@MikeGorse Sometime in the 80s Arthur Schlesinger Jr. wrote a book called The Cycles Of American History in which he posited that America’s history essentially reset every 30 years. I think, with the coming of tech and the revolution it brought in information availability and attention spans, that cyclical progression has been supercharged. Holy cow, I remember Election Day when #Obama won. It felt like my teams had won the Super Bowl and the World Series on the same day. I’m pretty sure I haven’t been that pumped up before or since. It truly did feel like we had reached a new, great day. And then, splat. It does occur to me that there were probably people who had that very same feeling when #Trump won last November. I can only hope their splat will eventually come. In the meantime, yes, I can related to your jaded and cynical feelings. To a great degree, I share them.
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Items tagged with: Trump
This morning a #Mastodon friend called me out on my name-calling of our current President. They said it was hypocritical to do something we tell our kids not to do. I’ve sat with this all day. I actually care about my friend’s opinion, and, hey, I’m not a malignant narcissist. Upon reflection, I must admit that they are absolutely, 100% correct. I am being hypocritical, and at the end of the day it’s really not a good look. But, will this knowledge cause me to stop? Very frankly speaking, I don’t think so. Before you condemn me as a bad person, please allow me to explain where I’m coming from. This presidency has been like none other in my lifetime. I’ve had presidents in the past with whom I disagreed on policy, oftentimes vehemently so. See also Bush, George W. But these were strictly policy disagreements. I never once questioned W’s humanity. But #Trump is something completely different. Almost all of his policies go way beyond abhorrent, but it goes deeper than that. He’s the first president I’ve ever known of who has actively, and deliberately, set out to actually punish those who didn’t vote for him or support him, to hurt them, make them suffer. I actually think that’s a lot of what this #SNAP hostage crisis is all about. He has shown, in countless ways, that he has zero respect for anything or anyone aside from himself. So, in my opinion, he deserves zero respect in return. (1/2)
The entire #WhiteHouse #EastWing is demolished as #Trump moves forward with his #ballroom, AP photos show.
The East Wing, where #FirstLadies created #history, planned state dinners & promoted causes, is now history itself. The 2-story structure of drawing rooms & offices, including workspace for first ladies & their staffs, has been turned into rubble, demolished as part of Trump’s plan to build what he said is now a $300M ballroom nearly 2X the size of the White House.
Another way to support us is to sign up for my newsletter, Impure Leftist, as a paid subscriber. Anarchist Book Club, anyone?
kind.social/@nat/1153918855016…
#mutualaid #MutualAidRequest #helpfolkslive2025 #transmutualaid #queermutualaid #smallbusiness #writer #writers #writersofmastodon #writerscoffeeclub #bookclub #anarchism #bookstodon #antifa #uspol #fascism #trump #support
Nat (@nat@kind.social)
Attached: 1 image I'm launching my newsletter, and you can sign up here! https://buttondown.com/impureleftist There will be 1 free post each week, plus 2 only for subscribers—one of which will feature the Anarchist Book Club.Be More Kind
#GOP Senators Ready to Dump #Trump Nominee With Self-Proclaimed ‘#Nazi Streak’
“I can’t imagine supporting that,” Sen. James Lankford told reporters.
🚨🚨🚨
…One of Trump’s nominees…said in a leaked group chat that MLK Day should be “tossed into the seventh circle of hell,” & that he has “a Nazi streak.”
#PaulIngrassia, an #attorney nominated by Trump to lead the Office of #SpecialCounsel, made these & other #racist comments in leaked group chat messages.
#HitlerYouth
notus.org/senate/paul-ingrassi…
GOP Senators Ready to Dump Trump Nominee With Self-Proclaimed ‘Nazi Streak’
"I can't imagine supporting that,” Sen. James Lankford told reporters.Em Luetkemeyer (NOTUS)
Trump’s DHS appointees have dismantled civil rights guardrails, protected agents’ anonymity and encouraged them to wear masks, threatened groups that stood in their way and overwhelmed challenges to their arrests.
propublica.org/article/trump-d…
#News #USPolitics #Government #DHS #Immigration #ICE #Trump
How Trump is Building a Violent, Shadowy Federal Police Force
Trump’s DHS appointees have dismantled civil rights guardrails, protected agents’ anonymity and encouraged them to wear masks, threatened groups that stood in their way, and overwhelmed legal challenges to their arrests and tactics.ProPublica
"Trump was totally unhinged last night after he found out how big the No Kings Protests were. He was posting weird AI videos of himself wearing crowns. Then he posted an AI video of himself flying a fighter jet and defecating on peaceful protestors at the No Kings protest in Manhattan. Yeah, that was not a typo. He posted a video of himself dropping feces on the faces of peaceful protestors."
~ Ben Meiselas
#NoKings #democracy #Trump #authoritarianism
/10
"The president posted an AI video showing himself as a pilot, wearing a crown, literally dumping shit on protesters from the air: A clear statement of what he feels about Americans exercising their rights to free assembly and free speech."
