Progress In Politics

If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.
― Thomas Jefferson

[Progress In Politics @ProgressInPol]

Most say democracy is important for the U.S. identity, but few think it is functioning well
April 3, 2024
https://t.co/6FLzR8Sz6M

Yet across the board agreement on the importance of rights and freedoms...

[Progress In Politics @ProgressInPol]

We in America do not have government by the majority. We have government by the majority who participate.
― Thomas Jefferson

@KamalaHarris @Tim_Walz @RepJeffries @linakhanFTC @taylorswift13 @DaveBautista @Beyonce @jes_chastain @Cher @billieeilish @CohlFurey @reedhastings @MichaelKeaton @DUALIPA @MarkRuffalo @Schwarzenegger @BarbraStreisand @CharlizeAfrica @kerrywashington @FrankWilczek @Zendaya
@MikeBloomberg @SenBlumenthal @Liz_Cheney @kkdumez @NormEisen @brianefallon @maggieNYT @MichelleObama @BarackObama @robertpjones @TheJusticeDept @SenAmyKlobuchar @DavidMuir @matthewstoller @SenWhitehouse

Get out the vote:

Encourage citizens to vote: November 5, 2024 is voting day if you haven't already voted.
Leave it all on the field of battle. Not hyperbole this time: America's future as a Democracy is literally on the line.
Hundreds of millions of people of good-heart and goodwill across the planet are rooting for us!
Vote Harris-Walz so Democracy can live on in America: The one Indispensable Nation for Democracy on Earth.
Because you can't fix a flawed Democracy and make government better For The People if you no longer have a Democracy.
Vote for America and all Americans in wondrous diversity.
Vote for the better angels of Human Nature
Vote for all that is and all that can be good.
Vote America!

Get the word out!

[Progress In Politics @ProgressInPol]

@KamalaHarris @Tim_Walz @RepJeffries @linakhanFTC @taylorswift13 @DaveBautista @Beyonce @jes_chastain @Cher @billieeilish @CohlFurey @reedhastings @MichaelKeaton @DUALIPA @MarkRuffalo @Schwarzenegger @BarbraStreisand @CharlizeAfrica @kerrywashington @FrankWilczek
@MikeBloomberg @SenBlumenthal @Liz_Cheney @kkdumez @NormEisen @brianefallon @maggieNYT @MichelleObama @BarackObama @robertpjones @TheJusticeDept @SenAmyKlobuchar @DavidMuir @matthewstoller @SenWhitehouse

The Mind of a Democidal Malignant Narcissist: A Thought Experiment
Truth is what I say it is.

Along with so much else of earth-shattering import, I invented both truth and facts. There is no other reality besides the one I invent.

The blue sky is purple. of course it is.

Only believe what I say. All who oppose me are “enemies of The People”. “The People” are all who give me no-limit support, adulation, and sycophancy. “I am the chosen one”.

A malleable, bendable construct, truth may only serve my supremacy and my purpose, or it is not truth.

There is no such thing as objective fact. Facts are what I say they are, only serving to confirm my greatness. All that matters is me and my greatest-of-all-time eloquence.

“Fake news” is any information regardless of factual accuracy that does not confirm my greatness,.

Every news item, any narrative, any lawful investigation of me that does not serve to adulate me is a Hoax. All people that disagree or oppose me are bad, nasty people; they are my enemies. Therefore, they are your enemies.

There is no democracy, there is only Me. I am the State, beholden to no one but myself. The deep state is whatever, whomever, and whenever I say it is. “They” will be purged.

Focused only on my supremacy and my grievance, executive privilege I bequeath upon myself is absolute, as is my power. You are either with me — vociferously, obsequiously, slavishly — or you are against me.

It does not matter that the majority of Americans do not agree with me, having watched with dismay unto horror my daily assault upon truth; upon the Office of the Presidency; upon the foundations of the Constitutional Republic of the United States. My only purpose is basking and barraging all in my world-bending greatness through stupid, so easy to manipulate mass media.

As the severity of my Disorder worsens, it is not a severe psychological disorder at all, but a great blessing and gift that only I deserve. I am the greatest living person of history, which is My Story.

All who oppose me, disagree with me., or say something “nasty” about me — which is anything that is not sycophancy — they are the “other”, and my enemy. Thus, they are your enemy. They are sub-human, everybody knows that. If you engage in violence to harm or kill them, you have my unspoken consent if not outright blessing.

