GOP is using rhetoric proven to succeed at grabbing power

The first 10 tweets of a 30-tweet thread:

What's happening in Florida with the GOP and Disney is incredibly important to understand.

Conspiracy theories are going to get people killed and rights will be trampled, all while the rest of us are left begging corporations to do something about it

1/https://t.co/7axCAHBP3x

— Jared Yates Sexton (@JYSexton) April 13, 2022

Red State Republicans are aggressively attacking vulnerable populations with weaponized legislation paid for and designed by their wealthy donors.

To get this accomplished, they're relying on QAnon conspiracy theories to frame the narrative.

2/ pic.twitter.com/dSj5usvQMT

— Jared Yates Sexton (@JYSexton) April 13, 2022

The entire strategy of the GOP right now is to use tested rhetoric and narratives to support their power grabs.

This is an old trick, and it relies on the idea that this legislation and antidemocratic maneuvers are necessary to defeat Evil. It legitimizes anything.

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— Jared Yates Sexton (@JYSexton) April 13, 2022

Though many mocked QAnon and dismissed it, what the conspiracy theory did was infect the GOP base, including many who had no idea what they were getting into.

It gave them an operating framework in which to accept violence and antidemocratic actions.

4/ pic.twitter.com/mhZX2ARuVn

— Jared Yates Sexton (@JYSexton) April 13, 2022

As always, it's important to remind people that QAnon is an update of the antisemitic, fascist conspiracy theory the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.

Fascists use this story to legitimize their actions, including violence, coups, and takeovers.

5/ pic.twitter.com/BFTAxvXpv2

— Jared Yates Sexton (@JYSexton) April 13, 2022

The Protocols/QAnon conspiracy theories claim that secret cabals of Jews are working behind the scenes to destroy nations and peoples.

This constitutes an invisible "war" in which the very survival of the people and nation are on the line. Legitimizing any action.

6/ pic.twitter.com/0ddPz9iZ88

— Jared Yates Sexton (@JYSexton) April 13, 2022

The QAnon conspiracy theory has become utterly inextricable from the GOP. It is at the base of everything they do, from the legislation they pass to the Big Lie that threatens our society.

That poison has set in and it's being used by so many people.

7/ pic.twitter.com/T0SclATKd4

— Jared Yates Sexton (@JYSexton) April 13, 2022

The incredibly wealthy donors who fund the GOP and their associated think tanks have used the QAnon narrative and fascist conspiracy theories to attack public education.

This is about both controlling information but also privatizing the system.

8/ pic.twitter.com/FPh4eziSRZ

— Jared Yates Sexton (@JYSexton) April 13, 2022

As a result, protests have sprouted up around the country by people who have no idea they're being weaponized by wealthy donors and think tanks.

That narrative, that there's an invisible war, is incredibly effective and is taking hold in so many places.

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— Jared Yates Sexton (@JYSexton) April 13, 2022

What's even more disturbing is that the same narrative peddled by QAnon and the Protocols of Zion is what empowers authoritarians like Viktor Orban.

His entire power base, which the GOP desires, is about "protecting" Western Civilization from this imaginary threat.

10/ pic.twitter.com/yT2ejwR7oF

— Jared Yates Sexton (@JYSexton) April 13, 2022

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Speaking of Orban, this from HuffingtonPost in late July 2022:

Zsuzsa Hegedüs, "a longtime advisor to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban[,] resigned on Tuesday, calling one of his recent speeches “a pure Nazi text worthy of Goebbels” in reference to Joseph Goebbels, Germany’s minister of propaganda under Adolf Hitler.

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Speaking in Romania on Saturday [July 23, 2022], Orban called on Europeans to “not become peoples of mixed-race.”

Orban also denounced a proposal by the European Commission for countries to voluntarily cut their natural gas consumption by 15% in case Russia limits gas supplies to Europe. European energy ministers have since agreed to the proposal.

“I do not see how it will be enforced – although, as I understand it, the past shows us German know-how on that,” Orban said, in an apparent reference to the gas chambers used by the Nazis to kill Jewish people and others.

Hegedüs, who is Jewish, announced her resignation soon after.

Sen. J.D. Vance Says The U.S. 'Could Learn From' Viktor Orbán's Policies The Ohio Republican is one of the top contenders to become Donald Trump's vice presidential pick ahead of the 2024 presidential election. Marita Vlachou, HuffPost, May 20, 2024

Speaking of Romania: Romanian Court Forces State To Recognize Trans Man's Identity In Historic Ruling. Arian Mirzarafie-Ahi, a trans man with dual Romanian-British citizenship, will receive a birth certificate reflecting his gender identity after a Bucharest court enforced a landmark 2024 EU ruling. Erin Reed, Apr 01, 2026

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It's not an accident:

Just so we’re clear, Republican controlled states aren’t just spontaneously passing the same bills capitalizing on conspiracy theories.

