Aaron Faanes

We aren't on the verge of an authoritarian takeover. We are in the middle of it.

But I worry people don't see the whole scheme. They just pay attention to each new daily outrage. So I went to the Senate floor to explain Trump's plan.

Here's a 🧵of the speech. It's important.

Pope Leo in new letter to Catholic Charities USA: Migrants are "living witnesses of hope" with an "intrinsic human dignity" who should be "invited to participate fully in community life."

The 9th Circuit Just Stayed the TRO Blocking National Guard to Portland, BUT the Guard Still Can't be deployed. A recording from Allison Gill's live video

NEW: A brief explainer for what the 9th Circuit just did with regard to the deployment of the National Guard to Portland. www.muellershewrote.com/p/live-with-...

offering historical analogies, reckless provocation, heartbreaking victimization, with no central theme... they appear to be brainstorming in broad daylight. adorable stuff

On deflation: "So, despite the lines at the soup kitchens during the Depression, the planners of the era deemed it morally acceptable to destroy food in an attempt to reduce supply and ratchet up farm prices."

It is well that media war is so terrible. We should grow too fond of it.

What else is left? POTUS couldve at least thanked us for our attention to this matter

The first hearing in this case is set for 2 p.m. today, the same time that Pritzker and Johnson are set to address the news media. @wttw.bsky.social

Supreme Court has provided a lot of cover for the executive so far. Giving that up in open defiance would have a heavy cost, I think. And law enforcement/military is still ostensibly beholden to the law/Constitution. Even ICE is having to fight their way in court

My evil-sicko crystal ball says: “ok we cant do portland yet so lets just pile them all on chicago for 2 weeks”

“Sir! It’s General Reynolds!”

this is "strong AI" vs. Chinese room thought experiment. see also arxiv.org/abs/2303.07103 regarding LLMs specifically: "[t]here are significant obstacles to consciousness in current models: for example, their lack of recurrent processing, a global workspace, and unified agency"

An AMPHIBIOUS ASSAULT on our Law & Order by elite and camouflaged ANTIFA FROGMEN!!

YouTube video by FlobotsVEVO Flobots - Handlebars

because I can ride a bike with no handlebars

Is this not wrath?
You doll up pain for us to witness,
And dare forget that you are also witnessed.
The Redeemer looks for work.

12 hours later: THE RADICAL LEFT HAS SHUT DOWN THE GOVT

Trust is rooted in belief, but confidence is rooted in leverage.

Deception is rooted in intelligence, but betrayal is rooted in a breach of trust.

My jacket in my profile pic

No part of our civil society shall be unfreely kneeled, as it was once said: “With malice toward none; with charity for all.”

whoa whoa whoa, guys, the hostages are everything. Without the hostages, then these war crimes are war crimes, but because of the hostages, there's a justification for continued military operations, including a siege. Humanitarians don't have a leg to stand on as long as they're defending kidnappers

voting tachycardically

Lee Wengraf: slightly different take on Mamdani, believes excitement around Mamdani points to people's desire for change and potential to organize. Mamdani was elected because of the stakes we are facing right now. (e.g. I/P, ICE, authoritarianism)

Doesn't think "voting Dem is crossing picket line"

- We want that party to collectively determine a people's platform with bold and visionary demands.
- We want that party to select candidates who are pledged to uphold its platform and are accountable to party membership
- We want that party to be capable of winning governable majorities.

Bennett Carpenter: we can all agree on the following:

- We want a militant political party rooted in and led by the multiracial multigender working class.
- The decisions should be democratic and member-controlled.

Hawkins: strongly support proportional ranked-choice voting with a transferable vote

Problem with progressive Dems is that they make the non-progressive Dems look way better than they are.

Solution is to make new parties, experimenting with new parties, at local office level. We should be electing thousands locally, independently.

US House of Representatives is the strategic goal

Hawkins: There was a period before that realignment, where voting for the Democrat was like crossing the picket line.

Hawkins: Independent left tried realignment strategy, got lost in the Democratic Party (explains that communists joined Dems in 1936, socialists joined in 60s and 70s) and USA hasn't had an independent left since.

Hawkins: We underestimate third party candidates

Cites the Working Men's Party of 1828, which was a early progressive party, and parties that followed

Hawkins: If you get into office and don't have power, then you end up administering the system that you started out to change

lesson is to focus on legislative power first, before executive power