Share this page!

Kurt
Twitter logo
8 Feb, 9 tweets, 2 min read
When MAGA waves flags with Trump's name, declares they will die for him, and accept every lie he says as truth, we are dealing with a deluded cult of personality. Here is a list of leaders treated exactly this same way. See if you detect the similarities:.../1
...
Russia: Stalin
Cambodia: Pol Pot
China: Mao Tse Tung
France: Philippe Petain (Vichy leader)
Germany: Hitler
Haiti: François Duvalier
Iran: Ruhollah Khomeini
Iraq: Saddam Hussein
Italy: Mussolini
N Korea: Kim Jong Il, Kim Jong Un
Phillipines: Ferdinand Marcos.../2
...
Romania: Nicolae Ceaușescu
Syria: Hafez al-Assad
Venezuela: Hugo Chávez

All of these leaders had huge support by people who worshiped them, just like Trump. The appeal to toxic nationalism, the demonization of the left & minority groups, the spread of disinformation.../3
...through state media (or here, through Fox et. al. and the *attempt* to coop the Voice of America as a Trump praising media outlet), the attack on expertise as "elite," and the approval of violence against the folks portrayed as the domestic "bad guys" always has a huge.../4
...population that can scarcely handle the removal/passing/weakening of the strongman at the center of their worship.

What this means: Reason wont work with these people. Reality wont penetrate, because Fox et al continue spreading lies. All we can do it learn about cults.../5
...and the emotional appeals that help in deprogramming. It will take years, but Trump's absence from social media - and his ultimate decision that being a former president gets equal praise and takes less work, since he is a lazy stupid guy - will hopefully let him fade. So.../6
...if you have cult members who are friends or family, remind them how much better life was for them when they weren't so mad all the time. Have them explain all the "freedoms" they think they are losing. Dont argue..../7
...try to get them to wonder about Fox ("I find it uncomfortable listening & reading news that only agrees with what I think. I know I'm wrong about things, and I like learning what. But I've never seen Fox suggest any Republicans are wrong or that any Democrat is a patriot."../8
...it will be tiring. It will be frustrating. But deprogramming the cult (even as Fox & the GQP keep up the brainwashing) is the only way this country will return to some form of sanity.

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
　

Keep Current with Kurt "Masks Save Lives" Eichenwald

Kurt

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @kurteichenwald

Kurt
5 Feb
.@NancyMace, GQP Congresswoman, either never listened to @AOC Instagram video or lied when she implied AOC lied. And like all GQPr's these days, she'll never apologize. AOC specifically said the person who charged into her office was with Capitol Police. However, she said.../1
...she feared violent insurrectionists were coming & when the cop charged into her office yelling "Where is she? Where is she?" she reasonably thought, after enduring years of death threat because of GOP demonization of her to rile up the thugs who @NancyMace calls patriot.../2
...that criminal insurrectionists had come for her. Scum like @NancyMace caused those death threats with her lies and fundamental inhumanity and evil. But even when scum like Nancy KNOW they have done this, as all of us do, they wont stop. They wont stop until AOC is dead.../3
Read 5 tweets
Kurt
4 Feb
I read the @smartmatic lawsuit. In 30 yrs as a journalist, Ive never seen anything like it. This likely cant be settled. The journalistic malice & incompetence shown by @FoxNews was off the charts. *Basic* information I'd never believe they'd invented.../1
smartmatic.com/uploads/Smartm…
...is throughout the entire thing. Why kind of "news" organization just *Makes. Stuff. Up.* like this. There are basic things I always assumed were true - like what contracts Smartmatic had in the election - because why the hell would Fox just make them up? *But they did.*.../2
...the losses @smartmatic faces are literally in the billions. They quantify it. And the lies are undeniable. Such as: Fox claimed @smartmatic played a role in flipping votes in every close state. *They only had one place their equipment was used in 2020, in L.A. County*.../3
Read 12 tweets
Kurt
1 Feb
Now, before the stupid conservatives begin sneering and laughing AGAIN about climate change and a massive snowstorm, one more time trying to educate:

A warming climate causes extreme weather events, *including* huge snow and plunging temps. 1 example why: (Note: I realize.../1
...that no matter what is said, anti-science and arrogant conservatives who failed high school science will still sneer and laugh because this is more complicated than "temp goes up, it gets cold. HAHAHA!" Plus, they don't wont read anything longer than 20 words. But this.../2
...will at least help reply to their foolishness.)

Here is what is happening right now: there is a large area of low pressure and cold air at both poles. That cycles around the poles and is contained there by higher pressure surrounding it. However, a warming planet changes.../3
Read 9 tweets
Kurt
31 Jan
When liars like @HawleyMO scream "Cancel Culture!" and "WOKE!" because they are discovering liars and those who attack democracy are in a Consequences Culture, remind them of all the people they tried to cancel for opinions or mistakes, not lying or attacking democracy:.../1
...
1. Dixie Chicks
2. @kathygriffin
3. @Toure
4. Chis Matthews
5. Graydon Carter
6. Bill Maher
7. New York Magazine
8. New York Times
9. Washington Post
10. CNN
11. MSNBC
12. CNBC
13. Dallas Morning News
14. Arizona Republic
15. Univision
16. Apple
17. WSJ editorial board.../2
...
18. Jonah Goldberg
19. NFL players who kneel
20. Harley Davidson
21. Paul Krugman
22. Chuck Todd
23. Facebook
24. Twitter
25. Nordstrom
26. Bed Bath and Beyond
27. TJ Maxx
28. Estee Lauder
29. AT&T
30. Bloomingdale's
31. Rep Tim Rice
32. Cindy McCain
33. Jeff Flake.../3
Read 9 tweets
Kurt
29 Jan
Since I was expressing confusion about why people are willing to risk their/others lives to go out to dinner, and mentioned that my adult sons have used lockdown to learn/perfect their cooking, I thought I'd show some.

Son & his wife wanted chinese. So he made Peking Duck.../1
...again, this is what was LEARNED while in lockdown.

And if he was going to make own chinese food, son decided to also learn how to make dumplings.../2
....and son asked for a pasta maker for Christmas. So, rather than a restaurant or boxed..../3
Read 8 tweets
Kurt
28 Jan
People tweeting "do not sell" about stocks that have gone up ridiculously because of a flukey situation - heavily shorted, online-coordinated short squeeze - are showing investment foolishness. Squeezes release quickly. If you don't sell, you've made no money. Sell or lose it all
...I'm getting a lot of "this is about hurting the hedge funds." Nope. This hurts ONE hedge fund that took a stupid position. The others? Making $. They have programs that jump in on velocity movements, buying and selling automatically on the way up, shorting on the way down.
...and the one that took the stupid position has already closed out his position at a huge loss. The squeeze worked. But eventually, the short sellers give up, cover their shorts, and there is nothing left to squeeze.
Read 4 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

Like this author's thread?

Get emails when @kurteichenwald has new unrolls!

Check out other threads from @kurteichenwald!

Read all threads by @kurteichenwald