The Venn diagram of pundits insisting AOC was being over dramatic & of pundits who helped normalize the violent rhetoric is a circle & I need us to stop pretending that their hands are clean. They would have cheered a lynching & they're saying that loud & clear.

Some of the people who stormed the building definitely meant to kill people. That's not even up for debate. They said it into the camera. So, ask yourself what value there is in trying to invalidate AOC or anyone else talking about the fear? They expressed no sympathy or remorse
They are invested in dehumanizing AOC & everyone else that was a target. That still is a target. But what are they protecting here? The hate? It's not the party or the process. It's not the future. Hell for many of them I've seen it's not even their career. So what's the point?
The only answer is that they don't want anyone to ask how much they have (and continue to) normalize & espouse violent rhetoric. They know what they are encouraging. They just hope you don't. This is the "equal rights, equal fights" crowd & what they really hate is equality.
But more than that they hate women. And their real fear is that AOC can do what Black women & other women they target did not...engender some measure of accountability inside the Right. The way racism is set up they know Cori Bush & others won't trigger it. But AOC might...
It's benevolent sexism, not real internal change so you would think that would not be so scary. But oddly enough violence against women is a particular currency they rely on. They need abusers on their side. We talk around this, but a common denominator is a history of DV
And the thinnest potential of accountability, of even social consequences for their actions has them terrified. That's why they keep bleating about "cancel culture", it's the fear that not only will we stop listening to them. We will make them too irrelevant for the right too
Pushing them back to the fringe could save the GOP. I doubt that will happen, but they are scared it might & they definitely need to pretend that there was no trauma on the 6th despite the people who were maimed & killed. Think hard about how much they need hate to persist.
They don't want unity. They don't even want a better future for their kids. They're feeding on this, bloating their own egos and pockets at everyone else's expense. They don't care if it all burns down. Not as long as they can keep peddling hate & making a profit.
And note, after all the Back the Blue rhetoric? They don't even care about the cops that died. It's a grift & they're willing to use anyone & anything. Stop trying to find the decency in them, trying to humanize them. They won't do the same for you or anyone else.

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So, as the #MegaMillions jackpot reaches a record $1.6B and #Powerball reaches $620M, here's my advice about how to spend the money in a way that will truly set you, your children and their kids up for life.

Ready?

Create a private foundation and give it all away. 1/

Let's stipulate first that lottery winners often have a hard time. Being publicly identified makes you a target for "friends" and "family" who want your money, as well as for non-family grifters and con men. 2/

The stress can be damaging, even deadly, and Uncle Sam takes his huge cut. Plus, having a big pool of disposable income can be irresistible to people not accustomed to managing wealth.
https://t.co/fiHsuJyZwz 3/

Meanwhile, the private foundation is as close as we come to Downton Abbey and the landed aristocracy in this country. It's a largely untaxed pot of money that grows significantly over time, and those who control them tend to entrench their own privileges and those of their kin. 4

Here's how it works for a big lotto winner:

1. Win the prize.
2. Announce that you are donating it to the YOUR NAME HERE Family Foundation.
3. Receive massive plaudits in the press. You will be a folk hero for this decision.
4. Appoint only trusted friends/family to board. 5/

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