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Report: Global Democracy Under Threat, US Democracy in “accelerating decline”
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[h1][b]Bolsonaro Breaks His Silence, Implies potential military intervention[/b][/h1]
[link=https://www.ft.com/content/3a7b8887-abd6-48ed-9e67-77c96a92cd17]Financial Times[/link]Outgoing Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro has broken an almost six-week silence after his election defeat in October, telling supporters they will decide his next steps.
Said Bolsonaro: Who decides where I go are you. Who decides which way the armed forces go are you.
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[link=https://politicalwire.com/2022/12/20/co-conspirators-in-the-insurrection/]Republican Co-Conspirators in the Insurrection
[/link]Teagan Goddard
The [link=https://politicalwire.com/2022/12/19/january-6-panel-refers-four-criminal-charges-against-trump/]referral of four criminal charges[/link] against Donald Trump by the January 6 Committee is a huge political story. But even though the focus of the committees work was on Trump, their final report is actually an indictment of the Republican party. Consider that the new House majority is led by people who voted to overturn the presidential election just hours after Trumps supporters violently stormed the Capitol. The bulk of them still refuse to admit that Trump lost the election. They refused to cooperate in the investigation.
They are co-conspirators in the insurrection.
Trump may be indicted. He may lose the 2024 Republican presidential primary. He may just fade away and spend the rest of his days coming up with new ways to fleece his supporters. But the Republican party made the insurrection possible. It would not have been possible without their complicity. And even when faced with overwhelming evidence, they refused to condemn Trump with the exception of Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger and a few others. Putting Trump in jail would be just. … But sadly its not enough to save our democracy.[/QUOTE]
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Indicting the fat guy is easy
Finding him guilty when he only needs one trumper in the jury is not real likely
Probably best to just continue shaming the traitors
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Quote from dergon
[h1][b]The Most Important Case on American Democracy[/b][/h1] [b]
[/b]
[b]Independent State Legislature theory goes to SCOTUS[/b][link=https://apnews.com/article/us-supreme-court-north-carolina-legislature-50f99679939b5d69d321858066a94639]Associated Press[/link]: The court is set to hear arguments Wednesday in a case from North Carolina, where Republican efforts to draw congressional districts heavily in their favor were blocked by a Democratic majority on the state Supreme Court because the GOP map violated the state constitution.
A court-drawn map produced seven seats for each party in last months midterm elections in highly competitive North Carolina.
The question for the justices is whether the U.S. Constitutions provision giving state legislatures the power to make the rules about the times, places and manner of congressional elections cuts state courts out of the process.
A good day for American democracy.
[link=https://www.politico.com/news/2023/06/27/supreme-court-rejects-independent-state-legislature-theory-00103793] [b]Supreme Court rejects ‘independent state legislature’ theory[/b][/link]6-3 vote. Alito, Gorsuch, and Thomas dissenting.
ACB, Justice keg stand, and Roberts all joining the liberals.
The Elections Clause does not insulate state legislatures from the ordinary exercise of state judicial review, Roberts wrote.
…
Despite that caveat, the opinion represents a major defeat for proponents of the independent state legislature theory in part, because Roberts won a six-justice majority for his opinion and effectively sidelined three of the courts most conservative justices on the issue.
The courts decision to issue a definitive opinion came as a surprise to some court watchers. The roots of the case were GOP legislators challenging a decision issued by the North Carolina state Supreme Court, which ruled that legislatively drawn lines amounted to an illegal partisan gerrymander. Ultimately, a court-drawn map was used for the 2020 elections.-
I have been and remain optimistic.
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anytime there’s a good outcome the odds are high you’ll see Thomas and Alito dissent.
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David Frum –
[link=https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/12/volodymyr-zelensky-us-congress-address-ukraine/672546/?utm_content=edit-promo&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=the-atlantic&utm_medium=social&utm_term=2022-12-22T02%3A41%3A56]https://www.theatlantic.c…022-12-22T02%3A41%3A56[/link]
[h1]Zelensky Recalled Us to Ourselves[/h1] He came to thank the U.S. for supporting Ukraine. It is Americans who should thank him.
