Of Bookish Things
@JPK_elmediat@c.im replied  ·  activity timestamp 2 weeks ago
@ben
This was at the first 100 days. #RuthBenGhiat, #Autocracy scholar, analyses the #TrumpAdministration’s rapid shift towards #Authoritarianism. She talks about #Trump’s #PersonalityCult, how #Strongmen portray machismo and the potential for a female strongman figure. She also discusses how autocrats use corruption, violence and propaganda to stay in power, and how #ICE roundups echo the past, resembling a “secret police force”.
Ruth Ben-Ghiat anticipated that #America would reach the tipping point by September.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUMATTj3Ai0
Nonilex
@Nonilex@masto.ai  ·  activity timestamp 3 weeks ago

Such situations have prompted some former #judges to do something most generally do not—speak out. More than two dozen retired judges appointed by Republican & Democratic presidents have formed the #ArticleIII Coalition to push back on attacks & #disinformation about the #courts.

#Trump #law #judiciary#Constitution #democracy#SeparationOfPowers#Autocracy#AbuseOfPower
Nonilex
@Nonilex@masto.ai replied  ·  activity timestamp 3 weeks ago

Robert J. Cindrich, who helped found the group, said the country is not yet in a #ConstitutionalCrisis [really?] but that the strain on the courts is immense. Citing the admin’s response to orders, as well as its attacks on judges & law firms, Cindrich said, “The judiciary is being put under siege.”

#Trump #law #judiciary#Constitution #democracy#SeparationOfPowers#Autocracy#AbuseOfPower
Nonilex
@Nonilex@masto.ai  ·  activity timestamp 3 weeks ago

Such situations have prompted some former #judges to do something most generally do not—speak out. More than two dozen retired judges appointed by Republican & Democratic presidents have formed the #ArticleIII Coalition to push back on attacks & #disinformation about the #courts.

#Trump #law #judiciary#Constitution #democracy#SeparationOfPowers#Autocracy#AbuseOfPower
Nonilex
@Nonilex@masto.ai  ·  activity timestamp 3 weeks ago

Meanwhile, about 66,000 tons of #food #aid is in danger of rotting in warehouses, #AIDS cases are forecast to spike in #Africa & the government projected the cuts would result in 200,000 more cases of paralysis caused by #polio each year. Already, children are dying unnecessarily in #Sudan.

#Trump #law #judiciary#Constitution #democracy#SeparationOfPowers#Autocracy#AbuseOfPower
Nonilex
@Nonilex@masto.ai  ·  activity timestamp 3 weeks ago

“This is not the first time the court closes its eyes to noncompliance, nor, I fear, will it be the last,” #Sotomayor wrote. “Yet each time this court rewards noncompliance with discretionary relief, it further erodes respect for #courts & for the rule of #law.”

#Trump#SCOTUS #law #judiciary#Constitution #democracy#SeparationOfPowers#Autocracy#AbuseOfPower
Nonilex
@Nonilex@masto.ai  ·  activity timestamp 3 weeks ago

Justice #Sotomayor echoed that concern in a recent dissent when she accused #SCOTUS of “rewarding lawlessness” by allowing #Trump officials to deport immigrants to countries that are not their homelands. The conservative majority gave the green light, she noted, after Trump officials twice carried out deportations despite lower court orders blocking the moves.

#law #judiciary#Constitution #democracy#SeparationOfPowers#Autocracy#AbuseOfPower
Nonilex
@Nonilex@masto.ai  ·  activity timestamp 3 weeks ago

The #SCOTUS June decision to scale back the ability of lower #courts to issue #NationwideInjunctions, & the administration’s success at persuading the justices to overturn about a dozen temporary blocks on its agenda in recent months, might only embolden #Trump officials to defy lower courts, several #legal experts said.

#law #judiciary#Constitution #democracy#SeparationOfPowers#Autocracy#AbuseOfPower

Greg Lloyd
Greg Lloyd boosted
Nonilex
@Nonilex@masto.ai  ·  activity timestamp 3 weeks ago

Bill Goodman, a former longtime host of “Kentucky Tonight” on KET-TV, which broadcasts statewide from Lexington, recalled watching a recent episode of his old show that devoted nearly an entire hour to an in-depth conversation about #Medicaid cuts. The guests engaged in reasoned & intricate arguments from opposite sides of the national debate.

“You don’t find that on commercial television,” he said.

