The party that couldn't find the courage to stand up to Gingrich's anti-intellectual nihilism got captured by the Tea Party.
The party that couldn't find the courage to stand up to the Tea Party's anti-intellectual populism got captured by Trump.
The party that lacks the courage to stand up to Trump's anti-intellectual racism is on track to get captured by QAnon.
Do not look to them for courage. Do not look to them for leadership. This is the result of a 30 year process that has selected for anti-intellectual obedience. They are who they are.
The American people are better. Thats why the @GOP can't win democratic elections. Their power comes only from those institutions that do not reflect the popular will. (Senate, Electoral College, and if they get their way, SCOTUS)
So don't lose faith in America. But we must bring to account every single @GOP official who contributed to this moment. Our 244 year experiment is on the ballot this election, because defending democracy has become partisan.
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Trump's nominee to be DOE secretary may be ignorant or intentionally wrong. But this video (which you should watch all of) consistently confuses upstream and downstream energy in an effort to suggest that climate change isn't a concern.
1. You would get laughed out of a room if you said that access to transportation depends on iron ore production, or nutrition depends on annual grain harvests. People understand that deweighting cars, reducing waste in the food distribution system is a net positive. And yet...
2. Wright would have you believe that access to heat, light and power (a net positive) = natural gas production. As a fracker, he has a $ interest in confusing those two things. But the world is richer, not poorer if we can deliver more useful energy with less fossil input.
My primary thought on the election, after a week to reflect: We have to face up to some hard, uncomfortable truths about who we are. But we also have the opportunity to run headlong towards the nobility that accrues to to those who commit themselves to making us better. Thread:
1. I was speaking to a group earlier this week and noted that my Mt. Rushmore of writers about America is de Tocqueville, Baldwin, Paine and Douglass. It is not coincidental that all of them were outsiders. They understand America's unique defects AND it's unique potential.
2. I'm thinking specifically today of de Tocqueville's observation that "the greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults." The time has come for us to be great.
A quick thread on Trump's Project 2025 thing that's been on my mind. It's not just Trump's agenda. It's the agenda of the entire @GOP. A small deep dive:
1. I want to focus very narrowly on the Financial regulation section because I've served on the committee of jurisdiction for 6 years. So much of the P2025 plan has already been introduced by @HouseGOP members. It's what they'd do if they controlled all 3 branches.
@HouseGOP 2. For example, P2025 says we should eliminate the Consumer Financial Protection Board (you know, so that businesses can abuse consumers more easily.)
Let's talk US immigration policy. As JD Vance admits to lying so he can gin up the xenophobes and the @HouseGOP keeps bringing bills to the floor that claim to solve imaginary problems, we've got to understand the real data, and real issues. Thread:
1. First, the idea that immigrants are prone to criminality has ALWAYS been used to argue against immigration and has never been true. Immigrants - especially undocumented ones - are consistently vastly more law-abiding than the general population. nij.ojp.gov/topics/article…
2. This makes intuitive sense. Whatever drove one to leave their home, their social network, their culture, their language and start a new life in the United States, the more precarious you are in that new life the less likely you are to do something that could send you back.
I promised I'd say more about this. We need to talk about the financial regulation portions Trump's Project 2025 and why they are inimical to capitalism, free markets and would destroy the US economy. Thread:
1. Prebuttal to everyone about to chime in with "Trump said he's not associated with it!" I don't know how to break this to you but Trump is a liar. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me 356,782 times, shame on me. It's his people writing policies for him. Move along.
2. First, you need to understand that our modern financial regulatory system was essentially created in response to crises. Banks, capital markets, etc. are always prone to abuses; insufficient deposits, lack of consumer protection, withholding information from investors, etc.
I am often critical of the @HouseGOP for their incompetence, absence of any abiding moral compass and hostility to democracy. But this week, they deserve praise for their nationwide message discipline during “anti-woke week”. Thread:
1. The floor agenda this week was dedicated to “anti-wokeism”. The purpose was to explain to the world why they support companies right to discriminate, ignore climate science and embrace bad governance - and own the media cycle. Did they ever. news.bgov.com/bloomberg-gove…
2. My first sense that this was a nationally coordinated program was when my little-known @GOP opponent used most of a media interview on Monday to double down on JD Vance’s racism, suggesting that she had personally seen “brown skinned people” eating pets.