Thread by @kurteichenwald

Ive been speaking to friends who have been frightened by the events of 1/6. I will share here what I tell them.

This country had a cancer. Many of us were screaming about it. Not as many were willing to listen. On 1/6, the cancer was proven. We have begun chemotherapy.../1

...people in power werent willing to confront the problem out of discomfort in calling it what it is: Fascism. That word describes a political tactic & system. The GOP has become fascist. The 4 elements of fascism: 1. Organizing around a single strongman viewed as infallible.../2

...by his followers. 2. Hypernatiionalism. 3. Separation of those followers from reality through relentless use of propaganda that places them in a delusional world separated from fact. 4. Creation of "the other" - almost always liberals, immigrants, "socialists," minorities.../3

...I will now reveal a few things. I saw fascism rising two years ago as GOP leaders became more and more immersed in a delusional version of the world, whether from cynicism or cultism. Because of that, my family applied for German citizenship, just in case..../4

...by the time of the Ukraine impeachment, and GOP's behavior in the face of an obvious impeachable offense, the party's full immersion into lies and fantasy became complete. I discussed with members of my family that, if Trump won, we needed to flee the country. Hitler's.../5

...time of rage came after his second election. I had no doubt that the fascism that had taken over the party would move their fascist leader to greater assaults on democracy and decency. Then Biden won, and I relaxed. But not for long. When GOP began openly repeating lies..../6

...of "voter fraud" and spinning endless conspiracy theories, my anxieties picked up. When many GOP congress members signed an amicus brief in support of the BS Texas suit before SCOTUS, I saw that the party was not just cynical, but a huge portion had become deluded. More.../7

...dangerous. Then announcments of fascists like @HawleyMO that they would oppose counting electoral college votes from certain states based on the lies being spun - the fantasy was striking at the heart of democracy. Last Monday, I told my family: We still may have to leave.../8

...that the fascism was still there, still growing, and that I did not believe the democrats or Biden fully understood what was happening in this country. It is hard to look at someone and say "fascist."

Thanks to 1/6, that's not true anymore..../9

...the lies that fuel fascism, the ones spread by people like @HawleyMO and @tedcruz, were exposed for their total danger. People were trying to decapitate our line of succession because of a lie about voter fraud pushed by those conniving senators, a madman, and fools.../10

...this is not fun and games. 1/6 was a terrible day in this country's history. But, even as it was happening, I told my family I was greatly relieved. We were experiencing, I told them that day, a "fasci-gasm." It was all being exposed, but the damage was going to be less..../11

...than I feared we'd suffer when the rise of fascism became undeniable through a single act. America's fascists had Kristalltag - day of broken windows, as @Schwarzenegger called it. There is no shame of calling it what it is anymore. It is no exaggeration or hyperbole..../12

...this is why the GOP propaganda tactics of deflection, denial, and whataboutism must be ignored with a forceful "Go fuck yourselves!" No, the leaders who inspired and instigated this fascist assault on our democracy will not be allowed to walk away from it. No, we wont.../13

...have "unity" with people still spreading lies, who are still using propaganda, who are still encouraging these assaults on our democracy. This is a fight for decency and law. We will not be talking about guns or using war metaphors like GOPrs do in their campaign ads.../14

...we will be talking about what matters: Our constitution. Our laws. Our citizens - all of them, not just the white and conservative. Our decency. Our democracy. AND most important: The truth..../15

...Now, this is not over. Going back to the cancer metaphor. It was discovered by everyone on 1/6. The doctors - those with the power to fight it - are now fully aware of what we face. And we will have to go through ugly treatments.

There will be more attacks. There will..../16

...There is no getting around it. Right wing domestic terrorism has been allowed to grow unchecked under Trump. Efforts by DHS officials to deal with it were kneecapped by the White House. (Ask @MilesTaylorUSA about that. He knows) The quality of our intel is lower than it.../17

...should be or could be. These are violent people, living in a fantasy, fully believing China is about to take over and democratic pedophiles drink blood of kids etc etc. Crazy stuff. And we not only don't have good sourcing anymore, some of these psychos are in Congress.../18

...but when the "stakes" are that high - even if they are that high because of lies and delusions - and the people deluded are also prone to violence, they will attack again.

We are no longer unprepared. We are no longer in denial. We are ready to save this country. And the../19

...first step: Consequences. The lies must be called out. There need to be mass movements for all of those who facilitate the lies - members of Congress, Fox, Newsmax, contributors to GOP seditionists, etc - to bring down the weight of a democracy's anger..../20

...Rupert Murdoch needs to be dragged before Congress, and read the lies told by Hannity, Carlson, Dobbs, Bartiromo - and force him to explain. Force him to explain the standards of his "news" organization. Same with Newsmax and the others. And every GOP legislator who lies.../21

...must be censured or have filings with ethics committees submitted. Lawyers who lie - like Giuliani, Gaetz, etc - need complaints filed against them so their law licenses are taken away.

This war to save America from delusions and lies spun by people aching for power.../22

...will take time. We cant back off because GOPrs start screaming "unfair" or "bias!". Fascists live off of grievance. That is how fascism grows. Grievance is all they have.

Fuck 'em. We have a country to save. First step: Consequences for the collaborators in fascism.
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