#Trump#Republicans#PublicBroadcasting #censorship #authoritarianism #autocracy

Greg Lloyd
Greg Lloyd boosted
Nonilex
@Nonilex@masto.ai  ·  activity timestamp 3 weeks ago
#PublicMedia supporters say the commercial forces that made television a “vast wasteland” still exist in an era of #socialmedia algorithms that reward #content that attracts the most likes & shares. That’s rarely the hyperlocal issues or deep policy discussions that are the bread & butter of local public television & radio stations, which have their own locally produced programs that run alongside the national shows of #PBS & #NPR.

#Trump#Republicans #censorship #authoritarianism #autocracy
Nonilex
@Nonilex@masto.ai  ·  activity timestamp 3 weeks ago
#PublicMedia supporters say the commercial forces that made television a “vast wasteland” still exist in an era of #socialmedia algorithms that reward #content that attracts the most likes & shares. That’s rarely the hyperlocal issues or deep policy discussions that are the bread & butter of local public television & radio stations, which have their own locally produced programs that run alongside the national shows of #PBS & #NPR.

#Trump#Republicans #censorship #authoritarianism #autocracy
Nonilex
@Nonilex@masto.ai replied  ·  activity timestamp 3 weeks ago

Bill Goodman, a former longtime host of “Kentucky Tonight” on KET-TV, which broadcasts statewide from Lexington, recalled watching a recent episode of his old show that devoted nearly an entire hour to an in-depth conversation about #Medicaid cuts. The guests engaged in reasoned & intricate arguments from opposite sides of the national debate.

“You don’t find that on commercial television,” he said.

#Trump#Republicans#PublicBroadcasting #censorship #authoritarianism #autocracy
Nonilex
@Nonilex@masto.ai  ·  activity timestamp 3 weeks ago
#PublicMedia supporters say the commercial forces that made television a “vast wasteland” still exist in an era of #socialmedia algorithms that reward #content that attracts the most likes & shares. That’s rarely the hyperlocal issues or deep policy discussions that are the bread & butter of local public television & radio stations, which have their own locally produced programs that run alongside the national shows of #PBS & #NPR.

#Trump#Republicans #censorship #authoritarianism #autocracy
Nonilex
@Nonilex@masto.ai  ·  activity timestamp 3 weeks ago

The explosion in #media sources is what Capitol Hill #Republicans & their allies point to in justifying this year’s rescission package.

“With cellphones & internet & all that, I think the ability of people almost any part of the country to access all kinds of information sources is, you know, greater than it’s ever been,” Jeff Miron, a VP of Cato Institute, a libertarian research group, said this week—on none other than #NPR.

#Trump#PublicBroadcasting #censorship #authoritarianism #autocracy
Nonilex
@Nonilex@masto.ai  ·  activity timestamp 3 weeks ago

“He was unpleasantly surprised that a lot of conservative politicians from red states resisted,” said Steve Oney, the author of “On Air,” a book on the history of #NPR. “In their communities, their #PublicRadio & #PublicTelevision stations were seen as assets.”

Now, though, Oney said, “people get their news from anywhere they want, so there’s not the critical-mass support back in red-state America for #PublicBroadcasting.”

#Trump#Republicans #censorship #authoritarianism #autocracy
Nonilex
@Nonilex@masto.ai  ·  activity timestamp 3 weeks ago

But in the years that followed, the strength of local #PublicTelevision & #PublicRadio stations in conservative states was often what saved the #federal #funding.

In 1995, #NewtGingrich, then the #House speaker, made one of the most aggressive moves since #Nixon to “zero out” federal support for #PublicMedia before he found it politically untenable.

#Trump#Republicans#PublicBroadcasting #censorship #authoritarianism #autocracy
Nonilex
@Nonilex@masto.ai  ·  activity timestamp 3 weeks ago

Nixon’s admin didn’t follow through. Instead, it toggled between pressure on the independent Corporation for #PublicBroadcasting to do its bidding & a plan to push more of its budget down to local stations — which, #Nixon aides believed, tended to have more conservative management than the national #networks run out of New York & Washington.

#Trump#Republicans #censorship #authoritarianism #autocracy
DrALJONES
@DrALJONES@mastodon.social  ·  activity timestamp 3 weeks ago

The billionaires called it an "excess of democracy", & they worked out how to defeat it:

THE PLAN

In 1975, Samuel P. Huntington said the "excess of democracy" was caused by mass education in the 1960s.

It followed that education had to be de-democratised. Along with the media.

https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/an-excess-of-democracy-how-corporations-killed-the-campus,15165

HOW IT'S GOING

2025: SCOTUS complies:

https://www.democracynow.org/2025/7/15/headlines/scotus_greenlights_dismantling_of_education_department_unleashing_untold_harm

#Plutocracy #TrilateralCommission#USPol #PowellMemo#EuroPol#Education#Racism#Autocracy .

