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Deplatformed is a weekly column that looks into the nether reaches of the internet—outside the big few that everyone already covers—to tell you the political discourse online. It runs on Thursdays in the Daily Dot’s web_crawlr newsletter. If you want to get this column a day before we publish it, subscribe to web_crawlr, where you’ll get the daily scoop of internet culture delivered straight to your inbox.
1) Men can’t handle Caitlin Clark’s scoring record
Iowa guard Caitlin Clark recently broke an almost impossible-to-believe spate of records, passing three of the biggest milestones in basketball to become the all-time leading scorer in college basketball.
She topped Kesley Plum’s NCAA women’s scoring record, then Lynette Woodward’s most points for a woman collegiate player (pre-NCAA), and finally bested Pete Maravich’s long-time record for most points ever by a college basketball player.
And she still has the end of this season to go.
But men online want you to know it’s NBD.
“Congrats to Caitlyn Clark, but lets break this down. When Maravich played, freshmen were not allowed to play varsity. He tallied 3,667 total points in 83 games over three seasons and no 3-pt shots. Clark played 4 seasons, 130 games with 3-pt shot.” wrote one X user.
And while some were attempting to dismiss comparisons, other men wanted you to know that they could, heck, just do it themselves.
On Rumble, Steven Crowder wannabe Jerry After Dark, a Barstool offshoot, decided to see if he could try and top her record.
Just by standing in a gym and shooting. Sure, he’s doing it without needing to make a Division 1 team, stay healthy for four seasons, and dominate top-tier competition.
But on the flip side, he’s a man, so that’s gotta be more important, right?
And over the course of a five-and-a-half hour live stream, he sunk the 1970 buckets needed to theoretically do one better than the record.
But how does it compare to Clark?
Well, Clark played 130 total games so far at Iowa and averaged 34 minutes a game. Meaning she managed to do it in just 73 hours of game time, all while playing, literally, the game.
But kudos to Jerry and his five hours of unguarded effort.
2) Panama Canal drought stupifies
A recent drought in Central America has taken the water in the Panama Canal to precipitously low levels, causing shipping slowdowns worldwide.
And posters on some far-right sites think, in this news, they’ve found proof that global warming and rising oceans don’t exist.
The reason is, if the Panama Canal connects to two oceans, and everyone is warning that sea levels are going up, wouldn’t the Panama Canal water level go to the moon, too?
“Thinky things,” asked a poll on Gab. “If the Panama Canal water level is too low for ships to navigate…”
The options for users were:
- The oceans aren’t rising – fake news!
- Hadn’t thought about that…
- Don’t know, but I read it on the internet, so it must be true!
Interestingly, even though a scientific explanation wasn’t an option, a great number of people on the site didn’t take the bait.
“The Panama canal operates with the water from a large lake, not sea water. If they don´t get enough rain, water levels sink. Easily researched,” said one.
“Because the Panama Canal is a natural lake above sea level. I’m not gonna call you a name, but you probably deserve it for this post,” said another.
3) Meghan McCain’s Super Tuesday tears
This week, former President Donald Trump had a wildly successful Super Tuesday showing, winning all but one state and amassing 95% of available delegates as his last remaining competitor for the GOP nomination dropped out.
It was entirely predictable, given almost all polls said Trump should run away with it.
Nevertheless, despite having months to brace for it, pundit Meghan McCain called it the worst Super Tuesday ever, in a post she’s since deleted.
Trump’s longtime chief memester, Dan Scavino, shared the post on Truth Social.
“ENDORSEMENT ALERT,” he wrote with blaring siren emojis.
McCain is famously anti-Trump, a feud that began when the former president trashed her father, former Sen. John McCain, and continued with Trump being uninvited to his funeral.
Scavino’s rapid following ate up McCain’s displeasure.
“Anything bad for a McCain is good for America,” wrote one.
“@meghanmccain glad we could make your Super Tuesday bad. We are done with the Bush/mccain/romney republicans,” said another, proving that Trump and his fans, three nominations for the Republican ticket in, are still petty as ever.
