This has the stench of psyops again. It's not so much an effort to depress Democratic turnout or divide Democrats, but to rile up Cult45 voters, incite "deep state" conspiracies, and provide further excuse for Tinpot Don to fire everyone.

1/4
marketwatch.com/story/rod-rose… It was, of course, immediately denied, because it simply doesn't make any sense. There would have been no need for Rosenstein to wear a wire, and him "discussing" the 25th Amendment has no more force than you or I discussing it.

2/4
finance.yahoo.com/news/rosenstei…

Almost two and a half centuries ago
a bunch of guys got together
and they said,
"We're going to build a nation.
Without a king.
Without nobility.
A nation
where The People
rule ourselves.
A nation
where We The People
are the government." These guys said,
"We will write down the rules
by which this new nation

will function.
And we will obey those rules
because We The People
choose to rule Ourselves."
.

That had never been done before
in the history of Planet Earth.
.

Never before
.

never

Okay guys, let's talk.

As men, do you know why you should care about the rape accusation against Kavanaugh and the way Republicans are treating Dr. Christine Blasey Ford?

There are three good reasons. Shut the fuck up and listen.

1/17 Begin by putting aside that "innocent until proven guilty" argument. This isn't a court of law. Kavanaugh isn't being tried for anything. He's being considered for a honor, a privilege, the highest court in the nation from which there is no appeal.

2/17

This article is from last December, but it's worth remembering. GOPers knew the #TaxScam would cause enormous deficits. They planned (and still plan) to dismantle Social Security and Medicare to pay for it. Problem is, SocSec and Medicare HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THE DEFICIT.

1/5

https://twitter.com/ForeverLogical/status/1039198978108059648

Both Social Security and Medicare are funded through dedicated taxes (your payroll taxes, otherwise known as FICA), and are NOT part of the general fund.

The only way to use SocSec and Medicare to pay for the #TaxScam is to STEAL *YOUR* HEALTHCARE AND RETIREMENT MONEY.

2/5

Not political, except it is:

I've seen two solar eclipses in my life. Seriously, they're the most awesome things you can ever see. Nothing compares. Maybe the birth of your kids, nothing else.

The world goes dark. It's a darkness more strange than you can imagine.

1/7 The Sun is reduced to a ghostly smoke ring. The entire horizon becomes the color of a sunset. Animals grow silent. Stars and planets peek at you.

In ancient times, people feared the world would end. Even knowing better now, your heart stops. Your breath catches.

2/7

All right, I"ll be the first to say it. Amid all the nice words everyone in the media is saying about John McCain--

No. Just no.

Yes, he was a true war hero. And he used to be a moderate Senator.

That was then. This is now. My, he's fallen.

1/6 McCain gave us Sarah Palin. That alone s enough to cancel a lifetime of achievement. Fuck that.

McCain became part of the obstructionist Republican Lie Machine and tried to oppose and then tear down everything President Obama sought to accomplish. Fuck that, too.

2/6

I've seen lots of people talking about impeaching Trump after Dems win back the House. I hope everyone knows--the House can only enact Articles of Impeachment. Then there's a trial in the Senate, and it takes a 2/3 vote to remove him from office. That won't happen.

1/5 If the House enacts Articles and there is a Senate trial, three won't be 67 votes to convict--in fact, if GOPers retain the Senate, there won't even be a majority to convict--and Republicans will insist Trump had thus been vindicated and it was all a partisan with hunt.

2/5

So here is the question.

Our armed forces and intelligence agents all take oaths to defend America against all enemies, foreign and domestic. They are sworn to defend the Constitution.

Not the president.

The Constitution.

1/5 That goes even for the Secret Service.

“I, [name], do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic..."

2/5
trello.com/c/Fb9PFZ16/8-o…

I heard a report that senior Russian officials are saying they are ready to implement the intelligence sharing arrangement that Putin and Trump agreed to in their secret meeting.

1/4 We have no way to know if there actually was any such agreement, of course, because we don't know what was said.

Having this kind of meeting with no one else there allows Russia to claim anything it wants, and Trump is to much of a wimp to disagree,

2/4

I keep hearing Bernie Cultists (or trolls pretending to be) wanting to use Medicare for All as a litmus test. I tell them I'm for universal healthcare coverage, not M4A. Medicare is a bad, bad model to follow.

Let's clear up some misconceptions about Medicare.

1/14 First, Medicare isn't free. You pay into Medicare all your working life as part of the FICA taxes on your paycheck. M4A would have to substantially increase that tax. The increase would likely be less than your current medical insurance premium, but do be aware of the cost.

