If some people say the #fediverse is a left-progressive project, it only shows how successful we collectively are to block the Nazis. Loads of far-right instances and users exist in the fediverse. Gab, anyone? But defederation and blocking makes that part invisible to most of us. They still exist and federate amongst themselves. ActivityPub, the protocol, is neutral. We decide what we want and not want. The fediverse is a herd of Venn diagrams, not a closed circle.
@aristeon89@jwildeboer There was recently a poll on Mastodon with thousands of respondents, only 1% of whom identified themselves as "right", about the same as those choosing "extreme right". Now what "right" means in politics varies from place to place, but in most countries it's at least a third of the public. Such people may be mistaken, but we shouldn't make them all feel unwelcome on the #Fediverse , and it is unwise to tell them to go hang out with the extreme right instead.
By today’s Trumpian standards he seems mild. Even Obama praised him. Along with Lincoln, Republicans trot Ronald Reagan out every time Democrats praise their greats: Obama, LBJ, Kennedy, FDR or Truman.
Republicans regularly rate him their greatest after Lincoln.
In reality, the “great communicator,“ as he was called, was an impenetrable facade of congeniality who was hostile to civil rights.
While some praised Reagan’s actions, considering them a defense of American values and national security, others criticized his participation in the HUAC hearings as contributing to the climate of fear and blacklisting during the McCarthy era.
Despite his public congeniality, Reagan was quite hostile to civil rights. He had a history of it leading back to his testimonies for the House Un-American Activities Committee—-tasked with weeding out and blackballing suspected Communist sympathizers.
Ronald Reagan, prior to his political career, testified in front of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) on October 23, 1947. At the time, Reagan was working as the president of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG). During his testimony, he expressed his concerns about communist influence within Hollywood and the entertainment industry.
Reagan named several individuals whom he believed to be members of the Communist Party or associated with communist activities. His testimony was notable for his strong anti-communist stance and his efforts to purge
suspected communist sympathizers from the industry.
Moms for Liberty is part of a long tradition of reactionary work against civil rights: mothers “were some of the most committed players in the mid-century project of ‘massive resistance’ fought to preserve the Jim Crow order.”
Who is doing trainings from the left or even centrist liberal side on how to resist Moms for Liberty and school board capture and similar local political moves?
A quick search turns up numerous reactionary training programs for right-wing activists but little that that is about actual liberty, rationality, democratic values, and similar.
Where do I find that?
Edit: not a rhetorical question. Please share if you know!
The Republican state official in charge of Oklahoma’s schools is facing calls for impeachment, after he said teachers should tell students that the Tulsa race massacre was not racially motivated. #News#GOP#Politics#USA
Her biggest political accomplishment was losing Arizona’s gubernatorial race in 2022 – and now Trump and his team think she might be too thirsty for attention
The bigoted, racist lapdog for Trump seems to be only headed for a hot place! #News#GOP#Politics#USA
Was super happy when I heard @davidpakman had made his way onto #Mastodon. Super sad when he said he wasn't posting here because people couldn't find him. So if you're looking for a level-headed commentary on political happenings in the states, check out his website (DavidPakman.com) and say hello to him here. Hopefully he gets the attention he deserves. #FediFollows#Politics#USPolitics
Japan has offered numerous apologies to Korea since the two countries normalized relations in 1965, but recent polls show most Koreans do not believe Japan is truly repentant over its past — so what has gone wrong, and what can be done better?...
The Dutch government has collapsed after just a year and a half in office after failing to reach a common position on asylum policies.
PM Mark Rutte had wanted to tighten curbs on reuniting families of asylum seekers.
Two junior partners, including the Christen Unie — a Christian Democratic party that draws its main support from the protestant "Bible Belt" — were staunchly opposed to the proposal.
[WHY] Why do Koreans think Japan isn’t sorry? (koreajoongangdaily.joins.com)
Japan has offered numerous apologies to Korea since the two countries normalized relations in 1965, but recent polls show most Koreans do not believe Japan is truly repentant over its past — so what has gone wrong, and what can be done better?...