Field Notes: Introductions
Facebook Journal Content
Journal: Getting Schooled All Over Again
Recently I had the fortune of speaking online with my former media studies professor from college for the first time in several years. Given her decades of experience analyzing trends in American political media, I was eager to pick her brain on the current political media discourse surrounding what is now quite clearly a fascist takeover across the broader Pig Empire. I wasn’t surprised to hear that she gave the mainstream liberal establishment a failing grade in terms of combating fascism, but I must admit that her reasons for that decision shocked me a little.
As a writer, I’ve always been of the belief that pointing out fascist hypocrisy is pointless because folks who’d care, already know, and the fascists themselves revel in their own odious duplicity; they cannot be shamed by pointing out lies and double-think. As such, I don’t really spend a lot of time sharing and analyzing media coverage of fascists getting caught in their own web of lies, or simultaneously arguing two totally incompatible talking points when they clearly believe in neither. My read has always been that late night comedians and liberal opinion show hosts have that one covered.
My professor however, disagreed. She pointed out that the majority of liberal messaging minions in our discourse complain that the speed of the modern news cycle means that even the most outrageous violations are forgotten in a matter of days. She then asked me if I’d ever heard of a fascist propagandist complaining about the same problem, and I was forced to admit I hadn’t. Indeed, Q-Anon cultists, fascist provocateurs, and Republican Senators alike seem to have no trouble maintaining both a memory of, and moral outrage over, every single slight (real or imagined) their enemies commit against them, inside their own political base.
Fascinated, I asked her if she had any theories to explain this discrepancy. Her answer? Pure repetition and exposure. The professor theorized that with increased pressures on our free learning time, the lens distorting effects of getting our information in social media formats, and the fascist’s willingness to spend money entirely to inject beneficial (to them) ideas and emotions into the discourse, the reactionary base is always seeing the same movie over and over again. So often that they can literally repeat the notes by memory; which is why talking to your average chud often feels like debating an even less coherent version of Sean Hannity.
By contrast, she pointed out that most fascist scandals and violations (political or otherwise) receive a lot of attention up front in the liberal media, and on various forms of television programming, but are quickly discarded in favor of the next big thing. Additionally, we both also noted that while mainstream media sources on the right were happy to platform outrageous claims about the many enemies of fascism, the mainstream “centrist” media would rarley reciprocate the same degree of emotion and outrage. The end result is that one side of the discourse is remembered forever, while the facts presented by the other side, no matter how damning, are quickly forgotten.
To tell you the truth, I’ve been turning what she said to be over in my head for the past three days now. On one hand, I’m not sure that what the mainstream liberal media regards as a scandal lines up well with issues poor people, antifascists, and workers actually care about. On the other hand, I have to admit that corporate media is doing an incredibly poor job of reporting on fascist controversies and scandals in particular; just because I have zero interest in endless stories about the Pig Empire’s precious “national security” doesn’t mean I can’t spend a little time laughing at fascists and exposing their lies.
Given that I’m already looking to migrate more breezy casual content over here to Facebook, and off Twitter which is likely to soon be owned by a billionaire fascist manchild going through the longest rough breakup in human history, I’ve decided to take up the challenge. I can’t promise it’s going to be Shakespeare, but I’m going to start collecting stories about fascist hypocrisy, criminality, and lies, to share here during weekdays on Twitter. Furthermore, I’m going to briefly analyze and address a very broad spectrum of stories about the entire reactionary right; from street fascist chuds, into the reactionary media, and on through establishment right wing politics in the Pig Empire. Don’t expect much, a few paragraphs of added value here and there – but I’m going to try and do my small part, to help folks remember the crimes committed by fascism, in a demoralizing time of mass forgetting.
I haven’t really thought of a snappy title for this feature, but since it’s just gonna be me laughing at dishonest fascists and their foibles, it probably isn’t necessary. We’ll start tomorrow; I’ve already got a few links saved up.
Threat Categorization Error
As I mentioned in yesterday’s journal, I don’t really have a strategy for an ongoing feature about sharing fascist lies, failures and f*ckery; it’s just something I want to do more because you simply cannot rely on corporate “centrist” media to get the important parts of a story right, or to care about it for more than one thirty second spot on air. Today I thought I’d start us off with this October 12 update on Huffington Post because it really touches on every single reason I’ve decided to start doing this little side project in my spare time:
Trump Supporter Busted For Blowing Up Own Camper Van
Alright, so what are we looking at here? On the surface this is simple story of fraud; some guy in Minnesota set his own camper on fire, claimed it was arson, and tried to collect the insurance money. The man, Denis Molla, has now plead guilty to fraud; as of the writing of the above article, a sentencing date had not been set yet. So, case closed right? A lot of folks have done a lot of dishonest things to make a quick buck, that hardly rates a spot on the evening news at this point.
