MAGA Republican Shit Show — Act I, Scene I
The shit show, “The Case of Hunter’s Laptop” directed by Jim Jordan, has officially opened. The moment he has been waiting for, ladies and gentlemen, starring Jim Comer as chair of the Oversight Committee. First scene: grilling former Twitter execs on camera to get juicy sound bites for Sean Hannity.
The MAGA Republicans went after the former execs using a blown-up copy of a story in the right leaning tabloid/celebrity gossip publication, the New York Post, about Hunter Biden’s laptop that Twitter had blocked for 24 hours before the 2020 election because they believed it had hacked material in it. MAGA Republicans accused them of doing it to help Joe Biden win. MAGA Republicans tried to push them into a corner where they’d be forced to admit that the FBI was involved, that Biden and the Democrats had something to do with this, and that they broke the law because they messed with the first amendment. Didn’t work. One testified that the only thing that he ever talked to the FBI about was foreign interference which was not in the script. Jim Jordan told him he thought they got played. Repugs called for a new law that would keep Twitter from blocking anything at all for any reason. Dems called the hearing stupid. Repugs said Silicon Valley tech companies favor Democrats and censor Republican viewpoints and praised Elon Musk throughout the hearing.
Twitter fun fact: Under Musk’s leadership, Twitter users see posts by MAGA Republicans and right-wing media whether they follow their accounts or not. To not see them, you have to block them. A new feature shows their posts when you first log on. You have to switch to “following” to get the old Twitter back.
Anika Navaroli, one of the witnesses that the MAGA Republicans tried to make a fool of, told the committee that Twitter changed its rules for Trump. “If we’re here to talk social media and the government, we need to talk about Twitter’s failure to act before January 6. I’m here to tell you that doing nothing is not an option. If we continue to do nothing, violence is going to happen again.” Clearly a smart person, Navaroli was careful not to blurt out what she was really thinking because the whole thing was too ridiculous to believe. “In January 2020, after the US assassinated an Iranian general and the US president decided to justify it on Twitter, management literally instructed me and my team to make sure that World War 3 did not start on the platform.” She also told the committee that Trump asked them to remove a tweet by Chrissy Teigen in which she called Trump a “pussy ass bitch.”
Jamie Raskin, also a very smart person who doesn’t need this crap right now because he’s going through chemo, asked Navaroli to explain how Twitter bent over backward to accommodate Trump and his right wing MAGA hate speech for months before January 6. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez questioned her about how Trump continuously violated Twitter’s policies and instead of enforcing them, they changed them to accommodate him. “So much for bias against right-wing on Twitter,” AOC said.
Another witness, Yoel Roth, testified that at first glance the Hunter Biden laptop stuff looked similar to the 2016 Russia hack and dump operation but in time the story evolved to include tweeted photos of Hunter’s wiener. Elon Musk didn’t like Roth so he sought revenge by spreading homophobic rumors about him. He was harassed so much that he had to sell his house and move.
Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert used their time to yell at the witnesses for taking down their accounts because they tweeted QAnon conspiracies. Marjorie Taylor Greene said Twitter broke the law by suspending her account and accused Yoel Roth of being a pedophile. Lauren Boebert made a big deal out of tweet she made about Hillary Clinton that they took down. “WHO IN THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?”
Through smart questioning by Democrats, the witnesses revealed that there are still hundreds of thousands of counterfeit Twitter accounts by the Russians and others who are spreading dangerous propaganda and suggested that they have a hearing about those active accounts which of course won’t happen for at least two years because MAGA Republicans are in control. This is their show.
The first act, first scene of the MAGA Republican shit show bombed so Jim Jordan tried to push a conspiracy theory about security clearances at Twitter but the audience booed under its breath. The writers of the script blew it because the protagonists became the antagonists. They looked so stupid. The Democrats didn’t even have to try to make them look stupid but they did deliver some good lines in the show. Gerry Connolly’s line of questioning painted a picture of how the MAGA Republicans were doing everything they were accusing of Biden of doing and worse. Eleanor Holmes Norton said, “Like Benghazi before, Republicans are on a taxpayer-funded expedition to attack their political rivals, and they’re feeding the flames of conspiracy in the process.” Jamie Raskin said, “We return not to focus on advancing this robust agenda of progress, but instead, to take up an authentically trivial pursuit, all based on the obsessive victimology of right-wing politics……Rather than conspiring to suppress right-wing MAGA speech, as my colleagues astonishingly claim, Twitter and other media companies knowingly facilitated Trump’s spread of disinformation.”
Boom and scene.
