Re: <nettime> Leaders of the Capitol insurrection

[tbyfield <tbyfield@panix.com>]

On 27 Jan 2021, at 12:45, Brian Holmes wrote:

> I think sitting back and being cynical when a country is in danger of 
> being
> taken over by fascists is a mistake. This is going to happen to many
> countries. At some point, when the leisure collapses, you actually 
> have to
> take a side - compromising as that may be.

Thank you, yes. I really don't want nettime to become a vector for lazy 
conspiratorialism that bears out the horseshoe theory of politics

The reporter who broke the story about Tarrio is one of my best friends, 
and you can be sure he'd have NO patience for vague theories that the 
putsch was "really" a provocation or led by provocateurs or whatever. 
That's not to suggest that anyone has to blindly submit to the political 
beliefs of journalists, let alone at second hand. But if we're going to 
accept their work as true (and I don't see anyone here doubting the 
story), we should also consider that what they publish is just a subset 
of what they know — so we'd do well to take their wider views 
seriously. Especially since the alternative is a consumerist model of 
the news where we pick out details we like from stories we like, without 
few or no constraints, and jumble them together however we like with old 
resentments, narratives, and legends. Sound familiar?

Here's a useful exercise: when you read a story like the one about 
Tarrio, ask yourself: Would this reporter believe the putsch was steered 
or led by the FBI or some secretive police-type force? Probably not, 
right? Since being careful with the facts is the hallmark of good 
journalism. But if you'd answer the question YES, doesn't that seems a 
bit nostalgic, given that president was openly inciting insurrection for 
months?

Cheers,
Ted
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