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Political scientists have dubbed the past 20 years an age of democratic recession. There are fewer democracies on the planet. Antidemocratic predators have gained in wealth and strength. Even within the surviving democracies, extremist forces have undermined citizens confidence in their own system of government.
The ideal of partnership among democracies has declined, too, and perhaps even more than confidence within individual democracies. Narrow and selfish nationalism has displaced international cooperation and collective security. The slogan America Firstseemingly discredited forever along with its fascism-friendly promoters of the late 1930s and early 40swas revived. Unsurprisingly, America First summoned forth reciprocal chauvinism from countries on the receiving end of American tariffs and American disrespect.
…Zelensky spoke of bicameral and bipartisan support in Congress for his cause. That sounded a surprising note, because an important faction in Congress and in conservative media has aligned with Putin [i]against[/i] Ukraine. But Zelensky was using words not to describe reality; he was using words to [i]change[/i] reality. His praise strengthened Republican friends of Ukraine such as Senator Mitch McConnelland the reverberating applause for his praise left the friends of Putin in Congress and in conservative media more aware than ever of their ideological extremism and political isolation.
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The extremists and conspiracists and populists, the authoritarians and kleptocrats and theocrats who have all gained so much ascendancy in recent years, they do not speak for us. That small man in the olive-green jersey at the rostrum of the House of Representatives, [i]he[/i][i] [/i]spoke for us. And the reception given to him today by the president and by Congress told the world that his words had been heard and received and understood by the great democracy-minded majority of Americans.
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Zelensky reminded us. He came to say thank you. Its a little embarrassing to hear that thanks, because what Americans gave, fundamentally, was just money. Zelenskys people have given blood, home, comfort, and securityevery precious thing that human beings can sacrifice. The answer we owe Zelensky, the answer Zelensky should hear from this country, revived by his visit, his cause, and his countrys heroic fight, is: [i]No, no, nothank [/i]you[i].[/i]
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Right. Happy to give Z credit. U.S democracy was never in an accelerating decline. When there is something of critical importance we get a bipartisan response. Always will. There was a scare for sure but the system held up.
Glad we are getting an electoral fix that will make it easier.
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[h1]Bolsonaro to Skip Lula Inauguration, Spend New Years with Trump[/h1]
Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro wont attend Luiz Inácio Lula da Silvas inauguration as the countrys next president, [link=https://twitter.com/Rkrahenbuhl/status/1607357698198196224?s=20&t=0WcA5asTQQMQk_HhDQD1XQ]and will instead spend New Years at Mar-a-Lago[/link] with Donald Trump.
(not really a “democracy” issue…. this is just the only thread for Bolsonaro -related news)
Bolsonaro is not attending Lula’s inauguration January 1st and will instead spend NYE at Mar-a-Lago. https://t.co/jPdevNPjjv
— Raquel Krähenbühl (@Rkrahenbuhl) December 26, 2022
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Love it. Didn’t he ask the country to tell him what to do? I guess he got his answer. Go hang out with another failed leader.
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[b]Things Turned Around in 2022[/b][/h1]
[link=https://thetriad.thebulwark.com/p/a-surprisingly-happy-new-year?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=87274&post_id=93670872&isFreemail=false&utm_medium=email]William Kristol[/link]: At the end of 2022, Putin is still Putin. The mullahs are still the mullahs. Trump is still Trump. Those actors have not changed.
But the world around them changed because of the struggles and successes of those who fought for democracy and for freedom.
