Lesson 1: Do not obey in advance.
Thread of lessons from my book #OnTyranny. Written in 2016. Lesson 2: Defend institutions.
#OnTyranny

1/4. Important work here: Trump is violent rather than strong, and using US troops on protesters would break America.
nytimes.com/2024/08/17/us/… 2/4. Crucial point in the reporting: the most radical plans, such as the use of US troops against Americans, actually go beyond Project 2025.
nytimes.com/2024/08/17/us/…

1/5. Unless Trump loses, America ends. 2/5. The Supreme Court has made this clear. As has Trump himself. Over and over.

1/11. The people who told you that fascism was not a threat were wrong. 2/11. The people who told you that Russia was not fascist were, if possible, more wrong.

Illustration of Russian propaganda for today. We are meant to be intimidated or exhilarated by the fantasy of bombing the Pentagon. 1/10 The message is that Russia always won, but the list of ostensible Russian victories on the poster tells a different story. 2/10

1/7. Right-wing justices postulate Trump's "immunity." The objection is that this makes him a king. Not so. It's much worse. 2/7. A king can be subject to law. Even George III was subject to law. The American Revolution was justified by the notion that he had overstepped the law.

Biden and NYT. The problem with this very helpful report is that it implicitly reinforces the two-sides-to-each-story framing that is the underlying problem. 1/4 The real story is democracy, and the real question for NYT and everyone else is whether that framing is dominant. Some great reporting there, but general failure on the framing. 2/4

1/3. Respect for the 101 Republicans who voted their conscience on Ukraine aid despite all the propaganda and pressure. 2/3. Pride in the 210 Democrats who voted yes (without a single no vote) on aid to Ukraine.

1/6. So far Russian propaganda has always been right about Mike Johnson – correct predictions every time that he would block Ukraine aid. 2/6. By this point they refer to him as "our Johnson" much as they refer to Trump as "our Trumpkin"

https://twitter.com/JuliaDavisNews/status/1778912250520367170

1/6. I don't think Ukraine aid is going to pass without a discharge petition that allows a simple vote. 2/6. I do think what Johnson is doing now is specifically designed to prevent the discharge petition from getting enough votes.

1/4. Serhyi Zhadan, one of the world's most remarkable creators of culture, should be holding a Nobel diploma, not a rifle. 2/4. Serhyi's city of birth is under Russian occupation and the city where he lives, Kharkiv, is now facing a Russian onslaught.

1/5. Predictably Putin has blamed Ukraine (see my thread from yesterday) for the terror attack in Moscow (for which ISIS claimed responsibility). 2/5. Putin's argument that the suspects were heading to Russian-Ukrainian border makes no sense – Russia has 20,000 km of borders, why would they head to the one place where Russian army and security forces are most concentrated?

1/7. US warns that Russia will invade Ukraine. General disbelief, daily Russian mockery. (December 3, 2021-February 24, 2022) 2/7. Russia invades Ukraine, kills tens of thousands of people, kidnaps tens of thousands of children, commits other ongoing war crimes (February 24, 2022-present)

Trump's allies are selling out Ukraine in exchange for Russian backing in the election. 1/ A Trump victory in November would finish off US democracy. 2/

1/6 There was once this republic that lasted for more than 200 years. 2/6 This republic had a minority faction in parliament that supported Russia.

1/10. Can a constitution defend itself?  Germans have asked this question, and given an answer.  So, for that matter, have Americans. 2/10. In the histories of both Germany and the United States, today the world's most important democracies, there came a moment when a minority, willing to use violence, sought to break the constitutional order.

1/10. I am concerned that the Supreme Court, in ruling on Trump's eligibility for office, will make itself ridiculous. 2/10. This is where the comic potential emerges.  This Court is unlikely ever to hear again a case of such simplicity, in which the text and context of the Constitution so obviously demand an unambiguous verdict

1/6. If we ignore the Constitution now, it will not protect our rights later.  We are ignoring it now, because we are afraid. 2/6. How did it come to this?  An insurrectionist, Donald Trump, purports to be running for president, although the Constitution forbids this.

1. Do not obey in advance. 2. Defend institutions.

Please help me protect life in Ukraine. Russia has targeted Ukrainian civilians and civilian infrastructure. This means the water supplies and energy supplies that people need to stay alive, especially throughout the winter. Last winter Russia tried to freeze the Ukrainians. 1/ Last year, many of you joined me in a @U24_gov_ua project to fund development and early implementation of an anti-drone system to protect Ukrainian civilians. 2/

Please help me protect life in Ukraine. Russia has targeted Ukrainian civilians and civilian infrastructure. This means the water supplies and energy supplies that people need to stay alive, especially throughout the winter. Last winter Russia tried to freeze the Ukrainians. 1/ Last year, many of you joined me in a @U24_gov_ua project to fund development and early implementation of an anti-drone system to protect Ukrainian civilians. 2/