History will only treat all of these scoundrels badly if we survive this revolution. I spend a lot of time trying to see an angle to defeat what Academia/Democrats/Media/Hollywood have built. As long as Academia keeps churning out indoctrinated victims, and transfers them into a society that continues to support the fragile/woke worldview they were taught, our country is screwed.
People don't appreciate how much damage has been done by the influence of this generation in business by converting marketing departments and HR to woke. DEI has become woven into so much of society, I don't see how it's ever extracted. Marketing departments try to promote their products in this new woke world, that subtly reinforces all of what woke stands for.
Anyway, let's hope history looks badly on the leaders of this period. I'm afraid history may view them as the new founding fathers.
And again Sasha, thank you and all of Substack (apart from that nasty little troll R Reich) writers for fighting for us.
Man you just keep getting better...such passion fueled with intelligence and outrage and sarcasm. I can honestly say I have never read anyone with such magnetism and brilliant use of words to cut like swords and diminish those that have already diminished themselves forever.
Great work. Love the Walter Kirn quote and the Raskin piece just illustrates what a fraud he is. Jay Bhattacharya is an amazing voice of reason. It’s really hilarious and disturbing the way the left and MSM are dehumanizing Musk, Taibbi, Weiss, and the list goes on.
I really enjoy your Substack newsletter/podcast/multimedia experience. This format is great. Obviously it wouldn’t work without the really solid content. I just really enjoy reading and listening. I think you’re on to something. It’s like a headrest for my soul….
"What about rushing children into gender confusion in elementary school so parents can raise their clout on social media?"
Spot on. That is EXACTLY why all this gender BS has taken hold so effectively in schools. It could not have happened without parents who are so self-absorbed that they care more about their social media standing than they do about their children's well being. I don't know how they sleep at night.
John Cusack is on the Musk cancellation wagon, the same uneducated bigot who tweeted a vicious anti-Semitic cartoon in May, 2019. I remember the date well as the following week I applied for my first firearms license. Thank you John for broadening my experience.
There are already lawsuits being filed for performing genital surgery on minors. Class-action status can't be far behind.
But the bigger issue, from my perspective, is that the wokesters on the Left seem to believe that they can grow their movement via fear-mongering.
It is possible, temporarily, to paralyze your opponents via fear. We saw that with McCarthy 70 years ago.
But sooner or later that grows stale, and people begin to fight back - and in the meantime, you've exiled a remarkably large part of your original base and driven them into your opponents' camp.
That doesn't seem like a winning formula for building a political movement to me.
With SpaceX Starlink, Musk is positioned to take over the worldwide Internet access layer, with a subscriber base potentially numbering in the billions. Once fully operational, potential revenues could approach $1 trillion a year. With future, planned laser connectivity between satellites, government firewalls, and regulation will be bypassed.
I am 100 % with you on this one. I have disagreed with some of your past articles, but it's great that here on Substack we are allowed to disagree and debate without resorting to pettiness.
In any case, I am a classic liberal, not a progressive nor a leftist. I can see very clearly here that the Left has decided to embrace censorship in part or whole in order to achieve political power. But the rot goes beyond that. I am also a scientist and tenured professor at an R1 institution, and I can tell you that Twitter is hell for us. We are encouraged to participate by administrators, and it is essentially populated by egocentric narcissists with nonstop virtue signaling, as if academia needed to magnify egos more than it did before Twitter. Part of me hopes that Mr. Musk ends the entire enterprise because I truly believe that political discourse by Twitter is wholly unsuited for a society run by serious adults.
The good news is that Mr. Musk seems totally unfazed by the blowback, temper tantrums, and shenanigans of the Left. If they think booing at a comedy show is going to defeat him, then they truly are beyond help at this point. Likewise, if they really subscribe to the 'words are violence' philosophy, then they have tacitly approved 'word violence' against Mr. Musk. They cannot have it both ways.
Thanks to you and all the other journalists that have kept this issue of free speech and social media alive, especially since the alphabet soup of leftist media has ignored it.
Wow! Sasha, as usual you have my mind racing. One line stuck with me: “When did they stop caring?” I realize you were talking journalistic ethics. But the question underlies much of what we think of the insanity of the Left.
The answer is they didn’t stop caring. Indeed, they care much more than you or I do about so many things.