Volodomyr Zelensky and the people of Ukraine stood heroically firm. The Iranian people bravely rose up. At home, the American electorate rejected the worst of the election deniers and continued its rebuke of Trumpism for the third straight election. Congress passed a fair amount of reasonable legislation, including the Electoral Count Act. The January 6th Committee conducted itself seriously and honorably and in the course of its work documented a great deal of important evidence which was not previously known. Partly as a consequence of their laborswhich were dismissed both early and late as being obscure and inconsequentialthe Department of Justice now seems likely to try to enforce some accountability not just for the foot soldiers, but for the leaders of the insurrection. And for Donald Trump.
What happened in 2022 was as remarkable as it was unexpected. And as a result, we enter 2023 in better shape than we could have reasonably hoped a year ago.-
Quote from dergon
[b]Things Turned Around in 2022[/b]
It was never quite as bad as advertised but yes, yes they did.
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Good wa-po piece –
[link=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/05/us/politics/koch-donors-trump-campaign-finance.html]https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2023/01/31/michael-luttig-judge-jan-6-trump-pence/?utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter
[/link]
A conservative judge helped stop Trump on Jan. 6. He wants to finish the job.[/h1] [h2]Michael Luttig, one of the most celebrated legal minds of his generation, never ascended to the Supreme Court. But many think the retired jurist played a far more consequential role for the nation. Now he envisions the beginning of the end of Donald Trump.[/h2]Months removed from {that Jan 4 phone call from Mike Pence and} that star turn {as a witness for the Jan 6 Committee}, Luttigs worries have begun to ebb ever so slightly. He now envisions a nation one day disentangled from Trumps influence, even as the former president launches a new campaign. Its a future Luttig is trying to shape [link=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/06/30/supreme-court-federal-elections-state-legislatures/?itid=lk_inline_manual_27]in court cases[/link], in legislative chambers where hes helped craft [link=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/12/19/electoral-count-reform-omnibus/?itid=lk_inline_manual_27]election law changes[/link] and in professorial public appearances where he explains in painstaking detail how American democracy, though imperiled, can still be preserved.
…
Even if an indictment never materializes, Luttig now believes the nation is ready to relegate Trump and Trumpism to irrelevancy. The former presidents political future was dealt triple blows, Luttig says, by his recent assertion that parts of the [link=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/12/03/trump-constitution-truth-social/?itid=lk_inline_manual_86]Constitution should be terminated[/link] to return him to office, the [link=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/12/19/trump-referrals-jan-6-committee/?itid=lk_inline_manual_86]criminal referrals by the Jan. 6 committee[/link] and [link=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/11/10/republicans-midterm-elections-trump/?itid=lk_inline_manual_86]the failure of his favored candidates in the 2022 midterm elections[/link]. He calls it the beginning of the end of Donald Trump.
When he posts them on social media, hes come to expect that his friend, renowned liberal legal scholar Laurence Tribe, will retweet or reply with exactly what Luttig has been careful not to say that Trump should be indicted. The ideological opposites struck up a correspondence, bonded by their mutual resolve that Trump is a threat to democracy, Tribe says. (Theyre also working together on a multibillion-dollar tax case for Coca-Cola, where Luttig is a special adviser to the board.)
Still, he says, the mission of vanquishing Trump and thus, in Luttigs mind, saving American democracy is not entirely complete. Donald Trump has proven that the only thing that can stop him is the law, he says.
As Luttig sees it, the decision about indicting Trump should also take into account whether it would split the nation, given the certainty that Trump would put up a years-long fight against any charges and the worldwide spectacle that would ensue.
But if theres anything J. Michael Luttig places faith in, its the law.[/QUOTE]
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Ive had faith in people doing the right thing all along.
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Cool. He got them to quit him. I tried that but it didn’t work.
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Erdogan dead or dying from an MI? Took a twitter scroll and there seems to be some grumblings.
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Cancelled election rallies due to health concerns.
Nothing more yet that I see.-
[link=https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/redirect-to/?redirect=https%3A%2F%2Fbalkaninsight.com%2F2023%2F04%2F27%2Fturkish-presidency-dismisses-reports-of-erdogans-heart-attack%2F]Turkish Presidency Dismisses Reports of Erdogan’s Heart Attack[/link]
Following a health scare in a live TV interview, the Turkish Presidential Office has denied claims that the country’s strongman suffered a heart attack and was hospitalised.