It’s an orchestrated campaign by think tanks funded by incredibly wealthy people who want to destroy public education and further their agenda.

— Jared Yates Sexton (@JYSexton) April 10, 2022

Those billionaires and millionaires funding the GOP and their universe of think tanks are dedicated to destroying government, democracy, and literally impediment to further enriching and empowering themselves.

That’s what’s happening right now.

— Jared Yates Sexton (@JYSexton) April 10, 2022

We're living under the Cult of Climate Inaction. It doesn't have to be like this.

You may want to see "Why the US is so horribly incapable of meaningful climate action." Analysis by Zachary B. Wolf, CNN. July 18, 2022. He predicts: "Don't expect anything large and meaningful from the US government."

"Less power for the EPA. In June the conservatives who will control the court for decades denuded the EPA of its ability to, as CNN wrote, broadly regulate carbon emissions from existing power plants.

It also upended years of doctrine by which the federal government assumed authority to regulate everything from climate policy to worker safety.

Congress is dysfunctional. Busting the federal bureaucracy back to the Gilded Age might sound good in a legal seminar, as in demanding more guidance from Congress.

But the problem is that the growing tribalism of US politics means Congress cannot agree to do big things. Climate change, which scientists have long argued is ultimately an existential threat, is the biggest."

I'm going to propose a very provocative, but I believe true proposition. That is, we're all living in a cult, and have all been living in a cult for many generations. For so long, it has long been forgotten that things weren't always like that.
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— Stephen Barlow (@SteB777) June 12, 2022

We are in a climate and ecological crisis and in the words of the IPCC and the UN Secretary General @antonioguterres, we are facing an "unliveable future", unless there is radical action to address the climate and ecological emergency.https://t.co/AMJozJWovj
4/

— Stephen Barlow (@SteB777) June 12, 2022

Again, I point to what the UN Secretary General says to show it is not just what I say. I'm not suggesting we just slavishly follow what he says. However, he was summing up the best scientific evidence humankind has on the situation.https://t.co/LsHJFqxVqm
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— Stephen Barlow (@SteB777) June 12, 2022

It really isn't in the interest of anyone that we fail to address the climate and ecological emergency, and create an unliveable future. However, it's in the interests of our leaders and the wealthiest and most powerful people, to put off taking action for as long as possible.
9/

— Stephen Barlow (@SteB777) June 12, 2022

The trouble is we have lived in societies controlled and run by powerful and wealthy people, for their own ends, for so many generations, that everyone has forgotten that it was not always like this, and need not be like this.
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— Stephen Barlow (@SteB777) June 12, 2022

I do realize that often activists, climate scientists etc, get accused of being the ones in a cult. However, this is a classic case of projection, because warnings about the seriousness of the climate and ecological crisis, are based on massive scientific evidence.
19/

— Stephen Barlow (@SteB777) June 12, 2022

Cults often do not die with their leader. You could argue that organized religions are very long-lived cults. This is why full system change is necessary, because the current system basically is this cult.https://t.co/YuHkVbEu46
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— Stephen Barlow (@SteB777) June 12, 2022

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The famous Princeton study from ‘14 showing the people’s will has near zero effect on what government does & that outcomes r almost entirely driven by big $ & private interest groups is the skeleton key that explains EVERYTHING going on in America right now.

— Adam McKay (@GhostPanther) May 27, 2022

https://t.co/gqngNITuak

— Adam McKay (@GhostPanther) May 27, 2022

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Scientists say we have to do everything we can to cut emissions, "including supply-side cuts"

"China may be the biggest emitter overall, but the average American is responsible for nearly twice as much climate pollution as the average person in China. And in densely populated India, one of the world’s biggest climate polluters, per capita emissions are significantly below the global average." — As climate chaos accelerates, which countries are polluting the most?, Laura Paddison and Annette Choi, CNN, December 1, 2023

The Yglesias piece on cutting FF supply is wildly bad. Demonstrates just how detrimental an econ 101 education can be. Hard to know where to begin, but a few things:
1. Nobody is arguing for supply-side policy alone. Combined w/ demand-side policy -> large emissions cuts...

