This is supremely clever propaganda. A former PLA senior colonel, Zhou Bo, writes for the once balanced SCMP (what a fall!) about the "inevitable decline of the US" and wonders if it will be peaceful.

"inevitabile decline",
a) the "inevitability" itself is removed from the central focus, that from any challenge or question.
and
b) the old question of whether China's rise (again considered inevitable) will be itself be peaceful is completely ignored.
Interestingly, however,

he also states that "China’s rise so far has been peaceful" - only "so far", mind.
Let's ignore for a moment China's actions against the Filipinos in the South China Sea, its provoking the Japanese SDF in the East China Sea or its initiating a major confrontation along the

disputed boundary with India in 2020. Zhou is signalling that if the US isn't going to be peaceful, don't expect China to be either.
"the Pentagon’s unabated military interventions after the Cold War have reduced the US’ national strength – a point few seem to disagree with now"

No definition provided for "national strength". Just a bald assertion. Accept it, swallow it - as Zhou rushes quickly to the next point
"when a democracy is in decline, it may become vitriolic and violent" - forget that authoritarian states are at all times vitriolic and violent

THREAD:
1) I’m a Democrat, running for Congress in 2022 from Wisconsin’s Sixth District. This is (part of) my story.

I grew up in Southfield, a city in the suburbs of Detroit, MI. My brother still lives in the Detroit area, but our parents are deceased.

2) My undergraduate degree is a BA with a major in political science (with an emphasis in political economy) and a minor in public administration, from Albion College, in MI. I got my JD (law degree) from Washington & Lee University School of Law, in VA.

3) I practiced law for nearly 20 years, taking time off now & then for various reasons, including when my grandmother died & I handled her estate, & from August 2018, when I lost my job after being diagnosed w/Stage Four uterine #cancer, which I beat, to the present.

4) My husband was born and raised in this district. We lived here, and got married here, from 2003-10, then moved to Milwaukee for work, then moved back to the district in August 2018, when we bought a house here. We’re staying.

5) I have an extensive skill set, based on a broad range of experience, including: having worked as an attorney, a human resources manager, an administrator, a researcher, & an author.

A number of Trump appointees have tried to burrow into long-term public service jobs. Biden is firing them, which right wing commentators are trying paint as politicization. The reality is that this is correcting a Trump-era pattern of deprofessionalization. 1/

Lets step back to general principles here: political appointees selected on the basis of ideology are expected to resign when a new President comes into power. Career officials stay. For some positions its a little more complex but that is the basic governing logic. 2/

Trump blurred these basic differences between appointees and career staff. He ran out of time in his effort to turn potentially hundreds of thousands of career officials into appointees, and Biden reversed that policy. A good step to protect competence. 3/

Thats the big picture stuff, so lets focus on the specific case. The U.S. Agency for Global Media funds International broadcasters. The most famous is Radio Free Europe. Seven months ago a Trump appointee Michael Pack took over.

Pack engaged in extreme politicization of the agency. He hired people without relevant qualifications, stacked advisory boards with ideologues & conspiracy theorists, called reporters "deep state" & interfered in programming and political reporting to push a pro-Trump slant. 5/

For our story today on the Capitol Police, I went on a fascinating tour of our archives, full of bomb threats, assassination plots and forgotten causes. (Imagine a Congressman getting arrested today in a Capitol men's room on sodomy charges...) Here's a sampling: 1/

The 1st mention of the Capitol Police involved the certification of Lincoln's election in 1861. “A few weeks ago many freely predicted that the counting of the electoral votes would never be peacefully accomplished.” 2/



The Vice-President finally announced that Lincoln and Hamlin had been elected, calming fears of unrest. 3/

When it came time for the inauguration of Lincoln, the object of an assassination plot, the Capitol Police said they would “admit no strangers except ladies.” 4/

The Capitol Police were often mocked. After someone defaced the building with oil and “a large quantity of blue ink,” they were faulted for not being able to catch the person. The Times said, “The Lieutenant devotes his time to the sale of lemonade and cake in the dome.” 5/

YESTERDAY WAS A HARD,
DISAPPOINTING DAY FOR
PATRIOTS.

PEOPLE SHOWED US
WHO THEY ARE.

PERHAPS SEVERAL YOU
KNOW ALREADY JUMPED SHIP.

BUT AS JOE SAT AT THE
RESOLUTE, TRYING HIS BEST
TO UNDO POTUS’ LEGACY,
SOMETHING HIT ME.

