ICYMI yesterday:
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I hope Democrats understand that if and when they get back to power, defaulting to “unity” politics and empty reconciliation without any real accountability would not only be morally abhorrent, but also politically suicidal: The desire for at least some semblance of justice will be overwhelming.
The America MAGA wants is one of brutal hierarchies. It is ugly and violent. This is a frightening situation. Weaponized MAGA in masks roaming the streets. There will be more victims of state terrorism.
But this spectacle of cruelty will not help them consolidate authoritarian rule. -
ICYMI yesterday:
I wrote about the killing of Renee Good: How it reveals, yet again, the violent, dehumanizing, essence of Trumpism – and why it will likely galvanize the resistance against MAGA’s authoritarian assault.
When the State Terrorizes the People:
When the State Terrorizes the People
A newsletter on U.S. politics and history - and the ongoing struggle over how much democracy, and for whom, there should be in America
Steady (steady.page)
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If you are part of the MAGA-defined “Volk,” you get to rule, dominate, exploit. If you are not, because you deviate from MAGA’s vision of what “real America” is supposed to be, you have forfeited not only your rights and protections as a citizen, but also your humanity, your very right to live.
@tzimmer_history Wilhoit's law:
Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition, to wit: There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect. -
The America MAGA wants is one of brutal hierarchies. It is ugly and violent. This is a frightening situation. Weaponized MAGA in masks roaming the streets. There will be more victims of state terrorism.
But this spectacle of cruelty will not help them consolidate authoritarian rule.It will also trigger a reaction from other people with guns at some point.
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I hope Democrats understand that if and when they get back to power, defaulting to “unity” politics and empty reconciliation without any real accountability would not only be morally abhorrent, but also politically suicidal: The desire for at least some semblance of justice will be overwhelming.
@tzimmer_history I’m not as optimistic as you. When in power, the DNC, Senate and House leadership have a track record of opposing post reconstruction congressional reforms such as eliminating the Senate filibuster, a relic of antebellum slave state power protection. They refuse to increase the number of members of the House of Representatives, and continue to stymie progressive legislation through arcane procedures. They recruit carpetbagger reactionaries when progressives run.
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@tzimmer_history I’m not as optimistic as you. When in power, the DNC, Senate and House leadership have a track record of opposing post reconstruction congressional reforms such as eliminating the Senate filibuster, a relic of antebellum slave state power protection. They refuse to increase the number of members of the House of Representatives, and continue to stymie progressive legislation through arcane procedures. They recruit carpetbagger reactionaries when progressives run.
A fair assessment, thank you Alice.
Would you consider the impact of retirement planning from a large group of US citizens (Boomers) using digital hallucination machines (social media), a potential cause for mass hallucination? -
It will also trigger a reaction from other people with guns at some point.
@panda @tzimmer_history There is indeed a risk of this. The German Baader-Meinhof group of Rote Armee Fraktion was to some extent driven by a failure to come to terms with the Nazi era, in the form of ex-Nazis making it to positions of wealth and power in the German federal republic.
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I hope Democrats understand that if and when they get back to power, defaulting to “unity” politics and empty reconciliation without any real accountability would not only be morally abhorrent, but also politically suicidal: The desire for at least some semblance of justice will be overwhelming.
@tzimmer_history I just want to see a Democrat come out and say that unity politics is off the table until the threat to democracy is gone. All this talk about not stooping to their level? Fuck it until the system is healthy again.
This can be done in a way that is self-limiting. For example, go all in on gerrymandering until we have the votes to establish independent districting commissions nationwide. Runaway Supreme Court? Pack the court, strip jurisdiction, create rotating panels, emeritus status, whatever it takes until the court can’t run away anymore.
For every abuse of the system propose a way to curb the abuse and take every possible advantage of the broken system until the mechanisms to resist abuse are in place.
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@tzimmer_history I’m not as optimistic as you. When in power, the DNC, Senate and House leadership have a track record of opposing post reconstruction congressional reforms such as eliminating the Senate filibuster, a relic of antebellum slave state power protection. They refuse to increase the number of members of the House of Representatives, and continue to stymie progressive legislation through arcane procedures. They recruit carpetbagger reactionaries when progressives run.
@odaraia I wouldn’t say I’m optimistic. And my level of trust in the Democratic Party is very low. It is the majority of the American *people* in whom we have to place our trust.
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I hope Democrats understand that if and when they get back to power, defaulting to “unity” politics and empty reconciliation without any real accountability would not only be morally abhorrent, but also politically suicidal: The desire for at least some semblance of justice will be overwhelming.
Can you speak some more to this point in the context of what happened to Nazi enabling/supporting politicians (and others) after WWII? Seems like denazification sort of petered out, with no real consequences.
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