For me, the dividing line is two fold for who to trust. On the right, if you're pro-Trump or Anti-vax, I assume bad faith or ignorance. On the left, if you think protesting for nights on end in the middle of a Pandemic because one person was killed by one cop, then I think you've been captured by a religious type ideology. All identity ideology is actually racist ideology in my opinion.
No MAGA. No WOKE. That's my basic rule. So Sherma, Dawkins, Harris, Andrew Sullivan. All good. James Lindsay, both of the Weinstein Brothers, Rogan now.. hmmm. Not so much.
The bigger issue on why the election was lost. Media collusion. Letting JB hide in his basement. 95% negative publicity on Trump. Pfizer holding back the vaccine until after the election. Fake Russian collusion for 3 years by the media. On and on. And I don't even prefer DT as the Republican candidate. The left is destroying this country.
1. I don't remember Biden "hiding in the basement". Please refresh my memory
2. The negative publicity on Trump is at least partially because Trump is a money maker as a public figure. But it's also because he was objectively the most insane, corrupt and stupid Commander in Chief our nation's ever seen.
3. Pfizer didn't hold back anything. That's conspiracy thinking. (Show me legit evidence to the contrary.)
4. Some of the Russian evidence was overblown and the Trump family was clearly too incompetent to directly collude if they even wanted too. But Trump was clearly Putin's useful idiot. And the other 800 lb gorilla is all the misinformation that Russia pumped into our election system. Not just for Trump. Also for far left groups. Putin infilltrated all the edge groups. NRA, BLM, Proud Boys, ANTIFA. Read the Mueller report. Russia has been and still is dividing us. The fact that we keep electing lame old people like Trump, Biden, Bernie & Hillary is all part of Russia's plan. This stuff is public record.
4. The woke stuff is bad. So is the Maga stuff. And again, it's all part of the same psy-ops.
If you are an advocate of limited constitutional government, individual rights and social as well as economic freedom, whom in the world do you vote for in America in 2022?
When I read the title ("What were they THINKING?" emphasis mine) I was ready to point out that the problem was belief not thought. Dr Shermer nailed it once again.
One day, when the stability of our democracy is no longer threatened, we will see the shame of Jan 6 will discourage future Americans from physically opposing tyrants - even if that is an appropriate response. So we must double-down on peaceful support of democracy to prevent tyrants from getting that far.
I watched the interview, read the sample of the book, then bought the ebook.
I knew that there was something wrong with the narrative about January 6. This was deeply upsetting to see the spin and lies built around what happened.
BTW, the only reason I commented, is because of the bizarre claim by Michael that:
"Guns were brandished, clubs were swung, flagpoles were thrust, doors and windows were shattered, and the result was five dead...."
It is disturbing to me that Michael has not really done his homework. That has happened too many times for me to be comfortable.
Shermer is conspicuously silent when supporters of the Democratic Party behave similar to or worse than the January 6th rioters, such as their 2011 seizure of the Wisconsin state capitol, their 2017 storming of the Supreme Court and invasion of the U.S. Capitol, their 2018 take-over of the Senate office building, their 2020 attack against Rand Paul following the Republican National Convention, and the many violent protests that have occurred all across the country during the past couple of years.
Shermer claims that Republicans are seeking to thwart democracy and override the will of the people by objecting to the Electoral College’s certified 2020 results. But that’s exactly what the Democrats did following the elections in 2000, 2004 and 2016 - after the last three Republican candidates won the White House.
For nearly two years, the Trump-Russia collusion story towered over the information landscape and devoured the attention of the media and the public. The total number of articles on the topic produced by the New York Times was more than 3,000, amounting to multiple articles per day for the period in question. This was journalism as if conducted under the impulse of an obsessive-compulsive disorder. Virtually every report either implied or proclaimed culpability. Every day in the news marked the beginning of the Trumpian End Times. Thanks to relentless repetition, the Russian collusion story, though refuted objectively, has become firmly embedded in the minds of progressives.
According to a Quinnipiac University poll in early 2021, 76% of self-identified Republicans believe there was “widespread fraud in the 2020 election.” But, according to a 2018 Gallup poll, 78% of Democrats believed Russians not only “interfered” in 2016, but “changed the outcome” of that election. So, more Democrats consider the 2016 election “stolen” than Republicans who feel likewise about 2020.
Speaking about Trump and January 6th, 2021, Hillary Clinton said "I hope historically we will find out who he’s beholden to, who pulls his strings. I would love to see his phone records to see whether he was talking to Putin the day that the insurgents invaded our Capitol."
Never mind that the Mueller Report debunked the entire Russian Collusion hoax. The Democrat's endless infatuation with the Trump-Russia story has become deranged. Will Michael Shermer ever step up and question the Democrat's conspiracy theories? Not likely.
