Tyb
Great work, sup with kash's link?
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About
MeidasTouch is a Democratic media operation that produces remixes of clips of Republican politicians, particularly U.S. President Donald Trump, to create arguments against Trump's 2020 re-election campaign. The group is operated by Ben, Brett and Jordan Meiselas.
History
According to YouTube, the MeidasTouch channel launched on May 13th, 2010. The group posted their first available video on December 12th, 2013. The video, "Dad SAVES daughter at Knicks – Bulls game! (12/11/13)" received more than 5.3 million views in less than six years (shown below, left).
On March 17th, 2020, the group published their first Trump-related video, a genre they would later become associated with. Their remix in the style of the political comedy television series Veep received more than 1,200 views in less than six months (shown below, right).
On March 25th, 2020, the creators of the site registered the domain MeidasTouch.com.[1] Two days later, the group tweeted for the first time. They posted a video with the caption "Pro hockey star and social justice leader
@Dreamer_Aliu78 is keeping spirits up with a new viral video challenge he created from home."
Pro hockey star and social justice leader @Dreamer_Aliu78 is keeping spirits up with a new viral video challenge he created from home 🤯💪
Read more: https://t.co/8gnZphx7Cb pic.twitter.com/BFcoSxREFg
— MeidasTouch.com (@MeidasTouch) March 27, 2020
On July 8th, 2020, the group published their most popular video to date, "Creepy Trump." The video recuts a press conference featuring Kellyanne Conway talking about Vice President Joe Biden, Trump's 2020 presidential election opponent, with clips of Trump talking about and touching his daughters (shown below). On YouTube, the video received more than 1.5 million views in less than one month. The video went viral on Twitter,[2] receiving more than 6.4 million views, 33,000 likes and 29,000 retweets in less than one month.
On July 21st, CNN[3] published an article about the group's videos. In the article, Ben Meiselas said:
I think you see an excited, motivated (Democratic) electorate out there, and I see a deflated Trump grasping for people to be at his rallies while no one's showing up, and just withering away at these ridiculous press conferences he's holding. Do I think MeidasTouch is responsible for all of that? No. Do I think for most of that? No. But do I think MeidasTouch is playing a small part, as three brothers can, in impacting this election cycle? Yes.
https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/sites/meidastouch
Behind MeidasTouch: How Three Brothers Slam Donald Trump Daily With Razor-Sharp Viral Videos
“When you guys put somebody in the car, please don’t be too nice,” President Trump is seen telling an assembly of police officers at the beginning of a recent MeidasTouch video. That clip is immediately followed by his spokesperson saying the president was “making a joke,” then by footage of police roughing up protesters last spring. We then see footage of Trump proposing Clorox injection as a coronavirus treatment while White House medical official Deborah Birx lowers her head in dismay; leading a crowd in a “Lock her up” chant about Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer; and calling for virus testing to be slowed down. Each clip is followed by footage of the president or spokespeople saying he was “having fun,” “being sarcastic” or making a “comment in jest” — and then by statistics or clips of the soaring infections in the U.S., the right-wing kidnapping plot against Whitmer and more. “NONE OF THIS IS FUNNY,” the video concludes. “LET’S GET SERIOUS. VOTE JOE BIDEN.”
While the facts and footage are well known, seeing it all edited together is damning. And although there are several punch lines in the two-minute video, as the closing words say, it’s not funny. That clip and more than a hundred like it — along with a series of outdoor billboards, a radio show and a podcast — are the work of MeidasTouch, a political action committee formed earlier this year by brothers Ben, Brett and Jordan Meiselas, who have deep connections to the entertainment industry. Their father is top music attorney Kenny Meiselas, who reps Sean “Diddy” Combs, Lady Gaga, the Weeknd, Lizzo and others. Ben, 35, is a litigator and civil rights attorney who represents exiled NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick and led a class-action suit over the disastrous 2017 Fyre Festival; Brett, 30, is a video editor and former head of post-production and social media for “Ellen”; and Jordan, 27, is an executive at Steve Stoute’s branding and marketing firm Translation.
The videos rarely use narration, opting instead to juxtapose quotes from the president and his associates with footage that starkly contradicts them. “It’s exactly what I would do in a trial,” Ben says. “‘Here’s what Trump or his family or staff are saying. Here are the facts and the data. Decide for yourself’ — although I have between two minutes and 30 seconds to convince my jury, which is the American people.” All three brothers collaborate on the clips, but Brett has taken on production duties as a full-time job.
