Notes for October 15, 2020

Roundup of Articles on the Hunter Biden Controversy

Oct 15, 2020

Hunter

I am still processing this Hunter Biden stuff. Here are some foundational articles from different sides.

First take: Creating the appearance of corruption without solid information is why so many of us wrote off the narrative of the Trump campaign colluding with Russia. I can't imagine anyone caring beyond Trump's supporters.

Jack Dorsey: Twitter Did ‘Unacceptable’ Job of Explaining Why NY Post Story Blocked
Facebook Limited The Reach Of An Unconfirmed Story About Joe Biden’s Son Hunter. Twitter Blocked It.

I took so much shit from Republicans and right-leaning libertarians when I defended Alex Jones and his right to be on these platforms. "muh property rights!" The time to fight censorship was before the decision was made to engage in editing political content, not two years after the fact. Republicans were tepid and mealymouthed about it when libertarians warned they would be next after things like Alex Jones and Liberty Memes and I have zero sympathies for them.

First, they came for the hackers. Then the sex workers. Then the conspiracy theorists. Then the libertarians. Shouldn't have been weak bitches when it mattered, conservatives.

Sen. Hawley demands answers from Facebook for ‘censoring a news report’ on Hunter Biden

The power government maintains sucks. Instead of Jack Dorsey worrying about building a platform that allows us to decide what we click on, he spent his day yesterday worrying whether to piss off Senator Hawley or Senator Wyden. It's about two and not 7 billion.

Our content on social media censorship.

CSS 16: First They Banned Alex Jones. Joe Rogan Will Be Next.

Open Speech is Essential To Correcting the Bad Behavior of Alex Jones

305: Alex Jones Gets Deplatformed, Dems Want Social Media Regulation, Death Penalty

CSS 2: Rob Kendall and Chris Spangle on Alex Jones and Social Media Censorship

Spangle: Podcasts Are More Trusted than Mainstream Media

324: Liberty Memes Banned By Facebook

309: Senator Wants to Pass Social Media Regulation

CSS 6: Sen. Ron Wyden Wants To Regulate Speech on Social Media

306: The Building and Destruction of a Media Brand

The Governor's race in Indiana has been extremely active, and it bodes well for the future of the Libertarian Party here.

I have been getting a lot of nice notes from people that I knew in the Tea Party. Many of these folks are apologizing for how dismissive they were ten years ago towards the LPIN, and they are glad to have an alternative. There are a lot of people that are going to cross a personal Rubicon and vote Libertarian for the first time in their lives this year. Once they've done it, they will look to do it again.

Combine that with the under-40 voter Libertarian base being 10%, and you have a scary proposition for Republicans and Democrats moving forward in this state. The Republicans are more vulnerable than they realize. Their establishment "Mitch" voter is turned off by the President. Their grassroots voter is turned off by the Governor.

None of this concerns the modern Indiana Republican because they have near-supermajorities. Why navel-gaze when you have power? Their pride and arrogance don't allow them to see defectors as anything other than people that "don't get it." They should see Libertarians, Rainwater Republicans, and Biden Republicans as a canary in a coal mine. None of this is their fault, of course. It is the media or other parties or voters or some other barely-responsible group for their short-sightedness.

Their base is old and dying out and their message doesn't appeal to the two biggest, and youngest, generations moving up. Bask in 2020 wins because, in 2040, it could look a lot like the Joe Donnelly Democrat Party for the IN GOP.

10% figure: https://www.cnn.com/election/2018/exit-polls/indiana

He keeps saying this and he probably shouldn't.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar

Trump tells his story about he how and Melania recently watched the evening news expecting to see coverage of his Nobel nominations, but were dismayed that the news was covering a hurricane in Florida and flooding in Iowa instead. This is supposed to make the media look bad.

Dreaming Of A Landslide

Videos show conservative activists cheering on voter suppression: 'We need to stop those ballots from going out'

Chuck Todd has a new podcast series out covering the 2000 recounts.

Look up the Chuck Toddcast. It is a good recounting of what happening while also examining the current context.

Florida Florida Florida, Episode 1: Butterfly ballots & Butterfly effects

We are still raising money to support WAL cohost Tricia. She's had a rough year with multiple lost jobs due to lockdowns and an unexpected pregnancy. Her hourly job and doctors say she shouldn't be working. Financially, that isn't possible. So we wanted to raise funds to support our friend and her unborn child. I hope you'll consider pitching in: https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-tricia-stuart-mann-libertys-ginger-queen