"As we prepare to begin this fight with the incredible gift of a bit of time to prepare for what we know is coming, we must not be naive or compromised.

[wdlindsy@toad.social]

"Self-professed conservatives have embraced dictatorship over pretensions of governmental restraint. And America, in general, has rejected our responsibility to advance—or at least not reverse—the cause of human rights."

#Trump #fascism #cruelty #ChristianNationalism #HumanRights
/2

[wdlindsy@toad.social]

"It is frustrating and, frankly, frightening that the defense of basic rights and democratic self-government against the authoritarian onslaught depends so much on powerful individuals and institutions that have so far proved largely unable and/or unwilling to model anything but normalcy, compliance, and acquiescence. We need and deserve better."

~ Thomas Zimmer

#Trump #fascism #cruelty #normalization #HumanRights
/3

Elite Acquiescence and Treacherous “Normalcy” All Around Us

What are the reasons behind the pervasive tendency among ostensibly anti-MAGA elites to accommodate authoritarian power and preemptively signal compliance with Trumpism?

(thomaszimmer.substack.com)

[wdlindsy@toad.social]

"Former German chancellor Angela Merkel’s first mistake with Donald Trump, she writes in her memoir, was treating him as if he were 'completely normal', but she quickly learned of his 'emotional' nature and soft spot for authoritarians."

~ Jem Bartholomew

#Trump #fascism #cruelty #normalization #HumanRights
/4

First Thing: ICC seeks Netanyahu’s arrest over allegations of ‘war crimes and crimes against humanity’

The international criminal court also issued warrants for Israel’s Yoav Gallant and Hamas’s Mohammed Deif. Plus, Matt Gaetz withdraws from attorney general nomination

the Guardian (www.theguardian.com)

[wdlindsy@toad.social]

Timothy Snyder has continued a series about Margaret Atwood's Handmaid's Tale and it's application to the US right now. I posted an excerpt from part 1 recently. In part two, he notes that some commentators want to read the book, which is explicitly about a Christian reconstructionist takeover of the US, as a parable about Islam! He says,

"We are a few cast stones away from Gilead, a repressive and failing regime."

#Trump #fascism #cruelty #ChristianNationalism
/5

Casting the First Stone

Handmaid Fails, 2/3

(snyder.substack.com)

[wdlindsy@toad.social]

"In the novel The Handmaid's Tale, people very much like Hegseth come to power, oppress women, and turn the armed forces into domestic shock troops who fight a civil war. It is important to see accusations of sexual assault and Hegseth's persistent polygamy in this light: the notion that women are just objects goes hand in hand with the idea that the real fight for American soldiers is against other Americans."

#Trump #fascism #cruelty #ChristianNationalism
/6

The Crusade against America

Handmaid Fails 3/3

(snyder.substack.com)

[pattyhanson@mastodon.social]

@wdlindsy I make plenty of people angry when I criticize Biden, but I don't care. I voted for him. Twice. He was never my 1st choice, but I supported him anyway. No more. As far as I'm concerned, he has betrayed the trust of all us, and the recent photos of him standing alongside the soon to be dictator, makes me want to vomit.

The mechanisms available to him are broad & numerous, especially considering SCOTUS granted immunity. Be sure, he could do ANYTHING to protect government integrity.

[the_caretaker@cr8r.gg]

@wdlindsy Genocide Joe doesn't give a shit. He isn't a woman or a person of color. He isn't losing HIS rights. He is wealthy too. Trump tanking the economy isn't going to make Joe go hungry. His family members can leave the country for reproductive health care if they need to.

[wdlindsy@toad.social]

@The_Caretaker And he's now been rendered powerless, and the real threat facing all of us Trump and Republican control of the federal government. So I'm not wasting time lambasting Biden, and am keeping my eyes on what Trump's going to do with Netanyahu. Wonder if the same folks throwing that genocide epithet around about Biden are preparing to use it for Trump? Something tells me not so.

[wdlindsy@toad.social]

@PattyHanson I've never been one to adulate any political figure. I admire very few of them in strong terms, or as moral exemplars. I think that in political life, we're commonly offered better-worse choices, and hardly ever ideal ones. I think Biden has not received credit for the good things he's done. I also think his position on bipartisanship and, perhaps above all, Israel and the Palestinians, is deeply disappointing.

[the_caretaker@cr8r.gg]

@wdlindsy I don't expect Trump to do anything different in regards to Palestine. He is a racist and a fascist, a fact that's plain for all to see. If anything Trump will be worse. The problem is, his supporters are also racists and fascists and they will expect and applaud it. The Democrats pretend to be in favor of human rights and equality but they are closeted racists and fascists, so their supporters are disgusted by support for genocide and apartheid.

[wdlindsy@toad.social]

@The_Caretaker Thanks for explaining your position. I myself don't buy false equivalency memes about American political life. They clearly ignore massive amounts of evidence that the two parties have different agendas and different understandings of what American democracy is about and should be about.