He didn't hide in his basement. Were you living in a cave. Pfizer released the vaccine right after the election. Pfizer has a conviction record of fraud, bribery and racketeering fraud on record. You think they didn't have it several days earlier. Kool-aid. Russian collusion totally initiated on lies. Fact.
Well, one thing is for sure. I know how to thread in the comment section better than you. Ha! Honestly, I don't know anything about Biden "hiding in the basement". I don't watch MSNBC much anymore, but I don't watch Fox or right wing outfits either. I get my news from AP or Reuters. And never opinion pieces from major news outlets. So I missed that story.
Pharma companies are suspect for sure. Especially on marketing end. But medicines still work, thanks to mostly Democratic regulations. The entire world, in small (very small) part thanks to the Trump administration's "Project Warpspeed" got the vaccines done in record time. As far as we know they're safe too. It's a risk but a better risk than Delta running wild. Without the vaccines Delta would have collapsed society last summer. Luckily Omicron seems mild. But I'm going off on a tangent. The vaccines aren't saviors. Covid might kill us all yet. I won't blame anyone. It's just bad luck. Where were we?
Russia. All I can say is read the Mueller report. The interference with fake rally ads for both right & left wing groups is undisputed. All the "division" can almost be put at Putin's feet entirely. Yes, we've had divisions since the Civil War. Up until the beginning of this century it was going well. Putin is supporting both actual white supremacists as well as insane CRT professors who think everyone is a white supremacist. Russia actually wants us to have a race war. https://repository.law.umich.edu/mjrl/vol24/iss2/2/
"Guns were brandished, clubs were swung, flagpoles were thrust, doors and windows were shattered, and the result was five dead...."
The only guns brandished were by the police.
The only death was an unarmed veteran shot by an officer.
Dr. Shermer, I expect much better from you. If I can't trust you to get the facts correct, who am I to trust?
Respectfully,
Bob Bevard
For me, the dividing line is two fold for who to trust. On the right, if you're pro-Trump or Anti-vax, I assume bad faith or ignorance. On the left, if you think protesting for nights on end in the middle of a Pandemic because one person was killed by one cop, then I think you've been captured by a religious type ideology. All identity ideology is actually racist ideology in my opinion.
No MAGA. No WOKE. That's my basic rule. So Sherma, Dawkins, Harris, Andrew Sullivan. All good. James Lindsay, both of the Weinstein Brothers, Rogan now.. hmmm. Not so much.
I could be wrong. Don't think I am.
No MAGA, no WOKE. My new slogan. Thanks!
Yes! I wanna' make it a hashtag. #noMAGAnoWOKE
The bigger issue on why the election was lost. Media collusion. Letting JB hide in his basement. 95% negative publicity on Trump. Pfizer holding back the vaccine until after the election. Fake Russian collusion for 3 years by the media. On and on. And I don't even prefer DT as the Republican candidate. The left is destroying this country.
1. I don't remember Biden "hiding in the basement". Please refresh my memory
2. The negative publicity on Trump is at least partially because Trump is a money maker as a public figure. But it's also because he was objectively the most insane, corrupt and stupid Commander in Chief our nation's ever seen.
3. Pfizer didn't hold back anything. That's conspiracy thinking. (Show me legit evidence to the contrary.)
4. Some of the Russian evidence was overblown and the Trump family was clearly too incompetent to directly collude if they even wanted too. But Trump was clearly Putin's useful idiot. And the other 800 lb gorilla is all the misinformation that Russia pumped into our election system. Not just for Trump. Also for far left groups. Putin infilltrated all the edge groups. NRA, BLM, Proud Boys, ANTIFA. Read the Mueller report. Russia has been and still is dividing us. The fact that we keep electing lame old people like Trump, Biden, Bernie & Hillary is all part of Russia's plan. This stuff is public record.
4. The woke stuff is bad. So is the Maga stuff. And again, it's all part of the same psy-ops.
I could be wrong.
Here's a memory refresher:
https://nypost.com/2021/03/02/biden-won-white-house-with-put-your-dumb-uncle-in-the-basement-strategy-book/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Idk4tKtwZ7U
https://waynedupree.com/2020/08/biden-basement-lair-behind-scenes-photo/
https://redstate.com/nick-arama/2020/05/26/biden-basically-admits-he-has-been-hiding-in-his-basement-its-working-pretty-well-n138237
Hmm. Seems like a good move. Let Trump make a fool of himself. Which he did. That's why he lost by 7 million.
If you are an advocate of limited constitutional government, individual rights and social as well as economic freedom, whom in the world do you vote for in America in 2022?
Andrew Yang.
Pretty shallow read!
How so?
I was initially going to respond...until I read your response to Tom's comment above.
I'm confused. You agree with me or with Tom?
