Notices by Alexander Karn (xankarn@mastodon.online)

"Groups like CPJ have historically focused on the dangerous climate for journalists in dictatorships and repressive regimes abroad. But Trump’s political rise has imported those same threats to the US.

CPJ said it has noticed “a significant increase in the number of newsrooms seeking safety advice, concerned that the changing national political environment could threaten their ability to report without fear of retribution from authorities.”

https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/03/media/analysis-trump-world-press-freedom-day-chill-journalism

#uspol #media #democracy

Trump continues to treat the presidency like his own personal ATM.

The most corrupt, self-serving president in the 249 years of our republic.

Headline: Trump wants Justice Department to pay him $100 million for alleged damages from FBI’s Mar-a-Lago search

https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2024/08/12/politics/trump-mar-a-lago-search-claim

Mid-week Freud.

Civilization, for F., requires that individuals renounce some of their instinctual appetites. The individual has to accept limits and sacrifice some possibilities for (libidinal) satisfaction for the greater good.

MAGA talks a lot about freedom and, of course, greatness.

Both seem to depend on an existence that is thoroughly unbridled. Great individuals, in the MAGA worldview, shrug off civilizational "chains."

Neither truth nor justice rate as virtues for MAGA, only power.

This is why MAGA attracts the douchebag set (my term, not Freud's).

The douche is inclined to see self-restraint as weakness. He whines that every check on his impulses is tantamount to enslavement. He worries constantly that he and others will become "cucks" if they accept even the slightest limitations on their strength.

So, the MAGA man is anti-civilizational. He embraces the state of nature (at least rhetorically), where he believes he can elevate himself in a war of all against all.

For the press pool:

President Trump, you’ve been subject to quite a few lawsuits over the years, civil, criminal, many instances.

You’ve arguably been afforded more due process during your career than any other person in the country.

Is it not important in a Constitutional democracy that others are protected by the same rights as you?

<insert optional mic drop>

#uspol #democracy #law #rights #media #journalism

Bill Lueders nailing it in The Bulwark:

“Trump, who has benefited from the protections of due process more than perhaps anyone else in American history, doesn’t see why it should be afforded to anyone else.”

https://www.thebulwark.com/p/rumeysa-ozturk-ordeal-our-nations-disgrace-tufts-deportation-student-visa

Letter to Harvard was an accident.

Trade war with China not sustainable.

Peace deal in Ukraine not feasible.

Markets and treasuries in nosedive.

Etc.

Never has a president been so inept. So incompetent. So utterly full of shit.

What’s left when the curtain is pulled back?

Just the cruelty, the vindictiveness, and the grift.

#uspol #democracy

Digital detox for me today. I almost forgot to post my “every Monday until I it isn’t necessary” message:

Not shocked
Not awed.
Not caving.
Not scared.
Not blinking.
Not packing it in.
Not coming to heel.
Not building bridges.
Not extending grace.
Not asking permission.
Not accepting the lies.
Not quitting.
Ever.

Resist much, obey little.

@MissConstrue @Nonilex

One thing you learn when you study genocide and mass atrocity is that the violence is incremental. Before there are direct attacks on bodies, there are attacks on livelihood, mobility, and social/cultural life.

Let's call it a first step.

From the National Museum of African American History and Culture (Washington, DC).

The Berkshires. Western MA. A favorite spot for summer recreation and a haven for the arts.

"Shock rippled through the Berkshires when images of federal agents wearing masks and bulletproof vests, and black vehicles with tinted windows proliferated across social media Wednesday. Spotted alongside ICE agents were representatives of other federal agencies including the FBI and ATF."

https://www.wamc.org/news/2025-03-21/unprecedented-crackdown-sees-ice-agents-detain-at-least-10-berkshire-community-members-in-sweep

#ICE #deportation #uspol

United States Disappeared Tracker

1,210 persons disappeared as of April 8 (+407)

https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/danielleharlow/viz/UnitedStatesDisappearedTracker/Map

Asked about the possibility of another massive selloff and a crippling years long recession, the President thrust his lower jaw forward in the style of Mussolini, adding: “It’s a long par 4, but I’m still pretty good off the tee.”

MF’er spent the weekend golfing at Mar-a-Lago.

Dateline, Berlin: “Führer’s Team Downplays Reversals in East”

Official count just came in at 4000.

Massive turnout in this rusty, run down, bone chilled, beautiful city.

#April5 #HandsOff #Syracuse #democracy

No official count but the park is FULL.

1500? 2000?

A LOT.

In rainy, grey #Syracuse #CNY.

Energized. Organized. Mobilized.

#April5 #HandsOff #democracy #uspol

#April5 #HandsOff #Syracuse

Swoon.

#April5 #HandsOff #democracy #uspol #history #truth

#April5 #HandsOff #Syracuse #democracy

Photo by N. Scott Trimble.

Pissing down with gusting wind.

Thermos with tea, raincoats, and brolly.

LFG!

#April5 #HandsOff #democracy #uspol