Cyrus Toulabi Profile picture
Jun 1, 2018 6 tweets 2 min read Twitter logo Read on Twitter
#PASTBLAST: I saw Masha Gessen on TV shortly after the 2016 election. She's a Russian journalist who compared Trump to autocrats like Putin.

Having lived in autocracies most of her life, she wrote about the rules to surviving an autocracy.

HER WARNING HAS STUCK WITH ME... [1/]
While I can't find the interview, she said when you live under an autocrat, he permeates every aspect of culture and life. Obviously, news will cover him.

Soon, he infiltrates entertainment (late night TV, Kanye), Sports (take a knee), to your daily convos & relationships. [2/]
Why? Because that’s what he wants. AND…because if you stop paying attention, if you turn a blind eye, you risk losing everything. You risk the autocrat winning.

To survive an autocrat like Trump, you must resist.

You have to fight every single day. [3/]
nybooks.com/daily/2016/11/…
While I can't find the specific interview that stuck with me, I recommend watching this one from late November 2016. [4/]

msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/…
One year after her original piece, Masha revisited it.

I highly recommend reading it. [5/]

newyorker.com/news/our-colum…
And for laughs, but thought-provoking nonetheless, check out this piece w/ Masha and Samantha Bee.

[6/6]

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More from @CyrusToulabi

Aug 22, 2018
With all due respect to the hosts on @MSNBC...but move over.

@BarbMcQuade, @JoyceWhiteVance and @JillWineBanks need their own show together, right now!

Love them so much! Could listen to the three of them forever.
There could even be a quick #JillsPin segment each day, like @AllInWithChris's #Thing1Thing2. 😜
With the addition of @MimiRocah1, why has this show not yet been #Greenlit?

Maybe it needs a little @MayaWiley to seal the deal!

Read 4 tweets
Aug 19, 2018
#FTR: Nixon WH Counsel, John Dean, is pretty much universally considered a hero in the Watergate scandal.

While he wasn't an angel, his cooperation ultimately led to Nixon's impeachment and resignation.

Hmm, I wonder why Trump would call him a "RAT" and view him negatively...?
#FLAG: Trump invokes McCarthyism, while hurling unfounded accusations at Democrats and the Special Counsel.

He claims he demands transparency, while his White House lies at every turn.

When he says "many lives have been ruined," he's setting up pardons.
#FLAG: Trump and the Right Wing often say "No Collusion...except by Crooked Hillary and the Democrats."

It's a repeated counter-narrative about the FusionGPS commissioned #SteeleDossier, claiming it's collusion.

It's been debunked. But truth isn't truth.
Read 12 tweets
Aug 18, 2018
We all saw this coming when Trump bragged about his multi-hundred billion dollar arms deal with the Saudis, shortly after taking office.

I hate to say it, but the U.S. has sadly been complicit in what has been described as the world's worst humanitarian crisis in Yemen.
In May, Trump signs a "tremendous" $110B arms deal with Saudi Arabia. #YEMEN

abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump…
Read 7 tweets
Aug 18, 2018
#BREAKING: THE WHITE HOUSE COUNSEL, DON MCGAHN, HAS COOPERATED EXTENSIVELY W/ MUELLER'S OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE INVESTIGATION.

He has detailed the most damning episodes in at least 3 voluntary interviews that have totaled 30 hours over the past 9 months.
nytimes.com/2018/08/18/us/…
#FLAG: McGahn has disclosed details surrounding...

- The firing of former FBI Director James Comey.
- Trump's obsession with putting a loyalist in charge.
- Trump's repeated urging of Sessions to claim oversight of the investigation.
- Trump's attempts to fire Mueller himself.
#FLAG: MCGAHN AND HIS LAWYER COOPERATED...BECAUSE THEY THOUGHT TRUMP WAS GOING TO SET HIM UP AS "THE FALL GUY."

They were suspicious when Trump didn't protest letting him be interviewed...

So McGahn cooperated extensively to cover to demonstrate that McGahn did nothing wrong.
Read 12 tweets
Aug 16, 2018
#FLAG: I don't want to read too far into it, but for the jury in the Manafort trial to be asking for the definition of "reasonable doubt," after one day of deliberation, is concerning, at least for me...
#TBH: I hate to say this, but I've been skeptical of this jury from the beginning.

How are there 12 individuals in the Alexandria, Virginia area (just outside of D.C.) who had never heard of Paul Manafort?

Either they are particularly ignorant individuals, or someone's lying...
#FTR: If Justice is not served at the conclusion of this trial...

No one is more to blame than Judge Ellis.
Read 5 tweets
Aug 16, 2018
Meanwhile, JOINT MILITARY EXERCISES with our allies in South Korea were "too expensive."

They act as a deterrent to North Korea, China and Russia, and are essential to ensure preparedness with our allies should Kim Jong Un launch an attack.

They would cost $14M...
#REMINDER: The Trump Administration's position on the suspension of joint military exercises with South Korea was CONDITIONAL.

The annual August exercises were suspended...AS LONG AS North Korea acted in "GOOD FAITH" in working towards denuclearization.
washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-ca…
#FLAG: U.S. Officials, from the Military Intelligence Agency in the Pentagon to the Secretary of State, have ACKNOWLEDGED...

North Korea is ACCELERATING their nuclear program, continuing missiles production, and hiding assets from the U.S..

Good faith?
Read 5 tweets

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