gawaintheknight.bsky.social (@gawaintheknight.bsky.social) reply parent
Would it be fair to say that even if Diamond is wrong, it he was productively wrong given the number of responses his work has generated? I’m not familiar enough with the field to say whether that’s happened or not.
gawaintheknight.bsky.social (@gawaintheknight.bsky.social) reply parent
This is the worst possible timeline, isn’t it?
The political scientist Lawrence Britt identified 14 features of historical fascism that remain relevant for identifying modern iterations.
Viktor Orban has made Hungary one of the poorest countries in the EU www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...
I'm ANTIFA. Americans are supposed to be.
gawaintheknight.bsky.social (@gawaintheknight.bsky.social) reply parent
They don’t care about that, because the real message they’re trying to deliver is that the rules don’t apply to them.
“Fascism” isn’t a slur for politics we don’t like. It’s a precise word with precise meaning. And in the face of what’s happening right now in America, it’s the most honest one we have. I’ll lay it out as plainly as I can. 🧵
"We are going to have to live here with each other" is the exact premise that Republicans do not agree about. Their proposition is mass immiseration, mass expulsion and mass murder. The only way to oppose political violence and avoid further political violence is to contend directly with that fact.
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
gawaintheknight.bsky.social (@gawaintheknight.bsky.social) reply parent
I'm increasingly convinced you can't understand anything in the US without understanding racism.
Step 1: Cut funding for food stamps Step 2: Stop measuring hunger Step 3: There's no evidence cuts to food stamps led to a rise in hunger www.wsj.com/economy/trum...
gawaintheknight.bsky.social (@gawaintheknight.bsky.social) reply parent
Sure it has, because Republicans have broken the consensus that it's a good idea to make sure citizens don't starve and now there are two conflicting views. Up next: letting women vote has become too politicized.
"Unpersecuted, unjailed, unharassed writers are trouble for the ignorant bully, the sly racist, and the predators feeding off the world’s resources." inthesetimes.com/article/toni...
gawaintheknight.bsky.social (@gawaintheknight.bsky.social) reply parent
If they did say they used excessive force, wouldn’t that mean they were confessing to criminal actions?
gawaintheknight.bsky.social (@gawaintheknight.bsky.social) reply parent
I try to convince my fellow white people of this all the time. They don’t believe me very often.
One of the key ways you refuse to comply with fascism is by becoming even louder and more fearless in supporting vulnerable people. You SHOW that you are unwilling to throw the "undesirables" under the bus if only for self-preservation because under fascism you will also become undesirable one day.
There goes the First Amendment.
19 Sep 25 -- Video from Natl Women's Law Center, 9 Dem state Atty's Gnrl (CA, DE, MA, MD, MI, MN, NY, OR, & VT) declare "I promise to fight for trans students" & do "whatever it takes" as school year begins. (There are 50 states folks-- it's not enough.) @rikiwilchins.bsky.social
So, a university president fired a professor because they taught a course that discussed there being more than two genders, and now the university president is being fired for not having fired the professor quickly enough, is where we're at. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/18/u...
"JD is outraged. How dare people use the term 'fascist' to describe the man to whom he has pledged fealty? How dare they apply the term to the movement to which he has hitched his star?" With the help of John Kelly & Umberto Eco, I explain why we dare say fascism. www.thebulwark.com/p/yeah-its-f...
When you meet someone who wants you to be institutionalized, prosecuted, or killed, you should be asking yourself: what do I have in common with this person? Tomorrow from Ezra Klein
The Orbanization of America… “Two independent journalistic voices, CBS News and CNN, could soon be combined into something potentially almost unrecognizable, something way too close to what is served up on a daily basis by the Murdochs.” www.nytimes.com/2025/09/18/o...
gawaintheknight.bsky.social (@gawaintheknight.bsky.social) reply parent
She could mobilize the Michigan Guard herself if she wanted to. Also, her name is Governor Whitmer. Show some respect.
gawaintheknight.bsky.social (@gawaintheknight.bsky.social) reply parent
Don't forget the crazed Black man. Used to justify oppression for centuries.
Transgender people are over four times more likely than cisgender people to be victims of violent crime. bit.ly/transvictimized
gawaintheknight.bsky.social (@gawaintheknight.bsky.social) reply parent
It’s not that she did a bad thing, it’s that, in their eyes, she *is* a bad thing.
Trump on Ilhan Omar: "I think she's a disgraceful person. A loser. It's amazing the way people vote, I know it's people from her area of the world, they got here and they vote her in — it's hard to believe. But I think she's a disgusting person."
I mean... minnesotareformer.com/briefs/haged...
Use of the word "evil" in official congressional e-newsletters, over time, by party
Anyone who still thinks that the problem is the left, or even both sides, when the the vice president of the United States gives a speech like this, simply cannot be trusted.