Who cares more? Ron Desantis who recklessly opened up his state and put citizens at risk, or Gretchen Whitmer and Kate Brown who locked their states down to save lives? MLK and his peaceful protests, or BLM who want to tear down a racist system? The Supreme Court that wants to allow states like Texas to deny women’s health care, or pro-Roe advocates who want universal rights across all 50 states? Elon Musk who wants deplorable people to be able to say awful things on Twitter, or Yoel Roth and the Trust and Safety Council that wanted to protect us all from hate and misinformation? A dad that let’s his kid fall off their bike and tells them to get back up, or a controlling helicopter parent that wants to keep them from falling down at all? A man who wants to teach someone to fish, or someone who sees that they are hungry NOW so we need to give him the fish ASAP? Who cares more?
I could go on endlessly. On every conceivable topic, the Left cares. Oh yes. They care more than we do. MUCH more. They care so much that we will be MADE to care too. Regardless of the topic, they cede no ground to the heartless Right on who cares more.
Further, they care with an URGENCY that we underestimate. There is no time to waste. On climate. On racism. On COVID. On trans rights. Even on teenage awkwardness during puberty. There is no time to waste on debate, free-thinking, contrary opinions, or even contrary evidence. Democracy is inefficient. Changing minds is slow. Easier to just shut them (us) the f@#k up.
So because their cause is righteous, because there is no time to waste, the ends justify the means. Rules for Radicals # 5: “Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon”. It is the root of the Left’s dehumanization of anyone that disagrees with them. Thus, we get Trump (and Musk) Derangement Syndrome. It is a feature, not a bug.
I don’t know the way back. I see it with my own daughter. She just has zero ability to entertain a contrary thought and no time to do so regardless. The digital age. Instant gratification. Zero attention spans. We see the lunacy in expediency. They do not.
Sasha, I pray that you are right that a turning and reckoning are coming. But I’m afraid that the self-righteousness and urgency are engrained and addictive. People don’t see the long-term damage being done in the name of needs that must be met NOW.
Patience and decency are no longer virtues. How do we reclaim those core values?
I hope we get out of this mess but I'm losing faith to be honest. There's way too much against the sane, thinkers. I mean the things coming out about Covid now hardly anyone reports so the MSM followers and people on the left won't find out about it and will continue on their merry way.
History will only treat all of these scoundrels badly if we survive this revolution. I spend a lot of time trying to see an angle to defeat what Academia/Democrats/Media/Hollywood have built. As long as Academia keeps churning out indoctrinated victims, and transfers them into a society that continues to support the fragile/woke worldview they were taught, our country is screwed.
People don't appreciate how much damage has been done by the influence of this generation in business by converting marketing departments and HR to woke. DEI has become woven into so much of society, I don't see how it's ever extracted. Marketing departments try to promote their products in this new woke world, that subtly reinforces all of what woke stands for.
Anyway, let's hope history looks badly on the leaders of this period. I'm afraid history may view them as the new founding fathers.
And again Sasha, thank you and all of Substack (apart from that nasty little troll R Reich) writers for fighting for us.
Man you just keep getting better...such passion fueled with intelligence and outrage and sarcasm. I can honestly say I have never read anyone with such magnetism and brilliant use of words to cut like swords and diminish those that have already diminished themselves forever.
Kudos to one if the best ...if not "THE BEST"
Love your thoughts and style!
Sasha-
Great work. Love the Walter Kirn quote and the Raskin piece just illustrates what a fraud he is. Jay Bhattacharya is an amazing voice of reason. It’s really hilarious and disturbing the way the left and MSM are dehumanizing Musk, Taibbi, Weiss, and the list goes on.
I really enjoy your Substack newsletter/podcast/multimedia experience. This format is great. Obviously it wouldn’t work without the really solid content. I just really enjoy reading and listening. I think you’re on to something. It’s like a headrest for my soul….
Thank you!
“There will be a reckoning on those who stood by and did nothing, and the weakest among us will be called upon to explain themselves.”
I hope, with everything in me, that you are right.
"What about rushing children into gender confusion in elementary school so parents can raise their clout on social media?"
Spot on. That is EXACTLY why all this gender BS has taken hold so effectively in schools. It could not have happened without parents who are so self-absorbed that they care more about their social media standing than they do about their children's well being. I don't know how they sleep at night.
I doubt Dave Chappelle is shedding any tears about a bunch of cry baby white leftists not liking him.
I love that him and Elon fight back.
John Cusack is on the Musk cancellation wagon, the same uneducated bigot who tweeted a vicious anti-Semitic cartoon in May, 2019. I remember the date well as the following week I applied for my first firearms license. Thank you John for broadening my experience.
There are already lawsuits being filed for performing genital surgery on minors. Class-action status can't be far behind.
But the bigger issue, from my perspective, is that the wokesters on the Left seem to believe that they can grow their movement via fear-mongering.
