Twilight of the Racist Uncles
THERE IS A FAMILY FRIEND, a man I’ve known for decades. A highly educated man with total financial security in his recent retirement. A man who always had a good story to tell or an interesting side of a conversation to hold up. Then, a few years ago, he got on Facebook. Reading his timeline became an exercise in watching a man’s descent into madness. Over the summer I was surprised to learn that he had purchased three very expensive AR-15 semiautomatic rifles. When I asked why, he said, “For the race war that’s coming” in a tone that suggested no further explanation would be necessary.

If you are under the age of fifty, the odds are that you have at least one older person in your life who has gone down this road in the last few years. If you are white, I am certain of it. Lamenting our older relatives’ journey down the rabbit hole of right-wing paranoia and vituperation feels, at times, like my generation’s version of having the big talk about putting Nana in a nursing home. “Losing a parent” has dual meanings for us after 2016. We’re dealing with the loss of people who are very much alive—but who have become such chaotic stews of anger, persecution complexes, racism, and half-assed conspiracy theories that they can no longer hold a normal conversation.

What has truly fueled the Boomers’ transition from “means well, but sometimes frustrating” to Trumpian insanity is Facebook. There the fix is constant. There all of their worst impulses are collectively reinforced, constantly rewarded, and ceaselessly amplified.

The last generation of Americans who will enjoy anything approaching financial security in old age could spend the Golden Years we’ll never have golfing, going on cruises, driving RVs, or watching The Price is Right. They could choose to be happy, having lived their entire lives in a system from which they extracted every benefit and which they subsequently dismantled at the altar of lower taxes.

Instead, they’re spending their days on a speedball of right-wing propaganda and a platform that gives them an audience of . . . well, everyone. And it turns out that 24-7 access to reinforcement and an unceasing stream of conspiratorial thinking is pushing some of them over the edge. ....

https://thebaffler.com/latest/twilight-o...-uncles-burmila

Excellenter Kommentar. Er ist es wert, in Gaenze gelesen zu werden. Natuerlich nicht fuer rightwing nutcases, aber ansonsten schon.
Das meiste deckt sich auch mit meinen Erfahrungen hier.

The Mueller report didn’t address collusion, but that’s not stopping Fox News from screaming “no collusion”
Fox figures and guests have wrongly claimed the report shows “no collusion” over 60 times since its release
https://www.mediamatters.org/blog/2019/0...reaming-/223524

Jared Holt@jaredlholt
In lead story on neo-Nazi blog The Daily Stormer, Andrew Anglin writes about Tucker Carlson:
"Once again, I feel like I’m watching a person on TV read my own thoughts back to me."

12:19 PM - 19 Apr 2019

Michael Cunningham@MCunninghamAJC
Replying to @richXXIII @jaredlholt
He has a very clear identity as a Nazi and Tucker actually is speaking directly to that.

1:46 PM - 19 Apr 2019

Zitat von Willie im Beitrag #6101

---

Twilight of the Racist Uncles
THERE IS A FAMILY FRIEND, a man I’ve known for decades. A highly educated man with total financial security in his recent retirement. A man who always had a good story to tell or an interesting side of a conversation to hold up. Then, a few years ago, he got on Facebook. Reading his timeline became an exercise in watching a man’s descent into madness. Over the summer I was surprised to learn that he had purchased three very expensive AR-15 semiautomatic rifles. When I asked why, he said, “For the race war that’s coming” in a tone that suggested no further explanation would be necessary.

If you are under the age of fifty, the odds are that you have at least one older person in your life who has gone down this road in the last few years. If you are white, I am certain of it. Lamenting our older relatives’ journey down the rabbit hole of right-wing paranoia and vituperation feels, at times, like my generation’s version of having the big talk about putting Nana in a nursing home. “Losing a parent” has dual meanings for us after 2016. We’re dealing with the loss of people who are very much alive—but who have become such chaotic stews of anger, persecution complexes, racism, and half-assed conspiracy theories that they can no longer hold a normal conversation.

What has truly fueled the Boomers’ transition from “means well, but sometimes frustrating” to Trumpian insanity is Facebook. There the fix is constant. There all of their worst impulses are collectively reinforced, constantly rewarded, and ceaselessly amplified.

