"You are already an insider-outsider to the problem of fascism. We all are..We're all at the MAGA rally right now." - @jeffsharlet.bsky.social
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"You are already an insider-outsider to the problem of fascism. We all are..We're all at the MAGA rally right now." - @jeffsharlet.bsky.social
They still haven't consolidated full authoritarianism yet; they can still lose
Regimes think twice before escalating repression if they know it only ends up growing the opposition. We need your help to make No Kings Day as big, powerful and effective as possible. Please pitch in if you can to support safety and security training, event promotion, and marches in anchor cities.
Make Ready: Safeguarding Our Movements against Repression crimethinc.com/Safeguarding Donald Trump has signaled that he is expanding his offensive against immigrants to target critics of his regime as well. Everyone should read this guide spelling out concrete steps we can take to prepare.
Welcome to everyone who is just now following us! We are a thirty-year-running all-volunteer anarchist collective involving participants on several continents. Everything we do is collectively produced, anonymous, and not for profit. Here's a short introduction to our work: tochangeeverything.com
This is exactly backwards. From the beginning, Kirk was the beneficiary of a large and highly organized network of dark money donors who were looking for a spokesman. No way he would have done what he did without patrons like Montgomery and Uihlein. Kirk didn't make money - money made Kirk.
Remember: If we allow ourselves to fall into fatalism, or wallow in disappointment, or become resigned to what is rather than what should be, we will lose the long game. The greatest enemy of positive social change is cynicism about what can be changed.
Happening this week, starting tomorrow: Utahâs legislature is meeting to adopt a new congressional map after a court order. All five draft maps would transform a safely GOP seat into a swing district thatâd be very winnable for Dems.
You want to read this story. I promise. www.democracydocket.com/analysis/how...
I know it's hard to do but you have to tune out the constant & I mean constant torrent of criticisms on social media re: activism & organizing. If you don't, it can stop you from trying to do any activism or organizing. Most of the critics aren't doing any organizing themselves so keep trying things
A transcript of Disney's testimony, as well as Ronald Reagan's, is at History Matters: historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6458
A fun fact about McCarthyism is that just two and a half years after he was condemned and censured, Sen. Joseph McCarthy drank himself to death at 48. Fevers break. Petty tyrants fall. Censorship and persecution drive good people to stand together and fight back.
The offer made to women in the enticement to become trad wives is the same as the offer made to citizens in the enticement to embrace authoritarianism: give up. Abandon the aspiration to self rule. Itâs imprisonment recast as rest and relief.
People are constantly asking me â what can I do? Here are five, practical next steps you can take to make a difference. https://youtu.be/8W-lVRQQGtI?feature=shared
â ď¸WOKE CONTENTâ ď¸ đ§ľ While people celebrate the life of a racist today, I will give you the names of a few White people who those same people refuse to acknowledge. They made the ultimate sacrifice. Honor them.âđž(cont) #ProudBlue #ResistanceRoots #USDemocracy #Voices4Victory
While ppl are boycotting Disney a reminder that Sinclair and Nexstar are also the problem. They started this. Canceling Disney subscriptions hurts Disney but does nothing to Sinclair/Nexstar. We also need to boycott companies that advertise on Nexstar and Sinclair stations.
Iâm at a community meeting about resisting ICE in Chicago. There are about 400 people in this high school auditorium. Chicago is showing up.
The New York Times is the most influential source of right wing propaganda in the entire world. This shit is just absolutely absurd. Weâre going to see our rights gone and be killed because of this newspaper.
FDR won 42 states in 1932, it wasn't by pandering to Hoover voters. Then Republicans called him a socialist for 4 years. Then he ran for reelection and won 46 states
It's the constant undermining of Black women's credibility for me. The default is not to believe us when we say something.
Take 30 minutes and watch my analysis of how and why Donald Trump is escalating his authoritarian crackdown on thought, dissent, media and organizations. Then share it with others. youtu.be/4kKtGgh3l5I
In Naperville, IL on Wednesday, ICE surrounded a group of documented workers replacing a residential roof. ICE agents reportedly kicked over the ladders and forced the workers to jump. The episode involved a chase with guns drawn.
everything that Trump and co think they are accomplishing by dismantling USAID and various NGOs could actually be accomplished in reverse by dismantling the feudal car dealerships ruling towns everywhere
Had an amazing time at an @emergeamerica.bsky.social SC event today & was so inspired by @ashantigholar.bsky.social ! Met several rockstar women running for office including @dittmerforcongress.bsky.social, @juliezforsc.bsky.social & many more! Thanks @kayekoonce.bsky.social for including me!
