. @brianstelter You need to have a sharp focus on the culpability over the past many years of the mainstream media. @paulkrugman, @jayrosen Tom Mann & I were among many who warned years ago of the transformation of the GOP from a regular political party into an insurgent outlier

A handful of good journalists like @JohnJHarwood @jackiekcalmes @JillDLawrence and others reported it honestly, but way too many did not. Abnormal behavior was normalized long before Donald Trump emerged. Malign behavior was sidetracked by framing it as strategy. 2

The both sides and false equivalence frame, brilliantly described by @JamesFallows was the norm in journalism. The fear of being labeled as biased towards liberals was exploited by the right. The norm of reporting both sides ignored the more important norm of reporting the truth.

The bandwidth for scandal meant that things like Obama's tan suit got the same breathless treatment as Trump violating emoluments clauses for personal enrichment or child separation. Emails were DEFCON1 for Clinton and ignored entirely for Trump and family.

When actors like McConnell and McCarthy know that they can get away with violating norms and blowing up institutions, they are encouraged to do more. When Sunday talk shows give equal stature and credibility to enablers of wrong behavior to others, they add to deterioration. 5

A thread about Twitter. First let us stipulate that Elon musk is a disgrace and a partner with the murderous Saudi regime. But at least for now I am going to stick it out on Twitter. I came to the platform very reluctantly years ago, pulled into it by my editor. 1

A great way to sell books and promote yourself, he said. I thought, what can you do in 140 characters that isn’t just trivial? But I quickly discovered that there is a lot more to Twitter than that, and that you can say a lot in one tweet and in multiple ones. 2

I learned that when I followed interesting people, I could click on things to read that I would not otherwise discover that were enlightening, entertaining and edifying. Along with videos that made me laugh or made me cry. (H/T @RexChapman) 3

I have built a community of friendships that I would never have found otherwise. Some of these friendships have endured and really enriched my life. Some ate famous people, others are not. All are interesting, morally strong and admirable. I do not want to lose that community. 4

I found a place where I could be candid about my own traumas, including the loss of my son, & be surrounded by warmth and love. I could tweet about my dog lost in downtown DC and have 28,000 people respond, both with sympathy and calls to help keep a lookout to find him. 5