The last generation of Americans who will enjoy anything approaching financial security in old age could spend the Golden Years we’ll never have golfing, going on cruises, driving RVs, or watching The Price is Right. They could choose to be happy, having lived their entire lives in a system from which they extracted every benefit and which they subsequently dismantled at the altar of lower taxes.

Instead, they’re spending their days on a speedball of right-wing propaganda and a platform that gives them an audience of . . . well, everyone. And it turns out that 24-7 access to reinforcement and an unceasing stream of conspiratorial thinking is pushing some of them over the edge. ....

https://thebaffler.com/latest/twilight-o...-uncles-burmila

Excellenter Kommentar. Er ist es wert, in Gaenze gelesen zu werden. Natuerlich nicht fuer rightwing nutcases, aber ansonsten schon.
Das meiste deckt sich auch mit meinen Erfahrungen hier.

---

Arnie Roman@arnieroman1
A question. How do you talk to people who live in a wholly different reality than you? Due to Fox, Rush, et al?
9:53 AM - 13 Apr 2019

Teri Kanefield@Teri_Kanefield
(Thread) How to talk to MAGA people
By MAGA I mean the part of the Fox-Trump-GOP who have what psychologists call an authoritarian predisposition.
This isn't the entire Fox-Trump-GOP.
Facts about authoritarian personality from Prof. @Karen_Stenner (formerly Princeton and Duke)
8:00 AM - 15 Apr 2019

Teri Kanefield@Teri_Kanefield
1/ From Stenner: about 1/3 of the population are inclined toward authoritarianism.
Authoritarians are different from what Stenner calls status quo conservatives.
Authoritarians are averse to complexity.
Conservatives averse to change.
https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/02ff25_40...0d724e45526.pdf …
8:01 AM - 15 Apr 2019

Teri Kanefield@Teri_Kanefield
2/ Non-authoritarians, on the other hand, are comfortable with nuance and complexity.
Authoritarians prefer obedience and conformity, “oneness and sameness over freedom and difference.” They like regularity.
Authoritarians can’t [easily] change their personalities. . .
8:01 AM - 15 Apr 2019

Teri Kanefield@Teri_Kanefield
3/ They are who they are. Stenner says “it’s another way of being human.”
When authoritarians feel confident in their leaders and don’t feel threatened, they’re good citizens: They respect institutions. They follow norms.
The problem happens in an “authoritarian dynamic.”👇
8:03 AM - 15 Apr 2019

Teri Kanefield‏@Teri_Kanefield
4/ An authoritarian dynamic occurs when someone with an authoritarian predisposition is faced with a particular kind of threat.
When faced with real or fabricated stories about social conflict or poor leadership, authoritarians become intolerant.
8:05 AM - 15 Apr 2019

Teri Kanefield@Teri_Kanefield
5/ They become fearful and angry, and inclined to reject difference and punish ‘deviants.’ At the extreme, they can be violent and tolerate cruelty to others.
An example of a such a threat is that “Mexicans rapists” are crossing the border to hurt them.
8:05 AM - 15 Apr 2019

Teri Kanefield@Teri_Kanefield
6/ FOX spent decades creating such threats, persuading people that they're in danger and that “real” Americans are being displaced by dangerous “others.”
Fox & Trump also persuaded their “base” that Democrats are their enemies because Democrats side with the “others.”
8:06 AM - 15 Apr 2019

Teri Kanefield@Teri_Kanefield
7/ “Democrats” are loosely defined to mean anyone who opposes Trump.
In the “us v. them” dynamic, Democrats are “them”.
With the authoritarians in our population riled and angry, the U.S. is caught in an authoritarian dynamic.
We’re having an authoritarian moment.
8:08 AM - 15 Apr 2019

Teri Kanefield@Teri_Kanefield
8/ Of the three types, authoritarians are “the most readily malleable, the most easily exploited.” (Stenner)
The Trump-Fox-GOP are manipulating those with authoritarian personalities.
Dear People who Underestimate Trump: Notice how deftly he exploits their fears👇
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D4M_eZyUEAAfjAj.jpg
8:08 AM - 15 Apr 2019

