94 Comments
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Chris Rey's avatar

What did Tim Snyder say about acquiescing in advance to dicktators?

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Jacqueline Yvette Hardy's avatar

I’m so disappointed about these “news” organizations but also shocked at the sports teams having moments of silence, having his name sewn onto their uniforms, and memorializing him in general. I never spend my money on professional sports but I felt embarrassed for them, losing their dignity like that.

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Elizabeth Carr's avatar

Yikes! I hadn’t heard about that! Please, I need to know what teams!

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Jacqueline Yvette Hardy's avatar

Moments of silence at both the cowboys and Yankees games, Dodgers pitcher with his name sewn onto his uniform cap. Probably other examples out there too. Makes me wonder exactly which of Kirk’s positions they support…

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VickieJo's avatar

same. i didn't hear about thie uniforms. OMG

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David Magill's avatar

In today's mass media, it's more important to be FIRST than it is to be RIGHT. Like you said, Allison, no one sees or reads the retractions. Once the false message gets out, that's what many people end up believing, no matter what comes up later.

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Richard Waddell's avatar

More lockstep thinking as reactions overtake actual thinking.

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Vicki Hiatt's avatar

How come no one has asked “ how did the assassin become such a perfect shot?”

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James Quinn's avatar

Two hundred yards with a decent rifle is not that difficult if the shooter has had any kind of serious practice. Fully half my class in Basic Training could do that after a few weeks on the range.

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Martha Lorantos's avatar

He was raised in a household with several guns. Probably went to the range growing up, maybe hunting.

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Rebekah VS's avatar

He might have been aiming for the head or chest. The shooter wasn’t an “assassin”.

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VickieJo's avatar

The experts said it was an easy shot. But they make this opinon based on an assumption/presumption that the shooter was going for the head, but missed and got the neck. However, we don't know that, so the question remains an important one.

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Vicki R.'s avatar

While I agree with you Allison on how dispicable corporate media is, I am concerned for your safety for being so blunt. Please be careful. I'm a mom and grandma and while I would be extremely proud of your tenacity and truth telling if you were mine, I would still be worried for you. I am not afraid for myself. I've lived in a democratic country all my life, but I won't go down the tyranny road without a fight. My best wishes to you, and please take care.

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Kay Coughlin's avatar

The best way we can keep Allison - and every outspoken person - safe is to be engaging in activism to support the First Amendment. When my family members tell me to be safe, I ask them to lock arms and march alongside me, or else keep their concerns between their therapist and them. None of us with resources and the privilege of white skin can afford to act in "safe" ways any more. Unless we all stand in solidarity, there will be nothing left to stand up for.

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Vicki R.'s avatar

You are right, Kay. And just so you know, I was out marching today with my family.

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Markie's avatar

Please look into and connect the dots with the shooter at Evergreen HS in Colorado the same day. Local reporting is saying he was also "radicalized" by dark gamer/meme culture and was involved in some Discord groups. Sounds though he might also be a groyper. My question is did the two shooters cross paths on the internet and are the two events on the same day more than coincidence.

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kdsherpa's avatar

"THE SAME DAY" -- but never made it into the news. Disgusting.

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Smith ski's avatar

4chan is the prime right social network. There young men find coaching, encouragement, and advise from older members on how to perfect their skills for these murders.

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Robert Lindsay's avatar

He’s Antifa and promotes troon ideology.

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VickieJo's avatar

I agree that the Groyper story that you mention is relevant.

Discord is just a messaging. Having had to use this at as scientific academic poster session judging, i want to mention that. Lots of young people use it for different reasons, many are gamers. It does not imply any political or violent bias. Japan has the biggest gaming culture in the world and it is not tied to gun violence. I would think many gamers are offended by the implications.

The Republicans and the FBI desperately pushes an anti-LGBT, anti-democratic false narrative about Tyler Robinson, trying to spark conflict between the MAGA militias they support and our party without guns or militias. Republicans fight for unlimited gun ownership, not equality, fairness, or due process. Democrats, stuck in a bubble, keep trying to win through laws that have been weakened for decades. They even helped by allowing rules that let a slim majority seat extreme Supreme Court justices.

