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capitolhunters @capitolhunters.bsky.social · 49m

This is a good piece but it should have included Russell Vought's signing the Principles document of Peter Thiel's National Conservatism in 2022. That was an attempt to merge the techbro neo-fascists and the reactionary religious right. Many signers have Jan 6 connections - a sedition inner circle.

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capitolhunters @capitolhunters.bsky.social · 15h

Newsweek is the old magazine in name only. It was bought by Korean cult leader David Jang's media group IBT in 2013.
newrepublic.com/article/1589...

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capitolhunters @capitolhunters.bsky.social · 21h

Yes - but you can't rate every article. You could make a score that helps consumers by pulling a random sample of articles for each reporter, evaluating them one by one, and reporting the % that pass.

Definitely shouldn't issue a vibes-based judgment, like college rankings. It has to be a process.

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capitolhunters @capitolhunters.bsky.social · 21h

Would love if Jay took this on. Would help so much to have an trusted, independent non-profit offering certification. Customers can listen to those judgements, or not, but many would. And then there'd be an economic reason for reporters and content creators to try to keep their "Truth Star" badges.

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capitolhunters @capitolhunters.bsky.social · 21h

Training is great but it's key to provide a financial incentive for creators. If someone makes more money by engagement farming with fake content, it's hard for them to stick to fact-checked news.

One solution is certification - give them a stamp for adhering to practices. "Energy Star" for news.

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capitolhunters @capitolhunters.bsky.social · 1d

Most of the pressure to change universities - from right and left, above (politicians, donors) and below (students) - runs into that fallacy: why buy a product you don't like, then complain?

Some of it is status: people want the high-status 'elites' to behave by their norms. But not all of it.

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capitolhunters @capitolhunters.bsky.social · 1d

Poso's whole military record (with a few redactions) is here, courtesy of @ericlevai.bsky.social. The pages are not in chronological order, be warned.

The Slate article gets one thing wrong - Poso didn't separate from the Navy til late 2018.

Navy Intelligence Officer Jack Posobiec

Eric Levai made this request to U.S. Navy of the United States of America.

www.muckrock.com

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capitolhunters @capitolhunters.bsky.social · 1d

FYI, that's the period when Poso was separating from his first wife; the new Slate article says he listed a MD apartment in his 2017 divorce papers. Poso first appears with Tatsiana Gorbach in Dec. 2016, is engaged by June 2017, marries her in Belarus in July. Fast work.
slate.com/news-and-pol...

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capitolhunters @capitolhunters.bsky.social · 1d

This PAC is the same crew involved in the MAGA3x campaign, which Giesea put together, recruiting Cernovich and Posobiec to run it. MAGA3x started Fall 2016 after the RNC; in Aug 2017 the trio create the Rev 18 PAC. Mediaite did an article about it, calling Giesea, Cernovich, and Posobiec "trolls".

Super PAC Created by MAGA Trolls to Oust Moderate Republicans Shuts Down After Two Months

"We are closing the PAC and refunding contributions."

www.mediaite.com

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capitolhunters @capitolhunters.bsky.social · 1d

Those are big agencies - if Vought is laying off "people the Democrats want" it sounds like he's going after selected functions. What are they? Commerce includes NOAA and the National Weather Service. DHS includes FEMA, which the Trump admin has said they would end.

Trump wants to end FEMA, says governors can handle disasters

In remarks to reporters, the president said the administration plans to “wean” states off FEMA assistance after hurricane season ends.

www.washingtonpost.com

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capitolhunters @capitolhunters.bsky.social · 1d

We should applaud their dedication to fact-checking Trump's claims - may that practice spread more widely.

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capitolhunters @capitolhunters.bsky.social · 1d

Because tbh the money on the right doesn't all flow through the RNCC. It bypasses party leaders entirely. It seems like the issue is more a passivity among Dem donors, who don't try to take charge and set the tone. Leonard Leo isn't waiting around for the RNCC to tell him what to do.

