this post was submitted on 02 May 2024
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A controversial bill that would require all new cars to be fitted with AM radios looks set to become a law in the near future. Yesterday, Senator Edward Markey (D-Mass) revealed that the "AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act" now has the support of 60 US Senators, as well as 246 co-sponsors in the House of Representatives, making its passage an almost sure thing. Should that happen, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration would be required to ensure that all new cars sold in the US had AM radios at no extra cost.

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[–] sp3tr4l@lemmy.zip 93 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (6 children)

I grew up with a dad who listened to Rush Limbaugh or some conservative jockey (Mike Savage was quite bonkers, still cannot believe he got hired by MSNBC for about 2 weeks before he said some insane racist shit and got canned) on AM anytime I was ever in the car with him.

He's now a QAnon nut.

I absolutely believe 25% of America listens to AM radio, all the christo fascists and qanoners and magatards on their 3 hour daily commute while they are angry that their kids or ex wives don't talk to them anymore.

[–] thegreekgeek@midwest.social 30 points 6 months ago

Oh fuck I forgot about that troglodyte. My parents were Limbaugh losers back in the day. Now they're anti-vaxxers.

[–] Izzgo@kbin.social 19 points 6 months ago (3 children)

He’s now a QAnon nut.

I was just thinking that I hadn't heard much about Qanon lately, that maybe it had been fading out. No?

[–] the_crotch@sh.itjust.works 10 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Coincidentally, Q posts dried up when John McAfee died. I wonder why that is

[–] ApostleO@startrek.website 6 points 6 months ago

I had never heard that before, and that now my truth. It makes so much sense.

[–] sp3tr4l@lemmy.zip 7 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Sadly, it has not so much died out as gone more underground, splintered, but still proliferates.

Take a gander at owen morgan's telltale youtube channel, he actually covers a good deal of this quite well.

He started off as an Ex JW going over online and real world cults, but as QAnon and Covid and MAGA and then Jan 6th all kind of morphed together, he finally dropped his 'avoid politics' stance as it was utterly impossible to cover anything related to QAnon without getting political.

Basically, 8kun, Truth Social and other less well known sort of youtube alternative sites and alternative social media sites have just become an alternative reality fantasy land for completely delusional conspiracy theorists and outright fascists and nazis.

Then youve also got a ton of shitty MAGA/QAnon flavored 'news' sites (think infowars and breitbart, there are many others) that post absolutely insane nonsense as real, or report on various things leaving out huge details, misrepresenting situations and such.

Their content is then watched and discussed and meme'd and spread on telegram group chats, facebook groups, an increasing number of either online or radio talk show hosts, and by a number of surprisingly popular evangelical preachers, many of whom have basically megachurches as well as their own video streams.

Thats the link that owen came across that kind of led him to be able to figure out how much of the QAnon related mis and disinfo network actually functions, when he discovered a bunch of, again, surprisingly popular evangelical and or charismatic preachers who have decided that basically they are prophets, God literally speaks through them, and Trump is actually the new annointed messiah who is God's chosen President.

They had made a bunch of prophecies about Trump winning 2020, so when he lost, they basically developed the idea that Trump is actually the President of God's annointing... as a cope for losing and being failed prophets.

But this idea has stuck, so now anyone opposing God's President is a demonic force of Satan, blah blah blah.

So... basically QAnon and its derivatives are still going quite strong, they have just largely abandoned platforms that most people know about, or are in largely private groups on more well known means of communications.

I remember seeing one video on one of these youtube alternatives that explained that nuclear weapons are actually fake, dont work, never have, and thus the end of ww2 and the entire cold war and modern day geopolitics are all an elaborate ruse orchestrated to keep us all compliant and afraid... blah blah blah, somehow, its always liberals, democrats, jews and socialists, or secret versions of those, that have been orchestrating a mass conspiracy for a hundred years or something.

We have also had a number of right wing mass shooters, guys that tried to kidnap the governor of Minnesota, and the person who immolated himself outside Trump's trial... all with QAnon related or derived beliefs.

We now also have certain preachers just outright calling for a christian nationalist government, and they all can be connected to this wider movement stemming from QAnon.

Just because Q has not posted in a while doesnt mean the movement that was sparked and coalesced by and around his garbage has died out.

[–] ShepherdPie@midwest.social 2 points 6 months ago

They just morphed into something else now that it doesn't have the pull it once did. These nutters are still around and still baking the same conspiracies just without Ron Watkins leaving secret messages pretending to be a government insider.

[–] TexasDrunk@lemmy.world 9 points 6 months ago

I had forgotten about Savage Nation until you mentioned that lunatic. He was crazy before crazy was cool.

[–] phoneymouse@lemmy.world 7 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Same, though my dad was liberal. He just kind of rage listened to these guys. Needless to say, I was young and impressionable and picked up some of their extreme views in my youth, but later got straightened out when I went to college. Fuck AM radio. It is responsible for radicalizing people who spend a lot of time in their vehicles. We should not require it in vehicles. I feel the damage done outweighs the potential benefits from emergency messaging. Everyone has a phone for that these days anyway.

[–] dream_weasel@sh.itjust.works 4 points 6 months ago

And now you've figured it out. This probably has nothing to do with emergency preparedness and everything to do with keeping a propaganda pipeline open. Maybe the D votes are secured by arguing about emergencies, but I just don't see it.

Recommend people get an AM radio for emergency use, but it doesn't need to be required for every vehicle.

[–] AtariDump@lemmy.world 2 points 6 months ago (1 children)
[–] sp3tr4l@lemmy.zip 7 points 6 months ago (1 children)

I have seen the movie, and it is extremely hard for me to watch.

After years of debunking insane nonsense from my Dad, only for him to come up with some new insane thing, then declare he is done with politics, then mention off hand something he could only have possibly heard from some insane QAnon type nonsense, I finally realized he's an egomaniac incapable of being wrong, doing any self reflecting, who has no problem knowingly lying to those around him, about himself and those around him.

It was very hard for me to realize that though he says he loves me and has attempted to demonstrate this, interacting with him in any way other than coddling his feelings, entertaining his nonsense ... just results in him being classic narcissistic asshole.

Better off without him in my life. So, so much less stressful.

[–] AtariDump@lemmy.world 2 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Sorry for your loss (even if he’s not deceased, it’s like a part of you dies when something like this happens)

[–] sp3tr4l@lemmy.zip 3 points 6 months ago (1 children)

I appreciate your condolences.

There is unfortunately more to it than that... he's ruined my life more than once, subjected me to insane medical procedures and treatment multiple times as a child, and covered for other family members who have abused me and lied about me...

It took a near death experience for me to figure out that basically none of my family are good people, they'd all rather argue with me than listen or god forbid actually help me in anyway or make amends for the massive mental trauma, physical danger they've put me in, financial burdens I now have from going along with their plans or advice and then that all going to shit because none of them can plan anything or be any kind or reliable.

Oh well, I guess.

[–] AtariDump@lemmy.world 2 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Fuck, dude. Sorry to hear and glad you got out. Hopefully you’re doing well.

[–] sp3tr4l@lemmy.zip 2 points 6 months ago

I'm not, but I am slowly on the mend.