Paul Pelosi and the Far Right

We find ourselves at a very dangerous point in American history. This is not the first attack on anybody connected to congress. We have had a few. Then the January 6 Insurrection stands out as a dangerous marker.

One thing I do is track the radicalization of the American right. This is one reason I did not blow my Twitter account but instead, have gone serious lurker. The attack on Paul Pelosi proved that lurking is the right decision. After all, how else would I have known the lovely reaction from Donald Trump Junior? He posted an image of underwear and a hammer, claiming, without saying it, that Pelosi engaged a male prostitute.

This was one of the stories. The other major one was Elon Musk raising questions. He deleted the tweet, but the internet never forgets.

It’s a toxic form of disinformation. Just raising questions opens the door for the kind of conspiracy in which the American far right has been engaging. It’s the kind of conspiracy that leads to violence.

January six was a direct consequence of this disinformation. So was the attack on an 82-year-old man at home alone. It’s important to become aware of disinformation.