There is no country, there is only Me. There is no national interest, there is only My Interest.

The constitution exists to be manipulated, twisted, and shredded to my benefit. “…a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity,: Words for suckers.

There is no other purpose but to worship at my altar. If the Borg exist, and many people say they do, I would be their leader, their reality, their supreme being. The Collective exists to serve and to please me. Free Will is My Will. Assimilate or die.

From:
In Harm’s Way
It was never America First: Trump First, now and always — even if it means taking down our Constitutional Democracy
R. D. Townsend
Sep 30, 2020, Updated Oct. 1, 2024
https://t.co/9GbIiWXFHf

[Progress In Politics @ProgressInPol]

@KamalaHarris @Tim_Walz @RepJeffries @linakhanFTC @taylorswift13 @DaveBautista @Beyonce @jes_chastain @Cher @billieeilish @CohlFurey @reedhastings @MichaelKeaton @DUALIPA @MarkRuffalo @Schwarzenegger @BarbraStreisand @CharlizeAfrica @kerrywashington @FrankWilczek
@MikeBloomberg @SenBlumenthal @Liz_Cheney @kkdumez @NormEisen @brianefallon @maggieNYT @MichelleObama @BarackObama @robertpjones @TheJusticeDept @SenAmyKlobuchar @DavidMuir @matthewstoller @SenWhitehouse

I. Day 1 Dictatorship Promise: Immigration

II. Day 1 Dictatorship Promise: Energy and the Environment

III. Day 1 Dictatorship Promise: Release January 6th rioters from prison

IV. Subverting the Rule of Law to Protect Himself from Prosecution

V. Persecuting his Perceived Political Enemies

VI. Draconian Abortion Access Crackdown

VII. Purging Federal Employees and Attacking Federal Agencies

VIII. Rigging Elections and Promoting Harmful Election Conspiracy Theories

IX. Rejecting the Constitution

X. Demonizing Americans with Whom He Disagrees

XI. Trump’s Effusive Praise of Autocrats

XII. Enriching Himself and His Family

XIII. Creating an Unconstitutional Criminal Justice System

XIV. Wielding the Military to Suppress Civil Dissent

XV. Undermining America’s Stature Abroad and Eroding International Alliances

XVI. Discriminating Against LGBTQ+ Americans

XVII. Attacking the Free Press

XVIII. Spreading Disinformation and Conspiracy Theories on Public Health

XIX. Embracing Christian Nationalism

XX. Politicizing Education & Censoring Disfavored Ideas

XXI. Condoning Anti-Semitism

XXII. The Economic Impacts of Trump’s Autocratic Moves

XXIII. Bipartisan Actions to Counter Autocratic Threats

American Autocracy Threat Tracker https://t.co/SQ3c6W1fvY

[Progress In Politics @ProgressInPol]

From:
Thought experiment: The Mind of a Democidal Malignant Narcissist
There is no democracy, there is only Me. I am the State, beholden to no one but myself. The deep state is whatever, whomever, and whenever I say it is. “They” will be purged.

Focused only on my supremacy and my grievance, executive privilege I bequeath upon myself is absolute, as is my power. You are either with me — vociferously, obsequiously, slavishly — or you are against me.

It does not matter that the majority of Americans do not agree with me, having watched with dismay unto horror my daily assault upon truth; upon the Office of the Presidency; upon the foundations of the Constitutional Republic of the United States. My only purpose is basking and barraging all in my world-bending greatness through stupid, so easy to manipulate mass media.

As the severity of my Disorder worsens, it is not a severe psychological disorder at all, but a great blessing and gift that only I deserve. I am the greatest living person of history, which is My Story.

All who oppose me, disagree with me., or say something “nasty” about me — which is anything that is not sycophancy — they are the “other”, and my enemy. Thus, they are your enemy. They are sub-human, everybody knows that. If you engage in violence to harm or kill them, you have my unspoken consent if not outright blessing.

There is no country, there is only Me. There is no national interest, there is only My Interest.

The constitution exists to be manipulated, twisted, and shredded to my benefit. “…a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity,: Words for suckers.

There is no other purpose but to worship at my altar. If the Borg exist, and many people say they do, I would be their leader, their reality, their supreme being. The Collective exists to serve and to please me. Free Will is My Will. Assimilate or die.

