A follow up about Trump’s contribution, and Putin’s motivation/calculations surrounding the Ukraine invasion.
My point…that I mentioned but probably should have driven home more strongly…
….was that after years of undermining the West/America with disinformation. 1/
……after years of using social media to divide us along culture war lines…
…….after years of fanning the flames of racism (CRT)….. 2/ repository.law.umich.edu/cgi/viewconten…
…….after years of fanning the flames of anti-vax/anti-mask...
.....and watching school board meetings implode to the point where community doctors/school board members lives were threatened… 3/ newschannel5.com/news/we-know-w…
……after years of fanning the “rigged” election flames to the point where the country no longer trusts/believes in democracy……. 4/ npr.org/2022/01/03/106…
……after years of fanning the nationalism/isolationism "America First" flames……. 5/
……after watching both the January 6th insurrection, and the Right’s attempt to dismiss and even cover it up… 6/ nytimes.com/2022/02/04/us/…
…..after listening to the Right, who have historically been foreign policy/military "hawks", turn against “forever wars”……and perpetuate the “Russian Hoax”……7/
…after watching the Afghanistan pullout, and the complete indifference towards the inhumanity experienced by Afghanis left in the country....as well as refugees who got out.....even when the refugees risked their lives to save the lives of Americans.… 8/
…..after watching the Anti-vaccine mandate truck convoys in North America, and violent protests in Europe….9/
…after years of funneling millions of dollars into Republican election campaigns...
..... hobnobbing with a National Security Advisor...
....and "celebrating" American Independence with Republican Senators on July 4th.… 10/
washingtonpost.com/powerpost/repu…
….…after years of listening to Trump/Republicans criticize and even talk of dismantling NATO……11/ vox.com/world/2017/1/1…
…..after years of watching the Right Wing Media Echo Chamber valorize Hungary’s drift towards authoritarianism....12/
(at the 3:20 mark Tucker Carlson fawns over Hungarian Right Wing Authoritarianism)
……
….after years of watching the Echo Chamber manipulate millions of people to “root” for Russia b/c Ukraine represented an existential threat to Trump/his presidency/the Republican party that staked its future to a pathologically disordered leader….. 13/
…..and after months of watching Republicans obsess over and weaponize inflation/price of gas…..14/ newrepublic.com/article/164570…
...Putin finally made his move.
Yes, Putin may have been planning on taking Ukraine for years, but for all of the reasons listed above, there never appeared to be a better time to do that than the current moment. 15/
Trump has been an exacerbating disaster for the country and the world.
Trump made an immeasurable contribution to Putin believing the U.S. & the rest of world was too weak...
....and/or too disinterested/self-interested to care enough to stop him. 16/
Putin saw that we are uninterested in preserving our own democracy.....so he assumed we'd have little political/constituency will to defend democracy abroad. Interesting thread: 17/
(missing text: "support isolationist tendencies in American politics")
Thread analyzing the importance of prioritizing the preservation of democracy above all else......
Trump at CPAC:
....
The above thread has been posted in article form (no paywall). patreon.com/posts/63267018
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