I haven't been harping on it because it at least contributes to taking it seriously, but this is part of why I shudder every time they call the halls of Congress "sacred" and talk about them being "desecrated".

One of the most significant problems a lot of Democrats and the liberal commentariat have been allowing themselves to be hampered by is an adherence to some sort of notion of the sacrosanct nature of institutions as those institutions are burning down because people won\u2019t act.
— Dr. Sunny Moraine PhD is carrying the fire (@dynamicsymmetry) January 8, 2021

More from Alexandra Erin

Alexandra Erin
@AlexandraErin

Jesus. I just watched the Ashli Babbitt video that the Washington Post has, and if I'm following the conversation happening, the people at the front of the mob trying to break into the room told the police to leave, offering to "make a path" and saying...

Alexandra Erin
@AlexandraErin

A few people are suggesting that the impeachment delay is necessary and unavoidable because of the time it takes to whip votes (make sure that the votes are there and the shakier edges of the coalition are firmed up).

This may well be true.

But as ever, messaging matters.

Alexandraah! Erin
@alexandraerin

So let me tell you another reason we need to not back down, not sit down, not be quiet: coward that he is, Donald Trump is at his most dangerous when he feels like he's on top of the world.

The horse race headlines are saying that Donald Trump had his best day as president, and I'm sure he felt it. He just came through a knock-down, drag-out fight and won a battle that people had been telling him to drop for weeks, so right now no one can tell him anything.

If he gets it in his head that maybe he should fire Rosenstein? No one's going to be able to talk him out of it. He might even do it just to extend the high, or see how far he can take it.

When he's afraid and uncertain he'll lash out and that can be dangerous, but his insecurity causes him to both seek approval and fear traps in that state. But when he's invincible, he will indulge his worst impulses freely.

The same people who have been telling him not to mess with the investigation until after the midterms were among those telling him it would be so much easier to just replace Kavanaugh with someone less contentious. And what did they know? Nothing, he thinks. So why listen?

Alexandraah! Erin
@alexandraerin

So, I got an email recently from someone thanking me for having pointed out that it's okay to PayPal a dollar, because that's usually what they have and they'd always thought of pledging/tipping a dollar on social media as rude, like tipping a waiter a penny.

It really isn't.

Some people have the impression that with transaction fees a dollar isn't "worth it", and might even effectively cost the person who receives it money. Also not the case.

The difference between a digital performance or service, like I provide on Twitter dot com, and the labor done by a waiter or bartender or driver, is that they're doing the job each time for each and every person who receives it. I do the same job for everybody who receives it.

It's worth it for me in the sense of being a sustainable way to spend my time if the money I bring in, in aggregate, is enough make it worth it. That works out the same if it's one generous patron dropping a ton of money at once or a crowd of appreciative audience members with $1

And in fact, in terms of long-term sustainability and independence, it's better to have lots of small patronage than a few high rollers.

Alexandra Erin
@AlexandraErin

I've talked about this before and I will probably talk about it again, but a lot of people will write off stuff they don't want to believe as obviously being false and unworthy of consideration, and then claim after it proves true that they weren't told.

(DC POLICE) MPD CHIEF : "There was no intelligence that suggests that there would be a breach of the US Capitol. "
— Chris Cioffi (@ReporterCioffi) January 7, 2021

More from Politics

Alexandria Ocasio-Cort...
@Ocasio2018

All the challenges to Leader Pelosi are coming from her right, in an apparent effort to make the party even more conservative and bent toward corporate interests.

Hard pass. So long as Leader Pelosi remains the most progressive candidate for Speaker, she can count on my support.

The strange thing about the fight to displace Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House is that no one seems willing to run against her. https://t.co/VhBqf4KJom
— The New Yorker (@NewYorker) November 21, 2018

I agree that our party should, and must, evolve our leadership.

But changed leadership should reflect an actual, evolved mission; namely, an increased commitment to the middle + working class electorate that put us here.

Otherwise it’s a just new figure with the same problems.

I hope that we can move swiftly to conclude this discussion about party positions, so that we can spend more time discussing party priorities: voting rights, healthcare, wages, climate change, housing, cannabis legalization, good jobs, etc.