As I learn to read Zeynep Tufekci’s writing more critically, her strategies are becoming really obvious. Each essay offers a new way to avoid saying anything that could upset (this’ll sound fuzzy but I think it’s precise) authorities. Read this and ask yourself what does/n’t she say about Trump and his supporters? She barely mentions them, and when she does it’s only in the most roundabout way: “We have little reason to count on the authorities for leadership that has the precision and scale we need. The outgoing president has refused to concede the election and has launched a flurry of frivolous lawsuits to muddy the transition, thereby making the odds of an effective federal response over the next few months less likely.” Less likely is an awfully generous assessment. Tufekci’s a technically talented writer, so this kind of wordy euphemizing stands out. My guess is that she’s say that pushing people’s (read: right-wingers’) buttons doesn’t help to persuade them, which is true. The result: her essays give the powerful a pass and give the weak endless lectures about how “we” are failing.