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Confessions of a Hacktivist
The internet is boring. There is a reason so much online activity has converged on scrolling. Channel surfing, we used to call it, when TV, online’s primitive passive precursor, exploded into hundreds of options, few of them any good. The internet accelerated the trend. We move through tiny bits of text, images, video, occasionally alighting on something that catches our attention for longer than 10 seconds. The pause, the post, the like, the retweet—these illusions of interactivity are all recorded as data in a statistical model; the algorithm automatically delivers more text, images, and video whose constituent parts, converted to...
What Does Military Readiness Mean in a Warming World?
Earlier this month, NATO released the latest edition of its “Climate Change and Security Impact Assessment.” It stands to reason that the 75-year-old security alliance, composed of 32 member countries, would care about the climate crisis. But NATO’s detailed studies of how rising temperatures are impacting its operations—from unbearably hot training grounds to storm-vulnerable bases and increasing deployments for disaster response—shouldn’t confuse anyone into thinking the organization is actually serious about fighting climate change.As researchers at the Transnational Institute, or TNI, have found, NATO’s $1.34 trillion in overall military spending last year produced an estimated 233 million metric tons of...
Matt Gaetz’s Weird “AI Sex Doll” Speech Caps RNC Descent Into Madness
Today’s pod tackles a subject of profound importance: the sheer, inexplicable weirdness of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. There’s Representative Matt Gaetz’s bizarre speech, in which his face was so taut that one Republican derided him as an “AI sex doll.” There are all the ugly “Mass Deportations Now!” signs, the cultish rituals in which attendees treated Trump as their MAGA God King, and much, much more. We talked to Ron Filipkowski, who closely tracks the right wing as the head of Meidas Touch News. He helped us find meaning underneath all the ugliness and insanity. Listen to this episode here.
Here’s How Long Trump’s Insanely Boring RNC Speech Lasted
It appears that not everyone at the Republican National Convention was loving Donald Trump’s nomination acceptance speech Thursday night. What began as an intense retelling of Trump’s attempted assassination at a rally on Saturday gradually devolved into the same meandering, anti-immigration fearmongering Trump has touted throughout his campaign. Dispatches on X, formerly Twitter, from within Milwaukee’s Fiserv Forum said that Trump had a little trouble holding the crowd’s attention, as his speech stretched to one hour and 32 minutes, the longest nomination acceptance speech on record.“People starting to leave. Loud chattering on fringes of the arena,” wrote Edward Luce, an...
Trump Is Planning the Most Inhumane Immigration Policy in U.S. History
Donald Trump promised a massive deportation plan Thursday night, even larger than the biggest mass deportation in U.S. history: President Dwight Eisenhower’s racist-named “Operation Wetback.” The former president was doing his typical fearmongering, blaming immigrants for any and all of the country’s ills, when he decided to name-drop the thirty-fourth U.S. president. “And bad things are gonna happen, and you’re gonna see it happen all the time,” said Trump. “And that’s why the Republican platform promises to launch the biggest deportation operation in the history of our country. Even larger than that of Dwight D. Eisenhower, from many years ago.”Under...
Trump Pushes Unhinged New Election Conspiracy During RNC Speech
Former President Donald Trump claimed that Democrats used the Covid-19 pandemic to cheat during the last presidential election.During his speech Thursday at the Republican National Convention, Trump made a strange claim while talking about a failed deal he’d tried to make with Iran, ahead of the 2020 election. “Iran was gonna make a deal with us, and then we had that horrible, horrible result that we’ll never let happen again. The election result, we’re never gonna let that happen again,” he said. “They used Covid to cheat. We’re never gonna let it happen again,” Trump insisted, a strange shift in...
In Push to Change Biden’s Mind, Donor Writes His Withdrawal Speech
A top West Coast Democratic donor has reportedly drafted and begun circulating a seven-step swan song for President Joe Biden.The “victory speech,” which was obtained Thursday by The Daily Beast, contains seven bullet points for Biden to use, should he decide to withdraw from the presidential race.The main points of the speech emphasize the importance of saving America and democracy, and insist that to do that, the Democrats must win. But for that to happen, Democrats need to reclaim the confidence of the American people.The speech would maintain Biden’s position that he thinks he could still succeed in beating Trump...
