Politics of Hate category archive
“History Does Not Repeat Itself, but It Often Rhymes”* 0
UGa history professor Stephen Mihm hears the Trump maladministration’s ICE shaking down brown people and hears a rhyme. Here’s a bit:
Case in point: the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, a deeply unpopular law that effectively radicalized large swaths of the American electorate. It led to widespread civil disobedience, the destruction of a major political party and, thankfully, accelerated the end of slavery itself. Its lessons are ones Republicans should ponder – and fast.
_________________
*Mark Twain.
Immunity Impunity
0
My old Philly DL friend Noz has some thoughts on what must be done if the American Stasi is to redirected from their current path of trampling on rights and violating Constitutional protections.
Republican Thought Police 0
In the midst of a longer article about the Trump maladministration’s attempt to white-wash America’s history, Diane Carman succintly sums up what’s going on:
But apparently only the white ones.
American Stasi 0
MIT professor and Nobel Laureate Daron Acemoglu is not sanguine. A snippet:
If this violence goes unchecked, it could indeed be a turning point, because it will create a template for other security forces more closely aligned with Trump to use force against any manifestation of opposition. In that case, the slide toward an authoritarian regime could become difficult to reverse, as civil society becomes prostrate in the face of mounting repression and the norms against such crackdowns become steadily eroded.
Already, the two branches of government that are supposed to check the presidency (Congress and the Supreme Court) have proven to be highly solicitous of Trump’s agenda.
Afterthought:
I question his use of the term “Trump’s agenda.” Me-me-me-me may be motivation, but I don’t think it rises to the level of “agenda.”
“Agenda” implies a coherent strategy, not an incoherent one.
“She Was Just Following Orders” 0
David hears Kristi Noem say something that rhymes with the Nuremberg trials.
American Stasi 0
The Brock Press (a student publication at Brock University in Canada) offers a case study in devolution:
Lemon Squash and the Power of Repress, Reprise 0
Thom fears that the arrest of Don Lemon presages a crackdown on alternative media.
Republican Thought Police 0
Texas Governor Abbott is upset that Texas school students have the utter unmitigated gall and effrontery to form their own opinions about the American Stasi.
Lemon Squash and the Power of Repress 0
At Above the Law, Joe Patrice dissects the Trump maladministration’s vendetta against news report Don Lemon. It’s a blistering send of duplicity and dissimulation on the part of Pam Bondi’s Department of you-can-no-longer-call-it Jusstice.
A snippet:
This should have marked the end of a troubling campaign to punish a journalist for journalisming, but what this DOJ lacks in professionalism and legal acumen they more than make up for in creativity. Unable to secure a warrant, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced that she directed federal agents to arrest the journalists.
Afterthought:
On his podcast, Bob Cesca has often advanced the theory that the point of such legal actions isn’t necessarily to win in court, but rather to cause the targets financial and spiritual pain. Trump, after all, has a long history of using protracted court actions to wear down those he perceives as opponents.
Methinks Cesca makes sense.