Sasha, bravo, you really hit this one out of the ballpark. Thank you for your sharp observations, saying the quiet parts out loud and not holding back. “Lotus eaters“ may be giving many of them too much credit (seems more like happy Groupthink, a misplaced sense of belonging melded with lord of the flies), but these “ultra elites“ (with whom I worked and went to school) have definitely convinced themselves that the ends justify the means. This is Bolshevik, not consistent with the basic tenets of our republic and civilization. 
"Without access to the truth, there would never have been a Twilight Zone". Do you mean "with access"?
You give Twitter way too much credit. People tend to get information from various sources, including being witness to events and sharing stories in person. I grew up in a communist country where newspapers were just unreadable political garbage, people got news word of mouth. For the most part of human history people lived with no TV. An adult person should be able to leave their house in the morning and live their life normally without the media telling them what to think and do.
What's unique about 2020 is the destruction of in-person human connections and communities, down to hiding human faces. Facial expressions play an important role in non-verbal communication and desire to talk (I watched how in our a local grocery store cashiers were initially trying to maintain small talk but then gave up). Covering faces was never about the virus, transparent face shields wouldn't been more logical. Stay away from each other, don't talk to each other, be afraid of each other. So, people got sucked into online sources and social networks, controlled by algorithms and "fact checkers", while anything they weren't supposed to see was labeled "misinformation" and removed. On the other hand, work from home journalism didn't have to go to events and interview people anymore, just follow the agenda and produce "news", down to complete fabrications. I know people who still "shelter" and lost any touch with reality living in the fantasy land produced by the media and social networks. But is it changing.
Brilliant piece. Listening to Edward R. Morrow actually sent chills down my spine in its relevance to what we're living through right now. The reason Trump described our MSM as "the enemy of the people" is because the media stopped holding all politicians' feet to the fire and began employing the journalistic sin of omission to shape a story. Remember childhoods of old when telling a story meant telling a lie? Reporting without fear or favor became passe. So, frankly I blame the MSM for where we are right now. I'm encouraged, though, because of courageous people like you.
Sasha you are so right about TV and movies. All at once every TV relationship became biracial including the commercials. I gave up my Netflix subscription because there were too many woke series that were slow moving and predictable and my finger was always on the fast forward button. Leftist politics dominate the plots and it's not subtle at all. I'm so disappointed in the actors I used to admire and now avoid anything they're in. I know I'm not the only one because Netflix has lost a few million subscribers. I have gravitated to vintage programs and marvel at how great the storylines were. Having all this stuff shoved down our throats year after year has caused a shift away from all the politicized entertainment.
"Their casting is always multiracial because that helps them look like they’re doing the work of “antiracists.” But it often sets storytelling off in strange and unpredictable ways"
Netflix's Bridgerton is an example, never knew so many upper class people of color in early 1800s London (only in the 1850s did University College London become the first English university to admit Jews).
But this was also shocking in the movie Bad Blood, about the Theranos fraud. In the movie, the manager of the investigative journalist, played by a Black southern woman, keeps harping on the customs of Sicilian fishermen about how to approach the story. Is that common in the American South?
Only after reading the book did I get what happened: in reality the manager is a male Italian-American fixated on the idea that he's descended from a long line of Sicilian princes, hence the constant references to those customs.
Another example missed in the film due to the emphasis on imposing racial hiring quotas: the chief scientist, a real example of the English establishment (Harrow, Cambridge) becomes good friends with a top Black engineer hired to build an alternative product. Nothing to see except it misses one of the most poignant parts of the book: in reality that top engineer was a die-hard Irish Republican with an abiding hatred of all things English, but somehow ended up forging a great friendship with a real English establishment type.
I thought long and hard about posting a review on Amazon but didn't want to risk losing my account there.
Sasha, thank you for pulling the WI state capital occupation out of the memory hole. Unlike J6, the school unions in particular organized waves to sustain it. Though I live in the badger state, I don't recall how long it went on, but it was several days, minimum. Weeks perhaps. The fawning news coverage, complete with breathless interviews extolling the righteousness of the cause ( in fact, it was long overdue action targeting a union sham that cost wisconsin taxpayers millions every year by awarding no bid contracts to different entities still under the union umbrella. This circle jerk always astounds. Taxpayers fund the public schools. The employees belonged to a union, without choice at the time. Through dues, it winds up with the Teacher's Union, who then issues no-bid contracts to entities under their umbrella. In every election cycle, the TU finally completes this circle of corruption by donating 99+ percent to the democratic party
As a WI taxpayer, your taxes directly funded candidates and legislation opposed by at least half the state's electorate. And you had no choice in the matter, simply because of the game design
Yet their cause received hero worship press coverage, not to mention free pizza throughout (of course), while J6 became an attack on the very fundamentals of "democracy" The doublestandard could not be more obvious.