In Harm’s Way
Sep 30, 2020, updated Oct. 1, 2024
https://t.co/9GbIiWX7RH

[Progress In Politics @ProgressInPol]

@KamalaHarris @Tim_Walz @RepJeffries @linakhanFTC @taylorswift13 @DaveBautista @Beyonce @jes_chastain @Cher @billieeilish @CohlFurey @reedhastings @MichaelKeaton @DUALIPA @MarkRuffalo @Schwarzenegger @BarbraStreisand @CharlizeAfrica @kerrywashington @FrankWilczek
"The supreme court’s immunity decision justifying Trump despotism, presented by Chief Justice John Roberts, was better explained in the twisted language of an apparatchik from the Ministry of Truth in Orwell’s 1984:
“We know that no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it. Power is not a means, it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship. The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?” [Emphasis mine]
On 24 October of this month, Trump boasted about the unlimited power that he would possess once he is back in the White House. Speaking to the rightwing radio talk show host Hugh Hewitt, he declared that he would at the start fire the special prosecutor Jack Smith, who has indicted him for his crimes of January 6 and stealing national security secrets. “We got immunity at the supreme court,” Trump said. “It’s so easy. I would fire him within two seconds.” Trump would then have 86,398 seconds left to be a dictator on “day one”."
@MikeBloomberg @SenBlumenthal @Liz_Cheney @kkdumez @NormEisen @brianefallon @maggieNYT @MichelleObama @BarackObama @robertpjones @TheJusticeDept @SenAmyKlobuchar @DavidMuir @matthewstoller @SenWhitehouse

From:
We are witnessing the making of a fascist president in real time
Trump used his presidency to harass and prosecute ‘enemies within’. If re-elected, he will act with even less restraint
Sidney Blumenthal
Mon 28 Oct 2024
https://t.co/I9tIo8tlAU

[Progress In Politics @ProgressInPol]

The Mind of a Democidal Malignant Narcissist: A Thought Experiment

Truth is what I say it is.

Along with so much else of earth-shattering import, I invented both truth and facts. There is no other reality besides the one I invent.

The blue sky is purple. of course it is.

Only believe what I say. All who oppose me are “enemies of The People”. “The People” are all who give me no-limit support, adulation, and sycophancy. “I am the chosen one”.

A malleable, bendable construct, truth may only serve my supremacy and my purpose, or it is not truth.

There is no such thing as objective fact. Facts are what I say they are, only serving to confirm my greatness. All that matters is me and my greatest-of-all-time eloquence.

“Fake news” is any information regardless of factual accuracy that does not confirm my greatness,.

Every news item, any narrative, any lawful investigation of me that does not serve to adulate me is a Hoax. All people that disagree or oppose me are bad, nasty people; they are my enemies. Therefore, they are your enemies.

There is no democracy, there is only Me. I am the State, beholden to no one but myself. The deep state is whatever, whomever, and whenever I say it is. “They” will be purged.

Focused only on my supremacy and my grievance, executive privilege I bequeath upon myself is absolute, as is my power. You are either with me — vociferously, obsequiously, slavishly — or you are against me.

It does not matter that the majority of Americans do not agree with me, having watched with dismay unto horror my daily assault upon truth; upon the Office of the Presidency; upon the foundations of the Constitutional Republic of the United States. My only purpose is basking and barraging all in my world-bending greatness through stupid, so easy to manipulate mass media.

As the severity of my Disorder worsens, it is not a severe psychological disorder at all, but a great blessing and gift that only I deserve. I am the greatest living person of history, which is My Story.

All who oppose me, disagree with me., or say something “nasty” about me — which is anything that is not sycophancy — they are the “other”, and my enemy. Thus, they are your enemy. They are sub-human, everybody knows that. If you engage in violence to harm or kill them, you have my unspoken consent if not outright blessing.

There is no country, there is only Me. There is no national interest, there is only My Interest.

The constitution exists to be manipulated, twisted, and shredded to my benefit. “…a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity,: Words for suckers.

There is no other purpose but to worship at my altar. If the Borg exist, and many people say they do, I would be their leader, their reality, their supreme being. The Collective exists to serve and to please me. Free Will is My Will. Assimilate or die.