Well, not so fast; because Molla didn’t just blow up his own camper and flee the ensuing blaze. He also took the time to spray paint “Biden 2020” and “BLM” on his own garage door before he did it. The day after the fire, he claimed he was being targeted for his open Trump support and told some completely false sob story about seeing three mysterious figures running away from the blaze while he rescued his two small children, and their puppies. Apparently, he also managed to turn this Breitbart fantasy-land nonsense into a $17,000 GoFundMe campaign as well.
Okay, so far so good; we’ve proven that some random Trump supporter is a liar and a buffoon who grifted a bunch of other Trump supporters and is now going to jail for insurance fraud. But what happens when we actually put this event in context – something this Huffington Post news update makes little effort to do?
Well keep in mind that this event occurred in September 2020, in the lead up to this past Presidential election; and in the aftermath of at least four years of normalized violence in service of right wing ideology. Furthermore, briefly consider the long and disturbing history of racialized vigilante violence and terrorism in America; who historically has been setting fires on whose lawns? Is it American liberals and Black Lives Matter activists? No sir, that would be hooded racists and the Ku Klux Klan. Finally, let’s place this in the context of multiple years of fascist lies, widely broadcast by right wing media sources, about mass rioting and antifa violence in the face of clear and documented evidence that it is overwhelmingly white, right wing extremists (ie fascists) committing political violence in America; a fact even the highly reactionary FBI has publicly agreed with.
So now, with all that context, what are we really looking at here? Well, this is basically a Do It Yourself fascist psy-op being washed through local media, and then rebroadcast by fascists who have national reach. Although you might not remember this story because there were actually several more like it, Molla’s little passion play did make its way through all the usual suspects in pro-fascist media; and thus, to a national audience desperate for false equivalencies about “left wing violence” and a fresh dose of politicized outrage. This was a calculated political act, that in and of itself is a form of right wing terrorism, and was conducted for the purposes of spreading fascist propaganda.
What was it calculated to produce? More or less publicly documented justification for right wing violence, fascist political tactics, and a healthy dose of racial animus towards the perceived enemies of American reactionaries; so anyone left of Otto von Bismarck and Black people. I’m sure Denis was also pretty interested in that sweet cash money, but if your goal is just to rip off the insurance company, creating a convoluted story that ends up on the national news is just extra steps and a pretty good way to get caught. Clearly Molla, and the right wing “journalists” who took up his cause had other items on the agenda here.
And that my friends is the handle that I don’t think corporate minions in the “liberal media” are ever going to share with you; one might even argue that the current business model in their industry strongly discourages that type of behavior in the first place. And thus what are we left with? The totally FAKE act of “Bidenist” BLM terrorism was talked about, and contextualized in completely false narratives, for perhaps thousands of hours in the right wing media discourse. By contrast, the fact that it was all racist nonsense and scammer bullcrap rates a four hundred word news update that survives for about a half hour on the front page of liberal media websites; and the fact that this whole thing was an act of right wing terrorism (even if it targeted an unknown “other” in its methodology) and a fascist psy-op, doesn’t get discussed at all.
And y’all wonder why nobody cares about a failed fascist coup attempt after two more years in this media environment? Please.
Background Info: A Fascist Conspiracy Skeleton Key for Violence
Speaking of catching up on past bogus controversies, I’d like to share this 2019 Mother Jones piece by Ali Breland here again, to sort of set the stage for some larger discussions we’re going to have later on in my work. Please be advised, some of this gets pretty intense.
Titled “Why Are Right-Wing Conspiracies so Obsessed With Pedophilia?” this piece takes a look at the historical context in which reactionary propaganda about the family under assault has weaponized conspiracy theories involved horrifying child abuse, to shocking political and social effect. Although this article was written to address the existence of the politicized reactionary conspiracy theories involving pedophilia in America’s very recent history (dark fascist fantasies we know as Pizzagate, or Q-Anon today), I think a simple glance at the news headlines surrounding things like the Don’t Say Gay bill in Florida, or the Pig Empire-wide war on trans people, makes it clear this refresher course is in order.
