My latest piece at @mmfa:

Fox
News keeps trying to justify GOP efforts to object to the Electoral College vote by pointing to the number of people who think the election was stolen (after spending 2 months telling their audiences that it was

This is Fox, basically: https://t.co/dkc0J8Dviw
Another comparison to the role Fox is playing here via one of my favorite Onion articles: https://t.co/7R5PsQ8xvT
Or maybe a human centipede, but with the front connected back to the end for a loop of shit-eating. Yeah, that's it. That's the role Fox is playing here.
But seriously, check out the *more than 2 months* of Fox-enabled conspiracy theories (a partial list): https://t.co/STD1vheqU4
https://t.co/ZfqbWncekD
https://t.co/haivFSEztO
https://t.co/51fYDdcxet
https://t.co/ZBGDh2IkZs
https://t.co/ElP1TxOl8j
https://t.co/F9BZrLL53m
https://t.co/0kppjxyPLs
https://t.co/C8ZdCa1RLQ
https://t.co/WRc4zEdfXT
https://t.co/tC1VgFTdnw
https://t.co/Lt5hwatqi3
https://t.co/MKTYbrFlIc
https://t.co/Lc819P581T
https://t.co/isMAsmSSi0
https://t.co/Q5PehkHPZj
https://t.co/tZN0CzH9sg
https://t.co/rru2ZBAP5M
https://t.co/QI1lHwM2AU
https://t.co/M70PxE141Q
https://t.co/B4euDlyeJN
Fox is the dad in the "I learned it by watching you!" anti-drug PSA https://t.co/4MML4lM056
But check out this example from last month:

* Fox promotes the false "Georgia suitcase" conspiracy theory

* Fox reports that it wasn't true...

* And then Fox promotes the story again https://t.co/IUs7shC9pA
It doesn't help their case or Trump's case that they have spent *years* scaremongering about widespread voter fraud that didn't exist. https://t.co/D4uYQWE9k2
And it certainly doesn't help their case that when Trump got angry that he didn't win the popular vote in 2016, he devoted government resources to create a "voting integrity commission" run by Trump toadies who couldn't find any evidence of fraud https://t.co/epGfcl2yuq
The problem with all of this has been that mainstream news organizations and tech companies are way, way, way too afraid of upsetting Trump or Republicans.
"But I FEEL like social media is biased against conservatives!" was enough of an argument to actually get Facebook to bend over backwards to specifically boost right wing content. Working the refs works.
And it's been Trump's go-to move throughout his presidency. "This is the greatest economy ever," he'd say when it objectively was not. "I built the wall!" he'd say when he didn't. "Mexico is paying for it," when we were paying for his goofy pet project.
For the most part, news organizations took him at his work and would just print what he said. Worst case scenario is that they'd run some sort of mealy mouthed "both sides" piece.
(This is exactly what Josh Hawley did when he *lied* about "antifa thugs" attacking his house or whatever... it's on tape! It didn't happen that way! Still, WaPo ran a story giving him the benefit of the doubt.)
So really, why *wouldn't* they try this? These clowns haven't come up with a single bit of evidence to support any of their insane claims. Look at how relatively chill mainstream media is about all of this, treating it like a totally normal thing to do.
Republicans face zero consequences for their actions. Zero. Chuck Todd still invites them on Meet the Press, lobs them softballs for a few minutes, and then *thanks them* for coming on the show.
So while this is a Fox News problem (and an OAN/Newsmax/etc. problem), it's also a CNN problem, an NBC problem, a CBS problem, an ABC problem, an AP problem, a New York Times problem.

It's the mainstream outlets that created the conditions for all of this.
And what have they taken away from this? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. So while we watch as more than 100 House Republicans try to overturn the election results tomorrow, let's all remember that it goes back beyond right-wing media.
And just like that... another headline that shows just how much mainstream media have failed. “Political calculus?” Give me a break.

More from Parker Molloy

This is trash, @AP. Utter garbage. Shame on the “journalists” who wrote this (really? You needed 2 people to report out this garbage?) Also, you don’t even make clear that this lady is wrong. You treat it as a legitimate position. What the fuck is wrong with you?


Look at this. This treats both views as legitimate. Fucking garbage.


Have you learned nothing?! This is such bullshit. Why the fuck do I even bother trying to push back on bad journalism? No one in positions of power ever listen.

I used to think that bad journalism was mostly the result of honest mistakes, but the past few years have really hammered home for me how much it is intentional trash. Shame on @AP for that bullshit. Shame on @ABC for letting Rand Paul rant about his election conspiracy theories.