Sasha, bravo, you really hit this one out of the ballpark. Thank you for your sharp observations, saying the quiet parts out loud and not holding back. “Lotus eaters“ may be giving many of them too much credit (seems more like happy Groupthink, a misplaced sense of belonging melded with lord of the flies), but these “ultra elites“ (with whom I worked and went to school) have definitely convinced themselves that the ends justify the means. This is Bolshevik, not consistent with the basic tenets of our republic and civilization. 
wish I could like this twice.
"Without access to the truth, there would never have been a Twilight Zone". Do you mean "with access"?
You give Twitter way too much credit. People tend to get information from various sources, including being witness to events and sharing stories in person. I grew up in a communist country where newspapers were just unreadable political garbage, people got news word of mouth. For the most part of human history people lived with no TV. An adult person should be able to leave their house in the morning and live their life normally without the media telling them what to think and do.
What's unique about 2020 is the destruction of in-person human connections and communities, down to hiding human faces. Facial expressions play an important role in non-verbal communication and desire to talk (I watched how in our a local grocery store cashiers were initially trying to maintain small talk but then gave up). Covering faces was never about the virus, transparent face shields wouldn't been more logical. Stay away from each other, don't talk to each other, be afraid of each other. So, people got sucked into online sources and social networks, controlled by algorithms and "fact checkers", while anything they weren't supposed to see was labeled "misinformation" and removed. On the other hand, work from home journalism didn't have to go to events and interview people anymore, just follow the agenda and produce "news", down to complete fabrications. I know people who still "shelter" and lost any touch with reality living in the fantasy land produced by the media and social networks. But is it changing.
Brilliant piece. Listening to Edward R. Morrow actually sent chills down my spine in its relevance to what we're living through right now. The reason Trump described our MSM as "the enemy of the people" is because the media stopped holding all politicians' feet to the fire and began employing the journalistic sin of omission to shape a story. Remember childhoods of old when telling a story meant telling a lie? Reporting without fear or favor became passe. So, frankly I blame the MSM for where we are right now. I'm encouraged, though, because of courageous people like you.
Also! I love the artistic way you thread video clips and music through your piece. Very engaging!!
I became a paying subscriber just to say thanks for this article. I look forward to more.
Brilliant, insightful and fearless.
Sasha you are so right about TV and movies. All at once every TV relationship became biracial including the commercials. I gave up my Netflix subscription because there were too many woke series that were slow moving and predictable and my finger was always on the fast forward button. Leftist politics dominate the plots and it's not subtle at all. I'm so disappointed in the actors I used to admire and now avoid anything they're in. I know I'm not the only one because Netflix has lost a few million subscribers. I have gravitated to vintage programs and marvel at how great the storylines were. Having all this stuff shoved down our throats year after year has caused a shift away from all the politicized entertainment.
Wow Sasha. Again you put into words what so many of us can see but cannot articulate. (And congrats on the attention from RCP!)
Excellent piece. Love your frankness and clear eyed analysis. Truth!
Great article Sasha. I always appreciate your candor and open mind
"Their casting is always multiracial because that helps them look like they’re doing the work of “antiracists.” But it often sets storytelling off in strange and unpredictable ways"
Netflix's Bridgerton is an example, never knew so many upper class people of color in early 1800s London (only in the 1850s did University College London become the first English university to admit Jews).
But this was also shocking in the movie Bad Blood, about the Theranos fraud. In the movie, the manager of the investigative journalist, played by a Black southern woman, keeps harping on the customs of Sicilian fishermen about how to approach the story. Is that common in the American South?
Only after reading the book did I get what happened: in reality the manager is a male Italian-American fixated on the idea that he's descended from a long line of Sicilian princes, hence the constant references to those customs.
Another example missed in the film due to the emphasis on imposing racial hiring quotas: the chief scientist, a real example of the English establishment (Harrow, Cambridge) becomes good friends with a top Black engineer hired to build an alternative product. Nothing to see except it misses one of the most poignant parts of the book: in reality that top engineer was a die-hard Irish Republican with an abiding hatred of all things English, but somehow ended up forging a great friendship with a real English establishment type.
I thought long and hard about posting a review on Amazon but didn't want to risk losing my account there.
Sasha, thank you for pulling the WI state capital occupation out of the memory hole. Unlike J6, the school unions in particular organized waves to sustain it. Though I live in the badger state, I don't recall how long it went on, but it was several days, minimum. Weeks perhaps. The fawning news coverage, complete with breathless interviews extolling the righteousness of the cause ( in fact, it was long overdue action targeting a union sham that cost wisconsin taxpayers millions every year by awarding no bid contracts to different entities still under the union umbrella. This circle jerk always astounds. Taxpayers fund the public schools. The employees belonged to a union, without choice at the time. Through dues, it winds up with the Teacher's Union, who then issues no-bid contracts to entities under their umbrella. In every election cycle, the TU finally completes this circle of corruption by donating 99+ percent to the democratic party
As a WI taxpayer, your taxes directly funded candidates and legislation opposed by at least half the state's electorate. And you had no choice in the matter, simply because of the game design
Yet their cause received hero worship press coverage, not to mention free pizza throughout (of course), while J6 became an attack on the very fundamentals of "democracy" The doublestandard could not be more obvious.