BC TRUMP
Saved by @CodyyyGardner

It turns out to be bad idea for people who have large public microphones to act as if they're venting to their 120 Facebook friends.

 And oh, look, this is a perfect segue to a tweetstorm about my latest column! https://t.co/KLt5LF0H6A
So I've been saying Trump is dangerous basically since the beginning. Not because I thought he was going to cancel elections and become a dictator; I didn't think he had the competence, or American institutions the vulnerability, for that.
I thought he was dangerous because he said stuff no politician could say, and that was corrosive to American democracy in all sorts of ways. What happened on Wednesday doesn't need to itself be a coup in order to pose a mortal long-term danger to the Republic.
Also I didn't want the impulsive, belligerent narcissist to have access to nuclear launch codes, but that's a discussion for another time.
I got pushback over and over. "It's just words! He doesn't *do* anything."
But as we saw vividly demonstrated on Wednesday, words are how political leaders encourage their followers to do dangerous, anti-democratic stuff. There's a reason we freak out when political leaders say those kinds of words.
It's hard for politicians to get their supporters to attack congress using semaphore, or mime, or waggling their butt like a bee on a nectar high. In forbidding politicians to make certain kinds of utterances, we are making our democratic institutions safer in a very concrete way
In retrospect, I think one reason this was so hard for his supporters to take was that they perceived this tut-tutting as an attack on *them and their friends*, who were often saying some pretty extreme stuff at parties or on Facebook.
And before my lefty followers sound the domestic terrorism alarm, let me point out that I have heard some truly blood-curdling rage-storms from left-leaning friends. Lots of folks say stuff in the heat of an emotional moment that they would never really do, or support.
I myself once suggested to a German bank president that people who drive the speed limit in the left-hand lane should face a firing squad. I had a little whiskey in me and was feeling puckish. I am also vehemently opposed to the death penalty for any crime at all.
And most of the time it is basically harmless when ordinary folks swap their theories about how the election was actually stolen. Democrats who just got mad at me for saying this, should remember those hobbyists were all on the left in 2004, and very numerous. Nothing came of it
These things become more dangerous the closer they get to power. It was, in fact, deeply offensive and unpatriotic when Barbara Boxer alluded to a voting machine conspiracy theory in congress, and Democrats should have stomped on it, hard.

However.
It was way more dangerous when Trump signaled that he was willing to dive deep into this stuff and wallow in it, rather than performing a little quickie fan service for the conspiracy theory LARPers on the party fringe.
Way. Way. Way. Way. Way. Way. Way. Way. Way. Way. Way. Way. Way. Way. Way. Way. Way. Way. Way. Way. Way.

More dangerous.
Trump didn't raise an objection on the floor that almost no one ever heard. He used his megaphone--the largest megaphone in the world--to sell a baseless conspiracy to his followers. And then spur the truest believers to act on it.
IT takes a politician to form that kind of focal point. Most people idly swapping calumny with like-minded friends would never dream of doing something about it; even the ones who do wouldn't have any particular ideas abotu what to do.
Yes, some tiny number might turn to individual acts of terror, which is awful. But for a concerted attack on Democracy itself, you need a figure like Trump.
Now, we got lucky in multiple wasys: Trump is not very competent or hard-working, and thus his attacks were badly planned & executed; US institutions are strong, and wouldn't let them succeed; and he is old and doesn't have time to rebuild his movement and come back in 10 years
But American institutions are strong in significant part because we don't let politicians act like Donald Trump, particularly not when they get close to the white house. It's not a law of nature; it's something we're actively doing. If we stop doing it, we lose our immunity.
Anyway, point is that it was possible to think that what Trump was doing was immoral and evil, and that the man himself was unfit, while recognizing that regular people saying quite similar things on Facebook were neither a threat to democracy, nor necessarily awful human beings.
(Some percentage of people saying anything on Facebook, even "I like puppies", will be awful human beings, of course.)
I'm not sure it was ever possible to communicate that distinction to Trump's followers. It would have been especially hard because of course many on the left resist making that distinction, and are even now winding up to tell me I'm a despicable apologist for whatever.
Still, I think it might have helped separate Trump from his followers if we'd been clearer that the expectations are higher for someone holding higher office--as we now see, for good reason--and were not out to get them, even if they were saying some of the same stuff.
Maybe not, of course; my husband thinks I'm a hopeless utopian. But I wish we'd tried.

Anyway, the column itself is on *why* all the taboos Trump violated were good and necessary--something that should have gone without saying, but obviously didn't. So:

https://t.co/KLt5LF0H6A

More from Trump

Andrew Stroehlein
Andrew Stroehlein
@astroehlein
Having a Twitter account is not a right.

If you incite violence on Twitter, the company can - and should - stop you. Good call.


Plans for “future armed protests” are spreading on Twitter and elsewhere, the company warned, “including a proposed secondary attack on the US Capitol and state capitol buildings on January 17, 2021”.

Yes, people who boosted their careers off of Trump - his sycophants, his kids & people like Haley, who helped him attack and undermine human rights around the world - are boo-hooing right now.

Always beware of powerful people pretending to be victims.

https://t.co/0A5D5eJFvL


But no one should react with glee. The president of the United States has been inciting violence, and Republican Party leaders, along with a willing, violent mob, have been aiding his attempts to overthrow the democratic process.

That's the real story here.

