#SeditionHunters - a must-read, deeply researched WaPo piece on the lead-up to the Jan 6 Capitol attack. Confirms its origins well before the election. Confirms that EVERYONE KNEW the danger: DHS even alerted hospitals to prep for mass casualties Jan 6. 1/ washingtonpost.com/politics/inter…
"While the public may have been surprised by what happened on Jan. 6, the makings of the insurrection had been spotted at every level, from one side of the country to the other. The red flags were everywhere." 2/
The article is hyper-cautious on one point: does not raise even a hint that lack of preparation could mean complicity. But this is the journalism we have been waiting for, for months. Wide-ranging, meticulous, and with the horsepower to grasp the scale of events: 16 reporters! 3/
Bombshell reporting that Congressional Democrats were alert to possible attempts to overturn the election ... already in AUGUST. 4/
The article confirms what we see in video: that militia groups, extremists, white supremacists, radical political activists began coming together in Fall 2020, that the Nov 14th rally in DC was a meet-up across this radical spectrum, a part of wider coordination. 5/
Much of what's here is known by #SeditionHunters, but finally it's being said out loud, in a big national newspaper. And there are new shocks, like this one: Gen Milley worrried that deploying the National Guard would give Trump the opportunity to misuse the armed forces. 6/
The article does throw the FBI under the bus somewhat, letting Pentagon have the last word - will be interesting to see how that plays out as the J6 Committee gets rolling. But this piece is hopefully just the start of the reporting we need so much. 7/
At least one member of the reporting team was at the Capitol Jan 6: @HannahAllam took the definitive footage of the Proud Boys arriving at the Capitol, and followed the crowd as people moved from W to E sides to start synchronized breaches - see thread. 8/
Reminder: Elon Musk, whose Starship just blew up on the test stand (with its extra fuel tanks nearby), was allowed for THIRTY YEARS to lie about his training in science. He started lying in 1995, kept lying - and suffered no consequences. But physics itself has consequences. 1/
Just listen to the man's nonsense about how he is shaped by physics and consider: the press allowed him to bullshit like this for 30 YEARS. Of course he got convinced he can just make up his own reality. If anyone died in the Starship explosion tonight, blame the press too. 2/
In 2022 I did a 69-Tweet thread on Elon's fake AstroBoy Genius image, hoping to ward off what was coming: Elon helping to overthrow democracy. What you saw on the launchpad tonight, that's what he's doing now to US science, to our country: exploding it. 3/
Sure, it's funny that Fox News is now using "86" in talking about a fired reporter, when less than a month ago they demanded the FBI investigate "86" as a death threat. But the joke is on us. Performative outrage over bullshit is a test of YOU, to see if you'll accept it. 1/
You can't criticize Fox's words as hypocrisy. Hypocrisy is when someone committed to the truth is inconsistent. Fox and others are post-truth: they're just making noises to see if they can get you to react. They're gaming you. 2/
All of us have a psychological need for rationality. We need to feel that words have meaning, that people mean what they say. We do understand that people lie: a lie is a meaningful but false statement, to deceive. But what Fox is doing here is worse, and harder to cope with. 3/
ABC's explanation of why they suspended correspondent Terry Moran misuses the word "objective". Moran said Stephen Miller was a "world-class hater" and "his hatreds are his spiritual nourishment". Those are objectively true statements. Miller's hatred is deeply documented. 1/
Moran ascribed to Miller an emotion: "hatred". A decade of reporting has documented, objectively, that Miller hates. In 2018, LA Mag interviewed his high school classmates and reported their stories of how Miller hated minorities. "Hate" is their word. 2/ lamag.com/politics/steph…
Terry Moran also said that for Stephen Miller, "hatred is his spiritual nourishment". That's colorful language, but also documented. Here's a high school classmate of Miller's with a story of Miller saying awful, provocative things to immigrants: "he wanted to be hated". 3/
Reminder: Trump has tried this before. It's part of his dream of control, to send in the National Guard against the will of a state or mayor. On May 29, 2020, he Tweeted the threat: "Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts.." 1/
Trump has also overtly sought a Secretary of Defense willing to order the National Guard to shoot at protestors. In 2020 he fired Mark Esper and put in Chris Miller for that reason. Pete Hegseth may face a terrible test now. 2/
On Jan 6, the National Guard arrived late likely because sane heads in the Pentagon delayed them til local police had regained control, out of fear of what Trump might order. There are fewer sane heads now. Hegseth is already failing his test. 3/
Howard Lutnick, our Sec. of Commerce, shows a disconnect from material reality that will make Americans die. A weather forecast cannot be "automated" or MADE AT ALL without data. And Trump is cutting the satellites and weather stations that provide that data. 1/
Lutnick, who is in charge of NOAA and its National Weather Service, seem to think that if you say "web" and "cloud" and "computer" and "AI" then by some magic knowledge appears. But weather forecasts depend on MEASUREMENTS. Which Lutnick is cutting. 2/ kcci.com/article/propos…
The proposed NOAA budget cuts both current satellite operations and planned future satellites meant to make better predictions. Lutnick's testimony suggests: people have forgotten that not everything is a simulation, that reality exists (and bites). 3/ spacenews.com/omb-suggests-n…
Since Frank Luntz is defending Elon Musk, a recap: Luntz, like Roger Stone, was one of "Arthur's boys", mentored by Arthur Finkelstein, the dark lord of negative campaigns who (tho gay and Jewish), pushed homophobic far-right extremists - and gave us Orban, Netanyahu, & Trump. 1/
It was the Jewish Arthur Finkelstein who created the antisemitic George Soros conspiracy, to propel Victor Orban to power. Anything to get his clients elected. Everything Luntz says now is shaded by that history. 2/ buzzfeednews.com/article/hnsgra…
It was Arthur Finkelstein who brought in Roger Stone's partner Paul Manafort - who had been working for a pro-Russian politician in Ukraine - as Trump's first campaign manager. 3/