— Mark Paul (@MarkVinPaul) June 15, 2022

2. Can't talk about "deadweight loss" from carbon pricing w/out talking about the costs of the negative externality. That's the whole ballgame! Acts as though climate change and pollution don't exist. They do.

— Mark Paul (@MarkVinPaul) June 15, 2022

3. Government debt is not today, nor will be, the problem. The real debt we leave future generations is the carbon in the atmosphere. Most scientific studies suggest we need to do everything feasibly, including supply-side cuts, to reduce emissions. Period.

— Mark Paul (@MarkVinPaul) June 15, 2022

4. Earlier, he pretends to care about regressivity. Well, pricing is regressive. That's why many of us argue for a carbon & dividend. It addresses regressively. But most importantly it's an insurance policy for the climate, ensuring we hit emissions goals. Prices can't do that.

— Mark Paul (@MarkVinPaul) June 15, 2022

5. "Trust the process." Well, the process got us here. Enough said. I don't trust the process, and can say that anyone who actual studies the climate is fighting like hell to rapidly reduce emissions by all means possible. /fin

— Mark Paul (@MarkVinPaul) June 15, 2022

For those interested, @riogranderift has a solid take on the piece too. https://t.co/jCvmTJQBgz

— Mark Paul (@MarkVinPaul) June 15, 2022

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I argue that mainstream environmental groups have made a terrible mistake in imagining that incremental change is quicker and easier to achieve than system change.
System change is - and has always been - our only realistic option. https://t.co/TQBGTn7AHe

— George Monbiot (@GeorgeMonbiot) July 18, 2022

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Or not cutting down trees...?

A friend who is a municipal arborist just called to tell me about a guy who cut down 32 big mature trees on his neighbor's NJ property to get a better view of NYC. He hired a guy who hired another guy. Cut them down and left the debris there. The fine per tree is $1000 so the 1/

— Create Alliances for Better and Prepare for Worse. (@SamAsIAm) June 26, 2023

Speaking of Yglesias opinions

When will centrists stop letting their fetish for policing other people’s language get in the way of popular policy goals

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— Tom Scocca (@tomscocca.bsky.social) December 18, 2024 at 12:46 PM

That's right - @georgemonbiot.bsky.social is the guest on this week's episode of From Below the Balcony, the Republic Podcast. Watch it NOW on YouTube or listen wherever you get your podcasts! #AbolishTheMonarchy www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFuB...

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— Republic (@republiccampaign.bsky.social) July 2, 2026 at 6:11 AM

Do we give up on a livable planet because a government agency isn’t handling it?

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled badly for the global climate in West Virginia vs. EPA.

"Supreme Court’s EPA ruling upends Biden’s environmental agenda," Maxine Joselow, Washington Post, June 30, 2022

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So, let me get this straight -- a law written 50 years ago doesn't apply because regulating CO2 is too different. But an amendment written 240 years ago for muzzle-loading guns absolutely applies to semi-auto guns with 50-round magazines.

They're just making shit up.

— Dr. Ben R. Hodges (@H2odges) June 30, 2022

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The EPA can't effectively address climate change — not after this ruling.

But we aren't the EPA. What do we do?

What I’m not seeing a lot of people get is that the West Va v EPA verdict is a harbinger. It’s the first step not the death blow. Overstating it obscures that, leaving people thinking it’s all over and ill-prepared for what comes next.🧵

— Amy Westervelt (@amywestervelt) July 1, 2022

It also obscures the failures of US government to do even a tenth of what’s necessary even before this ruling. They now have a narrow and rapidly closing window to act and need to be pressured at every turn to deliver; people who think the fight is already lost don’t pressure

— Amy Westervelt (@amywestervelt) July 1, 2022

We also need to move past this idea of permission to act, and only within existing structures. The rightwing judicial takeover has just begun—the end looks like no EPA. What happens then? We just give up on a livable planet because a government agency isn’t handling it?

— Amy Westervelt (@amywestervelt) July 1, 2022

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Best line I read today: “To be alive and explore nature now is to read by the light of a library as it burns.” — Tom Mustill

— Jill Miller (@jillmiller617) July 16, 2022

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See: "Democrats Want Biden To Go 'Beast Mode' And Fight Climate Change Via Executive Action." Time is of the essence if the U.S. wants to avoid a global climate catastrophe, Democratic senators warned after hopes for climate legislation faded once again. Igor Bobic. Huffpost. Jul 18, 2022.

