Blog Credo

The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.

H.L. Mencken

Friday, October 5, 2018

It's Never About Race

Excellent piece by Spencer Akerman on how Russia exploited and exploits American racism for political benefit.

I am concerned about how online discourse is reshaping our sense of civil society. It is clear that people are crueler to each other on social media than they are in person.  There is no nuance, no human connection that comes through a tweet or a Facebook post.

Russia exploits that brilliantly, because they (unlike many Americans) understand how racism underpins so much of American society.  By ripping away the language of polite society, they give license to the angry, torch-bearing demons in America's dark heart.

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