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The Flynn thing is the latest in a long line of non-scandals that Republicans use to create chaos, throw dust in the eyes of voters, and wreak havoc on the basic concept of democracy.
Long angry thread:
Long angry thread:
Remember the "Cash for Clunkers" program in 2009? It was part of a massive economic stimulus that Obama and a democratic congress devised to stimulate the economy, save the auto industry, and help the environment all at once. 2/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Car_Allowance_Rebate_System
The program subsidized the turning-in of an old, crappy car that got crappy gas mileage, in favor of a new car that got better gas mileage. Old bad cars off the road, new better cars sold, economy stimulated, auto industry helped. Win-win-win-win. It was a massive success. 3/
How does FOX News report it? They ridicule it for "going broke." That's how they reported it -- that the program "went broke." The money was used for its intended purpose, and thus ran out -- a good thing! It did its job! But they said it "went broke." 4/ https://www.facebook.com/FoxNews/videos/cash-for-clunkers-a-lemon/1212786236879/
Here's the opening of a FOX opinion piece ridiculing the program for...working, much faster than anyone thought it would work. 5/
This is the playbook -- they take something that is good, functioning properly, helpful...and if that thing was created by a Democrat, they just reframe it so it's bad, controversial, un-American. I'm hardly the first person to point this out, but it's happening again. 6/
Michael Flynn was committing criminal acts. We know that because he was caught on recorded phone calls that were NOT TARGETING HIM. That's key. The NSA recorded calls with foreign nationals, and suddenly Flynn pops up, talking to those targets. Who, again, were not him. 7/
"Well, shit. That's bad," say the American intelligence officers. This dude is conspiring with foreigners in a variety of ways. We need to tell our government leaders. So...they "unmask" him -- they send (classified) details of his illegal activities to Obama et. al. 8/
That's what "unmasking" is. It's deciding that revealing the names of people under investigation to high-up officials is necessary based on what they -- the people being investigated -- are doing. 9/
Also key: unmasking happens all the time. President Trump's administration unmasked 17,000 people in 2018. SEVENTEEN THOUSAND PEOPLE. 10/ https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-cyber-citizens/us-cyber-spies-unmasked-many-more-american-identities-in-2018-us-report-idUSKCN1S62HP
The Flynn thing would be a scandal if, say, President Obama had ordered the CIA to surveil Michael Flynn in an effort to get dirt on the Trump campaign. But the recorded calls with Russia happened after Trump had been elected. 11/ https://www.npr.org/2017/12/05/568319589/the-10-events-you-need-to-know-to-understand-the-michael-flynn-story
And remember, they only heard Flynn talking to Russia because they were surveilling RUSSIAN people. Not Flynn. Flynn -- like the soggy-brained doofus he is -- called Russian diplomats illegally and didn't think the Americans would be listening in. 12/
We also know all this is true because Flynn CONFESSED. In court. To a judge. He pleaded guilty. To doing all this. After he was fired. By Trump. For doing this. And then lying. To the FBI.
He did it all, and confessed to it, and was sentenced for it, by a judge. 13/
He did it all, and confessed to it, and was sentenced for it, by a judge. 13/
Well, shit. What do you do now, if you're venal, disingenuous Republicans who need something to distract potential voters from the fact that everyone in the country is sick, scared of getting sick, hiding in their homes, unemployed, or dead? You reframe. 14/
You get a toady -- acting DNI and sometime misogynistic twitter troll Richard Grenell (see bel.) -- to do something that *sounds* scandalous, but is in reality...nothing. He "revealed" the officials who were a part of the "unmasking" of Michael Flynn. 15/ https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/richard-grenell-mitt-romney-online-attacks_n_1442726?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly90aGVpbnRlcmNlcHQuY29tLw&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAADKY9cgs3DHz7E-clml3t6xhwFcKJwUiKzh6oyBalEbwgbKzVD5louVUrqeUqosrK0ss84HfZcAxz7MDSHalA6a1DP9VOZPgyKOmETAck-pnCkHMTE7s664_lOdY2T667IwYt67DaTidJiP2JnI-dU1z6xgTEeQz8_atlcDTBgL
Who are those officials, on this dramatic list?! Obama! Biden! Senior White House people! Or: the obvious people who would have been a part of that decision. It's like saying "Look at this scandalous list of the 1989 White Sox!!" and then showing a list of the 1989 White Sox. 16/
The thing the people on that list did was pursue and prosecute a man conspiring with a foreign government illegally. Flynn did that. Then he lied and said he didn't do it. Which is why he was arrested. And why he was fired. And why he pleaded guilty and went to jail. 17/
But here's the worst part. The press takes the bait. They report that BIDEN WAS PART OF THE UNMASKING and OBAMA KNEW ABOUT THE UNMASKING. This is like saying, "BIDEN DID A GOOD JOB PROTECTING AMERICA AND SO DID OBAMA!" I mean, look at this shit: 18/
EXCLUSIVE! SCANDAL! WHO KNEW WHAT AND WHEN?! HOW WILL BIDEN RESPOND!
This is nothing. This is routine and fully appropriate behavior exhibited by senior government officials when American intelligence *discovers someone doing something illegal* and needs to take action. 19/
This is nothing. This is routine and fully appropriate behavior exhibited by senior government officials when American intelligence *discovers someone doing something illegal* and needs to take action. 19/
But Republicans -- who are so much better at this game than Democrats -- don't care. They pounce. Here's Senator Haircut von Freedom himself tightening his bow, so as to better play the media like the fiddle it is: 20/
"Stunning," he says. A better word would be: "Appropriate." Or "not-at-all-stunning."
Again, Flynn COMMITTED CRIMES. Against America. He PLEADED GUILTY. In COURT. To a JUDGE. Because he LIED. To the FBI.
Unmasking him is not "stunning." It's...what is supposed to happen. 21/
Again, Flynn COMMITTED CRIMES. Against America. He PLEADED GUILTY. In COURT. To a JUDGE. Because he LIED. To the FBI.
Unmasking him is not "stunning." It's...what is supposed to happen. 21/
But look what Senator Faketexan says at the end: "Of course MSM will ignore."
They know what they're doing. They know the media will stroke their chins and both-sides this in the name of "fairness." "It's an election year. We can't be partisan. We have to report the story." 22/
They know what they're doing. They know the media will stroke their chins and both-sides this in the name of "fairness." "It's an election year. We can't be partisan. We have to report the story." 22/
That's how you get 80,000 stories about Hillary's emails. (Which, by the way -- has there ever been one single story showing any damage to America caused by those emails on a private server? No. Because it was a red herring. The point was never about American safety.) 23/
It's happening again. Reporters think their job is to state facts and let readers make sense of them. That works when lawmakers aren't actively using that process to their partisan advantage. Republicans know they can just yell BIDEN UNMASKING FLYNN SCANDAL and win. 24/
Because the media will report scary words -- Biden, list, surveillance, wiretaps, opponent, campaign, NSA, UNMASKING!!!! -- and in paragraph 38 they'll say "By the way this happens all the time and there's nothing weird about it."
Don't do this again. I beg you. Not again. /25
Don't do this again. I beg you. Not again. /25
