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1. Embed this notice
   Paul Cantrell (inthehands@hachyderm.io)'s status on Thursday, 04-Jul-2024 03:14:07 JST Paul Cantrell

   • Misuse Case

   “NYT and other outlets try to *manifest* ‘Biden’s dropping out’ like it’s WMDs in Iraq”
   💯

   From @MisuseCase: https://twit.social/@MisuseCase/112723886098891150

   • Embed this notice
     Paul Cantrell (inthehands@hachyderm.io)'s status on Thursday, 04-Jul-2024 07:42:37 JST Paul Cantrell

     in reply to

     Love Biden or loathe him, it’s important to recognize the political ratfuckery going on: this whole “Biden dropping out” thing is being astroturfed. It’s a pitch that targets the left and is appealing to the left — but it is not coming from the left.

     Before jumping on that bandwagon, take a moment to ask who’s steering it. Because it’s not you.

   • Embed this notice
     Advanced Persistent Teapot (http_error_418@hachyderm.io)'s status on Thursday, 04-Jul-2024 07:44:05 JST Advanced Persistent Teapot

     in reply to

     @inthehands yeah that whole thing stank to me like a week old kipper

   • Embed this notice
     Paul Cantrell (inthehands@hachyderm.io)'s status on Thursday, 04-Jul-2024 07:44:56 JST Paul Cantrell

     in reply to

     Who •is• steering that bandwagon?

     I don’t know, but whoever it is, they’re holding the NYT’s leash.

   • Embed this notice
     Paul Cantrell (inthehands@hachyderm.io)'s status on Thursday, 04-Jul-2024 07:48:32 JST Paul Cantrell

     in reply to

     • Sami Juvonen

     It's not even a new playbook. Thanks to @sjuvonen for a much-needed dose of recent history:
     https://infosec.exchange/@sjuvonen/112724986445621946

   • Embed this notice
     Paul Cantrell (inthehands@hachyderm.io)'s status on Thursday, 04-Jul-2024 07:49:11 JST Paul Cantrell

     in reply to

     • Mast0b1t

     @mastobit
     Or do jump on that bandwagon, some shady billionaire asshole somewhere thanks you for your propaganda service

   • Embed this notice
     Mast0b1t (mastobit@awscommunity.social)'s status on Thursday, 04-Jul-2024 07:49:13 JST Mast0b1t

     in reply to

     • Advanced Persistent Teapot

     @http_error_418 @inthehands

     https://awscommunity.social/@mastobit/112723592703222904

   • Embed this notice
     Paul Cantrell (inthehands@hachyderm.io)'s status on Thursday, 04-Jul-2024 08:03:17 JST Paul Cantrell

     in reply to

     The genius of this ploy is that a hypothetical candidate is •always• better than a real one. One person gets to picture Bernie, the next person gets to picture…I don’t know, Bloomberg or whatever, and they can both think they agree.

     It’s so seductive. It even has a grain of truth: yeah, lots about Biden •does• suck; yeah, Iraq really •did• have chemical weapons at one point. That’s why it’s crucial to recognize all this as an aluminum-tubes-style ploy with an agenda, per the OP.

   • Embed this notice
     Paul Cantrell (inthehands@hachyderm.io)'s status on Thursday, 04-Jul-2024 08:08:14 JST Paul Cantrell

     in reply to

     • Mast0b1t

     @mastobit And yet they are very clearly pulling the strings in only •one• direction here, Nameless Person.

     Trump exhibits signs of aging too. Trump lied his face off in the debate. Did the NYT call for him to drop out? No, because hedged bets notwithstanding, they have a specific preferred outcome and it is •not• Biden.

   • Embed this notice
     Mast0b1t (mastobit@awscommunity.social)'s status on Thursday, 04-Jul-2024 08:08:15 JST Mast0b1t

     in reply to

     @inthehands Billionaires donate to *both* parties to hedge their bets, Paul.

   • Embed this notice
     Paul Cantrell (inthehands@hachyderm.io)'s status on Thursday, 04-Jul-2024 08:11:41 JST Paul Cantrell

     in reply to

     • Dr. Nancy Wayne ✅

     @nancylwayne
     That’s exactly right. The tell is not them throwing rocks at Biden. The tell is the curious absence of calls for Trump to drop out too.

   • Embed this notice
     Dr. Nancy Wayne ✅ (nancylwayne@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 04-Jul-2024 08:11:42 JST Dr. Nancy Wayne ✅

     in reply to

     @inthehands NYTimes and WaPo are both sowing chaos with their relentless "Biden drop out" propaganda. And not one word (unless it's deeply hidden) about the convicted felon/rapist/word-salad spewing/twice impeached former guy being disastrously unsuitable to be POTUS. Makes me wonder what their game is.

