My fear—at least, one of them—is that we’re sleepwalking toward a crisis with the 2024 election. Actually, make that plural, crises. We saw what Donald Trump did last time, falsely declaring victory, spreading the lie that the election was stolen from him, then trying to steal it through assorted (and indictment-worthy) schemes, and, inciting an insurrectionist riot. There could be reruns of any or all of that. And Republicans and conservatives are certainly cooking up plans to suppress votes and to skew the election by other means. But what I have in mind harkens back to the original plot that helped Trump reach the White House: information warfare mounted by an overseas adversary.

My spidey-sense was especially triggered this past week when I read an article by Uri Berliner, a senior business editor at NPR, slamming his employer for allegedly pushing liberal groupthink and driving away a chunk of its audience. The piece spurred a kerfuffle within the media world, and, in my view, misdiagnosed what ails public radio. But putting that aside, what surprised me was his complete misunderstanding of the Trump-Russia scandal of 2016. In citing examples of NPR’s supposed transgressions, Berliner presented its coverage of this issue as Exhibit A, claiming the outlet’s reporting on this front was shown to be a flop when special counsel Robert Mueller found no evidence of criminal collusion between Trump and Russia. This, Berliner says, shattered trust in NPR.

What’s alarming is that Berliner, who I don’t know but who I assume is a well-read and reasonably informed person, has so faulty an understanding of what’s often derided as “Russiagate” and has bought into Trump’s it-was-all-a-hoax line. Though there was often an overemphasis on the question of direct collusion, the heart of the matter was that Moscow attacked the election—with a covert hack-and-leak operation and a clandestine social media campaign—to undermine Hillary Clinton and boost Donald Trump. And that Trump and his campaign aided and abetted Vladimir Putin’s assault by falsely claiming it wasn’t happening. (I know, I know. I’ve explained this many times before.)

Russia did attack, and Trump did engage in a foul act of betrayal. But he and his henchmen have hid behind the collusion issue (and the controversy over the Steele dossier) to duck accountability for this unprecedented treachery. And they have created such a smokescreen that the Russian assault—a significant factor in Trump’s victory—is a barely remembered footnote to the 2016 election. By the way, the matter of collusion, as I noted recently, is not a dead horse. An exhaustive 2020 Senate intelligence committee report on the Russian intervention disclosed that during the election Paul Manafort, a top Trump campaign aide, had indeed colluded with a Russian intelligence officer who might have been involved in the Russian hack-and-leak scheme.

Berliner is wrong. The big media fail—for NPR and others—was not that news outlets chased too hard after the Trump-Russia story and, thus, alienated Trump-ish Americans. It was that they allowed Trump’s no-collusion/no-story hoax to shape the narrative and lost sight of Putin’s act of war and Trump’s treasonous actions. His article is an unintended reminder that the political-media world has forgotten that Russia succeeded in covertly influencing the 2016 election.

The Kremlin tried again in 2020, with its disinformation agents spreading conspiracy theories about Joe Biden, his son Hunter, and Ukraine. Even Trump’s own administration noted that Ukrainians, who were slipping baseless dirt on Biden to Trump, via Rudy Giuliani and other Trump minions, were operatives for Russia. (I have written extensively about this, too.) Moscow’s goal, once again, was to tarnish the Democratic nominee and assist Trump. Yet this proven fact has not become a widely recognized component of the 2020 election story. And that has allowed House Republicans to recycle this same disinformation as part of their absurd crusade to impeach Biden and not be widely imputed as the Kremlin’s useful idiots.

Russia attacked in 2016. It tried again in 2020. Isn’t it evident Putin—who is one for two—will take another stab at this in 2024? Especially now that much more is at stake. This election will likely determine whether the United States continues supporting Ukraine’s fight against Russia’s brutal and illegal invasion. With Trump and other Republicans opposing such assistance, how could Putin not try once more to give him a secret boost?

There has been some coverage recently of current Russian disinformation operations. Last month, the New York Times reported that Russian cyber operatives have set up a series of fake news sites with legitimate-sounding names, including the D.C. Weekly, the New York News Daily, the Chicago Chronicle, and the Miami Chronicle. These phony outfits post stories about current events, crime, politics, and culture—which could well be accurate—but include Kremlin propaganda in the mix. One example: The D.C. Weekly published the false account that the wife of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky purchased more than $1.1 million worth of jewelry at the Cartier store during his September visit to the United Nations. The Times noted, “While Russia has long sought ways to influence public discourse in the United States, the fake news organizations—at least five, so far—represent a technological leap in its efforts to find new platforms to dupe unsuspecting American readers. The sites, the researchers and officials said, could well be the foundations of an online network primed to surface disinformation ahead of the American presidential election in November.”

