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A picture taken on April 24, 2017 in Henin-Beaumont, northern France, shows campaign posters of French presidential election candidate for the far-right Front National (FN) party Marine Le Pen and candidate for the En Marche ! movement, Emmanuel Macron.

JOEL SAGET/AFP/Getty Images

Frances election rules force candidates to stop campaigning on Friday at midnight and the country enters a period that is supposed to be for quiet reflection before Sundays vote. The only problem is that quiet and reflection are two things that dont quite mix very well with the social media era. On Saturday, news of the hacking attack against centrist Emmanuel Macron spread like wildfire on social media, pushed along in large part by U.S. far-right activists and bots.

An extraordinary number of tweets about Macrons campaign in the day before the vote appear to be coming from automated accounts. One study found that five percent of users accounted for a full 40 percent of the tweets related to the French election. One account tweeted a whopping 1,668 times in 24 hours, faster than one per minute. And it was hardly alone. For several of these accounts, the tweets were coming through in bursts too fast for an individual to keep up with them, suggesting automation rather than a highly active human, researchers wrote.

Twitter appears to be ignoring the problem entirely. When Recode asked Twitter what it was planning to do to combat the bots, the company spokesperson merely said that bots are prohibited.

Bots arent the only ones spreading the news of the hack attack. Members of the extreme American right are also taking the hack as an opportunity to take a last stand in favor of Marine Le Pen.

Approximately half of the Twitter posts about the hack have been written in English and many of them are coming from the United States. Although there is no evidence that far-rigth activists in the U.S. were behind the hack, they have been spreading the leaked documents in some of their favorite gathering spots, including 4chan. Jack Posobiec, a journalist with an obscure far-right website, appears to have been the first to use the #MacronLeaks hashtag, according to the Atlantic Council. Then bots appear to have been used to amplify that message. Less than two hours later, Le Pens most active and aggressive supporters online were spreading news of the leak inside France.

The Atlantic Council'sDigital Forensic Research Lab breaks down its findings:

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American alt-right and Twitter bots are key to spreading French ... - Slate Magazine (blog)

Formany years, Donald Trump tweeted Sunday afternoon, our country has been divided, angry and untrusting. Many say it will never change, the hatred is too deep. IT WILL CHANGE!!!!

As persuasive as the ALL CAPS are, I have my doubts.

Put aside Trumps specific shortcomings for the moment. The presidency has become ill-suited to the task of unifying the country, because the presidency has become the biggest prize and totem in the culture war. Like the religious wars between Catholics and Protestants in England, if one side controls the throne, it is seen as an insult and threat to the other. And whoever holds the throne is seen as a kind of personal Protector of the Realm.

The political parties have been utterly complicit in the process. Exploiting social media and other technologies, Republicans and Democrats shape their messages around the assumption that they and they alone have legitimate ownership of Americas authentic best self. Thats why whichever party is out of power promises to take back America as if the other side were foreign invaders.

Barack Obama was elected in 2008 in no small part to fulfill the promise of his 2004 Democratic Convention keynote address: to banish the slicing and dicing of America into Red States and Blue States.

The colors of the electoral map may have been smudged and scrambled over the last eight years, but the underlying polarization Obama inherited from George W. Bush only intensified on his watch. Trump will be the third president in a row to promise to unite the country, and he will almost certainly be the third in a row to fail.

The ugly squabble between the president-elect and Representative John Lewis (D., Ga.) over the weekend offers a glimpse into how bad things will get.

Lewis earned his icon status on the Edmund Pettus Bridge on Bloody Sunday in Selma, Ala. But over the years, hes traded some of his moral capital for partisan chips, insinuating that only the Democratic party has ownership of the civil-rights era and its victories, despite the fact that a higher share of Republicans voted for the Civil Rights Act than Democrats. Indeed, the goons who cracked Lewiss skull on the Edmund Pettus Bridge were acting at the behest of a Democratic governor and Democratic local officials. Even the bridge was named after a Democrat.

In 2008, Lewis saw nothing wrong with comparing Senator John McCain (R., Ariz.) to the segregationist Alabama governor George Wallace, adding: Senator McCain and Governor Palin are sowing the seeds of hatred and division. He did it again in 2012, insinuating that voting for Mitt Romney might lead America to go back to the days of fire hoses, police dogs, and church bombings.

