I’m going to try to tie together a few disparate lines of conversation that have spun off from a thread written when @radiofreetom criticized the Dems for celebrating the signing of the impeachment articles. A few relevant tweets to that thread include: 1/
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People responded with agreement…. 6/
People responded with disagreement… 7/
A combination of both…. 8/
And confusion…..9/
I thought about it for a while and here are my observations: Yes, the Right will find or make something up to distract their viewers/supporters from the gravity of reality. 10/
For example, I was listening to Chris Plante (a Rush Limbaugh wannabe) on what I believe may have been the day that Michael Cohen implicated Trump breaking campaign finance laws, and Plante led his show off with a rant about dog sh*t in (“Liberal”) San Francisco. 11/
And yes, as someone mentioned, the Right will still make things up as they did when they accused Democrats of loving/mourning terrorists. 12/
The Left can’t control that, because even if the Right is not provided “ammunition”, they will obsess about some peripheral issue to distract from Trump’s corruption (Parnas’ claims)… 13/
….but the Left can control/avoid creating legitimate-appearing talking points that allow people like @greggutfeld to distract/deflect by feigning outrage and overdramatizing
the event to keep Fox's viewers from focusing on Trump’s corruption/evidence. 14/newsweek.com/fox-news-gutfe…
the event to keep Fox's viewers from focusing on Trump’s corruption/evidence. 14/newsweek.com/fox-news-gutfe…
I learned this first hand when someone close to me read a thread where, despite reading relevant/important information about the effect of Trump’s “Trickle Down Pathology”,…. 15/
….she couldn’t get past the fact that I had used @MichaelCohen212’s testimony (about Trump’s presidential campaign being the greatest infomercial in history) to make a “MAGA-owning”, Vince Wow reference… 16/
Similarly, this is what's happened w/the pen give away: a grave, historical event was completely dismissed over the appearance of a celebratory signing…..which was surprising considering Pelosi gave a scolding, “shut the f*ck up” stare when Dems cheered the Impeachment vote. 17/ 
Pelosi’s stare was the proper tone, b/c regardless of how people feel about Trump getting removed, there are no winners: democracy’s been damaged, climate change advanced, national discourse deteriorated, the assault on truth & objective reality has put both on life support. 18/
In a tweet above, @theRickWilson was mentioned. I listened to @sykescharlie’s interview of Wilson on the @Bulwarkonline podcast. I think there are several take aways from Wilson. 19/
First, Wilson has played a valuable role in opposing Trump because few people have both the incisive intellect and the fearlessness to attack the Right/Trump the way he does. Second, as Wilson admits, he’s not a policy guy,…he’s a "results" guy who only cared about winning…20/
Consequently, Wilson made a living utilizing/exploiting “the ends justify the means” philosophies….and as others, and Wilson himself point out…he, others like him, and their exploitive, mercenary-style political tactics have greatly contributed to getting us into this mess. 21/
One of the given justifications for adopting the Right’s tactics is to prevent the destruction of our institutions and democracy. Well, winning by adopting the Right’s tactics doesn’t prevent that from happening, it guarantees it…
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…and similarly, sacrificing institutional/constitutional/personal integrity doesn’t prevent the Right from wielding anarchic/authoritarian power….it only delays it…
....because by adopting the Right’s tactics,….
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....because by adopting the Right’s tactics,….
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…the Left will have become willing accomplices whose endorsement of the Right’s corrupt, “the ends justify the means” tactics will virtually guarantee that this will be the “normal course of political business” going forward…. 24/
That being said, the main takeaway from Wilson is that the Democrats have to change SOME strategies (and become tougher/less sensitive) to save the country from Trump and the self-immolating Right. 25/
I may lose some people with a sports analogy/anecdote, but here is my main take away from Wilson…..in football there is phrase used to describe aggressive, full out effort: “play through the echo of the whistle”. What does this phrase mean? 26/
…It means you don’t let up when the whistle begins to blow…but that you play aggressively through the completion (echo) of the whistle. You don’t play past it, you don’t break rules, and you don’t disrespect yourself, your team, your coaches, or the “sport” by playing dirty.27/
…It means that if some guy on the other team is standing around, taking it easy, shutting it down before the play is over, or just simply being lazy and taking a play off…..then you unload on him and you take his ass apart. 28/
I played a decade of football through college (DIII). I often succeeded against much bigger and much more athletic guys because of what I call “T-n-T”: Technique and Tenacity. In this political context,....29/
…..corruption/pathology have given the Right/Trump a metaphorical size/athleticism advantage.The Left must “play” tenaciously through the “echo of the whistle”, but the technique must respect the rules of the “game” (institutions/rule of law/constitution/integrity/character).30/
Being snarky, and attempting to “own the MAGAs” does not advance the objective. It’s simply self-gratuitous, short-term, emotional gratification. The Right does this. It’s self-defeating and counterproductive.31/
A perfect example/model to follow is Adam Schiff’s spot-on tone during the hearings: aggressive, unrelenting, firm, stern, principled, and responsive without being reactionary. He was tenacious, but his technique stayed within the “echo of the whistle”: 32/
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