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Dispatches From the Culture Wars – November 5, 2024

The battle before, during and after the election

John Heartfield, 1936
  1. MAGA Election Schemes
  2. Safeguarding 2024 Election Integrity
  3. MO Abortion Amendment
  4. Mark Robinson Is the Future of the GOP
  5. Musk’s Unhappy Canvassers
  6. Saving Chicago Youth from Prison
  7. B’nai Brith Canada Guns for the Palestine Movement
  8. Why Do Cuban Immigrants Take to the Right?
  9. Alan Moore: Fandom is Toxic
  10. Fletcher and Perlstein on the Election and the Left

 

MAGA Election Schemes

By Curt Devine, Casey Tolan and Donie O'Sullivan
CNN

Activists have been priming Trump supporters to believe the only way the former president can lose in 2024 is through fraud – and have laid out proposals to thwart a potential Harris victory. Their plans include challenging results in court, pressuring lawmakers to block election certification, and encouraging protests – culminating on January 6, 2025, the day Congress will once again certify the results.

Safeguarding 2024 Election Integrity

By Terrence Williams
Security Info Watch

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The importance of safeguarding our democratic processes from cyber threats has never been more critical. The 2024 election cycle will likely feature even stronger tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) leveraged by nation-state adversaries and ideologically motivated hackers. 

MO Abortion Amendment

By Jordan Smith
The Intercept

Volunteers spread out across Kansas City on October 26 as part of a coordinated get-out-the-vote effort in support of the state’s proposed Amendment 3. The measure seeks to undo Missouri’s total abortion ban that took effect less than an hour after the U.S. Supreme Court issued its Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision in June 2022.

Mark Robinson Is the Future of the GOP

By Hassan Ali Kanu
The American Prospect

Robinson’s only qualification for public office is a viral pro-gun rant at a city council meeting. But North Carolina Republicans liked what he said, and how he said it, and went on to nominate him for governor because he’s a hateful, unhinged bigot who approaches politics like an apocalyptic carnival barker.

Musk’s Unhappy Canvassers

By Jake Lahut
Wired

Workers say they were tricked and threatened as part of Elon Musk’s get-out-the-vote effort. America PAC door knockers were flown to Michigan, driven in the back of a U-Haul, and told they’d have to pay hotel bills unless they met unrealistic quotas. One was surprised they were working to elect Donald Trump.

Saving Chicago Youth from Prison

Prisonculture’s Newsletter

Organizing can be difficult and disheartening. There are always good reasons to feel discouraged. But the population detained at Cook County Jail is down 58% since 2013. Tens of thousands of people over the last decade have not entered Cook County Jail in part because of the efforts of abolitionist organizers.

B’nai Brith Canada Guns for the Palestine Movement

By Davide Mastracci
The Maple

B’nai Brith Canada (BB) recently introduced a “Seven-Point Plan to Combat Antisemitism.” BB lists four separate actions that should be taken to achieve the widespread adoption and application of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s problematic definition of antisemitism: opposition to Israel’s war on Palestinians. 

Why Do Cuban Immigrants Take to the Right?

By Rafael Hernández
OnCuba News

How can it be explained that some Cubans, born and raised in a socialist culture, when they arrive in the United States can suddenly become fans of Trump and the Republican Party? Is it the ticket to enter a political culture dominated by anti-Castroism? If so, wouldn’t it be useful for them to identify with a liberal, centrist or moderate current, like most Latino immigrants? Why precisely the extreme right? 

Alan Moore: Fandom is Toxic

By Alan Moore
The Guardian

Unnervingly rapidly, our culture has become a fan-based landscape that the rest of us are merely living in. Our entertainments may be cancelled prematurely through an adverse fan reaction, and we may endure largely misogynist crusades such as Gamergate or Comicsgate.

Fletcher and Perlstein on the Election and the Left

By Marc Steiner
The Real News

One thing that became very obvious in the Obama presidency was the failure of most social justice movements to really attempt to pressure the administration. Harris is going to be under pressure from the Republicans who have aligned with her, whether or not we are there.