Crash Course: Never enough Steve Bannon content!

[View this email in your browser]( Your daily update from [Salon](. Why are there so many ludicrous lies on social media? Frances Haugen used to work at Facebook's "civic integrity" division, where part of her responsibility was to limit the spread of conspiracy theories and damaging misinformation on the immense social media platform. But as [Haugen told "60 Minutes"]( this past weekend, she eventually concluded Facebook kinda liked that stuff. Why? Well, duh — it made the platform a ton of money. As [Salon's Amanda Marcotte]( puts it, "the company sought the appearance of taking the problem seriously while doing as little as possible to interrupt the flow of lies, conspiracy theories and right-wing propaganda. The reason, according to Haugen, is simple: Pure profit motive." Marcotte continues: "Haugen carefully documented all the ways Facebook demonstrated internally that they knew their platform was a conduit for right wing disinformation and ultimately did as little to stop it as they could get away with." This wasn't because Mark Zuckerberg is a secret fascist — that would be a conspiracy theory! — but because, as Haugen put it, "the incentives are misaligned" and because people "enjoy engaging with things that elicit an emotional reaction." Not a huge secret, right? Social media thrives on "ginning up outrage [over objectively stupid controversies]( as Marcotte puts it, but the objective stupidity is objectively a lot stupider on the right: "On any given day, [the Facebook Top 10 Twitter feed]( shows that the most popular Facebook posts of the day heavily favor right wing sites that are heavily committed to perpetuating right wing notions rooted in disinfo, such as anti-vaccine sentiment or claims that the 2020 election was illegitimate." But this isn't because conservative users are a bunch of innocent, susceptible dimwits. It's market demand at work — they consume garbage because they like it. (Caroline Brehman/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images) Joe Manchin vs. Pramila Jayapal: Who blinks first? It's a bit of a both-sides journalism joke to claim that "Democrats are in disarray" because they have legitimate internal disagreements — but this looks to be a crucial week for the Biden administration's big spending plan and the future of the narrow Democratic majority on Capitol Hill. As Salon's Igor Derysh wrote Monday, "Battle lines appear to be hardening between progressive and more centrist Democrats, with no clear resolution in sight." Progressive led by Bernie Sanders, who chairs the Senate Budget Committee, originally wanted a $6 trillion spending plan, before compromising with the White House on an omnibus budget bill at $3.5 trillion, meant to address crucial priorities like child care, universal pre-K and climate change initiatives. But Joe Manchin and the suddenly ubiquitous (and mysterious) Kyrsten Sinema appear unwilling to vote for anything that resembles a pre-neoliberal Democratic proposal, and want the whole package cut in half again. Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington, who chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus, isn't having any. Asked about Manchin's supposed compromise proposal of a $1.5 trillion bill, she called it "too small" and said simply, "That's not going to happen." The danger here is that right now ther aren't enough votes for anything — not for the separate $1 trillion infrastructure bill, and not for any version of the spending package. No Democrats want Biden's presidency to go down in flames, but neither Manchin nor Jayapal is the go-away-quietly type. (Photo illustration by Salon/Getty Images) - In an [exclusive op-ed for Salon]( Color of Change director Rashad Robinson asks whether Hurricane Ida has revealed that Black lives still don't matter quite enough. - Gary M. Kramer [interviews director Julia Ducournau]( whose "extraordinary" and "dangerous" new film "Titane," won the big prize at Cannes this year - Do hyper-individualistic societies (like, um, ours) [have an enormous disadvantage]( in responding to public health emergencies like the COVID pandemic? Look around and tell us what you think. - Are we literally [amusing ourselves to death]( while mostly ignoring the evidence that democracy is in a fatal tailspin? Wow, that's a lot of questions this morning. Not a subscriber yet? [Sign up]( to receive Crash Course. Wasn't one reminder that Steve Bannon exists quite enough? Apparently not. Salon contributor [Heather Digby Parton was paying attention]( over the weekend so you didn't have to, and she observes that the semi-disgraced former Trump strategist is preparing to play a key role in future Republican coup attempts: "You may recall that Bannon was [heavily involved]( in the Jan. 6 planning, urging Trump to 'kill the Biden presidency in its crib' and promising listeners of his wildly popular podcast the night before that 'all hell will break loose tomorrow. It's them against us. Who can impose their will on the other side?' "[ProPublica did extensive reporting]( last month showing that since then Bannon has been pushing a 'precinct strategy,' whereby MAGA followers take over the Republican apparatus at the precinct level, which in many states means they have influence over how elections are run, including the choice of poll workers and members of election boards. When Bannon announced this strategy, it 'rocketed across far-right media' and suddenly people who had never before been involved in politics were volunteering all over the country, in blue states as well as red states, cities and suburbs and rural areas alike." As Digby points out, this might all just be a case of blowhard being blowhard. But it's important to recognize that this stuff isn't confined to the unacceptable right-wing fringes anymore — because there's no longer any such thing. Um, great. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images) With friends like these, senator ... We can argue about whether it was the best possible form for protesters to follow Sen. Kyrsten Sinema into a bathroom on the Arizona State campus to yell at her. But you have to hope a member of the U.S. Senate has some big-person pants about stuff like that. [Who's coming to Sinema's defense]( Well among others, defrocked Trump strategist and professed "Leninist" Steve Bannon and noted almost-white supremacist and Trump speechwriter Stephen Miller, who have suggested the bathroom protester may have been an "illegal alien" who should be deported. Yeah, they seriously said that. Senator, we think the old saw about dogs and fleas may apply here. (Alex Wong/Getty Images) Have a tip for Salon? Feedback on this newsletter? [Let us know](mailto:brett.bachman@salon.com). [Share]( [Share]( [Tweet]( [Tweet]( [Forward]( [Forward]( Copyright © 2021 Salon.com, LLC, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in at Salon.com Our mailing address is: Salon.com, LLC 1000 N. West StreetWilmington, DE 19801 [Add us to your address book]( Want to change how you receive these emails? You can [update your preferences]( or [unsubscribe from this list](. [Mailchimp Email Marketing](