NONE OF HIS EXECUTIVE
ACTIONS CAN GO INTO
EFFECT UNTIL AFTER 30
DAYS.

30 DAYS.

WHAT DOES THAT
REMIND YOU OF?

DROP #970

DONE IN 30.
HOUSE CLEANING.
WH SECURED.
FINAL STAGE.

DROP # 1281

WHAT WAS COMPLETED
AND RELEASED TODAY?
RE: FLYNN?
“DONE IN 30”.
EXPAND.

Does anybody want to know how the Darkness to Light Theme came along?

.@Tyler_t_moran and Esther Olavarria.

Johnny Nash sums up my feelings at this, because words don’t suffice.

https://t.co/r3apSHRBuc

I know it’s so hard for folks to understand how important this is, even for me. I don’t have words. My mind is all garbling with how incredible Esther and @tyler_t_moran are.

Both of them are incredibly humble. Both likely annoyed right now at the fuss. “Let’s get to work!”

.@Tyler_t_moran serving the office of @SenatorReid would come to Nevada and meet with families to see what the problems were in our communities. She used to go to their homes (not typical) eat with them and in that beautiful language that can only be shared around food -

would ask them what was wrong. People would look at me asking for cues “just dígale” and they would unleash what ICE had done to them, how a notario had explained something to them, as they pulled out all the receipts from a plastic bag and handed them to @tyler_t_moran -

.@Tyler_t_moran would patiently sit there with them and ask “por que!?” She would turn to us and say “is this common?” *nods* her calm demeanor would turn slightly pink as anger flowed but she’d keep asking, pulling out her little notebook and pen. A week later she’d contact -

The White House just released details about building the National Garden of American Heroes — or as I prefer to think of it, the Social Studies Hall of Fame.

Some notes on what Trump won in his war against symbols:

Last summer, Trump gave a July 3 address at Mount Rushmore. His speech dwelt on vandalism and symbolism. He compared the effort to suppress BLM protests to America's participation in WWII.

That was the roll-out for the National Garden of American Heroes:

Trump signed another executive order on June 26 on monuments and memorials. This order spelled out severe consequences for people accused of destroying federal *and even state* memorials, including sentences of up to 10 years.

Trump's order on monuments was hugely consequential. Lawfare obtained a DHS document authorizing "expanded intelligence activities necessary to mitigate the significant threat to homeland security" — domestic surveillance of BLM — rooted in this order.

Then-AG Bill Barr also found in the White House executive order on monuments the authority for "Operation Legend," the deployment of federal law enforcement to Portland and other cities.

1. “Democrats have launched an impeachment of the president with no argument, no evidence, no witnesses, no due process of any kind,

A statement from Met leadership on the Capitol desecration:

"The attack on the United States Capitol was an act of domestic terrorism that violated our nation’s highest values." 1/12

"The actions of these treasonous rioters underscore the threat to democracy in a society where misinformation, racism, and other hateful ideologies are allowed to run rampant." 2/12

"Bringing to justice those responsible for these criminal actions is an essential first step towards healing and reconciliation for a deeply divided nation." 3/12

"Last week’s events at the Capitol were not only an attack on the lawmakers who were there to certify the election but also on the very symbols of our government and this country’s ideals. The Met has a responsibility to speak out on both of these areas." 4/12

"The Capitol building and its treasured art collection were subject to acts of shameful vandalism and desecration, including the spraying of a blood-like substance on statues and the general destruction of art and objects throughout the building." 5/12

A tour of front pages this morning, starting with the Arizona Republic: “AGAIN.” Above the banner: “Donald J. Trump becomes first president in history to be impeached twice, as House charges him with inciting Capitol riot” 1/

LA Times: "TRUMP IMPEACHED FOR A SECOND TIME” 2/

The Washington Post: “Trump impeached again” Subhead 1: “An isolated president has few willing to defend him.” Subhead 2: Senate trial is likely to occur after departure” 3/

Miami Herald: “IMPEACHED AGAIN: House Democrats and 10 Republicans say Trump should be ousted for ‘incitement of insurrection’ but trial is likely to come after he leaves office”

The Times of Gainesville, Ga.: “House votes to impeach Trump: 10 Republicans join in historic 2nd charge over Capitol assault”

After voting in 2008, sat in my car and sobbed because I had the opportunity to vote for someone who looked like me.

