Contemplate the fact that on this most important Christian holiday of all, most white evangelicals are supporting the second guy.
Finally this:
"what digby sez..."
Digby's Hullabaloo Posts
Wrapped in the flag and shredding the Constitution
Carol Anderson, the Charles Howard Candler professor of African American Studies at Emory University (“One Person, No Vote: How Voter Suppression Is Destroying Our Democracy“) reminds Jason Statler (LOLGOP) that the 2016 election that brought you Donald Trump “was the first presidential election in 50 years without the protection of the Voting Rights Act.”
“REMINDER: The kind of fascism MAGA wants is the kind of fascism we’ve already seen here,” Statler posts.
Anderson continues:
And so Black voter turnout went down by 7 percent. And to chalk that up to just, “They couldn’t stand Hillary, and not that you had states that were now requiring really strict voter IDs, and the way that they were requiring these voter IDs was to figure out who had what types of IDs and then to write the law to privilege the kinds that whites disproportionately had. It was a way that they shut down early voting sites. It was the way that they shut down early voting days, the times when people could vote early. None of that went into that calculation of what could cause a 7 percent drop. It had to be because Black folks couldn’t stand Hillary and not because you had states that were erecting these obstacles, these barriers, to the ballot box.
There’s more, much more about conservative efforts to keep the “wrong people” from voting and on GOP legislatures ignoring (or thwarting) ballot measures passed to expand the franchise.
I’m tired.
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Oh, the outrage!
President Joe Biden on Friday issued a proclamation recognizing March 31 as Transgender Day of Visibility, just as he has commemorated the day every year since he has been in office.
March 31 does not move around. Easter does. This year the two coincide. Cue the culture warriors who paused from biting the heads off chocolate bunnies to work themselves into another manufactured tantrum.
Oh, the frumious affrontery! Oh, the Antichrist of it! Oh, the persecution of Christians by a Catholic president who attends mass each Sunday!
House leadership voiced their outrage, as did the Trump campaign, demanding an apology from the White House. The White House pushed back, saying that “as a Christian who celebrates Easter with family, President Biden stands for bringing people together and upholding the dignity and freedoms of every American.”
The Transgender Day of Visibility, observed on March 31 each year, was started by advocates 15 years ago as a way to celebrate transgender people and raise awareness of the discrimination they face.
Easter falls on a different date each year that is determined by a calculation related to lunar phases — the overlap between the two this year is coincidental. It is common for there to be multiple proclamations for the same date: Easter Sunday will also be Cesar Chavez day.
Oh, the unbiblical blending of celebrations of one brown-skinned community organizer with another!
In his Friday statement marking the globally celebrated day, Biden affirmed the rights and freedoms of all transgender Americans. Highlighting the rise of extremism against transgender youth in particular, Biden referenced the proliferation of laws that “target and terrify transgender kids and their families,” including bills that ban books with LGBTQ+ content and threaten health workers providing gender-affirming care.
In a statement to POLITICO on Saturday, White House spokesperson Andrew Bates added that, “it’s unsurprising politicians are seeking to divide and weaken our country with cruel, hateful, and dishonest rhetoric. President Biden will never abuse his faith for political purposes or for profit.”
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s campaign released a statement calling on Biden to “issue an apology to the millions of Catholics and Christians across America who believe tomorrow is for one celebration only — the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”
Catholics and Christians? The campaign adviser likely had to explain to Trump (with pictures) that the Feast of the Resurrection and name of a Germanic spring goddess are already an unholy mating of Christian and pagan. All those LGBTQ-flag-like colors and bunnies and eggs unborn chickens.
Don’t count on the traveling Trump Bible salesman to apologize for his “insanely deperate” Holy Week stunt.
Onward, Christian soldiers
marching as to culture war
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With April Fool’s Day coming up on Monday, I thought it might be fun to take a look at some filmmakers who have made it their mission to yank on our lanyards (does that hurt?). So, in no particular ranking order, here are my selections for the Top 10 Mockumentaries:
Best in Show – Actor-writer-director Christopher Guest has become synonymous with “mockumentary”, for good reason. He and his repertory of actors and co-writers have delivered some of the best over the last few decades (Waiting for Guffman, A Mighty Wind, For Your Consideration, et.al.) This gentle poke at dog lovers represents his own “best in show” so far. Guest “profiles” a number of participants converging to compete at a national dog show.
