Thread by @FreedomFriesInc

(1) Thread: Russian & Chinese involvement in US politics.

When Democrat and Never Trump politicians, activists, and commentators claimed the Trump campaign had "colluded with" the government of Russia, that framing of the issue made their efforts less likely to succeed.

(2) Whether or not credible evidence of Trump-Russia collusion would ever be presented to the public, using this word in the investigation was a mistake. Trump & co needed only to persuade supporters that Trump had not actively taken up Russian offers of assistance.

(3) Because the claim of active Trump-Russia collusion was brought up in nearly every circumstance during the Trump term of office, his supporters switched off and turned the weapon around to point it at Democrats and Never Trump folk.

Then they increasingly focused on China.

(4) IMO there is credible evidence of collusion with the governments of Russia, and China, among certain factions within US politics.

At this time, I am more focused on getting through the rest of the pandemic, and discussing the evidence of ongoing wrongdoing within the US.

(5) I'm just pointing out to Democrats and Never Trumpers that if you want to hold Trump and allies accountable for the damage they've done to the US and other countries, there's a long list of issues to pursue, & each one has it's own features, so to speak.

(6) Of the items on that list, I find the pandemic & 1/6-related issues to be the most urgent & compelling. It takes several threads to lay it all out so I won't start that today.

If your "thing" is to highlight Russian collusion, then I want to see solid evidence & arguments.

(7) That's not due to doubting the premise that Trump and allies willingly accepted Russian offers of help and made decisions in office that helped Russia (or it's allies) and hindered the US or it's allies.

I approach it with an open mind. Just saying, hardly anyone else does.

(8) A sizeable portion of US political discussion goes like this: Democrats and Never Trumpers accuse Trump and allies of past and current favoring of Russia and, Trump and allies accuse Democrats and NTs of favoring China.

None of which addresses the purely domestic issues.

(9) IMO the pandemic should be everyone's top priority until it nears it's end in 1-2 years, God-willing.

Those with an ongoing interest, like me, will continue our focus as we get through the aftermath in the next 5-10 years, & plan better for the inevitable next pandemic.

(10) The truth about the pandemic, that is not yet getting enough airtime anywhere (but especially in the US) is this:

There are current waves/spikes affecting many of the countries with which we all have direct links by air, sea, or land.

And new variations all the time.

(11) The pandemic will eventually end. The question is how many more lives will be lost and permanently changed before we get there.

Voluntary vaccination programs are softening the blow. They're necessary but, of course, not sufficient.

(BTW, I oppose mandatory vaccination.)

(12) The threat of domestic terrorism everywhere, but especially in the US, has been increasing and will probably get worse before it gets better.

It has multiple causes, including the existential fear and anger the pandemic causes in some people. Politics also fuels it.

(13) IMO, the claim of Trump-Russian collusion has only a very peripheral relationship with the domestic terrorism related events near the end of his term, and since.

Like the pandemic, the scale of the political violence threat in the US atm is far bigger than we're used to.

(14) And like with the pandemic, I think that things will get worse before they get better.

A lot has to happen before the domestic terrorism threat can reduce. It will take courage, on the part of those who accept that Trump and his allies have willfully fueled the problem.

(15) "Mass delusion" is a pretty strong term but I think it's safe to say that a majority of Americans see the "Q" or "Qanon" thing as a delusion.

IMO, the people who should be the most angry about it are Trump folk, who have been lumped in with Q folk. But they are not angry.

(16) Anecdotally, I think that most Trump supporters still see the Q delusion as unimportant, in the causes of 1/6, and with regard to all that is going on now.

Every day there's a new incident giving them an opportunity to question his motives & behaviors, but they don't.