America must limit the education of marginal groups, said Huntington. Prior to World War Il, only 40 per cent of the population was educated beyond elementary level; by 1972, that figure was 75 per cent. The report summed up the threat thus — education raises political consciousness, which raises demands, which make democratic government unworkable: The more educated a person is, the more likely he is to participate in politics, to have a more consistent and more ideological outlook on political issues ,and to hold more “enlightened” or “liberal” or “change- oriented” views on social, cultural and foreign policy issues. ...Black political participation,’ the report said, ‘was the product primarily... of increased group consciousness.
America must limit the education of marginal groups, said Huntington. Prior to World War Il, only 40 per cent of the population was educated beyond elementary level; by 1972, that figure was 75 per cent. The report summed up the threat thus — education raises political consciousness, which raises demands, which make democratic government unworkable: The more educated a person is, the more likely he is to participate in politics, to have a more consistent and more ideological outlook on political issues ,and to hold more “enlightened” or “liberal” or “change- oriented” views on social, cultural and foreign policy issues. ...Black political participation,’ the report said, ‘was the product primarily... of increased group consciousness.
America must limit the education of marginal groups, said Huntington. Prior to World War Il, only 40 per cent of the population was educated beyond elementary level; by 1972, that figure was 75 per cent. The report summed up the threat thus — education raises political consciousness, which raises demands, which make democratic government unworkable: The more educated a person is, the more likely he is to participate in politics, to have a more consistent and more ideological outlook on political issues ,and to hold more “enlightened” or “liberal” or “change- oriented” views on social, cultural and foreign policy issues. ...Black political participation,’ the report said, ‘was the product primarily... of increased group consciousness.
DrALJONES
@DrALJONES@mastodon.social  ·  activity timestamp 3 weeks ago

The billionaires called it an "excess of democracy", & they worked out how to defeat it:

THE PLAN

In 1975, Samuel P. Huntington said the "excess of democracy" was caused by mass education in the 1960s.

It followed that education had to be de-democratised. Along with the media.

https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/an-excess-of-democracy-how-corporations-killed-the-campus,15165

HOW IT'S GOING

2025: SCOTUS complies:

https://www.democracynow.org/2025/7/15/headlines/scotus_greenlights_dismantling_of_education_department_unleashing_untold_harm

#Plutocracy #TrilateralCommission#USPol #PowellMemo#EuroPol#Education#Racism#Autocracy .

America must limit the education of marginal groups, said Huntington. Prior to World War Il, only 40 per cent of the population was educated beyond elementary level; by 1972, that figure was 75 per cent. The report summed up the threat thus — education raises political consciousness, which raises demands, which make democratic government unworkable: The more educated a person is, the more likely he is to participate in politics, to have a more consistent and more ideological outlook on political issues ,and to hold more “enlightened” or “liberal” or “change- oriented” views on social, cultural and foreign policy issues. ...Black political participation,’ the report said, ‘was the product primarily... of increased group consciousness.
America must limit the education of marginal groups, said Huntington. Prior to World War Il, only 40 per cent of the population was educated beyond elementary level; by 1972, that figure was 75 per cent. The report summed up the threat thus — education raises political consciousness, which raises demands, which make democratic government unworkable: The more educated a person is, the more likely he is to participate in politics, to have a more consistent and more ideological outlook on political issues ,and to hold more “enlightened” or “liberal” or “change- oriented” views on social, cultural and foreign policy issues. ...Black political participation,’ the report said, ‘was the product primarily... of increased group consciousness.
America must limit the education of marginal groups, said Huntington. Prior to World War Il, only 40 per cent of the population was educated beyond elementary level; by 1972, that figure was 75 per cent. The report summed up the threat thus — education raises political consciousness, which raises demands, which make democratic government unworkable: The more educated a person is, the more likely he is to participate in politics, to have a more consistent and more ideological outlook on political issues ,and to hold more “enlightened” or “liberal” or “change- oriented” views on social, cultural and foreign policy issues. ...Black political participation,’ the report said, ‘was the product primarily... of increased group consciousness.
DrALJONES
@DrALJONES@mastodon.social  ·  activity timestamp 3 weeks ago

The billionaires called it an "excess of democracy", & they worked out how to defeat it:

THE PLAN

In 1975, Samuel P. Huntington said the "excess of democracy" was caused by mass education in the 1960s.