The democratic party is thus weak and naive at countering the collapse of democracy. They are naive to think the law is enough when the other side ignores it and abuses power. Newsom shows that tougher tactics can work. With the help of independent media like Allison Gill, we have a chance.

LFG.

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Glenn Snyder's avatar

The world is small now. It didn't used to be, but now if feels very small. I think these billionaires/oligarchs think the earth is infinite and they get a kick out of being at the top, so to speak. They disconnect from the world around them and skip across the surface like a rock skipped across a smooth pond. We have to make waves now, to disrupt their stupor and bring them back to humanity, to the world. We need to overturn Citizens United, then all else can happen.

Do not obey in advance. Do something. Say something. Connect with someone. Now is the time.

https://www.nokings.org

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kdsherpa's avatar

"We need to overturn Citizens United". How? It has been the rule of the land, informally, since raygun's days, 1982. As my father said back in 1982, "Well, there goes our democracy." I was so shocked by his comment that I remember to this day exactly where I was standing when he said that. I could never have dreamed how completely correct his assessment would be.

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kdsherpa's avatar

The takeover of our news -- both newspapers and TV -- is part and parcel of fascist authoritarianism. Amazing how fast it is all happening. Could anyone have predicted this 10 years ago?

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Jacqueline Yvette Hardy's avatar

Yes, right after 9/11 is when I started to see it…

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David's avatar

Al Gore losing

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Sandra Nicht's avatar

Reagan gutting the Fairness Doctrine

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cosimo's avatar

raygun was a traitor to the actors union he was president of…

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Democracy Emergency's avatar

Great essay. I'm most disappointed in the BBC and the Guardian. All US mainstream media news agencies have already capitulated, so their toeing the Trump line, while horrific and infuriating, is not too surprising. What excuses do the BBC and the Guardian have? Oh, MSNBC firing Dowd was a new low since MSNBC was the only mainstream media company left with any value, but they'd already been creeping toward capitulation, so extremely disappointing but not shocking.

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je Fa's avatar

Please note, the term ‘transgender ideology’ is a BS term made up by right wing propaganda artists so that they could claim that ‘transgender ideology’ is being taught to children in school. There is no such thing as transgender ideology.

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Cycledoc's avatar

A government run on the whim of a psychopath (google it if you doubt me) staffed with inept and incompetent appointees. Aside from the NY times and maybe MSNBC the non-MAGA media has been bought up by Trump genuflecting billionaires. Putin sort of likes it.

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kdsherpa's avatar

Oh, I think the NYT has been culpable for a very, very long time. As for MSNBC, firing Matthew Dowd is the beginning of the end.

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wordler's avatar

Then there is Ezra Klein's piece about kirk that sickened me.

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Democracy Emergency's avatar

Yes, I'm still fuming about that.

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Cycledoc's avatar

Maybe I should have said maybe about the Times. Where do you get your info?

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kdsherpa's avatar

When Sulzberger refused to endorse Harris last year, that was the last straw for me, and for many others. During the orange sadist's first term, he could get away with saying anything he liked, and the Times simply reported it without comment. The O.S. has the most severe form of Personality Disorder possible: Malignant Narcissism. His capacity to destroy our nation was, and is, enormous -- but was that ever a significant topic for the Times? Prior to the 2024 election, the Times published article after article after article about Biden's health. These days, almost nothing is written about the orange sadist's dementia or failing health. I was disgusted enough by June, 2024 to cancel my subscription. I haven't regretted it. Ezra Klein's recent editorial in praise of Charlie Kirk should have sane, patriotic Americans cancelling their subscriptions, as well. I would love to hear your thoughts.

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Dawna Stromsoe's avatar

Agree. When Sulzberger and Bezos squashed the NYT and WP endorsements of Harris, their stance was clear. Same for Harris’ home town LAT. Subscription cancellations of all.

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Cycledoc's avatar

Actually the Times editorial board endorsed Harris on September 30 as the only choice. You may be thinking of Bezos and the Post?

