On @NewDay, widow of police officer who died of COVID, on POTUS recovering from COVID:
“...and I thought then, wow, he could really show a human side. Well, I didn’t really think that. I would be silly to think that... He’s really spitting on all these loved ones graves... /1
...He had a choice to be more human and to show empathy. But it’s not possible for him to show empathy. I don’t think he can feel that emotion. He only thinks of one person, and that’s himself... He hasn’t called me to wish me his sympathies... /2
... I’ve heard from the governor of New Jersey. I’ve heard from Joe Biden. They showing empathy and caring and kindness, and that’s really lacking in the president.” /3
On Biden call: “It was like talking to a friend. It was late, 11:30. And we chatted for 20 min. There’s not a lot of highlights in my days recently, & that was definitely a highlight. He’s a kind caring guy, & that’s to me a huge piece of what we need right now in the WH.” /4
If POTUS called?
“I think I’d hang up. I’m sorry. I don’t think I could say the words I would want to say to him. I know his words wouldn’t really be genuine, so they wouldn’t really mean anything. At all. He’s spoken with his actions. And actions speak louder than words.” /5
Americans deserves better. It’s really not more complicated than that. /6
On Monday, DoJ unsealed the indictment of 6 hackers from Russia’s GRU for “worldwide deployment of destructive malware and other disruptive actions in cyberspace.” /2
It connected the dots between a wide array of cyberattacks over the past 5 years, which happened in France, Ukraine, Georgia, South Korea, the US, and the UK.
The indictment made clear that a multi-nation intelligence effort helped attribute these attacks to the GRU /3
Pretty much EVERYTHING that every disinformation watcher warned you was going to happen is happening (except deepfakes):
1-malign foreign interference continues
2-POTUS drumming up rumors of election fraud and rigged results
3-“poll-watching” will add to the mess+intimidation /2
4-fears of inevitable violence and unrest are amplified from all directions
5-spurious Biden health rumors
6-Russia, others amplifying our attacks on each other instead of making their own
7-POTUS wackadoo conspiracies-of-the-day are getting way more extreme, pro QAnon /3
Strong intv today w/ @ABlinken on the foreign policy of a Biden presidency:
“America & liberal democracy remain the system of choice for people who can choose. And I think if anything what the last 4 years have shown is not their failure, but rather how important they are.../1
... to the strength of our democracy, and the vitality of our leadership is to our own country and the world.” /2
On engaging China from a position of strength:
“How do we put ourselves in a position of strength from which to engage China so the relationship moves forward more on our terms than it does theirs. And here’s the problem... /3
It’s truly hilarious watching conservatives lose their minds about the “repression of conservative speech on Facebook and Twitter” because they seem to have forgotten that Donald Trump is only president because of Facebook and Twitter.
Oh, are they finally ready to stop clowning in hearings and wasting time asking about bullshit conspiracies and Alex Jones and whatever, and actually show up to real hearings about how to regulate this nightmare? Cool. They weren’t before when social was the lifeblood of Trump.
Yes, let’s have an adult conversation about the nightmarish power of these platforms, which we in part have come to understand because they helped make Trump president and act as his conduit for comms every day. Let’s talk about social control and behavioral influence.
Some updates from the covid townhall in my dad’s county in Idaho (which is like the one blue-ish county). I wonder how representative this is of other places that are less transparent and responsibly-led.
Current number of cases higher than in early months of serious spike
This is a resort area, so there’s great sensitivity to the “keep the economy open” idea, bc otherwise the whole area is toast
Emergency room lead says it’s bad enough to “only do essential errands, & if someone walks into where you are without a mask, leave. Leave immediately.”
The only hospital in the county is full. So are the neighboring ones. They don’t have options on airlifting people out because to where? No one knows.
Lots of questions on testing. There’s only one lab doing the processing in Idaho so it’s slow.
POTUS:
-refused to denounce QAnon
-says his RT of bin Laden conspiracy is 👍
-refuses to say he won’t claim elex rigged, spreads disinfo
-references Russian campaign agst Biden as important
-claims Obama spied on him despite failure to find any evidence
That’s minute 20
It’s a firehose of angry falsehoods, and I’m not going to post more
He’s angry and combative
Biden is engaging and gracious and informed
Ok sigh
POTUS says his $421mil foreign debt doesn’t matter. Like a mortgage, no biggie 🙄
Pivots to usual nonsense about IRS demons and his actual massive wealth that no one has ever seen