Why Are Right-Wing Conspiracies so Obsessed With Pedophilia?
The “too long, didn’t read” here is that reactionaries weaponize conspiracy theories about literal attacks on children, to generate a popular backlash against social progress they regard as metaphorical attacks on the family; and it works because our society is pretty much hardwired to hate people who harm children, for more or less obvious reasons. This in particular is where I think Breland’s piece above really doesn’t go far enough, because it’s focused entirely on the more mainstream form of weaponization of these very intense, protective emotions in our society surrounding children. This is all cash, clicks, politics, and outrage; but there is a even darker side to weaponizing these conspiracies that this piece only barely touches on.
The reality is that conspiracy theories about pedophilia are sweet nectar to fascists provocateurs looking to justify violence against their political enemies, because deep down inside not many folks are going to go to bat to protect pedophiles. And why should we? In fact most of us don’t want to spend any more time than necessary even thinking about the existence of pedophiles, and we’re sure not looking to give our friends and associates the wrong idea by appearing to defend them in public. By demonizing their political enemies as pedophiles, fascists are able to publicly pre-mark out their targets for “righteous” retribution; while simultaneously casting that violence under an unpleasant cloud of obscurity surrounding motive and justification. Given the purely emotional nature of the argument, the fact that the accusations are false is pretty much irrelevant once our collective outrage surrounding the harming of children, particularly in a sexual way, overrides anything resembling logical discourse.
In other words, it’s not an accident that fascists are currently arguing that everyone from liberal politicians, to gender care doctors, gay teachers, and trans women are all secret groomer pedophiles, at the same time as they’re advocating for physical violence against “the evil globalist pedos coming for our kids.” This is how you transform anger about a changing society, into violence and fascist political policy in a reactionary society; and whether we want to talk about it or not, folks who don’t want to end up under the fascist boot are going to have to come up with some kind of answer to this strategy. Because, right now? It’s working, and the fascists are winning because of it.
Journal: In the crosshairs
The bald truth of things is that despite being a trans woman, I don’t particularly like to write about trans rights issues and politics. There are a number of reasons for this, but I feel two in particular stand out as important for me to share with my audience going forward; especially in light of recent ominous developments in mainstream politics.
First, as a post-op trans woman of fairly average appearance, my lived experience has taught me that American culture isn’t particularly sympathetic to trans women in everyday life. While obviously transphobia is very real and represents a very real danger to my continued existence, even in the absence of open bigotry mainstream American society really just doesn’t care all that much about what happens to trans people; and that’s not just an opinion, there are FBI unsolved murder statistics that support that idea wholeheartedly if anyone ever cared to look at them. Given the fact that I represent such a tiny minority in the larger population, this normally isn’t that big a deal in my life; I ignore folks I consider stealth bigots, they ignore the fact that I exist and everyone goes on with their lives. Trying to get those same people to give a damn about trans rights at all, sounds like bailing water on the Titanic with a beer mug to me.
Secondly, the reality here is that America is a pretty reactionary society, with extremely reactionary ideas about the behaviors and credibility of in groups and out groups; and these ideas are shared by a very large swathe of the population, including folks who don’t think they are bigots or transphobes. As a trans woman, it is actually extra hard to get most people to take my opinions about attacks on trans people credibly; society around me is mentally hardwired to assume that because I’m trans, I’m far more likely to be dishonest about the persecution of trans people because procuring mainstream sympathy somehow benefits me personally – a dynamic I’m sure most other marginalized groups in American culture will know all too well by now.
Unfortunately, and as you may have noticed, circumstances in our society have changed drastically in a very short period of time. Both blatant fascists and cryptofascists in the American mainstream right have begun to openly and successfully organize around America’s latent “fear of a trans planet.” Although this fact is utterly inexplicable to me, given how truly microscopic a minority in American society us trans folks actually are, literal fascists are effectively reassembling a broad right wing coalition around transphobic ideas and conspiracies about grooming or pedophilia. This is no longer a terrifying but ultimately obscure hobbyhorse for skinheads and internet weirdos; portraying trans women as male sexual predators out to harm our children is officially mainstream “conservative” politics in America, and this bigoted smear is now extending to not only the entire LGBTQ community, but anyone in our society to who supports that community, or even acknowledges our common humanity. The parallels to early Nazi Party organizing in Weimar Germany are absolutely chilling at this point, and thus sitting on the sidelines of this issue is no longer about my personal discomfort.