   • Embed this notice
     Paul Cantrell (inthehands@hachyderm.io)'s status on Thursday, 04-Jul-2024 08:27:32 JST Paul Cantrell

     in reply to

     • Chris Cunningham

     @chriscunningham
     I mean, I liked her better and still do, but I also wanted a flying pony

   • Embed this notice
     Chris Cunningham (chriscunningham@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 04-Jul-2024 08:27:33 JST Chris Cunningham

     in reply to

     @inthehands and even given the absolute fact that if he _does_ drop out the single person in any position to stand as his replacement is his vice-president, who pretty much everyone wanting a replacement already explicitly rejected at the ballot box

   • Embed this notice
     Paul Cantrell (inthehands@hachyderm.io)'s status on Thursday, 04-Jul-2024 08:38:05 JST Paul Cantrell

     in reply to

     To be crystal clear here, because a few reply guys are reeeeeally struggling with this thought:

     Just because you •agree• with the idea on the surface doesn’t mean the people •behind• the idea have your interests at heart.

     Yes, you thought it on your very own. Yes, you like the idea. Yes, it appeals to you. That’s the point. I’m asking you to look at •who• is making that appeal, who is plastering this message across the MSM. Because •that• is not you.

   • Embed this notice
     Paul Cantrell (inthehands@hachyderm.io)'s status on Thursday, 04-Jul-2024 08:44:40 JST Paul Cantrell

     in reply to

     Whoever it is, they’re not making the same case about Trump. That’s the tell. Taken in totality, Trump’s age, mental incoherence, demonstrated incompetence, moral depravity, criminal record, electoral failure, and outright •fascism• give far more reason for him to drop out.

     Whoever’s pulling the strings of the NYT and its ilk, they are very clearly pulling in one specific direction. Think twice about whether you want to help them pull.

   • Embed this notice
     Paul Cantrell (inthehands@hachyderm.io)'s status on Thursday, 04-Jul-2024 08:59:45 JST Paul Cantrell

     • Justin Ekis

     @JEkis I do agree that last part is the appeal, the case folks are making. I’m skeptical whether it’s the motivation from the top. And a full-court press like this •is• coming from the top. This is an editorial decision, not a spontaneous mass uprising of pundits.

   • Embed this notice
     Dean Baratta بطبطبط (twshiloh@mas.to)'s status on Thursday, 04-Jul-2024 09:19:06 JST Dean Baratta بطبطبط

     in reply to

     • Dr. Nancy Wayne ✅

     @inthehands @nancylwayne they have written tons of articles and op-eds on Trumps disastrous plans if he gets in office again. There’s no shortage of describing Trumpism as authoritarian and contrary to American principles in those publications.

     The Atlantic did a whole issue dedicated just to that as well.

   • Embed this notice
     Paul Cantrell (inthehands@hachyderm.io)'s status on Thursday, 04-Jul-2024 09:19:06 JST Paul Cantrell

     in reply to

     • Dr. Nancy Wayne ✅
     • Dean Baratta بطبطبط

     @TwShiloh @nancylwayne
     Yes, without a doubt, there’s been a fair bit of negative coverage of Trump. I read the news too.

     That notwithstanding, to pull so hard for Biden to drop out with hardly a breath of all that past reporting is…a notable choice. This should have been the norm, not a voice in the wilderness:
     https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/editorials/first-presidential-debate-joe-biden-donald-trump-withdraw-20240629.html

   • Embed this notice
     Paul Cantrell (inthehands@hachyderm.io)'s status on Thursday, 04-Jul-2024 11:21:09 JST Paul Cantrell

     in reply to

     • skykiss ♾️🇺🇦 Vote Midterms

     Not the only one saying all the above. From @skykiss, for example:
     https://sfba.social/@skykiss/112725479915799894

   • Embed this notice
     Merilee D. Karr, MD, MFA (merileedkarr@federated.press)'s status on Thursday, 04-Jul-2024 11:31:01 JST Merilee D. Karr, MD, MFA

     in reply to

     • skykiss ♾️🇺🇦 Vote Midterms

     @inthehands @skykiss
     And she says it very well.

   • Embed this notice
     Paul Cantrell (inthehands@hachyderm.io)'s status on Thursday, 04-Jul-2024 11:31:01 JST Paul Cantrell

     in reply to

     • skykiss ♾️🇺🇦 Vote Midterms
     • Merilee D. Karr, MD, MFA

     @merileedkarr @skykiss
     Yeah, it took me a few words, didn’t it? But she went straight to the heart of it.

   • Embed this notice
     Paul Cantrell (inthehands@hachyderm.io)'s status on Thursday, 04-Jul-2024 11:35:06 JST Paul Cantrell

     in reply to

     • Merilee D. Karr, MD, MFA
     • deskJet95
     • Justin Ekis

     @merileedkarr @deskJet95 @JEkis
     Yup. And if you were looking for smoke coming out the top, well, look for example at the NYT going to war with its our reporters after they signed a letter in protest of its anti-trans bias. There are plenty of alarm bells. If you didn’t hear them, I don’t know what you’ve been listening to.

