There is too much, so I will collect

From Mastodon – side-by-side video of Senator Mike Lee (Republican, Utah) acting shocked and horrified during the SOTU speech when President Biden said Republicans wanted to sunset Social Security and Medicare on the left; on the right, Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) saying outright in his own words that he wants to end Social Security and Medicare.

Obviously, of course they lie, they lie like they breathe. But the bald-faced nature of it can still raise the gorge of contempt.

This has been sitting in my tabs a few days but it’s still a capital YIKES:

Bill would ban the teaching of scientific theories in Montana schools
Montana Public Radio | By Ellis Juhlin
Published February 7, 2023

Yes, really. This is where we are. It’s in no way a one-off, we’re also here: Trump wants to turn schools into an ultra right-wing indoctrination pipeline.

Fundamentally (ha?), the GOP 2024 candidates are all racing to see who can get furthest to the right, both authoritarian and socially reactionary – a.k.a., who can be the biggest fascist.

Those “He Gets Us” ads trying to be all inclusive and “rebrand” Jesus? They’re sponsored by hard-right groups masquerading as moderate evangelicals. 1: The Far Right Is Funding Evangelical Super Bowl Sunday Ads by Andrew Perez, 2: ‘He Gets Us’: A Kansas campaign spent $20 million on Super Bowl ads to rebrand Jesus Christ
KCUR | By Peggy Lowe, Dan Margolies.

100% bad faith, all the time. Never forget that.

Same as it ever was: Yes, Republicans are discussing genocide against LGBTQ+ people – VPSReports, Tuesday February 07, 2023. You know that, I know that, it’s good to make sure other people don’t pretend it’s something else.

Ars Technica verified Platformer’s report and ran their own story:
Musk fired top engineer for explaining why his tweet views are down
Twitter employees shared data showing Musk’s engagement declining.
Ashley Belanger – 2/10/2023

What a great place to work. :/

In white nationalism news, 1: Gov. Greg Abbott tells state agencies to stop considering diversity in hiring (Kate Mcgee, The Texas Tribune, February 07, 2023); 2: Florida is officially a laboratory for fascism in the U.S. – There is a very specific reason why Gov. Ron DeSantis targeted African-American history for erasure (Chauncey DeVega, Senior Writer, Salon); 3: Paul Gosar Worries Immigrants Will Change ’Our Culture’ – The congressman with ties to white supremacists is now on the House Oversight Committee, which held a border security hearing on Tuesday (Ryan Bort, Rolling Stone, February 7, 2023).

The Daily Beast asks, Why Do Left-Wing Protesters Keep Getting Killed by Police? – The killing of an activist in Georgia highlights the disparity of state violence inflicted on progressives, and not toward far-right and racist demonstrators. (Michael Gould-Wartofsky, The Daily Beast, Feb. 5, 2023). I think we all know why. See also: The Snitch in the Silver Hearse – The FBI Paid a Violent Felon to Infiltrate Denver’s Racial Justice Movement.

There’s more, but this is a lot. This probably counts as a Cultural Warfare Update, a category I haven’t used in some time, but the fascist fuckery is flowering fetidly, as it fucking must.

As always: good luck out there.

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