The dangers are real, and we've all seen them. That Twitter even had to contemplate banning any politician for inciting violence is awful. That they had to ban the sitting president for it is even worse.
TRUMP
Rachel "The Doc" Bitecofer \U0001f4c8\U0001f52d\U0001f34c
Rachel "The Doc" Bitec...
@RachelBitecofer
1. What @WillieGeist is trying to get across to @NikemaWilliams on @Morning_Joe is that the GOP is nationalizing their message & making their message high stakes, tapping into voters anger at Trump's loss to get them to vote in a Jan. run-off & that Ds NEED TO DO THE SAME. Its

2. about giving Trump power- its about giving low-info voters, who are the bulk of the electorate motivation to cast ballots in the run-off. This is WHY turnout plummets in these things on the D side- the GOP keeps their messaging on stakes (control of the senate to fend off

3. socialism) while Ds go off into policy. That is a losing strategy. It just lost them nearly a dozen House seats & the chance to cut into partisan gerrymandering by flipping 4 state houses. They can't make that mistake here bc control of senate is everything here. If Ds have it

4. Biden can get some policy done- if Ds don't, the GOP will block everything. Biden will be a lame duck from day 1. So the message should be "hey voter, did you know you have a super vote? That's right, with your one vote, you can elect 2 senators that will give Ds control of

5. senate & with it REAL police reform. With it, Dreamers not getting deported to countries they've even been to- potentially to die from lack of insulin. With it, the power to save the pre-existing conditions coverage for millions of Americans, including Nicu babies who'd in
TRUMP
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Small + Mighty \u2122\ufe0f
Small + Mighty ™️...
@Gr33nEyedSara
A THREAD ENTITLED: HE KNEW.


2.


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5.
TRUMP
Jonathan Rauch
Jonathan Rauch
@jon_rauch
Post-impeachment, we can say this: Trump's presidency has amended the Constitution. Not formally, of course, but informally...which matters just as much. Here are the five Trump amendments. 1/9

1. "No president shall be removed from office for treason, bribery, or any other crime or misdemeanor provided a partisan minority of the Senate will protect him (which is always). Impeachment is thus a nullity and presidents can expect impunity." 2/9

2. "Congressional oversight shall be optional. No congressional subpoena or investigative demand shall be binding on a president who chooses to ignore it." 3/9

3. "Congressional appropriations shall be suggestions. The president may choose whether or not to conform with congressional spending laws, and Congress shall have no recourse should a president declare that his own priorities supersede Congress's express will." 4/9

4. "The president shall have authority to make appointments as he sees fit, without the advice and consent of the Senate, provided he deems his appointees to be acting, temporary, or otherwise exempt from the ordinary confirmation process." 5/9
TRUMP
Marjorie Taylor Greene \U0001f1fa\U0001f1f8
Marjorie Taylor Greene...
@mtgreenee
I had a GREAT call with my all time favorite POTUS, President Trump!

I’m so grateful for his support and more importantly the people of this country are absolutely 100% loyal to him because he is 100% loyal to the people and America First.

Cont’d...
TRUMP

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one of the things i like about Batman is that it's fundamentally about being orphaned, and being an orphan — how this guy stays tethered to the world in his own weird, abstract, extrajudicial way when he feels that his link to it has been violently severed

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Do you know?

The Golden Shine on the artificial jewellery of modern times is a gift by Nagarjuna.

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राम-रावण युद्ध समाप्त हो चुका था। जगत को त्रास देने वाला रावण अपने कुटुम्ब सहित नष्ट हो चुका था।श्रीराम का राज्याभिषेक हुआ और अयोध्या नरेश श्री राम के नेतृत्व में चारों दिशाओं में शन्ति थी।
अंगद को विदा करते समय राम रो पड़े थे ।हनुमान को विदा करने की शक्ति तो राम में थी ही नहीं ।


माता सीता भी हनुमान को पुत्रवत मानती थी। अत: हनुमान अयोध्या में ही रह गए ।राम दिनभर दरबार में, शासन व्यवस्था में व्यस्त रहते थे। संध्या को जब शासकीय कार्यों में छूट मिलती तो गुरु और माताओं का कुशल-मंगल पूछ अपने कक्ष में जाते थे। परंतु हनुमान जी हमेशा उनके पीछे-पीछे ही रहते थे ।


उनकी उपस्थिति में ही सारा परिवार बहुत देर तक जी भर बातें करता ।फिर भरत को ध्यान आया कि भैया-भाभी को भी एकांत मिलना चाहिए ।उर्मिला को देख भी उनके मन में हूक उठती थी कि इस पतिव्रता को भी अपने पति का सानिध्य चाहिए ।

एक दिन भरत ने हनुमान जी से कहा,"हे पवनपुत्र! सीता भाभी को राम भैया के साथ एकांत में रहने का भी अधिकार प्राप्त है ।क्या आपको उनके माथे पर सिन्दूर नहीं दिखता?इसलिए संध्या पश्चात आप राम भैया को कृप्या अकेला छोड़ दिया करें "।
ये सुनकर हनुमान आश्चर्यचकित रह गए और सीता माता के पास गए ।


माता से हनुमान ने पूछा,"माता आप अपने माथे पर सिन्दूर क्यों लगाती हैं।" यह सुनकर सीता माता बोलीं,"स्त्री अपने माथे पर सिन्दूर लगाती है तो उसके पति की आयु में वृद्धि होती है और वह स्वस्थ रहते हैं "। फिर हनुमान जी प्रभु राम के पास गए ।
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