TanoNov 20, 2023
Robert Reich

A jury ruled that Trump committed violent sexual assault.

A judge ruled he committed financial fraud.

Now another judge has found (what we all saw for ourselves) that he engaged in an insurrection.

How is it possible that he's still a candidate for president?

Nov 20, 2023 at 4:44pmWeb
Show threadOtownKimNov 20, 2023
@rbreich Because $$$$$$. All bullshit Oligarchy $$$
Show threadClinton Anderson SwordForHireNov 20, 2023

@rbreich Because America is a failed experiment, circling the bowl...

We aughta give it one great big flush and send it where it belongs, for good.

Show threadCGdoppelpunktNov 20, 2023

@rbreich

Easy: everybody wants to be like Trump.

Show threadLocksmithNov 20, 2023
@rbreich We failed. We failed disastrously. In a mature, honorable nation, he would be gone into oblivion and disgrace much before he defiled a weather map with a Sharpie just to pretend he is clever.
Show threadJoe Hill 🇵🇸🇺🇦Nov 21, 2023
@locksmithprime @rbreich He should have been gone at mocking a disabled reporter.
Show threadLocksmithNov 21, 2023
@Joe_Hill @rbreich And instead, his supporters laughed, as if it were anywhere funny. As if it made them feel better about themselves. As if behaving like that were respected anywhere in humanity.
Show threadsynlogicNov 20, 2023
@rbreich yeah the Colorado judge's ruling may hurt him more than help. she ruled he did do insurrection. obvs. but then she also said he wasnt an office holder or oath-taker in sense of 14th amendment which is utterly absurd and counter-factual on the face of it. IANAL but I expect that to go up to state supreme court and get fixed/overuled. Pres is the ultimate officer and Constitutional oath-taker of the US
Show threadRenamed_User_34897Nov 20, 2023
@rbreich Also, how is he candidate after clearly breaching the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution?
Show threadJogi Hofmüller (he/him)Nov 20, 2023
@rbreich because the U.S.A. is a failed state 😐
Show threadBrian SullivanNov 20, 2023
@rbreich Obviously a large number Americans don’t care.
Show threadNonya Bidniss 🥥🌴Nov 20, 2023
@rbreich Because millions of low-information Americans have been guzzling biased and false media swill for decades, their minds now approximating gelid bowls of moldy tapioca left out to rot. The media built an intellectual Great Garbage Patch with the help of foreign enemies, and credulous, poorly educated Americans desperate for confirmation of their racist, misogynist myths swam to it by the millions.
Show threadWeaselNov 20, 2023
@Nonya_Bidniss @rbreich
His fan base just goebbels it up.
Show threadNiallNov 20, 2023

@Nonya_Bidniss @rbreich "low information Americans" - beautifully put.

Can i play with that? How about - low information, armed to the teeth, primal, paranoid, American pawns...

Show threadM.rauderNov 20, 2023
@rbreich
Too many people spend their time inside a right-wing media bubble like Fox, and don’t see any info that contradicts the view that Trump is their savior and that the GOP wants to help protect them from the evil “others.”
Show threadTom ShaferNov 20, 2023
@rbreich Because the GOP considers none of these to be deal-breakers in presenting Trump as a viable candidate for their constituents to select as their nominee. Either they fear Trump and his base, or they're willing to turn the US into a fascist state for power. Neither bodes well.
Show threadChris BNov 20, 2023
@rbreich the country is fuckin broken and we have to move on from that and stop wondering how it got broken and start figuring out - fast - how we salvage it. Biden losing ground in all key demographics should be raising a 5 alarm fire for anyone and everyone paying attention.
Show threadFinchHaven sfbaNov 20, 2023

@rbreich

Because the judge in the most recent Colorado case was intimidated by Trump's previous threats of stochastic violence and was unable to carry through and make the obvious decision

The US legal justice system is utterly incapable of coping with the new, changing reality of sedition, insurrection and outright treason that so many of the public can clearly see

Show threadJonChevreau 🇨🇦Nov 20, 2023
@rbreich how is it possible? The U.S. has become an Idiocracy.
Show threadTDonovalNov 20, 2023
@rbreich how come he's not behind the bars yet?
Show threadGeorge Liquor, AmericanNov 20, 2023
@rbreich It's not that difficult to understand: his supporters love him *because* he's like this. They envy his ability to behave badly and evade accountability. His defective personality IS his appeal.
Show threaddfendermanNov 20, 2023
@rbreich some folks like that their hatred is made “ok” by him.
Show threadDagnabbit, Pascaline! 💥Nov 20, 2023
@rbreich Because many are stupid enough to see what he has and think that if they vote for him they'll get that too.
And that they believe he means it when he says he cares enough to make sure they get it.
Show threadPete Alex Harris🦡🕸️🌲/∞🪐∫Nov 20, 2023

@rbreich
At least it will be fair game in the election campaign to describe him as a fraudulent traitorous rapist.