If you are looking for informed voices on far-right (violence) in the U.S., here are some great follows: @milleridriss.bsky.social @davidneiwert.bsky.social @sjacks26.bsky.social @kathleenbelew.bsky.social @jmberger.com
more on soft secession cmarmitage.substack.com/p/dont-sue-f...
So not surprising that the people who fetishize assault rifles kill more Americans than those who don't.
gawaintheknight.bsky.social (@gawaintheknight.bsky.social) reply parent
I mean, anyone can be charged with anything, right?
gawaintheknight.bsky.social (@gawaintheknight.bsky.social) reply parent
There should be some Form of punishment.
gawaintheknight.bsky.social (@gawaintheknight.bsky.social) reply parent
I don't think it "comes back", I think it's going to turn into something new. The question is what?
Brian Kilmeade wants to murder unhoused Veterans then?
Extremist murders by ideology, 2013 to 2022. www.pbump.net/o/reassessin...
gawaintheknight.bsky.social (@gawaintheknight.bsky.social) reply parent
You sure have, but not by Democrats.
gawaintheknight.bsky.social (@gawaintheknight.bsky.social) reply parent
All in all, it’s just a brick in the wall
“Every political movement in history, including the most bloodthirsty, has condemned political violence by its opponents. The only real test is whether you also oppose political violence by your allies. This is a test Trump has repeatedly failed.”
gawaintheknight.bsky.social (@gawaintheknight.bsky.social) reply parent
Same with Reagan.
Not just any bar, but The Brown Jug, a B1G institution.
gawaintheknight.bsky.social (@gawaintheknight.bsky.social) reply parent
This cannot stand.
Note, Axios liberated a copy of the Epstein book and other docs. I reposted a copy of the book here. legacy.www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...
gawaintheknight.bsky.social (@gawaintheknight.bsky.social) reply parent
@johnmoolenaar.bsky.social it could be you. Show your integrity and courage. Donald Trump is not worth protecting.
Here are some tweets from Charlie Kirk over just the last few days. They are an impressive mix of hatred towards: Blacks, immigrants, women, immigrants, Muslims, LGBTQ, academics.
Ezra Klein is trying in this column to argue that Kirk was doing politics correctly if you just ignore the content of what he was advocating. That he was contributing to American democracy by arguing civilly for the subjugation of women, gay people, trans people. It simply doesn’t work.
gawaintheknight.bsky.social (@gawaintheknight.bsky.social) reply parent
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGAq...
"Kavanaugh penned a concurrence confirming that, yes, the conservative justices are motivated by gutter racism, and they absolutely do intend to shred five decades of jurisprudence. YOU’RE GODDAMN RIGHT THEY ORDERED THE CONSTITUTIONAL CODE RED, SON! And they’ll do it again." — @lizdye.bsky.social
gawaintheknight.bsky.social (@gawaintheknight.bsky.social) reply parent
What I meant was are the new legal standards for profiling only applicable to ice or could other police and or government entities do the same?
gawaintheknight.bsky.social (@gawaintheknight.bsky.social) reply parent
Is it only ice that’s allowed to racially profile, or is it all law enforcement?
America has declared itself the "Land of the Free" since 1776. It's the same county that enslaved millions of Black people until 1865. Oh, and there was this thing called human zoos. This is American history. Read it. Learn it. Never forget it.🔥☕️ www.rmpbs.org/blogs/rocky-...
gawaintheknight.bsky.social (@gawaintheknight.bsky.social)
He’s a seven, but he has a job and picks up his own socks.
Great collab between @ruthbenghiat.bsky.social and @ivan-ehlers.bsky.social for the @latimes.com! Share widely
gawaintheknight.bsky.social (@gawaintheknight.bsky.social) reply parent
It’s nice to be able to bring joy into the life of others, isn’t it?
Calling Black Children this…. UNACCEPTABLE
"It’s far from clear how any of these people are supposed to keep playing nice when they no longer have Trump’s banner to march behind—or their shared enemies to kick around anymore." @eggerdc.bsky.social on the NatCons: www.thebulwark.com/p/downbeat-g...
gawaintheknight.bsky.social (@gawaintheknight.bsky.social) reply parent
*beat
gawaintheknight.bsky.social (@gawaintheknight.bsky.social) reply parent
You should read it. He quotes me.
gawaintheknight.bsky.social (@gawaintheknight.bsky.social) reply parent
This kind of claim always reminds me of the "stab in the back" language the Nazis used to argue that Germany could have won WWI.
gawaintheknight.bsky.social (@gawaintheknight.bsky.social) reply parent
The pleasure seekers, “what a way to die. “
It's incredibly difficult to teach Intro to American Politics because not much applies to the moment.
gawaintheknight.bsky.social (@gawaintheknight.bsky.social) reply parent
There are now a couple of members of Congress who are planning to share the names on the floor where they will be protected by the debate clause of the Constitution.