None of this is funny. We need serious leadership again. pic.twitter.com/QPWQEJkirp
— MeidasTouch.com (@MeidasTouch) October 23, 2020
The videos have racked up more than 150 million views, and the PAC has raised more than $2.5 million, drawing the support not just of the Democratic establishment but of celebrities ranging from Judd Apatow and novelist Don Winslow to Mark Hamill and Henry Winkler.
The idea was hatched in March after the brothers found themselves temporarily sidelined by lockdown. “We just couldn’t do nothing as we saw the country falling apart and Trump lying about it every day,” Ben says. “Now, rather than spending an hour being angry, we’re angry for five minutes and then get to work.” MeidasTouch — a play on their last name combined with the motto “The truth is golden” — began as a blog but caught on as Brett started producing videos late in March. One that incorporated Ronald Reagan’s 1984 debate quote, “Are you better off than you were four years ago?,” quickly gained a million views, and the numbers soared as the Meiselases began producing more videos.
“We decided to lean into what seems to be missing, which is that progressives never really punch back,” Ben says.
Brett, a USC film school graduate, cranks out the clips with remarkable speed, averaging two or three hours from ideation to creation, and sometimes as quickly as 45 minutes. He attributes his speed and precision to his work on “Ellen.”
“It was pretty rigorous turning out TV-quality video for a daily talk show,” he says. “But where that was impactful and funny, now the goal is to be impactful and persuasive.” He cites Jon Stewart’s “Daily Show” and Stephen Colbert as inspirations. “They really created the blueprint for how to expose hypocrisy in an impactful and powerful way.” While MeidasTouch occasionally accepts videos from outside producers, Brett estimates that 90% are entirely the work of the brothers.
Not surprisingly, the ones that come with a heavy dose of schadenfreude or negativity are the biggest hits: The top two are takedowns of Trump’s children, one titled “Bye Ivanka” (10.1 million views) and the other “Bye Don Jr.” (8.7 million). The team has worked to balance that with positive, pro-Biden ads, but to paraphrase Richard Nixon, the brothers are basically playing by the rules of politics and social media as they found them.
“People sometimes say we’re preaching to the choir,” Brett says. “But that’s exactly what Trump’s doing. We’re trying to pull together the biggest and loudest choir, and get them to the polls.”
optional screen reader
https://variety.com/2020/digital/news/meidastouch-donald-trump-viral-videos-1234819464/
The Hollywood Reporter
@THR
MeidasTouch's Ben, Brett and Jordan Meiselas have big plans to expand their media reach to counter Fox News: "We can't let our foot off the gas. Not for a second" http://thr.cm/K5YHl8C
https://twitter.com/THR/status/1333108540521787393
Ben Meisales defends rapists in high places
JUST IN: LAPD investigates Esquith, lawyers ‘declare war’ on LAUSD
Mike Szymanski | August 14, 2015
LA School Report has confirmed that an LAPD sex crimes unit has an open investigation of celebrated teacher Rafe Esquith involving allegations of “inappropriate touching.” Meanwhile, Esquith’s attorneys are striking back with threats of additional lawsuits and a “declaration of war against LAUSD.”
One of Esquith’s attorneys, Ben Meisales, said, “This continued defamation by LAUSD knows no bounds. This is a slap at all hard-working teachers and it has created a declaration of war against LAUSD.”
Lead attorney Mark Geragos added, “People all across the country are watching these unscrupulous tactics. LAUSD is acting as a criminal cartel that needs to be put out of business, and we will put them out of business.”
Meanwhile, the Sexually Exploited Child Unit of the West Bureau Sex Crimes of the Los Angeles Police Department has a case that is opened against Esquith and being investigated by Detective Rachel Saavedra. The attorneys for Esquith said they were unaware of the investigation, which is being conducted by police at the Olympic Division of the LAPD in the district of the Hobart Boulevard Elementary School where Esquith taught fifth grade until he was unceremoniously taken out of the classroom last April and confined during the day hours to the “teachers jail” in a downtown LA building.
On Thursday, Geragos filed a class action lawsuit against LA Unified not only claiming age discrimination and unfair business practices, but defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Hours after receiving the lawsuit, LAUSD issued a letter for the first time dealing with alleged serious allegations against Esquith, including “highly inappropriate conduct involving touching of minors” during his time as a district teacher as well as “inappropriate photographs and videos of a sexual nature” on his school computer. The letter also mentions allegations of “threats to a parent and two students” and “possible ethical” violations of district policy regarding Esquith’s nonprofit after-school program, the Hobart Shakespeareans.
