Seth Abramson

Seth Abramson @SethAbramson

@idahoamber @audreydutton This is my question as well, @audreydutton. No one is saying "all of Idaho is a GAR HQ." But why in the world would it be wrong to say (if one said it), "the GAR HQ is in Idaho"? It is. — PolitiTweet.org

Seth Abramson @SethAbramson

@Bonniea03981297 No. It was supposed to be "these." A typo. But thanks anyway. — PolitiTweet.org

Seth Abramson @SethAbramson

@Lorilust3 It has. There are some (distant) similarities between it and the state I live in. Both are beautiful but filled with complex, cantankerous people. — PolitiTweet.org

Seth Abramson @SethAbramson

@mummacity Very proud of the work I’ve done in the past—not sure why I wouldn’t stand by it by noting its existence. — PolitiTweet.org

Seth Abramson @SethAbramson

@gsgraf Yes—I’m referring to him. And I’ve no knowledge of him besides knowing he’s lied about me, my work, and my motivations repeatedly. Life is short—that’s enough for me to be done with someone. I don’t owe him any of my time when he’s given me none of his yet claims to have done so. — PolitiTweet.org

Seth Abramson @SethAbramson

@apoco__lips What "article" are you referring to? I know you’re not referring to a brief thread on Twitter that was just alerting folks to the GAR, so could you link to the article that you’ve (a) read, (b) deem wrong, and (c) have seen others respond to? Because I think there is no article. — PolitiTweet.org

Seth Abramson @SethAbramson

@JarodinNYC Maybe someday I will return to giving interviews, but not now. I know for certain my work has improved in quality as I have worried less about getting credit for it. (And as for gravitas, *that’s* the game I’m speaking of. Work isn’t judged on confirmable merit, but its source.) — PolitiTweet.org

Seth Abramson @SethAbramson

(PS) The one thing I don’t stand for—ever—is being misquoted. I said that *if* Trump runs and loses in 2024, I felt the chances of local (non-1860s-like) organized seditious violence in Idaho was about 1 in 3. Disagree with me if you like, but don’t misquote what I actually said. — PolitiTweet.org

Seth Abramson @SethAbramson

(PS) The one thing I don’t stand for—ever—is being misquoting. I said that *if* Trump runs and loses in 2024, I felt the chances of local—non-1860s-like—organized seditious violence in Idaho was about 1 in 3. Disagree with me if you like, but do not misquote what I actually said. — PolitiTweet.org

Seth Abramson @SethAbramson

In my GAR thread, I explicitly advised readers to go read other work on the subject—most of it by Idaho journalists—and I *still* got a snarky response from Idaho journalists (even as many Idahoans came here to nod in agreement). So: go read those folks, too! Knowledge is power. — PolitiTweet.org

Seth Abramson @SethAbramson

I’m proud of my reports on Idaho. I stand behind all of the political journalism I’ve authored in the last decade. I continue to emphasize that those who claim to know me or what motivates me have not the *first idea* about who I am. That doesn’t mean folks shouldn’t read widely. — PolitiTweet.org

Seth Abramson @SethAbramson

I know I’m letting some folks down by not putting myself out there more. But I promise you that the emotional drain of trying to be someone I’m *not*—some guy whose face is ubiquitous and aims to be (as so many clearly do) a celebrity—harms my work to a degree that’s devastating. — PolitiTweet.org

Seth Abramson @SethAbramson

News-watchers can read my work or not; hypocritical journalists can attack me for writing for a subscription outlet when they themselves also do so; corporate media can—and do—steal my work without attribution, and it makes me angry but doesn’t convince me to go back to the game. — PolitiTweet.org

Seth Abramson @SethAbramson

So I now refuse to play the game—and make no mistake, I’ve seen far enough inside journalism over the last 28 years to *know* it a game—and focus instead on keeping my head down and doing the work instead of all the empty, sad, wheel-spinning game-playing. https://t.co/CqiKB4c4U3 — PolitiTweet.org

Seth Abramson @SethAbramson

Media is broken, and broken at the worst time: in the midst of a national emergency. I can write fully sourced, fully linked, 100% factual reports on Idaho until I’m blue in the face but that means nothing to journalists who just see me getting attention they want for themselves. — PolitiTweet.org