gawaintheknight.bsky.social (@gawaintheknight.bsky.social) reply parent
Rich people crimes don’t count.
gawaintheknight.bsky.social (@gawaintheknight.bsky.social) reply parent
Of course, the right way is not always the profitable way
gawaintheknight.bsky.social (@gawaintheknight.bsky.social) reply parent
It says they’re going to do it confidentially, so I’m not sure that means they intend to release names. They’d be exposing themselves to libel lawsuits.
gawaintheknight.bsky.social (@gawaintheknight.bsky.social) reply parent
This is very concerning.
gawaintheknight.bsky.social (@gawaintheknight.bsky.social) reply parent
There you go getting hysterical again. She didn’t call trans people Satan, she just implied they were like Satan, which is obviously very different. (Sarcasm off)
#YesScotland🏴
gawaintheknight.bsky.social (@gawaintheknight.bsky.social) reply parent
I would like to suggest that given the mental state of teachers right now, giving them guns would be a very poor idea
Things feel uncertain right now, Illinois. I want you all to know we’re doing everything we can to protect your rights. Make sure you know how to stand up for yourself and others at illinoisimmigrationinfo.org.
gawaintheknight.bsky.social (@gawaintheknight.bsky.social) reply parent
Proud to be one of them.
gawaintheknight.bsky.social (@gawaintheknight.bsky.social) reply parent
I’m on the Internet a lot more than I should be, and I’ve never seen one of those memes even once.
Meanwhile, in a functioning democracy…
Transphobia and politicized science is at the basis of the exclusion of trans women from women sports. Excellent piece on the problems of the “sex test” that is now required.
This assessment seems to be based on pervasive, but wildly ahistorical assumptions about fascism. There is the idea that fascism wasn’t superstitious and "criminally mad" - yet many of the leading fascists were crooks, quacks, and charlatans who believed in pseudo-science and Volkish hocus-pocus.
This is so, so sad. (Though of course completely understandable.)
Long thread on how to fight for democracy. Read all the way through. It’s worth it.
Here's how watching autocracy overtake democracy in one place helps to predict what will happen in another. Here, lessons from Russia are offered as a PREDICTION about what could happen under Trump BEFORE he took office: substack.com/home/post/p-...
gawaintheknight.bsky.social (@gawaintheknight.bsky.social) reply parent
I believe the only two prohibitions were that you couldn’t bite your opponent, and you couldn’t gouge their eyes. I’d have to go back to check my notes, which are not available at the moment, to remember for sure.
gawaintheknight.bsky.social (@gawaintheknight.bsky.social) reply parent
This is how the so-called heavy sports (boxing, wrestling, pankraton) went in the ancient Olympics. The fight lasted until somebody tapped out, went unconscious, or died. The pankraton would be considered the real forerunner of MMA if there was a straight line through.
This consensus is correct. But I don't think enough people have actually internalized the implications. That is, they're perfectly happy to point out that too many Dem officials don't understand this, but they haven't updated their own understanding of what this means for taking the country back.
gawaintheknight.bsky.social (@gawaintheknight.bsky.social) reply parent
Seems to me that the common thread is eugenics, an idea which I had hoped, was dead many decades ago.
gawaintheknight.bsky.social (@gawaintheknight.bsky.social) reply parent
The Freakies
No notes
Don’t look away
gawaintheknight.bsky.social (@gawaintheknight.bsky.social) reply parent
From 2017: www.smbc-comics.com/comic/marine...
gawaintheknight.bsky.social (@gawaintheknight.bsky.social) reply parent
Ask any political scientist. We're all doing the same thing.
gawaintheknight.bsky.social (@gawaintheknight.bsky.social) reply parent
Can Americans get vaccinated in Canada?
Really good explainer in Slate by poli sci researcher Zein Murib on how the early LGB movement's split between sex/or and gender identity helped isolate what emerged as transgender, laying important groundwork for the crusade of trans erasure we're witnessing now. @rikiwilchins.bsky.social
"If you are an authoritarian, or a wannabe authoritarian, you are inherently driven to follow a specific checklist that allows you to a) consolidate power and b) neutralize sources of dissent...Trump has made extraordinary progress in a short period of time." open.substack.com/pub/donmoyni...
"[The GOP is] pushing a muscular, retrograde agenda that shamelessly uses capitalism to kill critical thinking. They threaten universities and professors with the message, 'Say and teach what we want, or we’ll take your grants, federal, and state funding.'" www.courier-journal.com/story/opinio...
Just want to be clear that I am very much using both of my kidneys.
Stacey Abrams and I sound the alarm - the time to act to stop autocracy is now. time.com/7312340/stop...
gawaintheknight.bsky.social (@gawaintheknight.bsky.social) reply parent
You got trinkets? Lucky!
gawaintheknight.bsky.social (@gawaintheknight.bsky.social) reply parent
Don’t forget libel.