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Just discovered someone and something very interesting, well worth reading, via Bluesky: Denny Carter & Bad Faith Times
I spend most of my time on Bluesky reading posts from people I already follow. But my first minutes on Bluesky every day after I log in (which I do at least once a day since I clear my browser cache every time I log out of my laptop or tablet) I look at what shows up in the Discover column.
And it included a post leading me to what appears to be a real gem today:
Journalist Denny Carter and his Bad Faith Times newsletter and site.
https://badfaithtimes.com/about/
Bad Faith Times is an independent publication launched in April 2022 by Denny Carter. The site covers how conservatives have used bad-faith political arguments to advance fascism into the mainstream.
He writes about both sports and politics
https://www.nbcsports.com/denny-carter
Denny Carter has written and podcasted about fantasy football since 2012. He joined NBC Sports in 2020. He has never logged off, and can be found on Threads and X at @cdcarter13.
And of course he's on Bluesky, where I found a great post of his I used in a reply to a DU OP earlier today:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100221002698#post24
Before I posted that, I checked his Bluesky profile quickly, then went back later to look at more of his posts, then looked at his political site.
Which, from what I've seen so far, is impressive.
I couldn't recall seeing Denny or his site ever mentioned here before. And using the DuckDuckGo search didn't turn up any mentions of them, either.
Which is why I'm posting this.
One of his newsletters I just read on the site is from January 23, making a sports analogy to politics:
We Must Establish The Run Against Authoritarianism
https://badfaithtimes.com/we-must-establish-the-run-against-authoritarianism/
-snip-
The people of Minnesota are doing the little things. Unlike their hometown Vikings under head coach Kevin O'Connell, these folks are establishing the fucking run against the ICE goons that have invaded their neighborhoods in hopes of ethnically cleansing the place while creating some good social media content and maybe even starting riots that can serve as pretext for their boss to bring down the Insurrection Act hammer on a state that dared not vote for him in any of the past three presidential elections.
It doesn't take long to find a thousand different ways in which everyday folks have come together to establish the run against the fascist menace on their streets. Whistles meant to alert people to the president's secret police are selling by the thousands; people are doing laundry for immigrants in their communities as ICE agents break down the doors to local laundromats; parents are patrolling near local school buildings, watching out for secret police in unmarked vehicles looking to viciously assault and abduct local children; regular folks are making meals for immigrant families hiding from the extrajudicial paramilitary force observing no constitutional limits; and protesters are defending their neighborhoods by pouring water on freezing streets and sidewalks, creating hazards for slip-prone secret police who lack that Minnesota Winter Dawg in them.
-snip-
We, in turn, must embrace an establish-the-run mindset and say no, our opponent is not a fully-consolidated authoritarian regime with control over every lever of government and business and culture.
No, 2024 did not mark the end of history, and the electorate that picked a criminal fascist to return to the White House was not permanent, but a mirage. Buying into their social media illusions makes their domination real. Fascism requires acquiescence from its enemies and opponents. Their terrible little secret is that they can't make their best-laid plans real unless you allow them. Like Dracula asking to come into the house, they require your permission.
-snip-
The people of Minnesota are doing the little things. Unlike their hometown Vikings under head coach Kevin O'Connell, these folks are establishing the fucking run against the ICE goons that have invaded their neighborhoods in hopes of ethnically cleansing the place while creating some good social media content and maybe even starting riots that can serve as pretext for their boss to bring down the Insurrection Act hammer on a state that dared not vote for him in any of the past three presidential elections.
It doesn't take long to find a thousand different ways in which everyday folks have come together to establish the run against the fascist menace on their streets. Whistles meant to alert people to the president's secret police are selling by the thousands; people are doing laundry for immigrants in their communities as ICE agents break down the doors to local laundromats; parents are patrolling near local school buildings, watching out for secret police in unmarked vehicles looking to viciously assault and abduct local children; regular folks are making meals for immigrant families hiding from the extrajudicial paramilitary force observing no constitutional limits; and protesters are defending their neighborhoods by pouring water on freezing streets and sidewalks, creating hazards for slip-prone secret police who lack that Minnesota Winter Dawg in them.
-snip-
We, in turn, must embrace an establish-the-run mindset and say no, our opponent is not a fully-consolidated authoritarian regime with control over every lever of government and business and culture.
No, 2024 did not mark the end of history, and the electorate that picked a criminal fascist to return to the White House was not permanent, but a mirage. Buying into their social media illusions makes their domination real. Fascism requires acquiescence from its enemies and opponents. Their terrible little secret is that they can't make their best-laid plans real unless you allow them. Like Dracula asking to come into the house, they require your permission.
-snip-
And from his next newsletter, on Alex Pretti, January 26:
Alex Pretti Was Doing The Small Stuff
https://badfaithtimes.com/pretti-was-doing-the-small-stuff/
-snip-
Like the folks standing guard outside schools to stop ICE from abducting children and like the people doing laundry and cooking meals for immigrants cowering inside their homes during this anti-constitutional siege of an American city – a siege you will be told one day did not happen – Pretti was willing to do the small stuff that adds up to bigger, transformational societal and political shifts.
Pretti was a real man. He was not a coward with a mask and a gun marauding around an American city trying to start riots and bash the skulls of anyone who looked at him sideways. He was not a fearful, ignorant bastard fueled by hate. Pretti's was a positive masculinity. It was a protective masculinity. His was a masculinity that stood on the side of justice, no matter the cost. For that I'm grateful to Alex Pretti, who won't live to see the difference he made in this monstrously unjust world. He was a real man.
Importantly, of course, Pretti was not afraid. It's why the president's lawless goon squad beat him up before filling him with bullets and coming back to count the number of bullet holes in his lifeless body. Pretti refused ICE's primary command: To fear and obey them. He was a Real Man.
No one said establishing the run against authoritarian terror was going to be easy. No one said it wasn't going to be dangerous. The freedom-loving people of Minnesota, who poured onto the streets after the president's goons executed yet another American, understand this better than anyone. They made it clear to a murderous regime wobbling on its back foot: Hunt us, hurt us, kill us, it doesn't matter. We will continue doing the small stuff, establishing the run.
Like the folks standing guard outside schools to stop ICE from abducting children and like the people doing laundry and cooking meals for immigrants cowering inside their homes during this anti-constitutional siege of an American city – a siege you will be told one day did not happen – Pretti was willing to do the small stuff that adds up to bigger, transformational societal and political shifts.
Pretti was a real man. He was not a coward with a mask and a gun marauding around an American city trying to start riots and bash the skulls of anyone who looked at him sideways. He was not a fearful, ignorant bastard fueled by hate. Pretti's was a positive masculinity. It was a protective masculinity. His was a masculinity that stood on the side of justice, no matter the cost. For that I'm grateful to Alex Pretti, who won't live to see the difference he made in this monstrously unjust world. He was a real man.
Importantly, of course, Pretti was not afraid. It's why the president's lawless goon squad beat him up before filling him with bullets and coming back to count the number of bullet holes in his lifeless body. Pretti refused ICE's primary command: To fear and obey them. He was a Real Man.
No one said establishing the run against authoritarian terror was going to be easy. No one said it wasn't going to be dangerous. The freedom-loving people of Minnesota, who poured onto the streets after the president's goons executed yet another American, understand this better than anyone. They made it clear to a murderous regime wobbling on its back foot: Hunt us, hurt us, kill us, it doesn't matter. We will continue doing the small stuff, establishing the run.
There's so much more on his site and in his Bluesky posts that I'm looking forward to reading. But I wanted to tell all of you about him first.
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