Notices by Alexander Karn (xankarn@mastodon.online), page 2

Pissing down with gusting wind.

Thermos with tea, raincoats, and brolly.

LFG!

#April5 #HandsOff #democracy #uspol

United States Disappeared Tracker

803 persons disappeared (as of April 3).

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

Here’s what the tracker’s creator, Danielle Harlowe, had to say at time of launch.

“I can no longer be silent or "professional". I have so few skills to fight the cancer of fascism that is spreading through the country but as a "data person" -- inspired by the work of the BlueSky account USA Disappeared Tracker (https://lnkd.in/gmc8nFNr) -- I created a dashboard to track people who are deported, detained or renditioned for political reasons by the Trump Adminstration.”

#CoryBooker still making good trouble on the Senate floor.

I hope this breaks through. Do we have a public discourse anymore, and, if so, is this going to be part of it?

“My voice may be shaky, but I’m going to use it.”

Resist much, obey little.

#RMOL #filibuster

https://www.newsweek.com/cory-booker-speaking-live-senate-floor-speech-today-2053478

@kfanyo

It’s genuinely moving.

For those who have a heart, this effort will live there for a long time.

Kudos to his colleagues for coming to the chambers, relieving him with questions, and bearing witness.

Sen. Duckworth now spitting truth.

You look and listen to her and think for two seconds about her record of service, and Donald Trump shrinks down to tiny, thoughtless, cruel man he is.

Text msg from my partner just now:

“I’m making a donation [to Booker] to show politicians that doing something, anything, produces a positive response.”

I just sent a donation to Cory Booker via @actblue.

A way, I hope, to show Dems that we want this fight and we will support the leaders who take it on.

Booker is breaking through. Booker is thinking outside the box. Booker is standing up for rule of law.

Booker is repudiating MAGA’s cruelty and nihilism with moral leadership.

Please consider making a donation if you can.

https://secure.actblue.com/donate/cab-sticker

#CoryBooker #democracy #uspol #filibuster

Perhaps it’s time we lunatics admit our agenda.

What I aim to smuggle into history—my revisionist agenda as it were—is democratic pluralism.

This means there should be more than one perspective/voice when it comes to the production of historical knowledge.

It also means that facts and narratives should be seen as doing ideological work, advancing specific concepts of national identity, and aiding or frustrating the struggle for justice.

It means using the past to promote critical thinking.

A #democracy must practice deliberation to survive.

W/ respect to #history education, this means we must welcome differing perspectives, engage with principled disagreement, and accept that history is controversial.

Since Jan 20, Trump has made clear he expects a monopoly over historical truth. He asserts that his facts and narratives are objective, while everything that troubles these is ideological warfare waged by a lunatic fringe.

History is participatory, or it is propaganda.

#April5 #HandsOff protest will not topple the regime. But it is a necessary step for keeping truth and democracy alive. Here’s what we can accomplish:

1. Cultivate active, engaged citizenship.

2. Build and foster broad solidarity.

3. Incentivize political leadership.

4. Take control of the narrative.

5. Signal to non-Americans that we are not done yet.

5. Take the temperature of police and security forces.

6. Enact a culture of non-violence.

Check your area.

https://handsoff2025.com/

Why is DEI used by MAGA as an excuse to purge the accomplishments and resilience of POC from history books and museums?

Why are histories of white supremacy so objectionable to MAGA?

Because these aspects of history are more than objectionable; they are unfathomable. Literally unthinkable.

If MAGA were to accept what scholars know about America's past, it would cost them the whole basis of their self-image. It would require them to relinquish their superiority.

#history #histodons #uspol

One thing we know is that large demonstrations will elicit a response from police and other security forces, incl., potentially, military.

How a movement conducts itself vIs-a-vis these forces is CRUCIAL beyond words.

We know that these groups reflect society. Some members are sympathetic to MAGA; some are not; some are indifferent.

At some point, everything may hinge on the leadership and diffused decisions making of these group.

The main thing I want to say, and then I'll come back to this thread later, is DO NOT QUIT.

We can't fix this in one day or in one fell swoop, so measure your efforts and look after your health. But don't be paralyzed by despair.

It IS disturbing and disorienting to see things spiraling so quickly, but demoralization is fascist gold.

So, I'll keep saying, and maybe you will too...

Beyond this, there is another important but also frightening question to confront.

There are, by most reliable estimates, more firearms in the US than people.

What militias and other domestic terrorists might do in the face of a mass mobilization in defense of democracy is hard to predict.

I don't know enough abt these groups to assess their current thinking and capabilities.

But others do.

The folks getting purged from the FBI/DOJ will know. Scholars who study rt-wing extremism will too.

Courts have slowed and gummed up certain prongs of the MAGA coup, but at the top of the chain #SCOTUS inspires little confidence.

Meanwhile, DOGE runs amok and the attacks are coming faster than civil society is able to respond.

I am more and more persuaded that protest and mass mobilization will be the decisive factors in whether or not we can keep our democracy.

So this will be my civil resistance thread.

🧵

Some of the key factors can be summed up with an acronym devised by Charles Tilly:

W.U.N.C.

Worthiness
Unity
Numbers
Commitment

I take #1 for granted, so I'll focus on 2-4.

Small, fragmented mobilizations are rarely transformative. Large movements with a diverse range of participants can be.

#5050protest on Feb 5 was a good starting point, but more is required.

This will need to move from a one-off venting of despair to a regular exercise of social power.

Monthly.
Weekly.
Daily.

For Chenoweth, some might prefer this video explainer (2020) on "When do mass mobilizations work?" (7 mins 48 sec)

https://youtu.be/_y62wT21nBs?si=QUIq-tvky4CcMWNj

I am re-posting a couple books written by recognized scholars for anyone who wants to do some reading.

Gene Sharp: From Dictatorship to Democracy

https://thenewpress.com/books/from-dictatorship-democracy

Erica Chenoweth, Civil Resistance: What Everyone Needs to Know

https://global.oup.com/academic/product/civil-resistance-9780190244408?cc=us&lang=en&

These are both excellent books, though I understand that some may not want to spend the time poring over hundreds of pages right now.

Some doubt that mass demonstrations can achieve anything. It's true they are far from magic.

But on the way to political change, they can already accomplish a great deal.

1. Cultivate active, engaged citizenship.

2. Build and foster broad solidarity.

3. Incentivize political leadership.

4. Take control of the narrative.

5. Signal to non-Americans that we are not done yet.

5. Take the temperature of police and security forces.

6. Enact a culture of non-violence.