Aster Vérité
@aster-verite.bsky.social
1.8K followers 1.3K following 9.8K posts
Writer. Critical thinker. Cynical nihilist. Disinformation analyst. Scientist of belief webs. Mythologist of modern decay. Housing, Climate, Health, Science, The Apocalypse
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aster-verite.bsky.social
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The Anatomy of Epistemic Capture, and How We Lost the Battle for Reality.

aka Joe Rogan is a festering steaming frothy loose pile of human feces, Joe Walsh, Alex Jones and so many more are parasites that inhabit that pile. That's my informed opinion anyway.
aster-verite.bsky.social
Oh look... a flurry of demands. Cute.

But let’s be precise, you asked what the metrics are, not what the numbers were.

I answered that, in detail.

I suspect that you'll find something to try to further discredit what I post. But still....
aster-verite.bsky.social
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And that means, more facts won’t shift beliefs.

Warnings won’t wake them.

Authority figures won’t persuade them.

This is epistemic warfare now.

You have to disrupt the internal logic of their worldview, or you’re just shouting truth into a sealed echo chamber.
aster-verite.bsky.social
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Of course it’s about control.

But you’re still fighting this like it’s an information problem.

This isn’t about people not knowing, it’s about them believing something else entirely.

You’re up against a Web of Belief, not a data deficit.
aster-verite.bsky.social
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And finally there is the net effect..... Newsom's critiques spread faster through his enemies than his friends.

That’s not just visibility. That’s meme based insurgency.

My regular followers know all about this... from my series on disinformation and epistemic capture.
aster-verite.bsky.social
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Regarding the narrative framing, Newsom sets the discourse... others respond. He uses tight, morally loaded frames (“freedom states vs cruelty states”).

Also, there is Newsom's language uptake in other dem campaigns and press.
aster-verite.bsky.social
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Media amplification is the number of opponents retweeting/posting him out of outrage, truth social shares spreading the content they think they’re “owning,” meme uptake... even by right-wing influencers, AND the ratio of reactive vs proactive coverage across the aisle.
aster-verite.bsky.social
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To answer your question, what are the metrics for "visibility, media amplification, and narrative framing"?

Visibility is the volume of national news coverage, high engagement clips on social media, google trends spikes post-speech, and viral quote density (e.g., “Red state murder problem”)
Reposted by Aster Vérité
aster-verite.bsky.social
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“That Kool-Aid must be BANGIN”

American citizens struggle to afford insulin.

Ambulance rides bankrupt people.

ER visits leave folks in debt for decades.

But some of you genuinely believe undocumented immigrants are getting spa days and full dental on the taxpayers dime?

Come on.
aster-verite.bsky.social
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You pay taxes and still can’t afford insulin. That’s real.

But the idea that undocumented immigrants get luxury healthcare while you suffer?

That’s not just false, it’s a story you’ve been sold to keep you from asking the real question..,...

Who actually benefits from your suffering?
aster-verite.bsky.social
5/
So yeah, that Kool-Aid?

It’s not just BANGIN’.

It’s lab-engineered, dopamine-dosed propaganda, sold in red, white, and blue packaging.

And too many folks are still sipping it like it’s the gospel truth.
aster-verite.bsky.social
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This isn’t just about immigration.

It’s about manufacturing scapegoats.

Authoritarians always need an “other” to blame, because if people realize who’s really exploiting them, they’d revolt.
aster-verite.bsky.social
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The truth?

Undocumented people, often avoid hospitals entirely out of fear. They pay taxes they don’t benefit from.

They're denied Medicaid, Medicare, ACA subsidies, and most public benefits.

The “free ride” lie is a projection.
aster-verite.bsky.social
2/
This is not a failure of intelligence.

It’s a success of strategic disinformation....

Tell people they’re victims of immigrants, not billionaires.

Shift blame away from healthcare policy.

Funnel resentment laterally, not upward.
aster-verite.bsky.social
1/
🧵
“That Kool-Aid must be BANGIN”

American citizens struggle to afford insulin.

Ambulance rides bankrupt people.

ER visits leave folks in debt for decades.

But some of you genuinely believe undocumented immigrants are getting spa days and full dental on the taxpayers dime?

Come on.
aster-verite.bsky.social
MAGA isn’t the dumbest group. It’s just the most efficiently radicalized by the most sophisticated disinformation machine in human history.

If you think that’s a them problem, you haven’t studied how epistemic capture works.
aster-verite.bsky.social
The cause isn’t just the political right.... that’s too easy.

The cause is systemic disinformation, tribal loyalty over truth, and algorithmic amplification that made shared reality optional.

If you can't see a problem, you can't fix it
aster-verite.bsky.social
Until people accept the cause there can be no cure.
aster-verite.bsky.social
The national numbers are even more revealing... they show a structurally fragile democracy, hollowed by the democratization of disinformation. Not everyone voted for fascism, most just didn’t believe democracy had anything left to offer....
Reposted by Aster Vérité
aster-verite.bsky.social
When your ‘All Night Revival’ looks more like Nacht und Nebel, you’re not fighting for democracy....

You’re staging authoritarian spectacle.

And history remembers the uniforms before the slogans.
aster-verite.bsky.social
When your ‘All Night Revival’ looks more like Nacht und Nebel, you’re not fighting for democracy....

You’re staging authoritarian spectacle.

And history remembers the uniforms before the slogans.
Reposted by Aster Vérité
zohrankmamdani.bsky.social
TONIGHT (and especially for followers outside of NYC who want to get involved):

Join @brennanleemulligan.bsky.social on a special phonebank at 6pm!

Sign up: volunteer.zohranfornyc.com/phonebank-fo...
A graphic with a photo of Brennan Lee Mulligan that says "Phone Bank with Zohran, Wednesday, October 8th at 6pm."
aster-verite.bsky.social
That’s true in terms of the Electoral College outcome, but it’s a deflection when we’re talking about voter behavior trends or turnout breakdowns.

Trying to deflect from national numbers & support is as ridiculous as if I said you're arguing that the US should only hold votes in swing states...
Reposted by Aster Vérité
aster-verite.bsky.social
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🧵
Froggie vs. ICE: The asymmetrical symbol of a failing authoritarian state.

You’ve seen the video.
An inflatable frog at a Portland protest.
Unarmed. Unbothered. Unapologetically absurd.
And ICE panics.

They fire pepper spray up a frog caricature's ass.

The frog wins.
aster-verite.bsky.social
10/
So yes, more of this please. Mock them mercilessly.

Mock their solemnity.
Mock their rituals.
Mock their myth of authority.

Because every pepper ball fired at a frog is a confession.

They’re afraid.
aster-verite.bsky.social
9/
Froggie is not alone now. Nature finds a way... I fucking love it,

He’s joined by dragons, inflatable cows, disco Jesuses...

This is not protest.
This is performance.
And performance is how you rewrite the fascist script.