,
23 tweets,
5 min read
Read on Twitter
I often talk about how we are ignoring the unraveling of the nation because POTUS has learned to rule by tweet/crazy diversion & news takes the bait everytime.
Here's some things from JUST TODAY that show increasing institutional capture/fragility under this admin: /1
Here's some things from JUST TODAY that show increasing institutional capture/fragility under this admin: /1
1 -- State Dept launches its new "Commission on Unalienable Rights" to redefine what human rights are.
Why be concerned? Many critics believe Pompeo, who is deeply religious, will use this to bring project the admin's anti-abortion agenda from State.../2
Why be concerned? Many critics believe Pompeo, who is deeply religious, will use this to bring project the admin's anti-abortion agenda from State.../2
... He reassured no one by appointing a hardline anti-abortion professor as the head of the commission.
But it's worth looking further -- at Pompeo's words themselves -- to understand how bend-reality this will be. /3
But it's worth looking further -- at Pompeo's words themselves -- to understand how bend-reality this will be. /3
Pompeo wrote a short oped in the WSJ laying out "why" this commission. After the Cold War ended, he says, there have been too many "new rights" polluting our definitions of rights that governments have to protect.
... So, presumably all gay rights aren't "important rights"? /4
... So, presumably all gay rights aren't "important rights"? /4
Good to know he agrees w/ Putin that LGBTQ protections are "unmooring" us from liberal values?
What other "new rights" shouldn't govt defend?
Please keep in mind, this will be the **government of the United States** arguing it is necessary to take away some individual rights /5
What other "new rights" shouldn't govt defend?
Please keep in mind, this will be the **government of the United States** arguing it is necessary to take away some individual rights /5
SecState challenges the commission with these Qs. How do we know if a human right is a "true right"? What happens when rights "conflict" -- aka when "religious freedom" is interpreted as anti-abortion which means these weird laws in the south treating women as property again? /6
Basically he is asking -- what happens if government doesn't guarantee certain rights?
He defines some rights as "the product of interest groups". you should absolutely know this will not incl. religious extremists in the US, whose rights he views as absolute/constitutional /7
He defines some rights as "the product of interest groups". you should absolutely know this will not incl. religious extremists in the US, whose rights he views as absolute/constitutional /7
How do you know this will be so skewed? Here he cites Iran & Cuba --his personal obsessions-- as examples of repressive regimes. No Russia. No China.
Human rights advocates, he then says, are emulating communists for "advantage". Uh, wtf? This sentence alone is disqualifying. /8
Human rights advocates, he then says, are emulating communists for "advantage". Uh, wtf? This sentence alone is disqualifying. /8
Will the many passionate defenders of religious freedom, free speech, suffrage, human/women's/LGBTQ rights -- fighters for freedom, against ethnic cleansing, racism, oppression -- in Congress even have time for oversight on this? Will anyone have time to watch the hearings? /9
Will anyone even scream and yell about what it will mean if the United States Department of State issues a report abandoning certain rights as the responsibility of governments to protect?
Anyone with nothing to say here shouldn't be running for president in 2020 /10
Anyone with nothing to say here shouldn't be running for president in 2020 /10
Meanwhile:
2 -- USAID has assigned itself the absolutely vital task of whole-of-society resilience building to counter malign Kremlin influence.
But Molly, you say, why complain about this? I'm not complaining. Good on them. BUT -- /11
2 -- USAID has assigned itself the absolutely vital task of whole-of-society resilience building to counter malign Kremlin influence.
But Molly, you say, why complain about this? I'm not complaining. Good on them. BUT -- /11
The authorities required to do much of this do not reside in AID.
Many of the countries where this work will be most vital -- in much of Europe, for example -- are not AID nations, as they are not AID recipients.
So what does that mean?
/12
Many of the countries where this work will be most vital -- in much of Europe, for example -- are not AID nations, as they are not AID recipients.
So what does that mean?
/12
It means the plan is in the wrong place. Great intentions. But it's been pushed way down stream until it is so far from WH that no one will tweet about it. Partner countries who we most need to creatively engage--African/Arab nations, Latin Am, Asia-- won't take it seriously. /13
And that's a damn shame. /14
Across the river now:
3 -- the Pentagon is missing confirmed appointees for 20 top civilian defense jobs, including SECDEF.
As we've seen th past few weeks, this leaves the transmission of desires/opinions from POTUS to the military less filtered./15
3 -- the Pentagon is missing confirmed appointees for 20 top civilian defense jobs, including SECDEF.
As we've seen th past few weeks, this leaves the transmission of desires/opinions from POTUS to the military less filtered./15
It's talked about far less, but there isn't exactly smooth sailing on military appointments either. It reflects the chaos on the other side.
/16
cnn.com/2019/07/07/pol…
/16
cnn.com/2019/07/07/pol…
Many people in DC reassure you -- no, it's fine, Joe & Katie (names fictionalized for their protection) went over to the Pentagon, we know people there, it's fine!
It's not fine. The military is pressing ahead with vital deployments, planning, innovation. Lots of good stuff /17
It's not fine. The military is pressing ahead with vital deployments, planning, innovation. Lots of good stuff /17
It is rendered meaningless by the lack of strategy, policy, or consistency, and the ability of the POTUS to erase it all with a mood and a tweet. /18
Which points to
4 -- story of POTUS outburst at UK ambo in DC is big stupid news today. What won't be discussed: his continual outbursts hurt our intelligence sharing relationships & makes them dependent on happy talk & personalities. This is madness. It makes us less safe. /19
4 -- story of POTUS outburst at UK ambo in DC is big stupid news today. What won't be discussed: his continual outbursts hurt our intelligence sharing relationships & makes them dependent on happy talk & personalities. This is madness. It makes us less safe. /19
All forward motion is wild and out of control.
In any agency, there is this stress on mission, imbalance of authorities, good people doing their damnedest to bridge critical gaps while suffocating under personality projects and tweets that erase their work /20
In any agency, there is this stress on mission, imbalance of authorities, good people doing their damnedest to bridge critical gaps while suffocating under personality projects and tweets that erase their work /20
It matters. It matters we are arming our civil servants with paper shields and telling them to fights powerful enemies; and it matters that we're using others to fight wars of political ideology with government resources.
/21
/21
It's like a neverending Rube Goldberg machine -- one wild trick kicks off the next, but no one knows if it ends with a pie in the face or a burst of confetti.
Happy Monday. /22
Happy Monday. /22
Oh, and P.S. The head of the El Paso border patrol division said this morning that detained migrant children are dirty because no one has ever taught them to shower or brush their teeth, essentially implying they are animals. And this isn't even news anymore. /23
