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)
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.
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.
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."
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.
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.
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/
. . . because it is designed to keep people hooked. People need to stay glued to the screen for hour after hour.
But to hook people, you need to scare them. The Facebook whistleblower testified that content that produces strong emotions like anger gets more engagement.
2/
Fox does the same thing. There is a few minutes of news, but the facts get lost as commentators and TV personalities speculate and scare their audiences.
Before you yell at me for comparing MSNBC to FOX, read all of this:
If I write another blog post addressing the outrage cycle here on Twitter and in the MSNBC ecosystem, it will be to explore why so many people who believe they are liberal or progressive actually want a police state.
1/
Today alone, a handful of people who consider themselves liberal or progressive told me that the "traitors need to be arrested and prosecuted."
In 2019, back when I wore myself out tamping down misinformation, I explained the legal meaning of treason.
2/
Back then, I now realize, people asked politely: "Can Trump be prosecuted for treason (over the Russia election stuff).
I explained that wouldn't happen.
Now it's different. It's more like fascist chants.
3/