Alan Elrod

Pulaski Institution Summit: American Made Authoritarianism — The Pulaski Institution We are thrilled to bring our second summit, once again at Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas. This time we are taking on the crisis of authoritarianism facing the United States by bringing together e...

The Pulaski Institution summit is coming! Join us Oct 4 for a packed event focused on America’s authoritarian crisis.

Feat. @bradleyonishi.bsky.social, @jesspish.bsky.social, @hollybfletcher.bsky.social, @kjephd.bsky.social, @andycraig.bsky.social & more!

www.pulaskiinstitution.org/events/pulas...

Feel like its a bad sign about the health of the republic that Pritzker has to talk about TX Dems like they’re the Polish government-in-exile in London

I agree with the problem of propaganda, but it was something that could only take hold in a country where people had enough affluence and leisure time to marinate themselves in it. People over 55 with a lot of time on their hands.

But it’s not an HH. You can find other images of her that show the whole tattoo. They’re Roman numerals.

She was at Jan 6, which is sufficient enough for me to call her an extremist. She may even be a Nazi, the facts of this photo don’t support “she’s a Nazi.”

Listening to this today and it’s a great conversation between the only two political podcasters I listen to.

Holly’s book is little more about American evangelical attitudes toward external groups, especially non-white people. I think she has a lot of insights to offer both Christians and non-Christians in this moment.

Not live streamed but I am going to look into recording it

An Evening with Holly Berkley Fletcher — The Pulaski Institution Join us at Pettaway Commons for an evening with Holly Berkley Fletcher. We will be discussing Holly’s book, The Missionary Kids: Unmasking the Myths of White Evangelicalism. Tickets only $3.00!

Join us October 3 at Pettaway Commons in Little Rock to hear Holly Berkley Fletcher discuss her book, The Missionary Kids: Unmasking the Myths of White Evangelicalism

www.pulaskiinstitution.org/events/an-ev...

We’re excited to bring @hollybfletcher.bsky.social here and to have her as a Pulaski fellow!

An Evening with Holly Berkley Fletcher — The Pulaski Institution Join us at Pettaway Commons for an evening with Holly Berkley Fletcher. We will be discussing Holly’s book, The Missionary Kids: Unmasking the Myths of White Evangelicalism. Tickets only $3.00!

Join us October 3 at Pettaway Commons in Little Rock to hear Holly Berkley Fletcher discuss her book, The Missionary Kids: Unmasking the Myths of White Evangelicalism

www.pulaskiinstitution.org/events/an-ev...

Neon Liberalism #36: Strange Bedfellows In recent years, a number of prominent right-wingers have moved left dramatically. In particular, a surprising number of libertarians have abandoned their "fusionist" association with the Republican P...

"Strange Bedfellows": @sjshancoxli.liberalcurrents.com with @aaronrosspowell.com, on our Neon Liberalism podcast www.liberalcurrents.com/neon-liberal...

“I think there’s a recognition that Netanyahu is making Israel and Israelis and Jews unsafe all over the world,” said Sen. Brian Schatz. “More and more of us are saying so and voting accordingly.”

Trump’s Domestic Use of Military Set to Get Worse, Leaked Memo Shows A Department of Homeland Security memo obtained by TNR signals top-level discussions about a potential escalation of the Pentagon’s domestic anti-immigration role, and lays out new details.

NEWS --> An internal Homeland Security memo suggests Trump's use of military for domestic enforcement is about to get worse. It details top-level talks between Defense Department and DHS on what this should look like. Experts say it's alarming.

We obtained the memo:
newrepublic.com/article/1987...

“The memo is alarming, because it speaks to the intent to use the military within the United States at a level not seen since Japanese internment,” Carrie Lee, senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund…”We don’t want the military doing law enforcement. It absolutely undermines the rule of law.”

@jenniferberryhawes.bsky.social dropped you a dm on LinkedIn!