It is possible, temporarily, to paralyze your opponents via fear. We saw that with McCarthy 70 years ago.
But sooner or later that grows stale, and people begin to fight back - and in the meantime, you've exiled a remarkably large part of your original base and driven them into your opponents' camp.
That doesn't seem like a winning formula for building a political movement to me.
With SpaceX Starlink, Musk is positioned to take over the worldwide Internet access layer, with a subscriber base potentially numbering in the billions. Once fully operational, potential revenues could approach $1 trillion a year. With future, planned laser connectivity between satellites, government firewalls, and regulation will be bypassed.
In short I think a lot of people went nuts over Trump and used him as an excuse to embrace their worst impulses.
Dear Ms. Stone,
I am 100 % with you on this one. I have disagreed with some of your past articles, but it's great that here on Substack we are allowed to disagree and debate without resorting to pettiness.
In any case, I am a classic liberal, not a progressive nor a leftist. I can see very clearly here that the Left has decided to embrace censorship in part or whole in order to achieve political power. But the rot goes beyond that. I am also a scientist and tenured professor at an R1 institution, and I can tell you that Twitter is hell for us. We are encouraged to participate by administrators, and it is essentially populated by egocentric narcissists with nonstop virtue signaling, as if academia needed to magnify egos more than it did before Twitter. Part of me hopes that Mr. Musk ends the entire enterprise because I truly believe that political discourse by Twitter is wholly unsuited for a society run by serious adults.
The good news is that Mr. Musk seems totally unfazed by the blowback, temper tantrums, and shenanigans of the Left. If they think booing at a comedy show is going to defeat him, then they truly are beyond help at this point. Likewise, if they really subscribe to the 'words are violence' philosophy, then they have tacitly approved 'word violence' against Mr. Musk. They cannot have it both ways.
Thanks to you and all the other journalists that have kept this issue of free speech and social media alive, especially since the alphabet soup of leftist media has ignored it.
Wow! Sasha, as usual you have my mind racing. One line stuck with me: “When did they stop caring?” I realize you were talking journalistic ethics. But the question underlies much of what we think of the insanity of the Left.
The answer is they didn’t stop caring. Indeed, they care much more than you or I do about so many things.
Who cares more? Ron Desantis who recklessly opened up his state and put citizens at risk, or Gretchen Whitmer and Kate Brown who locked their states down to save lives? MLK and his peaceful protests, or BLM who want to tear down a racist system? The Supreme Court that wants to allow states like Texas to deny women’s health care, or pro-Roe advocates who want universal rights across all 50 states? Elon Musk who wants deplorable people to be able to say awful things on Twitter, or Yoel Roth and the Trust and Safety Council that wanted to protect us all from hate and misinformation? A dad that let’s his kid fall off their bike and tells them to get back up, or a controlling helicopter parent that wants to keep them from falling down at all? A man who wants to teach someone to fish, or someone who sees that they are hungry NOW so we need to give him the fish ASAP? Who cares more?
I could go on endlessly. On every conceivable topic, the Left cares. Oh yes. They care more than we do. MUCH more. They care so much that we will be MADE to care too. Regardless of the topic, they cede no ground to the heartless Right on who cares more.
Further, they care with an URGENCY that we underestimate. There is no time to waste. On climate. On racism. On COVID. On trans rights. Even on teenage awkwardness during puberty. There is no time to waste on debate, free-thinking, contrary opinions, or even contrary evidence. Democracy is inefficient. Changing minds is slow. Easier to just shut them (us) the f@#k up.
So because their cause is righteous, because there is no time to waste, the ends justify the means. Rules for Radicals # 5: “Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon”. It is the root of the Left’s dehumanization of anyone that disagrees with them. Thus, we get Trump (and Musk) Derangement Syndrome. It is a feature, not a bug.
I don’t know the way back. I see it with my own daughter. She just has zero ability to entertain a contrary thought and no time to do so regardless. The digital age. Instant gratification. Zero attention spans. We see the lunacy in expediency. They do not.
Sasha, I pray that you are right that a turning and reckoning are coming. But I’m afraid that the self-righteousness and urgency are engrained and addictive. People don’t see the long-term damage being done in the name of needs that must be met NOW.
Patience and decency are no longer virtues. How do we reclaim those core values?
Great post, Sasha.
Excellent commentary. Thank you.
Good stuff. Thank you. I’m still blocked on Twitter. Ugh.
I hope we get out of this mess but I'm losing faith to be honest. There's way too much against the sane, thinkers. I mean the things coming out about Covid now hardly anyone reports so the MSM followers and people on the left won't find out about it and will continue on their merry way.