The Centre for Countering Disinformation under the Presidency also wrote on Wednesday night: Claims stating that President Erdogan suffered a heart attack, and he was hospitalised, are untrue.
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Quote from dergon
The Centre for Countering Disinformation under the Presidency also wrote on Wednesday night: Claims stating that President Erdogan suffered a heart attack, and he was hospitalised, are untrue.
The ‘Centre for Countering Disinformation’, is that like having a ‘Disinformation governance board’ ?-
Haha, normal people like fw still bother coming over here?
Another example of the left ruining everything.-
Was this place ruined at some point DR? That would suggest it was something decent at some point. Youve probably been around a lot longer than I have. Ive only seen a bunch of wimps whining about reality and afraid there is nothing they can do about it.
Suffering, powerless and complaining about being taken advantage of in this unjust world. They come from both sides.
Democracy in the US is not in an accelerating decline. Never was.
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Gorsuch, like his mother is another right-wing tool.
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Ah yes. But as usual there are enough.
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Clarence Thomas isn’t happy the Supreme Court went out of its way to shoot down the Independent State Legislature theory.
[i]He wrote in his dissent that the court shouldn’t have taken up the case to begin with and that the majority opinion is “plainly advisory.”[/i]
[i] [/i][link=https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/redirect-to/?redirect=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.businessinsider.com%2Fclarence-thomas-dissent-supreme-court-independent-state-legislature-theory-2023-6]https://www.businessinsider.com/clar…-theory-2023-6[/link]
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Why is it always conservatives who support anti-democratic actions & proposals? You never hear any similar legal arguments about how to destroy American democracy from the so-called “radical Left.”
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in OH we will have to vote in August for some GOP scheme to make it harder to amend the state constitution. BTW the GOP who runs the legislature is skimping on funding the election, and trimming down polling places. All for something that no one wants except for the crooked arse GOP who want to have absolute control.
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Speaking of democracy being under threat, Zelenskyy announces there will be no elections in Ukraine until the war is over.
Sounds pretty authoritarian to me.
[link=https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/zelensky-says-no-elections-ukraine-until-war-over]https://www.zerohedge.com…ukraine-until-war-over[/link]
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Quote from acpce1
Speaking of democracy being under threat, Zelenskyy announces there will be no elections in Ukraine until the war is over.
Sounds pretty authoritarian to me.
[link=https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/zelensky-says-no-elections-ukraine-until-war-over]https://www.zerohedge.com…ukraine-until-war-over[/link]
You are right, it is absolutely the worst thing going on in Ukraine, bar none.
/S <facepalm>-
Wait. I must have missed the reporting about Zelenskyy cancelling elections …. doesn’t come up in a search.
edit: Ah … Zerohedge. With a link the WaPo that doesn’t actually link to Wapo. **eyeroll**-
[link=https://twitter.com/dc_draino/status/1673083059787255808?s=46&t=Rf5Slh6vTdZ1HlG6L2Fkcw]https://twitter.com/dc_dr…Rf5Slh6vTdZ1HlG6L2Fkcw[/link]
I dont speak Ukrainian, so I guess the subtitles could be a lie. Or it could be a deep fake.
Zelensky has banned opposition political parties
He arrested political opponents
He banned all unfriendly media
He shut down Orthodox churches
And now there will be no Presidential election next year
At what point we call him what he is?
A dictator
pic.twitter.com/jFSathORbT— DC_Draino (@DC_Draino) June 25, 2023
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Thanks dergon. I was going to respond to apes absurd post but yours is even better discovering that it is fake story.
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Is a video clip from the BBC acceptable?
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The topic of holding elections in wartime is debatable in a chiro both sides sort of way. Using that clip to show your support for Putin because Zelenskyy is a dictator is tipping your hand. In a bad way.