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"The most common question I get asked when I give talks about the #ClimateCrisis is "but what can I do as an individual?"
Here's my answer...
NOTHING.
We *cannot* address the #ClimateCrisis as individuals.
The crisis is a symptom of a system of social relations, and therefore we must cooperate to *collectively* change that form of social organization.
Luckily for us this is what humans excel at!"
— Dr. Aaron Thierry, Twitter, August 10, 2023

Thierry gives examples here: "How to Defeat the Fossil Goliath?" Dr. Aaron Thierry / filmsforaction.org / Nov 21, 2022

J. K. Rowling, creator of monsters

From a new article:

"Trans-rights advocates say Rowling, a self-professed expert at monster creation, is using those skills to whip up a false narrative that casts trans people as a threat to women and their rights.

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Even as she wages battle online, Rowling has generally declined to allow herself to be meaningfully challenged. She thrust Forstater into the spotlight with a tweet and promoted the work of Bindel and Moore — all of whom agreed to interviews — but she has personally refused to engage when she doesn’t have full control over the text. 'JKR isn’t doing interviews on this subject,' her publicist said."

— "The Metamorphosis of J. K. Rowling," by Sarah Wheaton, POLITICO Europe, June 30, 2022

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Rowling is in the same camp with Baroness Emma Nicholson who continues to vote against gay marriage.

In 2015, @jk_rowling said she was vicariously "proud" that Ireland had voted for marriage equality.

In 2022, she is blowing kisses to those who vehemently opposed it.

She's either had her principles radicalised away by gender criticism, or her 2015 tweets were performative. pic.twitter.com/0rLEkRZOPt

— Aidan Comerford (@AidanCTweets) April 24, 2022

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JK Rowling has fully morphed from a vocal and outward danger to children to a vocal and outward danger to all LGBTQ people. She's RTing articles naming trans as homophobia while welcoming folks back to twitter banned for saying they preferred AIDS to orgs supporting trans people.

— take it e zje ✨🌘 (@emmy_zje) April 23, 2022

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See also: "The Misrepresentation of Compassion and Solidarity". It's a 9-minute read on Medium.

My book: Painting Dragons: What Storytellers Need to Know About Writing Eunuch Villains

'Queer theory' is a dirty word? To whom?

Sometimes you hear cis/het people saying resentfully that being trans/queer is some kind of golden ticket to the publishing industry. It's not, and there are specific barriers faced by trans/queer writers on trans/queer topics.

I’ve found the recent trend of people post Tweet threads recapping the major arguments of their books helpful and productive, so I wanted to do one for my new book The Digital Closet (https://t.co/D7HYWDjzhF) from @mitpbookstore. #queerbooks #LGBT #LGBTQ #LGBTQIA #censorship 1/17

— Alex Monea (@alex_monea) April 16, 2022

How's the Digital Closet going? Amazon.com won't let MIT Press categorize the book as "queer theory" because Amazon treats "queer" as a dirty forbidden word.

Recently, one of our marketers discovered that Amazon does not allow "queer theory" to be included as a keyword in enhanced product descriptions (the fancy graphics you sometimes see at the bottom of a book page on Amazon).

— MIT Press 🏳️‍🌈 (@mitpress) June 29, 2022

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On 13 Jan 2023, the Guardian published a letter to the editor that said: "I suspect that many of the others, like me, consider the term to be insulting and derogatory, and certainly not “reclaimed”. I am a gay man of 66 years with many friends and acquaintances, and know no one who would refer to themselves as queer. It would seem a small minority of activists has encouraged the media to use the word without considering its offensiveness to many people." (What to make of the ahistorical claims that only a small number of people with diverse, marginalized genders/sexualities have used the word queer and that they are unaware of its potential offensiveness? It is simply incorrect.)

See also: "Does the Title of 'Queer' Still Promise a Radical Book?," a 42-minute read by Kravitz M. on Medium.

Clackety-clackety-bing! photo by Art Hupy, c. 1965 © Creative Commons. University of Washington Libraries, Digital Collections. Flickr.

US trans people: Now is a good time to update your federal ID

Heads up:

I just want to say that if you're trans in the US, now is the time to get your federal identity documents changed. The State Department is Self-ID for passports and Social Security will be Self ID in autumn of this year. Both of those will not last long.

— 🏳️‍⚧️adelaide, catgirl in heat🏳️‍🌈 (@duchess1183) June 28, 2022

I understand that not everyone is in a position to change their names legally for a variety of reasons. I just want to give you all a heads up that this is probably as easy as it's going to get for a long time

— 🏳️‍⚧️adelaide, catgirl in heat🏳️‍🌈 (@duchess1183) June 28, 2022