And IMHO Biden and Trump were too old in 2020 to run for President. Our track record with elderly guys in that role isn't good. Reagan at 77 left office in early dementia. Trump I ended with him at age 74 blathering inaccurately and ignorantly about COVID. Biden at the end of his term was over age 80. I'm 84 and know past age 75 it's a crap shoot as to whether the guy will have the energy to be President and we shouldn't take that chance. Biden was simply too old and past his sell by date. Nice guy, intellectually more or less intact but he wasn't presidential material over age 80.

Ezra Klein was trying too hard to be a nice guy. But what is a viable alternative to the Times for at least part of you information basis. And besides......there is the crossword and games. I read the Guardian and BBC as well.

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kdsherpa's avatar

I have no memory of the NYT ever supporting Harris. I'll have to read up on that. Thanks for the information. Re "nice guy": if you have the ears of an entire nation, and you praise someone who has believed that the stoning to death of gay people is OK, then what Klein did is abominable. (What area of medicine did you practice? I was a psychiatrist.)

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Cycledoc's avatar

Internist, Oncologist with time in Peace Corps so Tropical Medicine as well.

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VickieJo's avatar

Comcast owns NBC. They are a schizophrenic company: anti-union, violators of net neutrality. They own Telemundo, which has helped move Hispanic voters toward Trump. They flooded the internet with anti-Hillary propaganda to boost Obama, then donated $1 million to Trump even while Trump threatened to sue CEO Roberts over MSNBC programming.

They do not look like a Republican-controlled company, but then why try to hire Ronna McDaniel? Is it that Trump has so much dirt on them he can threaten lawsuits like he did with CBS? So what is really going on?

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kdsherpa's avatar

REALLY disturbing. You have more information about this than I have read anywhere. Thank you so much. This gives me some starting points to get digging. (P.S. I remember being incensed when Telemundo pushed tens of thousands of English-illiterate Hispanics to vote for the orange sadist. I was furious! I had no clue about all of these knotted up connections.)

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Bill Huber's avatar

Thank you Allison! You're in my pantheon of women who are keeping the fires burning for democracy...

Allison Gill

Heather Cox Richardson

Ruth Ben-Ghiat

Asha Rangappa

Joyce Vance

Alexandria Ocasio Cortez

Jasmine Crockett

Stacy Abrams

to name a few off the top of my head... there are many others, I'm sure.

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Sabrina Wood's avatar

Awesome list! Julie Roginsky and Olga Lautman are indefatigable truth bringers too!

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Bill Huber's avatar

I listened to them… Definitely on the list, and Katie Phang too!

And that's not all, by any means!

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Bill Huber's avatar

I listened to them… Definitely on the list, and Katie Phang too!

And that's not all, by any means!

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Jim O'Brien's avatar

When we look at 4 speeches from two liberals: 2 from MLK and two from RFK- and you probably know which ones I’m speaking of- you get a sense of the vast accomplishments and the heightened sense of decency coming from liberals in America.

Contrast that with the speeches of Charlie Kirk, Donald Trump, Rush Limbaugh, et al and it’s not even a close comparison of the two ideologies.

MLK led the Civil Rights movement and RFK defined the soul of the liberal society. Compare them to the conservative heroes above and I don’t think there is even one speech among them, not even a string of cogent sentences put together by any one of them, that would lead anyone to believe that they have what it takes to lead a great nation through the challenges we face every day.

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Pasqual Allen's avatar

You’ve been spot on with your journalism all throughout this. Thank you for your professionalism and responsible journalism. You’re the best.

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Danielle T's avatar

Yes. There has been a dangerous set up of innocent groups of people with the false blaming and it is the responsibility of mainstream media to inform people of the truth and prioritize correcting the record and correcting the public”s understanding of who was responsible and why. The NYT printed a dangerously structured piece yet today “The Police Found Messages…What They Mean Is Unclear,” which unnecessarily presents the false narrative alongside the emerging truth. This does little to clarify the information. Do they not consider the potential consequences of such misunderstanding?

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Robert Lindsay's avatar

The motive was Antifa and troon politics.

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Wd52's avatar

THE FUNDAMENTAL PROBLEM IS CORPORATE NEWS WILL SHOW NOTHING THAT RISKS CORPORATE PROFITS.

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