Jamie Raskin, Another Top Democrat, Urges Biden to Drop Out
Another top Democrat has called on President Joe Biden to exit the presidential race, marking the fourth instance this week that news has broken of a top lawmaker suggesting it’s the 81-year-old president’s time to bow out.In a four-page letter sent earlier this month, Representative Jamie Raskin largely waxed poetic about Biden’s myriad accomplishments in office. But the Maryland Democrat then turned to an all-American metaphor to translate his waning competence: a tired baseball pitcher, too many innings into the game.“There is no shame in taking a well-deserved bow to the overflowing appreciation of the crowd when your arm is...
Why the Hell Is Hulk Hogan Speaking at the RNC?
Let me tell you something, brother: For some reason, one of the scheduled speakers for the Republican National Convention Thursday night is retired professional wrestler Hulk Hogan. Hogan doesn’t have a long history of political activism, unless you count his “run” for president as a publicity stunt two decades ago, making his appearance all the more puzzling. His peak days of being the top star in the wrestling world and starring in B and C movies are well behind him.It’s only recently that Mr. America managed to overcome the 2015 scandal of uttering a racial slur in a leaked sex...
“Very Unhinged”: Kevin McCarthy Rips Matt Gaetz in Growing Feud
Kevin McCarthy is not wishing Matt Gaetz well. “He looks very unhinged,” the former speaker said Thursday about Gaetz’s appearance at the Republican National Convention. “A lot of people have concerns about him.” McCarthy on CNN on Gaetz: "He looks very unhinged. A lot of people have concerns about him, and I'm not sure if he was on something. But I do hope that he gets the help that he needs. More importantly, I hope the young women get the justice they deserve when it comes to him." pic.twitter.com/5ArK0FxrgL— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 18, 2024McCarthy wasn’t the only Republican looking...
Republicans Apparently Think Elon Musk Is a Total Flake
Elon Musk recently came out with a public endorsement of Donald Trump for president, but Republicans haven’t fully embraced him, according to a report from The New York Times.The tech billionaire CEO of Twitter, Tesla, and SpaceX has been highly sought after by GOP fundraisers and Trump associates for years, who see him both as a meal ticket and a potential inspiration for the party. But Musk doesn’t have a solid record for political involvement. For example, he has promised to spend money on “free speech” lawsuits to support conservatives who claim that they are the victims of social media...
Trump Adviser Says Project 2025 Is “Pain in the Ass” for Campaign
Donald Trump’s campaign is still working to distance itself from the Heritage Foundation’s extremist blueprint to uproot American democracy, Project 2025.Speaking at the CNN-Politico Grill on Thursday, senior Trump adviser and co-campaign manager Chris LaCivita suggested that any reported link between Project 2025 and Trump’s plans for a potential second administration would be “complete and utter bullshit.”“The president has made it clear, these people do not speak for him, they do not speak for the campaign,” LaCivita told Politico’s politics bureau chief, Jonathan Martin, calling the project a “pain in the ass.”LaCivita added that it’s “pure speculation” to suggest that...
Team Trump Is Freaking Out Over Likelihood of Biden Replacement “Coup”
Team Trump seems to be growing increasingly nervous about the likelihood that they will have to face off against a different candidate in November, with a top Trump adviser calling the push to replace Joe Biden on the ballot “a coup.”Sitting down with Politico reporter Jonathan Martin at a CNN-Politico event at the Republican National Convention on Thursday, Trump campaign senior adviser and Republican strategist Chris LaCivita was asked how he’d feel about the replacement of Joe Biden. “Wouldn’t you like to know,” LaCivita quipped. “This is nothing more than an attempted coup by the Democratic Party,” he quickly relented.LaCivita...
J.D. Vance’s Venmo Offers Shocking Look Into Trump V.P.’s Inner Circle
Senator J.D. Vance’s public Venmo account shines a light into the many corners of the Republican vice presidential nominee’s inner circle, illuminating his long-standing ties with right-wing fascists, shadowy elites, and federal employees, according to a new report from WIRED.Vance’s public account on Venmo, a mobile payment app, was first discovered by a law enforcement and extremism researcher, who asked to remain anonymous. WIRED was able to verify that the account belonged to Vance. It’s worth noting that when setting up a Venmo account, the app offers users the opportunity to sync their phone contacts into their friends list. So...