With such a tight comic ensemble, it’s tough to single out performances, but Fred Willard is a highlight as a witless TV commentator and Parker Posey and Michael Hitchcock chew major scenery as an obnoxious yuppie couple. Also with Catherine O’Hara, Michael McKean, John Michael Higgins, Jane Lynch, Jennifer Coolidge, Larry Miller and Eugene Levy (who co-scripted).
The Blair Witch Project – Love it or hate it, there is no denying the impact of this cleverly marketed horror flick. In the event that you spent 1999 in a coma, this is the one where a crew of amateur actors were turned loose in dark and scary woods, armed with camping gear, video cameras and a plot point or two provided by filmmakers Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez, who then proceeded to play creepy, “gotcha” mind games with their young troupe.
The result was surprisingly effective; after all, it’s the perception that “something” in the woods is out to get you that fuels nightmares-not a stunt man in a rubber monster suit lurching about in front of the camera. Arguably, you could cite The Last Broadcast (1998) or relatively more obscure 1980 cult flick Cannibal Holocaust as the progenitors of the “found footage” genre, but The Blair Witch Project took it to a an entirely new level.
Computer Chess-In his off-kilter 2013 “80s retro” mockumentary, Andrew Bujalski achieves verisimilitude via a vintage B&W video camera (which makes it appear you’re watching events unfold on closed-circuit TV), and “documents” a weekend-long tournament where nerdy computer chess programmers from all over North America assemble once a year to match algorithmic prowess.
Not unlike a Christopher Guest satire, Bujalski throws a bevy of idiosyncratic characters together, shakes the jar, and then steps back to watch what happens. However, just when you think you’ve got the film sussed as a gentle satirical jab at computer geek culture, things start to get weird…then weirder. The most original sci-fi movie I’ve seen in a while. (Full review).
Drop Dead Gorgeous– Mocking beauty contests is like shooting fish in a barrel, but Michael Patrick Jann’s faux backstage documentary from 1999 about a Minnesota pageant gone sideways is a winner.
Star Kirsten Dunst plays it straight, flanked by a hammy Ellen Barkin (a riot as her trailer-trash mom) and Kirstie Alley as the Stage Mother From Hell. Denise Richards shows a real flair for comedy with a show-stopping performance number dedicated to the “special fella in her life”, a Mr. J. Christ. Also with Alison Janey, Brittany Murphy and Amy Adams. The film is reminiscent of Michael Ritchie’s much more low-key 1975 pageant spoof Smile (recommended).
F for Fake – “This is a promise,” Orson Welles intones, looking directly into the camera, “For the next hour, everything you hear from us is really true and based on solid fact.” Ay, but here’s the rub: This playful ‘documentary’ about Elmyr de Hory (“the world’s greatest art forger”) and his biographer Clifford Irving (infamous for his own fakery) runs for 85 minutes. Ever feel like someone’s having you on?
That’s the subject of Welles’ 1974 rumination on the meaning of art, and the art of the con. A musical score from the great Michel Legrand is a nice bonus. Not for all tastes; some may find it too scattershot, but there is a method to the madness, and attentive viewers will be rewarded. Even toward the end of a checkered career, with his prowess as a filmmaker arguably on the wane, any completed project by the great Welles demands your attention.
Hard Core Logo – Frequently compared with This is Spinal Tap, this film from iconoclastic Canadian director Bruce McDonald does Reiner’s film one better-it’s got some real substance. Now, obviously I love Spinal Tap (otherwise it wouldn’t have been included on this “Top 10” list), but McDonald’s film mixes humor with genuine drama and poignancy, particularly in its portrayal of the complex, mercurial relationship between the two main characters, Joe Dick (Hugh Dillon) and Billy Tallent (Callum Keith Rennie.)
Joe and Billy front a “legendary” punk band called Hard Core Logo, who hit the road for a belated reunion tour. McDonald plays himself, a director who is documenting what could turn out to be the band’s final hurrah. The film is full of great throwaway lines (“I can’t come to the phone right now. I’m eating corn chips and masturbating. Please leave a message.”). There are also obscure references in Noel S. Baker’s screenplay that rock geeks (guilty) will delight in. This is part of a trilogy (of sorts) by McDonald that includes Roadkill and Highway 61.
