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bllsbailey · 3 years

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Liberal Reporter Sees the Real Motive Behind Trump Social Media Purge and Impeachment Push

He’s a liberal, but the audience he infuriates the most is…progressives. Maybe because he doesn’t kowtow to the ethos of the movement. He beats to his own drum. He proudly says he’s not owned by anyone. He’s a pure independent journalist. Michael Tracey has been going off on the recent conservative purges occurring across various media platforms. While warning of the dangers, he’s calling out progressives who are cheerleading this illiberal and chillingly anti-free speech crusade.

This comes after the January 6 storming of the US Capitol, where pro-Trump supporters rushed into the building as Congress was certifying the 2020 election results. It led to new impeachment articles filed against Donald Trump, who was accused of inciting a riot and insurrection. He had addressed the Save America rally which led to scores of Trump supporters pouring into the city days prior. It also led to his ban on Facebook and Twitter, which appalled multiple world leaders in Germany, France, and Mexico. Keep in mind, Trump was still president when the ban was enacted. Yes, Trump was probably going to get the plug pulled on him after he left office, but this riot accelerated what very much looks like a coordinated assault on conservatives across social media.

Tracey warned of the corporate liberal authoritarianism that was raising its ugly head days before the Biden administration took over. he sees this as a harbinger of the horrors that could come (via Medium):

There was no real “coup attempt,” despite incessant politician and media histrionics to that effect. Just a pitiful outburst that was quickly dispersed.

It was clear within about ten minutes of the intrusion that the most severe consequences would stem not from the incident itself, but the deliberately-stoked over-reaction. The bipartisan political and media class, whether cynically or sincerely, is broadcasting their steadfast conviction that this was something like a “MAGA Terrorist Insurrection” — which is literally how it’s being described on CNN. Under such allegedly extreme circumstances, of course extreme remedial action is going to be demanded.

Few entities capitulate to upswells of political hysteria more reliably than the tech companies. Knowing that there will soon be a Democratic presidential administration and Congress to appease, they launched this week what is the most drastic corporate censorship offensive in modern history. Not only was Trump banished from Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter — the latter being his primary communications platform (for better or worse) — multiple high-profile Trump allies were likewise purged.

The expulsion of Trump from Twitter was celebrated rapturously by journalists whose conception of the job has markedly shifted away from anything to do with the preservation of protected speech. Instead, they are far more interested in asserting their political and cultural dominance, punishing those perceived to be undesirables, and functioning almost like a collective Human Resources social pressure department. Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple, and Twitter — collectively more powerful than most nation states — have become willing partners in this endeavor.

His Twitter feed is a good insight into the other side that’s a bit more grounded than the Trump-deranged clowns on CNN and MSNBC. You will probably disagree with 95% of what he says, but it’s healthy to see the other side. Tracey is also an original Trump-Russia collusions skeptic.

You’ll see how he takes subtle jabs at the unseriousness of today’s news media, especially with this Capitol Hill riot. It was just that—a riot, not an act of domestic terrorism or insurrection.

“I still want to know why the ‘insurrectionists’ were mostly interested in taking selfies,” he wrote.

Not a huge fan of this service, it’s pretty much just one big right-wing conspiracy echo chamber, but there’s a lot of stuff on the internet that I’m not a huge fan of. At one time you could dislike something without demanding it be destroyed in a monopolistic political purge https://t.co/n3TFiPUaT2

It's incredible that they actually purged Parler from the internet entirely. Again, I didn't use the service because it seemed mostly like a right-wing conspiracy echo chamber -- but this coordinated corporate political purge is far worse

Nothing is ever good enough for these media censorship scolds, they will not rest until every trace of what they deem to be "harmful" political speech is purged from the public internet https://t.co/VYQLWTqW0s

Not to mention the perilous implications of such a prosecution for protected First Amendment political speech, which apparently is a minor concern now for the ACLU compared to appeasing left/liberal activists and donors who crave revenge against Trumphttps://t.co/ZADnSeWAox

Still waiting patiently to see if even a single Democratic elected official -- just one -- has any hint of concern about the most extreme monopolistic censorship purge in modern history

I spent two months arguing with MAGAs about the lunacy of their fraud theories, and the futility of their election-overturning efforts -- but this is revenge-fueled McCarthyism. "White supremacist insurrection" is also an absurd characterization designed to foment racial fear https://t.co/A9okcBHIku

Trump did encourage or urge the mob to march on the Capitol, but the specific "incitement" language in the impeachment article -- rushed through to prevent any real deliberation -- creates a precedent that can easily be cited to suppress ordinary, protected political speech

“Promising” to impeach before she even knew what the impeachable offenses were going to be https://t.co/pOdhPcOxmP

pic.twitter.com/fxTvhcepiV

“Trump did encourage or urge the mob to march on the Capitol, but the specific ‘incitement’ language in the impeachment article -- rushed through to prevent any real deliberation -- creates a precedent that can easily be cited to suppress ordinary, protected political speech,” he added.

