The Clock Strikes Thirteen

"What happened? It’s like a spell broke. Since November’s election (re-election?) of President Donald Trump, the woke is going away, and all sorts of problems are resolving themselves. But why? There are several reasons, but basically, it’s a preference cascade.

In law they talk about the proverbial thirteenth chime of the clock, which is not only wrong in itself, but which calls into question everything that has come before. Most of our institutions have been chiming thirteen for quite a while, and people have noticed. But it’s not enough to notice.

Soviet citizens knew their system was founded on lies, too, but the system kept them isolated, unaware that so many of their fellow citizens felt the same way, and unable to come together to act. This technique, used by totalitarians of all sorts, is called “preference falsification,” in which people are forced to profess belief in things that they know not to be true. If the powers that be are good at it, virtually every citizen can hate them and want them out, but no one will do anything because every citizen who feels that way thinks they’re the only one, or one of a tiny number.

In his classic book, Private Truths, Public Lies: The Social Consequences of Preference Falsification, economist Timur Kuran notes how governments, and social movements, do their best to enforce this sort of ideological uniformity. People tend to hide unpopular views to avoid ostracism or punishment; they stop hiding them when they feel safe......."

In America, the left spent years bullying people into accepting “woke” ideas on race, gender, and politics. There’s considerable reason to believe that a majority of Americans never accepted these ideas, but between constant media repetition, and the risk of being mobbed and canceled if you disagreed with them, most people for years were afraid to stand up. But two things put a stop to that.

One was Donald Trump’s election. The other – and the two are related – was Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter, now X, which is now a free-speech platform with roughly equal representation of Democrats and Republicans. Both had the effect of blowing up the lefty bubble and letting people realize that they, not the woke, were the actual majority......" - Glenn Reynolds

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In the name of fairness, here's a word from the opposite side alternative universe:

CNN’s Van Jones Frets ‘Fringe’ Has Replaced ‘Mainstream’ Media: ‘We’re on Cable News Getting 1-2 Million’ While They’re ‘Getting 14 Million Streams’

Squinty Joe Gets All Condescending and Stuff at His Remaining Viewer.

Festivus arrived weeks early on the set of Morning Joe as Squinty Scarborough launched into an airing of grievances against his own audience. It was a bitter and condescending diatribe directed at viewers who feel miffed or even betrayed by his meeting with President-elect Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago last month.

For nearly a decade, MSNBC’s Morning Joe crew of mostly ex spooks and disgraced ex-government officials and TDS infected opinion pimps have been telling viewers what a horrible person DJT is. Scarborough has repeatedly called him a fascist and just this April said you can’t have a “meeting in the middle” with someone like Trump. This is ugly stuff, but the backdrop in front of which Morning Joe has operated.

The issue here is the shift in tone from Scarborough and co-host Meat Puppet Mika since they met with Trump after his victory to restart communications. After the meeting, they told viewers they will wait to see if Trump can approach “all sides” of the political divide and be “a leader who can bring them together,” as if the two had not spent years explaining that such a thing is impossible.

When the hosts did informed their viewers of the visit last month, the viewers and pretty much everyone else went into pillow biting mode. First Maddow exposed as a phony, and now Squinty & Meat Puppet go MAGA?!!

There’s speculation about why Squinty & Meat Puppet  are suddenly interested in a “restart” with Trump and acting with “civility.” None of the possibilities portend anything good. Days after the Morning Joe hosts revealed they met with Trump, CNN published a report – which Scarborough and Brzezinski deny – that they’re afraid of being targeted by Trump when he retakes office. That would be an understandable concern, but if true, this would simply mean Morning Joe is compromised.

Pundits cannot credibly cover a person if they fear that person to the point where they seek a meeting to see if they’re going to be in trouble for saying mean things. But let’s say the hosts are telling the truth when they say they don’t fear Trump.

In that case, the explanation is far worse because that would, for all intents and purposes, mean they were being disingenuous in their commentary about Trump all these years. He’s not that bad after all, they insist, after claiming he’s an irredeemable fascist for whom there is no “meeting in the middle.”

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Your Almost Semi-World Famous Official 'Big Red America Is On Our Way Back' Big Ass Weekending Open Thread.

Your Beloved Blog Editrix Turns Things Over to You, the Readers. 

Got Something to Say?  The Floor is Yours.

Your Open Thread Holiday Bartender is this guy. He claims to be Bill Murray,
but he has no I.D. The dog likes him so we're going with it.

Well, That Took Longer Than I Thought It Would.

Democrat Rep Claims DOGE Is ‘Unconstitutional and Illegal’ 

California Representative Zoe Lofgren, who I believe once played Left Guard for the Green Bay Packers said Thursday on CNN that the proposed Department of Government Efficiency headed by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, would be “unconstitutional and illegal.”

“Well, it’s illegal. You know they haven’t asked to meet with me, but the impoundment of funds that have been appropriated by the Congress is unconstitutional and illegal. There is no such Department of Government Efficiency it’s made up. So good luck to them." 

I was betting it would take Dems just days to spit ball DOGE, but thinking through a waterfall of tears and a bar full of scotch after the election is tuff I guess. Afterall, spending government receipts like it's their money and growing government is the lifeblood of democrat pols.  

 

Like Don Quixote on a Three Legged Donkey Revisited

From a June 2021 DMF post "Like Don Quixote on a Three Legged Donkey"  a few forward looking quotes by your beloved Blog Editrix:

"It seems so long ago Joe Biden raised his hand and bold face lied to God and the entire nation he would faithfully carry out the duty of defending the Constitution and Country from enemies both foreign and domestic. He has done neither.  His pack of rabid neo-marxist, racial identity adherence yelling "our democracy is in danger" placed in positions of power is not going unnoticed by anyone paying a least bit of attention. The dems party's control of the White House circus, Senate, and the House is just a few months old, and it looks like the fully expected incompetency has risen to view.  The border situation is intentional, and more and more Americans see it as such....."

Convinced just months ago they finally had the country firmly in their socialist's grasp, even with the media carrying their feces, dems are now privately in pillow biting mode....." 

There's always a danger when commenting on politics to believe that the way things are now is the way they will always be.  But it's also the case that the democrat's contingent of disturbed anti-Semitic, anti-White radicals pushing far left wing agendas, coming redistricting, and growing minority vote for Republicans scare the shit out of dems who face a future with an ever-narrower path to power."

From the comments section by regular DMFer 'Twiz': 

"The Dems pulled out all the plugs and have kicked this Country in the ballz, and haven't let up for a moment since the stolen election. Joe* continues to embarrass us on the World stage, undoing all the good that Trump did. I only hope to live long enough to see this Administration crumble and have the most epic failure seen yet, hopefully not at a higher cost to the Country."

I'm here to say that despite our best efforts, dangerous Ninja Rabbits dumped in his yard late at night and boxes of poisonous spiders left on his doorstep, Twiz did indeed live to see the end of a painful incompetent failure come to pass.   

I Thought This was Already Settled...

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