Frankly I write about right wing politics, American fascism, and the pervasive power of reactionary propaganda in our culture. When the very same elements and influences I’m saying poison our democracy and drive so much suffering in our society turn their knives on me and folks like me, my choices become accepting that I’m now a part of the story, or giving up my work completely. I’m a woman who predicted the unfolding Pig Empire-wide fascist takeover we’re experiencing now, while writing for free on the internet under my own name. I’m also a proud and open antifascist. Obviously it goes without saying that I don’t intend to surrender the ideological battlefield to fascists just because the stakes have risen for me personally, a little sooner than I expected.
The truth is we are all part of the story; all of us who oppose fascism are at least. These folks have both predictable tactics, and a historical track record when it comes to dividing us up and wiping out threats to fascist rule one by one. Trans folks certainly won’t be their last target, and there is no appeasing the bloodthirsty monster that is fascism once it’s unleashed on a society. These are strange and horrifying times to be alive in the Pig Empire, but we must, all of us, refuse to yield to the fascists; failure is simply not an option given the terrible human cost that would entail.
So I’m going to write a bit about the assault on trans rights, and why it has become the thin end of the wedge in the fascist fight for absolute power. I hope that you’ll take my analysis seriously, and I hope that society at large will find a way to care – not just for my sake, but because once the nazis make it acceptable to wipe trans women out, it’s only a matter of time before they come for the rest of you too. We can all stand together now while these guys can still be stopped, or we will all surely lie together in the dirt once these folks have the power they so desperately crave.
I know which choice I’m lining up behind here; hopefully that choice will be just as easy for you and the folks around you as well. Literally everything depends on it now.
Recommended Reading: Looper
Wrapping things up tonight with our Recommended Reading post, I’m pleased to share this incredible long form essay by M.K. Anderson, published way back in April 2022 over on Protean Magazine.
Although this essay is now months old, I think it’s worth going back to examine now for a couple of important reasons. First, fascists are successfully using a modern moral panic about trans people to gain power in our society. Secondly, and as we’ve been discussing for several weeks now, a shockingly broad swathe of mainstream corporate media is cooperating with the fascists by normalizing reactionary and even eliminationist propaganda in the social discourse. Given that Anderson’s article explicitly examines the role of a purportedly liberal opinion writer in washing reactionary, transphobic propaganda through mainstream outlets like The Atlantic, and The Cut, this one actually seemed rather timely. Let’s meet the aforementioned writer, Jesse Singal:
As you may have gathered, this isn’t really the kind of article I can sum up for you in a Facebook post. In seeking to deconstruct why self-appointed trans expert Jesse Singal’s work is so dangerous, Anderson has to demonstrate that Singal is a bullcrap artist re-purposing far right talking points for a mainstream liberal audience, present and debunk numerous smears deployed to attack trans people, and place all of this fascist collaboration in the context of our current, hyper-reactionary political moment. That’s not the kind of thing you can accomplish with five paragraphs and a popular quotation, and reviewing all of it here is beyond the scope of our discussion today – but I do sincerely hope you read it, because this article is excellent.
For our purposes today however, what I’d like to focus on is the way Singal’s coded anti-trans writing reveals a closed fascist propaganda loop in our mainstream media, and what that says about our society. As Anderson notes, in general Singal gets most of his arguments from sketchbag reactionary sources; right wing hatemongers, trans exclusionary radical feminists, and even conversion therapy advocates. Jesse then proceeds to reposition those arguments inside a liberal language framework, and re-present what amounts to bigoted, anti-scientific smears based entirely on vibes, as reasoned and dispassionate expert opinion. This in turn is picked up by reactionary, and even openly fascist sources in the media and re-amplified in the discourse as evidence that the hatemongers pushing transphobic nonsense are in fact presenting an important side of a normalized, society-wide debate. Of course, they rarely mention that at the core of that debate we’re arguing about trans people’s right to openly exist in our society; but the subtext of the discussion does clearly imply there’s nothing wrong with asking the question.
