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Ali Velshi

9 May, 10 tweets, 4 min read

1/10
“If you stand for nothing, what will you fall for?” is a famous line from Lin Manuel Miranda’s Broadway hit, “Hamilton” though Alexander Hamilton may not have said it that way, exactly, in real life. #velshi

2/10
It is the sentiment that without knowing who you are and what you believe in, you are doomed to be manipulated. And that is the situation in which today’s Republican Party finds itself. #velshi

3/10
Remember when the GOP was the Party of Lincoln? A party whose very existence owed itself to the opposition to slavery. Republicans have been partisans of themes like law and order, rugged individualism, entrepreneurship, free trade, small government, and low taxes. #velshi

4/10
No more. Today it’s somewhere between a Party of Trump, a party of no ideas or policies of their own except the Big Lie that the election was stolen and obstructing the Biden Administration. #velshi

5/10
This week Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, previously someone so artful in the articulation of his disdain for Donald Trump, said “I would just say to my Republican colleagues, can we move forward without President Trump? #velshi

6/10
The answer is “no.” Wow. A 158-year-old party can’t move forward without Donald Trump, a guy who wasn’t even a Republican before he ran for office. There was a big clue last August just ahead of the Republican National Convention. #velshi

7/10
The GOP decided it would not pick a policy platform but, rather, a person, a person who became the greatest liability to the party’s future. #velshi

8/10
As strange as that seems, all that happened BEFORE Trump started his nonsense about election fraud, denied the outcome of the election, and fomented an actual insurrection. You’d think that after all that, Republicans would turn away. But they can’t. #velshi

9/10
Donald Trump is their own personal train wreck. The GOP has, right now, the opportunity to wipe the slate clean, recalibrate the party and find its way back to true conservatism. #velshi

10/10
It will help the country to have strong parties with opposing ideas. Parties that stand for something. Because as the real Alexander Hamilton is believed to have said: “Those who stand for nothing, fall for everything.” #velshi

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More from @AliVelshi

Ali Velshi

@AliVelshi

8 May

1/12
Mitch McConnell: "100% of our focus is on stopping this new admin. // We're confronted w/ severe challenges with a new administration & a narrow majority of Dems in the house & a 50/50 senate, to turn America into a socialist country. And this is 100% of my focus" #velshi

2/12
Well, that’s 100% a lie. In fairness, McConnell has since softened his view about obstruction being 100% of his focus. But he still let the cat out of the bag: the G-O-P is a party with no actual agenda other than to sabotage the current administration. #velshi

3/12
As an econ guy, I’m troubled by the continued false narrative about socialism. Socialism is a system in which the gov't owns the means of production. Meaning actual ownership of factories, hospitals, even machinery used to produce goods & services that ppl consume. #velshi

Read 12 tweets

Ali Velshi

@AliVelshi

2 May

1/12
We’ve been officially voting in elections in America since 1789 and, while it hasn’t always been perfect we’ve gotten pretty good at it. But it's changed a lot since the beginning granting the right to vote to all people regardless of gender, race or color. #velshi

2/12
Outlawing poll taxes and even making your vote private starting in 1890 when many states began to use secret ballots to prevent voters from being bullied into voting for candidates they didn’t support. #velshi

3/12
A lot has changed since we started voting but one thing hasn't, and probably shouldn't. Voting in America has always been the responsibility of the government. State, Local AND federal. #velshi

Read 12 tweets

Ali Velshi

@AliVelshi

1 May

1/16
On May 21st 2010, 3 University of Arizona police officers responded to a “welfare check” about a person hacking a tree with a knife. When they arrived on-scene they witnessed a woman, Amy Hughes, emerge from her home carrying a large kitchen knife. #velshi

2/16
Carrying the knife, Amy Hughes walked towards another woman, Sharon Chadwick, with whom she lived. The officers yelled for Hughes to drop the knife. #velshi

3/16
After briefly assessing the situation, 1 of the 3 officers – Andrew Kisela, who was separated from the women by a 5 ft tall chain-link fence, watched as Hughes moved to within a few feet of Chadwick & shot 4 times claiming Amy Hughes raised the knife before he fired. #velshi

Read 16 tweets

Ali Velshi

@AliVelshi

24 Apr

1/13
It was an emotional week as the country focused on a 10 mile stretch from Minneapolis to the suburb of Brooklyn Center Minnesota. First the conviction of Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd and then the funeral of Daunte Wright. #velshi

2/13
With the soul-stirring mix of events its certainly understandable if you missed Earth Day on Thursday. It’s a day that usually figures prominently in my life - but this week was displaced in the news cycle. #velshi

3/13
The conviction of Derek Chauvin was a reflection of a changing consciousness - something brought about, in part, by almost a year of constant protest. Protest & demonstration that included up to 26 million Americans. #velshi

Read 13 tweets

Ali Velshi

@AliVelshi

18 Apr

3/14
In 1971 an unlikely pairing of a black community organizer and a member of the Ku Klux Klan were asked to co-chair a “charrette” - a 10-day meeting – to address school desegregation in Durham, North Carolina. #velshi

4/14
Ann Atwater and C.P. Ellis were that unlikely pairing, each chosen for the same reason - because their connection to the matter made them prominent and relevant voices for each side of the contentious issue. #velshi

5/14
Both were invested in the outcome, as both also had children in Durham schools. Ann Atwater was said to be a no-nonsense black activist who distrusted all white people and wouldn’t take “no” for an answer. C.P. Ellis was a leader in the local chapter of the Klan. #velshi

Read 12 tweets

Ali Velshi

@AliVelshi

11 Apr

1/12
One thing many of us have learned in the last year is how productive we can be when we aren’t spending an hour or two commuting to and from work. The pandemic has made us efficient, if nothing else. #velshi

2/12
All this working from home didn’t break the internet so, with a laptop & a phone or 2, we sure get a lot done. In fact, even before Covid, the American worker was about as productive as we have ever been. #velshi

3/12
As business picks up & unemployment falls, all that productivity is going to be a problem. It’s an economic concept but it’s Sunday so I won’t give you equations and stuff. #velshi

Read 12 tweets

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