The U.S. will mark the anniversary of the January 6 insurrection on Saturday, a milestone that will confer upon the reality-dwelling citizenry a grim reminder of the potency of propaganda and how quickly it can warp perception when introduced into the public square.

Just three years ago, most of the country watched with dismay and horror as a violent MAGA mob beat back authorities and stormed the country’s citadel of democracy. The Donald Trump-incited crush of disillusioned rioters, fueled by a stream of fantastical lies, believed that the 2020 election had been stolen by sinister forces working to undermine the democratic election.

Of course, not only was their belief flatly incorrect, but evidence later emerged indicating that it was Trump who, in fact, had tried to subvert democracy.

Facts, however, have little bearing on the sentiment inside the Republican Party, which has been fed a steady diet of lies and half-truths by Fox News and the rest of the sprawling right-wing media machine. To wit, the false notion that Joe Biden nefariously stole the 2020 election is now widely shared inside the GOP. A CNN poll conducted over the summer found that nearly 70% of Republicans believe Biden’s win was not legitimate, a number that has continued to tick up.

    • @[email protected]
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      311 months ago

      Like you, I agree that secular unification is the obvious solution to this conflict. However, I am unwilling to ignore the role that religious extremism has historically played in preventing that outcome. It actually saddens me to once again see leftists abandon their first principles in favor of brain dead revolutionary fan service.

      Israel is absolutely an apartheid state which has brutalized Gaza far beyond what is necessary for security, retribution or deterrence. They should be condemned and sanctioned soundly for this. However, if you espouse support for secular unification, then you must also acknowledge that the Islamic opposition to Jewish co-governance is a major force preventing this outcome, and it has been that way since before the state of Israel has existed.

      • Diva (she/her)
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        -611 months ago

        At this point I don’t care about your concern trolling, excuses and hypotheticals when there’s actual shit going down now. The US should really stop supporting Israel if they want any credibility in the rest of the world going forward.

        • @[email protected]
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          11 months ago

          “Excuses and Hypotheticals” being history of the conflict you didn’t know about until now?

          You are the one who proposed hypothetical unification.

          • Diva (she/her)
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            -411 months ago

            Your position is that when the apartheid government ends, the barbaric savages who have been getting kept at bay by the glorious liberal “democracy” it has (for the right types of citizens who qualify) will take revenge in a way just as brutal and exterminationist as the zionist colony.

            That’s just chauvinism, and you’re just repeating discredited hasbara and acting like a scholar which is fucking hilarious.

            we have a real-world example of what happens when an apartheid government ends- was there a genocide of white people in south africa?

            • @[email protected]
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              311 months ago

              I am not making any statement which is not the formal position of Hamas. But you didn’t state that you would write in the Palestinian Authority.

              • Diva (she/her)
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                11 months ago

                lol liberals rolling up to tone police left opposition when your literal position is “lets give the genocidal ethnostate unlimited weapons because it’s full of hot white girls who’re going to get mass raped by the brown hordes if we just stand by” + “don’t forget to vote”

                You have the same position when it comes to this as some of the most disgusting republicans I’ve known

                • @[email protected]
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                  311 months ago

                  You express preference for secular unification, a stance I have agreed with. I have not expressed any desire to arm Israel. That is all in your head.

                  • Diva (she/her)
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                    -411 months ago

                    good, do you feel upset that the biden government is rushing weapons there? You called me a right wing troll for not wanting to vote for genocide Joe (because of exactly this). Explain your logic.