Does Singal understand that he’s doing this? I’d strongly suggest he does, and given the company he keeps these days online, I’m much more comfortable than Anderson is just calling him a straight up transphobe; and a fascist collaborator to boot. What should really be bending your mind however, is the question of why an outlet like The Atlantic would let him do that in the first place? It’s not like Jesse is qualified in any way to lead ANY given discussion about trans people; he’s neither trans, nor a doctor, but rather a washed up editor with a public affairs degree. And while it’s certainly possible that a trashfire magazine like The Atlantic low-key wouldn’t mind seeing a wholly fascist Amerikka in the very near future, I sincerely doubt their reasons for presenting Jesse as a trans expert with important opinions were all that ideological.
No, the reality is that an outlet like The Atlantic is only too happy to print Jesse’s coded bigotry because moral panics and discussions about “sex stuff” are pretty profitable for an American media corporation. There are few things bougie white folks in the American discourse love more than ostensibly highbrow discussions about why some marginalized group or another does not deserve their sympathy; debating the humanity of the downtrodden has long been a favored parlor game in upper class American society – the modern discussion about trans folks mirrors similar historical discussions about gay folks, and African Americans before them, for example. The Atlantic prints Jesse’s hateful bullcrap because it sells magazines; without the slightest concern whatsoever for whether or not that helps dangerous fascists gain power and promote violent reactionary ideas.
In this way, the profit motive itself is rather a lot like the right wing hate mongering that underpins all of Jesse’s work; it is both the source, and the outcome, of the fascist war on our society.
Recommended Reading: Wages of Rage
In today’s RR post, I’d like to build on the discussions we’ve been having about the very real threat represented by “mainstream establishment” figures spreading paranoid, bigoted, and ultimately eliminationist propaganda from fascists sources. As I’ve mentioned before, there is a broad social tendency in Pig Empire society to devalue the word of marginalized people when they’re describing the threat the normalization of fascist propaganda places them under. While I’m sure everyone reading this sincerely believes they’re immune to this effect, I’ve now had far too many people in my social circles suggest I should “relax” in the face of a coordinated campaign to normalize the idea I’m a child predator just because I’m trans, to take that sentiment very seriously.
In order to contextualize what the very real world consequences of this normalization look like, let’s turn to this October 20th story by Hallie Lieberman, over on Slate:
What happens when Marjorie Taylor Greene tells a Georgia town you’re a predator.
To sum up the situation here; noted fascist Q-Anon conspiracy Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene falsely identified one of her constituents as a child predator to score brownie points with other fascists; causing the 22 year old man to receive thousands of threats, which in turn have driven him into an impoverished, terrorized, hermit-like existence. His crime? Performing in drag and working in an adult accessories store. Yeah, you read that right, everyone’s favorite Waffen-Karen Congresswoman from Georgia is openly conducting an extremely dangerous harassment campaign against some random drag queen who reads stories to children at Pride parades; causing very real harm, and placing this person’s life in very real danger, to marshal moral panic and outrage in support of her fascist political agenda.
If somehow you still think I’m exaggerating how dangerous this current political environment is for trans people, and LGBTQ people as a whole, feel free to comb through the gory details of this story. This isn’t some bleeding heart fantasy, this rhetoric is not only empowering a broader fascist movement in the Pig Empire politically, but it’s also sparking a drastic rise in bigotry and yes, violence, against the marginalized targets of this movement. We are no longer talking about hypothetical consequences for embracing fascist ideology; the danger is here already, it’s deadly real, and it’s not going to go away just because polite society chooses to ignore it.
Furthermore, what’s truly mind blowing to me here is that Greene isn’t going to be punished for what amounts to a hate crime in slow motion, but in fact she will undoubtedly be rewarded with another term in Congress. What she’s done here is objectively illegal in our society; it’s literally a crime, absolute Klan tactics terrorism. Behavior nearly identical to Greene’s is why Alex Jones is now like a billion dollars in debt. It’s also why we hung Nazi propagandists along with the folks who ran the camps after World War II. You can’t tell me to relax when the society around me is embracing fascist political ideology, and openly rewarding the kind of folks who’re looking to have me murdered with more power day over day. There’s a reason I call it Weimar America, and it’s not because “first they came for the free speech absolutists on Substack.”
Actually, if you want to know the truth the very first people Hitler and the Nazis came for, were the LGBTQ community; they just didn’t rate a line in the bible thumping penitent’s poem for “reasons” I guess. Sometimes it would appear that history can’t even be bothered with rhyming – it just smashes the repeat button instead; who knew?
- nina illingworth
