Thread by @FreedomFriesInc

Time for a quick thread about the meaning behind every little part of my current Twitter profile that communicates a value that is important to me.

#CovidIsAirborne
#CountryOverParty
#EndFascism

🇳🇿🇺🇸

In around April 2020 I changed my username from @GodlessNZ to @FreedomFriesInc.

This account was originally set up to participate in secularism discussions. From Feb 2016 it morphed into 95% US politics. A topic I love to follow.

#FreedomFries pops up in the news from time to time and is still largely misunderstood in the US.

In 2003 it was a joke "trend" or "meme" among those who supported the US-led coalition to topple Saddam Hussein in Iraq.

I supported it and still do.

Saddam DID have WMDs because he had used chemical weapons to murder a large number of Kurds in Iraq.

The Bush admin opted to use the threat of nuclear WMDs in its efforts to build an international coalition. Consequently, opponents can claim Saddam had no WMDs.

This is a lie.

We don't know for sure where Saddam's remaining chemical weapons ended up. IMO it's most likely they were transported to Syria, because Assad has used such WMDs on innocent civilians in that country several times.

And we have allowed him to.

OK this isn't going to be a quick thread. Sorry.

#FreedomFries expressed the sense of anger and betrayal many of us felt toward the French government of the day, for opting out of #CollectiveSecurity.

Betrayal is the right term for it, IMO.

I grew up in tiny, remote NZ (just 5 M people) and we are entirely dependent on other countries for our security and survival.

So I'm big on collective security. It has kept most of the world free from a WWII level calamity since 1945.

We ALL need it, really.

The need is as apparent in 2021 as it was in 2003 and 1939 and 1914. Diplomacy can never do what military defense can, when all other options have been exhausted.

Treaties like NATO are essential for security and peace.

I added "Inc" to Freedom Fries because the latter was already taken, and I liked the idea of a private company spreading a chance at democracy to other countries.

I became a Hurricane Watcher in 2017 and I answer to "HW."

Hurricane Harvey was a landmark event in recent US history. It came on suddenly and caused record-breaking flooding and destruction. It was followed immediately by Irma and Maria.

That period in time stays with me to this day.

I still watch Atlantic hurricanes each season, to observe the various government, corporate, & volunteer responses. I'm no meteorologist. I'm just interested in emergency management, which is part of national security. Pandemics are, too.

My current #HospitalCollapseKills add-on name is self explanatory. Removing access to timely emergency medicine for the public across all types of need is a very serious development for a community.

It's happened all over the world & likely will happen in NZ. I fear it.

My current profile pic is the great HRH Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge arriving in NZ in 2014 with her eldest child George for his first real public appearance at just 10 months of age.

His expression is priceless.

👑

The now 7 year old Prince George of Cambridge will, all going well, be my head of state one day as George VII, and I am fine with that.

I'm extremely relieved, given the disgraceful conduct of two other UK princes in recent years.

I also look fwd to Charles III and William V.

So there's obv. several ways people can disagree with me about stuff, and that's fine. I have no issue with good faith questions and civil debate.

BTW wearing red & HM's silver fern brooch was a nod to NZ. Our Order of NZ's colour is red.

I'm in demand for pub quiz teams.

I made sure to include Catherine Cambridge's face in my profile pic, along with "grumpy" Prince George who had just arrived after near 24 hours flying time, because she is The Firm's secret weapon. Queen Catherine is going to be awesome for us. She already is.

Fun fact: The Cambridges used to travel together by helicopter and fixed wing aircraft but have recently resumed the practice of heirs to the throne traveling separately in case the unthinkable should happen. *crosses self*

That was a recent change. Think about it.

My banner photo has a serious message for the USA and supporters of democracy everywhere.

It's USCP Officer Eugene Goodman in mid January 2021 quietly serving in a Congressional committee room and wearing a #BackTheBlue mask.

I love this photo because...

The reality of the skilled policing Eugene Goodman showed on 1/6 was extremely clever and utterly selfless.

Like most LEOs on any given day.

He deliberately lured a group of rioters (that he had to assume were armed or likely to assault him) away from innocent civilians.

And he made a silent, lawful & appropriate protest against the far right fascist movement's targeting of LEOs on 1/6 & in general, by wearing a #ThinBlueLine mask.

This issue of support for LEOs was the single biggest reason we could see 1/6 for what it was, on the day.

I support the police (except for individual police who break the law.) I also support the radical idea that #BlackLivesMatter. And it just so happens that many of the local police in DC happen to be black or other POC. Because they are drawn from the DC community.

All lives can't matter until black lives matter.

That's the thing. I didn't understand the use of the slogan until I had left the cult. They are brainwashed to misinterpret the intended meaning.

Go look up the case of #ElijahMcClain.

I am proud to have the photo of Eugene Goodman as my banner photo and I think it sends multiple messages about the fight for democracy in the US and elsewhere.

Some recommended reading/listening on the subject: @MaryLTrump and @MichaelCohen212.

There's a bunch of other HW Twitter profile features to cover so it's time for a break. The next one is:

"I wear my mask because I care about you."

Should be fun.😉