Recommended Reading: The Right's Problem with Conspiracy Theories and America the Unserious

This Week's Recommended Reading on Substack: Parker Molloy, Michelangelo Signorile, Hemant Mehta, Erin Reed, Jill Filipovic, and Damon Linker.

Feb 07, 2023

The Week's Recommended Reading on Substack:

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writes that “conspiracy theories about the attack on Paul Pelosi became just another one of the talking points that the armchair Alex Joneses who shape modern right-wing politics have decided are not only fine to have but are actually beneficial positions to hold. So you end up with people just throwing things out there.”

The Present Age

Paul Pelosi and the Right's Problem with Conspiracy Theories

Last week, a judge ordered the release of the police bodycam footage from the October 28, 2022, attack on Paul Pelosi, the husband of Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). If, for some reason, you don’t remember the story, here’s a quick summary: a man named David DePape broke into the Pelosis’ home through a glass panel door, took Paul Pelosi hostage, and told him he needed to talk to “Nancy” (who, unbeknownst to DePape, was across the country in Washington, D.C.). Pelosi was able to dial 9-1-1, and when the police arrived, DePape swung a hammer at Pelosi’s head, fracturing the 82-year-old businessman’s skull…

2 years ago · 54 likes · 1 comment · Parker Molloy

Michelangelo Signorile

asks “what kind of upside down world is it when the governor of a state is touting rejecting money for life-saving prevention and treatment, rather than touting that he got the federal government to give him money?”

The Signorile Report

Fox News doesn't care if gay men in Tennessee die

The Signorile Report is reader-supported. If you’ve valued reading The Signorile Report, consider becoming a paid subscriber and supporting independent, ad-free opinion journalism. Thanks! The state of Tennessee has decided to refuse over eight million dollars…

2 years ago · 10 likes · 8 comments · Michelangelo Signorile

Hemant Mehta

writes “Oklahoma Republicans have proposed a bill that would inject Christianity into social studies classes, forcing public schools to take a page from pseudo-historian David Barton’s playbook.”

Friendly Atheist

Oklahoma GOP tries (again) to force Christian Nationalism into public schools

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2 years ago · 9 likes · 29 comments · Hemant Mehta

Erin Reed

asks "Could they ban gender affirming care nationwide for trans youth or even some trans adults? There are many ways that this could be pushed both legislatively and with executive orders."

Erin In The Morning

National Trans Bans? Both Trump And DeSantis Advocate Anti-Trans Policies On Same Day

2 years ago · 50 likes · 6 comments · Erin Reed

Jill Filipovic

writes that "very few people are going to flat-out say 'I hate women.' But a lot of them, apparently, will associate women with hated behaviors, and if asked in the right way they will signal their general dislike of women, who they see as overly-sensitive, irresponsible and immoral, ruining the natural order of things, and in need of male authority."

Jill Filipovic

What's the Matter with (right-wing) Men?

Every Tuesday morning, I wake up and scan the day’s headlines to see what I might write about for my weekly CNN.com column. This morning, as I scrolled through CNN.com, the Times, and a few others, I was struck by how many headlines were about male violence and dysfunction: “At least 10 people wounded in Lakeland, Flor…

2 years ago · 78 likes · 8 comments · Jill Filipovic

Damon Linker

writes that "when I use the word “unserious” to describe our country, I don’t mean to impugn the people running the show in Washington, let alone all Americans. But neither am I simply responding to cognitive toxicity on Twitter. That’s certainly a big part of it—but not just in the form of know-nothing anonymous accounts and troublemaking bots."