I have had same conversation 1,000's times in last 5 years:

Well-meaning academics & journalists: you should devote your time to studying disinformation from Russians on social media

Me: you should devote your time to studying disinformation from Republicans on mainstream media

False equivalency blinded journalists, but also academics, who confused falsely equating the validity the Republican & Democratic Party with "objectivity" when it was actually the exact opposite: it was blinding them from the obvious truth that one party had become disloyal to US

Everyone is comfortable chasing Russians in social media, because then you don't have to admit the org threatening US is one of two parties that dominates every aspect of our republic, and that their mode of distribution is not one of our core institutions: the mainstream media.

Any meaningful investigation into the insurrection on January 6 would need to accept fact that Republican leadership (and now more than 50% of supporters, from latest polls) are simply not loyal to the republic: they support an authoritarian state.

And, any investigation would have to acknowledge it was not just congress that failed to provide check on wannabe authoritarian president, but mainstream media spent 5 years trying to normalize him, spreading his disinformation, and aiding the radicalization of insurrectionists.

We cannot move on, until the immediate threat from anti-US insurrectionists is ameliorated, and that cannot happen simply by deploying troops, we need to confront the cold reality that Republican Party has rotted & abused every institution that was designed to protect US.

Politicians, Media, Academics, Corporate Leaders need to accept reality of their culpability in perpetuating false equivalency, accept fallibility of our institutions, embrace difficult & meaningful change necessary to not just end this immediate threat but allow US thrive again.