It followed that education had to be de-democratised. Along with the media.

https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/an-excess-of-democracy-how-corporations-killed-the-campus,15165

HOW IT'S GOING

2025: SCOTUS complies:

https://www.democracynow.org/2025/7/15/headlines/scotus_greenlights_dismantling_of_education_department_unleashing_untold_harm

#Plutocracy #TrilateralCommission#USPol #PowellMemo#EuroPol#Education#Racism#Autocracy .

America must limit the education of marginal groups, said Huntington. Prior to World War Il, only 40 per cent of the population was educated beyond elementary level; by 1972, that figure was 75 per cent. The report summed up the threat thus — education raises political consciousness, which raises demands, which make democratic government unworkable: The more educated a person is, the more likely he is to participate in politics, to have a more consistent and more ideological outlook on political issues ,and to hold more “enlightened” or “liberal” or “change- oriented” views on social, cultural and foreign policy issues. ...Black political participation,’ the report said, ‘was the product primarily... of increased group consciousness.
America must limit the education of marginal groups, said Huntington. Prior to World War Il, only 40 per cent of the population was educated beyond elementary level; by 1972, that figure was 75 per cent. The report summed up the threat thus — education raises political consciousness, which raises demands, which make democratic government unworkable: The more educated a person is, the more likely he is to participate in politics, to have a more consistent and more ideological outlook on political issues ,and to hold more “enlightened” or “liberal” or “change- oriented” views on social, cultural and foreign policy issues. ...Black political participation,’ the report said, ‘was the product primarily... of increased group consciousness.
America must limit the education of marginal groups, said Huntington. Prior to World War Il, only 40 per cent of the population was educated beyond elementary level; by 1972, that figure was 75 per cent. The report summed up the threat thus — education raises political consciousness, which raises demands, which make democratic government unworkable: The more educated a person is, the more likely he is to participate in politics, to have a more consistent and more ideological outlook on political issues ,and to hold more “enlightened” or “liberal” or “change- oriented” views on social, cultural and foreign policy issues. ...Black political participation,’ the report said, ‘was the product primarily... of increased group consciousness.
DrALJONES
@DrALJONES@mastodon.social  ·  activity timestamp 3 weeks ago

The billionaires called it an "excess of democracy", & they worked out how to defeat it:

THE PLAN

In 1975, Samuel P. Huntington said the "excess of democracy" was caused by mass education in the 1960s.

It followed that education had to be de-democratised. Along with the media.

https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/an-excess-of-democracy-how-corporations-killed-the-campus,15165

HOW IT'S GOING

2025: SCOTUS complies:

https://www.democracynow.org/2025/7/15/headlines/scotus_greenlights_dismantling_of_education_department_unleashing_untold_harm

#Plutocracy #TrilateralCommission#USPol #PowellMemo#EuroPol#Education#Racism#Autocracy .

America must limit the education of marginal groups, said Huntington. Prior to World War Il, only 40 per cent of the population was educated beyond elementary level; by 1972, that figure was 75 per cent. The report summed up the threat thus — education raises political consciousness, which raises demands, which make democratic government unworkable: The more educated a person is, the more likely he is to participate in politics, to have a more consistent and more ideological outlook on political issues ,and to hold more “enlightened” or “liberal” or “change- oriented” views on social, cultural and foreign policy issues. ...Black political participation,’ the report said, ‘was the product primarily... of increased group consciousness.
America must limit the education of marginal groups, said Huntington. Prior to World War Il, only 40 per cent of the population was educated beyond elementary level; by 1972, that figure was 75 per cent. The report summed up the threat thus — education raises political consciousness, which raises demands, which make democratic government unworkable: The more educated a person is, the more likely he is to participate in politics, to have a more consistent and more ideological outlook on political issues ,and to hold more “enlightened” or “liberal” or “change- oriented” views on social, cultural and foreign policy issues. ...Black political participation,’ the report said, ‘was the product primarily... of increased group consciousness.
America must limit the education of marginal groups, said Huntington. Prior to World War Il, only 40 per cent of the population was educated beyond elementary level; by 1972, that figure was 75 per cent. The report summed up the threat thus — education raises political consciousness, which raises demands, which make democratic government unworkable: The more educated a person is, the more likely he is to participate in politics, to have a more consistent and more ideological outlook on political issues ,and to hold more “enlightened” or “liberal” or “change- oriented” views on social, cultural and foreign policy issues. ...Black political participation,’ the report said, ‘was the product primarily... of increased group consciousness.