This week, the Washington Post reported that it had obtained a treasure trove of Kremlin documents that outline how “Kremlin-linked political strategists and trolls have written thousands of fabricated news articles, social media posts and comments that promote American isolationism, stir fear over the United States’ border security and attempt to amplify US economic and racial tensions.” A top priority for this endeavor has been to bolster opposition in the United States to funding for Ukraine. In one case, a troll wrote a social media post in the name of a fictitious American decrying spending money on Ukraine instead of securing the US-Mexico border. The newspaper observed, “The campaign is part of an increasingly sophisticated strategy that has built on nearly 10 years of Kremlin efforts to elevate the voices of populist anti-establishment politicians opposed to the US global role.”

The Kremlin’s campaign seems to be working. On CNN last Sunday, Rep. Michael R. Turner (R-Ohio), the chair of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said it was “absolutely true” that GOP members of Congress have been repeating Russian propaganda related to the invasion of Ukraine: “We see directly coming from Russia attempts to mask communications that are anti-Ukraine and pro-Russia messages—some of which we even hear being uttered on the House floor.” This was quite the charge: A top House Republican stating his fellow House Republicans had become Putin dupes.

A few days ago, when I ran into a former top US government official and Russia expert, I said, “I’d like to come to talk to you about how Russian disinformation might affect the 2024 election.” This person shot back, “It’s already happening.” We made arrangements to get together.

As the former government official noted, sophisticated Russian disinformation operations are underway. They may be mostly focused on Ukraine—for now. But they certainly can pivot directly toward the 2024 election at any time. Moscow will have many targets of opportunities. Its cyber-ops can once again try to smear Joe Biden. They can also attempt to exploit the third-party candidates (Robert Kennedy Jr., Cornel West, and Jill Stein) to divert votes from Biden. (I recently wrote about that here.) You’ve already heard about how deep fakes and AI can screw up the election. I could invite you over for a beer, and we could spend hours cooking up nightmare scenarios.

It's one thing to knowingly face a fusillade of falsehood; it’s another to be caught off-guard. Returning to the fear I expressed, I worry that no one is preparing the voting public for what may be coming. Perhaps the Biden administration is looking for ways to defeat the disinformers of the Kremlin in the shadow spaces of cyber-land, though Republicans and conservatives have attempted to stop federal officials from working with social media companies to combat false and dangerous information online. (A lawsuit on that matter is pending before the Supreme Court.) Republicans have also been thwarting efforts by think tanks, private companies, and academics to identify and counter disinformation. They are, in effect, intervening on behalf of the Russians and other bad actors.

No one is loudly sounding alarm. Not the White House. Not members of Congress. Not the media. Several outlets have done great reporting on this front—see the stories cited above—but Russian interference has not been cast and highlighted as one of the dangers and dominant themes of 2024. Russia mucked with the previous two presidential elections, and yet, the prospect of a repeat performance has not entered the national conversation in a meaningful way. Naturally, Republicans don’t want to discuss this. They have been the beneficiary of Putin’s dirty work, and Trump does not want to remind anyone that he landed in the White House with secret Russian assistance. That leaves it to the Biden administration and Democrats to inform the voters. Unfortunately, that means any warnings that occur inevitably will be cast as partisan. But there’s no choice. The Russians are coming to attack American democracy, and, once again, they have allies (witting ones or not) in the GOP. And  we are not ready.

Got anything to say about this item—or anything else? Email me at ourland@motherjones.com.

I hope you all saved the date. This coming Wednesday at 8:00 p.m. ET, premium subscribers of Our Land will once again gather via the miracle of Zoom to chat, vent, and solve the world’s problems. These BYOB sessions have been great fun. But here’s the catch: They are only open to premium subscribers—those Our Landers who toss us a few dollars a month, which allows us to keep on the lights and produce this newsletter for one and all. Premium supporters also receive the full version of the newsletter with extra content that includes Dumbass Comment of the Week, the Mailbag, medium-deep dives into assorted cultural matters (films, books, TV shows, music and more), and the widely acclaimed MoxieCam™. As I’ve pestered you before, we sure could use more folks to sign up for the full shebang. Even if you don’t want to read all that additional content, this is how you can help this enterprise stay afloat. So once again, I say…please. (Click here to do so.)

As for the upcoming shindig, on the big day, premium subscribers will receive an email invitation with a Zoom link. Click on that and our well-trained Our Land bouncers will let you into the Our Land saloon. Looking forward to seeing you then.

Did you enjoy the solar eclipse? Such celestial events evidently can drive people to lunacy. On Fox, pundits depicted the eclipse as a dreadful event that would cast darkness upon the US-Mexico border for four minutes and provide an opportunity for migrants seeking to enter the United States. It seems that they had not heard of this thing called…night, which occurs every day and makes it tough for border law enforcement officers to see people sneaking into the country.

