To defeat authoritarian regimes, opposition parties need to fight a two-level game for the outcome of elections AND the rules of the political system itself. Since the Democrats only care about the result of the midterms, they are doomed. There I said it ok. I will sit down now.

Greg Sargent@gregsargent.bsky.social · last wk.

"Texas is real." Top Dem pollster John Anzalone just did a striking survey with Trump's pollster that finds Talarico +4. On the pod, he explains why he thinks Texas really is gettable this time for Dems. He says the likely path to majority is TX AK ME NC. Listen: newrepublic.com/article/2156...

American's media was never ready to defend democracy - and still has not learned a thing. Yes, this story is stupid as shit, but the sheer amount of coverage is already disproportionate to its importance. Providing it with oxygen simply aids the Trump administration in its distraction. Focus FFS 😠

We can only imagine how the Whatsapp chat between the world's dictators is going...

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 2w ago

Trump threatens to cut off all trade with Europe if Canada associates closer with the EU

It’s the Manosphere in diplomatic form. Men so unsure of their own identity that they attach themselves to men promoting masculinity (and ultimately violence). It would be funny if it weren’t so catastrophic.

Dr. Michael MacKay@michaelmackay.bsky.social · 3w ago

Steve Witkoff addresses his true love, the war criminal Putin: "We were all talking about when we retire we'll have all these incredible stories and incredible memories and yours will be right at the top of it all."

The best way to understand America is to think of a late-stage dictator combined with an early-stage authoritarian regime. You get all the madness, corruption, and paranoia of an old man who has been in power 40 years, but combined with a seizure group trying to consolidate power in typical ways.

Unless mass protests now emerge in front of the Supreme Court, this is just another Monday in Trump’s America.

The Associated Press@apnews.com · last mo.

BREAKING: The Supreme Court has cleared the way for President Trump's executive order restricting mail-in voting ahead of midterms.

The importance of this story rests on the antiquated idea that security clearances still have value in Trumplandia. Instead, if we accept that the United States is an authoritarian black knight counteracting global democracy, then *not* getting clearance is actually a sign of in-group loyalty.

MS NOW@ms.now · last mo.

EXCLUSIVE: Trump’s closest aide, Natalie Harp, declined multiple times over more than a year to seek a routine security clearance normally obtained by West Wing staffers to work at the White House, sources tell MS NOW.

Despite celebrating itself as a beacon of democracy for more than two centuries, the simple fact is that America was not built to withstand democracy backsliding. I have never seen an aspiring autocrat do it so easy, anywhere.

Corrupt man scraps corrupt plans so that he can devise another way to be corrupt. www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08...

Breaking: FIFA scraps World Cup sell-off plans

FIFA has scrapped plans to sell a stake in the World Cup after the move caused a major backlash.

abc.net.au

I never understood why this guy had such a following. His understanding of authoritarian politics was almost always wrong. He was part of a cottage industry of scholars who made up concepts to advance their public profile, but those concepts had no grounding in academic scholarship.

Last year when I wrote about the passivity of the resistance movement to Trump's authoritarianism, I listed political consumerism as one of seven missing tactics. @juddlegum.bsky.social is correct. Hit their corporate earnings and political dominos will fall. theconversation.com/has-the-trum...

Judd Legum@juddlegum.bsky.social · 2mo ago

I took a hard look at the financial donors to ICE’s biggest supporters in Congress. These are people who want to significantly expand ICE’s power and have sponsored or co-sponsored legislation to do so. Here are the top 25 consumer brands bankrolling the biggest ICE supporters in Congress:

Only a handful of dictatorships don't hold national elections, and that is because they are monarchies, never institutionalised them, or are in a state of prolonged conflict. Disbanding elections outright means you are betting against the notion that international democratic norms will be enforced.

The Guardian@theguardian.com · 2mo ago

Nicaragua’s president says country will not hold any more elections

Is this normal for Bluesky? Perhaps I haven’t been paying attention…

Do you think there is a ”chance” card in here where the American president corruptly interferes on your behalf? But then that interference inadvertently backfires and you lose the game? It would be quite the flex from the developers!

Americans shrugged their shoulders about Trump so far looting two billion dollars in office, so they certainly won’t care about corruption of this kind. They really need to get passed the belief that written criticism is a sufficient response to democratic backsliding.

Ben Jacobs@jacobsben.bsky.social · 3mo ago

🚨 Exclusive: The White House made a direct call to FIFA to ask Gianni Infantino to review Folarin Balogun’s red card. FIFA approached for comment and referred to the findings of its independent committee.

PUBLISHED! My latest piece addresses the inactivity and passivity of the anti-Trump resistance. From my vantage point, it is not doing enough 🫣 I highlight seven lessons from those who have resisted authoritarian rule around the world. theconversation.com/has-the-trum...

