Thursday Tweets -- Elmo and Sneetches

When we first started mocking the "great news for DeSantis" meme, we were taking a fairly controversial position. Then the winds started to shift and it turned into something of a victory lap, reminding people that we were here first. Now, though, everybody is jumping on the bandwagon, which means:

1. It's not much fun anymore.

2. Pundits are starting to move from prematurely declaring DeSantis the inevitable nominee to prematurely declaring his campaign doomed, which in black swan season is just asking for it.

So no more Ron for a while. Fortunately, we have plenty of Tucker and Elon to fill the gap.

Before we get to the reaction to the defenestration, take a minute to watch this clip and remind yourself of the level of crazy TC was feeding to his viewers.

Tucker Carlson is releasing a documentary called, ‘Oh Canada,’ which seems to be making the case that we should invade Canada to liberate them from their tyrannical government. pic.twitter.com/REwJ9GK48n

— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) April 20, 2023

Tuck was always quick to stand up for his country. That country happened to be Russia but the principle remains the same.

Where will @TuckerCarlson land after Fox bounced his ass? First job offer already in from @RT_com. Because of course.https://t.co/QUMte82MxN

— Joe Conason (@JoeConason) April 24, 2023

The US military leaders cheer while the Russian military leaders mourn. pic.twitter.com/MmWmQS5Hhx

— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) April 26, 2023

Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov is upset about Tucker’s firing. For some reason. pic.twitter.com/XgBhaoJfEm

— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) April 26, 2023

“Tucker, come join us. You don’t have to be afraid of taking the piss out of Biden here.”

Kremlin media rends its clothes for Tucker Carlson—and extends an invitation.

My latest. https://t.co/pJAWudEydC

— Julia Ioffe (@juliaioffe) April 26, 2023

So @DickMorrisTweet had a lot to say about firing of @TuckerCarlson. It's always wise to assume Dick is 99% wrong, in this case about the reasons why Murdoch bounced Tucker. https://t.co/vk0w64pnm8

— Joe Conason (@JoeConason) April 25, 2023

There is no one so despicable on the far right that you can't find a loon on the left to defend them.

Amazingly, @TheProspect, the last place i had a fulltime journalism gig and where I opened the first DC office, wrote a tribute piece to Tucker Carlson, critic of corporate America and anti-war populist, many people are saying. LOL https://t.co/9H6JnLVSXx

— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) April 26, 2023

The progressive case for Tucker Carlson is not good https://t.co/kD34tKFGh1

— Jonathan Chait (@jonathanchait) April 26, 2023

Here's the American Prospect piece on Tucker Carlson that produced this editor's note, promising to "earn back whatever trust has been lost." https://t.co/E0sYHae3zq I recommend reading both. via @froomkin https://t.co/PBS4Fe9byK

— Jay Rosen (@jayrosen_nyu) April 26, 2023

Yes, Rupert Murdoch killed the First Amendment by firing Tucker. I’m sure you’re right. pic.twitter.com/rULFz8icvM

— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) April 26, 2023

Loads of charming details.

Seems pretty likely she’s the senior Fox executive he called the c-word, as described here: https://t.co/l2XsacXCkh

Not a great idea!

— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) April 26, 2023

SCOTUS News (though not technically 'News')

From 1789–1891, Congress exercised complete control over #SCOTUS’s docket. The Court couldn’t pick and choose cases—or issues to resolve within those cases. If it had jurisdiction over an appeal, it *had* to hear it. Discretion came in baby steps in 1891, then giant ones in 1925.

— Steve Vladeck (@steve_vladeck) April 26, 2023

As noted elsewhere on Twitter, who would have thought we'd have two SCOTUS justices mired in financial scandals and neither of them is named Kavanaugh.

We must deliver an ensemble apology to the late Justice Abe Fortas, who was squeezed off the Supreme Court over financial issues that are penny-ante accusations compared to what's going on today. https://t.co/vOXuwaOtlZ

— Charles P. Pierce (@CharlesPPierce) April 26, 2023

 

More for the bad NYT framing file.

How exactly is the sitting president running for reelection "defying" his (presumptive) opponent who he handily beat in the last election? This is the kind of bullshit, inaccurate language @nytimes uses over and over to twist the narrative frame in favor of the GOP pic.twitter.com/9NaImPFZVt

— Evan Sutton (@3vanSutton) April 26, 2023

Apparently, running for a second term, as allowed by the US Constitution = being unwilling to let go of power (like certain past presidents)

— Julia Ioffe (@juliaioffe) April 25, 2023

Defying tradition, Biden seeks second term.

— New York Times Pitchbot (@DougJBalloon) April 26, 2023

An American must be at least 36 years old to have participated in a presidential election in which the Republican candidate got more votes.

He or she must be at least 52 to have participated in two. https://t.co/94wrSCsEVB

— David Frum (@davidfrum) April 26, 2023

Tommy Tuberville and Marsha Blackburn: "We are the dumbest members of the Senate."
Ron Johnson: "Hold my Schlitz." https://t.co/zJU5PhqXCS

— Norman Ornstein (@NormOrnstein) April 26, 2023

His family must be so proud.

