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The hard right, and their conspiracy theories about Pizzagate, Voting Machines, Mail-in Balloting and Fake school shootings are crazy and disgraceful, in my opi

The hard right, and their conspiracy theories about Pizzagate, Voting Machines, Mail-in Balloting and Fake school shootings are crazy and disgraceful, in my opinion. And I lost any respect I might have had for Trump after the aftermath of the 2020 election. But I'm equally disapproving of the left in their handling of the 2016 election and its aftermath, and the way they represented it as "stolen", as well as their narratives during the BLM "protests" and January 6 "insurrection". Imo, if Trump had really wanted a coup, he would have placed his people in top positions of the armed forces, and used actual armed soldiers. Q-anon and others involved on January 6 did not seem to have anywhere near the kind of organization to carry out an actual coup. Also, Twitter and outher outlets suppressing (then and even now) the Hunter laptop (not the porn, but the actual evidence of corruption that looked like it involved Joe) made it look super-partisan. Later on, the partisan divide arround covid, with crazy anti-vaxxers on one side, and similarly irrational support for excessive lockdowns and suppression of the WIV story on the other, it seemed like Twitter was contributing to the excesses of both sides. The world (and perhaps especially the US) needs a platform where moderates of both sides can meet to discuss their differences, and where moderation is (to the extent it is carried out) applied to the crazy people of BOTH sides when it becomes excessive. That way, one can hope, it may be possible to separate facts from matters of opinion from outrights falsehoods. If too many people consistently tow the party line (which many be the case for anyone consistently agreeing with their own side on all issues above), I think a breakup of the USA is inevitable. The result will be one Woke-merica and one Maga-merica, and quite possibly civil war. When Musk took over, I was hoping he would take the platform in a direction where it would support a moderate centre. So far, he has not made much progress.

bb88 4y ago
> That way, one can hope, it may be possible to separate facts from matters of opinion from outrights falsehoods. Jan. 6th was a based on a series of falsehoods. Fox News and several Republican politicians claimed it was a antifa "False Flag" operation the night after it happened. Fox News downplayed much of the Trump scandals in his presidency. So now turnabout is fair play I guess with the coverage of whatever's on Hunter Biden's laptop? The entire narrative is clouded by Giuliani and company apparently tampering with the data that made it to the NY Post. > .. and quite possibly civil war. So we need to restore Trump to the presidency, suspend the constitution, or whatever the right wing demands or there will be violence? Why can't it be just as simple Fox News, Alex Jones, OANN, and Newsmax agreeing to no longer manufacture outrage for ratings?
- trashtester 4y ago
  > So we need to restore Trump to the presidency, suspend the constitution, or whatever the right wing demands or there will be violence? Not what I'm saying at all, rather the opposite. But if both sides stop interpreting everything coming frome moderates on the other side in the worst possible light, that's a start in mitigating polarization.
  - bb88 4y ago
    Personally I don't think that's the issue. I think the issue is that social media is the most amazing tool for propaganda ever invented. The Russians realized it in 2016. One of the two political parties learned from that experience rather than wanted to fix it.
    - trashtester 4y ago
      > I think the issue is that social media is the most amazing tool for propaganda ever invented. The Russians realized it in 2016, and the data I've seen indicates that they promoted both Trump and Sanders at the time. > One of the two political parties learned from that experience rather than wanted to fix it. Both sides spread a lot of lies and even more half truths both in social media and more traditional media. The loyalists on both sides also both seem unable to spot where their own side is spreading disinformation and propaganda.

bb88 4y ago

> That way, one can hope, it may be possible to separate facts from matters of opinion from outrights falsehoods. Jan. 6th was a based on a series of falsehoods. Fox News and several Republican politicians claimed it was a antifa "False Flag" operation the night after it happened. Fox News downplayed much of the Trump scandals in his presidency. So now turnabout is fair play I guess with the coverage of whatever's on Hunter Biden's laptop? The entire narrative is clouded by Giuliani and company apparently tampering with the data that made it to the NY Post. > .. and quite possibly civil war. So we need to restore Trump to the presidency, suspend the constitution, or whatever the right wing demands or there will be violence? Why can't it be just as simple Fox News, Alex Jones, OANN, and Newsmax agreeing to no longer manufacture outrage for ratings?

trashtester 4y ago
> So we need to restore Trump to the presidency, suspend the constitution, or whatever the right wing demands or there will be violence? Not what I'm saying at all, rather the opposite. But if both sides stop interpreting everything coming frome moderates on the other side in the worst possible light, that's a start in mitigating polarization.
- bb88 4y ago
  Personally I don't think that's the issue. I think the issue is that social media is the most amazing tool for propaganda ever invented. The Russians realized it in 2016. One of the two political parties learned from that experience rather than wanted to fix it.
  - trashtester 4y ago
    > I think the issue is that social media is the most amazing tool for propaganda ever invented. The Russians realized it in 2016, and the data I've seen indicates that they promoted both Trump and Sanders at the time. > One of the two political parties learned from that experience rather than wanted to fix it. Both sides spread a lot of lies and even more half truths both in social media and more traditional media. The loyalists on both sides also both seem unable to spot where their own side is spreading disinformation and propaganda.