Thread by @l78lancer

Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Mitt Romney, Pat Roberts, Cory Gardner, Tom Tillis, Martha McSally, Steve Daines, John Thune, John Barrasso, Roy Blunt.

They are members of what is supposed to be the most deliberative body on the face of the earth, the US Senate.

They are anything but.

The names above are some of the people who have already given a hard NO or are hedging their bets about attending the Republican convention. There will be many more to come from the senate, the house, and perhaps even some governors.

They are terrified.

It should be noted that although the Trump Presidency*** has festered and stunk like an untended mushroom farm right from the beginning, almost every single republican held their noses and smiled as if it was roses.

While they knew better, the republicans pretended that Trump was a different kind of president. His lack of experience at anything that would humanly qualify him for the job was falsely and ridiculously touted as a high and desirable attribute.

They knew they were lying to themselves as much as they were to the American people.

Then when he made bad decisions, was ignorant about or simply ignored policy, processes, procedures and the law itself, they essentially dismissed it saying he didn't know any better.

Nevertheless they persistently pretended that he was needed because he was a successful businessman and was the only one up to the task. There was no validation before nor has there been any since to substantiate that pretense.

It was basically an attempt to use something like affluenza to excuse the actions of an malfeasant, dangerous, doddering old man.

As Trump behaved like a wild, spoiled, petulant, criminal child, the republican party in its entirety looked on totally aloof and disconnectedly like doting but disinterested parents while their badassed, rotten child ran wild disrupting and vandalizing the entire neighborhood.

Now that Trump is clearly in political and electoral trouble, the #coronavirus disaster is going nowhere, the markets continue to be unstable, the economy still on the rocks, protests in the streets,...

...babies still locked up in cages, and Russians paying bounties for the assassination of US troops, they believe that they can simply step to the side and pretend they don't even know him.

Here's the problem with that hypothesis: It's a fact that republican voters are typically meaner, angrier, more organized and generally more committed to their causes and candidates than democrats.

They have historically used those qualities against democrats with precision, and devastating effect. They are vengeful, unforgiving, and have very long memories. The fight dirty. They throw mud. They deliberately hit below the belt. They don't mind going after friends or family.

Fortunately democrats tend to be more forward thinking and creative avoiding most of the traps. But for as much as they love to "own the Lib," this time around they can't - or more accurately, they won't and choose not to own the Libs - because too many republicans...

...are terminally pissed off at the republican party and at Trump himself. They believe they have been betrayed, embarrassed, and humiliated by their own party. Some see and readily admit that Trump is the incompetent, ignorant, and socially defective fool that he is.

They refuse to be in denial about it. Most of all, they believe that America, the Constitution and democracy itself has been sold out. Therefore, they have turned all of their energy and attention on their own party.

And while that angry contingent may not represent a majority of the GOP, they are a big and important enough cohort to cause real damage and destruction within their own party.

And, there will be hell to pay.

But let's not be confused or self-deceived. Those republicans will never become democrats, nor should they. At their very core they are conservatives and we will continue to disagree with them on fundamental philosophical and ideological issues.

Most of them has stated as much. And, that's okay. So we should not be naïve enough to lulled into believing they are our political friends. But we do have a set of common problems and we share the same existential threat from Trump himself.

So we as the democratic party really ought to focus on our priorities, and give they as much latitude as they need as they take on and dismantle their party without our interference. Neither should we be lulled into complacency believing that we have this in the bag. WE DON'T.

Voter suppression, electioneering and Russian interference are still very real. We need to focus on our candidates, policy, and platform.

Concrete plans for governance to rebuild this nation out of this chaotic, dysfunctional, hellhole of a pit The GOP has driven this nation into must be finalized.

And most of all, we must put in the work necessary to actually win. We have just one shot to get this right.

We don't have the luxury of cockiness, laziness or arrogance. We have to learn from our past mistakes. That's not an idle platitude. It's a matter of national survival.

So for the republicans representatives, senators and governors who are up for election and are now quietly distancing yourselves from Trump as if no one in America noticed your complicity with a disastrous megalomaniac, your days are numbered.

Your are every be as culpable for the State of the Union as as Trump. You can avoid his rallies, stay away from the RNC Convention, and otherwise pretend that Trump no longer exists while you pretend to be invisible.

You will lose. Many of you will be removed. Your party will likely be destroyed. And you've accomplished it all on your own.

So when you decide to be victims, or martyrs or however you choose to lament the rescission of your position, power and privileges remember to ask yourself this:

Was supporting pure greed, racist hatred, gender-based warfare, oppression of the working class, humiliation and loss of international influence,...

...permanent loss of political power, selling your souls and, more importantly, the soul of America in exchange for your the tax cuts, incompetent conservative judges, and demolition of regulations at any costs really worth it?

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