Not surprisingly, Georgia’s Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene was among the lunatics. She tweeted, “God is sending America strong signs to tell us to repent. Earthquakes and eclipses and many more things to come. I pray that our country listens.”

As the rest of us know, the arrival of the eclipse was calculated many years ago. Which means it’s highly unlikely God planned it to coincide with any particularly sinful activity in the United States. As for earthquakes, according to a list of the bigger ones, there were six during Donald Trump’s last year in office but only one each in 2021 and 2022. What does that signal?

The Arizona Supreme Court’s decision reinstating an 1864 law banning all abortions except for those performed to save a mother’s life prompted a tsunami of idiocy. Mark Simone, a conservative radio host offered one of the dumber reactions: “If you had to travel to another state to get an abortion, it’s not the worst thing in the world. Hopefully this is very rare occurrence in your life… Buying a bus ticket to go somewhere to get it is not the worst thing in the world.”

Yeah, it’s like a field trip. Or a vacation. Just take time off work, find childcare (if you have a kid), and hop on a bus for 12 hours or longer (if you’re in the South) to get to a state that hasn’t crushed women’s freedom. And, oh yes, find a hotel for several days. It’s a real joy ride.

Right-wing talking head Michael Knowles, who pontificates on the Daily Wire platform founded by Ben Shapiro, offered this very hot take on surrogacy: “Every single adult involved in this should be imprisoned for life. That’s just the natural reaction one has to this grave, grave child abuse that our culture tolerates now and in fact celebrates... We want a culture and a political culture that is based on reason… This is gravely, gravely evil: everyone involved—the egg donor, the people purchasing the child, the people intentional depriving the child of a natural mother and father.”

With so many right-wing blabbers focused on the abortion ban, Knowles, at least, is making a name for himself with extremism in another lane.

For anyone who may still be wondering whether Geraldo Rivera is a narcissist, the veteran broadcaster sealed the deal. In a rather long tweet, he explained that he is no Larry David fan because once at a Martha’s Vineyard birthday party held at the home of Alan Dershowitz, David “ostentatiously avoided even looking in my direction.” Rivera says this was because he was then a pro-Trump commentator on Fox. He added, “Now, every time I see Larry being rude, crude and intolerant on television, I say that’s him, that really is Larry David, and he’s not acting.”

For Rivera, it’s all about Rivera.

Republican billionaire and nepo-baby Woody Johnson, the Johnson & Johnson heir who owns the New York Jets and who served as Trump’s ambassador to the United Kingdom, wants you to know something about his good pal Donald: “He is extremely compassionate. People don’t know that. He’s extremely funny. People are starting to appreciate his sense of humor.”

Compassionate and funny? Two words that do don’t usually come to mind about Trump. He was just so compassionate on 1/6 when his brownshirts were beating the crap out of law enforcement officers and he did nothing but watch it on TV. And that whole riot—and his Big Lie crusade—that was really, really funny. What a sense of humor this guy has. Too bad, according to Johnson, only now—nine years after Trump entered politics—are voters finally seeing the zany and caring sides of Trump.

It’s amazing how the prospect of more tax cuts can make a billionaire go weak in the knees for a mean-spirited, narcissistic, hate-spewing, racist autocrat-wannabe. So Johnson gets the DCoT trophy. If he’s not available to accept it, maybe he can send Aaron Rodgers.

In a recent issue, I looked at what one House Democrat told me was the “best political video” of 2024 so far. Alas, there was a glitch with the link. So here it is again: 

And one reader pointed to this powerful ad released by the Biden-Harris reelection campaign:

That ad came out before the recent Arizona Supreme Court decision resurrecting an 1864 law banning nearly all abortions. That decision has sparked further outrage over the GOP war on women’s freedom and, no doubt, will lead to other ads highlighting Republican efforts to force women to give birth.  

And right after I wrote that above paragraph, I received a press release announcing that the Biden campaign would be spending at least $1 million to run a new ad in Arizona:

Readers often send in outside-the-box proposals and ideas. Libby McIntosh Greene had a doozy:

I have what I think would be a solution to Trump’s legal push-it-to-the limits strategy. If Trump can't restrain himself, why can't the judge order a full psychological examination to a court-appointed doctor? Don't judges do this all the time? I think it might work. I tried to call MSNBC but could not get a way to leave a message. I know you will know who to share this with. 

I’m not sure this is done all the time, and my uninformed assumption is that a judge will only take such a step in extreme cases to determine whether a criminal defendant is fit to stand trial and can understand the consequences of their actions—and to determine whether he or she is likely to pose a danger to themselves or others. I think Trump is sane enough for a trial.

