Thread by @benjaminwittes

Statement of Principles of the #CoalitionOfAllDemocraticForces of the United States of America: A political manifesto in eighteen tweets. /1/

#IBelieve that any issue that Americans do not need to be actively contesting right now across traditional left-right divisions, Americans need to be *not* actively contesting right now across traditional left-right divisions. /2/

We have grave disagreements about social issues, about important foreign policy questions, about tax policy, about whether entitlements should be reformed or expanded, about what sort of judges should serve on our courts. #IBelieve in putting them all aside. /3/

#IBelieve in a temporary truce on all such questions, an agreement to maintain the status quo on major areas of policy dispute while Americans of good faith collectively band together to face a national emergency. #IBelieve that facing that national emergency requires unity. /4/

#IBelieve that reasonable Americans across the political spectrum should unite around a political program based on the protection of American democracy and democratic institutions. /5/

#IBelieve that means, among other things, an active defense of the First Amendment’s protections of free speech, press, and religion. /6/

#IBelieve it also means a focus on ethics in government and a long-term battle against the corruption-prone opacity surrounding the President’s personal finances and business interests. /7/

#IBelieve it also means opposition to the abuses of power the President has called for or promised or attempted during his campaign, his transition, and his months in office—from prosecuting political opponents to retaliating against media to interfering with law enforcement. /8/

#IBelieve in supporting investigations that will shine a searchlight onto the administration and its conduct. And #IBelieve in supporting the men and women of American law enforcement who are conducting those investigations. /9/

#IBelieve in supporting the men and women of the bureaucracy who are courageous enough to come forward and assist those investigations. /10/

#IBelieve in the work of our intelligence community in the performance of its professional duties. #ISupport the men and women who are doing that work. /11/

#IBelieve in the restoration of decency—decency in presidential conduct, in America’s treatment of refugees and migrants, in its treatment of domestic minorities, and in the way the president talks about foreign nations and individuals. /12/

#IBelieve in respecting America’s alliances and in keeping our word. When the USA promises something, that promise must have meaning. That’s true promises to our abroad. It’s also true of promises to individuals of protection and sanctuary and rights. /13/

#IBelieve in getting answers to the many unanswered questions about the relationship between the President and his entourage and the Russian Federation. /14/

#IBelieve in rejecting the demonization of Muslims and Muslim Americans. Full stop. /15/

#IBelieve in the regular order—that process matters and that shoot-from-the-hip ideological government has no place in our policy decision-making systems. /16/

#IBelieve in expertise, in evidence, and in moral seriousness about hard decisions, both domestic and foreign. /17/

#IBelieve in preserving a country, and in fighting to preserve a country, in which we can disagree about the many important issues that divide us. /18/

That's all I got.