Teri Kanefield@Teri_Kanefield
More Teri Kanefield Retweeted Teri Kanefield
9/ As Prof. Stanley puts it Trump is “cynically using fascist leadership techniques to gain and maintain power”
My point here is that the villains are the manipulators and the exploiters, not those who are manipulated and exploited.
8:10 AM - 15 Apr 2019

Teri Kanefield@Teri_Kanefield
10/ When people attack Trump, MAGA people get more riled. They need to feel confident in the leader; attacking him makes them feel attacked.
They “thrill at his fights with the establishment, seeing him as warrior" on their behalf.
8:14 AM - 15 Apr 2019

Teri Kanefield@Teri_Kanefield
11/ When we talk to MAGA people, the goal isn't to use logic or arguments to try to change their minds. Mostly you can’t. It makes things worse. The goal is to reassure and calm them.
As "mistergizmo" points out, logic doesn’t work and confrontation can be dangerous.
8:15 AM - 15 Apr 2019

Teri Kanefield@Teri_Kanefield
12/ Our goal is to “deactivate the dynamic.”
“Authoritarians dislike politics and mostly just want to be reassured that all is well.”
"When they're not riled or afraid, they basically step down and stop “manning the barricades.”
Quotes from Karen Stenner.
8:17 AM - 15 Apr 2019

Teri Kanefield@Teri_Kanefield
13/ This is why Fox and Trump must constantly stir them up.
“They like quiet, uniform lives. If they're not riled—if they have confidence in their leaders and don’t feel threatened—the concern that they have for the collective can be channeled in constructive ways.” (Stenner)
8:18 AM - 15 Apr 2019

Teri Kanefield@Teri_Kanefield
14/ Authoritarians also dislike troublemakers.
One way to talk to authoritarians is to “simply, calmly, subtly affirm the shared norm that contradicts Trump’s behavior, ideally without mentioning Trump.” (Stenner)
8:19 AM - 15 Apr 2019

Teri Kanefield@Teri_Kanefield
15/ Based on these principles, I’ve come up with examples of how to talk to MAGA people. This was my first try. I expect others can do better.
(Stenner promises to do something similar herself)
Remember the goal: Deactivate the authoritarian dynamic.
8:20 AM - 15 Apr 2019

Teri Kanefield@Teri_Kanefield
16/ MAGA person says: “Democrats hate Christmas!”
Don't try to explain why someone might prefer "happy holidays." (They’re averse to complexity & nuance.)
Instead try:
“Hate Christmas? Ridiculous! Why would someone say that? Someone's trying to turn people against each other.”
8:22 AM - 15 Apr 2019

Teri Kanefield‏@Teri_Kanefield
17/ MAGA person says: “I want a wall because I hate illegal immigration.”
You: “Me, too! We must sort them at the border! Those trying to sneak in illegally, Out With Them! The good family ones who have a right to come, let them in legally."
Immigration judges, by the way. . .
8:23 AM - 15 Apr 2019

Teri Kanefield@Teri_Kanefield
18/ . . . do exactly that. Immigration courts decide who can be here legally. (I've written about immigration law.)
Will this get your MAGA neighbors and family to vote Democratic and stop watching FOX?
Probably not.
But it may help decrease the dangerous polarization.
end/
8:24 AM - 15 Apr 2019

No, it won't. With the last three tweets Teri is mistaken. Everything else above hits the nail on the head.

The power of lies: Inside the Christian right’s plan to ‘remodel’ the US
https://www.alternet.org/2019/04/the-pow...tw02Ps.facebook

Arnie Roman@arnieroman1
A question. How do you talk to people who live in a wholly different reality than you? Due to Fox, Rush, et al?
9:53 AM - 13 Apr 2019

Gute Frage, besonders in den USA mit ihren gated communities (auf dem Weg sind wir in Deutschland und England auch). Frage: Wie "bunt" ist die Gegend, in der die Clintons in New York wohnen? Wie "bunt" ist die Gegend, in der die Obamas in Washington wohnen?

Ist uniform schöner als bunt?

