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David Rothkopf Profile picture
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31 Dec 20, 5 tweets, 1 min read
140 elected members of Congress who have publicly stated they will seek to overturn the results of an election judged free and fair by every single court or legal authority that has examined it. It is a devastating and profoundly dangerous development.
The GOP is now actively opposed to democracy, our Constitution and our values. Under Donald Trump it has become America's first fascist party. Overstatement. Consider the dictionary definition from Meriam-Webster:
"A political philosophy, movement, or regime that exalts nation & often race above the individual & that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic & social regimentation, & forcible suppression of opposition."
The second definition is: "A tendency toward or actual exercise of strong autocratic or dictatorial control."

Find the overstatement in that. It fits Trump, Trumpism and the supporters of this attempted coup. That's where we are on this, the last day of 2020.
They were soundly defeated in November. They will not succeed in their attempt to steal the election and disenfranchise 81 million Americans next week. But they are now a formal, major, threatening force in American politics.

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More from @djrothkopf

David Rothkopf Profile picture
27 Dec 20
@ianbremmer With respect, it's not that simple. For decades the right have been engineering institutional changes (gerrymandering, packing courts, working to take over legislatures, increasing the corporate money flows through Citizens United etc., suppressing votes, etc.)...
@ianbremmer They have worked hard to enable a minority to gain influence (abetted by flaws in our Constitution). Since the elimination of the fairness doctrine and pulling strings to help Murdoch gain his US licenses during Reagan, they have created an alternative reality media bubble.
@ianbremmer And they have actively promoted policies that increased the power and wealth of their sponsors among the few and promoted division below. Have the needs of regular Americans been ignored? Of course. Look at our social safety nets compared to every other developed country.
Read 5 tweets
David Rothkopf Profile picture
27 Dec 20
Take a moment and try in your mind and in your heart to calculate the enormity of the human suffering created by the failure of our government to rise to the challenge of this COVID crisis, a failure fed by their greed, self-interest and willful ignorance.
Try to imagine the hundreds of thousands dead, the millions among their immediate families and friends, the tens of millions who have lost their jobs or suffered economically, gone hungry, gone to bed wracked with anxiety about what tomorrow will bring.
Imagine if it was you and your family. Perhaps it has been. Then imagine another and another. When does your mind start to boggle. After how many deaths, how much loss, how much fear, how much apprehension and uncertainty?
Read 7 tweets
David Rothkopf Profile picture
24 Dec 20
So, we have a little holiday treat from @DeepStateRadio. Some of the liveliest conversations about politics & the world take place in the kitchen. So we thought we would try an experiment-listening to 2 very smart people talk about our crazy times while actually baking together.
The recipe is simple: Take one brilliant comedian known for letting the world know what she thinks, one former food writer for The NY Times & Newsweek who is also a baker and journalism professor, and let them dissect everything from Trump to the Kardashians.
Oh, and let them bake lemon bars despite one of the participants being way too famous to actually know much about baking. The result is the pilot for #TheSecretLifeofCookies featuring the wonderful @kathygriffin & my also great sister @MarissaRothkopf. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/too…
Read 4 tweets
David Rothkopf Profile picture
19 Dec 20
As others have observed, the ideology of the GOP has become about one thing only: maintaining power. For them that single goal transcends values, historical traditions, decency, ethics & the law. So the important question to ask is "why?"
Power has always been attractive & offered rich benefits to the powerful. But in our system, power is held not by parties or individuals but by the people In a 2-party system the idea was that to reflect the will of the people power might shift back & forth between parties.
But it is clear that the GOP feels they no longer can hold onto power within that system. The electorate is changing. The times are changing. Their ideologies have no place in America's future. So they are turning to illegal means to hold onto power...
Read 4 tweets
David Rothkopf Profile picture
19 Dec 20
Bigger scandal? The failure of the admin to develop & implement an effective plan for distributing the vaccine? Holding back vaccine supplies from blue states? Continuing failure to have a plan to contain the virus? Failure of Congress to assist those devastated by pandemic?
The president's silence & inaction in the face of this unprecedented disaster largely of his making? Or the president's silence and inaction in the face of what may be the larger cyber attack in US history? His silence--yet again--to criticize or penalize Russia for the attack?
Wait, what about the on-going coup attempt by Trump and his supporters? Might it be the breaking news that Kushner siphoned off campaign funds for distribution to the Trump clan? Or, possibly, will it be the waves of pardons for the undeserving and corrupt Trump will initiate?
Read 4 tweets
David Rothkopf Profile picture
18 Dec 20
When I think of the suffering & pain caused by Trump, Pence, Kushner and their regime, when I think of those who have died or suffered due to their selfishness & calculated cruelty, I have to admit, I don't feel that charitable about them cutting to the front of the vaccine line.
Yes, it is good to have examples of leaders embracing the vaccine. But when those same "leaders" minimize the threat of the pandemic and refuse to do the bare minimum such as wearing a mask to send a message of decency to their followers, they don't qualify for the assignment.
The display is one of grotesque hypocrisy made worse by them claiming credit for the vaccines (which they are not due--Pfizer were not part of Operation Warp Speed and they have made some terrible management decisions about ordering vaccines and preparing for their distribution).
Read 5 tweets

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