Thread by @kurteichenwald

1. As I watch GOPrs like @RepLizCheney and @michaelcburgess flail wildly to irrationally blame democrats for the disaster in Syria, and cowards like @marcorubio unable to say a word about Trump, I now fear the once unthinkable:

Will our nation ever have another election?...

@RepLizCheney @michaelcburgess @marcorubio 2...I always believed in the Constitution. I always believed we had a bedrock to protect us from the danger of the collapse of democracy, but I no longer believe we are safe. The @GOP is lawless, willing to blithely violate the Constitution and Supreme Court precedent when...

@RepLizCheney @michaelcburgess @marcorubio @GOP 3...they choose. It all began with #MoscowMitch @senatemajldr refusing to give a Supreme Court nominee a hearing based on made-up standards, as if the Constitution was some Senate rule that could be violated with cleverness. A White House ignores Congressional subpoenas, and...

@RepLizCheney @michaelcburgess @marcorubio @GOP @senatemajldr 4...the @GOP does not care, does not worry that this is a violation of rock-solid Supreme Court precedent. They are willing to abandon co-equal branches of government because it gives them more power. They are willing to allow almost every cabinet member to be "acting" to....

@RepLizCheney @michaelcburgess @marcorubio @GOP @senatemajldr 5...break the Constitutional requirement of advise and consent, when everyone including them knows that the "acting" designation is a game to get past the Constitution, they are willing to allow the emoluments clause to be thrown in the trash....

@RepLizCheney @michaelcburgess @marcorubio @GOP @senatemajldr 6...they are willing to tolerate obstruction of justice found by an independent counsel without even holding a hearing, they are willing to allow the president to ignore the requirements and statements of our founders to fight aggressively to keep foreign influence out of our...

@RepLizCheney @michaelcburgess @marcorubio @GOP @senatemajldr 7...elections, they are willing to attack the news media as corrupt and lying whenever it reports anything they don't like, they are willing to support pure propaganda and lies if it benefits them. The list goes on and on and on. It is horrifying to watch....

@RepLizCheney @michaelcburgess @marcorubio @GOP @senatemajldr 8...democracy dies in bits and pieces. As each new abandonment of Constitutional requirements appears, I think "This time they will react." But no. They go on television, lie, and defend the indefensible. And like the apparatchiks of every authoritarian regime, they blame...

@RepLizCheney @michaelcburgess @marcorubio @GOP @senatemajldr 9...anyone who disagrees with them - irrationally, without hesitation - to justify the breach of our constitution.

I can see it coming. We all can see it coming. Trump will not accept an election where he is defeated. He made that clear in 2016, but now he has the power...

@RepLizCheney @michaelcburgess @marcorubio @GOP @senatemajldr 10...to do something about it. Could he cancel the election? Declare it invalid if he loses? Declare the vote of the electoral college to be unconstitutional? Who knows? There never is any rational justification to these violations.

Until today, I believed that the GOP...

@RepLizCheney @michaelcburgess @marcorubio @GOP @senatemajldr 11..would be a solid wall against Trump if he declares the election somehow invalid. The only thing that could stop him is the requirement of the Constitution about turn over of power on January 20 at noon. But these people find way after way after way to violate the basic....

@RepLizCheney @michaelcburgess @marcorubio @GOP @senatemajldr 12...rules and standards of the constitution, and then justify it.

I can see the Republicans now: "Well, of course the election had to be canceled, and we should thank President Trump, because the democrats wouldn't build the wall so now millions of illegal aliens will vote..."

@RepLizCheney @michaelcburgess @marcorubio @GOP @senatemajldr 13..."so it will not be a legitimate election until we rid this country of everyone who is here illegally." Or some such nonsense. And Fox will rebroadcast and rebroadcast and the brainwashed will buy it.

Yes, it seems impossible, irrational. But so is so much of what has...

@RepLizCheney @michaelcburgess @marcorubio @GOP @senatemajldr 14...been said to justify the abandonment of the Constitution. Take impeachment: We all know what is coming. If there is an impeachment, it will go to the Senate, there will be no hearing, there will be an immediate vote, and on they go. They will authorize a clear obsruction...

@RepLizCheney @michaelcburgess @marcorubio @GOP @senatemajldr 15...of Congress by Trump refusal to abide by subpoenas, and wont even allow a discussion of it, like apparatchiks of an autocracy would. We can see the explanation, "This was all political, and yes, Trump refused to abide by subpoenas, but that was because the impeachment was...

@RepLizCheney @michaelcburgess @marcorubio @GOP @senatemajldr 16...invalid" - thus creating the new standard that, if the president declares the impeachment invalid, well, it is. A president is judge and jury, and the Senate can abandon its constitutional responsibilities, go through a pretend "impeachment trial" and move on.

Syria is...

@RepLizCheney @michaelcburgess @marcorubio @GOP @senatemajldr 17...in collapse. Our allies are being slaughtered. It is the direct consequence of the actions of Trump, whose conflict of interest with Turkey involves millions of dollars a year poured into his pockets from that country. *Any rational person would condemn this decision...."

@RepLizCheney @michaelcburgess @marcorubio @GOP @senatemajldr 18...but rather than stating the obvious, @RepLizCheney blames democrats because there are impeachment proceedings because - of course - having a president seek the assistance of a foreign government to interfere with an election is fine, and what is wrong is condemning that....

@RepLizCheney @michaelcburgess @marcorubio @GOP @senatemajldr 18...yes, Turkey - which has been chomping at the bit to invade for years, so much so that we have been negotiating arrangements - *which included the Kurds taking down some defensive positions* - but no, Turkey didn't invade because of the decision Trump made that HE said...

@RepLizCheney @michaelcburgess @marcorubio @GOP @senatemajldr 19..would immediately lead to invasion. No, it's not that Trump gave the green light. It's that, in @RepLizCheney and @GOP fantasy land, because of impeachment proceedings, because Turkey only would do what Trump gave them the power to do because Trump is facing impeachment....

@RepLizCheney @michaelcburgess @marcorubio @GOP @senatemajldr 20...what kind of psychopath says such a thing? What kind of idiot says, like @michaelcburgess did, that the problem is not what Trump did, but that Congress is out of town. What kind of psychopath says, as @marcorubio did, that this is horrible, but not do a damn thing about...

@RepLizCheney @michaelcburgess @marcorubio @GOP @senatemajldr 21...it, and not even have the guts to name Trump in his statements, while sitting in his suit in a comfortable, air-conditioned office, trembling in fear about possibly losing his job, while our allies are fighting to keep their families alive. Yes, not being a senator...

@RepLizCheney @michaelcburgess @marcorubio @GOP @senatemajldr 22...is more terrifying for cowards who allow a descent into autocracy - like @marcorubio - than to see allies' families wiped out.

So, do I believe if Trump does something to impede the election, that these liars who spit on the Constitution, will act to defend our democracy?..

@RepLizCheney @michaelcburgess @marcorubio @GOP @senatemajldr 23...not anymore, I dont. I fully believe we are on the precipice, closer to the end of democracy than we have ever been. I know that at least one-third of this nation would cheer that.

And then the Republicans will go on TV and declare that it was the right thing for....

@RepLizCheney @michaelcburgess @marcorubio @GOP @senatemajldr 24...there to be no election, that the only way to preserve democracy is to end the election, and - just like "acting" cabinet members and ignoring subpoenas- America will abide by long-recognized constitutional requirements when the Republican God-King declares he will./fin