Seriously, @AP @ClaireGalofaro @JulietLinderman? You didn’t even bother to note that this lady’s delusions are false.
"Communist Blogger" is my favorite Neutral Milk Hotel song


Anyway, here are some of the "communist" blog posts about the Qongresswoman from Georgia (thread)

In 2018, she agreed with someone who said that 9/11 was an inside job and argued that the school shooting in Parkland, FL was a false flag.

And then there's another time she said that the Parkland shooting was fake

She claimed that there was "never any evidence" that a plane was flown into the Pentagon on 9/11
There are a number of reasons bills like these are wrongheaded. One is that it tries to implement the same kind of one-size-fits-all solution that opponents of trans inclusion claim to oppose.

But let’s get nuanced for a minute...


Do trans women and girls have an advantage in sports over other women and girls?

I’m here to provide a very unsatisfying answer: It depends.

What sport are we talking about?

How old are people competing in it?

What sort of hormone treatment has the person in question had and for how long?

Those are all factors that play into the fairness question.

Trying to implement broad policies in the name of ensuring fairness can actually have the opposite of the intended effect.

Take the case of Mack Beggs.

A few years back, Beggs was a high school student in Texas. He was a wrestler, and wanted to do it at the college level.

Beggs is a trans man, meaning his birth certificate said female on it. Like many trans guys, he takes testosterone as part of his medical transition.

He wanted to wrestle. Specifically, he wanted a spot on his school’s boys team.

He wasn’t allowed.
2017 https://t.co/kiqQoWR57e


https://t.co/W18nqFlLru


The GOP got rid of the SCOTUS filibuster so they could jam through three fringy right-wing Alito clones, including one right before the election, but sure thing, bud.

“Uh, actually, they got rid of the SCOTUS filibuster because Harry Reid did it first for something totally different! I am very smart!”

No. Knock it off.

Here’s the thing about the “But Harry Reid...” excuse:

1. McConnell was holding up Obama nominees, some *for literal years* without a vote.

2. Had he *not* done that, Trump would have inherited *even more* vacant seats.

More from News

SkyNews reporting "a major leak containing a register w/the personal identifying details of 1.95 mil Communist Party members [in #China], mostly from Shanghai, there are also the details of 79,000 Communist Party branches, many of them inside companies”.

What appears to be so newsworthy about this particular leaked list is the presence of CCP branches in not only foreign-invested firms in #China, but also in firms entirely located overseas.

This is by no means new-- I wrote several years ago about #China's massive Party-building drive to construct new CCP branches in Shanghai's NGOs in @chinaquarterly (The Advance of the Party: Transformation or Takeover of Urban Grassroots Society?*
https://t.co/I1XKmkPKty )...

As well as the CCP's attempts to "comprehensively cover" 全覆盖 Shanghai's private sector in "The New Life of the Party: Party-Building & Social Engineering in Greater Shanghai" in the #China Journal, but what's apparently of concern in the leaked list..

...is the number of new Communist Party branches & committees now in Chinese-invested companies abroad. This is unsurprisingly going on on a massive scale in countries housing #China's Belt and Road projects as part of the CCP's "going out" 走出去efforts...#OBOR #BRI #一带一路

You May Also Like

And here they are...

THE WINNERS OF THE 24 HOUR STARTUP CHALLENGE

Remember, this money is just fun. If you launched a product (or even attempted a launch) - you did something worth MUCH more than $1,000.

#24hrstartup

The winners 👇

#10

Lattes For Change - Skip a latte and save a life.

https://t.co/M75RAirZzs

@frantzfries built a platform where you can see how skipping your morning latte could do for the world.

A great product for a great cause.

Congrats Chris on winning $250!


#9

Instaland - Create amazing landing pages for your followers.

https://t.co/5KkveJTAsy

A team project! @bpmct and @BaileyPumfleet built a tool for social media influencers to create simple "swipe up" landing pages for followers.

Really impressive for 24 hours. Congrats!


#8

SayHenlo - Chat without distractions

https://t.co/og0B7gmkW6

Built by @DaltonEdwards, it's a platform for combatting conversation overload. This product was also coded exclusively from an iPad 😲

Dalton is a beast. I'm so excited he placed in the top 10.


#7

CoderStory - Learn to code from developers across the globe!

https://t.co/86Ay6nF4AY

Built by @jesswallaceuk, the project is focused on highlighting the experience of developers and people learning to code.

I wish this existed when I learned to code! Congrats on $250!!