That’s a pretty funny idea for a political cartoon - swing states in a trench coat trying to get into the democracy theater.

“It’s absolutely true that when you look at an individual campaign, it’s just as likely as not that it hasn’t had a huge amount of influence, which is why Russia just does it again and again, or in a different form, or targeting a different group,” the Digital Forensic Research Lab’s Carvin said. “It’s almost like producing cheaply manufactured goods and just getting it out there in the world, hoping that maybe one particular gadget ends up becoming the popular toy of the season, even if the others completely fail.”

Many researchers who study disinformation warn against seeing the hand of Russia as an all-powerful puppeteer, especially since so much of what its mouthpieces amplify is homegrown.

I think we’re severely underestimating the damage and impact of Russian influence, just as we’ve spent decades underestimating the damage and impact of Fox News propaganda.

Amplifying something “home grown” rather than creating a narrative whole-cloth doesn’t make it any less impactful. On a scale of 1-100, turning a fringe party from a volume level of 0.1 to 10 makes it seem like it is still low impact, but in fact it’s 100 times as impactful. It’s the difference between a fringe idea remaining fringe and it being accepted as a variation on “normal.”

That’s why thirty years ago, white supremacy was a fringe group that would be toxic to anyone even touched by it. Now, thanks to normalization by Trump and Fox News - and yes, Russia - there are open white supremacists (though they only occasionally say the quiet part loud) in Congress.

Russia is normalizing fringe right-wing, populist and totalitarian policies. I think they are not only having an impact, they are winning in recent elections. Yes, proving it is difficult, and that’s why no news source is ready to claim Russia caused it. But they are injecting poison into the veins of the world. You might say it’s “trace” amounts, but given a long enough timescale, it is going to be fatal.

I’m sorry, “before you blame this on republicans”? Republicans vote for Horrible Policy, pass it, but we should blame it on democrats for not …calling for a recorded vote? Yeesh.

Democrats didn’t have the votes. You don’t like this result, vote out republicans.

He has not been criminally charged, but Texas’ statute of limitations does not cover sexual offenses committed against a child.

Sounds like the pressure now should be on the local district attorneys that are failing to charge him for molesting a child.

What a strange and unexpected twist that Trump is taking a position that benefits Russia and undermines Western strategic interests. Huh. So unlike him.

Ha, thank you. I clicked through two of the links to get context and none of them defined “DRM” and was like “I guess…everyone else knows what this means?”

Oh, so it’s the “Stop making me start this war, U.S.!” autocratic abuse strategy.

Twelve nanoseconds after generating this image, the first AI suicide occurred.

Hi Ukraine, we understand you didn’t want to immediately surrender your lands and rights. That’s very difficult, we realize. To address your concerns, we’re now offering an installment plan.

Yes, that’s right. Not disputing that. Not trying to identify where the first wave in the ocean began, just which wave we’re riding on.

What is it about humans that makes us so gullible and susceptible to parasocial star worship, against clear self-interest?

I suppose it’s the P.T. Barnum quote - a timeless trait of humanity, and social media and the Internet has just made it more efficient for fewer narcissists to fool more people much more quickly. But these shareholders just voted to throw away their money and cheered when they won.

I just think of mentally ill persons who are a danger to themselves breaking free of restraints to stab themselves in the eye with a fork, and then celebrating.

Crisis on Infinite Earths

Right, I mean, I’m not saying it’s a new idea. Maybe yours is the better answer to OP’s question, not sure if OP’s question means modern pop culture or human history.

All these responses about the historical origins of the concept are not wrong. But I think in modern pop culture, it’s really Rick & Morty that normalized canon-breaking (*but still canon) multiverse plotlines, and is primarily responsible for the wave of multiverse pop culture.

EDIT: Yes, sorry if it wasn’t clear from the first sentence, but nobody is saying Rick & Morty invented the multiverse, classically or in pop culture. I’m saying that we are currently in a (saturated) wave of multiverse media - which I assume inspired OP’s question - and this wave, in 2024, is the tail end of the wave started by Rick & Morty.

It’s humorous (in a hopeless, resigned, utterly defeated nihilistic sort of way) how transparent the fascism has gotten. “Trump’s advisor recommends jack-booted thugs use legal pretext to punish political opponents without due process.”

At least give me some subtext to decode, don’t slap me in the face with it like a wet slice of bologna.

If he gets a huge fine, he will not pay.

Correction, *his supporters will pay.

So the prosecution of Trump is a political move, meant to create negative attention on Trump. And the prosecution of Hunter Biden is a political move, meant to draw attention away from Trump.

Ok.

Yeah, I’m sure Finamp and the rest of the Jellyfin options people are recommending do the trick for most people, but I’m really happy with PlexAmp.

It also has Chromecast capability and is to my knowledge the only self-hosted option that does so. Really handy for casting to speaker systems, though I’m guessing many people just use Bluetooth for most off-device playback.

That’s interesting - do you have an example of a model that was pulled off and made subscription-only? I saw this post and was like, “Civitai has this covered,” but seems like I’m wrong.

As roasts go, that’s kindergarten level ribbing.

I still can’t tell what’s more pathetic - that this was enough motivation to destroy America’s democracy, or that voters were so gullible that it worked.

The paper! Ah, classic! I thought it was pointing to the shadow under his hand and was confused. If only there was a little arrow underneath the big arrow to clarify.