Has the Trump resistance been too passive? Here are 7 ways to effectively protest authoritarian rule

The ‘No Kings’ protests have been important, but smaller, more sustained acts of resistance have proven successful in other countries around the world.

theconversation.com

How many Iranians support the Islamic Republic? In a new working paper, we answer this using a nationally representative survey of 2,000 adults in Iran—and the list experiment, a method for measuring sensitive attitudes.

Why do Americans gather in front of the Kennedy Center to watch the letters be pulled off the building, but not in front of Congress, Supreme Court, or Department of Justice when they destroy democracy a little bit more? www.youtube.com/live/aAhm880...

LIVE: See Donald Trump's name come off the Kennedy Center as it happens

YouTube video by MS NOW

youtube.com

Just an amazing piece of investigative journalism by @heidiblake.bsky.social. I lost count of how many people need to rot in jail for the rest of their lives. www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

Andrew Tate’s Empire of Abuse

How the defining figure of the manosphere built a fortune—and became a political force—by systematically exploiting women.

newyorker.com

Like I’ve said a dozen times now, America’s mainstream media was never ready for democratic backsliding. It has proven to be woefully inept for this moment. Led by the NYT, it has failed to act as a watchdog, educator, and scrutineer for Trump’s racism, corruption, and authoritarianism.

Greg Sargent@gregsargent.bsky.social · 4mo ago

ummmm...what?

Watching the Australian media gobble Trump’s social media propaganda up without any sense of hesitation or learning from past mistakes is fucking infuriating. If they simply reported nothing, they would be better off. So would we.

Andrew Lawrence@ndrew.bsky.social · 4mo ago

i dont understand why everyone is treating this “deal is close in iran” talk exactly as seriously as the last dozen “deal is close in iran” talk

Equally insane is the complete lack of both condemnation from political elites and spontaneous mass protests from citizens. Indeed, grand corruption is already a fully normalised feature of authoritarian rule in the United States.

Greg Sargent@gregsargent.bsky.social · 5mo ago

This is insanity: Trump's DOJ is about to "settle" his lawsuit against the IRS by creating a $1.7 billion slush fund to pay off victims of Biden "weaponization." I talked to Jamie Raskin about this. It's even more corrupt than it first appears. 1/ (new piece) newrepublic.com/article/2105...

Waiting to access Canvas to start marking assessment. Waiting to hear from the university's Cyber Security Officer. Waiting to see how my personal data will be sold again. Waiting to be freed from our corporate tech overlords. Waiting to hear how I have to bear the consequences. Waiting 😢

Waiting

ALT: Waiting

static.klipy.com

Do anthropologists have a formal set of criteria for a functioning society? Asking as a political scientist, with America in mind of course.

America’s mainstream media was never ready for democratic backsliding. It has proven itself to be woefully inept at this moment. Historians and political scientists will write - with ease - about the failure of the fourth estate to act as a watchdog, educator, and scrutineer for what has occurred.

Judd Legum@juddlegum.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Articles about Jared Kushner's diplomatic role with Iran that mention Kushner has received billions from the Saudi government (2/28-4/19): NYT: 5 of 58 WashPost: 1 of 43 WSJ: 0 of 40 AP: 0 of 26 CNN Wire: 0 of 18 NY Post: 0 of 17 Chicago Tribune: 0 of 4 LA Times: 0 of 4 Boston Globe: 0 of 2

I don’t get why people simply accept his professed Catholicism? Surely we can be more cynical in the age of Trump? Maybe, just maybe, his varying faith - look it up! - is a means to a political end… www.nbcnews.com/politics/tru...

Vance warns the pope should 'be careful' when talking about theology

Vance, who is Catholic, said the pope was wrong in saying Jesus wasn’t on the side of those who wield the sword, pointing to the U.S.’ helping defeat the Nazis during World War II.

nbcnews.com

Ruh fucking roh

Europe Elects@europeelects.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Hungary: National parliament election Turnout at 11:00 AM CEST 2010: 24.78% 2014: 23.23% 2018: 29.93% 2022: 25.77% 2026: 37.98% Source: Nemzeti Választási Iroda ➤ europeelects.eu/hungary #Hungary

Reposting my own thread in the hope it makes a difference to all those in Hungary who believe in democratic ideas, values, norms, and institutions. Best wishes to them.

Lee Morgenbesser@lmorgenbesser.bsky.social · 6mo ago

With Hungary’s crucial election a few days away, its National Election Office has published a list of accredited international observers (n. 859). Having spent nearly a decade researching the behavior of international observers, I decided to take a closer look 😊 www.valasztas.hu/en/internati...

With Hungary’s crucial election a few days away, its National Election Office has published a list of accredited international observers (n. 859). Having spent nearly a decade researching the behavior of international observers, I decided to take a closer look 😊 www.valasztas.hu/en/internati...

With Hungary’s crucial election a few days away, its National Election Office has published a list of accredited international observers (n. 859). Having spent nearly a decade researching the behavior of international observers, I decided to take a closer look 😊 www.valasztas.hu/en/internati...