Real Life – This underrated 1979 gem from writer-director Albert Brooks presaged Christopher Guest & company’s mockumentary franchise by at least a decade. There is a direct tie-in; the screenplay was co-written by future Guest collaborator Harry Shearer (along with Brooks’ long-time collaborator, Monica McGowan Johnson).
Real Life is a brilliant take-off on the 1973 PBS series, An American Family (which can now be tagged as the original “reality TV” show). Brooks basically plays himself: a neurotic, narcissistic comedian who decides to do a documentary depicting the daily life of a “perfect” American family. After vetting several candidates (represented via a montage of hilarious “tests” conducted at a behavioral studies institute), he decides on the Yeager family of Phoenix, Arizona (headed by ever-wry Charles Grodin, who was born for this role).
The film gets exponentially funnier as it becomes more about the self-absorbed filmmaker himself (and his ego) rather than his subjects. Brooks takes jabs at Hollywood, and at studio execs in particular. If you’ve never seen this one, you’re in for a real treat.
Take the Money and Run – This is one of Woody Allen’s “earlier, funny films”. It’s also one of the seminal mockumentaries, and riotously funny from start to finish. Woody casts himself as bumbling career criminal Virgil Starkwell, who is the subject of this faux biopic.
Narrated with tongue-in-cheek gravitas by veteran voice-over maestro Jackson Beck, the film traces Starkwell’s trajectory from his early days as a petty criminal (knocking over gumball machines) to his career apex as a “notorious” bank robber.
In one of the most hilarious gags Allen has ever conceived, Virgil blows a heist by arguing with a bank manager over his penmanship on a scribbled stickup note that he has handed to a teller, who is very confused by the sentence that appears to read; “I have a gub.”
A comedy classic, not to be missed. BTW-if you ever plan to break out of jail by wielding a fake revolver carved from a bar of soap…always be sure to check the weather report first.
This is Spinal Tap – Director Rob Reiner co-wrote this 1984 gem with his three stars-Christopher Guest, Harry Shearer and Michael McKean, who play Spinal Tap founders Nigel Tufnel, Derek Smalls and David St. Hubbins, respectively.
Reiner is “rockumentary” filmmaker Marti Dibergi, who accompanies the hard rocking British band on a tour of the states. By the time the film’s 84 minutes have expired, no one (and I mean, no one) involved in the business of rock ’n’ roll has been spared the knife-the musicians, roadies, girlfriends, groupies, fans, band managers, rock journalists, concert promoters, record company execs, A & R reps, record store clerks…all get bagged and tagged.
A lot of the gags are of an “inside” nature; I’ve noticed people who dismiss the film tend to not be rock fans (or perhaps more tellingly, have never played in a band).
True Stories– Musician/raconteur David Byrne enters the Lone Star state of mind with this subtly satirical Texas travelogue from 1986. It’s not easy to pigeonhole; part road movie, part social satire, part long-form music video, part mockumentary. Episodic; basically a series of quirky vignettes about the generally likable inhabitants of sleepy Virgil, Texas. Among the town’s residents: John Goodman, “Pops” Staples, Swoosie Kurtz and the late Spalding Gray.
Once you acclimate to “tour-guide” Byrne’s bemused anthropological detachment, you’ll be hooked. Byrne directed and co-wrote with actor Stephen Tobolowsky and actress/playwright Beth Henley (Crimes of the Heart, Miss Firecracker). The outstanding cinematography is by Edward Lachman. Byrne’s fellow Talking Heads have cameos performing “Wild Wild Life”, and several other songs by the band are featured in the soundtrack.
Previous posts with related themes:
The Art of Deception: Top 10 April Fool’s Flicks
More reviews at Den of Cinema
This is totally correct. He always sucked. Every single day. Don’t forget.
That means nothing to the zealots
More than 7 in 10 Americans support access to medication abortion, and even more back the Food and Drug Administration’s ability to regulate drugs, a new Axios-Ipsos poll finds.
The findings suggest a Supreme Court decision that would overrule the FDA to limit access to the commonly used abortion pill mifepristone would be out of step with public sentiment in the post-Roe world.