2/14

The #TreasonSummit went as expected, with #TreasonTrump denouncing America and publicly fellating his Master, and also offering to force the US Intel Community to tell Russia all it knows about the Russian attack on our nation (and anything else Putin wants to hear about). No condemnation from #TreasonTrump for Russia's attack on America, nor for Russia's invasion and continuing occupation of Crimea, nor for Russia's chamical weapons attack on America's ally, the UK, nor for Russia's support of Syria not for Russia's support of Iran.

Connecting KNOWN dots:

* Russia offered help (Trump Tower meeting)

* Trump team was interested (they took the meeting)

* Trump directly asked for help ("find the emails")

* Russia gave the help (looked for and released emails)

* Russia gave more help (bots, trolls)

1/4 * Trump offered payment (changed GOP platform)

* Russia gave more help (hacking state election systems)

* Trump offered more payment (Flynn, others, lifting sanctions)

* Trump paid (refused to impose sanctions)

* Trump paid again (destabilizing NATO)

2/4

Important safety tip.

Go to your Twitter profile. Near the top, under the banner picture (if you have one), click "Lists" (it's between "Likes" and "Moments" and it doesn't look like a link).

(read the next tweet in this thread)
1/3 You'll see "Subscribed to" and "Member of", Click "Member of".

You may find trolls have added you to Lists they're compiling. This is one way trolls and bots find you.

Click the avatar of anyone with a List you don't want to be part of. Block that person.

(read on)
2/3

What is happening in America now and in Western democracies generally is precisely what the elites throughout the world claimed would happen in the late 18th century when America declared itself a democratic republic.

1/5 Aristocratic nobility then claimed The People were incapable of ruling themselves; the common folk were too stupid, uneducated, incurious, un-engaged, and unable to think in terms of the greater good.

2/5

In order to ram through their horrendous and destructive agenda, the Fascist Party has destroyed the idea of normal order in the House and Senate, and turned it into a partisan cesspool.

1/4 When we get control back, if we DON'T follow their methods--if we reinstate normal order, the Senate filibuster, real committee hearings, Congressional oversight, and so on--they'll use those rules to obstruct and to prevent us from repairing the damage they've caused.

2/4

Rebuilding sanity and reconstituting the rule of law will take much longer than the smash-and-grab thievery and drunken fratboy kegger which the Fascist Party is puking all over America now.

1/10 Decades of regulations are being dismantled--protections for the environment, safety, ethics, voting rights, women's rights, minority rights, immigrant rights, workers' rights, bank fraud--all the things we've worked for and protested for and died for.

2/10

There's a simple way to remove Trump's fascist SCOTUS appointees. We should plan to do this in January of 2021.

We could impeach them, but that takes a 2/3 vote in the Senate.

There's a much easier way.

1/6 First, understand: Congress sets the number of Justices on the Supreme Court by federal law. The number of SCOTUS Justices has varied from five to ten. Nine isn't a magic number.

An odd number of Justices is preferred (it avoids tie votes), but not it's not required.

2/6

Somebody explain to me.

What the fuck is wrong with "open borders"?

I mean, if we don't count the genocide of Native Americans.

Other than that, what the fuck is the problem?

I'm serious.

Immigrants (legal or not) are more law-abiding than US citizens.

1/3 Non-citizens pay taxes and are prohibited from receiving the things GOPhascists call "welfare"--things like Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare, CHIP, SNAP.

Immigrants work hard and expand our economy.

Food is rotting in our fields because US citizens won't harvest it.

2/3

I'm a writer. I love words. Let me say something about "civility."

Back in the 1950s and 1960s, comedian Lenny Bruce got into serious legal trouble for using foul language in his standup act. He was jailed for it, and he paid horrendous fines and legal bills.

1/8 Bruce not only used "obscenities" in his act. He also used racial slurs, and every other offensive word one can imagine.

He was trying to make a point: Words only have the power we give them. We avoid words we fear. When a word is commonplace, it has no ability to offend.

2/8

I'm an aging, straight, white male with a good-paying job. I have good benefits from that job,

I support things like civil rights and voting rights and healthcare and women's rights, even though most of these things don't directly affect me.

1/5 If I only supported things that affect me, that would be selfish and inhumane,

I could say guys like me should support these things, because if the rights of others could be taken away, then my rights could be taken away too.

But that's not why I support these things.

2/5

There was a time when it might have made sense to make a protest vote for a third-party candidate who didn't have a chance of getting elected, or to withhold your vote as an act of rebellion against the establishment.

That time is long gone.

1/12 I'm old enough to remember when Democrats and Republicans could both be sure the other party, while having radically different views on what the solutions to our national problems were, at least agreed on the shape of the basic problems. We at least shared some basic facts.

2/12