   • Embed this notice
     Merilee D. Karr, MD, MFA (merileedkarr@federated.press)'s status on Thursday, 04-Jul-2024 11:35:07 JST Merilee D. Karr, MD, MFA

     in reply to

     • deskJet95
     • Justin Ekis

     @deskJet95 @inthehands @JEkis
     The editorial board is subject to the publisher and the owner.
     The owner can "shit all over institutional norms" because those norms are already EXTINCT. There are no norms. "Bur her emails" is the norm. Wake up.

   • Embed this notice
     deskJet95 (deskjet95@ohai.social)'s status on Thursday, 04-Jul-2024 11:35:19 JST deskJet95

     in reply to

     • Justin Ekis

     @inthehands @JEkis I do believe the editorial board is 15 of the opinion writers. I wouldn't be surprised if some of them are shareholders of NYT, but I really don't think they're trying to engineer a Trump win to increase the NYT's valuation. Meanwhile, the owner can't just shit all over institutional norms without that itself becoming widespread knowledge. If some chicanery happened, where the owner tried to force a change in how editorials are written, we'd know.

   • Embed this notice
     happymilk (happymilk@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 04-Jul-2024 12:38:39 JST happymilk

     in reply to

     @inthehands NYT doesn't have strings. They are publishing what they believe.

   • Embed this notice
     Paul Cantrell (inthehands@hachyderm.io)'s status on Thursday, 04-Jul-2024 12:38:39 JST Paul Cantrell

     in reply to

     • happymilk

     @happymilk
     “They” doing waaaaay too much work there. The NYT is not one person. Think of this, for example: https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2023/02/new-york-times-trans-coverage-debate

     The NYT is an organization. It has a power structure. There are people who have a great deal of control within that power structure. Of •course• the org has strings.

   • Embed this notice
     Paul Cantrell (inthehands@hachyderm.io)'s status on Thursday, 04-Jul-2024 12:53:13 JST Paul Cantrell

     in reply to

     Further clarification: There are three distinct questions here.

     1. Does there exist some candidate who could do better than Biden if they were •already• the Dem nominee?
     2. Would switching candidates midstream •now• help the situation? Even be logistically feasible?
     3. Should we trust the forces that have pushed item 2 to the top of the news, even above the SCOTUS going full Trump-can-be-a-dictator?

     The answers are:

     1. Probably.
     2. Highly unlikely.
     3. Certainly not.

   • Embed this notice
     Demian (dgodon@mastodon.online)'s status on Thursday, 04-Jul-2024 12:55:14 JST Demian

     in reply to

     • David Sirota

     @inthehands largely agree with your thread here and have dismissed the many MSM calls in the past for Biden not to run. His debate performance really made me wonder tho. Totally agree that it’s still not clear that any actual alternative is better. And totally agree about motivations of most of those promoting idea. Though others on the left have been as well, such as @davidsirota who’s made a compelling case for a contested primary

   • Embed this notice
     Paul Cantrell (inthehands@hachyderm.io)'s status on Thursday, 04-Jul-2024 12:55:14 JST Paul Cantrell

     in reply to

     • Demian

     @dgodon
     Whether some alternative person would have been better is a very different question from whether switching now makes any sense at all.

     On that latter question, I don’t trust Sirota two inches. He’s a lousy tactical thinking, and consistently has trouble distinguishing his own strong reactions from sound strategy.

   • Embed this notice
     Joby (chaotic good) (joby@hachyderm.io)'s status on Thursday, 04-Jul-2024 13:15:38 JST Joby (chaotic good)

     in reply to

     @inthehands I would clarify that 2 is two-part, and the answers are "highly unlikely" and "absolutely not"

     I think some hypothetical replacement would miss the deadline to even be on the ballot in some states, which is ... not exactly a recipe for electoral success.

   • Embed this notice
     Paul Cantrell (inthehands@hachyderm.io)'s status on Thursday, 04-Jul-2024 14:50:41 JST Paul Cantrell

     in reply to

     • StillIRise1963

     More on this topic, from @StillIRise1963:

     https://mastodon.world/@StillIRise1963/112724084468598171

   • Embed this notice
     Paul Cantrell (inthehands@hachyderm.io)'s status on Wednesday, 24-Jul-2024 14:34:35 JST Paul Cantrell

     in reply to

     • Janis

     @janisf
     Yeah, for sure. I was already planning a crow-eating thread once I have a little time to put it together!

   • Embed this notice
     Janis (janisf@mstdn.social)'s status on Wednesday, 24-Jul-2024 14:34:36 JST Janis

     in reply to

     @inthehands Well, point #2 got smashed the last couple of days.

     I really think what was driving it was MI polling, along with that primary "none of these candidates" majority. Bleeding out the black vote is also bleeding out young voters, except young people don't pick up the phone to get polled. Palestine was/is an election-breaker.

     That said, I've been done with the NYT for about a year. Our press is profit-driven because so much is, thanks to the last 40 years.