There’s widespread support for letting women obtain drugs for medication abortion from their doctor or a clinic, with 72% supporting — including half of Republicans — and 26% opposed.
But the public is split almost evenly on obtaining pills through the mail, which is among the FDA permissions that anti-abortion doctors are challenging at high court.
6 in 10 strongly or somewhat agree with states using ballot measures to make, or keep, abortion legal at the state level.
“There is a resounding consensus to stop litigating this, that this is a health issue between a woman and a doctor,” said Ipsos vice president Mallory Newall.
8 in 10, including two-thirds of Republicans, agreed that the government shouldn’t be involved in how a woman manages abortion issues.
On a central question now before the Supreme Court, there’s widespread bipartisan support for allowing the FDA to continue approving and regulating medicines in the U.S., with 79% strongly or somewhat agreeing, including 3 in 4 Republicans.
Most Americans aren’t closely following the fight over medication abortion, with 44% saying they were familiar with this week’s oral arguments before the justices.
About 3 in 10 are aware of studies showing mifepristone is about as safe as over-the-counter pain relievers.
As with our poll after an Alabama Supreme Court decision on IVF embryos, Democrats appear much more tuned in to issues around reproductive rights than Republicans.
Overall attitudes about the legality of abortion remain largely unchanged since Roe v. Wade was overturned: A 15-week nationwide ban on the procedure isn’t resonating much beyond the Republican base, with 58% of the public opposed.
An identical share also said they would be less likely to vote for a candidate who backs restrictions on abortion access, though there were significant partisan divisions.
Democrats tend to view President Biden as in step with his party’s abortion policies, but ideologically not as far left as they are.
72% said Biden was moderate or somewhat liberal on abortion, while only 16% characterized him as very liberal. In contrast, 3 in 10 independents characterized him as very liberal.
Biden continues to send signals that he’s a clear ally on abortion and reproductive rights, and that he’s aware it can help turn out the Democratic base.
Please no…
Lara Trump, the co-chairwoman of the Republican National Committee and the daughter-in-law of former President Donald Trump, has released a new song and it’s getting absolutely panned even by many of her own social media followers.
Lara Trump last year unveiled her musical ambitions when she offered up a widely ridiculed cover of Tom Petty’s classic hit “I Won’t Back Down,” and her new track, titled “Anything is Possible,” is taking similar abuse from internet critics.
The song itself is intended as an inspiration ballad that features lyrics such as “Don’t think, just jump / You can’t give up / Know that anything is possible.”
However, many of Trump’s Twitter followers apparently think having a successful musical career is far from possible for her given their comments.
“‘Anything’ isn’t possible,” quipped one user. “Auto tune could not even fix that hag karaoke voice of yours. Just leave us alone and walk away. You have money and can get on a private plane and go anywhere. True hardworking Americans cannot.”
“Can Democrats and Republicans put our differences aside and unite to stop Lara Trump from butchering any more of our favorite songs??” wrote Chris Nelson, a self-identified Florida man and supporter of GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis. “This could bring us together in ways we never thought possible!”
“Are you threatening to sing until we donate?” asked another self-identified DeSantis supporter sarcastically. “Because that is an 8th Amendment violation.”
Although no professional music journalists have yet given their takes on Trump’s new single, the Twitter account for music review website Consequence of Sound responded to the song by simply posting a photo of a person with blood pouring out of their ears.
Gopers falling apart
This is a point worth making over and over again:
Former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton joined Biden at the star-studded event moderated by late night host Stephen Colbert in New York City, and The Atlantic’s Mark Leibowitz told the “Morning Joe” host that he was struck by that show of unity around the president.
“There is a coherence of purpose when you see three presidents up there,” Leibowitz said. “When you contrast that to, I mean, you will not see a living former Republican president or nominee anywhere near a Trump rally going forward. I mean, this is not a party that has a past, you know, before Donald Trump came on the scene.”
Scarborough agreed, saying that former Trump officials were among the ex-president’s harshest critics.
“That’s such a great point,” Scarborough said. “Let me interrupt because you’re making such a great point, I want to ruin it right now. No, you just said, we have three Democratic presidents, you would never find a Republican president onstage with Donald Trump. You also won’t find his own vice president of four years. You won’t find his first, second or third secretary of defense. You won’t find his secretary of states, you won’t find his secretary of treasury. You won’t find Elaine Chao onstage with him. You won’t find any CIA directors on stage with him. You won’t find 20, 25, 30 of his top people onstage with him because they all say he is bad for America. What a contrast, what a great point for you to bring up.”