From:
In Harm’s Way
It was never America First: Trump First, now and always — even if it means taking down our Constitutional Democracy
Sep 30, 2020, updated Oct. 1, 2024
https://t.co/9GbIiWX7RH

[Progress In Politics @ProgressInPol]

"...These questions meant studying the roots of identity, and how a person could be at peace with being hateful and even dangerous. Now, decades later, an emerging explanation points to something more insidious than the possibility that someone simply identifies with a malicious group or blindly follows a toxic person. Instead, out of a basic need for consistency, we might take on other identities as our own....
As opposed to cognitive dissonance—the psychological unease that drives people to alter their interpretation of the world to create a sense of consistency—self-verification says that we try to bring reality into harmony with our long-standing beliefs about ourselves...

Swann gradually developed the concept and deemed it “identity fusion.” Along with a collaborator named Angel Gómez, he defined it in 2009 as when someone’s “personal and social identities become functionally equivalent.” The border between self and other, as Swann sees it, “become[s] porous.” The phenomenon is sometimes described as a visceral feeling of oneness with a group or person, and sometimes as an expansion of the self.
“When people are fused, your personal identity is now subsumed under something larger,” says Jack Dovidio, a psychology professor at Yale. One way researchers test for fusion is to ask people to draw a circle that represents themselves, and a circle that represents another person (or group). Usually people draw overlapping circles, Dovidio explains. In fusion, people draw themselves entirely inside the other circle...

Fusion is not a bunch of individuals contorting their way of thinking, but a bunch of individuals suspending their way of thinking. “It makes us more likely to do extreme things that aren’t consistent with our normal identity,” Kunst says. “It allows you to do things you couldn’t conceive of doing.”
...
The fusion might explain some apparent contradictions in ideology, Dovidio says. Even people who typically identify as advocates of small or no government might endorse acts of extreme authoritarianism if they have fused with Trump. In fusion, those inconsistencies simply don’t exist, according to Dovidio: Value systems are only contradictory if they’re both activated, and “once you step into the fusion mind-set, there is no contradiction.”

"...The findings from Kunst and Dovidio’s study suggest that Trump’s continued emphasis on the relative deprivation of his base—and his promise of the power and resources presumably under his control as an apparently wealthy Manhattan real-estate developer and reality-TV star—probably helped his election by increasing his followers’ fusion with him.
Even if this personal enrichment didn’t come to fruition for his voters, the researchers found that fusion with Trump only increased after his election. The presidency itself made him more powerful, and hence a more attractive target to fuse with.
Fundamentally, fusion is an opportunity to realign the sense of self. It creates new systems by which people can value themselves. A life that consists of living up to negative ideas about yourself does not end well. Nor does a life marked by failing to live up to a positive self-vision. But adopting the values of someone who is doing well is an escape. If Donald Trump is doing well, you are doing well. Alleged collusion with a foreign power might be bad for democracy, but good for an individual leader, and therefore good for you. “Fusion satisfies a lot of need for people,” Dovidio says. “When you fuse with a powerful leader, you feel more in control. If that person is valued, you feel valued.”
The process of de-fusing, then, might involve offering alternative systems of creating consistency and order. If people who are inclined to fusion have the option to fuse with entities that do not wish to exploit them, and that are generally good or neutral for the world, they might be less likely to fuse with, say, a demagogue. “But, of course,” Dovidio says, “that’s hard.”"

From:
The Most Dangerous Way to Lose Yourself
“Identity fusion” might explain why people act against their own interests
James Hamblin
Sep 25, 2019
https://t.co/HrgLIp9hQo

[Progress In Politics @ProgressInPol]

"The warning of the generals against Trump’s fascism is unanimous among those who have served most closely with him. The former chair of the joint chiefs, the retired general Mark Milley, told Bob Woodward, in his new book War, that Trump was “fascist to the core”. Trump’s secretary of defense, the former general James Mattis, emailed Woodward to express his agreement with Milley that Trump was “the most dangerous person ever”, and “Let’s make sure we don’t try to downplay the threat, because the threat is high.” It’s Defcon 1...

