Tag: Authoritarianism

The Future of Democracy

To lend glamor to this obedience by associating it with the noble and the heroic, it is usually called military discipline, which has been extended, or should be extended, to the whole of society. But military discipline has its function only as one aspect of the social order. If instead of being contained within the […]

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The Trump Bubble Is Impregnable for Now—but Boy, Is It Going to Burst

Case in point: Last Thursday, it was reported that there were 108,000 layoffs in January—the worst number since the Great Recession. But the stock market also hit 50,000 on Friday. Of course, any president would brag about the latter and play down the former, but Trump went much farther, congratulating himself repeatedly on achieving this […]

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Trump’s ICE Agents Arrested Don Lemon. Then the Story Got Even Darker.

But now the story is getting even darker. The Justice Department went to a grand jury to get an indictment, according to a source familiar with the situation. Lemon’s arrest was executed after 11 p.m. on Thursday night at his hotel in Los Angeles where he was covering the Grammys, the source continues, adding: “This […]

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Trump’s Agents Arrested Don Lemon. Then the Story Got Even Darker.

But now the story is getting even darker. The Justice Department went to a grand jury to get an indictment, according to a source familiar with the situation. Lemon’s arrest was executed after 11 p.m. on Thursday night at his hotel in Los Angeles, where he was covering the Grammys, the source continues, adding: “This […]

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Trump’s Too Dumb to Know It, but Philip Glass’s Opera Is About Him

This dynamic, in turn, creates the opening for a particular kind of leader. When reverence for law collapses, Lincoln argues, men of ambition will not be lacking. Such figures seek distinction above all. And when the glory of building has already been claimed by others, these ambitious men will seek distinction by tearing down. Lincoln’s […]

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Trump’s Too Dumb to Know, but Philip Glass’s Symphony Is About Him

This dynamic, in turn, creates the opening for a particular kind of leader. When reverence for law collapses, Lincoln argues, men of ambition will not be lacking. Such figures seek distinction above all. And when the glory of building has already been claimed by others, these ambitious men will seek distinction by tearing down. Lincoln’s […]

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How Trump Weaponized the Department of Transportation

Take, as well, the administration’s efforts to stoke racial division. Duffy’s April letter also singled out diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts for particular scorn. In October, Duffy froze federal funding for two Chicago subway projects, citing the Chicago Transit Authority’s implementation of a DOT policy that supports small businesses owned by socially and economically disadvantaged […]

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Authoritarianism Is Climate Policy

The MAHA movement associated with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has always had, shall we say, an above-average rate of producing strange bedfellows. In their pursuit of healthy lifestyles, these groups and influencers advocate vaccine and pharmaceutical skepticism; ridding the nation’s water supplies of both fluoride and the abortion drug mifepristone; […]

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The Legal Professionals Planning to March Against Trump

The idea may sound novel to American ears. Lawyers here have rarely seen themselves as a collective political force, and judges usually avoid anything resembling political protest. Yet in other countries, when institutions began to crumble, it was precisely these lawyers and judges who stepped into the breach. Two examples—Pakistan and Poland—offer both inspiration and […]

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Trump Says His Dream Cabinet Involves JD Vance Shutting Up

Erie County, Pennsylvania, which narrowly supported Donald Trump in the 2024 election, voted overwhelmingly for Democrat Christina Vogel in its county executive race by 24 percentage points. In Virginia’s 66th state House district, Nicole Cole defeated 36-year Republican incumbent Bobby Orrock, who usually coasted to victory in every state election and was the longest-serving Republican […]

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Ring the Alarm Bells: Authoritarianism Isn’t Coming, It’s Here Now

A ninth rule is to use the power of the government to spread propaganda, and Trump is doing exactly that: banners with the president’s face hanging off federal buildings; video announcements at airports featuring Homeland Security Secretary Noem blaming Democrats for the government shutdown; federal websites spreading the president’s political messages. These actions violate provisions […]

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Trump’s White House Ballroom Is the Perfect Symbol of His Presidency

“Given the president’s history as a builder, and given the plans that we’ve seen publicly, I think this will be a tremendous addition to the White House complex, a sorely needed addition,” Scharf reportedly said at the meeting, with the usual mix of obsequiousness and prickliness that Trump appointees use when talking to the public. […]

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How Ordinary People Might Become Unwitting Trump Collaborators

Here, Knobe cautions against knee-jerk pessimism. While daily events may seem overwhelming—or even enraging—the future is constantly being forged. Knobe emphasizes that humans have made tremendous strides in history, but often over decades—Trump’s may simply be an incendiary presidential administration that’s ultimately a feeble blip in time. He points to revolutionary changes in our perspectives […]

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Why Shame No Longer Works in American Politics

Táíwò’s critique of Klein is powerful and, in many respects, correct. Klein’s airy dismissal of shame reflects a shallow and myopic commitment to the fantasy of perpetual centrist reasonableness. He clings to civility, debate, and rational persuasion as if these tools remain politically viable in an era defined by deliberate disinformation and authoritarian escalation. Klein’s […]

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The Lawyers Who Gave Up Big Money to Fight Trump

Lowell & Associates is one such organization. It is a firm that was launched this past May, headed by a veteran Washington lawyer. Lowell quickly scooped up two of the aforementioned Skadden associates (Cohen and Frey) who publicly quit in protest. The firm’s self-stated mission? “The provision of pro bono and public interest representation in […]

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Trump’s Lies About Portland: An Excuse to Create a Police State