Tom mentioned this earlier and I think it says just as much:
The analysis of GOP presidential primary results from more than 1,000 counties shows warning signs for Trump, especially as Republican voters continued to vote against him in closed primaries after he clinched the nomination. And it makes clear that, while independents and crossover voters may have boosted former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley in some primaries, a chunk of true Republican voters still wished for someone else to be the party’s nominee.
“You hear a lot of moderate Republicans now who say that they’ll never vote for Trump again,” said Parker Fairbairn, county GOP chair in Emmet County, Michigan, on the northern end of the state’s Lower Peninsula, where Trump won 55 percent of the vote in the 2020 general election. In last month’s primary, he got two-thirds of the vote there.
Maybe they’ll go home or maybe they’ll stay home. Whether they vote for Biden is an open question. But there are plenty of Republicans who really can’t stand Trump anymore, insiders and regular voters alike. It has to mean something.
Former president Donald Trump disseminated on social media on Friday an image of President Biden with his hands and feet tied, the latest example of the Republican candidate’s use of increasingly violent rhetoric and imagery this campaign season.
The image can be seen about halfway through a 20-second video that Trump posted on his Truth Social site. The post says it was recorded Thursday on Long Island, where Trump traveled this week to attend a wake for a recently killed police officer.
In the video, two trucks decorated with giant Trump flags and altered American flags are driving on a highway. On the tailgate door of one of the trucks is the image of Biden bound and lying horizontally.
Similar images of Biden have been circulating on social media for months, if not years, on sites including Instagram, Reddit and Twitter, before the platform changed its name to X. In February, the popular World Star Hip Hop site posted a video of a truck it said was in California featuring such an image.
“This image from Donald Trump is the type of crap you post when you’re calling for a bloodbath or when you tell the Proud Boys to ‘stand back and stand by,’” said Michael Tyler, communication director for Biden’s campaign, referring to the right-wing group involved in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. “Trump is regularly inciting political violence and it’s time people take him seriously — just ask the Capitol police officers who were attacked protecting our democracy on January 6.”
Steven Cheung, a spokesman for Trump’s campaign, sent a lengthy statement distancing the campaign from the image, and accusing Democrats of using violent rhetoric against Trump.
“That picture was on the back of a pick up truck that was traveling down the highway,” Cheung said in the statement. “Democrats and crazed lunatics have not only called for despicable violence against President Trump and his family, they are actually weaponizing the justice system against him.”
The message remained live on Trump’s feed late Friday night.
Among the examples Cheung cited in his statement were Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) saying in 2017 “What we’ve got to do is fight in Congress, fight in the courts, fight in the streets, fight online, fight at the ballot box …” Cheung also cited Biden’s 2018 comment, when he said, “If we were in high school, I’d take him [Trump] behind the gym and beat the hell out of him.”
Trump has a history of sharing and promoting violent images featuring his perceived enemies.
In October, Trump shared a doctored video of him hitting a golf ball that hits Biden and knocks him down. (It was similar to a doctored video he shared in 2017, hitting a golf ball into the back of Hillary Clinton, who falls down as a result.) In April 2023, a judge issued a warning to Trump after an image of him holding a bat next to an image of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D) was shared from one of the former president’s verified accounts.
In July 2017, Trump shared a video of himself at a professional wrestling match, beating up a man whose face is covered with the CNN logo. The verified account for CNN’s communication team responded to the video with a quote from Trump’s White House spokeswoman at the time, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, falsely claiming Trump “in no way form or fashion has ever promoted or encouraged violence.”
Earlier this month, Trump told supporters in Ohio that some immigrants who are accused of crimes are “not people,” and warned it will be a “bloodbath for the country” if he is not elected.
I think reporters need to start asking Trump if he plans to incite violence if he loses the election. It certainly appears that he’s priming his cult members to be ready for it.
