Rest in peace, Sinéad O’Connor. In 1990, she refused to appear on Saturday Night Live because the program was hosted by misogynist creep Andrew Dice Clay, who was inexplicably popular at the time. In 1992, O’Connor did appear on SNL, and this happened:
Damn if she wasn’t right again. She was a troubled soul and also a brave truthteller. There may be a connection between those two things.
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In other news, Mitch McConnell appeared to stroke out mid-lie during a press briefing. I know that’s a mean thing to say — we are all fragile creatures — but also, fuck Mitch McConnell.
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Lastly, remember when the Ron DeSantis campaign amplified a weird incel-themed video that caused enormous controversy and then the campaign got busted for passing it off as the work of fan boys when it was actually produced in-house? They did it again, only this time the video was Nazi-themed and a DeSantis speechwriter, Nate Hochman, was fired (or laid off due to the cash crunch — unclear).
Josh Marshall points out that such weirdos aren’t a DeSantis campaign aberration. Similar dudes staff sitting US House reps and are all over mainstream wingnut outlets:
This spring, TPM’s Hunter Walker brought us the story of George Santos consigliere Vish Burra. Then there were the staffer and intern from the office of Rep. Paul Gosar. There are numerous other examples we’ve seen over the last couple years. There’s some variety in the general profile. But some basic commonalities show through. The first is that most are quite young — like mid-20s or younger. At 32, Burra is a relative elder statesman. Their digital histories also run the gamut from willfully offensive to explicitly neo-Nazi. The common thread, however, is a political awakening in the toxic world of far-right message boards and social media “edgelords.” That’s the language and visual idiom of these DeSantis videos. If you’re not familiar with it it can just seem bizarre. If you are familiar with it it still seems bizarre but the meaning is more clear and because of that understanding usually a lot more disturbing.
They’re also getting jobs and sinecures in what now counts as the GOP mainstream. (DeSantis-aligned influencer Pedro) Gonzalez’s LinkedIn biography lists bylines and jobs at various right wing publications, including Chronicles and its parent organization, The Charlemagne Institute, internships at the Claremont Institute and membership at the increasingly right wing New York Young Republican Club, where Burra was executive secretary before getting his gig with George Santos. Hochman was a staff writer at The National Review before taking his job with the DeSantis campaign. In the summer of 2021 he was an intern at Claremont’s house publication, The American Mind. He even got a lengthy think piece about the future of conservatism published in The New York Times.
Great job, everybody.
Open thread.