Me, the granddaughter of folks who survived Jim Crow, who paid poll taxes in order to vote, who made the decision to send my mother to integrate her HS.

I thought about my grandmothers, who were living at the time and how stunned they were that this option would be available in *their* lifetimes.

I thought about the work I do and how it contributes to a larger ecosystem of work that led to that moment.

I sobbed. It was joy, sadness, pride, worry, indebtedness to the ancestors...It was more than a moment.

I sobbed again at both of the subsequent Obama inaugurations because #representationmatters.

To see my country respond with Trump was a stark reminder that many in the country expect BIPOC folks to mind our social status as less than. The last 4 years has been painful to watch for many of us--certainly not all--but it has been devastating...#400Klost

Last fall, I helped my own daughter complete her voting ballot that included a Black/SE Asian woman on the top ticket. Yep, I sobbed, because I imagine that I felt a little of what my parents & grands felt in 2008. That sense of inclusion, of being seen, of being valued.

This is what propaganda looks like.

Notice how they all speak the same words at the same time, the cathedral, and how the sheep in your life start repeating them all in chorus.

The dehumanization of groups of people, in the case conservatives, liberals who are *not* social justice Marxists or authoritarians, Christians, Jews, people of color who are conservatives, anyone who voted for Trump, the police & military, etc has already begun.

It began a long time ago actually. Watch some Uri Bezmenov and his discussion of demoralization. But I didn’t notice it until the acceleration in 2016/2017. I had been blind.

We are in the middle of another acceleration of dehumanization and this one is unlike anything we have seen in many many years, though humans have seen it before, many times throughout history.

Dark days ahead. But there is light on the horizon. Things are becoming so dystopian that more are able to see it. Strap in.

THREAD: What the world wants from John Kerry in 2021

Re-joining the #ParisAgreement isn't enough, say 25 climate ministers and advocates we interviewed from six continents. Deeds before words: Legislating a tough 2030 U.S. emissions reduction legislation is 1st serious step

2) But the world wants the words too, hoping Kerry will be world's climate cheerleader: convincing reluctant and developing country governments (also with $) to set aggressive climate goals, which many pinpoint as including carbon neutrality by 2050.

3) World's moved on from Obama era. Jacob Werksman (the EU’s international climate adviser) warned Obama alums on Biden’s team “they can’t expect to be treated the same way” as four or eight years ago

4) Net-zero emissions by 2050 — once an activist slogan — is now a guiding framework for policy across the G-7. “It is a totally different political and historical moment right now,” Costa Rican minister @AndreaMeza76.

5) @timothydadams, President and CEO of @IIF warned against the U.S. aiming too low at home, creating policy divergence with the rest of the world. He urged the Biden administration to “broadly align with the rapidly evolving global climate policy framework.”

BREAKING: For the fourth time this week, the Supreme Court has voted 6-3 to clear the way for a last-minute federal execution before Trump leaves office. Justices Breyer and Sotomayor write dissents. Justice Kagan also notes her dissent.

Dustin Higgs has COVID-19 and will be executed tonight despite lung damage that could turn his lethal injection into an egregiously painful death.

Here is Justice Sotomayor’s closing.

Here is Breyer on the SCOTUS majority’s rush to execute

Sotomayor names the federal inmates who have been killed since Trump revived the federal death penalty—a punishment that Biden will put a moratorium on next week

Sotomayor: “This is not justice.”

I want to try to build on the excellent points made by @dpcassidyC3, @DavidAFrench, @Peter_Wehner & others about the need to disentangle the white, evangelical church from far right wing politics and its contribution to the insurrection.

I want to consider practical steps. 1/21

But first, a defense. Why the need to do this? And why address this, but not, say the BLM protests?

Because many of us are adjacent to these types of right wing Christians. These are our folk.

We may not have them in our congregations, but we know them. 2/

I don't know anyone in Antifa. I don't know anyone who lit buildings on fire this summer.

Of course arson is wrong, but my primary job is to care for our folk, not call out the sins of others (see I Cor 5:9-12). 3/

And we know the kinds of folks who went to the MAGA rally on Jan. 6th. If they are not in our churches, they are adjacent to our churches. Folks who promoted the patently false narratives about the election. 4/

They covered over the president's abuse of democratic norms and the rule of law. They chose to ignore many warning signs, going all the way back to 2015. 5/