I live in a community that never took their Trump signs down.

The kind of place where they hope Trump starts a second government.

I need you to hear me when I say this—these people believe the assault on the Capitol was a great victory for

Early polling after the terrorist attack shows that 45% of Republicans approved of it.

2/
More alarming is that nearly 70% of Republicans don’t think a terrorist attack at the US Capitol is a threat to democracy.

3/
And more Republicans would call those who stormed the Capitol “patriots” than “terrorists.”

4/
For those holding your breath, thinking Trump or Josh Hawley or Ted Cruz will resign—don’t.

There is no incentive for them to do so.

If they manage to stay in power after an attempted coup—they win.

If they are forced out by the “elite Washington establishment”—they win.

5/
And what they win is an entire base of people who believe that patriots descended on Washington to save America.

History informs us on this point.

6/
In 1923, Hitler led 2,000 Nazis to storm Munich. He was eventually caught + tried for treason. In prison he wrote his book + became a martyr of the Nazi cause.

He was released after only 9 months and welcomed back to his base like Jesus who had been crucified but rose again.

7/
And 9 years later, Hitler was Chancellor of Germany. No one could come close to toppling his base of support—the other political parties were too splintered, too unwilling to work together. Thinking each side too extreme.

That left Hitler with the most political strength.

8/
Right now, Josh Hawley, Ted Cruz and Donald Trump are vying for that spot—the Jesus of MAGA (or his successor)—and every single Member of Congress who voted against the election results is hoping for a place in that kingdom.

9/
Even if Trump is impeached—again—he will become more beloved for standing against the evil Democrats.

And while Hawley lost his book deal, major donors, his mentor + the media told him to resign—he, too, will claim standing up when the elite DC establishment tore him down.

10/
In fact, he positioned himself to already do that, both before the violence he orchestrated and after.

11/
And while impeaching Trump is necessary and removing Hawley from the Senate is necessary—we also have to use our justice system to hold every conspirator to this madness accountable.

And we need our officials to have both the backbone + stomach to do it.

12/
Every single Member of Congress who voted against the election results must be expelled.

Every single Member of Congress who stated or implied that the election was rigged must be expelled.

13/
They undermined democracy + promoted a narrative they knew to be false that led to 5 American deaths.

And they did it *after* being told that their words incited violence.

We cannot let those who brazenly violate their oath to the Constitution remain in office.

14/
And then we must set up a commission to investigate not only the events of January 6th but everything leading up to it.

There was massive coordination between Fox News, OANN, the GOP, fed. agencies and business execs, who fronted for their grassroots army of terrorists.

15/
And when enough evidence is found, every single person who had anything to do with this must be prosecuted. Those trials must be public.

Americans have to see what happened and that it was criminal.

They have to see people who look like them facing consequences.

16/
And then—after you put Trump in prison—and Hawley in prison—and Kushner + Giuliani in prison—and every single person who stormed the Capitol in prison—(even the pretty white girls w/ scripture on their Fbook page)—then maybe we have a chance to heal before more people die.

17/
To heal we must end the psychological warfare perpetuated by media conglomerates profiting while they cut through the very fabric of America.

And we must prosecute them too—for using PsyOps on our citizens that has resulted directly in violence + death.

18/
And to truly heal ourselves it requires literal peacekeeping + community building missions in my part of America.

Because today they’re cheering + celebrating a terror attack on US soil.

This is America’s darkest hour and we have only a small window to turn on the light.

19/19

More from Lindsey Simmons

Dear Senator Hawley's Staff--

I'm sure you're loyal to your boss, but this man incited violence and you helped him. There is no "following orders" defense that will save you. You are part of this now.

And it is so much more serious than him simply "raising concerns."

🧵


Prior to November 3rd, Joshua had nothing to say about Pennsylvania's vote by mail legislation.

2/


In fact, Joshua didn't have squat to say about election integrity either.

3/


By November 4th, when it was apparent that Trump would likely lose the election, Joshua--as a sitting US Senator--started tweeting out that Michigan was hiding secrets from the public.

Sowing doubt. Fanning the flames.

4/


So Joshua started this fake call for election integrity--a call he'd never made before.

At first he threw the whole kitchen sink out there--BigTech, ballot harvesting, poll watchers, counting, etc.

Sowing doubt. Fanning the flames.

5/

More from Trump

Picking up on @henryfarrell's comments here, one implication of my work on democratic breakdown is that the US should harshly punish GOP leaders who attempted to keep Trump in power despite losing the election and fomented insurrection to advance that effort. 1/n


I wrote a book a decade ago that used game theory to explore the ways democracies die and what that tells us about how and why they sometimes survive. 2/n

One implication of the formal model in that book is that normative commitments to democracy may matter less than expectations about the benefits and costs of trying to subvert democracy. 3/n

It's great when all the major players (ruling party, opposition party, and military) believe democracy is good in itself. If they don't, tho, then what matters most are their beliefs about how easily they can seize power and how costly it would be to try and fail. 4/n

I think it's pretty clear that many key players in the GOP don't see democracy as a good in itself ("we're a republic, not a democracy"). So that shifts their attention to their ability to usurp power and the costs of trying and failing. 5/n
Enough! Reporters doing it again. Both-sidesing. U enable Trump's propaganda by doing this

Reporter's both-sides question:

"What was your role in what happened at the Capitol?

Proper question:

"Are you going to take responsibility for your role in inciting insurrection?"


The press enabled the storming of the Capitol because they never held GOP accountable for pushing #TheBigLie that election was stolen

I have been yelling about this for months. Starting here where @TerryMoran got it right

But after press returned to form


Not long after Nov 4th press started both-sidesing again. Question Republicans were asked over & over was:

"Do u think Biden won?"

This enabled the coup

The proper question at minimum:

"Why are u enabling this charade? Why are u spreading


After repeatedly yelling that press wasn't demanding answers of GOP for spreading #TheBigLie I hoped this political violence on Dec 10th would finally get press to demand answers. But no. They continued to both-sides


I noted how impotent the American press was acting by treating #TheBigLie as credible. The press is supposed to hold people in power accountable, but beside @TerryMoran on election night, they by and large
Today's Twitter threads (a Twitter thread).

Inside: Stop saying "it's not censorship if it's not the government"; Trump's swamp gators find corporate refuge; and more!

Archived at: https://t.co/7JMcAbaULj

#Pluralistic

1/


Monday night, I'll be helping William Gibson launch the paperback edition of his novel AGENCY at a Strand Bookstore videoconference. Come say hi!

https://t.co/k3fvBdqOK0

2/


Stop saying "it's not censorship if it's not the government": I didn't expect the Spanish Inquisition.

https://t.co/7I0MpCTez5

3/


Trump's swamp gators find corporate refuge: The Swamped project.

https://t.co/MUJyIOr2iw

4/


#15yrsago A-Hole bill would make a secret technology into the law of the land https://t.co/57bJaM1Byr

#15yrsago Hollywood’s MP loses the election — hit the road, Sam! https://t.co/12ssYpV46B

#15yrsago How William Gibson discovered science fiction https://t.co/MYR0go37nW

5/

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