An essential element in the normalization of Trump and his fascism is the erasure of his crimes and transgressions when he was president – his “first term”, as the Journal disingenuously describes it, as though he’s already elected to his second. Conjuring up an air of inevitability is another demoralizing Newspeak tactic. Trump’s threats, when they are not dismissed as mere rhetoric, are too generally reported as if they are something new, that they exist solely in the vacuum of this campaign, and that he has no past. Trump’s history is consigned to the memory hole.
But Trump’s presidency was a rehearsal for fascism. Quite apart from his record of kleptocracy, allegedly pervasive corruption and obstructions of justice, pardons of criminal associates and dangling of pardons to insure their silence, contempt for the law, maniacal obsession with Hitler, who “did some good things”, scorn for military service (“suckers” and “losers”), worship of foreign tyrants, congenital lying, paranoid conspiracy mongering, disdain for climate science, willful neglect of public health, ignoring warnings and spreading falsehoods in the Covid-19 pandemic resulting in the unnecessary deaths of hundreds of thousands, the organization and incitement of the January 6 insurrection, and indifference to the near-assassination of his vice-president by a mob he had unleashed (“So what?”), Trump systematically abused the Department of Justice to investigate, harass and prosecute his “enemies within”. Trump’s current rage is hardly a new threat. In a second term he intends to smash through the constraints that inhibited him in his first...

Trump’s years in office showed him on a learning curve of fascism. He saw democracy as a plot against him that he had to break down. Like a hotel burglar jimmying door locks, through trial and error he discovered how to turn the keys. He pushed and prodded looking for weaknesses and loopholes. He located the places where he encountered resistance. He felt for the limits and how to go beyond them. He found out who would deter him and who would enable him. He calculated the price of everyone. He discovered those whose craven ambition would serve him. He realized that ideology was a tool he could use like a crowbar. He absorbed the lessons of crime and punishment in order to commit greater crimes without punishment. His administration was a school for the making of a fascist...

On 24 October of this month, Trump boasted about the unlimited power that he would possess once he is back in the White House. Speaking to the rightwing radio talk show host Hugh Hewitt, he declared that he would at the start fire the special prosecutor Jack Smith, who has indicted him for his crimes of January 6 and stealing national security secrets. “We got immunity at the supreme court,” Trump said. “It’s so easy. I would fire him within two seconds.” Trump would then have 86,398 seconds left to be a dictator on “day one”."

From:
We are witnessing the making of a fascist president in real time
Trump used his presidency to harass and prosecute ‘enemies within’. If re-elected, he will act with even less restraint
Mon 28 Oct 2024
https://t.co/I9tIo8tlAU

[Progress In Politics @ProgressInPol]

"Then, Trump’s former chief of staff, the former general John Kelly, stepped from behind the curtain in an interview with the New York Times. “Certainly,” he said, “the former president is in the far-right area, he’s certainly an authoritarian, admires people who are dictators – he has said that. So he certainly falls into the general definition of fascist, for sure. He certainly prefers the dictator approach to government.” Kelly added, the Times wrote, that “in his opinion, Mr Trump met the definition of a fascist, would govern like a dictator if allowed, and had no understanding of the Constitution or the concept of rule of law.”"

From:
We are witnessing the making of a fascist president in real time
https://t.co/I9tIo8tTqs

[Progress In Politics @ProgressInPol]

"“But stupidity is not enough,” wrote George Orwell in 1984. The facts must be eliminated. “Applied to an opponent, it means the habit of impudently claiming that black is white, in contradiction of the plain facts.” Followers must “forget that one has ever believed the contrary”. Memory must be erased. “This demands a continuous alteration of the past, made possible by the system of thought which really embraces all the rest, and which is known in Newspeak as doublethink.” The past, like the facts, must be reinvented. “For when it has been recreated in whatever shape is needed at the moment, then this new version is the past, and no different past can ever have existed.”"

From:
We are witnessing the making of a fascist president in real time
Trump used his presidency to harass and prosecute ‘enemies within’. If re-elected, he will act with even less restraint
Mon 28 Oct 2024
https://t.co/I9tIo8tlAU

[Progress In Politics @ProgressInPol]

‘Confession of Evangelical Conviction’ puts Jesus ahead of politics
September 9, 2024
https://t.co/Gd3JlyXFPJ

“We reject the false teaching that anyone other than Jesus Christ has been anointed by God as our Savior, or that a Christian’s loyalty should belong to any political party,” it says. “We reject any message that promotes devotion to a human leader or that wraps divine worship around partisanship.”

“We reject the lie that a leader’s power, popularity or political effectiveness is confirmation of God’s favor.”

