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To the world: thank you for your concern and support. Please know that the people you're seeing storming Congress aren't protesters. This isn't a country at war with itself. What you're seeing is the United States under attack by a terror group. (1/)
One of our ruling parties glibly thought of this group as Useful Idiots, easily manipulated and _controlled._ Thinking solely of how the group's anger could further the party's goals, they didn't recognize the group as wild dogs whose sole master is its own irrational rage. (2/)
It is a historic common failing of people in power to believe that they attained this power through a combination of Divine Ordinance and their own masterful control of events and decisions. In their minds, they have power and will _always_ be in power because It Is So. (3/)
Therefore, they pat themselves on the back for seeing the potential use of these Idiots, and when these idiots seem to respond well to a charismatic and _dangerously inept_ idiot, they can only regard that idiot's election as proof of how well they've mastered the game. (4/)
Their ego makes it impossible for them to understand they were _never_ in control. They'd dropped a match into a dry forest and after the fire inevitably went where it wanted to go, they needed to pretend that the fire was going exactly where they were sending it. (5/)
And, inevitably, they found themselves serving the needs of the terror group for the party's own continued survival, out of fear. They need to KEEP running with this pack of wild dogs. Because once the pack sees them as outsiders, it'll turn and devour them. (6/)
This is what happens when you're seduced into thinking that right and wrong, purpose, discipline, are all malleable on every level. The party is experiencing the end point of an erosion of character they themselves pursued -- with success -- since Reagan. (7/)
At SOME point, the party served the needs of the country, from the point of view that Conservatism was in the country's best needs. Then they took steps toward "If our way is what's best for the country, we serve the country best by serving the _party._" (8/)
Generations of new legislators grow up under this mindset. We get lawmakers who now think their job is to serve the party, not the needs of the country, not even indirectly. And here we are, with a party who hasn't just lost its moral rudder, it's forgotten it needs one. (9/)
Which brings us to today: a generation of lawmakers transitioning away from serving the needs of the party, even, and towards serving the needs of power, exclusively. Agitating against a fair election, deluding themselves that they're _controlling_ the fire they set. (10/)
So, no. This isn't a civil war. This is violence inflicted by a terror group, emboldened by the implicit and explicit support they've received from a party that could only think of them as Useful Idiots. (11/)
I'm not cynical enough to think that anyone in the GOP wouldn't have worked to prevent this, had they the wit to imagine the possibility. They don't even understand what danger they would be in if our nation's founders hadn't been so paranoid about consolidation of power. (12/)
I pray that they recognize that without those safeguards in place, Trump would have the full backing of a military packed with Loyalists. That Trump would simply declare himself President. And that none of the Party leaders who put him in power would be free in 2021. (13/)
Thank you for reading this far. As you might have guessed, I couldn't proceed with my day until I'd gotten some stuff off my chest. I am horrified by what I'm seeing. In a thread all about the illusion of control, yes, I'm seeking control by defining and naming what I fear. (14/)
I will end with this: I was (holy cow) actually encouraged by something McConnell said. It was hard to imagine him clearly, forcefully, and correctly denouncing delays in confirming Biden as an attack on democracy and the US themselves. (15/)
The weeks after the 2016 election were very difficult for me, in part because the result exposed my damn naivete. I thought _surely_ voters would reject Trump, _clearly_ incompetent and racist, and _likely_ fascist. _Surely_ the GOP wouldn't put him above the law. (16/)
I'm less naive today, for sure. BUT I hope I haven't become cynical. I _pray_ that the GOP is seeing today's chaos, the attempt by a violent mob to burn everything down instead of acknowledge a fair election, and understanding that this is all _their_ doing. (17/)
I took many good things with me when I left my Catholic upbringing. Among them was the belief that your sins matter, but how you acknowledge and atone for them matter, too. I will try to build on my hope that today, moderate Republicans will be emboldened to demand change. (18/)
This comes from a fundamental believe that we all have a core of humanity, of recognizing the needs of others and wanting to serve the causes of hope and love, and that sometimes this core just gets shouted down by the distractions our ego and fear create. (19/)
We need to create moments and spaces of peace within ourselves, so that this core of humanity can be heard plainly. This is arguably a simplistic and naive belief. But on days like today, it's all we have and maybe the only thing we really need. (20/21)
"We're all here to help each other get through this thing, whatever it is." -- M. Vonnegut.
Love, Andy.
Love, Andy.