Seth Abramson @SethAbramson

I turn down—or frankly usually just ignore—all media requests because I learned in 2021 that the best thing I can do is *work*. Do journalism. Anything I do to try to get exposure in other outlets puts me into a rat race/high-school cafeteria food fight I want nothing to do with. — PolitiTweet.org

Seth Abramson @SethAbramson

Many of you have asked—publicly or privately—why I’m not on major media more. And the answer is because I started refusing all interview requests in mid-2021. I’ve turned down CBS News, the BBC, dozens of podcast requests, foreign media... honestly too many outlets to count, now. — PolitiTweet.org

Seth Abramson @SethAbramson

So it’s with this in mind that I’ll reveal something I’ve not talked about publicly until now, but am mentioning as a way of proving that my critiques of the media are earnest—and that I am putting my own ambition (such as it is) where my mouth is. I no longer give interviews. — PolitiTweet.org

Seth Abramson @SethAbramson

So instead of Idaho journalists saying, hey, there’s an insurrection going on and one of its hotbeds is our state and some leading Idaho Republicans were at the center of power pre-insurrection so it’d be good if everyone covered it, they’re sniping at me. https://t.co/JMRO69dLVG — PolitiTweet.org

Seth Abramson @SethAbramson

Today I had to block an eastern Washington alt-weekly creep who told his followers to block me, accusing a guy who spent his adult life—until 18 months ago; I’m 45, now—in underpaid public service... of being greed-motivated. Why? He’s angry I covered GAR. https://t.co/KIJyCE06dE — PolitiTweet.org

Seth Abramson @SethAbramson

By the same token, it’s an unambiguous good when a journalist who’s been in the field for 28 years and has a large audience writes over and over—as I have—about Idaho-J6 connections. But if that makes Idaho journos angry or envious, they’ll come after me. https://t.co/zWwGVKS8wM — PolitiTweet.org

Seth Abramson @SethAbramson

So for instance, I want to refer readers more often to the excellent work being done by Marcy Wheeler, but she has a batsh*t crazy anonymous co-blog-runner who lies about me melodramatically every chance he gets, so I am *emotionally* angry at her whole—actually pretty good—site. — PolitiTweet.org

Seth Abramson @SethAbramson

And this is why journalism sucks right now, in the main, and how I’m part of that, too. There are more journalists now than ever, which means an even more urgent quest for *readers*—not because journalists are venal, but because we think we do *good work* and want to see it read. — PolitiTweet.org

Seth Abramson @SethAbramson

So it’s in this context that Idaho journalists are airing petty grievances about not getting the respect they want (as though I, a New Hampshire journalist—so a smaller state/journalism corps—am accustomed to being taken super seriously) rather than applauding more GAR coverage. — PolitiTweet.org

Seth Abramson @SethAbramson

The Idaho legislature is about to fall to fascists. Some county governments have already fallen. Secession and annexation initiatives are on county ballots and have passed in some places. So maybe the problem isn’t me but that Idaho is *super* screwed up right now—dangerously so. — PolitiTweet.org

Seth Abramson @SethAbramson

I understand that saying people should leave Idaho is a *very* charged *opinion*—and it’s just that, an *opinion*. But I will also note the *fact* that sensible Idahoans—well meaning as they are—have *failed*, despite best efforts, to stop far-right government takeovers in Idaho. — PolitiTweet.org

Seth Abramson @SethAbramson

On the other side of the equation, I know more than there journalists do about Trump. I know more about January 6. And I know—and have published—more about the Idahoans involved in planning sessions for January 6. That said, *all* of us should write about *any* topic we want to. — PolitiTweet.org

Seth Abramson @SethAbramson

Idaho journalists know far more than I do about the GAR. Some of their work echoes those Idahoans who are as worried about (more) violence in Idaho as I am; some of their work echoes those who think all this is overblown and that the GAR crowd can be relatively easily managed. — PolitiTweet.org

Seth Abramson @SethAbramson

So let’s be clear: like many, I have seen the Scottish documentary on the GAR. I have read many reports on it. So yes, I know the story is one that goes back decades and decades. Just because I tweeted a thing doesn’t mean we need to have a stupid pissing contest. I mean *Jesus*. — PolitiTweet.org

Seth Abramson @SethAbramson

One of the reasons I hate journalism today is a sin I too have been guilty of—getting mad when someone with a larger audience writes on something I feel I know better than they do. While ordinary Idahoans are thrilled I wrote about the American Redoubt, Idaho journos are whining. — PolitiTweet.org