Thread by @RachelBitecofer

1. I assume McConnell et al have given up on being challenged, let alone exposed by the Ds, for the stuff he's done in the Senate.

It's the only explanation for the brazenness of his actions, his aggressive douchebaggery. I know I handicap Ds for political stuff- he must too.

2. We watch the same movie. Liberals, the media, Ds, all love the narrative that Rs are unwitting victims, caught up in this shit show with no choice but to toe the line or become Trump's next victim. It's a comforting narrative- which is why its by far the prevailing one.

3. Its comforting bc if congressional Rs are just hapless victims, caught up in this terrible 4-year show, that means that when the show ends, and thank the good lord we now know it's going to have an end on Jan. 20th, at high noon, when a ceremony will deliver the oath of office

4. to Joe Biden & in so doing, remove Trump's powers. Despite lowering the danger quotient tremendously, a thing I await anxiously, removing Trump's pres powers will not change the harsh truth that liberals have worked hard to hide from even themselves for the course of the Trump

5. presidency: many elected Republicans, R grassroots groups, Rs active in the party's judicial orgs, and R consultants could stomach casting a majority vote winner aside and stealing an election. Sure, they'd need their fairy tales to point to in order to gaslight themselves,

6. each other, and their voters, but the point is, they could do it. They WOULD do it. That's where we're at folks. WE need to see it for all its ugly truth if we're going to successfully defuse it and ensure that we don't end up down that path. BC the GOP is very, very good.

7. what we're looking at, coming up, is an all hands on deck moment for democracy bc although Trump was a product of, and therefore NOT a cause of, polarization, he was/is a polarization/hyperpartisanship accelerant. And he's taught me a lot about mental health. Not only about

8. specific mental health diseases that plague people & turn them into ranting lunatics who think they are God's Gift to ____. No. He taught me about the widespread capabilities a party like the GOP has once they turn on a spigot like the spigot of their right-wing media machine

9. to psychologically manipulate their voters, to confuse them, to hurt them so they can be bent to your purpose. I often say that now I understand how Germany fell to nazism- an ideology that seized on the pain & economic malaise of the post-war population via intentionally

10. framed and worded news coverage and speeches that fit like a balm on the spiritual and economic "wounds" of Germans, slowly eating into their brains with fears about their Jewish neighbors so that by the time they started to disappear, one by one, their Aryan German neighbors

11. were more relieved than concerned. The dehumanization process of Jews in WWII had always seemed impossible even though it had clearly happened, but the Trump presidency & the "all-in" support of Republican electeds exposed how very, very easy it is for a country to fall to

12. such mechanisms. So people must resist the urge to think the problem will be solved w Trump's exit. I certainly hope the GOP will have a "come to Jesus" moment and assess where they are going with the support of racist and bigoted policies & goals like limited voting access.

13. There is a chunk of the party that believes abandoning democracy is their best approach and I expect that part of the party to be vibrant this session. There needs to be much more sunlight on what is happening within the GOP outside of Trump, and reckoning on the behavior

14. they've embraced. But the idea that this party is simply being taken somewhere they don't want to go is fundamentally wrong & that's why a lot of people are surprised that the Trump Team is not only trying to override a free & fair election but that almost the whole of the

15. Rep Party is behind Trump. Our troubles are significant and we'll need people to continue to stay engaged.