That trending National Review piece highlights a major problem for the GOP: old school white Republicans spent 50 years courting the "Cletus" vote, welcoming them to the GOP fold with a handshake over shared white supremacist goals, while sneering at them behind their backs.

Just look at how Williamson talks about the folks who comprise the base of the GOP: "Cletus", "studio audience from Hee-Haw", "midnight drunks karaoke-warbling that old Chumbawumba song", "stupid".

The contempt is palpable, and it always has been.
And while a lot of the old school GOP folks thought Cletus was not smart enough to understand the contempt the party leadership held for them, they really AREN'T that stupid.

Enter Trump, wearing a trucker hat and eager to pander to the Cletus vote.
Instead of cloaking the white supremacy which holds the GOP's base together like paperclips and chewing gum in dog whistles and euphemisms with plausible deniability, Trump said what Cletus has been saying to his friends over beers for years.
If the Republican elite come out swinging for the Cletus vote, as Williamson does here, it might feel good to aptly label their party's problem--and this violent, militantly ignorant faction that comprises the GOP's current base IS a problem--it's going to reduce their votership.
The Southern strategy was always making a deal with the devil. It bet the party's long-term survival on a coalition centered around keeping the disenfranchised disenfranchised and building a media ecosphere whose sole purpose was to be the brainwashing arm of the GOP.
Who is surprised that a 50-year project to build a hateful base who exist entirely in a manipulated, party-controlled alternate reality was eventually taken over by a malignant narcissist who directed that hate and indoctrinated rage to ensure permanent power for himself?
While Williamson sneers at Cletus for being stupid and dragging the GOP into the mud, it was elites like Williamson who started the GOP on this path. They chose to make a monster, and now instead of taking responsibility, they ridicule the monster and pretend it was never theirs.
The way out for the Republican party is to abandon the Southern Strategy, white supremacy, brainwashing media, and to attempt to move forward with the rest of us.

Instead, they're hoping they can use the same tactics to create a new monster that will hopefully benefit them more.
I don't know that it will work. Like I said, the Cletuses actually aren't stupid, and will be perfectly cognizant of the contempt of those like Williamson. What's more, the Williamsons of the GOP aren't in control any more. Cletus commands the monster.
And Cletus isn't going to respond well to these old school elites' contempt.

I wish I could muster sympathy for any of them, but I cannot. I can only hope they destroy each other without taking all the rest of us down with them.

More from Cate Eland

I want to break down Lindsey's letter, because it is breathtakingly hypocritical and stoking division with every sentence, despite claiming to be concerned with healing.


1) "But now, in your first act as Majority Leader, rather than begin the national healing that the country so desperately yearns for, you seek vengeance and political retaliation instead."

Trump incited an attack on the Capitol, on Congress, and on a free & fair election.

Trump has yet to concede, to apologize, or to admit he was lying about the outcome of the election. He has done nothing that demonstrates he does not continue to present a danger to our nation.

Trump's supporters continue to conspire to overthrow the government--with Trump's implicit, and quite possibly explicit--support. At this very moment, over 20,000 troops are stationed in our nation's capital to ensure the inauguration of President-Elect Biden can be completed.

It is not "vengeance" or "political retaliation" to insist a man that has fomented and continues to inspire a violent insurrection against the government is unfit ever to hold office again.

This is, in fact, a bare minimum protection for our country against future harm by Trump.

More from For later read

Every single public defender. Every single day.


Bail arguments, motions, oral arguments, hearings. Judges don’t know, follow, or care about the law. Prosecutors are willing to take advantage of it. And mandatory minimums, withheld evidence, & pretrial detention coerces people to plead before trial. When theres a jury. A shot.

But defenders still fight. And still win. Most times wins aren’t “Justice.” It’s power of repetition of argument in front of same judges. Introducing those in power to the people they oppress. Not just a RAP sheet or words on a page. Defenders make it harder to be brutal & cruel.

I worked as a public defender at an office as well resourced as any in the country. Social workers, team of investigators, a reentry team, support staff, specialist attorneys in immigration, housing, education, family. Relatively low caseloads (80-100). And yet still injustice.

Most think that balancing the scales of justice means more funding for defenders. Thats part of it. Enough a attorneys to actually be at bail hearings. Wrap around services to be able to help people trapped in the system end up better off in their communities. Lower caseloads.
This response to my tweet is a common objection to targeted advertising.

@KevinCoates correct me if I'm wrong, but basic point seems to be that banning targeted ads will lower platform profits, but will mostly be beneficial for consumers.

Some counterpoints 👇


1) This assumes that consumers prefer contextual ads to targeted ones.

This does not seem self-evident to me


Research also finds that firms choose between ad. targeting vs. obtrusiveness 👇

If true, the right question is not whether consumers prefer contextual ads to targeted ones. But whether they prefer *more* contextual ads vs *fewer* targeted

2) True, many inframarginal platforms might simply shift to contextual ads.

But some might already be almost indifferent between direct & indirect monetization.

Hard to imagine that *none* of them will respond to reduced ad revenue with actual fees.

3) Policy debate seems to be moving from:

"Consumers are insufficiently informed to decide how they share their data."

To

"No one in their right mind would agree to highly targeted ads (e.g., those that mix data from multiple sources)."

IMO the latter statement is incorrect.

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Fake chats claiming to be from the Irish African community are being disseminated by the far right in order to suggest that violence is imminent from #BLM supporters. This is straight out of the QAnon and Proud Boys playbook. Spread the word. Protest safely. #georgenkencho


There is co-ordination across the far right in Ireland now to stir both left and right in the hopes of creating a race war. Think critically! Fascists see the tragic killing of #georgenkencho, the grief of his community and pending investigation as a flashpoint for action.


Across Telegram, Twitter and Facebook disinformation is being peddled on the back of these tragic events. From false photographs to the tactics ofwhite supremacy, the far right is clumsily trying to drive hate against minority groups and figureheads.


Declan Ganley’s Burkean group and the incel wing of National Party (Gearóid Murphy, Mick O’Keeffe & Co.) as well as all the usuals are concerted in their efforts to demonstrate their white supremacist cred. The quiet parts are today being said out loud.


The best thing you can do is challenge disinformation and report posts where engagement isn’t appropriate. Many of these are blatantly racist posts designed to drive recruitment to NP and other Nationalist groups. By all means protest but stay safe.