Notices by Amanda Marcotte (amandamarcotte@mastodon.sdf.org)

New Standing Room Only! Today's excerpt: How Mike Johnson's short term thinking could do long-term damage to the Christian right.

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Music by Erma Franklin.

The lesson from Gaetz's collapse: Not just that resistance can work, but how to do it in a smart and effective way.

Building on prior analysis of authoritarians' weaknesses, I look at why Gaetz imploded and how that can be used going forward.

https://www.salon.com/2024/11/22/resistance-is-not-futile-matt-gaetzs-implosion-shows-how-magas-chaos-can-be-turned-against/

My goal this time is not to just be outraged, which is what they want. Instead, the goal is to calmly analyze the tactics of fascists, so they are less effective.

I draw a line between the harassment of Sarah McBride and online abuse like Gamergate.

https://www.salon.com/2024/11/21/of-hate-maga-in-congress-wage-harassment-campaign-against-trans-colleague/

Mike Johnson is being called a hypocrite for covering for Matt Gaetz.

But I argue that, at this point, covering for bad men should be considered a religious tradition for the Christian right.

https://www.salon.com/2024/11/20/how-mike-johnsons-christian-morality-provides-cover-for-matt-gaetz/

Why read instead of just snarking in mentions: I am serious that this isn't "hypocrisy."

Instead, I outline how the Christian right has crafted a theology where sexual predators are blameless, and it's the victims — women and girls — who are faulted.

https://www.salon.com/2024/11/20/how-mike-johnsons-christian-morality-provides-cover-for-matt-gaetz/

Voters backed both Trump and progressive policies like minimum wage hikes and abortion rights. This disconnect is the answer to the "how did this happen" question.

A lot of voters are profoundly ignorant. More so than in the past. I explore why.

https://www.salon.com/2024/11/08/americas-political-discordance-the-want-progressivism/

The MAGA tantrum over wives secretly voting for Harris is funny. But it's also alarming.

This is GOP leadership normalizing the attitudes that research has long shown lead to domestic violence.

But then again, they're voting for a sexual assailant.

https://www.salon.com/2024/11/05/bracing-for-magas-backlash-the-strategy-behind-secret-kamala-harris-is-safety/

Far too many voters think that because Trump is terrible for women, it means he's good for men.

But Trump offers men *nothing*.

He can tank the economy, dudes, but he can't make your wife come back.

https://www.salon.com/2024/11/04/is-terrible-for-women-but-that-doesnt-mean-hes-good-for-men/

Why read past headlines (and share with men who need to get it):

Trump's plan is to tank the economy. Elon Musk says that is the *goal*.

Maybe they don't listen to women. But I quote multiple men, including Musk, who reveal the economic truth.

https://www.salon.com/2024/11/04/is-terrible-for-women-but-that-doesnt-mean-hes-good-for-men/

I interviewed former Republican women at an event in Philly.

What was striking was how deciding to leave the party often came at a high price. They alienated family, friends, and even often had to leave their church.

https://www.salon.com/2024/10/21/i-started-to-learn-what-patriarchy-was-how-donald-pushed-women-out-of-the/

"You claim the only way to correct course is to censor people."

Check out my interview with Stanford professor Adrian Daub about how "cancel culture" is a moral panic, used to justify censorship and repression.

https://www.salon.com/2024/10/08/feedback-effects-the-real-censorship-caused-by-fake-cancel-culture-outrage/

Why read past headlines, especially before commenting: I use the abortion issue as a lens to examine fantasy vs. real-world politics.

Fascism depends on fantasy. Support for it crumbles when people start dealing with consequences.

https://www.salon.com/2024/10/03/pro-life-identity-politics-gops-sudden-support-of-abortion-shows-it-was-never-about-policy/

For decades, the Beltway press insisted GOP opposition to abortion was a "deeply felt" conviction.

Feminists like me argued otherwise: it was just a low-stakes way for conservatives to express misogyny.

Recent shifts in polls prove feminists right.

https://www.salon.com/2024/10/03/pro-life-identity-politics-gops-sudden-support-of-abortion-shows-it-was-never-about-policy/

Taylor Swift's "Childless Cat Lady" signature isn't just a funny joke.

It exposes what MAGA men fear most: That women no longer have to care about their opinion.

https://www.salon.com/2024/09/12/taylor-swifts-childless-cat-lady-endorsement-of-kamala-harris-exposes-what-maga-men-fear-most/

Tim Walz offers a model of masculinity that is easygoing and joyful, instead of the angry and bitter one Trump and MAGA speak to.

And it's making them nuts. So nuts that they think "gross, he cares about women" is a fruitful line of attack.

https://www.salon.com/2024/08/08/tim-walzs-normal-energy-is-causing-maga-to-come-unglued/

Trump's weird rantings about Harris's race. JD Vance calling a cis female athlete a "man."

These aren't gaffes. Weirdly, they seem to be strategy.

Trump thinks he can win by playing to the Breitbart comment section.
https://www.salon.com/2024/08/05/gaslighting-gets-weirder-why-and-vance-spread-lies-about-race-and-gender/

I was nuts enough to go both to the JD Vance event in South Philly and then to the Kamala Harris/Tim Walz rally later in the day.

It was like leaving a bitter divorced man meet-up and going straight to a Taylor Swift concert.

Enjoy the contrast!

https://www.salon.com/2024/08/07/bringing-back-the-joy-kamala-harris-rally-blows-away-jd-vances-weird-appearance-across-town/

Trump's "unity" speech was an incoherent and boring mess. But it was fitting. That's been the experience all week at the RNC.

Salon asked attendees what "unity" means to them. Once they got past the dictionary definition, their answers were haywire.

https://www.salon.com/2024/07/19/unity-broke-down-at-the-national-convention-long-before-donald-took-the-stage/

My contribution to the "Christ, what an asshole" coverage of J.D. Vance: How he reconciles his denunciation of divorce and running with a guy who on his third adulterous marriage.

Hint: It's not divorced men Vance loathes. It's divorced women.

https://www.salon.com/2024/07/16/shift-spouses-like-they-change-their-underwear-jd-vance-decried-divorce--but-now-loves/

Trump's weak efforts to distance himself from Project 2025 aren't convincing anyone (except credulous headline writers.)

But Alex Jones and Nick Fuentes are angry anyway.

The new MAGA fight is over whether it's time to come out about being fascist.

https://www.salon.com/2024/07/11/donald-fake-rejection-of-project-2025-has-angered-his-biggest-fans/