Through attorneys, Esquith denies all the allegations. Esquith is the author of some popular books about teaching, won the National Medal of Arts from President Obama and was named one of the best teachers in the country by The Washington Post.
School officials are required by law to report all sexual allegations involving children to the proper authorities, and because of the “inappropriate touching” allegations, LA School Report asked LAUSD if police officials were notified.
Shannon Haber, the district’s director of Communications & Media Relations, issued a statement reading, “Yes, as mandated reporters, we always report allegations of suspected child abuse to the appropriate agency.”
LAPD officials had no further details about the ongoing investigation.
Meanwhile, Geragos said he plans to ask for a criminal investigation against the school district by going to the Department of Justice, and they also plan to file a lawsuit against Toni Tosello, the liabilities claims coordinator who wrote the Aug. 13 letter from LAUSD’s Risk Finance and Insurance Services department. The letter said that while investigating the original allegations (of a reading from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn), they discovered “additional serious allegations of misconduct” by the 61-year-old teacher.
Meanwhile, Esquith’s attorneys claim the noted teacher is a victim of a “witch hunt” and that after one day, their class action has gone from about 200 hundred teachers to more than 1,000 who have contacted the office with similar complaints.
“The only child who was been hurt by all this is one of Rafe Esquith’s students who when LAUSD started this witch hunt attempted to commit suicide when [Esquith] was taken from the classroom,” Meiselas said.
Meanwhile, in a letter dated Thursday from Student Safety Investigation Team director Jose Cantu, the district asked for an interview with Esquith for the “investigation of alleged misconduct” according to the letter. They planned the interview on Aug. 18 with investigator Ray Johnson. That interview won’t happen, Esquith’s representatives said.
“The only discussion now about this will be in court,” Meiselas said.
https://laschoolreport.com/just-in-lapd-investigates-esquith-lawyers-declare-war-on-lausd/
Kaepernick Attorney's PAC Cuts Scathing Video of Ivanka
A political action committee founded by Colin Kaepernick's attorney on Tuesday released a scathing video of Ivanka Trump.
Titled "Bye Ivanka: A Public Disservice Announcement," the video mixes Trump touting how her greatest personal growth has arisen from "times of discomfort and uncertainty" with video of anti-racism protesters being pushed to the ground, maced, and fired at with rubber bullets.
The PAC,MeidasTouch,used video from Trump's commencement speech she prepared for Wichita State University, though the Kansas school dropped her speech following backlash from students.
"Your journey to this day did not come without challenges, sacrifices . . . and likely even a few tears," Trump tells grads.
The video then alters to police firing tear gas on protesters who took to the streets around the nation following George Floyd's death at the hands of a white police officer in Minneapolis.
Her speech continued: "Our entire society is engaged in a national endeavor to take care of the safety and well-being of our people," followed by video of police pushing an elderly man to the ground and hitting protesters with batons.
Attorney Ben Meisales and his two brothers founded the PAC in April.
https://www.newsmax.com/us/pac-ivanka-trump-riots-race/2020/06/09/id/971374/Kaepernick Attorney's PAC Cuts Scathing Video of Ivanka
A political action committee founded by Colin Kaepernick's attorney on Tuesday released a scathing video of Ivanka Trump.
Titled "Bye Ivanka: A Public Disservice Announcement," the video mixes Trump touting how her greatest personal growth has arisen from "times of discomfort and uncertainty" with video of anti-racism protesters being pushed to the ground, maced, and fired at with rubber bullets.
The PAC,MeidasTouch,used video from Trump's commencement speech she prepared for Wichita State University, though the Kansas school dropped her speech following backlash from students.
"Your journey to this day did not come without challenges, sacrifices . . . and likely even a few tears," Trump tells grads.
The video then alters to police firing tear gas on protesters who took to the streets around the nation following George Floyd's death at the hands of a white police officer in Minneapolis.
Her speech continued: "Our entire society is engaged in a national endeavor to take care of the safety and well-being of our people," followed by video of police pushing an elderly man to the ground and hitting protesters with batons.
Attorney Ben Meisales and his two brothers founded the PAC in April.
https://www.newsmax.com/us/pac-ivanka-trump-riots-race/2020/06/09/id/971374/
I FUCKING HATE MY COMPUTER
>https://laschoolreport.com/just-in-lapd-investigates-esquith-lawyers-declare-war-on-lausd/
Ben Meisales defends child rapists no doubt
Sexually Exploited Child Unit of the West Bureau Sex Crimes of the Los Angeles Police Department has a case that is opened against Esquith