The Republican Party is split on the crisis in Ukraine because an authoritarian, pro-Putin, antidemocratic movement has been carefully created and is gaining momentum.
Coverage continues to ignore this very obvious, very dangerous fact.
What we call MAGA is actually a manifestation of a larger, more complicated push to create an illiberal foundation in America.
Some very wealthy and very powerful people are attempting to destroy liberal democracy and seize power. This crisis in Ukraine is making it much clearer
Media coverage is largely focusing on Tucker Carlson’s pro-Putin broadcasts and completely missing the link with his pro-Orbán, pro-illiberal appeals and how it ties into the larger rise of “National Conservatism” and the dismantling of liberal democracy.
The Republican Party, the Right Wing in America and throughout the world, is rallying around authoritarianism. The Ukraine crisis is yet another reveal of just how large and pervasive this thing is, and how it puts our safety and democracy at risk.
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
What Rep Malinowski brought to people's attention yesterday isn't anything new. There has been an aggressive and intentional radicalization in America focused on making the GOP base more and more supportive of Putin and authoritarianism.
2/
For years now, shockingly, the GOP has held a higher opinion of Putin than Democratic presidents.
This wasn't an accident, but the consequence of years' worth of manipulation, fearmongering, and a push of authoritarian, anti-democracy ideals for a purpose.
Companies like Mars that profit off things like child labor use rebrands like this M&M stuff to try and capture specific markets.
Companies like Fox News use it to frighten its viewers for profit.
It’s two corporations in a professional wrestling match. Mutually beneficial.
It’s a song and dance between corporations promising they’re tolerant or progressive enslaving people around the world and Right Wing corporate news.
It creates an unreal sense for people that things are changing, leading to profits and further radicalization.
A sense among viewers of Fox that things are changing derives from cultural depictions by corporations who use progressive ideas as a market tool but don’t care at all about progress. It cycles back and forth as demagogues use the feeling for authoritarian purposes.
The “CRT” conspiracy theory is rebranded Nazi-style antisemitism that’s being used by wealthy donors and their think-tanks to weaponize history for their own purposes while radicalizing people to take over local governments and clear the way for the privatization of education.
Within the “CRT” conspiracy theory are QAnon principles without the label or even recognition by some of believers. These ideas and white supremacist paranoia are leveraged by the wealthy to further control of society and prepare public education to become a market for profit.
The wealthy, the GOP as their PR front, and Fox News as a propaganda arm, are using the entire “CRT” panic as a means of radicalizing believers of conspiracy theories into attacking public education and running for local office, where they’ll be useful in ongoing privatization
One story after another talking about Manchin and Sinema refusing to break the filibuster and dooming voting rights without mentioning they’re doing this on behalf of corporate donors.
It’s not a mystery. They’re *choosing* to ignore the obvious truth.
The fact that so many newspapers, magazines, websites, cable news segments, politicians, and pundits refuse to say out loud that they know Manchin and Sinema do this for corporations is damning.
They either can’t see it because they’re indicted or they’re actively complicit.
Reputable people and platforms would rather pathetically shrug their shoulders and say, “We’re just not sure what’s happening right now” than admit documented, indisputable reality.
Corporations and the wealthy own and direct our politics.
We need to talk about how our economy is intentionally programmed by the rich and powerful to help themselves and how they use conspiracy theories and racism to hide their tracks and attack their enemies.
It's important to start with this: our moment, with all of its ludicrousness and radicalism, is a result of a long, long process.
Donald Trump and his allies are symptoms of a much larger disease. We have to understand that disease if we're going to cure it.
2/
Beyond the conspiracy theories and radicalizing rhetoric of Trump and MAGA and this authoritarian movement is a system of wealth and power that continues to enrich and empower itself.
Our economy has been rigged for their benefit and these movements hide that fact.
A good day to remember MLK was one of the most despised men in the country, subject to constant surveillance and harassment by the government, and that the means by which his life’s work has been twisted and weaponized by those same people is what we’re fighting now.
King would be horrified but probably not surprised to see that the same people who attacked him have relentlessly used his legacy to launder their own white supremacy and weaponized it to curb grassroots movements for reform.
White supremacy has not been defeated and the Civil Rights Movement was not the end of the struggle, but a chapter in an ongoing book. This is a day to remember that and that the forces of racism, greed, and exploitation are shameless about their methods in maintaining control.