Thread by @KrisAtLarge

so let's talk about a subject near and dear to @mtaibbi's heart: betraying the United States.

now I have to be honest here: I myself feel no great loyalty to the United States. I am the child of a Chilean exile, and I grew up with multinational friends. I'm no patriot.

(1/x)

in this life, anyway, I've regarded myself almost from the first as a citizen of the world, who happens to be a citizen of the United States. @mtaibbi and lots of other globetrotting propagandists probably like to think of themselves as somehow "international", too.

(2/x)

I've never *pretended* to be patriotic, though—I even once got myself in trouble for refusing to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance in a grade-school biology class, because I saw the Pledge as basically equivalent to a fascıst oath of loyalty. it is! the Pledge is scary.

(3/x)

which brings me to a great irony of the modern American political scene: the whole American right-wing, the @mtaibbi / @bariweiss / @GOP wing of politics, *hates the United States*, while at the same time they claim to be the greatest patriots. it's marvellous doublethink.

(4/x)

@GOP politicians haven't felt any compunctions about betraying the interests of the United States since 1980, when they treasonously interfered with Pres. Carter's hostage negotiations with Iran in order to manufacture an embarrassment, putting @RonaldReagan into office.

(5/x)

politicians from both @GOP and @TheDemocrats have their secretive back-channel connections with foreign governments and foreign businesses—in today's world of global #capitalism and corporate misrule, #CEOs often have more power than governments and diplomats, even armies.

(6/x)

the @GOP is the fascıst party, so they're willing to dare a LOT more—as their hidden _coup d'etat_ in 1980 proved. doing crimes to put the witless @RonaldReagan in office must have felt *freeing* to the Republicans; if they cheated like that again, they could do anything!

(7/x)

ever since then the @GOP has freely interfered with and weakened the foreign posture of the United States as long as they felt that weakness could be pinned on @TheDemocrats. the @elonmusk / @mtaibbi #Twitter conspiracy is merely part of this long tradition of treachery.

(8/x)

the @GOP is a Christofascist party, which makes *Russia* especially appealing to the right-wing Christian crowd (and to @mtaibbi, who may or may not be Christian—it's hard to tell what such an oily man ever believes.) Putin is their idea of a strong, Christian leader.

(9/x)

the Russian Orthodox Church has always been profoundly corrupt and deeply invested in maintaining iron-fisted authoritarian tyranny over Russia—if fascıst dweebs like @MattWalshBlog and @JackPosobiec now adore @RonDeSantisFL it's because he promises *similar* leadership.

(10/x)

right-wing Christians of that sort feel no great loyalty to the United States—@MattWalshBlog doublethinkfully believes the U.S. to be both God's chosen land and also a stinking sinkhole that needs to be replaced by something *holier*, where he can rape children in peace.

(11/x)

@mtaibbi probably has his own murky personal reasons for preferring to do business with someone other than the United States—he's got his *own* crimes that will be easier to conceal in a rigid authoritarian society, in which crimes and corruption more easily flourish.

(12/x)

there's an obvious candidate right in sight for where the true loyalties of @mtaibbi and his @GOP bosses are truly aligned.

can you guess who it might be?

~Chara of Pnictogen