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capitolhunters @capitolhunters.bsky.social · 1d

If there are enough individual donors, is the solution an alternative organizing and donation mechanism that bypasses the DNCC?

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capitolhunters @capitolhunters.bsky.social · 1d

It's a donor problem, right? The right-wing media ecosystem is funded from above by wealthy donors, not from below by subscriptions. Progressives have fewer wealthy benefactors. Isn't that as much of an issue, or more, as concern about direction-from-above?

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capitolhunters @capitolhunters.bsky.social · 1d

Notice the subtle shade being cast on Dartmouth here. Dartmouth put out a piously smarmy statement last week about their values, which implied they were rejecting the compact... but never actually said no. All media are now reporting correctly that MIT was first. They saw what Dartmouth did.

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capitolhunters @capitolhunters.bsky.social · 2d

And, Roger Marshall would bounce up 2 places on that leaderboard if we counted his insurrection-supporting actions while still a US Representative, before he was sworn in as a Senator in 2020. Again - not likely an important figure around Jan 6, but an eager one. He wanted to help.

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capitolhunters @capitolhunters.bsky.social · 2d

Roger Marshall was one of the few Senators who voted to steal the 2020 election. He's dropped a bit on the Congressional Insurrection Index since the recent reveal of phone records subpoenas. None for Marshall - but he's an eager insurrectionist, if not a major one.
docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

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capitolhunters @capitolhunters.bsky.social · 2d

In the US we don't say 'the music system is broken' because too many people are buying Bad Bunny albums. No one begs the government to intervene to put out more Lee Greenwood albums. Music is a business serving consumers. So is education. Marc Rowan just doesn't like what you chose to purchase.

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capitolhunters @capitolhunters.bsky.social · 2d

Let's call out how bizarre it is that finance bros like Marc Rowan want to dictate what is taught in universities and overturn the free market. US students pick their schools -- MIT, or Oberlin, or Liberty -- and pay to attend. The right response to Rowan is, why do you want to reduce free choice?

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Reposted by capitolhunters

Josh Moody @byjoshmoody.bsky.social · 2d

MIT rejects "compact" proposed by the Trump administration.
MIT prez wrote: it "would restrict freedom of expression and our independence as an institution" and "is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone."
orgchart.mit.edu/letters/rega...

Regarding the Compact | MIT Organization Chart

orgchart.mit.edu

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capitolhunters @capitolhunters.bsky.social · 2d

That's Alex doing CYA when the Capitol attack was failing - his planned triumphant show overlooking the Capitol turned into excuses and blaming 'antifa' instead.

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capitolhunters @capitolhunters.bsky.social · 2d

No one's saying that a single academic project will stop authoritarianism. The point is that most people in academia are unable to do EVEN THAT. Sure, they aren't in the streets protesting. But they're not even studying the crisis in a normal academic way. They're looking away. Hiding.

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capitolhunters @capitolhunters.bsky.social · 2d

@jaredlholt.bsky.social points out how Trump's "antifa" meeting is tied to TPUSA - but it's also InfoWars. And on Jan 6, Charlie Kirk's TPUSA paid for the rally, Alex Jones of InfoWars whipped up the crowd at the Capitol, then watched from his pre-rented rooftop. It's the same people, always. 5/

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capitolhunters @capitolhunters.bsky.social · 2d

What people miss about Jan 6 is that the Proud Boys who led the attack were not a militia but a branch of the alt-right influencers. Joe Biggs, who marched the PBs into battle, had been an InfoWars 'journalist' like Hernandez, a buddy of Posobiec's - here they are in 2016. They're the same crew. 4/

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capitolhunters @capitolhunters.bsky.social · 2d

Jack Posobiec hit the Capitol grounds along with Ashley St. Clair, now famous as Elon Musk's baby mama. They watched the mob climb the walls together. Poso's been at the heart of every major alt-right propaganda effort since 2016: Peter Thiel's MAGA3X, Pizzagate, Stop the Steal - he did them all. 3/

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