Same in NC.
Well put. I'll also add that in left-leaning communities there's almost always more attention being paid to dark money flowing into our elections from groups like AIPAC than there is being paid to dark money flowing into our elections via third parties. Dark money is certainly a corrupting influence if it gets injected directly into the campaign process for one of the two major parties, but it's equally troublesome that third parties are frequently (if not always) funded from the ground up by an opposing party specifically for the purpose of ratfucking an election. Whether or not third parties are in on the game or simply willingly ignorant stooges, their effect is always the same. And the fact that they're essentially invisible except during presidential election cycles provides a strong bit of evidence for the latter.
When analysts first noticed Spamouflage five years ago, the network tended to post generically pro-China, anti-American content. In recent years, the tone sharpened as Spamouflage expanded and began focusing on divisive political topics like gun control, crime, race relations and support for Israel during its war in Gaza. The network also began creating large numbers of fake accounts designed to mimic American users.
Spamouflage accounts don't post much original content, instead using platforms like X or TikTok to recycle and repost content from far-right and far-left users. Some of the accounts seemed designed to appeal to Republicans, while others cater to Democrats.
I argued against the bot for a week. I hated the damn thing, and I pointed to the negative feedback as evidence in my discussions. I also held off on making sweeping assessments or making any rushed decisions because a vote manipulation ring was simultaneously uncovered, and we had no idea how deep the manipulation went. Could the feedback have been manipulated? No idea! Should we go by votes only? No idea!
I took the time to let the team read the feedback and discuss the costs and benefits, and in the end the votes were only part of the picture. Another part is the visceral commitment of a vocal minority to overwhelming the community with commentary (and reports) to such an extent that the people who are calm and supportive get drowned out and downvoted, along with anyone who happens to agree with them. Not entirely sure those folks have committed as much energy to downvoting every critical comment as was the case on the other side though.
The team took 12 days to work through disagreements (there were many) so we could come to a consensus position, and lo and behold, the bot is gone. The fact that the people who want the bot gone feel like they're being dismissed is flabbergasting to me. It's gone. Mission accomplished!
"I really do think that whatever Tim Walz calls me, I mean, talk about, talk about weird with Tim Walz," he added.
Did...did Vance just "I know you are but what am I" Tim Walz?
"Ban books. Jail librarians." - the bad guys in every epoch of history
Conservatives: "States' rights!"
Voters: "Ok."
Conservatives: "Wait...NOT LIKE THAT!"
And no small number of supposed leftists found in all this cause for celebration.
and also
Those who approve or condone Hamas’s atrocities constitute a small minority of the left.
Mr. Levitz should take a deep breath and figure out what exactly he's trying to say, and to whom.
Biden: "You should get paid more."
Trump: indicted for 91 crimes and found liable for decades of tax fraud
Michigan Republicans: ¯\(ツ)/¯
It was never about his job. It was always about putting Christianity back on a pedestal and the rest of us back in the shadows.
Fuck him.
I've wondered how long we'll go before universities across the country start refusing to accept Florida high school graduates because their coursework does not meet basic acceptance criteria. I can see the Ivy league starting first because they have a legitimate reason to want their incoming freshmen to have top-notch coursework under their belt so they can hit the ground running, and once the first domino falls I'd imagine lots of universities would rush to join the chorus. If Florida officials want their kids to learn that slavery was good and that rainbows don't exist, then fine. They're disqualified from attending tertiary institutions whose history and sociology instruction is predicated on those things being bullshit. It'd be no different from some crazy-ass wingnut homeschooler trying to get into Harvard after having taken classes like "Cell Biology and Jesus", "Why God Made Calculus", and "The Physics of Heaven" from their mom.
Wait, was he the good guy with a gun or the bad guy with a gun?