I was asked how I feel about yesterday's news about @PaulManafort and @MichaelCohen212. It's a really complex answer, so let me respond with a mini-thread. [1/15]
I was excited watching the events unfold yesterday, and feel happy that there is yet more validation that crimes were committed (this time by an independent jury of peers), and that Cohen has directly implicated Trump in campaign-related crimes in sworn testimony. [2/15]
I feel optimistic that yesterday's news signals a MAJOR step toward revealing both the financial crimes that Trump himself has been involved in for a very long time, and the Russian election conspiracy that he personally engaged in. [3/15]
But I feel frustrated that in the short term nothing will change. Trump's base doesn't care. They will spin it as having nothing to do with Trump himself, and nothing to do with Russia. It's all just a conspiracy perpetuated by liberals and is fake news. It doesn't matter to them
Anything they don't agree with, they will dismiss as fake. Trump will continue to call it a witch hunt and fake news, and just repeat that there is "no collusion" and no evidence of wrongdoing, no matter how absurd those claims have become. [5/15]
As I suggested long ago, I still think @PaulManafort will wind up providing evidence in exchange for a reduced sentence, but I think it will be a long, slow process as he debates appeal options and postures for the retrial on 10 counts and the coming trial
I similarly think @MichaelCohen212 will wind up cooperating with Mueller on the Russia charges to help reduce his sentence. But I also think it will be a long, slow process that isn't visible to us on the outside. [7/15]
And frankly, it's just depressing how many real Americans still believe Trump, make excuses for his behaviors (or even revel in them), and will twist themselves into pretzels defending Trump and discrediting anything that is critical of him. [8/15]
The "us vs. them" mentality is so extreme they will defend (and vote for) their team no matter what. No matter what evidence is shown, and no matter what actually comes out of @realDonaldTrump's mouth or his tweets. [9/15]
I feel concerned that 1) This base is going to vote in November, so Trump and his enablers will start with a guaranteed block of votes, and 2) The electronic voting systems are so easily to hack that I have no confidence in the results in districts that don't have a paper trail.
So I'm concerned that there is a chance Trump his enablers might actually win in November no matter what happens in courts, because of his hard-core base that rejects evidence and facts as conspiracies, and promotes conspiracies backed only by logical fallacies, not facts [11/15]
And if his base doesn't push Trump and his supporters over the edge to win, foreign or domestic hackers may take matters into their own hands, and ensure that they win by altering vote counts at voting machines in key swing districts. I want states to prove me wrong. [12/15]
So what I feel is a combination of embarrassment & depression about what this reveals about the state of millions of Americans, frustration that yesterday's incredible events will continue to not make a difference, & pessimism about the state of our voting infrastructure, BUT...
... BUT, I also feel excitement and optimism that the legal system is working (albeit slowly) and that it will eventually reveal what Trump has done in a way that is irrefutable, and helps to pull us all away from the current crisis we are facing with Trump in the White House.
In short... I feel optimistic that history will judge Trump and his supporters as the criminals they are, and yet very frustrated about the slow pace of getting to that resolution, and pessimism about how bumpy the coming months will be before we get to that point. {end} [15/15]
P.S. I was asked what a maxi-thread would look like, if that was a "mini-thread." It would look kinda-sorta like this... 😜