Right-Wing Billionaire Behind Bud Light Boycott Exposed in Tax Filings
It turns out that the right-wing boycott of Bud Light in 2023 was helped along by funding from a conservative with a history of dark-money spending: Leonard Leo. The Guardian obtained 2022 tax filings showing that a group linked to Leo, the Concord Fund, donated $350,000 to Consumers Defense, part of Consumers’ Research, shortly before the latter group played a big role in the beer boycott. The boycott started over Bud Light’s use of transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney in an advertising campaign, resulting in threats to Mulvaney and Anheuser-Busch, as well as a drop in profits. The company abandoned and...
Biden Takes Another Massive Hit With Obama’s Behind-the-Scenes Leak
Former President Barack Obama has reportedly joined the slate of high-ranking Democrats who think that President Joe Biden ought to reconsider his candidacy in the presidential race. Obama has reportedly told his allies that he believes Biden’s path to victory in November has significantly narrowed and that his former running mate needs to start seriously considering the feasibility of his candidacy in 2024, multiple people familiar with the former president’s opinion told The Washington Post Thursday. In his conversations with allies, Obama has said he wants to protect Biden and his legacy, according to the Post. Should the president mount...
MAGA Begins Hunting People Who Made Trump Assassination Jokes
In recent days, ring-wing social media users have been sniffing out, doxxing, and hounding those who cracked offensive jokes or comments about last week’s attempted assassination of Donald Trump. Namely, Chaya Raichik, who runs the prominent far-right X account Libs of TikTok, has spent the week doggedly pursuing everyday retail workers, teachers, and public safety personnel who made insensitive remarks in the wake of the incident.For example, after one social media user posted a video confronting a Home Depot cashier for making a Facebook comment that read, “To bad they weren’t a better shooter!!!!!,” Raichik’s account shared the footage with...
Greg Abbott Promises to Keep Using Migrants as Political Pawn at RNC
Texas’s border battle with the Biden administration is apparently not going to end anytime soon, at least according to its governor.Speaking at the Republican National Convention on Wednesday, Governor Greg Abbott bragged about the contentious back-and-forth he had with federal border agents earlier this year. That spat ended with the Supreme Court siding in favor of the Biden administration. In a 5–4 decision, the high court ruled that Texas had overstepped its authority by placing razor wire along the Rio Grande section of the U.S.-Mexico border. It also gave the green light to the federal government to snip and move...
Watch: Republicans Bully Secret Service Head over Trump Shooting
Four Republican senators went ballistic as they chased Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle out of the Republican National Convention, demanding her resignation if she would not answer their questions about the assassination attempt on Donald Trump. Senators John Barrasso, Marsha Blackburn, James Lankford, and Kevin Cramer surrounded Cheatle in a suite at the convention Wednesday night. Blackburn posted a video of their furious encounter on X, which Fox News was able to caption. Barrasso, a Republican from Wyoming, said he was “very disappointed” after a dual congressional phone briefing earlier that day, during which Cheatle had failed to address all...
J.D. Vance’s RNC Speech Was a Total Bore. It May Have Been by Design.
Senator J.D. Vance’s speech at the Republican National Convention Wednesday night thoroughly underwhelmed the viewing audience, including Donald Trump. The newly anointed vice presidential nominee reportedly bored the convention audience in Milwaukee, with his small fist pumps and stories about rural Appalachia failing to win over a friendly crowd. Trump even appeared to be dozing off at times. An extremely underwhelming speech by J.D. Vance! So boring, Trump fell asleep! pic.twitter.com/O20eqyEZGW— Maxwell Alejandro Frost (@MaxwellFrostFL) July 18, 2024The speech didn’t receive much praise outside of die-hard MAGA Republicans on social media, with the consensus being that it was dull and fell flat. But that may have been by design, according to one observer, as Trump never likes to be overshadowed or have too much attention taken away from him.And Trump may not have chosen Vance for his speaking skills but rather for his connections to right-wing Silicon Valley bigwigs like Peter Thiel and David Sacks. Watch the full speech below to see for yourself.
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The New Republic is a liberal American publication focusing on various topics including domestic politics, news, culture, and the arts.
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