Again, as much for your psychological health as resilience necessity. You learn to think deeply in resourceful and resilient ways, and gradually you find yourself living more resourcefully and resiliently. Which CRUCIALLY always ends up meaning, in organized relationship with others.
The core of the work isn't hoarding the turnip greens, it's exploring your relationship with consumption and material goods and seeing where you are vulnerable, and exploring how you can think through resiliency in those places of vulnerability.
Which brings me to my final point, because any time I talk about this stuff there are folks in my replies stressing out because the resiliency work I talk about seems out of reach: No one is ever "prepared." The work is not being "prepped," the work is becoming resilient and resourceful.
And even more than the basement cans of turnip greens, that is a source of deep comfort. I am resourceful, I have intentionally positioned myself in a community of resourceful folks who practice informal (and sometimes formal) mutual aid, and I and we will figure it out together.
That in turn gives me the confidence to believe that even if the cushion we have wears thin, we will figure it out and make it work. I trust that I have taught myself resourcefulness as a practice at this point, and that I have gotten good at it.
Another thing I will say in favor of moderate prepperism is that from a purely psychological standpoint I have found it really helpful. Our preparations would not by themselves keep us humming through some total collapse, but they help me feel that we are as ready as we can be for the unknown.
crucial to recognize this isnât just a rhetorical thing. cued by feds, thereâs police all over the country now really lowering the bar for whatâs considered âthreateningâ and using interagency back channels to compile/share the names and accounts of people expressing frustration w/ the government.
The thread below (14 posts) addresses the ethics of resistance. Under fascism, there are no good choices. None of us will come out of this with our hands clean. But that does not make all choices equal. Some choices are far worse than others, and we can distinguish between them.
You may be feeling hopeless and overwhelmed right now. You make these feelings vanish by acquiring skills that make a material difference in our conflict with fascism. This is achieved through training. As your abilities improve, you will gain confidence in yourself and in the outcome of our war:
Of course not. The fascists are not invincible. The first step to defeating them is not mistaking them for generic authoritarians. Fascism differs from the latter in motivations, methods, and strategies that are effective against it. I've compiled the thread below to give an overview of that:
I would like Never Trump Republicans to demand that George W. Bush appear and speak up for democracy in this country. Why do ppl always ask Obama to do things and âwhere is Kamalaâ? Where is the 43rd President of the United States while democracy crashes & burns. This is the party he led. 1/
It's official: D.C. taxpayers are on the hook for over $1 billion to build a new stadium for the Washington Commanders. The team's owner is a private equity mogul worth nearly $10 billion. Here's what you should know about the billionaires' public subsidy stadium scam.
The #teslatakedown Seattle crew is taking a break from our regularly scheduled programming to defend the first amendment at our local ABC affiliate, and to make sure our neighbors know to #boycottdisneyabc! 𧾠of my favorite signs and outfits @troublemakers.bsky.social @defundmusk.bsky.social
Nothing is inevitable. In either direction. Hope and work.
Living a moral life in an age of bullies requires collective action; it cannot be done alone. Each of us must organize and participate in a vast network of moral resistance. From this solidarity we will grow stronger. This is what our current moment requires.
NEWS: The Congressional Progressive Caucus â which represents nearly 100 members in Congress â has just voted to endorse the Block the Bombs Act, to block weapon sales to Israel. First time any major congressional caucus has backed legislation to end US aid for Israelâs destruction of Gaza.
Who is Lindsey Halligan? - Former Florida insurance lawyer turned Trump defense attorney - Filed the special master lawsuit that delayed Trumpâs classified docs case - Convinced Trump to sign an executive order putting her in charge of reviewing Smithsonian bc she didnât like some of the exhibits
Ezra Klein and Gavin Newsome's strategy of appeasement is what leads to the far right. Folding on reproductive or trans rights to try and win elections normalizes those positions as moderate rather than extreme
My book "On Freedom," the case for the value of freedom and a proposal for a better future, with a new foreword accounting for where we are today, will be out in paperback October 28th. timothysnyder.org/on-freedom
đ exactly
the difference between me and guys like klein is that he thinks we should study the right to learn their values and i think we should study the right to learn their tactics
This is the blueprint- we know what to do. Can our country do it? amandaripley.substack.com/p/how-to-pre...
I warned that Trump would create build a new spoils system: (www.persuasion.community/p/theres-no-...): 1 fire civil service; 2 Make clear you keep your job only via loyalty; 3) move jobs to districts where their votes could make a difference. It is starting: www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
Oligarchs are also behind fomenting anti-immigration demonstrations across Europe. White nationalists want to topple democracies so that they can control government and replace it with autocratic rule. And, there are Americans like Bannon and Musk who are behind those efforts.