Paula Jennings emailed:

Why don't we hear more about Vice President Kamala Harris and her capabilities. This first female VP is very qualified to be president if the situation arises. Everyone is worried about President Biden being old. But if he isn't able to complete his term for any reason, isn't she a capable replacement? Why doesn't the media cover what she is doing and involved in? Shouldn't the Biden administration be promoting her behind the scenes because of this? 

As I’ve previously noted, I’ve been surprised that the politerati hold her in such low regard and that the Biden White House has not deployed her more effectively. She has been a forceful advocate for reproductive rights, and she’s already doing more of that. It’s hard to avoid the obvious: She is partly a victim of misogynoire. I wrote about all of this recently here.

Greg Watson reacted to the previous Dumbass Comment of the Week contest, which was won by Dawn Staley, the coach of the University of South Carolina women’s basketball team, who after a victory credited God and declared that if you don’t believe in God “there’s something wrong with you.”

It seems that the targeting of the World Central Kitchen workers truly juxtaposes the comments made by the University of South Carolina coach. Guess God was too busy making sure her team won the game to pay attention to Gaza, or any other suffering on the planet. And just to share this as an Oregon resident: The coach of the Oregon State team [which was defeated by Staley’s squad] had been giving statements to the local press that he has seen his team excel due to believing in each other and a lack of selfishness. He has said that they are a model of how everything should work. The team had more success than expected and had no one star that was responsible for getting the team that far in the playoffs. Just a different kind of message to his players and the rest of the world.

Betsy Karasik enjoyed the primer I recently offered on Trump’s porn-star/hush-money case:

Great job breaking this down David! I've always felt this case had legs because the basic elements seem so intuitively obvious, and I am glad to read in your analysis that the evidence is coming from multiple sources other than Michael Cohen. Also, as a collector of aptonyms, I love that one of the key players is named "Pecker.” I really hope the jury does its job and sees through the defense tactics. The other big question is even if Trump were convicted on multiple felony counts, what effect would this have on his campaign?

I have given up making predictions. If Trump is convicted, there will be a sentencing. Will the judge give him time in the slammer? I have no idea. But I assume there will be an appeal that could kick the case past Election Day. A conviction would be historic. But impactful? Once upon a time we could say that such a development would sink a presidential campaign. In the Trump era, we’ve blown past such basic standards.

“I have no interest in looking at the eclipse.”
“Moxie, I don’t want you to glance at it by mistake and harm your retinas.”
“You’re just looking for cheap content for your newsletter.”
“That’s not true.”
“I can’t see anything with these glasses on. Promise me you’re not taking a photo.”
“Uh… Gimme a sec… Then we can look for the ball.”

April 9, 2024: A special Our Land report: Everything you wanted to know about Trump’s porn-star-hush-noney case; and more.

April 6, 2024: The best political video of 2024 (so far); the tragedy and absurdity of the World Central Kitchen bombing in Gaza; Dumbass Comment of the Week (Dawn Staley): the Mailbag; MoxieCam™; and more. 

April 2, 2024: Trump Bibles and other stunts—the absurdity of now; The Freaks Who Came Out to Write joyously chronicles the Village Voice; Lost Ox’s “Ripsaw Review”; and more.

March 30, 2024: Accountability time for Trump’s henchmen; Dumbass Comment of the Week (Robert Kennedy Jr. and Nicole Shanahan); the Mailbag; MoxieCam™; and more.

March 26, 2024: Donald Trump and the United States of Amnesia; No Labels, RIP?; Bad River’s inspiring ride; “Tennessee Rise” lifts up a Senate campaign; and more.

March 23, 2024: Trump Normalization Syndrome—a threat to the USA; the most important 1 percent in 2024; Dumbass Comment of the Week (Ari Fleischer); the Mailbag; MoxieCam™; and more. 

March 19, 2024: It’s time to start worrying about Christian nationalism; Constellation is lost in space…and time; the wonderful musical party Karl Wallinger left behind; and more.

March 16, 2024: Time to unleash Kamala Harris to trigger Trump; Our Land needs you; Dumbass Comment of the Week (Dwight D. Opperman Foundation); the Mailbag; MoxieCam™; and more.

March 12, 2024: Jared Kushner and the award that’s not good for the Jews; old cops versus new cops in Criminal Record; James Grady delivers a different mystery with The Smoke in Your Eyes; and more.

March 9, 2024: Trump’s back on top, and this is not fine; Dumbass Comment of the Week (Mark Robinson); the Mailbag; MoxieCam™; and more.

March 5, 2024: The threat to democracy from white rural rage; the common flaw of Maestro and Napoleon; Tierney Sutton’s jazzy take on the racial wealth gap; and more.