On the free speech fallout, he continued to poke the bear of the liberal wing of America tweeting “I don't see much of an ‘insurrection’ or ‘armed rebellion’ underway at the moment. However, I do see a massive ongoing corporate censorship purge, as well as the overt criminalization of political speech.”

For Tracey, the latest moves against Trump are meant to lay the foundation for the larger crusade against free speech.

I don't see much of an "insurrection" or "armed rebellion" underway at the moment. However, I do see a massive ongoing corporate censorship purge, as well as the overt criminalization of political speech. Odd

The premise that Trump needed to be impeached ASAP because of the imminent threat he posed was obviously false. Trump is not demanding insurrection -- he's neutered and defeated. They seized on high emotions to rush through a process that explicitly criminalized political speech

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unholyoffspringofcereal · 7 years

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Less Wordy

So on a less wordy note than before, it has come to my attention that most all of the mistakes I’ve made in my life have been because of thinking I was right too much. If I had just been able to remove myself from that mindset, and actually truly considered I was in the wrong, I could have stopped a whole lot of hurt from beating the only person I care about in the face. Like, I’ve know this before now, my personality reshaped to include this new truth by the hammer of experience and the weight of guilt behind its strikes, but I was just now able to put it into words.

On a different note, it’s amusing that I would say ‘just’ remove myself from a mindset, because there is nothing ‘just’ or ‘only’ about doing that. It’s fucking hard if you don’t know what it means or how to do it, listening to an adult sit there and say the words to you. Know what I mean?

I used to believe that I should make my decisions in the heat of passion, of feeling, so that I would stand by my choices with true conviction, borne of powerful emotion and difficult to sway. Now, some years later and hopefully a bit wiser, I know that passion in your decisions is an excellent thing to have, it gets things done where simple logic fails, but it is secondary to other things, like finding the correct road to travel down. Make sure your head is cool. Look at what is happening from the position of a complete stranger on a warm day, sitting underneath the old oak tree and listening to the words of your story carried on the morning breeze. When you are considering your own reasoning, passion is a hindrance, because it disrupts organization and thus lessens chances of solid logic. You must be methodical, because it will allow you to lay out the facts in such a way your emotions can break free and be just in their understanding. Good logic is imperative.

On the other hand, getting from point A to point B is nigh impossible in the middle of conflict, and so ‘just calming down’ is heard as a patronizing thing to say to a foolish child instead of the meaningful connotations (I love you, I don’t want to hurt you, please see things from my point of view, please understand this is as hard for me as it is for you). This is the case with much in life, unfortunately, because people so often forget to see the other side of things. It has been a flaw I have carried, even carried knowingly, for years now, and still it is often that I succumb to it.

I would like to be able to say I calm down by doing this or that or imagining a nice tree, but truthfully it isn’t quite that simple, and I’m pretty sure there isn’t exactly one technique to use to get out of any and every situation. They always say do something to get your mind off of things, but it is clinical and detached, much like you aspire to be at that moment. More of a you’ll understand when you manage it type of thing. I think half of my problems with my temper came from my superiority complex, discarding the opinions of all who came before and might have had useful things to say, and half from positive reinforcement to it by a figure I had elevated to something like god-hood in my own mind. But, I digress.

I can offer this advice for dealing with things like this, though its usefulness will undoubtedly not be as applicable for some situations as it is for others. I speak of total sensory deprivation. Have you ever heard of those old sword masters or martial art teachers who were all like “Be the sword” or the water or the dragonfly or whatever? Their purpose was slightly different than mine and yours, but similar. They wanted their students to meditate on what it meant to be that creature. What made up the entirety of its existence, why did it do like it did? What would it feel like to become the object of scrutiny? And so on and so forth.

The idea I have come up with is to focus on one object or one task, one may be easier than the other, to the exclusion of everything else. People fall into certain groups: auditory, visual, tactile, verbal, etc. The meaning there is that people think in different terms, and so some of you may find it easier to become lost in sound, while others may become hypnotized by the swirl and flicker of lights dancing through the atmosphere, and others may find the simple repetitiveness of a task, the solidity, reliability like an old friend. I cannot tell you what kind of person you are, you must discover that for yourself, but anyone can use anything; certain things will simply be easier for you than others.

