I'm glad 10 members of the @HouseGOP found their spines today, but the story of the last few weeks is that the @HouseGOP has become steadily more radicalized in the wake of these events. Some quick math:
1/ There are 211 Republicans in House in the 117th Congress.
On 12/10/20, 114 of them signed an amicus brief to the Supreme Court seeking to throw out the results of free and fair elections in 4 states.
A MAJORITY of them. 54% opposed democracy on 12/10/20
2/ On 1/6/21, terrorists, "summoned, assembled and inflamed" (per Liz Cheney) by Trump attacked the US House seeking to overturn the November 2020 election.
3/ Just hours after the house was cleared, 121 of them voted with the terrorists to overturn the results in Arizona.
7 more than 12/10/20, and after having direct, first-hand experience with the consequences of their words.
57% of them.
4/ Several hours after that, in the early hours of 1/7/21 as we had the chance to hear our colleagues stories and start to understand the scope of what happened, 138 of them voted to overturn the results in Pennsylvania.
17 more than a few hours earlier. 65% of them.
5/ 7 days later (today) having learned more about the scope of the violence, having seen Trump show no contrition or responsibility, having received intelligence briefs about the on-going threat risk, given the chance to show that they had learned the error of their ways...
6/ ...now being made aware that Donald Trump did not call in the National Guard to protect us, having the chance to read a DAMNING report from the House Judiciary Committee... judiciary.house.gov/uploadedfiles/…
7/ ...after ALL that... 197 of them voted that he should not be impeached for trying to kill us.
59 more than voted to throw out the results in PA. 93% of the @HouseGOP caucus.
8/ The tragic answer to the question I asked this afternoon is "no". They do not have the soul.
9/ And @GOPLeader was with them. Every. Single. Time. If he is their leader, he is leading them to darkness. If he believes in democracy, our constitution and the lives of his colleagues, then the only conclusion is that has no control and is a leader in name only. /fin
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
@TimAlberta, your framing here leaves off a critical point @RepJasonCrow made: "Welcome to the club." Rs are not the only ones getting threats. They are simply the only ones using that as an excuse for inaction.
1/ When the President of the United States and his allies are amping up threats of violence, every one of us with the courage to do what is right has to deal with those consequences. Not just members. Members' families. Members' staffs. It is frightening, despicable, horrible.
2/ But Jason and I, and several dozen others are all in office because we stood up to Trump in 2018 when our predecessor's didn't. The voters in our district did not change, but the leadership did.
I've said it before, but so much of what has led to the crisis of patriotism, decency, safety and security in today's @GOP is explained by this chart. H/T @LeadershipNP
1/ The left side of that chart represents a huge diversity of interests. You can't get elected to high office as a D unless you have a view of the country that encompasses all.
2/ And the right side: you can't get elected as an R unless you pledge fealty to gun-nuts. One side selects for intelligence and empathy. One side selects for obedience.
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…
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.
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.
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.