Thread by @trygveolson

Let's talk about the January 6th Select Committee Hearings but from a different perspective. @ProjectLincoln @reedgalen @stuartpstevens @SteveSchmidtSES @JoeTrippi @LincolnWatchman @TheRickWilson

I am sure you watched the Select Committee Hearings. Rather than talk about the specifics, I want to show examples of how they relate to Fear. In particular, the Six Tactics used by Illiberal actors & autocrats to gain & maintain power by the right, outside of the hearing room.

All autocratic actors have an objective of gaining and then maintaining power. They also share the same strategy of creating a sense of inevitability and invincibility through fear. There are six primary tactics they use.

These tactics are Big Lies, Marginalization, Dependency, Disinformation, Divide and Conquer and Threats, Repression or Violence. We witnessed each of them being utilized yesterday in attempts to obscure, defend, and even justify events at the Capitol on January 6th.

The elements of right-wing media and the Republicans who appeased Trump have no choice -- they got caught red-handed attempting an American version of the Reichstag Fire.

Let's review each of them with a few examples.

Big Lies
@repjimbanks and the GOP leadership held a press conference as the hearings were going to begin. Successful use of several of the Rules for Dealing with Autocrats by @speakerpelosi, @lizcheney, and @AdamKinzinger left them little choice. They needed a new big lie.

In this case, the new Big Lie focused on saying that there are Republicans on the committee, but they are Pelosi's Republicans. So she Cherry-picked them, and you -- overconfident and intolerant extremism elements of the GOP know that therefore this is all not real.

Here is a link to the Press Conference if you are so inclined.

https://twitter.com/HouseGOP/status/1420011502300450818?s=20

You should note -- as @repjimbanks talks -- the discomfort on some of the faces of those in the background. They know this is all about a new Big Lie based on old Big Lies. It reminds me of many such press conferences at the behest of defending autocratic Big Lies worldwide.

The second tactic we see is Marginalizalization. In this case, it is @foxnews host @IngrahamAngle focusing on the police. The testimonies we saw yesterday were powerful. They have the potential to create cognitive dissidence. That is a problem for sustaining the big lies.

Here is a link:

https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1420209713644331009?s=20

The time to break extremism is when the cognitively simplistic answers underpinning overconfidence and intolerance of the extremist, conflicts with what they are seeing and hearing. The testimony of the police officers coupled with the video has that potential.

Thus you must marginalize the source. That is what they are attempting to do here and elsewhere by marginalizing the cops. Thus, illiberal actors like @IngrahamAngle must provide alternative narratives.

They need to undermine (in this cast through mocking) the potential sources of alternative information within the window of cognitive dissidence.

Dependency
Illiberal actors need to make sure those who might oppose them recognize they are dependent. Adhere to the vertical illiberal power structure, and you are rewarded. @elisestephanik being perhaps a prime example. Here she suggests @lizcheney is a pawn.

This is actually for the audience of other GOP members. Those who know the truth & might say something. Using Elise to make this statement is a reminder that you can get the fate @lizcheney received or be powerful like me if you adhere. You are dependent.

https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1420191990935789568?s=20

Disinformation
It was all overblown and this is the real lie. It wasn't that bad. This will be a constant continuing narrative from @TuckerCarlson @seanhannity and all the rest. It is their go-to hit single and has been since the beginning since 1.6.

For Trump, it is about who will repeat it on his behalf, knowing that it isn't the truth.

In this case, @tuckercalrson mocking the police officer and suggesting the officer's fear wasn't real. It is similar to @senronjohnson, who set off a storm by saying he wasn't afraid.

This, too, is a regular narrative, and it fits with Trump's that they were people of love. The Capitol Police let them in.

thedailybeast.com/tucker-carlson…

Divide and Conquer
Some of the previous examples also have elements of divide and conquer. This is the place where the tactics of illiberal actors come together. The best example of it directly, which I saw yesterday, was
Matt Gaetz @Repmattgaetz

https://twitter.com/RepMattGaetz/status/1420185175640707079?s=20

Notice that @Repmattgaetz is attempting to say it is the other side trying to rewrite history. This is focused on those who are already intolerant and overconfident on the right.

He is attempting to say "you know what happened. Don't listen or watch" (expose yourself to something that might create cognitive dissidence. He also divides @lizcheney and @adamkinzinger from the others. They = Pelosi

Threats' Repression and Violence
Finally, we have the audio of a call received by one of the officers who testified. This is stuff straight out of the worst autocratic places I have worked. It is just so unacceptable,

but also should make people realize (specifically Republican Leaders) how their actions aren't just enabling extremism but also creating more violent radicals as we saw on 1.6

https://twitter.com/gtconway3d/status/1420366246479024131?s=20

That is how I saw yesterday from the illiberal side. Later today, I will post a thread on some of the amazingly good stuff we witnessed. Real leaders using the seven rules for opposing such actions & actors - the best of America, Democracy & the game we are forces to play.