Thread 2, which is only sort of about today's news, but I think important. COVID has hurt our national empathy in ways that I think contributed to the crisis this week. We have a collective obligation to understand, and try to minimize further damage:
1/ This all started from a conversation with a colleague and friend on Monday. (She didn't consent to be ID'd, so forgive my anonymity). Point is this was 2 days before the seditious acts of terrorism that happened yesterday.
2/ She noted that everyone in her district was "going to their corners" and getting ready for a fight. Not because they were bad, but because our months of quarantine have kept us from spending time with people different from ourselves.
3/ From a public health perspective that is good, and necessary and righteous! But something is lost. We quarantine with people who are genetically, ethically, spiritually a lot like us.
4/ Pre-COVID, we went to religious services, and townhalls, and concerts and ballgames with people who spanned the gamut of experience. We had daily reminders of our common humanity with people who were otherwise different.
5/ But post-COVID, the public health bubbles we must keep have become the analog equivalent of digital echo chambers. We don't get on that train full of saints, sinners, losers, winners, whores, gamblers, and lost souls. We're isolated among our own kind.
6/ Meanwhile, the preachers have lost their pulpits. Political leaders have lost their townhalls. Musicians have lost their stages. The people who's job it is to remind us of our common humanity that we so desperately need to be reminded of have lost their toolbox.
7/ This is how it must be until we get this damned virus under control. But until we do, those moments that used to dull our rougher edges have been replaced with bubbles that sharpen the same corners. None of us are immune.
8/ The fix is the vaccine, social distancing and masks. There are no shortcuts. But until then, at least recognize that all of us are - however inadvertently - a little less open, and less tolerant than we were when circumstances gave us more opportunities to cross-pollinate.
9/ No matter how good, saintly and empathetic you are... you have not exercised those muscles as much as you normally do. Be aware. Love a little harder than you might otherwise. Listen a little longer. Be a little more flexible.

We're all on this train. All aboard. /fin

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More from @SeanCasten

10 Jan
American citizens and businesses depend on the protections of the rule of law and our democracy. They also donate to candidates. Let's get a movement going to #DefundTheSeditionists. Thread follows to help you identify who pressure your employer to pull their support from:
1/ Here's a list of the Members of Congress who signed onto the Amicus Brief to throw out the results in GA, PA, WI, MI. projects.propublica.org/represent/memb…
2/ Here's the list of the 121 members who voted "Yea" to throw out the results of the Arizona election AFTER terrorists stormed the Capitol to do the same. clerk.house.gov/evs/2021/roll0…
Read 22 tweets
10 Jan
126 members of the @HouseGOP asked SCOTUS to throw out the results of democratic elections in GA, PA, WI and MI. 121 members voted AFTER terrorists stormed the capital to throw out the results in AZ. Upon reflection, 138 voted to throw out the results in PA a few hours later.
This is not a small fringe. This is the majority of the @HouseGOP. They have consistently voted against democracy, even after terrorists stormed the capital, killing people to demand exactly the same thing.
In total, that is 173 members who signed onto at least one of those actions. 161 who are still seated in the 117th Congress.
Read 5 tweets
9 Jan
We really need to re-examine how we use the word "leadership" in DC. Leaders lead. People in leadership are sometimes cut from that cloth, and sometimes are just good at getting in leadership positions. @GOPLeader is of the latter cohort. politico.com/news/2021/01/0…
1/ We need the former but the @GOP is doomed by the latter. Keep in mind that AFTER the attack Wednesday, 57% of the House GOP voted to affirm the will of the terrorists and overturn a democratic election in AZ.
2/ A few hours later as we'd learned a bit more about the scope of what happened, that number INCREASED. 65% of the House @GOP voted with the terrorists to throw out the results of a democratic election in PA.
Read 8 tweets
8 Jan
Thread 1 that has nothing to do with the new du jour: Some legislation I was glad to get into the NDAA and signed into law with my friend and (sadly) former colleague, @RepRiggleman casten.house.gov/media/press-re…
1/ As you know, I spent most of my prior life running companies, most of which were structured as LLCs. There is a lot of structural and financial flexibility that comes from that structure. But they can be abused by the immoral to hide otherwise illegal transactions.
2/ @RepMaloney has long been a leader on this issue and was really happy to see her (LONG!) commitment to mandating disclosure of beneficial ownership finally pass into law at the end of the last session. maloney.house.gov/media-center/i…
Read 6 tweets
5 Jan
This is anti-scientific and on-brand, but really problematic from the Trump EPA. It's going to be critical to undo this as soon as we get the new administration sworn in and no longer have to fight in Congress to defend the enlightenment. Brief thread: nytimes.com/2021/01/04/cli…
1/ Do not be fooled by the title. This rule would prevent most public health data from being used to write environmental rules, and thereby intentionally limit EPA's knowledge.
2/ As the NYT article notes, this idea was initially developed by Chris Horner in 1996, then a lobbyist for Big Tobacco who recommended they should "address process rather than scientific substance".
Read 7 tweets
2 Jan
The peaceful transfer of power is a hallmark of mature democracies. It is a distinguishing feature of our 244+ year old experiment. Those Members of Congress who oppose the electoral college tomorrow are not just casting a vote of conscience: they are attacking democracy itself.
1/ This threat cannot be overstated. These individuals won their office through democratic elections and now intend to use their power to subvert that self-same system. They are rodents who have burrowed into our government and trying to subvert it from within.
2/ Upon their vote tomorrow, they will have demonstrated their failure to be entrusted with the responsibility that this job demands. It behooves us all not to grant them any respect or power that is normally afforded to those who would seek that responsibility.
Read 6 tweets

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