Teri Kanefield Profile picture
Mar 20, 2021 12 tweets 5 min read Read on X
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

Oct 4, 2025
I finished that thing I've been writing.

It looks like I've taken on some big questions.

I've drawn on the work scholars from different fields, including @dannagal, @karen_stenner, and
@LeorZmigrod

1/

terikanefield.com/whyextremismha…
It's sort of long for a blog post. Maybe it’s really a short book.

I asked it, “What do you want to be?” It hasn’t answered, so for now, it’s a blog post.



2/terikanefield.com/whyextremismha…
The conclusions are what I've been trying to say for a long time, but now (I hope) explained better and with more context.

I hope someone finds it interesting and helpful.

3/terikanefield.com/whyextremismha…
Read 4 tweets
Aug 30, 2025
Okay, whew. I've been writing. Some light summer beach reading . . . NOT

I begin with The authoritarian personality, some politics, a story I’ve told before.

I need this because the new stuff requires context, so please stick with me . . .

1/
terikanefield.com/heres-why/
I add new research, new conclusions, and venture into new territory including existence pain and the role of the artist.

Special thanks to @karen_stenner and @LeorZmigrod who helped me pull it together.

Link:

2/ terikanefield.com/heres-why/Image
@karen_stenner @LeorZmigrod also quoted, cited, or critiqued:

Adorno, Theodor
Arendt, Hannah
Chinoy, Sahil
Coleridge, Samuel
Doestoevsky, Fydor
Frenkel-Brunswik, Else
Haidt, Jonathan @JonHaidt
Hand, Learned
Kanai, Ryota
Merritt, Eli
Ledroit, Stephanie . . .

3/
Read 4 tweets
Apr 29, 2024
Everyone will have a different opinion of the strength of the Manhattan criminal case against Trump.

I am offering no opinions on the strength or who will prevail.

I am saying that people are working too hard to explain the case and figure out the legal theory.

1/
The prosecution has everyone confused because they are framing the case as "election fraud" and "election interference" so everyone is trying to connect the crimes we know about to "election fraud."

2/

terikanefield.com/wheres-the-bee…
The legal theory of the case should be clear.

This would be clear: "It is election fraud. Here is how the evidence will support a charge of election fraud." Then show how the behavior supports election fraud.

Does this mean the prosecution will lose? No.

3/
Read 10 tweets
Mar 11, 2024
Finished. (Whew)

As promised, all about Legal pundits and the Outrage Industry, with a few cherished conspiracy theories carefully debunked.

Click here to start:

For years, I was perplexed by what I saw on Twitter. . .

1/ terikanefield.com/can-democracy-…
Image
It seemed to me that the dynamics of social media were making people more authoritarian.

Then I started reading experts in political communication and it all started making sense.


2/ terikanefield.com/can-democracy-…
Image
I wrote parts 1 - 5 in November. I thought I was finished, but I wasn't.

There were still things I didn't understand.

Writers often write to understand, so I kept reading, thinking, and writing.



3/ terikanefield.com/can-democracy-…
Image
Read 5 tweets
Mar 9, 2024
Whew! I finished.



Everything I promised: How to listen (or not listen) to legal pundits.

It's also about what is dangerous about the entire industry of punditry, speculation, and cable talk shows.

1/terikanefield.com/invented-narra…

For years I was perplexed by what I was seeing on left-leaning Twitter, political blogs, and partisan reporting.

I had the feeling that, in its way, what I was seeing was comparable to Fox: Lots of bad information and even unhinged conspiracy theories.
2terikanefield.com/invented-narra…
Of course, if I suggested that, I was blasted for "both-sidesing."

Then I discovered an area of scholarship: Communications and the overlap between communications and political science.

I read these books and light bulbs went on.

3/ Image
Read 11 tweets
Mar 2, 2024
If Trump can win with everything we know about him, what make people think a finding of guilt would change that?

It makes no sense.
Also what if the jury acquits? It can happen.

I do recall the same people thought impeachment and indictment would cause Trump to crumble.
Another contradiction: when people demanded indictments RIGHT NOW (in 2021 and early 2022) the reason was, "Everyone knows he's guilty! Look at all the evidence!"

We saw the J6 committee findings.

Trump isn't saying "I didn't do it." He's saying, "I had the right to do it."

2
We all know what he did. The question is, "Do people want a president who acts like Trump?"

A lot of people do.

People show me polls that a guilty finding would change minds.

I say rubbish. Use common sense. He lost in 2020 and he lost the popular vote in 2016. . .

3/
Read 6 tweets

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