1. Ms. M. Taylor-Greene
I was fascinated to see a BBC report that cranky Christian conspiracy theorist Marjorie Taylor Green has herself been the object of a false conspiracy theory. See the end of this BBC web report where we can read:
Evidence-free accusations against Marjorie Taylor Greene
Baseless theories in the aftermath of the attack weren't confined to the right.
Some liberal influencers seized on a tweet by Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, posted a day prior to the attack, which read: "Just wait until tomorrow."
A number of accounts with large liberal followings claimed that Ms Taylor Greene's tweet could be a hint that she was in on the attack on Mr Pelosi. There is no evidence whatsoever to support this theory.
But does evidence mean anything to cranky conspiracy theorists?
2. Mr. D. Trump
Another report that interested me (this time on MSN) concerns Florida's republican governor Ron DeSantis:
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is overtly courting Christian nationalist voters, and Donald Trump lashed out at his most likely GOP challenger.
The Florida governor released a new video presenting him as a savior anointed by God to save the country, which the former president perceived as a direct threat to his grip over right-wing evangelical voters -- and historian Sarah Posner told the Washington Post that Trump was right to be concerned.
"Trump knows that his base believes God anointed him to lead America at a critical juncture, and that many of them believe him to be a messianic figure who alone can rescue America from what they call demonic forces (liberalism, civil rights, 'deep state,' and more)," Posner told the Post columnist Greg Sargent. "None of Trump’s potential rivals have so blatantly tried to claim that divine blessing.
"It’s a very dangerous sign that DeSantis is reading the base — which has been bombarded with ever more radical claims of anointings, prophecy and spiritual warfare against the left — as receptive to savior alternatives to Trump," she added.
DeSantis was explicitly sending a message to voters who believe America was founded as a Christian nation, using their language, and signaling that he shares their vision of taking the country back from the forces of evil, Posner said.
According to the above quotes DeSantis is competing with Trump for Trump's fundamentalist religious support base, a base which is looking for a prophesied anointed leader in their fight against Western democratic and liberal values, values which they believe to be demonic. Mr. Putin would concur with their views on liberal democracy.
3. Mr E. Musk
We hear Elon Musk affirming the virtues of free speech on the web, but I wonder if he is really aware of the complexities of this deceptively simple principle. After all what do we do about the "free speech" of Islamic extremists who incite their followers to carry out acts of murder or those Christian fundamentalists of the far right whose slanderous accusations and conspiracy theories also help incite violence? "Free speech" is clearly a balancing act. In regard to Musk, then, I was fascinated to read this article on MSN:
I never found out whether or not Musk censored the "Trump is dead" Twitter post!
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How many people comprehend the potential inner contradictions of very strong "free speech" principles? Too much free speech and we get free speech from those whose free-speech effectively promotes the end of free-speech with their threats of violence against those who beg to differ with them. Somewhere a balance has to be kept between freedom and regulation.
It all reminds me of Asimov's three laws of robotics which in one of his stories led to a robot going round in circles as it was caught between two contradictory demands on its time. Unless you're doing physics or mathematics avoid using rigidly observed catch-all principles in politics, religion, sociology and economics: In the human sciences where complexity rules those principles are bound to have exceptions, unexpected consequences and internal contradictions. Think "heuristics" rather than "principles" and deal with stuff on a case-by-case basis where possible, using "principles" as guidelines rather than tram lines. Heuristics accept exceptions to the rule which in turn builds in the possibility of interrupting those endless loops and prevents us from going round in circles. (See video above).
Anyway, perhaps Musk himself realizes that checks and balances are needed, and that blanket catch-all principles rigidly and religiously applied so easily come a cropper. So, although he was prepared to give Donald Trump another chance, to his credit Musk is keeping the Twitter ban on the vile and evil Alex Jones. See here:
Twitter boss Elon Musk keeps conspiracy theorist Alex Jones off platform - BBC News
01/12/22: Curiouser and Curiouser:
I wonder where the truth lies in all this:
Inside the far-right troll war between DeSantis, Trump, and Ye supporters (msn.com)
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