Low-GDP Russia sticks with what works
Heather Cox Richardson spotlights a report warning that Russian disinformation efforts are as vigorous as ever. The report focuses on Ukraine but its implications apply more widely. Russia lacks the West’s resources and collective GDP. So its geopolitical strategy leans heavily on an asymmetrical advantage in information warfare:
This means that the strategy that matters most for the Kremlin is not the military strategy, but rather the spread of disinformation that causes the West to back away and allow Russia to win. That disinformation operation echoes the Russian practice of getting a population to believe in a false reality so that voters will cast their ballots for the party of oligarchs. In this case, in addition to seeding the idea that Ukraine cannot win and that the Russian invasion was justified, the Kremlin is exploiting divisions already roiling U.S. politics.
Since I am “reading” Barbara McQuade’s “Attack from Within: How Disinformation Is Sabotaging America,” Richardson’s post is well-timed.
Russian propaganda is also changing key Western concepts of war, suggesting, for example, that Ukrainian surrender will bring peace when, in fact, the end of fighting will simply take away Ukrainians’ ability to protect themselves against Russian violence. The authors note that Russia is using Americans’ regard for peace, life, American interests, freedom of debate, and responsible foreign relations against the U.S.
The authors’ argument parallels that of political observers in the U.S. and elsewhere: Russian actors have amplified the power of a relatively small, aggressive country by leveraging disinformation.
They are at work in the E.U. as well.
The far right has been rising in Europe, and Nicholas Vinocur, Pieter Haeck, and Eddy Wax of Politico noted that “Voice of Europe’s YouTube page throws up a parade of EU lawmakers, many of them belonging to far-right, Euroskeptic parties, who line up to bash the Green Deal, predict the Union’s imminent collapse, or attack Ukraine.”
Belgian security services were in on the investigation, and on Thursday, Belgian prime minister Alexander De Croo added that Russian operatives had paid European Union lawmakers to parrot Russian propaganda. Intelligence sources told Czech media that Voice of Europe paid politicians from Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, and Poland to influence the upcoming E.U. elections. Germany’s Der Spiegel newspaper said the money was paid in cash or cryptocurrency.
Hell, Tucker Carlson will carry their water for free. But he’s not alone. More-powerful conservatives are in on the action, Richardson offers.
There are reasons to think the same disinformation process is underway in the United States. Not only do MAGA Republicans, including House speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), parrot Russian talking points about Ukraine, but Russian disinformation has also been a key part of the House Republicans’ attempt to impeach President Joe Biden.
Republicans spent months touting Alexander Smirnov’s allegation that Biden had accepted foreign bribes, with Representative James Comer (R-KY) and Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) calling his evidence “verifiable” and “valuable.” In February the Department of Justice indicted Smirnov for creating a false record, days before revealing that he was in close contact with “Russian intelligence agencies” and was “actively peddling new lies that could impact U.S. elections.”
On March 19, former Rudy Giuliani associate Lev Parnas testified about the investigation into Biden’s alleged corruption before the House Oversight Committee at the request of the Democrats. Parnas was part of the attempt to create dirt on Biden before the 2020 election, and he explained how the process worked.
“The only information ever pushed about the Bidens and Ukraine has come from Russia and Russian agents,” Parnas said, and was part of “a much larger plan for Russia to crush Ukraine by infiltrating the United States.” Politicians and right-wing media figures, including then-representative Devin Nunes (R-CA), Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI), The Hill reporter John Solomon, Fox News Channel personality Sean Hannity, and other FNC hosts, knew the narrative was false, Parnas said, even as they echoed it. He suggested that they were permitting “Russia to use our government for malicious purposes, and to reward selfish people with ill-gotten gains.”
We already know the minority GOP has gerrymandered itself into ill-gotten majorities in the U.S. House and in state legislatures.
The attempt to create a false reality—whether by foreign operatives or homegrown ones—seems increasingly obvious in perceptions of the 2024 election. There has been much chatter, for example, about polls showing Trump ahead of Biden. But the 2022 polls were badly skewed rightward by partisan actors, and Democrat Marilyn Lands’s overwhelming victory over her Republican opponent in an Alabama House election this week suggests those errors have not yet been fully addressed.
There is a reason Merriam-Webster selected “gaslighting” as its word of the year for 2022. As a child of the “better red than dead” 1960s, it feels weird to raise alarms today about the “Russkis.” But it’s not paranoia, they say, if they’re really out to get you.
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