[guest post by Dana]
Let’s go!
First news item]
Sarah Longwell on the impact of Donald Trump’s false claims about FEMA, including saying that FEMA is confiscating properties, FEMA money diverted to illegal migrants. Republican members of Congress have joined in as well:
I mean, here’s what Trump does. In a moment like this, when normal politicians would be, because of the very real consequences, they would be looking to unite people, right? Not to divide them. That’s not how Donald Trump thinks.
Donald Trump only cares about winning. And so he is utilizing this disaster, this natural disaster, which cannot be, you know, engineered by anybody, as some people are saying, because as Republicans are now having to reassure people, one cannot engineer the weather. Democrats are not engineering these storms for some reason or other pernicious influences.
But these Republicans who constantly support Trump are forced now to grapple with the very real consequences of his lies on their constituents at a moment when they are trying to help people see this is the thing is, oftentimes Donald Trump’s lies don’t have a personal consequence for the people who repeat them. You know, like the election being stolen or migrants eating pets in Springfield. But they have real consequences for somebody. And when those consequences affect you, as they are now, the Republican leaders on the ground were having to deal with the consequences of them. I feel like this should be the moment that they realize this is why this person can never lead the country again.
And one of the things that Donald Trump does, it’s a very specific tactic from Trump, where what he does is he elevates the notion of scarcity at a time when people are frightened. Right. So people are much more likely to buy into these conspiracies because they are suffering at the moment. Right. They don’t have wi-fi. They don’t have water. You know, they are dealing with a response to a natural disaster. And so they’re scared.
And Donald Trump manipulates and uses that fear to sow distrust for the agencies that are trying to help them. And that is unique to Trump’s character. Other politicians, even ones that aren’t very good at their jobs, don’t usually do this because they are at least decent enough people to understand that real lives are at stake.
Unfortunately, these false claims are having real life impacts to those who have lost everything during Hurricane Helene:
. . . Anthony said his father-in-law is unwilling to accept assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
“He has refused all FEMA help because he’s a hardcore Trumper,” Anthony told Abrams. “He literally believes that if he accepts anything from FEMA, they’re going to take his house.”
Second news item
The damage done:
The truth is, it’s getting harder to describe the extent to which a meaningful percentage of Americans have dissociated from reality. As Hurricane Milton churned across the Gulf of Mexico last night, I saw an onslaught of outright conspiracy theorizing and utter nonsense racking up millions of views across the internet. The posts would be laughable if they weren’t taken by many people as gospel. Among them: Infowars’ Alex Jones, who claimed that Hurricanes Milton and Helene were “weather weapons” unleashed on the East Coast by the U.S. government, and “truth seeker” accounts on X that posted photos of condensation trails in the sky to baselessly allege that the government was “spraying Florida ahead of Hurricane Milton” in order to ensure maximum rainfall, “just like they did over Asheville!”
. . .
Even in a decade marred by online grifters, shameless politicians, and an alternative right-wing-media complex pushing anti-science fringe theories, the events of the past few weeks stand out for their depravity and nihilism. As two catastrophic storms upended American cities, a patchwork network of influencers and fake-news peddlers have done their best to sow distrust, stoke resentment, and interfere with relief efforts. But this is more than just a misinformation crisis. To watch as real information is overwhelmed by crank theories and public servants battle death threats is to confront two alarming facts: first, that a durable ecosystem exists to ensconce citizens in an alternate reality, and second, that the people consuming and amplifying those lies are not helpless dupes but willing participants.
Third news item
The times Kamala Harris changed her mind on issues:
Where Harris is on the ideological spectrum has long been hard to pinpoint. After Joe Biden selected her as his running mate in 2020, she moved toward the center on some issues, and has generally kept those positions since taking Biden’s place atop the ticket in this year’s election.
Harris has not explained many of her shifts. They may help her among moderate voters in the general election, but they have left her open to criticism from the right.
Some of the issues listed that she has changed her mind on: fracking, border security, healthcare, defunding.
Read the whole thing to see her Before and After views.
Fourth news item
ABC’s The View hosts in explicit political ad:
ABC warned its audience before airing a disturbing political ad the network said it was required to broadcast during a live episode of The View, with the commercial depicting graphic imagery from abortions and comparing several celebrities — including all six cohosts of The View — to Nazis.
During the show’s final commercial break on Thursday, a warning message appeared on screen, reading, “The following is a paid political advertisement, and the ABC Television Network is required to carry it by federal law. The advertisement contains scenes that may be disturbing to children. Viewer discretion is advised.”
The explicit clip — fronted by presidential candidate and anti-abortion activist Randall Terry — opened with a shot of Miley Cyrus (pictured with a cake topped with the message “abortion is healthcare”) and an image of Whoopi Goldberg seated at The View Hot Topics table.
“I am so sick of stupid celebrities and lying journalists,” Terry says via voice-over in the ad, before its footage displays images of View stars Joy Behar, Sunny Hostin, Ana Navarro, Sara Haines, and Alyssa Farah Griffin; broadcasters Jake Tapper, Wolf Blitzer, and Dana Bash; and famous figures like Oprah Winfrey, Taylor Swift, Samuel L. Jackson, Chris Evans, Billie Eilish, Scarlett Johansson, and more. The commercial then shows multiple images of fetuses and, later, images of abortion procedures. “Why don’t you fools follow the science?” Terry asks.
Fourth news item
President Zelensky meets with German Chancellor Olaf Schulz:
During a joint press conference, Scholz revealed that Germany had delivered a package of aid for Ukraine worth 600 million euros ($660 million). This included a fifth IRIS-T medium-range system, armored vehicles, tanks, howitzers, ammunition, and drones.
“By the end of the year, with the support of partners — Belgium, Denmark, Norway — we will deliver another package worth 1.4 billion euros ($1.5 billion) to Ukraine,” Scholz said. It will include IRIS-T, Skynex, and Gepard anti-aircraft weaponry, as well as artillery, armored vehicles, drones, radars, and ammunition.
Fifth news item
Speaker Johnson ready to give up on Ukraine:
“I don’t have an appetite for further Ukraine funding, and I hope it’s not necessary. If President Trump wins, I believe that he actually can bring that conflict to a close. I really do. I think he’ll call [Russian President Vladimir] Putin and tell him that this is enough. And I think everybody around the world is weary of this, and they want it to be resolved. So whatever the terms are, I’m not sure, but I think if Kamala Harris is president, I don’t think it ends, and that’s a desperate and dangerous scenario.”
What would be desperate and dangerous is a Trump administration refusing to provide critical aid to Ukraine during the middle of a ferocious war against a murderous enemy that doesn’t embrace democracy. A limited view of outcomes would be detrimental to Europe and freedom-loving countries everywhere. To just end the war because we’re weary is foolish, especially as it would most likely include allowing Russia to keep the territories inside Ukraine that they have subsumed as their own. This must not happen.
Sixth news item
Word:
How nauseatingly comfortable and safe do you have to be in the West to celebrate, justify, qualify terrorism in the Middle East
Have a great weekend.
—Dana
