Hi, @JohnCollins_KP

I can answer!🙋‍♀️

The modern Republican Party + Putin = True Love because have common goals.

For decades now, Russia has been “beckoning” to America’s far right wing, presenting Russia as the savior of white majority rule. (Timothy Snyder’s word)

1/
2/ This includes Russians infiltrating the NRA and helping radicalize the NRA as a right wing extremist group—but that’s for another post.

The GOP Russia love affair has been evident for some time.
3/ Remember when Tucker Carlson said the U.S. should “rethink America’s alliances.”

And when Sen. Rand Paul went to Moscow to “open lines of communication“? abcnews.go.com/International/…
And when Guiliani attended a pro-Russia conference? thinkprogress.org/why-is-rudy-gi…
4/ Here is Katie Hopkins (with pal Ann Coulter) saying “Putin rocks.” rt.com/uk/429777-kati…

She praises Russia as being “untouched by the myth of multiculturalism and deranged diversity.”

Putin’s regime, remember, is built on homophobia and fear of those who are different.
5/ One more example because it's instructive.
Paul Hasson, they guy who planned to mass murder liberals, talked of “Looking to Russia with hopeful eyes . . .” scribd.com/document/40010…

Putin and the modern GOP want the same things.
They're soul mates❣️
6/ Putin would like:
💠Civil War in the U.S.
💠The U.S. to become a Russian style oligarchy

The GOP imitates Putin's tactics. He's their hero.

Putin entirely privatized the Russian government and put all wealth into the hands of a few white men.
7/ Check out this timeline:

2013: Russia enacted anti-homosexual legislation. theguardian.com/world/2013/jun…

2014: Pat Buchanan said Putin was “entering a claim that Moscow is the Godly city of today."
buchanan.org/blog/whose-sid…
8/ Buchanan praised Putin for stamping out western evil like easy divorce and homosexuality. buchanan.org/blog/whose-sid…

The Russia - Republican love affair has been conducted in open view.

Why, then, are people surprised?
9/ For the past several years we've been hit with such a tsunami of spectacle and crisis that people can't step back and assimilate what's going on.

That's Putin's method of governing, by the way. From @TimothyDSnyder: Create so much crisis that nobody can focus.
10/ What is happening is that Putin is leading the way toward the kind of society the Republicans want: An oligarchy in which government is privately owned and privately controlled by a few wealthy men.

Sometimes I think we're better off now that the GOP isn't trying to hide it.
I expanded this thread into a short video.

(Yes, I'm still out here camping in the desert. Great background, but some wind.)

Video is here:

I'll also put a transcription up as a blog post soon.
I also made this a blog post. terikanefield-blog.com/of-course-the-…

Yes, that's me in the desert. No, it has nothing to do with my blog post.

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More from @Teri_Kanefield

18 Mar
Challenging Biden to a debate is a clever way to imply that there is room to debate.

"Debate" assumes a shared set of facts. Then you debate the implications.

This⤵️ is a tactic for elevating and giving credence to a falsehood.
abcn.ws/3qX80Cl via @ABC

1/
This tactic is extremely effective. What Russian propaganda networks do is claim to air "all sides." They publish the truth as one of many possible theories, and then crowd the airwaves with so much "noise" that nobody can figure out what's true and what isn't.

2/
The American right wing does this by talking about their free speech right to promulgate lies. They claim that universities prohibit free speech by not allowing ALL ideas to be presented.

They want to put lies along side truth on the same stage.

3/
Read 4 tweets
17 Mar
It’s not possible to find common ground with people who deliberately lie for political advantage. How do you meet them halfway?

Any lies undermine democracy.

The parties are no longer liberal v. conservative.

They are pro- and anti-democracy.
You fight disinformation the same way you strengthen democracy. I'll put a link in the next tweet.

This makes sense because rule of law (the authority underlying democracy) requires truth and shared facts.

Forms of government other than democracy depend on lies and myth ("The Great Leader Knows All" or "The king was chosen by the gods").

Here's how to strengthen democracy: terikanefield-blog.com/things-to-do/
Read 4 tweets
15 Mar
It's not a coincidence that the same people who spread disinformation are not interested in funding public schools.

While doing research for my book on disinformation, I learned about Kari Kivinen, a headteacher in Finland, who explained how Finland combats disinformation.

1/
theguardian.com/world/2020/jan…)

In math, they teach students how easy it is to lie with statistics.

In art, students learn how an image’s meaning can be manipulated.

In history, they analyze notable propaganda campaigns.

2/
Language teachers show how words can be used to confuse, mislead, and deceive.

In primary schools, they use fairytales.

"Take the wily fox who always cheats other animals with his sly words. That’s not a bad metaphor for a certain kind of politician, is it?"

3/
Read 7 tweets
12 Mar
Enough of the Reagan legacy that government is the problem.

The government is us and it's here for us.
Right.

"Smaller government" just means let greedy people (1) grab resources (2) privatize government functions and (3) cheat.

Alexander Hamilton understood that if the government does good things for people, they will come to have confidence in the government, and this will give the nation stability.

It's in one of the Federalist Papers. I quoted it in my book. I'm not at my desk or I'd give the #.
Read 4 tweets
10 Mar
(Thread) The GOP is shrinking, but . . .

. . . they’re dangerous.

What’s going on right now is a pernicious effort across dozens of states to make voting harder. To take one example, the GA legislation⤵️

The GOP evidently concluded that if fewer people vote, they’ll win.
1/ To take another example, the Iowa governor signed a bill shortening early and election day voting. governor.iowa.gov/press-release/…

From @ElectProject, such restrictions are the greatest rollback of voting rights in this country since the Jim Crow era.
msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-…
2/ These new laws will make it harder to vote, particularly in densely populated Democratic areas.

The GOP problem: They’re shrinking and they know they can’t win without suppressing the vote.

The message of white supremacy and tax cuts for the rich has limited appeal.
Read 20 tweets
9 Mar
Hi, @robreiner. I'm happy to take a stab at answering the question.

A would-be oligarch (who wants both power and wealth) has to keep the masses in their place, so they have to enact legislation that actually hurts their constituents.

1/
2/ @EWErickson explains how to do that.

Intent an enemy and promise to keep the people safe from the "dangerous" enemy.

@TimothyDSnyder calls it sadopopulsim.

Made-up enemies are safest.
That's why Oceania had always been at war with Eastasia.

GOP leaders know that their position on Covid relief is unpopular with their base, but they also know they're giving their base something they want more: Protection from "dangerous" enemies threatening to destroy the U.S.
Read 4 tweets

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