Thread by @JYSexton

It's important today, while we're focusing on how Republicans have just openly declared war on women, to remember the unsung enablers of this crisis: all those status-quoers who watched Trump and the GOP gain power and told everyone who would listen that nothing would change. 1/

These are the people who told everyone who was concerned about rising fascism and the decline of duty and ethics that they were worried about slippery slopes and being hysterical. They believed Trump might be abnormal, but not particularly dangerous. 2/

When it came to abortion we got a lot of these people. They were the ones who said Roe v. Wade would never be tested, who said that critics of Kavanaugh were being irrational and took him at his word that he wasn't going to overturn precedent. 3/

They believed Roe V. Wade was settled, that it could never be threatened, and they believed Republicans, who lie CONSTANTLY, when they said it was settled, even as Republicans openly mobilized their takeovers of the judicial branch and legislatures around the country. 4/

Of course, these were the same people who rolled their eyes and called everyone a conspiracy theorist who pointed out the blatant collusion between Trump and Russia. They allowed that to happen because they just couldn't fathom a scrupulous criminal welcoming foreign help. 5/

It's important to note, so much of this collusion happened IN BROAD DAYLIGHT or ON TV, right in front of them, but it was so different, so outside of the status quo, that they couldn't believe their own eyes and see the crime taking place right in front of them. 6/

But, of course, it wasn't just limited to the Trump campaign. When Trump told everyone he was going to ban Muslim immigration, they said how? Of course he won't. How could he? It's just bluster. And then? The guy did it. He just did it. And everyone was so surprised. 7/

And even as people told them that Trump was capable of great cruelty that we had never seen, they said we were hysterical. What could he do? And then, just like that, babies in cages. Families separated. Just blatant, unrepentant cruelty for cruelty's sake. 8/

But they also said that NATO was safe. All of our old allies were written in stone. It was so well set up even Trump couldn't change it. But here we are, three years in, our allies at a distance, Russia/North Korea/Saudi Arabia our closest allies. 9/

Hey. They said. All this worry about Trump? He's got people around him. THE ADULTS IN THE ROOM. They'll keep him in order. One by one, they were overridden, worn out, rolled over by Trump. Nobody handled him. And the adults in the room who stayed were corrupted. 10/

And how wrong they were about Republicans. Yes, Republicans allowed Trump to take over the party, but the real power belonged to Paul Ryan/Mitch McConnell/the old stalwarts. They won't let Trump run them over and redefine the party writ large. They'd stand up for principle. 11/

And if Trump managed to get past Republicans taking on their duty, the rule of law would hold him accountable. The investigations would keep him in check. The system might bend (how many times did they say it would bend?) but would never, ever break. 12/

Oh. And the Constitution. It had so many barriers for a guy like Trump. The Founders saw him coming centuries ahead of his time. They had everything set up to handle a guy like him. Don't worry, everyone will handle their duties when the time comes. 13/

The point is, the status-quoers are people who have benefited from the status-quo. They got in power, in the media, to places of affluence and wealth because the system treated them well. Of course they believe in it. It rewarded them, didn't it? But they missed the truth... 14/

The truth is that the system has been flawed for a really, really, REALLY long time. It's always been on the verge of breaking, it was only a matter of good faith disappearing from the game board altogether. Well, it's gone, and the cracks are showing from minute to minute. 15/

The truth is that all of this can change from minute to minute. What we thought was reality is malleable and can bend or break in ways we can't even imagine. The status-quoers believed it was permanent and unbreakable. They were so very wrong and they allowed this to happen 16/

At this point, only cognitive dissonance can keep a person believing that this whole thing can't come crashing down. Everything could change. Everything could blow up. Status-quoers need to take a long, hard look in the mirror and rethink what they thought they knew. 17/

Trump tells you everything he wants, everything he believes. He wants state propaganda. He wants dictatorial power. They will take every inch we give and status-quo and tradition are not going to save us. This is a crisis and we'd better damn well start treating it as such. 18/18