Some bullshit artists, including @RobertKennedyJr himself, are now pretending he's "not anti-vaccine." They're lying. His lethal, mendacious campaign dates back to 2005, when @Salon and @RollingStone had to retract his anti-vax "investigation."https://t.co/GjO2NBngIt

— Joe Conason (@JoeConason) April 26, 2023

Joe McCarthy -> RFK -> RFK jr. -> Roger Stone

Totally a progressive pic.twitter.com/R9FSUhbw6Y

— Benjamin Dixon (@BenjaminPDixon) April 26, 2023

Because Tennessee went so well for them.

In central Missoula, residents of Montana's 100th House district are now subject to taxation without representation https://t.co/pAycX7PwLu

— Brandon Friedman (@BFriedmanDC) April 26, 2023

Excellent thread, particularly about carriage fees.

1/ I want to share a bit about Fox News, advertisers, revenue and accountability.

Let me first start by saying that, Fox News is actually suffering quite severely on the advertiser front. (The next chart will illustrate just how badly)...

— Angelo Carusone (@GoAngelo) March 31, 2020

At which point I'm contractually obliged to mention...

We've been through this before, but

RABBIT EARS

Better HD and more channels than basic cable.

Helps fight media consolidation.

No carriage fees going to Fox.

And did I mention it's free TV?

— Mark Palko (@MarkPalko1) April 22, 2023

 

 To understand the dysfunction of the current anti-abortion movement, you have to remember that, while many of the members are motivated by deeply held beliefs about the nature of human life, probably more are driven by exposure to decades of horrifying disinformation.

Trump says Democrats “believe in abortion on demand in the 9th month of pregnancy. Even executing babies after birth! Beyond birth, executing the baby!” pic.twitter.com/TvRhvpFAgr

— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) April 23, 2023

“I wanted to address my senators, Cruz and Cornyn.. I would like for them to know that what happened to me is a direct result of the policies they support. I nearly died on their watch and I may have been robbed of the opportunity to have children in the future” pic.twitter.com/rq8Rt0lmSa

— Acyn (@Acyn) April 26, 2023

What “pro-life” laws look like on the ground: go wait in your car in the parking lot until you start to bleed out and then come back to us.https://t.co/GSvinjZkQC

— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) April 26, 2023

 

Checking in on Elon.

There’s a profound message about the nature of capitalism that the world’s richest man is this stupid pic.twitter.com/19QPxojPK9

— Michael A. Cohen (NOT TRUMP’S FORMER FIXER) (@speechboy71) April 23, 2023

I wrote about a new achievement in capitalism history: Getting celebrities from every walk of life imaginable to forcefully deny that they paid for your product on the same weekend, because they find it embarrassing https://t.co/kXmwqenFq1

— Alex Kirshner (@alex_kirshner) April 23, 2023

For just 27 cents a day, less than the price of a cup of coffee, you can help feed this South African billionaire and his family.

— New York Times Pitchbot (@DougJBalloon) April 21, 2023

 

It's like a bad reboot of Sneetches where, after removing stars becomes the cool thing to do, Sylvester McMonkey McBean starts kidnapping the elite sneetches and forcing them into the star restorer. https://t.co/tse9MmD0qD

— Mark Palko (@MarkPalko1) April 23, 2023

Of all the burns delivered to Elon over the check mark fiasco -- and there have been many -- this may be the best of them all.

Elmo will miss you, little blue check mark. But don’t worry everybody, Elmo is still Elmo! ❤️

— Elmo (@elmo) April 20, 2023

Elon being a deepfake would explain a lot.

A man died bc he believed @elonmusk’s lies about Tesla’s self driving capability and the best defense his lawyers could come up with is that Musk can’t remember what he said/it might’ve been a deepfake. https://t.co/OKoBK2DfZi

— Linette Lopez (@lopezlinette) April 27, 2023

The latest from ProPublica.

Read this entire thing with my jaw on the floor. Absolutely insane.

As Rail Profits Soar, Blocked Crossings Force Kids to Crawl Under Trains to Get to Schoolhttps://t.co/nfOMCg7dnJ

— Haley Britzky (@halbritz) April 26, 2023

Back on the AI beat.

Again, consent is such a difficult concept for some men.

Make opt-in the default, people; not opt-out.https://t.co/rdXRuBSXTm

— Grady Booch (@Grady_Booch) April 26, 2023

At least they had the sensitivity to not name this large language model the Word Organizer Pretrained Resource https://t.co/KvpssbaVy6 pic.twitter.com/Z6khcsOMR0

— Grady Booch (@Grady_Booch) April 27, 2023

You come across the most unexpected conversations on Twitter.

HOW TO TELL IF A SUIT IS BESPOKE

This suit makes me sad bc it's an example of the many ways custom tailoring shops upsell or misrepresent their services. On their site, this tailor says their suits are handmade and bespoke. But that's not really true. Here's how to tell 🧵 https://t.co/BVWRjEBwtm

— derek guy (@dieworkwear) April 26, 2023

132 is the sum of all the 2-digit numbers made from its digits. It is the smallest such number. pic.twitter.com/a6T1WJq290

— Fermat's Library (@fermatslibrary) April 26, 2023

I didn't read the article so I can't recommend it, but I love the clip.

Why do apes like to spin in circles? A new study suggests it might be for the same reasons people do: They enjoy the dizzy buzz that comes with it, possibly even in pursuit of altered mental states. https://t.co/gIjJHxwKjQ pic.twitter.com/TN3jyZGELn

— The New York Times (@nytimes) April 26, 2023