The “I was a leftist but the woke mob made me conservative” is a solid grift. I’ve never been able to figure out if it can work in reverse. I suspect not.
The "Lincoln Project" made many, many millions for its creators. I gather this election, they went for the kill, and took in tens of millions, spent about 10% of it, and kept the rest.
In the few cases it happens, the person is generally targeted by a much harsher mob than the woke mob. And there’s definitely no money in it so you’re right it doesn’t work as a grift.
Taibbi's "Griftopia" and "Insane Clown President" and his Rolling Stone columns were great, so sad to see him go down this path.
Have you read Naomi Klein's most recent book? "Doppelganger" has a fairly significant portion dedicated to what she calls "diagonal politics" to describe the post-left, or people who were vaguely anti-establishment and supported Bernie, only to become disillusioned with the Democratic Party and go full-blown right-wing. It's a pretty interesting dive into what you touch on in this piece.
A great read, I learned things, but a few glitches, imho:
- Elides the existence of his anti-trump book 'Insane Clown President'.
- I can find zero evidence that "I Can't Breathe" suffered any loss of sales; maybe Taibbi felt bad about having a reading cancelled, but it has huge reviews and recommendations.
- I, and many, saw Kathy Lally's NYT editorial (and Fred Hiatt letting her out of retirement to write it) as a right-wing attack on a left-wing book, Lally and Hiatt being among those that cheered as Russia was looted, while Taibbi criticized them all, in the 90s. Which maybe is why the book suffered few sales losses.
- You can't say Taibbi was cancelled by a 2017 book when "journalism's elite", at least, handed him an Izzy prize in 2020.
- Doesn't mention all the money. 400,000 substack subscribers, if paying at the usual 5%-10% level, are well over a million a year in cold profit. I think he's done writing mere books. And his substack work takes WAY less research. The money alone would explain a lot, again, imho.
The “I was a leftist but the woke mob made me conservative” is a solid grift. I’ve never been able to figure out if it can work in reverse. I suspect not.
The "Lincoln Project" made many, many millions for its creators. I gather this election, they went for the kill, and took in tens of millions, spent about 10% of it, and kept the rest.
In the few cases it happens, the person is generally targeted by a much harsher mob than the woke mob. And there’s definitely no money in it so you’re right it doesn’t work as a grift.
There goes my get rich quick scheme then.
Taibbi's "Griftopia" and "Insane Clown President" and his Rolling Stone columns were great, so sad to see him go down this path.
Have you read Naomi Klein's most recent book? "Doppelganger" has a fairly significant portion dedicated to what she calls "diagonal politics" to describe the post-left, or people who were vaguely anti-establishment and supported Bernie, only to become disillusioned with the Democratic Party and go full-blown right-wing. It's a pretty interesting dive into what you touch on in this piece.
That book has been on my radar, I'll definitely check it out
Trump has become a lifestyle brand for people who want to think of themselves as anti-establishment.
Great piece. Right on the money again.
Taibbi looks like the kind of guy who would jack off a horse.
Yes. He’s so clearly a product of private boarding school it’s kind of painful.
A great read, I learned things, but a few glitches, imho:
- Elides the existence of his anti-trump book 'Insane Clown President'.
- I can find zero evidence that "I Can't Breathe" suffered any loss of sales; maybe Taibbi felt bad about having a reading cancelled, but it has huge reviews and recommendations.
- I, and many, saw Kathy Lally's NYT editorial (and Fred Hiatt letting her out of retirement to write it) as a right-wing attack on a left-wing book, Lally and Hiatt being among those that cheered as Russia was looted, while Taibbi criticized them all, in the 90s. Which maybe is why the book suffered few sales losses.
- You can't say Taibbi was cancelled by a 2017 book when "journalism's elite", at least, handed him an Izzy prize in 2020.
- Doesn't mention all the money. 400,000 substack subscribers, if paying at the usual 5%-10% level, are well over a million a year in cold profit. I think he's done writing mere books. And his substack work takes WAY less research. The money alone would explain a lot, again, imho.
Very funny... all for money.... gotta be untouchables in the new caste system.
But really bottomfeeders.