Naturally, as a proponent of the “absurd Trump=fascism” thesis, I’m disappointed that as impressive a historian as Tooze doesn’t want to endorse it as well. But I also have a bit of trouble understanding the logic here. Surely, if Nazism is at the extreme end of the breakdown of the state, with its regular notions of law and right, into factional and clique-based power politics, and we are entering a more fierce and disturbing era of unstatehood, then one must at least say, we are heading in a fascist direction? And I don’t think the fascism thesis relies upon a naive separation of the idealized liberal rule of law and the present disorder and reign of terror. Quite the opposite. I think rather it can show how fascism is implicit in liberal democratic institutions and develops out of their internal contradictions and failures. As Mick Jagger sings, “It's just a shot away.” This was the position of the Frankfurt School, of which Neumann was a member.

I think Ganz gets it right here www.unpopularfront.news/p/behemoth-o...

Whenever a tooze/moyn/bessner type says something like this, you can rely on Trump to say something fascist like ‘blood is our strength, immigrants are vermin’ abt 10 minutes later.

You are far more tempted to make the absurd Trump=fascism equation, if you start from a silly and simplistic account of “liberal reality”. If instead, we start from the position that modern power - both the capitalist and other kinds - have never had a straight-forward relationship with the rule of law, that idealized models of “regulation” are just that, idealized, that the line between regulation, government and goverance is always blurred, which is why the terms are blurry, then at any given moment the real question is how this awkwardness is being managed. What are the tools? What are the “discourses” and justifications? What passes for a deal and what does not? In this regard, 2008 was indeed a historically significant moment of exceptional governance. To call the “deals” done at that moment merely “useful” rather understates their significance. In political terms, it was clearly a moment of unhinging. But again, by fixating on the exception we should not delude ourselves about the norm. The Trump administration’s governance by bullying is clearly a departure in style, tone and ferocity. But at the same time, it is very much part of a piece with the increasingly crude style of “lawfare” and ad hoc deal-making that characterizes much of American corporate, business and public life today. This extends from the high-stakes divorce to “creditor on creditor” violence and the myriad out of court settlements, which is where so many disputes are “settled”. Isn’t this what high stakes lawyering in the United States today very often consists of? Does the invocation of “law” in the US today not come with a connotation of menace, threat, extortion, ruinous and arbitrary fees, obscure deal-making, hidden clauses, life-ruining nuisance suits, and bizarre somersaults from the freedom of speech to accusations of terrorism.

bizarre, almost tankie-esque argument from Tooze in here. basically saying Trump can't be fascist because America has always been fascist. glib and also self-contradictory adamtooze.substack.com/p/chartbook-...

10/10. No notes.

The problem isn't that gov't data should automatically be assumed to be fake now.

It's that no one can presume that it *isn't* fake. We can no longer get economic numbers from the executive branch and accept them w/out independent verification. Which in many cases will be impossible.

‘Self-termination is most likely’: the history and future of societal collapse An epic analysis of 5,000 years of civilisation argues that a global collapse is coming unless inequality is vanquished

Rather pathetic that the author has to cue up his analysis with the “everything was better when we were hunter-gatherers” bullshit, and double down by accusing the Great Apes of having lower ethical standards…

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Justin also has a good question for the sponsor of the proposed Texas redistricting plan. #txlege

So the new tariff defense strategy will be to blame American business owners for causing their own businesses to close? Will they start blaming American consumers for making poor purchasing decisions when the cost of basic consumer goods rise?

Really loving @liberalcurrents.com these days. Always challenges my brain and adds to my reading list. Good stuff by @paulcrider.liberalcurrents.com , @adamgurri.liberalcurrents.com , @sjshancoxli.liberalcurrents.com and others.

The Rockwall/Garland Bass Pro makes the best puppy pit stop location between my in-laws’ place and home

Vulgar Versailles, though I don’t think the Donald could stomach a hall of mirrors.

@megireid.bsky.social dropped you an email from my org address!

Oh I believe that we experience and conceive of time differently. But know you’re someone who is always late, the polite thing is to try and correct for that in whatever ways are effective for making you on time

I have simply lied to chronically late friends about movie start times or when we’re meeting for dinner