Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

txlawyer @txlawyer.bsky.social · 20m

Seems to me like knowledge of falsity or reckless indifference to the truth. It would be fun as hell to put the purloined documents criminal case on trial via a defamation lawsuit. Smith could even put Donnie under oath with no ability to plead the Fifth because limitations has expired.

txlawyer @txlawyer.bsky.social · 1h

I worked among a bunch of Texas GOP elected officials in the early oughts, including plenty whose names you would know today. When you went into their offices, Limbaugh was always on the radio. It was ubiquitous, even among the ones I regarded as more or less sensible.

1

txlawyer @txlawyer.bsky.social · 1h

I haven't seen Family Ties since it was originally on the air, but it would be interesting to see how Alex's character has aged in all that time. I don't recall him ever doing or saying anything bigoted (maybe some light sexism), and he always had compassion for others. That's gone today.

1

txlawyer @txlawyer.bsky.social · 1h

Fox News started broadcasting in late 1996, and it took a while before it caught its footing. The real accelerant was AM talk radio -- especially Limbaugh -- and later, the Internet, where everyone can anonymously stew in their own communities of shared hate.

1 1

txlawyer @txlawyer.bsky.social · 2h

It was (and remains) a right-wing media feedback loop. Bespoke media caters to the bigots, the bigots reward the right-wing media with ratings and $$$, and the bigots convince themselves that their bigotries should be reflected in their primary candidates.

Total permission structure failure.

1 1

txlawyer @txlawyer.bsky.social · 2h

Okay (3/3).

Looking back, the fracturing of national media into ideological bunkers was what unleashed their willingness to just go there with their bigotries. Bigots like Limbaugh and Ailes just catered to it for conservatives and melted their inhibitions.

2 2

txlawyer @txlawyer.bsky.social · 2h

They tended to be racist, but they mostly kept that low key because it was not the way to advance. Things have changed since the early 90s. Not for all of them, but for enough of them that private expressions of their bigotry are no longer disqualifying even when they go public.

(2/2)

1 1

txlawyer @txlawyer.bsky.social · 2h

Gen X here. Was never a Young Republican, but was perfectly willing to drink their beer and argue with them about Richard Nixon actually being very bad even on their own ideological terms.

(1/2)

1 4

txlawyer @txlawyer.bsky.social · 3h

We lynched that Negro ironically. Can't you understand a joke?

karl rove knausgård @uhactually.bsky.social · 7h

Every time a Democrat gets caught on tape saying like “Some Trump voters are racist” we have a national scandal and JD Vance demands an entirely new kind of apology and meanwhile every Republican group chat is like “Good morning fellow SS members. Who’s ready to respect Hitler today?”

3

txlawyer @txlawyer.bsky.social · 4h

Please stop posting AI garbage content.

txlawyer @txlawyer.bsky.social · 5h

I thought about throwing in a proviso about electronics, but they really only get cheaper as they get outdated, and the money shifts instead to whatever is replacing it. Sure, you can buy a good Blu-Ray player for like $50 these days. But you're paying like $400 a month for internet and streamers.

txlawyer @txlawyer.bsky.social · 17h

And yeah, it was really good. More than 2-1/2 hours that never dragged and flew by, much like One Battle After Another.

1

txlawyer @txlawyer.bsky.social · 17h

When was the last time we saw proof of life for Usha Vance?

3

txlawyer @txlawyer.bsky.social · 18h