1819ing out there in front of folks

Mercy! Hoo boy! This podcast is a wild one. And that’s even by this bunch’s standard. Rumble embed to follow. Normally wouldn’t link to that platform but they were booted off YouTube, presumably for some of the bog-standard foolishness these characters routinely parroted out. Link here if that’s a site you won’t visit. Much here is silly. It’s dangerous even. My main thesis is that folks across Alabama need to pay attention to these types. I try to. Nobody pays me one thin dime for this. However, I’ve plenty to keep me busy. So this is a sacrifice.

Others are, I hope, paying attention. Some likely make a nice living doing so. They possibly get praised for putting together reports and such. Some notice, recognition, an invite … might be nice. I’m just saying. Either way, my hope is that discussions are happening about what the 1819ers are up to. I expect this group includes some of the Big Mules and others in the hegemony who are getting bashed, correctly at least up to a point or regarding some facets, in this 1819 podcast episode. I despise, loathe, resent … much about the hegemony in Alabama so they can basically pound sand. At the same time, I’m generally OK with doing some stuff that’d benefit them if it’d help the state as a whole. As I’ve offered before and will again, some of what 1819 does in punching up is a positive.

Any conundrums now placed aside, there’s enough kookery here that I wanted to fire off a quick post. It’s not polished. Rarely do I make much of an effort in that area. This one is rough as a cobb. Here’s the episode, with a ‘members-only’ section unavailable.

Anyone wanting to listen can start where they want. At the beginning (about 8ish minutes of blabbering before) might be best. Still, I wanted to note around 35:20 where the 1819’s leading man Bryan Dawson comes out of appropriately questioning, once again, at least up to a point, some of the cozy relationships and such with a certain media outlet and some hegemony members appearing at a function. He leads into the ‘shame and shield’ idea he’s discussed previously.

While Alabama Media Group will undeniably and appropriately do some stories or themes about where Alabama struggles, or our citizens might fall short in some areas. Dawson mentions listicle (not his word) type articles about Alabama being among the 5th unhappiest states. Might that be about cheap, quick content? Or about getting page hits or generating buzz? Seems to me he should consider capitalism as where to file his complaint. Something about how aldotcom is the Greta Thunberg of media outlets. Then how if we’d only accept Karl Marx into our heart and become a progressive like them then we’d be happy. Marxism ≠ progressivism hoss. The goose doesn’t even make marginal sense if you’re grading on a steep curve.

As to his shield theory, there’s something there. Quibbles here. Quibbles there. However, the saddest thing is how this idiot zealot, and that’s pretty much how I assess Dawson, breezes right past the extensive work people still at or previously associated with Alabama Media Group (or some of the other ‘leftist’ outlets) have done in getting after the Big Mules and other scoundrels in the hegemony. Dawson isn’t from here, so he might’ve missed For the Love of Alabama: Journalism by Ron Casey and Bailey Thomson or the solo pieces or books that many of us who’ve grown up here or been in the state for a while know.

However, there’s a ‘shield’ component too as to Alabama Media Group, Gannett, etc. Management, ownership, and multiple other filters or funnels help make this so. Read some old Herman and Chomsky on this. Lots of theory is out there if anyone needs me to point them there.

I’d also argue that as the news industry has been hollowed out and changed then things may have become even more perilous about punching up. I’ve surely been bitching for many, many moons about stuff that’s been left uncovered or less than adequately explored. Worst of all might be the glossed-over stuff where something gets spun. Explain away your many troubles. Name them one by one.

For the record, I’ve come to appreciate the difficulty in doing some of the legit work in running down sources and getting enough proof to move forward. I’m in awe of the work several of the serious journalists here in Alabama and beyond manage to get done. Just to write cogently is beyond me so …

Returning to this latest 1819 podcast, at 37:10ish he’s talking about how ‘the left’ has their outlet and then how the lobbyists have their outlet so that’s why 1819 has to exist. So ‘the people’ will have their outlet? So who funds 1819? Are the books open? If ‘the people’ are going to have an outlet, let folks see who is paying. Do something like what Alabama Reflector, which he didn’t mention and possibly never has, does in sharing funders over certain level. But again, if it’s Alabama Media Group, please recall that they are an Advance property. Yup, the Newhouse clan. Condé Nast, etc. Big shareholders in Charter, WBD, etc. Huge ‘leftists’ there.

Around 8:25ish Dawson talks of how they crashed some Yellowhammer Connection event. Credits someone else for idea of crashing. As an aside, he at some point cited Ann Coulter as a champion, even though he’s mad at her for referencing polling. Ann Coulter. Yuck. Then again, she’s about his speed. Bless his heart.