Last week @rachelkleinfeld.bsky.social and I put out a provocation & set of suggestions on how influence has changed and why institutions (& funders) need to change their thinking on shaping public opinion and connecting w/audiences. The old way no longer works. carnegieendowment.org/research/202...
Working While Brown Is the New Living While Black The Supreme Courtâs decision gives federal agents license to treat Latinos like second-class citizens, condoning the same racial profiling Black Americans have long faced from police. capitalandmain.com/hitting-the-...
Reminds me of how the Federalist Society was legitimated by countless liberal academics for decades while itâs judicial takeover unfolded.
a few thoughts (gift link) www.nytimes.com/2025/09/20/o...
As we now have to protect ourselves from our government and its collaborators, encryption technology is more essential than ever before.
This is what makes Jamelleâs write-up today about the Cooper Union speech so great. When Democrats win, theyâre scolded to include the near-majority who didnât vote for them. When they lose, theyâre told to fall in line despite their near-majority. The elites want to placate MAGA in word and deed.
The TL;dr here is that instead of getting angry at Kamala Harris over this mention in a book, we should be angry at the mainstream press for twisting any little comment a politician makes about us into anti-trans propaganda divorced from the content of their comments
Despite Harrisâ assessment, Politico instead characterizes her remarks as somehow feeding into Gavin Newsomâs claims about that infamous anti-trans 2024 ad In fact Politico EDITORIALIZES in the story too, asserting without citation the ad was âeffectiveâ by saying Newsom âacknowledgesâ that
The fact Harris made clear she wants not to discriminate against trans children while handling sports is an important distinction that many in the mainstream press, especially in washington, avoid making Instead, theyâll just describe pursuit of actual fairness as support for banning trans people
What did Politico say Harris said? âexpresses reservations about transgender athletes competing on girlsâ sports teamsâ & âquestion[ing] the fairness of allowing transgender athletesâ But what did they quote harris as saying? That she wants trans athletes to compete without demonizing people
Iâve seen a lot of trans folks get outraged at Kamala Harris over this news article A brief thread on why I would really suggest *reading* the outrage bait posted about our community by major media platforms before hitting âpostâ on social media Here we go⌠đ§ľ
Hexavalent chromium is one of the best-documented human carcinogens. It can cause multiple forms of cancer, and, unlike a lot of other kinds of exposures, the risk is cumulative, even for low level exposures. Recent data has also shown unsafe amounts of hexavalent chromium is produced by wildfires.
#ScienceUnderSiege went to press months ago. But this ending paragraph feels like it really resonates today:
This is the tech strand of libertarianism that wants to replace all rule-making by market mechanisms. The result is just generalized corruption. But it's the exact shit that the weirdos from seasteading to pro-natalism have been advocating
Re-introducing myself đ I'm @motherjones.com's disability reporter, where I cover politics as it relates to disability. I am also chronically ill/disabled myself. You can get in contact with me at jmetraux@motherjones.com or via Signal: juliametraux.49
Time to rethink & account for the assumptions we have on what a well-functioning society/ies need as essentials?
Thinking about switching away from Substack? Check out Steady. Our newsletter tool is 100% free, you can import addresses from other services and dedicated account management (no matter the revenue). steady.page
I am going to @steady.page - a privately owned, self-funded platform run by people who have their hearts and their politics in the right place.
If you are interested in more such deep dives, and in English: I write a regular newsletter - the latest piece below. (This was the last piece published via Substack - Iâm taking the newsletter to a new platform; re-launch on Tuesday. No worries, if you subscribe, youâll be automatically migrated.)
Todayâs Right is dominated by people like Vought who are convinced there is nothing left to conserve â that our moment requires not âconservatism,â but a radical âcounter-revolution.â They have never been so powerful. And they are determined to abuse their power ruthlessly.
The key task, as Vought sees it, is to take over government and turn it into a tool that serves only two purposes: To enact revenge against the âwokeâ Left â and impose White Christian patriarchal domination on the country. And he knows how to wield the power of the state as his instrument.
Vought is not interested in democratic politics: He seeks to âtraumatizeâ civil servants, use the military to suppress protests, sees Trump as an agent of Godâs will. He is a committed ideologue, convinced to be fighting a noble war to defend his âreal Americaâ of white Christian patriarchal rule.
As America nears a tipping point, Russell Vought desires a radical rightwing âcounter-revolution.â For @zeit.de, I wrote a profile of one of Trumpismâs key figures â and one of Trumpâs most dangerous henchmen. Some thoughts from the piece (since it is in German):
I think a lot of people remain confused about the motives of the tidal wave of disinformation that drowns us daily. The point is to annihilate the whole notion of truth. The point is to end the existence of independent media. The point is to exhaust the public's competence at critical thinking.