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Crickets.
The WaPo scrubbed it from their website. Here is the archive
[link=https://archive.fo/2023.05.15-200650/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/05/13/zelensky-washington-post-interview-transcript/]https://archive.fo/2023.0…-interview-transcript/[/link]
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I have zero support for Putin.
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You go quickly from ha ha fake news! to explaining why suspending elections is OK
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Maybe WaPo because the purported BBC link is falsely translated ?
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or maybe they were told to take it down
Wouldnt they put in a redaction note saying that it was transcribed in error?
smh.
You people
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A now Ive got it.
Its Tucker
[link=https://www.newsweek.com/tucker-carlson-volodymyr-zelensky-ukraine-democracy-1809590?amp=1]https://www.newsweek.com/…emocracy-1809590?amp=1[/link]
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Tucker and everyone else got it from WaPo and that video clip
So are you saying that that video clip I posted above has incorrect translation of his statement?
the onus is on you to prove that that is an incorrect translation rather than for me to prove that it is the correct translation.
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If Tucker says it – it must be true, and given the Putin thumbs up
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Quote from Thread Enhancer
The topic of holding elections in wartime is debatable…
Yep.
I get why it’s an issue. But lots of anti-democratic stuff gets done … by necessity … during war time. Even by the good guys. That doesn’t make the autocrats or dictators.
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chiro, do you even read or think before you start spewing BS?
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Quote from dergon
Quote from Thread Enhancer
The topic of holding elections in wartime is debatable…
Yep.
I get why it’s an issue. But lots of anti-democratic stuff gets done … by necessity … during war time. Even by the good guys. That doesn’t make the autocrats or dictators.But wait, didn’t you know Lincoln actually started the Civil War deliberately so as to concentrate Federal power over freedom loving states in the South?
But he did hold the election of 1864, and won.-
Quote from Frumious
Quote from dergon
Quote from Thread Enhancer
The topic of holding elections in wartime is debatable…
Yep.
I get why it’s an issue. But lots of anti-democratic stuff gets done … by necessity … during war time. Even by the good guys. That doesn’t make the autocrats or dictators.But wait, didn’t you know Lincoln actually started the Civil War deliberately so as to concentrate Federal power over freedom loving states in the South?
But he did hold the election of 1864, and won.
I really dont understand your approach Frumi. Are you also suggesting Zelenskyy is a dictator because he maybe did or maybe didnt suggest not holding an election during war time? Because Lincoln did and he won?
Apes post did nothing but highlight MAGA talking points trying to discredit Zelenskyy who is to use dergons term, one of the good guys.
It showed us who they are. Plenty to learn from that.-
Lincoln also suspended habeas corpus and declared martial law in Kentucky.
____________
Zelenskyy is as much a “dictator” as mask mandates are “tyranny” -
Lincoln also suspended habeas corpus and declared martial law in Kentucky.
____________
Zelenskyy is as much a “dictator” as mask mandates are “tyranny”-
Precisely dergon.
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I love it. Some how its great when dergon says it.
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It would be impossible to overstate the enormousness of yesterday’s seminal decision in Moore v. Harper. Not only is it now the single most important constitutional case for American Democracy since the Nation’s Founding almost 250 years ago
It is also now one of the most important constitutional cases for representative government in America.
Today, it takes its deserved place in the pantheon of great Supreme Court cases that give meaning to the Constitution’s genius of a separation of powers — among the national Legislature, Executive, and Judiciary, and also between the national government and the governments of the respective 50 states of the United States.
~ Judge J Michael Luttig
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To think all of those conservative justices got it right.
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*half* of those conservative justices got it right
Way too low a percentage
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Enough. But yes. Too low.
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It happens in a democracy that a smaller group votes the wrong way and loses.
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“The fact is, were mid-coup, not post-coup.”