I don’t know Portland well, but I’ve visited there twice, the most recent visit just a few months ago. I stayed in a hotel along the Willamette River maybe three-quarters of a mile south of downtown. On a tasty Saturday afternoon, I walked along the river through a lovely riverfront park, cut over to Chapman […]

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Nobel Committee Warns About Rising Authoritarianism as It Snubs Trump

Judge Sara Ellis, the Obama appointee overseeing this case, has suspended federal agents from “using riot control weapons,” “firing [tear gas] canisters,” “using force, such as pulling or shoving a person to the ground, tackling, or body slamming an individual,” “striking any person with a vehicle,” and more abuses of power. The order applies to […]

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The Case for the Forever Shutdown

But what I need you to know is that the inherent contradiction of everyday life in Chicago for any one person of privilege like me—of living in and loving this vast, vibrant city while it gets besmirched and infiltrated by racist goons—pales in comparison to the inherent contradiction that is congressional Democratic leadership in Washington […]

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How Trump Became the Ringmaster of Left-Wing Violence

[L]eft-wing violence has risen in the last 10 years, particularly since President Donald Trump’s rise to political prominence in 2016…. More contentious politics in the United States and the expansion of the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement appear to have reenergized violent left-wing extremists. Mind you, the increase in left-wing violence is from “very […]

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Trump’s Eruption of Rage at Texas ICE Shooting Hints at a Darker Story

“We’re absolutely expecting that they’re going to use this moment, and what they consider anti-ICE rhetoric, to come after organizations,” a senior leader at a top immigration advocacy group told me. “We have been doing everything we can to prepare.” “Organizations have been gearing up for government investigations based on pretexts that include constitutionally protected […]

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Trump Jokes About Rigging Elections in Meeting With Turkish President

“The other day, it was very interesting, they found $31 billion,” Trump said. “They said, ‘Sir, we’ve found 31.’ I said, ‘You mean positively, right?’ They said, ‘Yeah, $31 million more than we knew.’ And they said, ‘We don’t know where it came from.’” Trump then claimed he instructed his staff to “check the tariff […]

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Trump “Jokes” About Rigging Elections With Turkish President

“The other day, it was very interesting, they found $31 billion,” Trump said. “They said, ‘Sir, we’ve found 31.’ I said, ‘You mean positively, right?’ They said, ‘Yeah, $31 million more than we knew.’ And they said, ‘We don’t know where it came from.’” Trump then claimed he instructed his staff to “check the tariff […]

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Lindsey Graham Reveals He’s All in on Trump Fascism

But the unprecedented reception did not inspire the Kremlin to budge on its peace terms. The superpower has instead insisted on receiving “international legal recognition” of its 2014 annexation of Crimea, an internationally recognized portion of Ukraine, along with four regions it has claimed in the three years since it first invaded Ukraine. “When the […]

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Lindsey Graham Announces He’s Totally Fine With Trump’s Fascism

But the unprecedented reception did not inspire the Kremlin to budge on its peace terms. The superpower has instead insisted on receiving “international legal recognition” of its 2014 annexation of Crimea, an internationally recognized portion of Ukraine, along with four regions it has claimed in the three years since it first invaded Ukraine. “When the […]

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Brazil’s Lula Warns U.N. About Rising Fascism Just Before Trump Speaks

“Attacks on sovereignty, arbitrary sanctions, and unilateral interventions are becoming the rule. There is a clear parallel between the multilateralism crisis and the weakening of democracy,” Lula said. “Authoritarianism is strengthened when we fail to act in the face of arbitrary acts.  When the international society falters in defending peace, sovereignty and the rule of […]

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Trump’s Learning That Partisan Witch Hunts Are Harder Than They Look

Trump’s biggest problem is that he can’t simply turn the tables on his foes. He actually stood credibly accused of criminal offenses, while his political opponents do not. A New York jury even convicted him on 34 counts of falsifying business records for channeling hush-money payments to Stormy Daniels, an adult-film actress with whom he […]

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It’s Happened: The United States of America Is No Longer a Democracy

These are all developments that at any other time would have shocked the entire political establishment. Now? We’re used to it. Yes, sorry, we’re used to it. It’s just another day that ends in “y.” But we must not become blasé about it. It’s disgraceful. The Department of Justice is a cesspool. The dropping of […]

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Remember This Week—It’s the Week America Became a Different Place

This is certainly an “only in America” story, but I do not mean that in the normal, heroic sense. I mean it in the creepy, corporate, it’s-all-about-profit sense. CBS began life in 1927 as a radio network, expanding into television as that medium grew. It had entertainment and news divisions, and later sports; its news […]

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Donald Trump Is No Viktor Orbán—He’s Well on His Way to Being Worse

In a recent report, Carrier and Carothers did a detailed analysis comparing Trump’s administration to regimes in Brazil, Ecuador, El Salvador, Hungary, India, Poland, and Turkey that have taken power in recent years and eroded democratic norms. Orbán, Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro are the leaders abroad most often likened […]

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How to Resist Trump’s Militarization of America

Trump is thus not only turning to the military as his primary tool for carrying out government policies. He is simultaneously building a partisan-political military as his personal police force to impose his policy preferences on the entire country. The deployment of troops to help carry out immigration law, to serve as immigration judges, and […]

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Trump’s Fascist Game Plan: If He Can’t Tame Russia, He’ll Take Chicago

With Trump finding it impossible to play tough guy in Russia or the Middle East, he’s settled on a new target for his destructive desires: Americans, beginning with those in Chicago and other American cities. That “Chipocalypse Now” social media post on Saturday about how Chicago is about to find out why the Defense Department […]

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