[Progress In Politics @ProgressInPol]

@KamalaHarris @Tim_Walz @RepJeffries @MichelleObama @linakhanFTC @Cher @taylorswift13 @CohlFurey @DaveBautista @Beyonce @billieeilish @reedhastings @MichaelKeaton @DUALIPA @MarkRuffalo @Schwarzenegger @BarbraStreisand @kerrywashington @FrankWilczek
@MikeBloomberg @SenBlumenthal @Liz_Cheney @kkdumez @NormEisen @brianefallon @robertpjones @SenAmyKlobuchar @maggieNYT @DavidMuir @matthewstoller @SenWhitehouse
"We are called to speak truth, put away falsehood, and walk in integrity (Prov. 11:3; Eph. 4:25). Jesus said, “you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32); therefore, the opposite of truth is captivity. A healthy democracy rests upon a foundation of truth. For that reason, we must work to foster trust among citizens, to elect leaders with demonstrated integrity, and, with gratitude for the tens of thousands of election workers who labor to ensure that all voices are heard, to keep our elections safe, secure, and fair."

Christian Faith and Democracy
https://t.co/syiXmeMLAC

[Progress In Politics @ProgressInPol]

"We are called to speak truth, put away falsehood, and walk in integrity (Prov. 11:3; Eph. 4:25). Jesus said, “you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32); therefore, the opposite of truth is captivity. A healthy democracy rests upon a foundation of truth. For that reason, we must work to foster trust among citizens, to elect leaders with demonstrated integrity, and, with gratitude for the tens of thousands of election workers who labor to ensure that all voices are heard, to keep our elections safe, secure, and fair."

Christian Faith and Democracy
https://t.co/syiXmeNjqa

[Progress In Politics @ProgressInPol]

Christian Faith and Democracy
https://t.co/syiXmeMLAC
"The United States confronts a crisis of democracy, and the American church confronts a test of faith. Democracy stands embattled, facing new threats within our nation and new challenges around the globe. The witness of “the faith once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3) stands distorted and corrupted—especially to a new generation."

[Progress In Politics @ProgressInPol]

American Autocracy Threat Tracker
A Comprehensive Catalog Based on Donald Trump and His Associates’ Plans, Promises, and Propositions
https://t.co/SQ3c6W0HGq

[Progress In Politics @ProgressInPol]

A second Trump term comes with unacceptable risks
If The Economist had a vote, we would cast it for Kamala Harris
Oct 31st 2024
https://t.co/IGZEdApIMX

[Progress In Politics @ProgressInPol]

“We in America do not have government by the majority. We have government by the majority who participate.”
― Thomas Jefferson

[Progress In Politics @ProgressInPol]

A Rule for the Ages, or a Rule for Trump?
The majority opinion in Trump v. United States badly misstates principles of separation of powers to immunize hypothetical future presidents—in service of immunity for Trump himself.
https://t.co/QRPtgbLIVv

[Progress In Politics @ProgressInPol]

In “Nineteen Eighty-Four,” orthodox party members in the fictional nation of Oceania are obsessed with “competitive prestige” and “the desire for power.” Activities such as the Two Minutes Hate, where party members were encouraged to scream and jeer at a video of a political opponent, prompt party members to focus their thoughts on “victories, defeats, triumphs and humiliations.”
@KamalaHarris @Tim_Walz @RepJeffries @MichelleObama @linakhanFTC @Cher @taylorswift13 @CohlFurey @DaveBautista @Beyonce @billieeilish @reedhastings @MichaelKeaton @DUALIPA @MarkRuffalo @Schwarzenegger @BarbraStreisand @kerrywashington @FrankWilczek
@MikeBloomberg @SenBlumenthal @Liz_Cheney @kkdumez @NormEisen @brianefallon @robertpjones @SenAmyKlobuchar @maggieNYT @DavidMuir @matthewstoller @SenWhitehouse
A notable feature of the party is how often it turns on its own members through kidnapping, torture and murder. The occurrence was so frequent in Oceania that it had a name: being “vaporized.” Nationalists are a threat not only to those outside the nation but also to those inside the nation who don’t fully support the nationalist’s pursuit of power at any cost.
From this perspective, Trump’s threats against those whom he views as “the enemy from within” reveal his own nationalistic desire to turn on Americans who threaten his pursuit of power.
Orwell’s writing suggests that voters should take such threats seriously.

Nationalism is not patriotism: 3 insights from Orwell about Trump and the 2024 election https://t.co/Y1kj6un88m via @ConversationUS