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Frankly, it breaks my heart to see so many people I grew up with--who I have such incredible memories with--peddling disinformation meant to undermine faith in our election.
A THREAD
A THREAD
Missouri is a beautiful place. And I mean that in every sense of the word. It's breathtaking to look at. The river bluffs. Fog rolling over the lake. The bright red, golden yellow, and burnt orange color of leaves as you drive on the back roads in autumn.
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Missouri is also home to amazing people--indefatigably resistant to all of the challenges pushed upon us. Jobs sent overseas. Stagnant wages making it more difficult to pay the rent. Increased cost of daycare making parents wonder whether it's even worth going back to work.
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Hour long drives to the doctor on insurance you can't afford. Planting fields wondering if you're gonna make a profit. Frustrated schools aren't safe + knowing you have to return to work so your kids can't stay home. No matter what you do--you never get ahead.
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These struggles in our communities are intentional.
That's a tough pill to swallow. How could something like that be intentional? After all, we're taught that our failures and successes are in our control. It might have been true once--but isn't anymore.
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That's a tough pill to swallow. How could something like that be intentional? After all, we're taught that our failures and successes are in our control. It might have been true once--but isn't anymore.
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Corporations intentionally drove down wages and increased the cost of goods. We're making less while paying more for the things we need. Corporations profit off of that margin. Their CEOs and shareholders also profit. Then they cut their own taxes and they profit even more.
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And us? Our wages don't go up. But our rent, our groceries, our car payments + our insurance do.
Money for public services? post office? schools? roads? It goes down b/c even though we're paying taxes on our $50k a year--Amazon isn't paying a penny on its $5.2 billion.
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Money for public services? post office? schools? roads? It goes down b/c even though we're paying taxes on our $50k a year--Amazon isn't paying a penny on its $5.2 billion.
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Companies like Amazon don't want to pay more. They don't want us demanding more.
So they invest in messaging that distracts our communities from real problems. And if we're busy fighting those next to us, we'll never look up and see who's pulling the strings.
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So they invest in messaging that distracts our communities from real problems. And if we're busy fighting those next to us, we'll never look up and see who's pulling the strings.
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That's how places like rural Missouri became ground zero for disinformation campaigns and culture wars.
Targets for Fox News + Limbaugh--were poor communities where people had legitimate gripes about their ability to never get by.
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Targets for Fox News + Limbaugh--were poor communities where people had legitimate gripes about their ability to never get by.
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For 20 years, these corporations used the media to wage psychological warfare on us. On our families. On our neighbors. On our communities.
They tell you what issues are important--abortion and guns. They tell you who to hate--Democrats, immigrants, and black activists.
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They tell you what issues are important--abortion and guns. They tell you who to hate--Democrats, immigrants, and black activists.
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The result is that our communities became collateral damage in someone else's war.
We were targeted + preyed upon--made to believe patent untruths so we wouldn't be distracted by the real problems.
That's how propaganda works.
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We were targeted + preyed upon--made to believe patent untruths so we wouldn't be distracted by the real problems.
That's how propaganda works.
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Twenty years ago when this strategy began taking effect, the goal was to increase profits and returns for the wealthy.
This was done at the expense of dividing the country.
Foreign enemies saw the growing divide and discord in the United States.
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This was done at the expense of dividing the country.
Foreign enemies saw the growing divide and discord in the United States.
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That divide remains a serious national security threat. Russia sought to capitalize on it + to deepen it for their own interests. Russia did this through a massive disinformation campaign perpetrated on radio stations and through social media during the 2016 election.
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A group called the Internet Research Agency (the IRA) carried out Russian interference in the 2016 election. The social media campaign was designed to provoke and amplify political and social discord in the US--capitalizing on the landscape created by corporations.
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The IRA was based in St. Petersburg, Russia and was funded by a Russian oligarch with close ties to Vladimir Putin. After the election, Facebook reported that 126M users had contact with IRA content. Twitter reported 1.4M.
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One of the Twitter accounts was @TEN_GOP. Members of Trump's team retweeted and shared its content.
One of the tweets read: "BREAKING: #VoterFraud by counting tens of thousands of ineligible mail in Hillary votes being reported in Broward County, Florida Please, RT."
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One of the tweets read: "BREAKING: #VoterFraud by counting tens of thousands of ineligible mail in Hillary votes being reported in Broward County, Florida Please, RT."
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Donald Trump Jr. did retweet this + other IRA content--as did several staffers.
Despite intelligence officials alerting the Trump administration to this election interference, they did not put in place measures to prevent the same interference in 2020.
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Despite intelligence officials alerting the Trump administration to this election interference, they did not put in place measures to prevent the same interference in 2020.
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Russia continues to work to fracture America from within. And it is repeating its work from 2016 to undermine faith in US elections.
There is no bigger proponent of this Russian disinformation campaign than the President himself.
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There is no bigger proponent of this Russian disinformation campaign than the President himself.
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His campaign strategized for months on how this would play out--taking steps to intentionally undermine faith in our electoral process.
First, he opposed mail-in ballots spreading the myth that it leads to voter fraud.
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First, he opposed mail-in ballots spreading the myth that it leads to voter fraud.
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When he could not defeat mail-in-voting, he worked to dismantle the the USPS + told Republicans to vote in person.
Meanwhile he turned COVID-19 into a political issue. Democrats recognized the severity of the virus, while Republicans still think it's no worse than the flu.
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Meanwhile he turned COVID-19 into a political issue. Democrats recognized the severity of the virus, while Republicans still think it's no worse than the flu.
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This served two purposes (i) Dems would vote by mail to + the mail might not arrive in time therein disproportionately excluding Democrat ballots and (ii) Republicans would vote in person making Republican totals higher on election night in some areas.
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When early voting commenced, most states were prevented by law from counting them early. Trump's team filed lawsuits opposing counting ballots after November 3rd--knowing full well that the increased mail-in and absentee ballots would mean a longer ballot counting process.
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This way, Trump could declare victory on the evening of the election--which he did, in despotic fashion from our White House.
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He continues to undermine faith in the election--claiming votes are pulled out of thin air.
Trump + his allies now push a narrative that we count legal votes + don't count illegal ones.
They are gaslighting us. There are no illegal votes.
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Trump + his allies now push a narrative that we count legal votes + don't count illegal ones.
They are gaslighting us. There are no illegal votes.
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They want to create doubt in your mind. To sow discord. To create division.
The only winner in a divided Untied States is Russia.
Do not let yourself become an unknowing arm of the Russian disinformation campaign to undermine faith in our elections.
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The only winner in a divided Untied States is Russia.
Do not let yourself become an unknowing arm of the Russian disinformation campaign to undermine faith in our elections.
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