This Machine Killed Fascists

…but it’s time sign the DNR order for Twitter.

“They say America First but they mean America Next”

— Woody Guthrie on the fascist America First threat to U.S. Democracy in the 1940s

I joined Twitter in 2008 during the run-up to the General Election. Our team on the Obama campaign was in the midst of setting records for grassroots fundraising via the web during those days — it all seems quaint now.

In the fallout surrounding Musk’s takeover of Twitter, the time has come to step away and let it die the death it’s headed for now under his watch after foolishly ignoring the lessons of this moment in human history.

So much of our time during the Obama administration was spent leaning-in to “digital” (we started out calling it New Media) with the simple aim of expanding the dialog for Americans and those interested in American values. We sought to create space and meet people where they were online. We crafted tools, platforms, and systems all designed to put the average U.S. citizen more in touch with the administration and bring awareness to the work we were doing on their behalf every day.

After eight busy years of expanding and painstakingly setting a bigger online table, we didn’t…