Thread by @PaulaChertok

“Republicans have the momentum” means fascists have the momentum. If we were honest and understood the gravity of the moment for our democracy, we’d say that. We’d tell voters that.

It’s like our media is on terminal Autocorrect, just won’t face and say what the GOP has become.

We need to speak clearly, like Fanone here. Bannon declared war on the US for a fascist Republican party. He and Trump unleashed a violent paramilitary coup on #Jan6 b/c the fascists failed at the ballot box. NOT making that link clear, we normalize them b4 another election!😣

https://twitter.com/PaulaChertok/status/1581383092274532352

And we've stopped making the critical link between the authoritarian fascist GOP & their 24/7 mass propaganda machine, spreading lies and hate to oust Democrats from power (GOP's already ousted their little-d democrats in primaries) to seize control of govt, starting w/the House.

https://twitter.com/PaulaChertok/status/1583511688636035072

Since @CNN's @FoxNews-lite makeover and getting rid of @brianstelter & @ReliableSources, the public isn't being told of the ongoing attack on our democracy by GOP's propaganda arm—a relentless drumbeat on Fox & worse right-wing media—attacking our minds with lies, fears & smears.

https://twitter.com/PaulaChertok/status/1583515647668932608

@CNN @FoxNews @brianstelter @ReliableSources Instead of discussing the ugly fascist & racist propaganda that fuels the Republican Party—where far-right Marjorie Taylor Greene is now mainstream—CNN reports on "Republican momentum" in the midterm elections—as if ppl are just making choices in a normal information environment.

https://twitter.com/PaulaChertok/status/1583521699269513217

@CNN @FoxNews @brianstelter @ReliableSources The leader of THE REPUBLICAN PARTY was "at the CENTER of the first & only effort by a US President to overturn an election… obstruct the peaceful transfer of power… a bloody attack on our own Capitol & Congress itself."

How can we talk about elections w/ GOP w/o stating THIS??

@CNN @FoxNews @brianstelter @ReliableSources A party whose leader orchestrated a bloody seditious coup w/ indispensable GOP propaganda lie machine cannot be treated as just a side of a political contest.

Even w/o the shocking crimes, lying is cheating in any other context. And should at min be called that in this election.

@CNN @FoxNews @brianstelter @ReliableSources 😖Yes, I'm frustrated. It's just incredibly distressing that we're on the brink of plunging so much deeper into democratic decline & still can't seem to do the minimum of just using appropriate language—w/o genteel euphemism or wishful pretense—so people understand the stakes.

https://twitter.com/PaulaChertok/status/1583552933626454016

@CNN @FoxNews @brianstelter @ReliableSources if these midterm elections are a "horse race," it's a choice between horses and horseshit. Yet our media insists on equating the two.

The excuse is, "we can't sound partisan." But the truth is, only one party—the Democrats—represent a broad majoritarian pro-democracy coalition.

https://twitter.com/PaulaChertok/status/1583556403121164289

@CNN @FoxNews @brianstelter @ReliableSources When I see my friends in Ukraine so brave & determined, laying their lives on the line for their democracy, and then I watch Americans tip-toeing, too afraid to offend or talk honestly about ours, I fear we're in for much worst times.

I guess it's always darkest before the dawn.

https://twitter.com/PaulaChertok/status/1583559495208140800