Notices by Heidi Li Feldman (heidilifeldman@mastodon.social), page 2

We could host Mastodon meetups, not aimed at accomplishing any particular or immediate political action, but just an opportunity to see a group of likeminded people on a regular basis. For example, I could hold a Mastodon coffee klatch for people within driving distance of Santa Fe. Even if it only gathered a few people that would be a start. 6/

Still, we are going to need what I will call call background networks of trust that can ground protection from and opposition to Republican Fascism. This is why I have been urging people to show up to settings where we might develop them such as local libraries and muncipal government meetings. But then today, I realized that we who are active on Mastodon have another channel. Some of us live near each other. 5/

But, many of us who stand for secular constitutional democracy, rule of law, anti-corruption in government, women’s liberation, equal justice for black and brown people, and so forth are not church or synagogue goers. The sort of close knit intellectual circles of the late 1800s (e.g. American Transcendentalism or American Pragmatism) don’t exist in the same way today. 4/

Trust and camaraderie can be developed without personal, face to face contact, but that sort of interaction makes it much easier. We are evolutionarily adapted for developing trust or distraction on the basis of in person encounters; now, when we in the U.S. face serious danger, we are going to need networks of trusted others. 3/

All of these movements tapped into previously existing networks, such as churches, older political movements, magazine editors and writers. Those networks gave rise to coalitions and collaborations which did things that were new and daring. What got the new coalitions and collaborations off the ground was some level of preexisting trust and camaraderie rooted in the original networks. 2/

So, I’ve been thinking about movements ultimately successful in the face of home-grown fascism, terrorism, and violent subordination, as well as the rise of Republican Fascism at the grassroots level. I am thinking of U.S. abolitionism from Revolutionary times to the Civil War, the fight for women’s suffrage, and the anti-Jim-Crow/civil rights movement associated with MLK Jr. and Bayard Ruskin. And of white Christian patriarchal movement that led to today’s Republican Fascism. 1/

@GottaLaff If it quacks like a duck…

I will not forget the Democratic electeds who rushed to make nice with Donald.

Lawyers and legal scholars: we have to figure out if it is even possible to operate ethically in a legal system controlled by Republican Fascists. We can’t just practice as if that isn’t so. 2/ #LawFedi

Matt Gaetz as the U.S. attorney general drives home that U.S. lawyers and legal scholars now confront a federal legal system run by people who see law as simply a tool for social control in service of Republican Fascism. 1/ #Lawfedi

I’m certainly not going to spend time commenting on each of Donald’s horrible staffing picks. Of course he’s selecting awful people. The only thing worthy of comment would be if he were not.

Legal scholars and commentators and lawyers working to protect the vulnerable and, in the the longer run, to shift the U.S. away from Republican Fascism have to develop positions, approaches, and arguments to address all three kinds of courts (see 4 in this thread) — though the usual idea of legal argument will only have traction with the first. 5/

Even if we lawyers and legal scholars standing for law in service of the general good and justice have only nascent ideas about how to approach Republican Fascist courts and legislatures, we must do our best to reckon to with them. We will have to learn as we go. In my own legal writing, I will suggest what I can, knowing that its efficacy will have to be tested. We can’t let ourselves be stymied by an awareness that our tactics are provisional. 6/

Today, I return to writing about developments in holding firearms manufacturers and sellers accountable for their role in gun violence and how that intersects with 2nd Amendment doctrine. I finally have an inkling of how to address these issues in light of the U.S. election results. We must deal with the fact that courts and legislatures dominated by Republican Fascists are not in the business of law in service of justice and democracy. 1/ #LawFedi

Some courts will still be attempting “regular” adjudication, trying to interpret and apply law as has been usual in the American context, where at least the aspiration to a pluralist constitutional democracy has been uncontroversial. Other courts, already dominated by Republican Facists, will pretend to be doing usual adjudication by going through certain motions but with no intention of serving that aspiration. And some courts will drop the pretense entirely. 4/

At the same time, for at least the next twelve months, victims of gun violence will go to court seeking to hold manufactures and sellers accountable; and state legislatures attempting to combat gun violence will be in court defending existing laws and, in some cases, will be attempting to pass new ones, which will need defending. 3/

Just as physicists should not treat astrologers and physicians should not treat faith healers as within the enterprises of physics and medicine, respectively, legal scholars and attorneys should not treat Republican Fascist courts and legislatures as if they are making law for a pluralistic constitutional democracy. 2/

For a long time, there isn’t going to be much, if any, good news about U.S. politics at the national level. There may be some good news about politics and life in some U.S. states and some localities. I recommend absorbing news very slowly and carefully, only from the most reliable sources you can find. Between the disturbing but true news and the outright propaganda, it can be easy to get overwhelmed. Protect your mind and your mood as much as you can without putting your head in the sand.

Since U.S. Election Day, I’ve been using content warnings a lot, knowing how raw people are. But starting now, I’m going to share my thoughts about life, culture, and politics in the era of Republican Fascism without content warnings. Those of us resisting and opposing need to speak and to hear with as little friction as possible. I will try, as I always have , to post with consideration and with sensitivity.

We are going to be especially dependent on each other’s bravery in the coming years. We are always more dependent on that than we realize. Now, we have to reinforce each other’s bravery. We must model it for each other, whenever and however we can. Bravery grows with small actions. 1/