THREAD: On my parents' first "date," my dad took my mom to a local grocery store was having a 50% off deal on jam - but limited 4 to a person. It turns out my Zayde (grandfather) had asked my dad to bring a friend w/him to be able to buy more. So my mom & dad each bought 4. My mom thought, wow, they must really like this jam. When they arrived at my Bubbe & Zayde's house, they went down to the pantry in the basement. There, on the shelf were 12 additional jars of jam.
I heard the story as a kid as an example of Zayde's penchant for deals.

THREAD: Had a truly depressing conversation about 2020 with my 12 yr old daughter. We were talking about Elizabeth Warren v. Kamala Harris (both of whom we like) and my daughter said "It doesn't matter though, we'll never have a woman president." I told her that I understood her feeling but that we should remember that HRC won the popular vote and that more women and POC won in 2018 than ever before. I told her trump is historically unpopular.
But she was unconvinced.
She said trump is running and he will cheat.

THREAD: Through all of the revelations around #Kavanaugh, I have been feeling anger, but also (oddly) gratitude that I have never been assaulted. And then, I was reading a friend's post about her assault, and realized, I'd repressed mine. Let's be clear- this isn't a "recovered" memory. It's just that I didn't even THINK of it. It was just so normalized. For those who are victims of assault thinking, "how did she forget, I can't ever seem to forget," let me explain./2

THREAD: This @NYtimes story nicely captures the absurdity of media coverage of #TrumpRussia. At first glance, it seems like a big deal. "Oh my god," we say, "he knew TWO weeks before the inauguration." Except, it's based on a bullshit premise.

http://twitter.com/PinkPolitical/status/1019789553463365632

The bullshit premise of news articles like this is that trump has been told about Russian attacks and yet inexplicably keeps pretending he wasn't told or doesn't believe it or doesn't remember it. But OF COURSE he knew. He was part of the conspiracy. /2

THREAD: We are witnessing the collapse of our Constitutional democracy. Much has been made of the GOP's unwillingness to be a check on Trump. It's a true abdication of their constitutional duty. But Trump's recent interactions w/the Courts bring this to a new disturbing level /1

https://twitter.com/PinkPolitical/status/1016752801060450305

The decision to pardon Arpaio was a prelude of what was/is to come. Remember that Arpaio was charged w/contempt of court for failing to follow the Court's order that his office cease racial profiling. Trump was signaling that contempt of court was fine for HIS SIDE. /2

THREAD: Another horrifying component of #ICECheckpoints is the fact that the state department is purposely slow rolling Visa applications/extensions. Thus, people who follow immigration law are being turned into law violators b/c gov won't proces requests. /1 Although legally they have a right to stay in the us while their claim is being processed, not all ICE agents know this. Now state department is asking people to pay $ monthly to stay in the country if their requests have not been processed after expiration of the visa./2

THREAD: Ok- so they have the Senate, House, & Executive and #Kennedy just gave them the Judiciary for the next 30 years. Now what? In 2004 Obama said there was no Red or Blue America. He tried to govern that way. He lost. WE lost. With #SCOTUS set to eviscerate civil rights, it will be all about the States. One set of restrictive laws for Red America and one set of progressive laws for Blue America. We tried to protect all Americans. They wouldn't let us. So now what?

THREAD: My somewhat nuanced take on #SCOTUS #Union decision. Obviously- it's bad for unions & thus working ppl. If you like your 5 day works week, 8hr day, min wage,& worker safety- thank a union. Unions are good for the country. That having been said..../1 I get why some ppl had a problem w/paying union dues. Writ large, unions do great things. But there ARE problems at many unions. I worked at a public college as an adjunct for several yrs. Unions dues were deducted from my meager paycheck. At first, I didn't mind. /2

THREAD: It occurs to me that while Trump retains high approval ratings among R's, his policies are much LESS popular. I think in terms of messaging, it makes sense to focus on policies, not Trump. Let's talk:
#FamilySeparation
#TradeWar
#Medicare
#SocialSecurity
#GOPTaxScam As long as issues get easily interpreted through party heuristic, trump keeps winning. Take it out of the partisan lens- let's talk about how
#TradeWar will hurt your business/job/home expenses.
#separatingfamilies offends your values
#Medicare helps you/your parents /2

THREAD: I went to a Jewish day school in the 1980's- which meant that my education was all Holocaust, all the time. I was taught to be on the look out for the signs-- the rhetoric of dehumanization and the slow erosion of rights the precede genocide. /1

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I have spent the last 2.5 years warning people. I have watched with increasing alarm as the very worst part of people have been liberated to say and do terrible things. I have watched with increasing horror as the worst people have been put in charge. /2

THREAD: To be clear, the #SamanthaBee story is a distraction (as was the #Roseanne story.) But given that I blog/tweet about feminism, I feel the need to comment. /1 I'll start by saying, I never use the "C-word" (writing it this way feels stupid- but I actually don't even usually say it). I think it's vile and angry and when used by men, always has a menace/threat involved (in the US- I understand in the UK it's used more often.) /2

THREAD: Do you feel it? Something shifting? Accelerating? This week I keep hearing @TimothyDSnyder in my head. #Tyranny is on the move. 1. This week, the FCC voted to end #NetNeutrality despite its popularity. This give away to ISP's is more concerning than the normal kleptocratic giveaways of this regime because it directly affects media and public discourse.

THREAD: Liberals- I get it- the Franken stuff blows. It challenges our values and our self image as a party/people of morals. But I worry in our quest for purity we will be slaughtered- LITERALLY. 2. We've been down this road before. We demand fair play & rule following. But we have an opponent that doesn't. They don't worry about how it will play. They don't care about the hypocrisy. They don't care when they're called on it. And they don't have to because they win.

THREAD: As promised, here are my thoughts about Caucuses. The Bernie crew, claiming to free elections from the anti-democratic tendencies of the DNC are actually pushing an election form that disenfranchises. 2. Throughout the country, the GOP is engaged in voter suppression. Major pushes to extend voting rights include:
1. Extended voting hours
2. Expanded early voting
3. Mail in ballots
Caucuses run exactly opposite to this.

THREAD: I often write as a democrat/liberal/woman. But this evening I am writing only as an American- without any hyphens. Just an American. 2. I love my country-With all of its flaws, I still believe in the power of the American idea & the goal of making it a more perfect union