anti-mask and vaccine obsessions during Covid.

Reactionary Republicans have no affirmative ideas. They cannot build great things, only tear down what they cannot understand.

This is why they must lie and censor others. They'd never have a chance otherwise.

/end