Sam Eyler-Driscoll 🍉🌻🍁

With Trump once again blaming Black cities for "voter fraud," it's worth revisiting our piece about why this is a playbook as old as the nation --- and how it makes these accusations more believable to Whites:
link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Essential reading.
More or less vindicates the theory of Janine Wiedel's Shadow Elite that neoliberalism was post soviet corruption (that we built!) returning to the Metropole.

Also vindicates my theory that we have been dealing with a bipartisan, radicalised Anglo elite for at least a decade.

You and me both Mike!

Posts like this play to Americans' normative biases to neutralize progressives' tendency toward myopic analysis when they smell a big win coming. We don't point to authoritarian machinations out of despair. We want the fascists beat, a lot of them in jail, and their power pulled out at the roots.

The main divergence on Bluesky today is cognitive (about the degree of political risk), not affective.

As long as the law fails to prevent people from coordinating on "plan national Jim Crow," these guys will keep trying.

bsky.app/profile/vict...

Bannon did jail time for contempt of Congress in an investigation about his role in an armed insurrection. Breeziness about these people got us where we are

Yep. And democracies don't let fascist parties contest elections. The first-best time to proscribe this party was after Jan 6 but the second-best time is now

bsky.app/profile/same...

There are a lot of people commenting on the practicalities of this. But the floating of the intention is enough to indicate they don’t consent to the rules of the game. The Republican Party is no longer democratic

I do try but it is very hard to be confident that our current political economy can support the material conditions for democracy anymore without a catastrophic shock to wealth stocks

Indiana judge bars feds from deporting Chicago man acquitted of Gregory Bovino murder-for-hire A federal judge in Indiana has temporarily barred federal officials from deporting a Chicago man acquitted last month of charges he offered money for the killing of Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovi…

Indiana judge bars feds from deporting Chicago man acquitted of Gregory Bovino murder-for-hire www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/04/c...

even more relevant today!

Washington Post undergoing significant layoffs as part of ‘strategic reset’ Employees were told Wednesday that the paper’s sports desk would close among other cuts and restructurings

The biggest threats to journalism in this country, and to the possibility of an informed and empowered electorate, stem from the political economy of the media. www.theguardian.com/media/2026/f...

Women internalize misogyny, learn that everything masculine-coded is deemed more valuable, and do ourselves and other women violence constantly to conform (it’s very hard to learn to stop). So this makes some sense to me

Extremely embarrassed today by Gustavo Petro, what a weasel

Gustavo Petro on Instagram: "Le propuse a Donald Trump un cambio en la moda: ponerle una “S” a América. Parece que le gustó. Américas." 48K likes, 2,116 comments - gustavopetrourrego on February 3, 2026: "Le propuse a Donald Trump un cambio en la moda: ponerle una “S” a América. Parece que le gustó. Américas.".

I hate this!!! www.instagram.com/p/DUUHnxAERk...

“In my profession, I have seen many people break down in grief, but that image of Elizabeth’s father will stay with me forever,” she said. “I watched him sit in his car, bury his head in his hands, and cry uncontrollably. Those are images you do not forget.”

The people crave hardball obstructionism, please give the people hardball obstructionism

This is praxis

I don't know if non-lawyers understand how insane this statement is. I honestly can't think of anything remotely comparable in non-lawyer speak. I guess the closest would be a surgeon saying "Imagine if I had to wash my HANDS before doing surgery!"

Many said we were exaggerating a year ago when we argued that Trump is a clear and present danger to our democracy. A year later they are eating their words.

It’s up to every single one of us to save our democracy.

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/02/u...

Kissing the ring is I believe how our Dear Leader is interpreting it www.skynews.com.au/world-news/u...

Extremely embarrassed today by Gustavo Petro, what a weasel

The basic lesson of the Second World War was that democracy requires a cordon sanitaire and US institutions could not enforce ours and now we are on a step function toward authoritarian hell until that barrier is restored

The basic lesson of the Second World War was that democracy requires a cordon sanitaire and US institutions could not enforce ours and now we are on a step function toward authoritarian hell until that barrier is restored

Yep. I agree

Supermajoritarian electoral institutions are another serious problem for sure but even with them you cannot let fascist parties contest elections to then unmake democracy.

A thermostatic reaction at the midterms is likely to worsen this problem, not solve it