The U.S. mainstream media failed us again once again, this time in the run-up to the midterm elections. They reported on how the polling averages were tainted by a host of GOP-friendly pollsters yet also straight reported on what those polling averages showed. The Fox News echo chamber ensnared the New York Times, Washington Post, MSNBC, & other mainstream media, including The Guardian (which is usually better than this), influencing them all to push the “red wave” narrative to (a) try to depress Democratic voter enthusiasm & (b) set up Republicans to once again deny any election results that did not hand them the win.

Barely noted in the coverage of how wrong the polling — which they knew was biased but were influenced by anyway — was is the fact that polling is mostly done via telephone & text. Who answers their phone when they don’t recognize the caller’s number or it comes from an “unidentified number?” Anyone under 30 you know? Under 40? Under 55? Hell, I only answer my phone when the caller shares my last name, & some people who share my last name are intentionally listed by first name only in my contacts! In other words, the people responding to those polls were hardly representative of the electorate.

It was a baffling display, not unlike all of the coverage of inflation & how that would drive voters to vote Republican even though (a) inflation is a global phenomenon right now, not a result of US government policy, (b) the economy almost invariably does better under Democratic presidents, & (c) a bigger driver of domestic inflation than putting money into the pockets of US consumers during a pandemic is the unchecked corporate greed of Big Oil/Corporate America.

Democracy was temporarily saved by those under 30s, some of whom perhaps realized that they’ll never ever ever be able to afford a home so they probably shouldn’t even be thinking about having kids. Democracy was temporarily saved by black women who turned out in force while 60% of white women voted for the racist liars & election deniers who want to take away their birth control & their bodily control. We still have a lot of work to do.

I know I’m supposed to be happy with the results because the incumbent party usually loses badly in the midterms & this time that did not happen, but I’m still disappointed that more Americans did not reject #ForcedBirth, #ElectionDenialism, #BenedictOrange, #BlatantRacism, #VoterSupression, & Hershel Fucking Walker. Walker hasn’t lived in Georgia for at least a decade, has history of domestic violence, is somehow an outspoken critic of absent black fathers despite having at least 3 children that he either is not in contact with or has not mentioned publicly, & is all for #ForcedBirth even though he’s paid to abort pregnancies for multiple girlfriends. For crying out loud, Georgia!

I know I’m burying the lede here, but it’s 11/11 which means it’s corduroy day. Bust out your cords & do what people who wear corduroy do.

Today during our marathon live-hosted 480 Minutes program which runs from 9am-5pm Eastern U.S. time we will debut tons of new music including songs by Big Joanie (London, England, @BigJoanie), Detroit Rebellion (Providence, RI, @DetroitRebellion), Horsegirl (Chicago, IL, @HorseGirlMusic), La Femme (Biarritz, France, @LaFemmeRessort), & TVAM (Manchester, England, @tvam) (videos below).

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Videos

“With inflation, the economy, & all that, if the GOP was still the milquetoast, bank board of directors types who at least pretend not to be racist & mostly talk about taxes & who to bomb next, they'd be in a better position this morning...but they're not. The modern GOP is more like if the Third Reich was a 2000s-era VH1 reality show, just a trashy terrifying train wreck of cartoon fascists pulling people's hair out & pooping on the floor.” -Trae Crowder, Liberal Redneck

480 Minutes / 2022 Episode 41/Overall Episode 808