@emptywheel.bsky.socialNo. It wasn't.
emptywheel
@emptywheel.bsky.social
Coverage of American authoritarianism with a focus on legal cases. An American-Irish in Limerick, Ireland. Legendary potty mouth!
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@emptywheel.bsky.social@emptywheel.bsky.socialIn His Tax Fraud Appeal, Donald Trump Says His Failsons Are Just Like Hunter Biden emptywheel.net/2026/08/02/i...
emptywheel.netIn His Tax Fraud Appeal, Donald Trump Says His Failsons Are Just Like Hunter Biden - emptywheelA guy who once argued that George W Bush could fire anyone is now trying to dodge that posture in an attempt to dig Trump out of his IRS lawsuit problem.
@emptywheel.bsky.socialSo, uh. you're incapable of posting a link, which in any case is better proof?
@emptywheel.bsky.socialGotcha. And yet when I ask, no one can point to what that was, MUCH LESS point to something before someone did precisely that to me. Is it that a women is "patronizing"? Is that it? Bc holy hell I'm pretty fucking tired with liberal men who think I should just sit pretty.
@emptywheel.bsky.socialI think challenging people for their completely unthinking dissemination of Trump propaganda is not condescension. It is precisely the blindness to what they are doing that is the problem, & reason I get accused of hostility. Of COURSE you should not be postmaster for Trump's packaged up fascism!
@emptywheel.bsky.socialWell it does disturb me that so many self-imagined lefties are horny to be TRump's witting co-conspirators in fascism. Yeah. That is disturbing.
@emptywheel.bsky.socialWhere were we talking about disseminating Trump's WORDS? That would entail quoting him. I have zero problem with quoting him. It's the little packaged up fascism that should not be disseminated w/o filter, IMO.
@emptywheel.bsky.socialReupping this video: Everyone should watch how, when Pirro tries to answer @ryanjreilly.com's questions about how you could prove damage of the reflecting pool, Pirro's mouth turns into a screw. xcancel.com/Acyn/status/...
xcancel.comAcyn (@Acyn)Pirro: He caused damage and that damage was over $1000.
Reporter: How do you prove that?
Pirro: With an expert.
Reporter: With his bare hands?
Pirro: We believe it's his bare hands, both hands.
R...
@emptywheel.bsky.socialIf they started by repping pro bono not sure if they can get fees. It's actually rather specific. But in this case, with Trump yapping his mouth, they may be able to get creative.
@emptywheel.bsky.socialOops. Are you reneging on your Gamergate theory? Not interested in the ties to Trump? Not interested in the attentional part of that?
@emptywheel.bsky.socialI have reminded people of a better way to do it over and over and over. Thanks!!!
@emptywheel.bsky.socialI'm not the boss! I agree. Trump apparently is, though.
@emptywheel.bsky.socialMy big issue is do not disseminate his posts w/o VISUAL disruption (which can be as little as a line across it). Bc that visuality, that spectacle, is a big part of how they work.
@emptywheel.bsky.socialI do? Weird. I think people who CHOOSE to do Trump's dirty work for them should be open for criticism. I get criticized for the way I post too. Why are people SO FUCKING DEFENSIVE when called out for serving as little postmasters for Trump's little packaged fascist spectacles?
@emptywheel.bsky.socialSorry. That started with a basic fact check. We're not allowed to fact check anymore? I am deeply hostile to people who aggressively deny basic facts. Trump, and anyone else.
@emptywheel.bsky.socialWow. Gamergate, the people who moved to politics in 2015 to 2016 and did precisely what I described? You got me.
@emptywheel.bsky.socialSpectacle is about making people numb as viewers--and it is about viewing, not reading. So the idea is just to make them work to read rather than view.
@emptywheel.bsky.socialBetween when Hearn was arrested and indicted I did a post about the entire month of Trump's tweets about the reflecting pool. Here's what I did. emptywheel.net/2026/06/21/t...
emptywheel.netThe Reflecting Pool Arrests Are an Attempt to Cover Up Trump's Corruption - emptywheelTrump is demanding arrests of people who witness the failure of his reflecting pool project. That distracts from the failure, sure, but it also covers up the corruption behind that failure.
@emptywheel.bsky.socialGreat!
@emptywheel.bsky.socialMy advice is 1) NEVER just RT a screen cap of Trump. Put a red line on it. Mark it up. Quote it. Summarize it. Don't just RT it, w/Trump's brand and lies. 2) That's it. That's all I'm asking. DO not send Trump's little bomb packages as he packages them up. Easy!