Thread by @davereaboi

Has a single Russia Hoaxer grappled with the enormity of what they’ve done to civic life in America, all because they wanted to get rid of Trump at all costs?

Have any of them thought, “what if we’ve been wrong,” even once?

If so, I’d love to see it.

The same people who gravely warned about Putin and Russsia’s efforts to “sow discord” and “undermine our society” were—at that moment—going about doing exactly that, and on a scale that would be impossible for a foreign actor to match.

Democrats and the media calling Trump Hitler, a white nationalist or a dictator is completely insane (and rips the fabric of civil unity), but it’s of a different quality than calling him a *traitor*.

Even more darkly, the treason accusation green-lights the use of national security tools—created to fight foreign enemies—in domestic political disputes. And they did it.

There are dead-enders who turned Russia conspiracy theories into careers. They’re not about to be reflective of the damage they’ve done.

On Tv, there are makeup’ed puppets whose strings are controlled by executives chasing the rabid, lunatic audience they created.

What makes so many of us on the Right truly furious, though, are the voices from the establishment GOP commentariat who indulged the conspiracy theories—and then promptly forgot about having done so. They just moved on to focus on the media’s other daily outrages.

Ok, so you fell for it. You hated Trump, and the allegation he was in league with Putin and Russia hit your sweet spot: You could preen flamboyantly about authoritarianism. Good for you.

But if you backed-off covering the “scandal”—if you were, by the end—unconvinced of Trump/Russsia perfidy—why not come out on a responsible middle ground? “I hate Trump, but this hoax does immense damage.” That’s a view I can respect. Somehow it was possible from a few Lefties.