~ Maureen Dowd, writing in the [link=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/05/opinion/trump-coup-indict-trial.html]New York Times[/link]
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If so, one must call this coup light.
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[link=https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/commentary/us-conservatives-embrace-authoritarianism-anti-democracy-20230813.html]https://www.inquirer.com/…emocracy-20230813.html[/link]
[h1][b]From a Kansas newsroom to a soccer pitch, why the right hates America and democracy[/b][/h1]
[b]The right’s hatred of young, multicultural America epitomized by U.S. soccer women is driving its push to end democracy.[/b]Deep into the 21st century, America is more racially, ethnically and religiously [link=https://www.forbes.com/sites/carlieporterfield/2021/08/12/the-us-is-more-diverse-and-multiracial-than-ever-before-census-shows/?sh=60d8835a9486]diverse [/link]than any moment in its 247-year history. The rising cohort of younger millennials and Gen Z the nations [link=https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2017/05/16/todays-young-workers-are-more-likely-than-ever-to-have-a-bachelors-degree/]best-educated [/link]generations ever, which seems to coincide with their embrace of diversity, tolerance and progressive ideas is showing up [link=https://www.politico.com/news/2023/05/18/gen-z-democrat-midterm-voters-00097576]at the voting booth[/link]. Sorry [link=https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/real-america-looks-different-to-palin/]Sarah Palin[/link], but this is the real America now, and the millions clinging to the older hierarchies around race, gender and Christian hegemony are not handling it well. If democracy means this true majority winning elections, then they hate democracy. If the real America is this young and diverse, then they hate America.
…Its all out in the open now, isnt it? The U.S. womens soccer team young, diverse, not afraid to speak up for equality are the new, albeit fragile, majority. They are America right now, and the right hates them because they hate America. And this hatred makes it easier to destroy what America stands for. Even if that requires violence.
…
Once upon a time, [link=https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/bleeding-kansas#:~:text=Between%20roughly%201855%20and%201859,coming%20of%20the%20Civil%20War.]Bleeding Kansas[/link] was a warning to America harbinger of a civil war to come. It doesnt have to be that way this time around. But we wont succeed until were clear-eyed that nearly half of Americans hate who weve become, hate democracy when they no longer can win, and will embrace violence to get the results they cant get at the ballot box.
[/QUOTE]
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As Conservatives and Republicans try to bring Fascism to America what we hear from the rural areas is not concern about Fascism but about if only Biden wasn’t so Lefty radical.
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Shut down the newspapers & round up the journalists.
[link=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/13/business/media/kansas-marion-newspaper-police-raid.html]https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/13/business/media/kansas-marion-newspaper-police-raid.html[/link]A small town in Kansas has become a battleground over the First Amendment, after the local police force and county sheriffs deputies raided the office of The Marion County Record.
The raid is one of several recent cases of local authorities taking [link=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/18/business/newspapers-public-notices.html]aggressive actions against news organizations[/link] some of which are part of a dwindling cohort left in their area to hold governments to account. And it [link=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/18/business/newspapers-public-notices.html]fits a pattern[/link] of pressure being applied to local newsrooms. One recent example is the [link=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/13/us/bryan-carmody-journalist-raid-source.html]2019 police raid of[/link] the home of Bryan Carmody, a freelance journalist in San Francisco, who was reporting on the death of Jeff Adachi, a longtime public defender.
Theres a lot of healthy tension between the government and newspapers, but this? Emily Bradbury, the executive director of the Kansas Press Association, said in an interview about the raid in Marion. She warned that the raid was a dangerous attack on press freedom in the country.
This is not right, this is wrong, this cannot be allowed to stand, she said.-
Questioning the integrity of our elections is a threat to democracy.
Just ask these people:
[link=https://twitter.com/z3musicofficial/status/1692668511338877024?s=46&t=Rf5Slh6vTdZ1HlG6L2Fkcw]https://twitter.com/z3mus…Rf5Slh6vTdZ1HlG6L2Fkcw[/link]
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