Ok, I’ve had it. I remained silent about Kyrsten Sinema for 10 years, but it’s time to break the silence.

I always had a distaste for candidates who criticize their opponents after they lose an election. It comes off as sour grapes even if it’s well-founded. But…(1/10)

I need to scratch an “I told you so” itch. For those who weren’t around or don’t remember, after serving in the AZ legislature together for five years, Kyrsten moved into my district in 2012 to run for Congress in a Dem primary against @AndreiCherny and me.

Fair to say…(2/10)

Kyrsten and I were friends before she jumped into the AZ9 race. We spoke after her decision and committed we would not “go negative” against each other in the campaign. We held a press conference and released a joint statement saying so.

She had nothing to lose because…(3/10)

She was the front-runner in early polling w/ her firebrand reputation in progressive circles. Everyone figured I’d have to bring her down with some dirt to pull ahead. But I kept my promise and ran a clean campaign.

Things changed when my grassroots campaign pulled ahead…(4/10)

In the final months of the race, Kyrsten’s campaign spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on mail to Democratic primary voters with 2 attacks against me:

1. She said I supported John McCain for President over Obama.

2. She said I supported private-school vouchers.

So…(5/10)

Both claims were ridiculous, and she knew it. I interned for McCain when I was in college, but I was an OG @BarackObama supporter. I INTRODUCED Kyrsten to then-Senator Obama at an event in AZ and begged her to endorse him after her candidate dropped out.

On vouchers…(6/10)

I led a task force to investigate private-school vouchers and was the clearest voice against school privatization throughout our time together in the legislature. I later worked with @arizona_sos to stop voucher expansion and now work to oppose privatization outside of AZ. (7/10)

Kyrsten broke a promise to me and AZ voters to run a clean campaign. She lied about a friend to win an election. She later apologized and told me she had to do it or she would have lost, as if that made it okay.

And that brings me to the moral of this story…(8/10)

Kyrsten is the worst kind of hypocrite. Believe it or not, her core beliefs align with the progressive values of @TheDemocrats, BUT there is nothing she won’t say or do to increase her notoriety or importance. She will abandon values and friendships to climb to the top. (9/10)

As she leaves the political party and the voters who gave her political life, people will say she is crazy or stupid, but those people don’t know her. She is level-headed and brilliant, but she will stop at nothing and step on anyone to get what she wants.

(10/10)

P.S. Call it sour grapes, but it’s all true.

More from Category pdfmakerapp grab pdfmakerapp grab this readwiseio save readwiseio save thread threader compile summarize threadreaderapp unroll please ttttreads unroll unrollthreadcom

David Pepper
@DavidPepper

A 🧵 on Forgotten Lives

Often, I think about the lives led by those who came before us. Perhaps due to my fiction writing, I try to put myself into an individual’s shoes

And one “life” I can’t stop thinking about is that of a 16-year old Black Southern teen in the mid-1880s

1/

Let’s imagine what his life looked like then, & what it became.

In the 1880s, this teen sees a world where more Black voters are registered in Louisiana than White voters. He sees large numbers of Black voters registered AND voting in other southern states as well.

2/

Black turnout in the 1880 Presidential election is 61%.

And with this high level of Black participation in elections, this 16-year old grows up seeing Black men (not women yet) serving in office at almost every level.

3/

We’re talking mayors and sheriffs, state reps and judges, even State Supreme Court justices, house speakers, lieutenant governors and members of Congress.

I would never want to understate the racism and challenges this 16-year old faces in daily life…

4/

…but when it comes to participation in the nation’s democracy, things at least look to be moving in a good direction

And if he studies his recent history, this teen also is buoyed by the response of Pres. Grant when white supremacists tried to stop this new Black participation.

Team Farrakhan
@TeamFarrakhan

The Honorable Minister @LouisFarrakhan has been serving for over 67 Years!

#Farrakhan #AskFarrakhan #FarrakhanFridays

$Dimko Zhluktenko \U0001f1fa\U0001f1e6$

Dimko Zhluktenko 🇺🇦...
@dim0kq

Very interesting statement from @elonmusk re Ukrainian StarLink and how damaging it is for @SpaceX economics.

Being Ukrainian actually in the topic of StarLinks, I want to tell you some based facts re starlinks in Ukraine.

🧵

0. I admire the actions of SpaceX of enabling StarLink service in Ukraine. It is a true game changer for Ukrainian army in the open fields of no cellular, and long distances not suitable for radios, given the situation is changing quick on the battlefield.

It’s a game-changer.

1. Despite that, I have not seen ANY StarLink which was bought by the governments, or by SpaceX. All the Starlinks I have seen / used - were bought either by volunteers like myself, or soldiers put their personal money in.

The subscription price is also paid out of the pocket.

2. In my charity fund @dzygaspaw, I have bought and delivered to the frontlines over 50 StarLinks, some of them are still being paid from my credit card, now 60$ each per month.

Pic related - one more StarLink I bought and pay for - for Ukrainian EOD unit for Kharkiv offensive.

3. I would be VERY curious to see actual transparency on the process of getting StarLinks up and running in Ukraine, all the hidden costs that Elon claims. Because - Ukrainians pay the same price as everyone else but it’s only Ukraine that is a subject to discussion for @elonmusk

I AM DAHOMEY!
@coastalelite

Interesting seeing Kid Rock standing up & clapping along considering he would later say Beyoncé "doesn't really fucking do much for me".

I guess at one point she did...

ranked #1 for the greatest performances of all time at the kennedy center honors for a reason. no other artist but beyonc\xe9 could\u2019ve done justice to a tina turner tribute. pic.twitter.com/VCDifpaUIr
— BEY'Z\U0001f41d\u2b22\u2b21 \xb7 fan account (@beyzhive) November 25, 2022