This was not idealism, but poisonous cynicism, and it helped contribute to the feelings of resentment that were so essential to Trumps victory. Now, Lewis is going further still, refusing to attend Trumps inauguration and arguing that Trump cannot be a legitimate president because of Russian meddling in the election. Lewis may have reason to believe that Trump did not win fair and square, but questioning Trumps legitimacy is exactly what the Russians probably wanted from the beginning: to undermine Western and American faith and confidence in democracy. (Its a sign of Lewiss partisanship that he also boycotted George W. Bushs first inauguration because he didnt think Bush was legitimate either.)

Of course, Trump made things worse. He attacked Lewis, saying the congressman should finally focus on the burning and crime infested inner-cities of the U.S. instead of falsely complaining about the election results. Predictably, Democrats rallied behind Lewis, whos basically the partys living saint, and theyre already fundraising off the spectacle.

The Democrats will stop baiting Trump when he shows he can refuse the bait. Which means they wont stop.

Theres an almost literary quality to Trumps insecurities; he craves respect more than almost anything else, and yet respect remains agonizingly elusive in part because he takes everything too personally.

The presidency, normally a job for people with thick skins and a nose for insincere flattery, promises to only heighten Trumps sense of entitlement to respect and exacerbate his inevitable resentment when he doesnt receive it. So well continue on divided, angry, and untrusting.

Jonah Goldberg is a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and a senior editor of National Review. 2017 Tribune Content Agency, LLC

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Donald Trump & John Lewis: Culture Wars Deepen Party ...

Good morning, readers! Were enjoying an assortment of eclectic longreads today for a variety of tastes, from the frontiers of medicine to sexual harassment scandals in USA gymnastics. As always, were curious to know what youre reading, so drop us a line in the comments!

If you havent already,subscribe to the Global Commentpodcast on iTunes and Soundcloudand catch up on the first episode, a fascinating interview with Omar Saif Ghobash.

Some of the most amazing leaps and bounds were making in modern science involve going backwardslike really backwards, as in, delving into sewers for ancient, yet cutting edge, treatments for severe infections. This is an outstanding read.

But while the scientists in Paris celebrated the 100-year anniversary of the discovery of phages, these biological weapons are nearly impossible to get to patients in the US. Using natures own viruses to treat infections doesnt jive with the FDAs process for approving new pharmaceuticals, nor Big Pharmas motive to sell one-size-fits-all pills for the masses.

The editors at Catapult excel when it comes to finding, and perfecting, thoughtful essays that may read like a stream of consciousness ramble until suddenly all the pieces fall together, click, revealing something elegant and beautiful and complex. This is no exception.

I move. The front of my new house is also brick, but it is real brick. This house was once a mansion on top of a hill where white people forced black people to perform the tasks of their bondage. Our neighborhood is named after this house. The old front of the house has columns and faces what is now our backyard. In the backyard is a church which chimes every hour from eight in the morning to eight at night. At noon and six, it is fancier, a song. The floors are painted green and none of the outlets have three prongs.

When your father has spent most of your life in prison, how do you reconnect? This is a complex reflection on family, culture shock, and how we interact with each other in era heavily mediated by technology and distance.

Id seen my dad approximately four times over 30 years, but I only remembered two of them: a visit when I was 12 years old, and one when I was 25. When I thought of visiting my father, I pictured the beige rooms, the beige uniforms, and how everything seemed to be nailed down. I always brought bags of change to use at the vending machines. I knew he had a sweet tooth, and I wanted to buy him something sweet. He always got reprimanded by guards for holding my hands too long.

Israel needs caregivers. People in the Philippines are looking for new opportunities. Is it an ideal match, or does it come at a dark price thats only visible after commitments are finalised?

The most pressing need for workers is in the caregiving profession. In 2009, there were fewer than 250,000 Israelis over the age of 80; by 2059, there will be well over a million, according to one population projection by the Central Bureau of Statistics. Added to that is a serious shortage of working hands: In the 1990s, the ranks of the caregiving sector in Israel were occupied primarily by female immigrants from the former Soviet Union. But that population is now largely retired, leaving a major vacuum.

USA Gymnastics has been rocked by a series of sexual harassment and assault scandals in recent years. Its also been making headlines for training incredible athletes who are sweeping international competitions. Can the two be separated?

If the press had been expecting to find the women merely happy to receive Olympic recognition, they were sorely mistaken. As she had a decade before, Dantzscher spoke up about their difficult Olympic experiences. Others, though, like 2000 national champion Elise Ray, spoke up about how they felt about how difficult and traumatic those experiences had been.

If you enjoy our work, please consider supporting us witha one time or recurring donation. We believe in paying writers, andwe rely on our readers to help us continue serving up interesting, dynamic, and engaging commentary every weekday. To make sure you dont miss any of that commentary, you can subscribe to our newsletter below and if youre interested in writing for us, check outour contributor guidelines.

