A compendium of the best reporting and commentary surrounding the pivotal 2024 elections in the United States. You won't find horse race coverage here, or the standard "both sides" BS that passes so often for political journalism. What you will find are links, with brief commentary, to work that I believe advances the conversation we should be having about America's – and the world's – future. Remember: Everything is at stake this year. (Unfortunately, some of the work I point to is behind paywalls.)
Attention, in his vision, is the only real currency in business or politics or media. So he keeps upping the ante and pushing new limits to get it, like a heroin addict he has to keep upping the dose to get the same fix. The externalities of that behavior have been lapping up, splashing onto countless other people for almost a decade. Now they’re also splashing up onto him. Trump’s supporters ask rhetorically, if it’s not Biden and Harris who are doing it, are you really saying that Trump is inciting people against himself? The answer is actually yes. He’s now twice almost been consumed by the fires he himself is lighting.
Another must-read from the consistently most astute observer of national politics – and a warning of even worse trouble ahead. A line in this piece that will probably go unremarked, but which should be considered by journalists, comes after Marshall points out that bad-faith Trump backers insist this is all on Biden and Harris to stop criticizing the boss. "And gullible reporters will no doubt go in for some of this," Marshall writes. "But it’s an argument that simply collapses under the weight of its own ridiculousness. The man is talking about himself." I'm already seeing reporters falling into the most obvious trap in the world. They can't help themselves, it seems. If there is any remote level of common sense in the mix, Trump will be understood as the cause.
Loomer was only 17 or 18 years old when Trump began pushing his birther conspiracy theories. She moved into adulthood as his mode of politics dominated the GOP; her entire persona has developed in response to the extremism of the Republican party, which has subjugated itself to the conspiracy-theorist-in-chief, Donald Trump. The newfound concern by “respectable” conservatives and Republicans over Loomer’s supposedly bad influence on Donald Trump is an act of self-delusion. The reason they’re raising these “concerns” now is not because they’re worried that Loomer will turn Trump into a raving lunatic. They’re simply worried that Trump might lose.
Some Republicans are freaking out at the antics of Laura Loomer, who's been traveling recently with Trump and – as a 9/11 "truther" (holds grotesque conspiracy theories about the 2001 attacks) – was a beyond-bizarre choice to bring along to the Sept. 11 memorial in New York. This smart piece observes the near-certain genesis of her nutso ranting: Trump himself. It also highlights the "respectable" Republicans' complete hypocrisy, given that they've done almost nothing but cheer him on. Loomer is a disgusting person. But she has no power, unlike her hero. Again, look to the source.
Where things get dicier for Musk is his role as a major contractor for the US Department of Defense and NASA. According to Reuters, SpaceX signed a $1.8 billion contract in 2021 with the National Reconnaissance Office, which oversees US spy satellites. The US Space Force also signed a $70 million contract late last year with SpaceX to build out military-grade low-earth-orbit satellite capabilities. Starlink, SpaceX’s commercial satellite internet wing, is providing connectivity to the US Navy.
Musk has been making it his habit lately to stir up trouble and push people toward violence. He did it recently in the U.K., where his "Civil war is inevitable" tweet made riots turn even worse. Now he's all but invited the assassination of VP Harris. Yet it's a fantasy to imagine that the U.S. government is going to seriously hold Musk accountable for his incendiary words here, even his latest vile musing – even though government contractors, of which is is a mega-example, are supposed to be held to high standards. He is simply too powerful at this point, his companies too enmeshed with the key government programs, notably military and space, for anyone to lift a finger to bring him to heel. Yet that is exactly what's needed. Musk is a danger to us all, and keeps showing why he should not be trusted with control of one of our most important social networks, much less his space empire and more. Wealth confers impunity, and you'll never see a better example. What's worse is the prospect of Musk accumulating even greater wealth and power under a new Trump administration, which the exTwitter boss is working so hard to make happen.
Much of the cardboard and paper goods strewn about our homes — the mail-order boxes and grocery store bags — are sold by a single private company, with its name, Uline, stamped on the bottom. Few Americans know that a multibillion-dollar fortune made on those ubiquitous products is now fueling election deniers and other far-right candidates across the country.
Who knew that those ubiquitous cardboard boxes were paying for some of the nastiest right-wing campaigns and propaganda? This story is one reason why everyone should be checking out ProPublica's work on a routine basis. The investigative journalism outlet doesn't just lay out the family's ugly history and current spending. It also has a pointer to a site that lists alternatives to their products. I hope Amazon and others are listening, and will use their purchasing power for good. Note: ProPublica did this reporting in collaboration with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Ellison's vision bears more than a passing resemblance to the cautionary world portrayed in George Orwell's prescient novel 1984. In Orwell's fiction, the totalitarian government of Oceania uses ubiquitous "telescreens" to monitor citizens constantly, creating a society where privacy no longer exists and independent thought becomes nearly impossible. But Orwell's famous phrase "Big Brother is watching you" would take on new meaning in Ellison's tech-driven scenario, where AI systems, rather than human watchers, would serve as the ever-vigilant eyes of authority. Once considered a sci-fi trope, automated systems are already becoming a reality: Similar automated CCTV surveillance systems have already been trialed in London Underground and at the 2024 Olympics.
Ellison was one of Silicon Valley's terrible human beings a generation before the current crop of terrible human beings came along to give Big Tech the bad reputation it's earned. Even though a total surveillance society would be great for his company's revenues, I think the story shows he's genuinely excited by the prospects of combining human control control freakery with machine speed and relentlessness. I'd also bet that Ellison isn't worried that he'll ever be the one under the spies' comprehensive eyes. The wealthy will have ways to ensure that they – as opposed to the rest of us little people – can keep their own privacy.\
Voting is just part of democracy, but it's the essential place to start. Make sure you're registered. Doublecheck in the fall, well before Election Day, because in some states Republican officials are removing people, mostly those who tend to vote for Democrats, from voting rolls.
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Josh Marshall
Sam Stein
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