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Nothing But Respect for Our President
We'd like to take this time to formally announce our wholehearted endorsement of this candidate.
02.18.2019
Colleen Hayes / HBO
The field of candidates for 2020 just got a little bit larger.
In honor of President's Day, Selina Mayer addressed the nation to announce her bid to occupy the Oval Office once again. She also used the moment of national attention to release a new trailer for the 7th and final season of Veep, demonstrating some very presidential multi-tasking skills.
Veep (2019) Final Season | Official Trailer | HBO youtu.be
We'd like to take this moment to announce our endorsement of this candidate. In fact, we will now acknowledge this woman, and this woman alone, as the leader of these United States. (Editor's note: we are referring to either Selina Mayer or Julia Louis-Dreyfus.)
Rebecca Linde is a writer and cultural critic in NYC. She tweets about pop culture and television @rklinde.
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Culture Feature
Let These Cats in Tuxedos Help You Decompress from How Terrible Everything Is Right Now
Cats in tuxedos are here to lend you their strength.
06.01.2020
Shutterstock
2020 is on fire.
From the COVID-19 pandemic to the racist police epidemic to freaking murder hornets, let's just throw 2020 out. Yes, the entire year.
<p>Look, you're probably very tired. Maybe you've been out on the streets protesting for your very right to live in a country that devalues your humanity. Or maybe you've been using your privilege to stand alongside those who don't enjoy the same benefits you do. Perhaps you've been tending to the immunocompromised people close to you, avoiding anywhere too public for fear of bringing the virus home. </p><p>Regardless, self-care is more important now, in times of intense strife, than ever before. So whoever you are and whatever you're dealing with, take a moment to absorb the big fuzz energy of cats wearing tuxedos.</p>
<p class=""><br/></p>
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Dunlop
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzM2NDUxNC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0OTExNzUyMX0.GgzjhrUTJn-wiW4VmI2RhI1jgd6VMMIE8dL0THWDlNc/img.jpg?width=980" id="d11eb" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="563c948ef5146ebc7d344de3d02a6b2c" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="Cat in tuxedo" />
Imgur
<p>Why cats in tuxedos? Because i's the least exhausting thing to think about right now. Like, look at this cat in a top hat. Who put him in that?</p>
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Culture News
What We Know About the "D.C. Blackout" So Far
In the wake of one of the most dramatic scenes of protest in American history, disinformation is blending with genuine fear
06.01.2020
Over the weekend, amid nationwide protests of police brutality sparked by the killing of George Floyd, demonstrators in D.C. clashed with secret service and police outside the White House.
It was a dramatic scene that involved fires being set in the basement of historic St. John church—among widespread arson—and the exterior White House lights being turned off as President Donald Trump was moved into lockdown in the the White House Bunker. But by Monday morning the real events had been swallowed up in the heightened narrative of the supposed D.C. blackout, which claimed that all communication from the area of the protests had been shut down since around 1:00 AM.
<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
<iframe width="100%" height="150" scrolling="no" class="rm-shortcode twitter-embed-1267291110197657600" id="twitter-embed-1267291110197657600" type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="/res/community/twitter_embed/?iframe_id=twitter-embed-1267291110197657600&created_ts=1590980720.0&screen_name=SamanthaJoRoth&text=The+nation%27s+capital+is+legitimately+on+fire+in+every+direction.+This+is+unreal.+https%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2FhXNJ0LticL&id=1267291110197657600&name=Samantha-Jo+Roth" frameborder="0" data-rm-shortcode-id="775ead0e6877d402d037dfb2b04f8aea"></iframe>
</p><p>Along with the phrase "where are the protesters?" the hashtag #DCBlackout started trending along with claims that Twitter was deleting pictures and videos a raging fire that dwarfed the real-life flames, black protesters being killed by police, and protesters on the White House steps—having breached the gates. If one were to believe the picture being painted, Twitter was cooperating with a massive governmental cover-up to conceal horrific events within the nation's capital. Mass arrests? Mass killing? Within the context of the apparent blackout, anything seemed possible.<br></p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-632"></div>
<!-- End Ezoic - undersecond12 - under_second_paragraph --></p><p><a href="https://dcist.com/story/20/06/01/during-d-c-protests-false-rumors-and-doctored-images-go-viral/" target="_blank">In reality however,</a> the enormous fire reaching nearly as high as the Washington Monument was just a still from ABC/Netflix's political thriller <em>Designated Survivor</em>, the images of people on the "White House" steps were actually <a href="https://www.boomlive.in/world/did-protesters-storm-the-white-house-a-fact-check-8324" target="_blank">from the Ohio Statehouse</a>, and the video of police pinning down and shooting a black man—while real—was from <a href="https://www.vox.com/2016/7/6/12105380/alton-sterling-police-shooting-baton-rouge-louisiana" target="_blank">the 2016 shooting of Alton Sterling</a> in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. And as for where the supposedly missing protesters had gone, many were no doubt arrested for breaking D.C.'s 11:00 PM curfew (adjusted to 7:00 for Monday night), others most likely went home to sleep. If they were genuinely missing, wouldn't we be hearing reports from friends and family, rather than speculation from distant strangers on the internet?</p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-632"></div>