Teri Kanefield@Teri_Kanefield
(Thread) How to talk to MAGA people
By MAGA I mean the part of the Fox-Trump-GOP who have what psychologists call an authoritarian predisposition.
This isn't the entire Fox-Trump-GOP.
Facts about authoritarian personality from Prof. @Karen_Stenner (formerly Princeton and Duke)
8:00 AM - 15 Apr 2019

Teri Kanefield@Teri_Kanefield
1/ From Stenner: about 1/3 of the population are inclined toward authoritarianism.
Authoritarians are different from what Stenner calls status quo conservatives.
Authoritarians are averse to complexity.
Conservatives averse to change.
https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/02ff25_40...0d724e45526.pdf …
8:01 AM - 15 Apr 2019

Aus dem Papier "Three kinds of 'Conservatism'": "Authoritarianism (and not conservatism, lack of education, or religion) is the principal determant of intolerance of difference across time and space and domain..."

Nun, das geht auf Horkheimer und Reich zurück, die Theorien des "autoritären Charakters" entwickelt hatten, die später von Erich Fromm weiterentwickelt wurden.

Vielen Dank dafür, denn jeder Versuch der letzten Jahre, die Meinungsfreiheit in den USA einzuschränken, Andersdenkende zu verurteilen oder gar gerichtlich verfolgen zu lassen, also jedes Zeichen von "intolerance of difference", geht auf das progressive Lager zurück:
https://edition.cnn.com/2017/02/01/us/mi...eley/index.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/26/us/an...ley-speech.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/04/nyreg...t-protests.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/03/us/mi...ve-protest.html
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-wiscons...tory-1437608811
https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/ce...been-dismisses/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2014/...-proposition-8/
https://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/...ng-3937079.html
https://www.nytimes.com/1991/12/01/us/ha...ree-speech.html


https://nypost.com/2019/04/15/behind-the...trump-campaign/
Zur Erinnerung: Wegen solcher Vorwürfe musste ein US-Präsident zurücktreten.

Nimmt man diese "Einzelfälle" zusammen, ergibt sich ein klares Bild: Den autoritären Charakter findet man eher in den USA (und in Deutschland) auf der politischen "Linken" als im konservativen Lager (was nicht heißt, dass es ihn dort nicht auch gibt.) Dazu passt die Neigung, den politischen Gegner vor den Kadi zu zerren, wie zuletzt versucht in UK mit den Anhängern der Leave-Kampagne.

Zitat von Nadine im Beitrag #6108

---

Ist uniform schöner als bunt?

---

"Authoritarians are averse to complexity.
Conservatives averse to change."

Die Komplexitätserzählung: Alles ist so fürchterlich komplex, dass nur Geistesgrößen wie Roth, Hofreiter, Göring-Eckardt, Maas, Nahles oder Schulz die Komplexität durchschauen, während der einzelne Wähler damit überfordert ist und sein Stimmchen bei den tradierten Parteien abzugeben (und ansonsten die Klappe zu halten*) hat.
Dahinter steht ein autoritäres Weltbild, das Andersdenkende zum Schweigen bringen will.

Die Wandelerzählung: Wandel ist immer positiv, weshalb es in Unternehmen ein Change-Management gibt. Leider gibt es dumme Leute, die Wandel nicht mögen, weil sie damit, ähnlich der Komplexität, überfordert sind.
Quatsch - Wandel ist eine Leerstelle; es gibt positiven Wandel und negativen Wandel. Als sich die konfessionellen Lager in Deutschland Ende des sechzehnten Jahrhunderts radikalisierten, gab es auch einen politischen Wandel. Das Ergebnis war der 30-jährige Krieg.


*Demonstrationen fürs Kima oder "wir sind mehr"-Demos sind natürlich Zeichen zivilgesellschaftlichen Engagements, Protestaktionen gegen die Masseneinwanderung nicht, was man daran erkennen kann, dass Erstere Aktivisten sind, Letztere nicht, dass Erstere demonstrieren, Letztere aber aufmarschieren.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9TOeBoriQ4

"I believe in science", yelled crooked Hillary under applause of the mentally challenged. Hmm, that understanding of science frightens me; it's the same kind of understanding of the Grand Inquisitors of the Holy Roman Church (about the eternal truths of Mother Church) in the fifteenth and sixteenth century.

