People think tfg intends to go only after individual people he has already singled out. Do you really think he plans to stop at well-known liberals?
“... what convinces you that these massive camps he’s planning are only for migrants? So, yes, I’m worried about me — but only as much as I’m worried about all of us.” – Rachel Maddow
If you too are worried, be active to elect Dems everywhere.
Sharks, #Trump claimed, were attacking more than usual (not true) & posed a new risk bc boats were being required to use batteries (not true), which cause them to sink bc they’re too heavy (really, really not true—the world’s heaviest cruise ship, Icon of the Seas, stays afloat bc of laws of #physics despite weighing >550M lbs).
While #Biden has so far avoided naming #Trump during his time abroad, he has increasingly warned of the dangers posed by the kind of #authoritarian & #isolationist impulses the fmr president has embraced in his push to return to the #WhiteHouse. #POTUS, who has said in the past that America’s very #democracy is at stake in the coming #election, …[has juxtaposed] #DDay’s 80th anniversary to sound the alarm about the advance of #antidemocratic forces across the globe.
A 2nd #Trump admin could #weaponize existing government agencies to dismantle democracy itself.
This article is part of “Project 2025: The Plot Against #America,” a Nation special issue devoted to unpacking the right’s vast & chilling program for a 2nd Trump term.
Instead of focusing on #VoterSuppression, the manipulation of #election processes by domestic & foreign agents, & other genuine threats to #democracy, Mandate for Leadership’s authors would have these agencies do the bidding of #Trump & his #MAGA movement. That’s a formula for giving Trump the #authoritarian#power he seeks—not through an explicit crushing of electoral democracy, but by “reforming” it in precisely the way that the nonpartisan group Protect Democracy warns is most dangerous.
#Russia’s Foreign Ministry has been drawing up plans to try to weaken its Western adversaries, including the #UnitedStates, & leverage the #Ukraine#war to forge a global order free from what it sees as American dominance, acc/to a secret Foreign Ministry document.
…tougher & blunter…than the public #ForeignPolicy doc, the secret addendum, dated April 11,2023, claims the #US is leading a coalition of “unfriendly countries” aimed at weakening #Russia bc Moscow is “a threat to Western global hegemony.” It says the outcome of Russia’s #war in #Ukraine will “to a great degree determine the outlines of future #WorldOrder,” a clear indication Moscow sees the result of its invasion as bound w/its ability—& other #authoritarian nations—to impose its will globally.
My opinion is that the correct response to Fedi Garden (or any other instance that says they won't federate with an instance that federates with #Threads ) should be:
"You go to hell!"
This is no different than if you throw a party and invite several people and a few of them say "we won't come if certain other people you've invited are there." If you are polite, you might say "Sorry, we'll miss you." If, however, you think they are just a bunch of assholes trying to tell you who you can or cannot associate with, you might tell them to just f**k right off.
I get it, they all hate Zuckerberg, but they're not punishing Zuckerberg. If anything, they are driving Mastodon users to create Threads accounts so they can communicate with their friends there, rather than communicate with them through Mastodon. Zuckerberg couldn't care less. It is your USERS you are hurting if you block Threads.
I get defederating an instance if they are doing something really bad. But wanting to be able to follow Threads users in and of itself is not bad. Zuck is arguably bad, some other individual Threads users are bad, but the bulk to Threads users are probably not bad and I for one would like to be able to read what they post without having to set up an account on Threads. And if the #FediGarden people don't like it, they should be told to stick their #authoritarian nonsense where the sun don't shine.
“Starmer’s Labour @UKLabour has used centrally imposed candidates, nomination stitch ups, vote-rigging, and factional purges to centralise political power within the Labour Party, yet somehow we’re supposed to believe that they’re going to decentralise political power if Starmer becomes Prime Minister?”
[..]
“A wannabe tyrant like this simply doesn’t give away political powers to anyone other than those who will follow all of his autocratic diktats and decrees to the letter.”
#Republican Donald #Trump has launched his general election campaign not merely rewriting the #history of the #Jan6, 2021, Capitol attack [#insurrection], but positioning the #violent siege & its failed attempt to overturn the 2020 election as a cornerstone of his bid to return to the #WhiteHouse.
Taken together, it’s what those who study #authoritarian regimes warn is a classic case of what’s called #consolidation — where the #state apparatus is being transformed around a singular figure, in this case #Trump.
Jason Stanley, a philosophy prof at Yale, said in #history the question comes up over & over again: How could people not have taken an authoritarian leader at his word about what was going to happen?
The #WashingtonPost headline is "Does Trump have a point about Ukraine?: Take our Quiz." Is this "game" something like do you prefer coffee or tea? The Beatles or the Rolling Stones? Or is it the equivalent of such and such #authoritarian (pick your #fascist) have a point about (pick your issue). This is grotesque, and after months of wondering, should I stay or should I go, I will now cancel my subscription.
Benjamin Wittes interviews Genevieve Nadeau and Erica Newland of Protect Democracy about the following:
"The advocacy group Protect Democracy last month issued an updated version of its report entitled, 'The Authoritarian Playbook.' The new report is called, 'The Authoritarian Playbook for 2025: How an authoritarian president will dismantle our democracy and what we can do to protect it.'”
"It is a fascinating compilation of things that Donald Trump has promised to do and how they could likely be expected to affect American democracy if he is elected to a second term in office."
@wdlindsy they just a part of the #NewWorldOrder that #russia and #ccp#china has been pushing for for quite many years which is about a handful of #authoritarian countries dividing the world between them in spheres of influence.
With the World Stumbling Past 1.5 Degrees of Warming, Scientists Warn #Climate Shocks Could Trigger Unrest and #Authoritarian Backlash
Most of the public seems unaware that global temperatures will soon push past the target to which the U.N. hoped to limit warming, but researchers see social and psychological crises brewing.
As Ruth Ben-Ghiat notes, the attempt of strongmen wannabes like Donald Trump (and Mussolini and Hitler et al.) to deify themselves and claim divine sanction grows only stronger when they feel threatened — as Trump does from multiple indictments.
And many of us are willing to buy the ridiculous claim and ignore the historical lessons, as the Iowa caucus reminds us.
Mike Johnson doesn’t want to discuss his undemocratic actions —after all, they make him look really bad!—Johnson led the amicus brief to overturn 2020 election.
On January 6, voted to reject Pres. Biden’s Electoral College win,.
Republicans call him “the architect of the Electoral College objections.”
➡️ Is antiabortion, called the overturning of Roe v. Wade “a great, joyous occasion,” & is celebrated by SB Anthony Pro-Life America, gives him A-plus rating.
➡️ Is anti-LGBTQ+, introduced legislation based on Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law, called homosexuality “sinful” & “destructive,” & asked Amazon to lift its ban on conversion therapy books.
➡️ Voted against sending aid to Ukraine
➡️ Voted to eliminate funding for immigration refugee assistance.
➡️ Defended trump during both impeachments, and was been “suggested” by him for the Speaker role. Which kind of tells you everything you need to know.