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[Thymian]

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Mother Jones Daily Newsletter
April 26, 2022

I was out yesterday with my notifications turned off. So for a few brief hours, I had been blissfully unaware of the news that Elon Musk really did it.

Now, I'm not here to lament the fact that the richest man in the world had the means to pull off such a colossal stunt. You're a Mother Jones reader! You're smart! You certainly don't need me to tell you why Twitter, already a cesspool, is all but certain to get uglier in the hands of an infamous troll.

But I'm struck by how much attention another troll is getting in light of the development. Yep, everyone seems to be wondering if Donald Trump will be welcomed back to his favorite social media platform now that Musk is at its helm. (Republicans, in particular, are reportedly in a frenzy over the possibility.) For now, the former president is insisting that he won't since he has his own app. But Trump has barely used TruthSocial—and no one else seems to be interested in joining. Plus, the Musk takeover has already sent stocks for the fledgling app even deeper into crisis. So, it seems pretty inevitable that Trump, if invited, would happily come crawling back. Which begs the question: what the hell are we all doing on a platform teeming with Earth's worst people? Well, I don't know now and I definitely didn't know then.

Anyway, I'd like very much to return to my afternoon of ignorance yesterday.

—Inae Oh
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[Thymian]

Trump has organized a party, the Re-Pub-liccans, behind him. The Chinese supermonster has a huge party behind him. And Elon Musk? Only some greedy game players at stock exchanges, who can change their mind at any second, like they now did and trashed Twitter, already a cesspool, some levels lower by handing it over to Elon Musk. What will they do with him, once he is of no use for them anymore?


https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2022/04/breaking-elon-musk-to-buy-twitter/?utm_source=mj-newsletters&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily-newsletter-04-26-2022

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POLITICS
APRIL 25, 2022
BREAKING: Elon Musk to Buy Twitter
Musk has been a prolific Twitter user and a sharp critic of its use of content moderation.

NOAH Y. KIM
Assistant News and Engagement Writer
Bio | Follow

Mother Jones illustration; Matt Rourke/AP; Twitter

Facts matter: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter. Support our nonprofit reporting. Subscribe to our print magazine.
In a stunning development that caps off 11 days of fevered speculation, Twitter announced today that it has accepted billionaire Elon Musk’s $44 billion takeover offer.

“Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated,” the Tesla chief executive said in a statement. “Twitter has tremendous potential—I look forward to working with the company and the community of users to unlock it.”

Less than two weeks ago, on April 14, Musk shocked observers by announcing his intentions to buy the company and take it private. Twitter initially seemed unreceptive to Musk’s unsolicited offer, adopting a “poison pill” that would have significantly complicated the billionaire’s ability to acquire more than 15 percent of the company’s shares. However, company executives opened the door to negotiations on April 21, after Musk released a detailed plan showing how he’d finance the deal.

With over 82 million followers, Musk has been a prolific Twitter user and a sharp critic of its use of content moderation, saying that he favors temporary suspensions over permanent bans. It remains unclear what changes, technical or philosophical, Musk’s stewardship will bring to the platform. In interviews, he’s floated a series of potential ideas, including installing an edit button, allowing for longer tweets, culling bots, and making Twitter’s algorithm open source.




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Minority rule, corruption, disinformation, attacks on those who dare tell the truth: There is a direct line from what's happening in Russia and Ukraine to what's happening here at home. And that's what MoJo's Monika Bauerlein writes about in "Their Fight Is Our Fight" to unpack the information war we find ourselves in and share a few examples to show why the power of independent, reader-supported journalism is such a threat to authoritarians.

Corrupt leaders the world over can (and will) try to shut down the truth, but when the truth has millions of people on its side, you can't keep it down for good. And there's no more powerful or urgent argument for your support of Mother Jones' journalism right now than that. We need to raise about $450,000 to hit our online fundraising budget in these next few months, so please read more from Monika and pitch in if you can.
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[Pangwall]

Dismember the Republican Party!

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Mother Jones Daily Newsletter
 
April 27, 2022


It's no secret that politicians have a shaky relationship with the truth. But few have been caught in such glaring, bald-faced lies as Kevin McCarthy. After the top Republican categorically denied a New York Times report last week that he had planned to demand Donald Trump's resignation in the immediate aftermath of January 6, an audio recording revealed that he had done exactly that.

Since then, McCarthy has been begging for Trump's forgiveness and attempting to convince the GOP he's still committed to the band. But McCarthy's standing grew even more tenuous after the Times dropped yet another bombshell recording on Tuesday revealing McCarthy had been seriously concerned that some of the GOP's far-right characters—namely Matt Gaetz and Mo Brooks—could incite further violence.

For now, it looks like most of the GOP is sticking by McCarthy. Still, he'd be a fool to mistake his closed-door, standing ovation for an indication that the knives aren't out. "Kevin McCarthy is a puppet of the Dem Party," read a chron on Tucker Carlson Tonight. Gaetz, the subject of McCarthy's fears, is already fundraising off of the whole episode. "Is THIS the kind of leadership you want to lead the House of Representatives?" Gaetz wrote in an email to donate. "Two-faced Swamp politicians, who smear Trump behind the scenes and defend someone who targets MAGA in unselect committees with Nancy Pelosi?"

As for Trump, the former president told the Wall Street Journal that things are copacetic between him and McCarthy. But how long will that last? Is it even true? McCarthy should know as well as anyone in the game: politicians lie.

—Inae Oh
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