The electorate are ultimately responsible to take care of this kind of mess, not hope the courts will do it for them; the supreme court is compromised and no help can be expected from that direction.

Show threadClickyMcTickerNov 20, 2023

@rbreich
Perhaps we’re a country filled with rapists, fraudsters, and violent people who want to see our country’s leadership reflect those views.

I see no issue with letting someone like that run. I see massive issues if they receive enough votes and support to be a genuine candidate.

Show thread🟦🧙🏻simpNov 20, 2023
@rbreich how is it possible that he is still at large?! Something is completely f‘d up with the US‘s justice system. If you are convicted you go to prison, no?
Show threaddangrsmindNov 20, 2023
@rbreich don't forget the classified documents thing. Ususually someone found with that sort of classified material in their possesion would be held in jail awaiting trial. See for example Reality Winner.
Show thread Mélani (Melanie) Bjornsdottir (she, ŝi)Nov 20, 2023
@rbreich None of those rulings were criminal. Yet.
Show threadCanadian CroneNov 20, 2023
@rbreich US allies are watching
Show thread-> @haileys.questNov 21, 2023
@CanadianCrone @rbreich They won't do shit about it.
Show threadJohn MastodonNov 20, 2023
@rbreich bc it's not just him but the whole putrid Republican Party that supports him. FACT.
Show threadCJ Paloma's ...accountNov 20, 2023

@rbreich

we live in a world where power is (still) most easily attained/retained via abusive actions.

The stupidest and most brutal have routinely used force (violence, laws, social pressure, corruption, etc) to attain power/prove their "superiority."

This is what colonizers did. It is what sexists and racists do. This is what wealth buys.

It's ak-shu-ally hard to create and maintain healthy cultures from these kinds of beginnings.

Trump is a symptom of this reality.

Show threadLexiGirlNov 20, 2023
@rbreich and how is it possible he’s still walking around, a free man??
Show threadMark Steven LongNov 20, 2023
@rbreich
Best theory I ever read was that Trump gives people permission to not care about others. He openly validates their hatreds and their fears. His worshipers will support him no matter what he says or does.
Show threadNightOwlNov 20, 2023
@rbreich sadly the most honest thing he ever said was he could shoot somebody on 5th avenue and he’d get away with it. Some people never face consequences for their crimes. The Maxwell family was the same until the USA got ghislaine so there is hope.
Show threadpollyNov 20, 2023
@rbreich it's a cult - horrifying to see and worrying that other countries are also slipping towards fascism. Read somewhere that dictators must *be* stopped, because they never stop through choice
Show threadMemphisDaPlaya 🎲🎲Nov 20, 2023

@rbreich

I know the answer to that. Americans aren't very smart.

Show threadDave AlvaradoNov 20, 2023
@rbreich it's weird how the dudes who thought owning other people was cool didn't bake "crimes" in as a disqualifier for running the country.
Show threadDarwin WoodkaNov 20, 2023
@rbreich Because the GOP as a party is completely and totally morally bankrupt. And anyone still supporting it or voting for them is as well.
Show threadFruitInTheRoomNov 20, 2023
@rbreich That's because all the judges are scared of riling up his fan base and getting death threats. And as long as we allow the right wing thugs to threaten everyone these things are going to happen. Sadly we have sunk to new lows in this country thanks to the christians. @FruitInTheRoom
Show threadTheJenNov 20, 2023
@rbreich Because Americans are stupid and gullible?
Show threadLoud Mouth Brown GirlNov 20, 2023
@rbreich It's because he's white. Connected, and very powerful. if he were Black he'd be in prison for a dozen years, let's face that fact and stop pretending like it's a surprise that he keeps slithering out of trouble.
Show threadEricka SimoneNov 20, 2023
@DevonJHall @rbreich the first person in the whole thread to call it.
Show threadToot Ωncommon - SHUT 🇺🇸 DOWNNov 20, 2023
@rbreich Because half the country is purposefully programmed with a constant barrage of propaganda and misinformation from well-funded sources that pose a verified national security threat for which we haven’t even taken a moderate first step to address and eliminate, thereby lending them credence and paving the way for the collapse of democracy and an inevitable failure of the American experiment which will plunge the world into further autocracy, fascism, chaos and misery. Have a great day!
Show threadJo ♀️🐈🐈‍⬛🛍️🌛🥂Nov 20, 2023
@rbreich Because no one has the guts to take trump to the train 🚂 station. (Yellowstone reference) #traitortrump
Show threadsOlOw-NHNov 20, 2023

