Schumer and Jeffries showed some courage in standing up to the MAGA GOP.

IMO, they are still asking for too little.

With masked paramilitaries conducting daily kidnappings and with POTUS having repeatedly threatened military strikes against so-called "internal enemies," I no longer recognize the U.S. as a democratic Republic.

I cannot in good conscience contribute materially to this rogue state.

I can no longer in good conscience fund this government.

#uspol #democracy #resistance

If you let AI feed you all the answers, then you are letting whomever control this AI decides of everything you learn (or never learn).

That people somehow still trust these tools, and what this means for the future of democracy, frightens me to my core.

#NoAI #Democracy #NoToOligarchy

Schumer and Jeffries showed some courage in standing up to the MAGA GOP.

IMO, they are still asking for too little.

With masked paramilitaries conducting daily kidnappings and with POTUS having repeatedly threatened military strikes against so-called "internal enemies," I no longer recognize the U.S. as a democratic Republic.

I cannot in good conscience contribute materially to this rogue state.

I can no longer in good conscience fund this government.

#uspol #democracy #resistance

If you let AI feed you all the answers, then you are letting whomever control this AI decides of everything you learn (or never learn).

That people somehow still trust these tools, and what this means for the future of democracy, frightens me to my core.

#NoAI #Democracy #NoToOligarchy

#tuneoftheday #nowplaying #taxresistance #democracy

Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, "What If We All Stopped Paying Taxes"

https://youtu.be/tes4s6zKSLs?si=aGfLSRL9wGbfY1r8

Reading every headline & lede that invariably starts with “Democrats block GOP bill”, I’d like to remind everyone, the #media especially, that Trump’s party — the #RepublicanParty — controls the #WhiteHouse & both chambers of #Congress.

This shutdown is their doing.

By all accounts #Trump & #Project2025’s #RussVought absolutely wanted it because it consolidates #power under the #ExecutiveBranch, exactly what they have been working for.

#OrchestratedShutdown #Republicans #economy #democracy

Why is American democracy failing?

1. Elites who are happy to enrich themselves but accept no responsibility for the common good.

2. Masses who will not be governed by said elites.

3. Degraded information ecosystem, which makes truth difficult to decipher.

4. Hyper-skepticism: ill-informed citizens who do not understand knowledge production and no longer accept expert guidance.

5. Gutted education sector. See nos. 2-4 above.

6. Capitalism and wealth inequality.

Others?

#democracy

Why is American democracy failing?

1. Elites who are happy to enrich themselves but accept no responsibility for the common good.

2. Masses who will not be governed by said elites.

3. Degraded information ecosystem, which makes truth difficult to decipher.

4. Hyper-skepticism: ill-informed citizens who do not understand knowledge production and no longer accept expert guidance.

5. Gutted education sector. See nos. 2-4 above.

6. Capitalism and wealth inequality.

Others?

#democracy

Reading every headline & lede that invariably starts with “Democrats block GOP bill”, I’d like to remind everyone, the #media especially, that Trump’s party — the #RepublicanParty — controls the #WhiteHouse & both chambers of #Congress.

This shutdown is their doing.

By all accounts #Trump & #Project2025’s #RussVought absolutely wanted it because it consolidates #power under the #ExecutiveBranch, exactly what they have been working for.

#OrchestratedShutdown #Republicans #economy #democracy

In front of hundreds of generals and admirals specially summoned for the occasion, #Trump and #Hegseth both invoked Carl Schmitt's classic friend/enemy dichotomy yesterday, without, however, naming an external #enemy .Instead, they denounced all the more vehemently the “internal enemy” to be fought, including with #military means: #liberalism in the #USA .The future of #democracy in the US looks really bleak.

American democracy keeps facing the same test. Reconstruction. Watergate. January 6th. Each was an inkblot: some saw freedom and law, others tyranny and betrayal.

The danger isn’t just the crisis—it’s perception unmoored from fact. A lie, repeated often enough, creates its own inkblot. Not to reveal the viewer. But to control them.

1/17

#history #blackmastodon #histodons #blackandwhite #photo #photography #politics #democracy #fascism #civilwar

American democracy keeps facing the same test. Reconstruction. Watergate. January 6th. Each was an inkblot: some saw freedom and law, others tyranny and betrayal.

The danger isn’t just the crisis—it’s perception unmoored from fact. A lie, repeated often enough, creates its own inkblot. Not to reveal the viewer. But to control them.

1/17

#history #blackmastodon #histodons #blackandwhite #photo #photography #politics #democracy #fascism #civilwar

#JBPritzker warned of broader threats posed by #Trump’s actions, stating, “You cannot call this anything except an attack on the #Constitution of the #UnitedStates.”

#law #PosseComitatusAct #MilitaryState #democracy #CivilRights #authoritarianism #autocracy #tyranny #Gestapo #coup #TrumpCoup2

#Trans people did not "cost us the most important #election ever." #Transpeople didn't do shit. Trans people overwhelmingly voted for #KamalaHarris. She failed trans people (& the whole country) for refusing to counter that ad! Stop blaming trans people for our own oppression. Jesus Christ.

#Politics #Democrats #Republicans #Liberals #Conservatives #Vote #Election #DemocraticParty #RepublicanParty #DonaldTrump #Trump #JoeBiden #Biden #Harris #TimWalz #Democracy #US #USA #Musk #Fascism #Fascist

#Trans people did not "cost us the most important #election ever." #Transpeople didn't do shit. Trans people overwhelmingly voted for #KamalaHarris. She failed trans people (& the whole country) for refusing to counter that ad! Stop blaming trans people for our own oppression. Jesus Christ.

#Politics #Democrats #Republicans #Liberals #Conservatives #Vote #Election #DemocraticParty #RepublicanParty #DonaldTrump #Trump #JoeBiden #Biden #Harris #TimWalz #Democracy #US #USA #Musk #Fascism #Fascist

The Man Behind #Trump’s Push for an All-Powerful Presidency

Russell T. Vought spent years drawing up plans to expand presidential #power & shrink federal bureaucracy. Now he is moving closer to making that vision a reality, threatening to erode #ChecksAndBalances.

#RussVought #Project2025 #law #democracy #authoritarianism #autocracy #dictatorship #fascism #tyranny
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/29/us/politics/russell-vought-trump-budget.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

But #RussVought had something #Musk did not: He had done his homework.
In the months since Musk fell out with #Trump, Vought has at last begun to put his plans into action—remaking the presidency, block by block, by restoring powers weakened after the #Nixon admin. His efforts are helping Trump exert #authority more aggressively than any modern president, & are threatening an erosion of the longstanding #ChecksAndBalances in America’s constitutional system.

#Project2025 #law #democracy #fascism

#RussVought, who also directed the White House #OMB in Trump’s first term, had spent 4 years in exile from power. He worked through Joe #Biden’s presidency from an old rowhouse near the Capitol, where he complained of pigeons infesting his ceiling & coordinated with other #Trump loyalists to draw up sweeping, detailed plans for a comeback.

#Project2025 #law #democracy #authoritarianism #autocracy #dictatorship #fascism #tyranny