This belief that rigid abortion restrictions are a winner for the GOP is wrong. Bad wrong. That even if it’s not then that’s the right thing to do is fine to believe. Carry on. Seriously, carry on. I’m guessing these three are all true believers as to their abortion position. My guess, however, is that the vast majority of people/voters don’t want super tight restrictions early in a pregnancy and favor some flexibility under conditions where there’s a health problem, a rape, incest, etc. Those tough situations are best handled by the person who is pregnant and their doctor. In some instances, one or more family members, support staff, faith leaders, or … may get involved. What most people don’t seem to favor are a bunch of posturing politicians and true-believer ideologues creating where things currently stand.

I also think there’s polling or other research that’d support my belief. I won’t worry about rooting around for the same, however.

My prediction is that there’s going to be a continuing reckoning. I’m among those who long thought the Supremes and movement conservatism in general was strategic enough to know better than reversing Roe. The ‘pro-life’ movement was about keeping the groundlings geared up and laboring. It was among the most useful of motivators for a segment of the GOP base. Reversing Roe may be what allows a realignment of sorts. Hope springs eternal. Just sending the modern GOP out into the wilderness for a few cycles would be useful about getting that realignment going.

As to the DeSantis humping, and it got beyond creepy in some places, the guy won bigly this last time partly because the Florida Dem Party is jacked up. Not Alabama Dem Party jacked up. But still rather feckless. And ‘Old Pudding Fingers’ was running against tired old party-switching Charlie Crist. Long story. Gillum in 2018 made the race rather close, partly perhaps because he ran a somewhat leftish, bottom-up campaign. Again, long story. I hardly claim to know all that many details about Florida politics. Still, listening to these 1819ers do their ‘DeSantis does cosplay conservatism awesomely and wins more bigly thus …” level of analysis was rather painful.

Furthermore, listening to Dawson lament (12:15ish) how the GOP sucks at messaging and basically everything was equally wild. In my mind, it’s amazing they can so often win when the positions they generally embrace and defend are often unpopular. Part of that is due to some unique advantages in the US Senate and with aggressive gerrymandering adopted early on. A version of ‘brazening it out’ also applies when it comes to wielding power. He’d be risking an aneurysm if he aligned with the other team.

More humping was that ‘Raised on Rushdoony’ newbie carrying the PRICE Act. Yup, State Rep. Ernie Yarbrough got a shout out at 32:50ish. Also Ben Harrison (Former Crimestone County commissioner) and Susan DuBose (eastern fringe of Birmingham it seems, Leeds at top) praised. FWIW, Dubose is endorsed by the same Big Mules Dawson bashed. Seriously, scroll to the bottom of her campaign site. By the way, Dawson said at least once “We call them the Big Mules.” That’s been a label in use for decades. Maybe he’s just being general and I’m being persnickety?

Dawson made several mentions of ‘civil magistrates’ around 21:17ish and 21:50ish. Beats me if it’s some of that more orthodox Presbyterian theonomy stuff or Rushdoony reconstructionism hokum or … Needing Godly wives and forty years or something. Fusses about the Gospel Coalition and David French but brags on Mark Driscoll and Doug Wilson. For the record, I’m hardly a fan of the former. Don’t know enough really. As to Doug Wilson especially, he’s scary. Seems like Dawson had someone from New Saint Andrews College up there in Moscow, Idaho on previously. Might’ve been Wilson. Not going to waste time looking. Pretty sure he’s a big stan either way. Again, scary.

There’s a heap more I could point out. One enjoyable part was where they kept using ‘Banjo’ as to Speaker Ledbetter. Although they did credit Mike Cason for mentioning this in a piece he did, nobody else to my knowledge has followed up on that name or how he was there for the meeting at that swanky steakhouse mentioned in the Larry Householder trial. I’d been howling about that so …

I kept thinking about how several folks are spending decent money to have these three knuckleheads sit around and talk to each other about what basically other knuckleheads (mis)understand. The few places where they did get into stuff that’s worth mentioning might be worth suffering through the slop. I doubt it. And there’s a good likelihood more damage gets done by the garbage. Possibly not, however.

Even so, I absolutely LOVE these podcasts. That’s because regular folks can see some examples of how these type people ‘think’ and talk. Consider it a form of anthropological fieldwork. You get to observe them ‘in the wild’ where they’re letting their freak flags fly.

It’s sort of like when Brandon Moseley of then the Alabama Political Reporter would write about different ‘conservative’ meetings around Alabama he’d attend. He’d often just report out the crazy ass stuff being said. You’ll still get to see some of this type thing now I believe. Seems like Brandon is doing some stuff for the outlet the gal who worked for different Koch fronts owns. Lightened Lindy for a decent amount. Came out she’d supposedly taken some APCO money. Seems like she’s now doing NRA work. Figures.

