Back in March, MS NOW reported about a paid, undisclosed influence campaign that called themselves Democracy Unmuted, that was attacking a portion of the Democratic umbrella — the progressive grassroots and DSA candidates. It didn’t wear a red hat or announce itself. Democracy Unmuted came in disguised as progressivism. Then did the opposite as it hid behind a website.
The man behind this smear campaign was Matt Anthes. Most haven’t heard of him unless you were paying deliberate attention to the Illinois 9th primary. Anthes is the founder of a digital marketing firm called Advocators and also co-founder of an agency called, Upstart Factory. Today, he is the Senior Vice President of the Hatcher Group. They’re a communications firm that says they’re here to advance progressive social change. It’s a damn lie.
But lets go back to March. Specifically, Kat Abughazaleh’s race in the Illinois 9th primary. Just as she was closing the gap between her and Daniel Biss, the establishment pick, a smear campaign and big outside money came out of nowhere, hitting from all directions, stuffing her candidacy to the back of the line, regardless of the fact that she was a favorite of the people. She lost by only 4 points to Biss. Coincidetally, an influencer by the name of “Amanda Informed” received an email from Matt Anthes in the final stretch of the race. He offered Amanda Informed $1500.00 if she would post one negative social media post regarding Kat to her 100,000 followers. The client group called itself “Democracy Unmuted.”
Amanda turned it down because the money “didn’t feel right coming from a source that wouldn’t say where it came from.” Not because it was the right thing to do, but because she didn’t trust the source. In other words, had it come from a reputable source, she would’ve snatched up that money in a heartbeat. Social media influencers are gross. They just need the right person and the correct dollar figure waived in their faces to move. When it comes to the influencer world, everybody has a price. They don’t give a shit that we’re LITERALLY fighting fascism right now.
Money rules their shallow world.
Not everyone said no though. “The Woke Ginger” who has a combined total of a million followers across Tiktok and Instagram, did the one posting, reciting the language Democracy Unmuted asked him to use, damn near verbatim. He later took the post down and apologized, but the damage had already been done. You can’t unring a bell once it’s been rung. What The Woke Ginger did was irresponsible and cruel and he can take his apology and shove it where the sun don’t shine for all I care. How many more “I’m sorry’s” do we eat before we finally walk away from these assholes?
When MSNOW confronted Anthes about the email, all of a sudden, Democracy Unmuted, muted. He refused to confirm who was behind the campaign, saying they were “individuals from the Illinois area who have served in the highest offices and been at the top of the game in media.” He also refused to disclose funding. Instead he fell back on the same old tired corporate operative that, “we don’t discuss our clients, and everything we do is fully FEC compliant.” What a dick.
I’m proud of Kat Abughazaleh for standing up for herself when the smear campaign launched against her. She didn’t back down. She insisted the information was defamatory and false and said voters deserved to know who was behind the smear campaign, who was funding it. But nobody answered for her. Yet, she stood proud and resilient like the badass she is. Matt Anthes is a social fraud. He built an entire public identity around being one of the good guys while being a colossal piece of fascist shit.
Democracy Unmuted was not the only one. The reason I bring them to the front of the classroom is because they are supposed to be one of us and they actively campaigned against the candidate that was the most relatable to the people, so the establishment could get their controllable donor dem in place instead. They’re snakes in the grass.
We complain about the Republicans all the time, proclaiming, “The leopards are eating their faces.” But who are we to be pointing fingers when our party is doing the exact same thing. We’re hypocrites. Democrats are supposed to be the party of empathy — the party of the people and over the decades, it’s turned into the party of greed and corporations. Kat Abughazaleh never should’ve lost. She was gaining steadily until our own party attacked her. The only reason why she lost is because AIPAC and corporation money swallowed her up, while Democracy Unmuted launched an influencer campaign against her in the final stretch, giving the ordinary people of Illinois a giant middle finger.
This rot in the Democratic party is why I left the party and why many others are leaving the establishment as well. It’s why we’ve collectively decided to throw all of our support into the progressive movement. It’s why we speak out against the machine politicians because they no longer represent ordinary people. They represent their donors now and are no different than Republicans. DSA and grassroots candidates are working class people working for the people. They don’t accept PAC money, AIPAC money or dark money. They are just regular people like you and I who are sick and tired of our government gaslighting us, gift wrapping empty promises and pulling switcheroos on us, like the disgraceful John Fettermans currently in Washington.
Zohran Mamdani has proven over and over again how far the establishment has fallen. Instead of giving us a peek behind the curtain, he threw the whole damn curtain back for all to see. The illusion has been lifted. That as long as a politician isn’t beholden to billionaire money, shit gets done and gets done swiftly, without drama. This is why most democrats and even republicans are now voting for Democratic Socialists and local grassroots candidates. Because we are all tired of the same old shit year after year. We are being sold our own politics back to us through people we think we choose to follow. They are all scamming us. The politicians, the influencers, the media. Democratic socialists are unveiling all of it and it’s making the establishment stooge’s crash out — on both sides of the aisle. Power to the people!
They believe the economy and society should be run democratically — not just the government. The people should have the power, not corporations. They are not socialists. They are not communists. They are not authoritarians. They are capitalists who believe in a strong welfare state. In other words, they want to make their money, but they don’t want other people to suffer either.
Nobody should be going hungry. Nobody should be homeless. Everybody should have access to healthcare and an adequate and balanced education. They fight for worker cooperatives, sectoral bargaining, workers on corporate boards, public ownership of utilities and natural monopolies. They want universal programs as rights, not charity. Medicare for All, free public college, universal childcare and housing for everyone. Other countries do this and thrive — happiness is off the charts! There’s no reason why we can’t do this. We’re the wealthiest country in the world.
Democratic socialists also want to repeal the right-to-work laws, the PRO Act and they advocate for a liveable wage. They fight to tax the wealthy and corporate profits to fund it all. The wealthy should be paying their fair share. Currently, they don’t. It is criminal that someone making $50,000/year pays more in taxes that Elon fucking Musk or Jeff Bezos. Absolutely criminal.
These DSA and grassroots candidates are also anti-imperialists and want private money out of politics — banning corporate PAC contributions and overturning Citizens United in all 50 states for good. Billionaires should never hold office because when they do, they twist the laws to benefit themselves, while ordinary people, like us, suffer. There is no such thing as a “good” billionaire. Stop lying to yourself.
If there’s one thing to take away from this, it’s to make sure you are paying attention to who you allow into your social orbit. Influencers will say anything to make a buck, whether it’s true or not. Always trust, but verify. Never follow anyone blindly, no matter how much you respect them, even me. We are all human and get it wrong sometimes. And if you see some shit, say some shit. Stop allowing people to get away with falsehoods. Call them to the carpet. It will cost you a subscribe or a follow or a friendship, but it’s necessary. I’ve lost many over the last six months, but I’ve also gained twice as many. Curate your social circles. Not everybody deserves a seat at your table. If we don’t hold people accountable to the things that they say and do, especially if they have influence over others, then we are doomed as a nation and deserve everything we get.
Talk to your people. We are not a fascist country, we are a non-voting country. Encourage everyone you know to vote in the midterms. Find out who your DSA and grassroots candidates are and vote for them down the ballot. These are the people who will turn this country around. Not the establishment. Not the Republicans.
And fuck you Matt Anthes.
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Thank you for being here. Seriously. You make this worth doing.
~Eevie
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