If I knew you were coming, I’d have baked a cake

I’m here to help you prepare and make sense of MAGA 2.0

Hello readers, new and old! Since Election Day, I’ve had a surge of new subscribers, and I’m so happy you’re here. Each week, my goal is to keep you up to speed on all things MAGA, online toxicity, and related topics. I’ve been writing Ctrl Alt Right Delete (CARD) since November 2016, so I know the beat inside and out. Before that, I was a digital strategist for political campaigns and non-profits. This is a background that comes in handy, especially now that MAGA is back in power. I’m an activist, not a journalist. But each week, I strive to make this space as helpful as possible for readers, whether they work in progressive politics, media, academia, or are just concerned citizens trying to make sense of it all and figure out how to fight back.

Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve gone from thinking it was probably time to retire the newsletter to realizing how vital it will be over the next 4 years. I plan to increase the amount of content I write, at least through early next year. Paid subscribers will receive some of that content early, but nothing will be left behind a paywall. It is my firm belief that everyone should have access to the content. 

One of my immediate goals is to increase the number of paid subscribers. This allows me to spend more time working on the newsletter. Courier is an excellent publishing partner and offsets much of the cost. But not enough to pay the bills. If you’d like to support the newsletter and have the financial means, I’d appreciate a subscription. Paid members receive some content early, but the biggest benefit is that it helps keep the newsletter going and makes it free and accessible for everyone to read. An invaluable service for nearly 17,000 weekly readers.

OK, business done, let’s get to it. There’s a lot to talk about this week. Here’s what you need to know: 

Secretary Catturd 

The Trump transition team has been hard at work, announcing one bonkers appointment after another. The list seems designed to trigger the libs and expose any GOP electeds who might dare to oppose Trump. (Gaetz, in particular, since no one seems to like him.) None of the names surprise me for a couple of reasons. First, because no one qualified would actually take these jobs, even if they agree with Trump politically. Any competent nominee realizes what happened to the folks in the last Trump Administration and wants no part of that shitshow. Second, because Trump isn’t looking for competence, all he cares about is loyalty and keeping all the attention on him. 

For that reason, I’ve decided that I won’t obsess about individual appointments or let the news about them freak me out. They’re all there to enact Project 2025, and Trump will eventually humiliate and fire many of them anyway. Donald Trump doesn’t deserve my time and attention. I’ve resubscribed to WTF Just Happened Today to get a summary of the day’s news, including Trump appointments. Otherwise, I’m not going to follow closely, and if your job doesn’t require it I invite you to do the same.

#eXit: Nothing but blue skies do I see 

Since the day after the election, I’ve been astounded by the mass organic exodus from Twitter to Bluesky. Over the holiday weekend, especially, it seemed like everyone I knew was making the jump. Now, multiple organizations and media outlets are leaving Twitter for bluer skies, too. As someone involved in many failed tech accountability efforts, it felt satisfying to see so many people spontaneously decide they’d had enough and that there must be a better way. I’m a big fan of Bluesky, and seeing it hit 15 million users is incredible. 

Bluesky is built on a protocol that can outlive the company. It’s decentralized, offers users more control of our experience, and offers some of the best of what Twitter was while avoiding a lot of Twitter’s worst pieces. It’s on track to become a hub of organizing, helpful information, and collaboration. Plus, it’s a party. People are there to have a good time, build community, and block all the MAGA trolls upfront. I can’t remember when the Internet or an online community was this much fun. 

If you’re on Bluesky, or considering making the move, I’ve created a starter pack of relevant accounts to follow for CARD readers. 

Can we retire the phrase “We need a liberal Joe Rogan” and just support people doing the damn thing?

Most of the post-election discourse hasn’t been interesting to me. (Shocker, people believe Harris lost for the same reasons they would have said before the election. Myself included.) But the conversation around liberal media, creators, and whether the left needs our own Joe Rogan has been especially maddening. I have some thoughts.

Did I mention at the top of the post that I used to be a digital organizer for Democrats? Specifically, I’ve done a lot of online outreach to bloggers and influencers for candidates and organizations. So I can tell you from experience that this is a new version of the same conversation left-of-center folks have been having since 2004. 

It would be nice if the dam finally broke. We’ve never needed lefty media and creators more than we do now. Whereas the right built its own media ecosystem, the left has always relied on legacy media to get our message out. There are two rather obvious problems with this. First, legacy media has been decimated over the last decade and simply doesn’t have the reach it once did. Second, we’ve long known that the media landscape is asymmetric and that the Right-wing ecosystem influences legacy media coverage. The left has no apparatus to do the same.

I will certainly write more on this in the future, but here are three quick things we could do to change the dynamic:

1. Funders and investors should support lefty and partisan media. We need more media generally, so I’m all for any efforts to create more of it, especially local news. But we need media with a left-of-center bent to build our own ecosystem. That starts with money. A whole lot of it. as 

2. Support the people already doing the work. There are hundreds of lefty content creators and emerging outlets already out there working and starting to break through. Yes, there’s room to create new things, but you could start by simply giving the people who already have audiences the money they need to keep creating and growing larger platforms. And if you aren’t going to support them, at least stop asking them to do work for free. 

3. Get over ourselves and legitimize lefty media. It’s not enough to pay folks and then give them talking points or messaging. Our electeds and influential elites need to collaborate with this new ecosystem. YouTuber Brian Tyler Cohen addressed this point perfectly, saying, “Republicans have a rightwing media ecosystem that repeats GOP talking points over and over, ad nauseam, until they’re seared into your cerebral cortexes. Not only is there no equivalent on the left, but plenty of D politicians still refuse to bolster independent progressive creators. They still give all juicy interviews to MSM, still break news on MSM, still pretend MSM is on our “team.” They’re not, and in fact, bend over backward NOT to be viewed as the liberal media. Dem politicians could benefit from validating the very progressive outlets that are actually doing the work to support them.” 

Remember, it was Mother Jones, a liberal media outlet, that broke the biggest story of the 2012 campaign: Mitt Romney’s 47% video. Once the story was out, every legacy media outlet covered it. Imagine a world with multiple left-leaning media outlets and creators with the resources and ability to do that. 

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ICYMI

The Onion Wins Alex Jones' Infowars in Bankruptcy Auction (NBC News)

I love everything about this, especially since the Onion’s CEO Ben Collins, is a former disinformation reporter who covered Jones and the damage he’s done to the Sandy Hook families for years. I can’t think of a better Steward for the Infowars brand. 

Democratic Governors Form Coalition to Fight 'Increasing Threats of Autocracy' (Common Dreams)

An interesting follow-up to last week’s newsletter about how Democratic governors in Blue States are organizing to handle the incoming Administration. Sadly I couldn’t find a list of which governors are and aren’t involved. But worth keeping an eye on.

Authoritarians Want You To Quit (Arc Digital)

I’ve come back to this one again and again this week because I really needed it. The whole thing is worth a read but here’s some flavor: “No one should make it easy for the government to do awful things. The state is strong, and if they really force you, so be it. But their time and resources are finite, and they’re not the most competent people. Their strength is stubborn relentlessness and lack of shame, not competent execution. Make them work for it.”

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Coda

Thank you for being a reader and supporting Ctrl Alt-Right Delete. Whether you’ve been here from the start or this is your first newsletter, I’m thrilled to have you as part of our community. If you have feedback or questions, reply directly to this email or leave a comment. I read everything you send and respond to most. Don’t be shy; some of my best newsletters over the years began with a good question from a reader.

That’s all for now. Please take care of yourselves and one another. We’ll talk again next Sunday.