[davidw]

The 'media machines' are pretty much all owned by oligarch allies of the administration.

I agree about not getting too hand-wavy, but it's tough... the trajectory is pretty bad even if we're not all the way down it so far. Maybe it "only" ends up being like Turkey or Hungary or Russia rather than countries in 1930ies era Europe. Still pretty bad though.

[MangoToupe]

Again, I don't think this is as useful as you're implying (although I do agree in magnitude of severity). We aren't Turkey or Hungary or Russia, and the place we're going is uniquely American. Some people who read this and look around expecting to see Turkey or Hungary or Russia are going to conclude you're being unreasonable, and like it or not, they still have as much say as the rest of us and are worth trying to reach.

And yes, this does require we adjust our understanding of politics to disengage with many or most media sources. On the upside I suspect that one person making a concerted effort to reach out to those who see the world differently can have enormous impact. I myself have many friends who have voted differently than me, and effectively communicating my specific concerns with them is not as difficult as e.g. social media interactions might have you believe. It does, however, require meeting them where they are today.