This is what actual freedom of speech looks like â join in www.nokings.org
Somewhat but not especially surprised to know Mississippi beat Indiana to the punch on this pattern-matching prophecy
Last night a third activist whose Instagram account was targeted by DHS filed a motion to quash the subpoena sent to Meta. That makes three of the six accounts tagged as "collaborators" in a video post about a particular Border Patrol agent. www.courtlistener.com/docket/71398...
This is fundamentally silly but is also no joke. Stuff like this has been used to put people in gang databases and build conspiracy cases.
The idea that if you make Dems a little more Republican, Republicans will vote Dem is whatâs breaking us. And it doesnât even work!
Critical part of the President's new $100,000 charge for H1-B visas: The Administration can also offer a $100,000 discount to any person, company, or industry that it wants. Replacing rules with arbitrary discretion. Want visas? You know who to call and who to flatter.
Covid is gonna shape American politics for years and years because it was the first time most Americans were asked to make sacrifices and they lost their minds because of it.
A while back I wrote about the hideous political awakening of American parents during COVID, which resulted in the destruction of the Ed Department. badfaithtimes.com/the-bad-fait...
When I wrote this in January, people said I was an alarmist. Today, the New York Times reported that âSenior officials in the federal government have taken over a conservative media entity to talk about a crackdown on anti-conservative thought and speech.â Yes, a crackdown on thought and speech.
Notice how they are far away and sadistically shooting at people. These are the people the government is hiringâimmature vindictive thugs who will violate laws including the constitution. Because nobody else will do this job and our government is run by immature vindictive thugs that break the law.
"The mainstream media, with a few exceptions, is a single-issue lobby group, whose purpose is to assert the rights of capital." www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
The event is in Rome and live-streamed but is aimed at a much wider audience and featuring speakers like @marinasilva.bsky.social @katharinehayhoe.com @billmckibben.bsky.social and @fossiltreaty.bsky.social's @kuminaidoo.bsky.social. - raisinghope.earth/conference/ We get into that and much more.
Hope isn't a feeling, it's a discipline. That's what I took from speaking with Lorna Gold - she took a break organising an event hosted by Pope Leo for the 10th Anniversary of Laudato SĂŹ to talk about where we go from here. Also with some bonus content here - news.wickedproblems.uk/p/laudato-si...
This is not a hidden truth. In fact they proudly display this on the Inaugural Ceremony website.
Another thing that disturbs me, which a lot of people do not know, is that the Democrats actually helped plan Trump's second inauguration. Hakeem Jeffries, Chuck Schumer, Amy Klobuchar, they were all part of the planning committee.
For anyone who thinks the current assault on free speech is limited to people who criticize Charlie KirkâŚ
A cyberattack hitting the check in and boarding system provider for many European airports is a nightmare situation www.reuters.com/en/cyberatta...
Reminder: US news sources are not the only news. The free Newsmap site can show you the daily headlines your news outlets might have missed.
Since the #bsky algorithm is fair, unlike twitter, and creating posts is no longer pointless, I'm the author of #GivingTuesday's #CivicIntent report - a way to measure that sense of "doing good" and "good intentions" that 4 out of 5 Americans feel: www.givingpulse.givingtuesday.org/civic-intent...
A bill introduced by Michigan lawmakers last week would ban pornography, ASMR, depictions of transgender people, and VPNs for anyone using the internet in the state. đ www.404media.co/michigan-por...
If you're looking for a positive governmental effort to engage with, here's a good one: 19thnews.org/2025/09/lgbt...
Hepatitis B once infected 18,000 U.S. kids a year. Today, fewer than 1,000. Vaccinating at birth made that possible, yet the policy is now up for debate, explains a pediatrician and preventive medicine specialist buff.ly/bLXcl6x
HANDS OFF OUR HISTORY
Make @5calls.org!
âWhy pass a budget if Russell Vought can unilaterally rescind it?â - @schumer.senate.gov taking a #nokings line. Will the Senate Democrats stand strong? Only if they hear from the public that they must
Governor J.B. Pritzker gives us hope. In this exclusive piece for The Contrarian, he calls on us to work together to reaffirm the values that actually make our country great. A must-read:
i was on the ground today with our team and @mulchy.bsky.social and @djbyrnes1.bsky.social. being in a situation where feds are unafraid to shoot pepper balls and tear gas at protestors AND elected officials AND the media⌠we are in truly scary times. and itâs only the beginning.