IT CERTAINLY ISN’T THE PHONES OR THE GAMES OR THE VIDEOS: My sons are men of their time and use all of those, but are also voracious readers. Perhaps the assigned reading that is a punishment in itself full of woke pablum is part of it. It’s not the beginning:  How to Manufacture a Man Who Doesn’t Read. Or: it isn’t the phones.

THE BEST GUARD AGAINST LYNCHING IS EFFECTIVE AND IMPARTIAL ENFORCEMENT OF THE LAWS:  Lynching.

OPEN THREAD: Ring out the weekend.

INSTEAD, THEY WERE THINKING IN DECADES — AND THAT DECADE WAS THE PAUL EHRLICH 1970s:

A FOGGY DAY IN LONDONISTAN:

I ASSUME THEY’RE ALL FAKE UNTIL PROVEN TRUE:

NEW SPENCER PRATT VIDEO DROPS:

Steele’s Tweet continues, “That’s how the Left rules by fear while its politicians and elites pray the value of their million dollar homes doesn’t fall.”

I think that’s spot-on, but there’s an uncanny valley aspect to this AI video that may work against it. In the earlier videos by Pratt’s supporters, the use of AI didn’t matter, because they were depicting Karen Bass, Nithya Raman, and Gavin Newsom as amped-up cartoon supervillians, and Pratt as “Prattman,” here to rid Gotham City Los Angeles of its greediest and most venal criminals. Will AI, in its current form, still work as well depicting yoga moms who want to vote for Pratt?

Think of the ’84 Reagan campaign’s “Morning in America” ad:

We know everyone in it is an actor (Reagan’s former career), but by the time the above commercial came along, Americans had been going to the movies and watching TV for decades, and there’s enough “suspension of disbelief” to accept that we’re watching actors underscored by folksy music and warm cinematography to sell the message. “Morning in America” would feel like Soviet or North Korean propaganda if created using AI, and because of its use, I’m wondering if Pratt’s new ad is working against its message.

Earlier: Spencer Pratt Is Where It’s At.