Notices by Alexander Karn (xankarn@mastodon.online)

It's not even lunch, and I really ought to know better, but this has to be today's upper limit on "Ohmyfucking god, America."

Useful idiot? Bad actor? Sycophant? Coward? We don't really have to choose here.

Democracies don't do criminal justice at the ballot box. That's to ensure that rule of law does not succumb to rule of men.

This is insane and dangerous. Gift link.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/15/opinion/trump-criminal-cases.html?unlocked_article_code=1.bE4.-m_S.P9YGUejadeFX&smid=url-share

#democracy #law #uspol #fascism

When Goldstein says "the people have spoken," let's remember that the MAGA bloc is less slightly less than half of those who voted, which is less than half of the population.

Also, they didn't say a thing about these cases, which they didn't weigh as the law requires; by casting a vote, they just said something about who they want in power.

Many MAGA voters concede that he is a criminal, but choose to empower him anyway.

Again, utterly insane. Judges/courts are partisan, but MAGA red hats can render justice impartially.

"But the Constitution trusts the judgment of the American people to decide whether the cases against Mr. Trump [...] were political and calculated to stop him from being elected. The people had plenty of opportunities to hear both sides, and they have spoken. That judgment is the critical check we have against the possibility of politically driven prosecutions of presidential candidates."

I don't ask for much, but if there is a hell, then Thomas Goldstein should have to spend eternity at an @anneapplebaum dinner party.

Wrapped into the main argument here, i.e., justice and law are whatever 75 million completely unqualified voters want, is another jaw-droppingly offensive sentiment:

No other jurisdiction, state or local, matters, once the federal govt (the executive branch specifically) has been captured by a criminal clique.

Autocracy is A-OK.

By painting the state and local cases against Trump as weaponization and "law fare," Goldstein is telling readers that the legal system has already been thoroughly corrupted, which makes it disposable, i.e., ready for the scrap heap of history.

They so badly want you to believe that the system is rotten and degraded. Once the promise of democracy has been undercut, nobody objects to its being discarded.

False equivalence is fascist gold, and this is indistinguishable from MAGA propaganda.

@heidilifeldman

Memory says, “I did that.” Pride says, “I could not have done that.” Eventually memory yields.

—Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil

November 2024:

https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/18/media/morning-joe-msnbc-trump-mar-a-lago/index.html

October 2023:

https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-vermin-hitler-joe-scarborough-1843182

MSNBC "Morning Joe" hosts have gone from warnings about Trump going "full-on Hitler" (October 2023) to urging their viewers to accept the need for a "new approach."

We're told, as of this morning, that "rooting against the president[-elect] is rooting against America."

For these fellow-travelers and facilitators of fascism, rule of men > rule of law.

Good to know that these center-right moderates really aren't either of those things.

Here’s something from David Art’s book The Politics of the Nazi Past in Germany and Austria on how to combat right-wing populist parties:

“The reaction of civil society…also influences the development of the far right. Large, frequent protests against right-wing populist parties not only demonstrate that a significant portion of the population considers them illegitimate, but sustained protest can also create organizational and recruitment problems.”

We already know that things are bad.

But do we know how to combat right-wing extremism?

The Democratic Party doesn’t appear up to the task, at least at the national level.

We can’t expect much from legacy media, and anyway the info ecosystem is fractured and polluted by disinformation.

What’s left?

The reaction of civil society.

Flashback to 2022.

It IS possible to fight disinformation.

By failing to do so, Congress greased the wheels for Trump’s comeback.

https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/how-congress-can-prevent-elon-musk-from-turning-twitter-back-into-an-unfettered-disinformation-machine.

…follows the same pattern we have observed before, e.g.,

https://perspectives.ushmm.org/collection/higher-education-in-nazi-germany

https://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/nazi-germany/universities-in-nazi-germany/

The attack on #highered is coming.

MAGA is antithetical to evidence-based discourse, critical thinking, and vetted knowledge.

What the NYT is reporting today…

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/12/us/trump-higher-education-policy-universities.html?unlocked_article_code=1.Zk4.GStg.U6NeUl68FP0X&smid=url-share

It won’t be enough, however, just to target colleges and universities.

MAGA will also go after school libraries and books it deems objectionable because that’s what required to stamp out critical inquiry, pluralist culture, and alternative visions of society.

The Nazis called it Gleichschaltung, ie, the coordination of all political, social, and cultural institutions with the State, which here, we can call Project 2025.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/nov/13/florida-book-bans-removals-education-department-list?CMP=share_btn_url

Resist much, obey little. #RMOL

@rbreich

Disengagement and demoralization are fascist gold.

Not telling anyone what to do...

This is a devastating loss, but, in some respects, we wake up today in the same country as yesterday.

We've lost the levers of power nationally, and people will be harmed by the violent stupidity coming down the pike.

But the violent stupidity was surging already yesterday. It's been part of our national history since the beginning.

I'm sad and enraged, but I'm also trying to work the problem. How can I keep working for the things that matter?

#Election