Well said!
When I read the title ("What were they THINKING?" emphasis mine) I was ready to point out that the problem was belief not thought. Dr Shermer nailed it once again.
One day, when the stability of our democracy is no longer threatened, we will see the shame of Jan 6 will discourage future Americans from physically opposing tyrants - even if that is an appropriate response. So we must double-down on peaceful support of democracy to prevent tyrants from getting that far.
An answer to Mr. Shermer's question: They weren't.
Alleged… “Insurrection”.
Yup.
This is the Glenn Greenwald interview with the author of the book, January 6, by Julie Kelly.
She hits the main points in the interview.
The Extremist 1/6 Prosecutions Proceed with Little Attention - Interview with Journalist Julie Kelly
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKq7YZRQy0Y
I watched the interview, read the sample of the book, then bought the ebook.
I knew that there was something wrong with the narrative about January 6. This was deeply upsetting to see the spin and lies built around what happened.
BTW, the only reason I commented, is because of the bizarre claim by Michael that:
"Guns were brandished, clubs were swung, flagpoles were thrust, doors and windows were shattered, and the result was five dead...."
It is disturbing to me that Michael has not really done his homework. That has happened too many times for me to be comfortable.
Shermer is conspicuously silent when supporters of the Democratic Party behave similar to or worse than the January 6th rioters, such as their 2011 seizure of the Wisconsin state capitol, their 2017 storming of the Supreme Court and invasion of the U.S. Capitol, their 2018 take-over of the Senate office building, their 2020 attack against Rand Paul following the Republican National Convention, and the many violent protests that have occurred all across the country during the past couple of years.
Shermer claims that Republicans are seeking to thwart democracy and override the will of the people by objecting to the Electoral College’s certified 2020 results. But that’s exactly what the Democrats did following the elections in 2000, 2004 and 2016 - after the last three Republican candidates won the White House.
For nearly two years, the Trump-Russia collusion story towered over the information landscape and devoured the attention of the media and the public. The total number of articles on the topic produced by the New York Times was more than 3,000, amounting to multiple articles per day for the period in question. This was journalism as if conducted under the impulse of an obsessive-compulsive disorder. Virtually every report either implied or proclaimed culpability. Every day in the news marked the beginning of the Trumpian End Times. Thanks to relentless repetition, the Russian collusion story, though refuted objectively, has become firmly embedded in the minds of progressives.
According to a Quinnipiac University poll in early 2021, 76% of self-identified Republicans believe there was “widespread fraud in the 2020 election.” But, according to a 2018 Gallup poll, 78% of Democrats believed Russians not only “interfered” in 2016, but “changed the outcome” of that election. So, more Democrats consider the 2016 election “stolen” than Republicans who feel likewise about 2020.
Speaking about Trump and January 6th, 2021, Hillary Clinton said "I hope historically we will find out who he’s beholden to, who pulls his strings. I would love to see his phone records to see whether he was talking to Putin the day that the insurgents invaded our Capitol."
Never mind that the Mueller Report debunked the entire Russian Collusion hoax. The Democrat's endless infatuation with the Trump-Russia story has become deranged. Will Michael Shermer ever step up and question the Democrat's conspiracy theories? Not likely.
He didn't hide in his basement. Were you living in a cave. Pfizer released the vaccine right after the election. Pfizer has a conviction record of fraud, bribery and racketeering fraud on record. You think they didn't have it several days earlier. Kool-aid. Russian collusion totally initiated on lies. Fact.
Well, one thing is for sure. I know how to thread in the comment section better than you. Ha! Honestly, I don't know anything about Biden "hiding in the basement". I don't watch MSNBC much anymore, but I don't watch Fox or right wing outfits either. I get my news from AP or Reuters. And never opinion pieces from major news outlets. So I missed that story.
Pharma companies are suspect for sure. Especially on marketing end. But medicines still work, thanks to mostly Democratic regulations. The entire world, in small (very small) part thanks to the Trump administration's "Project Warpspeed" got the vaccines done in record time. As far as we know they're safe too. It's a risk but a better risk than Delta running wild. Without the vaccines Delta would have collapsed society last summer. Luckily Omicron seems mild. But I'm going off on a tangent. The vaccines aren't saviors. Covid might kill us all yet. I won't blame anyone. It's just bad luck. Where were we?
Russia. All I can say is read the Mueller report. The interference with fake rally ads for both right & left wing groups is undisputed. All the "division" can almost be put at Putin's feet entirely. Yes, we've had divisions since the Civil War. Up until the beginning of this century it was going well. Putin is supporting both actual white supremacists as well as insane CRT professors who think everyone is a white supremacist. Russia actually wants us to have a race war. https://repository.law.umich.edu/mjrl/vol24/iss2/2/