<!-- End Ezoic - undersecond12 - under_second_paragraph --></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
<iframe width="100%" height="150" scrolling="no" class="rm-shortcode twitter-embed-1267435760296366081" id="twitter-embed-1267435760296366081" type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="/res/community/twitter_embed/?iframe_id=twitter-embed-1267435760296366081&created_ts=1591015207.0&screen_name=maustermuhle&text=Plenty+of+fake+images+of+D.C.+were+shared+yesterday%2C+including+this+screenshot+from+the+%22Designated+Survivor%22+TV+sh%E2%80%A6+https%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2FS3K7aizA0p&id=1267435760296366081&name=Martin+Austermuhle" frameborder="0" data-rm-shortcode-id="95ccaf7976a59323c7fcf914a486c4b0"></iframe>
</p><p>While there may have been some localized cell signal jamming, reporters and others remained in the area well past 1:00 and assert that nothing like the supposed blackout—nor the kind of violence that would necessitate such a cover up—took place.</p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-632"></div>
<!-- End Ezoic - undersecond12 - under_second_paragraph --></p><p>Clearly, whatever the source and whatever their motivation, there is a significant effort ongoing to sow disinformation and confusion. Adding to the chaos, when other Twitter users started working with the hashtag #DCSafe to counter the blackout narrative with real information, it was quickly co-opted and discredited with a copied and pasted script that was designed to make it look like #DCSafe was being spread by bots as part of the cover up. These tweets were then being deleted, either by the original posters—to magnify confusion—or possibly by Twitter to counter the disinformation campaign (or to help with the cover up, depending who you ask).<br></p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-632"></div>
<!-- End Ezoic - undersecond12 - under_second_paragraph --></p><p>In a moment of immense chaos and uncertainty there is so much room for bad actors to manipulate and amplify the fear that most of us are experiencing. If you're having trouble sleeping, and the flow of information seems to dry up, does your restless mind accept that people have gone home—that there are no major updates to share with you? Or do you hold onto your sense of anxiety until an unsettling hashtag endorses your fears and encourages you to ask "where are the protesters?"</p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-632"></div>
<!-- End Ezoic - undersecond12 - under_second_paragraph --></p><p>While it's important to keep an open mind—and it's by no means outside the realm of possibility that the federal government and/or D.C. police could target protesters to be silenced, arrested, even killed en masse, there is little evidence to suggest that anything like that has happened, and firsthand accounts from people who were present note that things quieted down sometime past 2:00 in the morning with no loss of cell service and no large-scale violence. While new information may reveal a kernel of truth to the blackout rumors, the vast majority seems to be connected to either deliberate deception or general confusion.</p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-632"></div>
<!-- End Ezoic - undersecond12 - under_second_paragraph --></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
<iframe width="100%" height="150" scrolling="no" class="rm-shortcode twitter-embed-1267456980483891200" id="twitter-embed-1267456980483891200" type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="/res/community/twitter_embed/?iframe_id=twitter-embed-1267456980483891200&created_ts=1591020267.0&screen_name=YourAnonCentral&text=Update%3A+The+bots+have+adjusted+their+misinformation+campaign+on+%23DCblackout+to+pretend+that+there+is+a+bot+campaign%E2%80%A6+https%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2FP4nDTvIrkG&id=1267456980483891200&name=Anonymous" frameborder="0" data-rm-shortcode-id="8402e18312106ca14e3bd91556229e14"></iframe>
</p><p>Unfortunately this kind of uncertainty will likely be par for the course in coming days and weeks. As frightening as it is, it's important to maintain a healthy level of skepticism. And while we may not be able to trust mainstream media outlets as much as we would like, we should certainly give them a little more credence than a stranger's Twitter with 14 followers.<br></p><h2></h2><p>With D.C.'s Democratic primary election taking place tomorrow, it's important not to spread unnecessary panic. Check back for updates as more information comes in. And if you were at the D.C. protests last night and have information, please reach out with what you know on <a href="https://twitter.com/Popdust" target="_blank">Twitter</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/popdust/" target="_blank">Facebook</a>, or through email.</p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-632"></div>
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