@rbreich

...at least he didn't cross a border without authorization

Show thread: j@fabrica:~/src;  Nov 20, 2023

@rbreich but but but it’s not self-executing!

(Proceeds not to look at prior execution of the law.)

Show threadBombadil Frumblesnatch 🐧Nov 20, 2023
@rbreich
Show threadJebKFanNov 20, 2023
@rbreich The real question is: how to make sure that independent voters pay attention to more than 1-2 very prominent questions that might favor him and not all the rest?
Show threadJ. R. DePriest    :EA DATA. SF:Nov 20, 2023

@rbreich

The top candidate for president according to polls.

What does that say about this country?

Show threadLFpeteNov 20, 2023
@rbreich Because preachers grant mulligans.
Show threadJames EdwardsNov 20, 2023

@rbreich

"Now then; criminal record..."
"Absolutely not."
"Oh come on Baldrick, you're going to be an MP for god's sake! I'll just put fraud and sexual deviancy. Now; minimum bribe level..."
"One turnip. Oh, hang on, I don't want to price myself out of the market."

Show threadAsarielNov 20, 2023
@rbreich He has a bucket-load of blind fanatics who want to believe his empty promises.
Show threadNicole ParsonsNov 20, 2023

@rbreich

Trump is still a candidate for president because he has deep-pocketed billionaires, foreign and domestic, funding the necessary mass malign influence campaigns that incites the GOP base.

These 63 billionaires are prepared to do anything, literally anything, to shield Trump.

Koch. Murdoch. Griffin. Ellison. Yass. Thiel. Singer. Schwarzman. Marcus. Harlan Crow. Tim Dunn. Farris Wilks. Kelcy Warren. Bigelow. Ruffin. Lauder. Barre Seid.

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2021/01/12/trumps-billionaire-enablers-63-billionaires-worth-243-billion-who-bankrolled

Trump’s Billionaire Enablers: The 63 Billionaires Worth $243 Billion Who Bankrolled Trumps Re-Election Bid

While much has been made of the shock and dismay at last week's insurrection by America's corporate leaders,

Common Dreams
Show threadJonChevreau 🇨🇦Nov 20, 2023
@Npars01 @rbreich Odd that these billionaires fund a a self-professed Billionaire whose original pitch was that he didn’t need anyone’s money. Of course, if you believe 45 was ever a billionaire I have some swampland in Florida I’d like to sell you
Show thread🟦🧙🏻simpNov 20, 2023
@JonChevreau @Npars01 @rbreich yeah, well, about being a billionaire: that was a lie.
Show threadEricka SimoneNov 20, 2023
@Npars01 @rbreich thanks for this.
Show threadJoyce Bell 🇺🇦🇨🇦🇲🇽🇬🇱🚫🧊Nov 20, 2023
@Npars01 @rbreich Don’t forget Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein https://www.politico.com/newsletters/politico-influence/2023/01/27/where-the-uihleins-sent-their-cash-after-the-insurrection-00079999 #richarduihlein #elizabethuihlein #Wisconsin #January6 #January6th #insurrection
Where the Uihleins sent their cash after the insurrection

The donations from the Ed Uihlein Family Foundation include a $1 million gift the day after the insurrection to the Conservative Partnership Institute.

POLITICO
Show threadRichardNov 20, 2023
@Npars01 @rbreich Those guys are terrible, but the real culprits are the majority of Republicans who keep selecting Trump (and a whole slew of other reprehensible, deplorable people) as their chosen candidate for public office.
Show threadTC Won't Give In To LiesNov 20, 2023

@Npars01 @rbreich
These #Billionaires 👆 don't support Trump because of his nuanced policy proposals.

They support him because he offers tax cuts and crony capitalism.

Time for #CampaignFinanceReform and to #TaxTheRich with a #WealthTax