I’d even consider donating to keep the 1819ers podcasting like this. They seem that valuable. To just donate so as to keep these knuckleheads talking like they just did so that at least some regular folks can hopefully grasp just how batshit crazy and stunningly stupid this bunch is about some stuff.

Those funding this foolishness seem even dumber. There’s most certainly a way to critique aspects of the selective shutdown or at least fix things going forward where it would seem more fair, more democratic, etc. You can pound away about plenty that the Big Mules and others in the hegemony get up to. There’s so much cronyism and corruption in this benighted state that you could keep a stable full of sharp young journalists busy. However, it sure does often look like 1819 is trying to ride too many horses.

The fundamentalism, reconstructionism, theonomy … or whatever the hell the religion stuff is about is especially going to turn some folks off. If anyone wants to do that ministry, go do that with a separate effort. Past alliances where some God Squad talk happened aren’t like the talk happening openly here. It’s gone past code words and such. Not even in Alabama is it going to fly. You can’t make alliances about the other stuff when you’re talking theonomy or dominionism or whatever this mess Dawson and others mixed up with 1819 get to going on about is.

I regularly advise nobody to get near anything that looks like a brown alliance. You don’t do business with the fash. You instead try to do them in. Destroy them. My general rule is that theonomy and dominionism or … is far too easily liable to morph into a form of fascism. For the record, faith is fine. Just don’t tell me/us we need to do stuff because your faith tradition says something. I’m increasingly returning to ideas generally associated with Christianity, stuff I was raised in up to a point. Coming to terms with the damage done by some fundamentalist, Dobsonite types in my youth has been a journey. Long, long story.

Dawson can get to going on about what he thinks his God wants. Same for that Mark Driscoll fellow what got run off from Mars or the Moscow, Idaho bunch. ABS or the LOCAL lady can talk all they want about what they think God demands or expects. Ernie Yarbrough’s daddy with his Rushdoony Reconstructionism project in Lawrence County is perfectly fine to follow if that’s your bag. Whatever gets you through the night. Find whatever gurus to read or listen to you want. Ideally, you’ll search broadly and go about the search with an open mind and heart.

Up to a point even, some talk about how we need to order society a certain way because of whatever faith tradition you follow is tolerable. The trouble is that you can real easily step over in what sure does come across like arrogance or imposition. There’s a balance maybe to executing such an effort. It’s like Dawson and most all of the 1819ers don’t even bother with any balance.

The 1819ers also seem to like bashing public schools in general. To get a lick in at the AEA might mean a bonus or something. Some of that might be habit for some of the older ones involved. It’d be interesting to see if there’s some money sloshing around as well here that’s motivating the same.

An emphasis on the woke woke is undoubtedly present. Part of that is presumably about generating page hits and delivering their ‘conservative’ audience the ‘conservative’ content they crave. Ginning up controversy and making mountains out of molehills is necessary for most any ‘conservative’ outlet now.

In case anyone is wondering and as an aside, I regularly put ‘conservative’ in quotes because most every ‘conservtive’ in Alabama isn’t much of a conservative. Many are Limbaughfied clowns. Some are nutters. I can write for pages on this. Talk on it too. Seriously, invite me to your Rotary Club or … to give the lunch program. I’ll honestly do my best to avoid having someone promising to whip my ass afterwards in the parking lot within 2ish minutes of starting the talk. Most of the time I can talk even the biggest hotheads down from wanting to rumble because I try to know my topic backwards and forwards.

Part of bashing the public schools and beating on the wokey woke intersects. Don’t doubt that there’s a concerted effort to emphasize every instance available when a teacher steps wrong or does something a motivated minion can twist into a manufactured outrage. To regularly rile up a segment of the population about trouble has been among the ‘conservative’ media’s main functions for decades. Coming out of the Covid period, the emphasis on education sure does seem to have been ratcheted up.

As always, far too much of the 1819 opinion content is ridiculous. It’s often poorly sourced and silly. But again, it’s content. And presumably some of their audience, funders possibly too, expect such slop.

That’s enough for this post. Far too much already. Wait, one more thing. What might regular folks decide to do as to 1819? I’ve told some folks who work for ghouls, just capitalists even, that you can take their shilling and grind away partly to survive. If you can do some good in the process, then that’s possibly the best you can do. You make the best out of a difficult situation. It’s usually fair or honorable. You keep the cause going as you can and try to accept that you have limits and can only do so much. Find peace in that, yet try to avoid settling or certainly selling out. If your organization or effort decides some of what some people involved with 1819 are up to has merit, some involvement might be workable in some narrow circumstances. ‘It depends.’

I might come back and rework some of this. Consider it a draft, I suppose. Drop comments in if so inclined. I’ll try to monitor and respond. Thanks for dropping by. john