To use this, focus completely on this one thing. It doesn’t need to be complicated or simple, or even something you remember really well or even a memory at all. It could be white noise, or a beautiful symphony, or squiggles or a game or any number of things. Whatever it is, try to think deeply about it, think about color or size or feel or how loud or soft or high or low or sad or bright, lose yourself in the sea of questions. Eventually, a stray thought will bring you back to reality and you will, hopefully, be calmer. This will take patience, and it will feel disorienting when you first return to the waking world, so to speak. It will probably be confusing, and your first thought may be to return to your passion of earlier. Speaking from experience, please do not, and I mean that in the least aggressive way possible. You do not wish to undo all progress.

Also, be cautious about when and where you attempt to implement this. It can be very unhelpful, distracting, even dangerous if you try to remove yourself from the world when there are pressing matters demanding your attention Right This Second, And I Mean NOW, or if you were in the middle of a task or conversation or whatever.

Now, this has little to do with any of the above, mostly in tangent, actually, so you can ignore it if you want.

I got to thinking earlier, about laws of physics, which is a great class, fun subject in my opinion. Newton was really smart, so were all of these other people. They knew more than they knew (hehe). For instance, Newton’s Third Law. C’mon all you nerds, say it with me, be proud for knowing this. Or not, whatever floats your boat.

For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

Pretty basic stuff when talking physics, in all honesty, but the building blocks are often important at all levels, and you don’t get much more important than this. Anyway, I was thinking about how this is true with people too. For every harsh word you deal to someone, the result is inflicted on you as well as them. I saw this really amazing thought one time on this sight, a post of screencaps and legends, of how the universe is naught but an egg, and the world is nothing but a playground for one person. You. Or me. Or us.

The idea was that all people were one and the same, Jesus and his followers, Hitler and those killed under his orders. It was kinda sobering, and definitely a bit awe inspiring, and then somewhat self-knowledge-realizing for me, because I hadn’t really thought twice about being a dick before that and it made me feel like a major prick for needing something like that to kick-start my empathy, but I digress.

If every action has an equal and opposite reaction, then my changing of myself must have had a reaction somewhere too, right? Okay, so we all have that one friend that’s way too nice but always thinks their Satan incarnate, or at least we’ve heard of one, right? Okay, so when something bad happens, usually they end up blaming themselves, even though it had nothing to do with them, and trying to change to prevent such a thing from happening again. Sometimes these people are truly innocent, and sometimes I feel like a child before the choice they made to try and believe the way they do, but I digress. Man I say that a lot.

You get my point. Now, imagine if said person were to get into a conflict with an asshole just because the asshole was feeling assholish and mulish? Same reaction still, right? They’d try to change to better accommodate to ensure there would be at the very least fewer repetitions. Now, in this hypothetical situation, the jackass manages to turn their asshole head from literal to just a head and decided they needed a reality check, fast, and made a change for the better. Well, even so, the changes to the other person have already happened, and the pain and suffering they have gone through now has only had the purpose of shaping an asshole into a more decent human being.

This was the feeling I felt, every day, and it still could never compare to the feeling I have caused. Something I have to remind myself when I get too out of sorts and start to cause trouble: grief cannot be measured on a scale, two negatives don’t cancel each other out because to each person pain is felt differently, and no two pains are exactly the same. That, and to remember that sometimes bad things just happen. There doesn’t have to be a because to the why, or sometimes that because is just somebody being an ass-hat. But you can choose to give something meaning, make it more than a worthless sacrifice. If you remember the things you put others through, and the emotions you yourself felt, you can make that pain perhaps worth more than stupidity.

I believe that you cannot meet hate with hate, or with dispassion, or even with love. You must first greet hate with empathy. You must turn around and ask why could this be, and only when you have understood, when you can know why someone did what they did, you may choose where to go from there. Not all things deserve forgiveness or love, just as very few things deserve unbridled hatred. This is a lesson of which I forget so so so often it’s barely funny.

Wow. Okay, so less wordy was a bit of a misnomer, but I think I’ll keep it for the irony. I’d like to make multiple posts for this, but I think I’d probably screw it up and honestly, who cares. Thanks for reading, or ignoring as the case may be. Whichever, I wish you a most sincere see you later, because good-byes are not to be bandied around foolishly.

#feelings #anger management #on hate #stuff #things i forget all too often #irony

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