Photo: Alec Perkins/Creative Commons

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Must reads: Gymnastics, phages, culture wars, labour, life after prison - GlobalComment.com

Quartz

Reddit is going nuts over Wikipedia's spending, but it's doing far better than its competitors Quartz Redditors are getting worked up over a post titled, Wikipedia has cancer. Its author is a longtime Wikipedian named Guy Macon who analyzed the spending of Wikipedia's owner, the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. Macon finds that Wikimedia's ...

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Reddit is going nuts over Wikipedia's spending, but it's doing far better than its competitors - Quartz

While Wikipedia is often the first site many internet users visit when looking up a celebrity or historical event, those who are searching specifically for topics related to Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders often find the online encyclopedia lacking.

"It's one of those things Wikipedia is trying to tackle," Andrew Lih, a professor of journalism at American University and a longtime Wikipedia contributor, told NBC News.

The author of the book "The Wikipedia Revolution: How A Bunch of Nobodies Created The World's Greatest Encyclopedia," Lih said that while he believes Wikipedia has been more inclusive than the Encyclopedia Britannica and other storied encyclopedias, "It's still quite short of where it should be. It's is still written by mainly Western male contributors."

Lih noted that while there are some areas in which Wikipedia editors create articles related to Asian topics that informative and accurate, there are blind spots.

"When it comes to pop culture and things like Pokemon and manga, it's actually very good," he said. "As for Asian Americans, [the lack of articles] reflect the state of Asian-American history in schools."

When the average American high school or college graduate does not have a strong background in Asian-American topics, Lih explained, those gaps are reflected on Wikipedia.

"There's no original research on Wikipedia. You have to link to an original source," he said. "Encyclopedias always summarize what is out there and there are some Wikipedia entries that source 200 to 300 articles at the bottom. If you don't have the scholarship online, you can't do that."

One way scholars and organizations are trying to ensure Wikipedia includes information on Asian-American and Pacific Islander topics is by hosting "edit-a-thons," inviting community members to help fill in gaps by teaching them how to create pages and format articles correctly.

A curator for the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center, Adriel Luis said he noticed a gap between the art world and what was reflected on Wikipedia.

"In fields that were nuanced like Asian-American art and Asian-American poetry, figures considered notable may not be considered so on Wikipedia," Luis told NBC News. "When it came to Wikipedia, [those entries] either would not exist or if they did pop up they would be flagged for things like the sources not being cited properly."

Those reasons were a big part of the reason the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center hosted a series of edit-a-thons in 2015 and created a guide for users interested in organizing their own.

"They were really successful," Luis recalled. "We'd work with organizations and museums across the country and including places in Asia. I learned more about Asian-American artists that I didn't know about before."

Luis added that the Smithsonian is planning to eventually host more edit-a-thons in the future and is also examining other ways "Asian Americans don't have the right amount of visibility on the Internet."

"We are looking at things like metadata," he said. "How can you search for 'Asian-American art' and get a more representative response? It's not just about Wikipedia, so the Wikipedia Edit-A-Thons were just the beginning."

Thinking of becoming a Wikipedia editor? Below is a small selection of notable Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders who do not currently have Wikipedia pages:

Li Ling-Ai: The Chinese-American film producer's work on the Oscar-winning 1941 World War II documentary Kukan was deliberately uncredited by her fellow filmmakers. Li's life and career is the subject of the new documentary "Finding Kukan."

Rachel Kealaonapua O'Sullivan: At the age of 17, Rachel Kealaonapua O'Sullivan took home the Bronze medal in the three-meter board diving event at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. She also became the first Hawaiian athlete to medal in diving in the process, according to the Hawaii Sports Hall of Hame.

Shih-Chun Wang: The late Chinese-American neuroscientist made several critical discoveries that lead to our current understanding of motion sickness and drugs that prevent vomiting and other related illnesses.

Takashi "Halo" Hirose: A Japanese-American swimmer, Hirose was a considered an athletic superstar in the 1930s and was preparing for the eventually cancelled 1940 Olympics when World War II began.

Emerick K. Ishikawa: A weightlifter from Hawaii, Ishikawa reportedly stunned the crowd at the 1944 U.S. National Weightlifting Championships in Chattanooga, Tennessee, when he set a world record in the Bantamweight Class, according to the Hawaii Sports Hall of Fame.

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Community Works to Fill Wikipedia's Asian-American, Pacific Islander Gaps - NBCNews.com