THREAD: Sit down and let me tell you a story. A story about how the GOP and the Kremlin nearly duped me into throwing away my vote in 2016. Are you sitting comfortably? Then we’ll begin. 1/
In 2016, I was a Bernie supporter. In the early days, it was because I had worked with him, admired him, and because I believed the only way to level the playing field was to get money OUT of politics (I still believe that). 2/
I supported Bernie so strongly, I ran to be a Bernie delegate at the Democratic National Convention. I nearly won, but lost to a slate of great candidates here in California. 3/
I spent a great deal of time with other Bernie supporters, and I spent a great deal of time on Facebook and Twitter. I shared my causes, and the things that meant a lot to me personally; something that I would later learn made me a vulnerable target for psychometric profiling 4/
As time went on, I became convinced that the DNC was evil, the system was rigged, and that the only way out was to “send a message” to the establishment by bucking the system with a protest vote. 5/
I was constantly bombarded with negative propaganda about Hillary and the democrats, and was shown key phrases by what I now know to be bots, trolls, and manipulated US Persons. Key phrases like “DemExit” and “Bernie or Bust”. 6/
I’ve watched as those phrases have morphed into “duopoly”, “shitlibs”, “russia hoax”, “BlueAnon”, “corporate Dems”, “Neoliberals”, and “McCarthyism”, to name just a few. 7/
I was awash in the “bern it down” culture created by the GOP and foreign adversaries by pushing divisive topics such as abortion, BLM, Antifa, gun control, and religion. Things that incite emotional reactions designed to make me vulnerable enough to inject their ideas 8/
I was so lost that I left the dem party and vowed to write in a candidate I KNEW couldn’t win because I was convinced I would “send a message”. Until I realized throwing my vote away would not send a message. It would help trump win. 9/
Now mind you, I’m smart. I have three degrees including a doctorate. I’m a member of Mensa. I was a nuclear reactor operator. This is not arrogance; I’m illustrating that this can happen to anyone despite your education. In fact, they USE your education to their advantage 10/
Also, this was NOT an attack on the left or the right. It was an attack on America, and Americans. And they’re doing it again. Back to 2016: I couldn’t in good conscience do anything that would help trump. 11/
Some were convinced that Trump winning would be fine. It would burn the system down. It would send a message. That’s where I broke away, knowing a trump victory would mean pain and possibly death for so many I love. But ANY mention of that led to brutal online attacks 12/
I would be INUNDATED with threatening messages from other Bernie supporters. I was attacked and doxxed relentlessly, so I kept quiet. And on 11/9, I stepped into the voting booth and secretly cast my ballot for Hillary Clinton. 13/
*11/8
Over time, I would remove myself slowly from those fake groups and gaslighting “friends” as though I were slowly backing out of a room of hostile combatants. I rejoined the dem party and never looked back. And now I see it happening again. 14/
I see people blaming the failure of Trump on Pelosi and Mueller and house Dems. I see the common phrases and memes shared repeatedly by botnets and the GOP. I’ve obsessively studied Russian cyber warfare and social media manipulation, and it’s as plain as day to me. 15/
There are two ways in which the GOP and foreign adversaries oppress the vote. The first way is to physically block people from voting for Joe Biden. That’s happening right now in Virginia. 16/
The second and more sinister way is to convince you not to vote or vote third party. They accomplish this in multiple ways. 1. Convincing you both major party candidates are equally bad. 2. Exploiting your vulnerability through issues that emotionally impact you. 17/
3. Persuading you that a 3rd party vote or a write-in vote will teach the establishment a “lesson” while insisting your vote doesn’t matter. 5. Making you believe voting is too hard. 6. Telling you to stick to your principals. 7. Blaming institutions (SSCI, Mueller, DNC, IC) 18/
The one thing the far-left and the far-right have in common is that they want you to throw your vote away or abstain from voting altogether. They want trump to win whether you realize it or not. It’s up to you to ask yourself why. I nearly fell for it. 19/
We have one shot to get this right or we will be on a FAST slide to authoritarianism. None of our progressive hopes will be realized. SCOTUS will be lost for decades. People will die. No health care. No legalization of marijuana. No education funding. No social security. 20/
No pandemic plan. No respite for immigrants and asylum seekers. No Roe v Wade. No living wage. Money stays in politics. No free elections. Electoral college stays. Gerrymandering gets worse. No representation. No rule of law. No “for the people by the people”. 21/
If your vote didn’t matter, they wouldn’t spend BILLIONS & enlist foreign adversaries poised to benefit from a trump victory to convince you not to vote. There is one clear choice. Don’t be fooled. Vote blue. Take back the senate. Hold the house. Elect Joe Biden. #BidenHarris2020
PS: for some great examples of what I’m talking about, one need look no further than some of the responses to this thread.
