I think I'll stop here. @djrothkopf no longer wants my assessment of his errors.
I'll add that I totally understand how these errors were made and I sympathize.
These errors are being freely repeated on Twitter. They've become what Snyder calls Internet Memes.
6/
So instead of continuing with the errors, I'll say that I do have a lot of sympathy for @djrothkopf.
All he's really doing is repeating what lots of other people are saying.
And therein lies the problem, right?
Democracy requires a shared truth, which requires truth.
7/
It's a lot harder to get past the memes and look at the facts.
Here is a great video about the need not to repeat memes like "there have not been no consequences" (there have been) or Garland Merrick is doing nothing (also not true)
Here is what people are having a hard time accepting:
The Republicans are knowingly and actively shielding and supporting liars and lawbreakers because they want to destroy. The lies and lawbreaking are intended to destroy.
If anyone made these promises, that person lied⤵️
1/
It seems to me that this is based on a theory that goes like this: We had a lovely democracy and then along came the lawbreaking Republicans. Because they are breaking laws, we can solve the problem through the criminal justice system.
2/
Two things are happening right now on left media:
(1) People misunderstand the lies and lawbreaking on the right.
(2) People tell their own lies (what I've been calling rage-inducing simplifications) based on a faulty view of history and the nature of the problem.
3/
This is the problem. People think that the problem of right-wing extremism can be "fixed" and they're waiting for that to happen and demanding that someone fix the problem.
Now people believe that criminal indictments will "fix" the problem.
1/
If you think that criminal indictments will fix the problem and make the threat of right-wing extremism go away, of course you're frustrated and impatient.
All I can figure is that it comes from a very weird idea of history, that goes like this . . .
2/
At some point in our recent history, we had a lovely democracy, and then up rose a cabal of criminals.
Now, we just need to put those criminal in jail and the
problem will be fixed.
When was this lovely democracy? Before 1954?
Nope. We had racial segregation.
3/
This is an example of a rage-inducing simplification.
🔹It ignores ongoing investigations (actually pretends they're are not happening)
🔹It assumes unrealistic timelines
🔹It ignores the reality of how investigations occur
Mostly, it mindlessly repeats what other people say.
In a video that I link to here⤵️ @TimothyDSnyder talks about how mindlessly repeating Internet "triggers" endangers democracy by, basically, turning us into mindless repeaters of trigger phrases.
"Rule of law" doesn't mean that each transgression is punished. Quite the contrary. Due process and constitutional protections mean not every person who commits a crime gets prosecuted.
Just striving for precision here.
You meant: "Trump broke laws so I want him prosecuted."
What DOJ investigators need to do is put on blinders, follow the evidence where it leads (as they have said many times they are doing; see ⤵️for example) and ignore cries from partisans to prosecute political leaders.
The committee's mission statement includes working with other "entities" to avoid duplication of efforts."
It's also clear from their statement that they're looking beyond Jan. 6 to tie together what happened (meaning all parts of the conspiracy.) january6th.house.gov/about
It's a conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election and an ongoing coverup.