Russian State Media Binges on Fox Prime Time and Sean Hannity Reruns
Russian-owned news channels recently broadcast segments where the Fox News host bashed “media hysteria” and “collusion.”

Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report implicated the Russian government in a widespread campaign of hacking and political disinformation during the 2016 presidential campaign.

Russian state media is nonetheless trumpeting the reaction of U.S. conservatives to the report, which found that the Trump campaign was not complicit in those election-meddling efforts, as evidence of a broad anti-Russian conspiracy in the U.S. And it’s using at least one prominent American conservative voice to do so.

The Russian government-owned Rossiya 1 news channel recently broadcasted excerpts from Fox News primetime host Sean Hannity’s on-air monologue, which hammered “media hysteria” over the report and allegations of campaign “collusion” with the Russian government.

Mueller’s report also extensively documents allegedly criminal efforts by Kremlin actors to hack email accounts associated with prominent Democrats and sow political discord through social media disinformation campaigns.

In a separate Rossiya 1 segment this week, the channel described Mueller’s investigation as “an attempt to threaten the current government and influence U.S. foreign policy without offering any specific evidence.”
https://www.thedailybeast.com/russian-st...-hannity-reruns

Russia’s Mueller Report: If Putin Did It, He Did It for You
Kremlin-controlled hosts say brighter days are coming for everyday Russians, now that President Trump is cleared to give them their spoils of the information war.

Russian state-TV viewers on Thursday were delivered a different conclusion from Robert Mueller’s report: Putin always wins. And now everyday Russians are going to win, too.

In the rest of the world, the Justice Department’s redacted version of the special counsel’s report concluded Moscow interfered in the 2016 presidential election “in sweeping and systematic fashion.” He identified numerous links between the Kremlin and the Trump campaign, establishing that “the Russian government perceived it would benefit from a Trump presidency and worked to secure that outcome, and that the campaign expected it would benefit electorally from information stolen and released through Russian efforts.”

On Friday, the Kremlin issued a scathing response, feigning disappointment with the investigation’s quality, questioning whether it was a waste of taxpayers’ money, and falsely claiming the report doesn’t contain “a single piece of evidence” of Russian intervention in 2016.

Evgeny Popov, the host of 60 Minutes, the most popular state TV program in Russia as of 2018, is defiant about the findings in the Mueller report. Popov tells me: “Soon, we will help you elect Trump once again. Just like the last time. Get ready!”
https://www.thedailybeast.com/russian-st...-did-it-for-you

READING THE MUELLER REPORT PART I: “A SWEEPING AND SYSTEMATIC” ATTACK ON AMERICA
The scope and scale of the Russian cyber attack on the U.S. was breath-taking and horrifying.

From Special Counsel: “The Russian government interfered in the 2016 presidential election in sweeping and systematic fashion.”

Special Counsel established that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election through two operations:
A Russian entity, the Internet Research Agency (IRA), carried out a social media campaign that favored Trump and disparaged HRC
Russian intelligence service, GRU, conducted an operation to hack Democratic campaigns and weaponize the stolen material to undermine HRC’s campaign and boost Trump.
Both of these operations violated US law.

Military Unit 74455, unit of the GRU, hacked computers belonging to state boards of elections, secretaries of state, and U.S. companies that supplied software and other technology related to the administration of U.S. elections.
The GRU targeted Florida County officials responsible for administering the 2016 US election. The FBI believes this operation enabled the GRU to gain access to the network of at least one Florida county government.

The GRU began planning the release of the stolen material at least as early as April 19, 2016. Guccifer (a name adopted by GRU officers) began publishing material on June 15, 2016.
By July, the intent was to prevent HRC from consolidating Bernie Sanders support behind her.

Within 5 hours of Trump’s famous “are you listening” comment, GRU officers for the first time targeted Clinton’s personal office.
https://terikanefield-blog.com/reading-t...-report-part-i/

Trump continues attacks on Mueller report days after declaring victory
President Trump on Sunday continued to wage an attack against special counsel Robert Mueller, calling his investigation's report a "hit job" and claiming it was written by "The Trump Haters and Angry Democrats."

The tweets come as Trump continues to denounce the findings presented in Mueller's report on his investigation into Russian election interference and possible obstruction of justice by the president.

