If nothing is true, then no one can criticize power

An Associated Press article posted on Daily Kos noted that the states that have banned abortion tend to have the fewest social services for new mothers.

It is clear that from the time a Tennessee woman gets pregnant, she faces greater obstacles to a healthy pregnancy, a healthy child and a financially stable family than the average American mom.

What services exist require confusing and convoluted applications. Some people feel the process was made difficult on purpose. Mark Kreidler wrote in an article for Capital and Main posted on Kos that Gov. Gavin Newsom of California signed some pretty good bills over the last few months. A new law helps speed the creation of tiny homes to get homeless people into temporary shelter. These homes are prefabs, are self-contained, and can be moved with a forklift as needs change. They cost $50K instead of the $800K for affordable housing. Other new laws provide more protection from evictions, paid leave for family needs and for acts of violence, and banning medical debt from credit reports. And a company is banned from holding mandatory “captive audience” anti-union meetings. Oliver Willis of Kos explained why Musk wants to buy Wikipedia, which says it is not for sale. The reason goes back to Stephen Colbert saying during the 2006 White House Correspondents’ Dinner that “reality has a well-known liberal bias.”

Conservatives believe that sources of information must reflect a conservative worldview rather than objective reality, which is why Trump has gone after news outlets like ABC News and The New York Times for not repeating right-wing propaganda. Even though many of these outlets have promoted conservative narratives and buckled under right-wing criticism and legal threats, it still isn’t enough for Trump. Now Wikipedia is under fire for promoting facts instead of right-wing talking points, further proving that conservatives believe everything must bend to their will—even the encyclopedia.

In a pundit roundup for Kos from December 22 Chitown Kev quoted Renée Graham of the Boston Globe:

When Trump refuses to recognize his mistakes, he’s not just broadcasting his insecurities. With his total disregard for facts, and especially the expertise of those smarter than him, he’s positioning himself as an omnipotent arbiter of truth. If he says a hurricane will hit Alabama, it will hit Alabama. If he says massive tariffs will be the best thing ever, then the more than 20 Nobel Prize-winning economists who’ve disputed his comments are wrong. In his essential book, “On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century,” Timothy Snyder, a Yale University professor and historian, warns, “To abandon facts is to abandon freedom. If nothing is true, then no one can criticize power, because there is no basis upon which to do so. If nothing is true, then all is spectacle.” It’s well-documented that Trump loves spectacle as much as he despises truth. That’s why he’s threatening retribution against the media and fellow politicians — any truthteller who knocks down his lies. He doesn’t care about party or country; his intent is to unleash an infestation of misinformation that magnifies his power and replaces truth with whatever best serves his authoritarian goals.

In the comments of the pundit roundup for December 24 are a couple memes posted by exlrrp that haven’t disappeared yet. The first one: “A Christmas Carol is the heartwarming tale of how rich people must be supernaturally terrorized into sharing.” The second one is for fun. “If your gingerbread house fails, just add a dinosaur!” It shows a crumbled gingerbread house and a plastic t-rex with a piece of gingerbread in its mouth. Last Sunday I saw the 1922 silent movie Robin Hood and wrote about it a few posts back. Here are a few things about the movie from IMDb and it’s trivia page about the movie. The set included a castle, which was designed by Lloyd Wright, junior to architect Frank Lloyd Wright. It was the largest set created for a silent era film. The “banquet hall” was actually open air and was larger than the waiting area of Penn Station in New York. The budget for the sets was $248,000 (in 1922 dollars), required a million feet of lumber and 30 tons of nails. Douglas Fairbanks allowed the set to be open to the public as a charity benefit. Bleachers were set up so the public could watch filming. The costume department had to make several thousand costumes. They used 20,000 yards of fabric and the output of three tanneries to make the shoes, and had a budget of $82,000 (in 1922 dollars). Larger scenes had up to 1,200 extras. Total production costs topped $930,000. The movie was the first one to have a gala premier, which was held at Sid Grauman’s new Egyptian Theater in Hollywood. The film ran there long enough that street car conductors didn’t announce the theater, instead said, “All out for Robin Hood!” Another AP article lists Merriam-Webster’s word of the year for 2024, then listed the rest of the top ten. At the top: Polarization – causing strong disagreement between opposing factions. The word has extended beyond politics to pop culture and elsewhere. Demure – reserved or modest. It got a big bump through a makeup influencer. Fortnight – two weeks, got a bump from a Taylor Swift song of that name. Totality – where the moon fully blocked the sun, from the April eclipse. It also means the full amount or wholeness. Resonate – to affect someone in a personal or emotional way. And AI uses it too much. Allision – when two things are moving and hit, that’s a collision. When one thing is stationary and another hits it – like a ship and that Baltimore bridge – that’s an allision. Weird – popularized by Tim Walz. Cognitive – used often with “decline” to describe Biden and that debate performance. The pair should also be applied to the nasty guy. Pander – say or do what someone demands even though it is not good, proper, or reasonable. Frequently used in political campaigns. Democracy – the word of the year in 2003 and towards the top of the list since then. Lake Superior State University has released its 2025 “List of Words Banished from the Queen’s English for Mis-Use, Over-Use and General Uselessness.” I don’t have an opinion about banishing words from the Queen’s English, banishing words from American English is good enough. A few of this year’s words: Cringe – Describing someone as “cringe” now makes others cringe. Game Changer – If everything is a game changer, nothing is. Era – Yeah, Taylor Swift can use it, but a man’s “fatherhood era” is overuse. Dropped – Used and overused to describe music and movies that have been released. Sorry not sorry – Sounds like an excuse to be a jerk. Utilize – Most of the time “use” is just fine. This has long been an annoyance of mine.