Mueller did not uncover evidence to conclude that the Trump campaign conspired with Moscow to influence the 2016 election. However, he concluded in his report that the Trump campaign knew it would benefit from Russia's illegal efforts to interfere in the election.
https://thehill.com/homenews/administrat...after-declaring

https://scontent-ort2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t...77d&oe=5D7687A7

https://scontent-ort2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t...312&oe=5D442422

https://scontent-ort2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t...840&oe=5D342EBD

Putin has won !

Zitat von Nadine im Beitrag #6108

---

Ist uniform schöner als bunt?

---

https://seattle.cbslocal.com/2015/11/19/...-gender-equity/

In Verboten macht den Progressiven so schnell niemand etwas vor.

Reagan’s Supply-Side Warriors Blaze a Comeback Under Trump
Like perms, Members Only jackets and Duran Duran, their economic theories were big in the go-go 1980s. Now they're back.

Members of the tight-knit group have shaped Trump’s signature tax cut, helped install each other in posts with vast influence over the global economy, and are working to channel Trump’s mercantilist instincts into pro-trade policies. Blasted by their critics as charlatans and lauded by their acolytes as tireless champions of prosperity, there’s no denying that the quintet has had an enduring impact on decades of economic policy. ...
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/...-economy-226704

It was idiotically wrong then and it is is idiotically wrong now. And that not only because of this, but because of economics 101.:

Why Is Stephen Moore Hanging Out with the Alt-Right?
His take on the gold standard isn't the only controversial thing about him.
https://thebulwark.com/why-is-stephen-mo...-the-alt-right/

Teri Kanefield@Teri_Kanefield
1/ From Stenner: about 1/3 of the population are inclined toward authoritarianism.
Authoritarians are different from what Stenner calls status quo conservatives.
Authoritarians are averse to complexity.
Conservatives averse to change.
https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/02ff25_40...0d724e45526.pdf …
8:01 AM - 15 Apr 2019

Republican discussed violent attacks and surveillance with rightwingers
Washington state representative Matt Shea exchanged messages with far-right figures, chat records obtained by the Guardian reveal

A Washington state Republican politician took part in private discussions with rightwing figures about carrying out surveillance, “psyops” and even violent attacks on perceived political enemies, according to chat records obtained by the Guardian.

State representative Matt Shea, who represents Spokane Valley in the Washington state house, participated in the chats with three other men. All of the men used screen aliases – Shea’s was “Verum Bellator”, Latin for true warrior. The Guardian confirmed the identity of those in the chat by cross-checking phone numbers attached to the Signal accounts.
The group included Jack Robertson, who broadcasts a far-right radio show, Radio Free Redoubt, under the alias “John Jacob Schmidt”. The chat also included Anthony Bosworth, whose history includes a public altercation with his own daughter and bringing guns to a court house. Bosworth participated in the 2016 occupation of the Malheur national wildlife refuge, reportedly at Shea’s request.

Shea, a six-term legislator and military veteran, came to international attention in 2018 after a document he authored surfaced laying out a “biblical basis for war”, which appeared to be a plan for an apocalyptic battle with people who practiced “same sex marriage” and “abortion”, and instructed: “If they do not yield, kill all males.”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/a...mxs6vzRLjlQl1x8

Chris Wallace Destroys Trump’s ‘No Obstruction’ Claim to Rudy Giuliani’s Face: ‘That’s Not True!’
“But Mayor, that’s not true!” Wallace told Giuliani following the clip. “The Mueller report makes clear, especially on the issue of collusion — obstruction, rather, that he’s leaving it to Congress.”

“I agree with that,” Giuliani said, as Wallace cited portions of the report that indicated this.

That’s a key admission, and contradicts what Trump Attorney General William Barr said both in his four-page memo, and his pre-release press conference.
https://www.mediaite.com/tv/chris-wallac...thats-not-true/

Rex Tillerson says Trump ‘asked him to do illegal things’ as secretary of state
Former secretary of state was removed from his post in March after contentious year serving US president
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world...o-a8673111.html

MUELLER MAKES IT CLEAR: TRUMP WAS WORSE THAN A 'USEFUL IDIOT'
https://www.wired.com/story/mueller-repo...p-useful-idiot/