~ Anne Applebaum
#NoKings #democracy #Trump #authoritarianism
/9
anneapplebaum.substack.com/p/w…
Will the Beacon Go Dark?
What happens when "democracy" isn't part of our identity anymore?Anne Applebaum (Open Letters, from Anne Applebaum)
"To the degree that major protests could undermine the administration’s ability to exert political authority, it makes a whole lot of sense for Republicans and the White House to spend their energy attacking the No Kings movement.
And this, I think, should serve as an important reminder to opponents of the administration that for all its boasts and bluster, it knows as well as anyone that the president is unpopular and that his administration is vulnerable."
"Nationwide protests comprised of millions of people are a direct rebuke to the president’s narrative. They send a signal to the most disconnected parts of the American public that the president is far from as popular as he says he is, and they send a clear warning to those institutions under pressure from the administration: Bend the knee and lose our business and support."
~ Jamelle Bouie
"Today was the largest political protest in American history.
Don’t let Donald Trump pretend he’s popular, beloved, or even respected.
He isn’t. And he never has been."
~ Steve Hofstetter
#NoKings #democracy #Trump #authoritarianism
/6
threads.com/@stevehofstetter/p…
Steve Hofstetter (@stevehofstetter) on Threads
Today was the largest political protest in American history. Don’t let Donald Trump pretend he’s popular, beloved, or even respected. He isn’t. And he never has been.Threads
Here's what Olear said at Kingston:
"If there’s one thing we can say about Donald, it’s that he’s unfit.
This is why we’ve come here today—to give him our message, which consists of just one single word—the word Donald Trump hates most of all to hear:
NO.
ICE in our cities? NO!
Soldiers in our streets? NO!
Political retribution? NO!
Plenary authority? NO!
No thrones. No crowns. NO KINGS!"
Noting that he spoke at the No Kings demonstration in Kingston, New York, Greg Olear says,
"The press estimates there were seven million Americans participating in the rallies. This figure seems low to me.... WaPo had it as the lead story yesterday. The craven New York Times led with the Venezuela stuff, which, in hindsight, seems like it was cooked up just so the New York Times would lead with it and not No Kings.)"
#NoKings #democracy #Trump #authoritarianism
/4
gregolear.substack.com/p/sunda…
Sunday Pages: My "No Kings Day" Speech
Delivered at Academy Green Park, Kingston, New York, October 18, 2025Greg Olear (PREVAIL by Greg Olear)
"Americans across all 50 states marched in protests against the Trump administration on Saturday, aligning behind a message that the country is sliding into authoritarianism and there should be no kings in the US.
Millions of people turned out for the No Kings protests, the second iteration of a coalition that marched in June in one of the largest days of protest in US history."
~ Rachel Leingang and Edward Helmore
#NoKings #democracy #Trump #authoritarianism
/3
theguardian.com/us-news/2025/o…
Millions across all 50 US states march in No Kings protests against Trump
Crowds of Americans, many in costumes, aligned behind message that US is sliding into authoritarianismRachel Leingang (The Guardian)
"Such a high turnout means businesses and institutions that thought they must cater to the administration to appeal to a majority of Americans will be forced to recalculate.
And the protests showed that Americans care fervently about democracy."
"The No Kings demonstrations ran the gamut from hundreds of thousands of protesters in large, blue cities, to smaller crowds in small towns in Republican-dominated states. Together, they demonstrate that the administration’s claims to popularity are a lie."
~ Heather Cox Richardson
#NoKings #democracy #Trump #authoritarianism
/1
heathercoxrichardson.substack.…
October 18, 2025
Today, millions of Americans and their allies turned out across the United States and around the globe to demonstrate their commitment to American democracy and their opposition to a president and an administration apparently bent on replacing that d…Heather Cox Richardson (Letters from an American)
The government does not track how often immigration agents hold Americans. So ProPublica did.
We found more than 170 such incidents since the start of the second Trump administration. Our tally — almost certainly incomplete — includes people who were held for days without a lawyer. And nearly 20 children, two of whom have cancer.
propublica.org/article/immigra…
#News #ICE #Immigration #Trump #USPolitics #Law #American
Immigration Agents Have Held More Than 170 Americans Against Their Will, ProPublica Finds
The government does not track how often immigration agents grab citizens. So ProPublica did. Our tally — almost certainly incomplete — includes people who were held for days without a lawyer. And nearly 20 children, two of whom have cancer.ProPublica
"Apple removed an app for preserving TikToks, Instagram reels, news reports, and videos documenting abuses by ICE, 404 Media has learned. The app, called Eyes Up, differs from other banned apps such as ICEBlock which were designed to report sightings of ICE officials in real-time to warn local communities. Eyes Up, meanwhile, was more of an aggregation service pooling together information to preserve evidence in case the material is needed in the future in court.
The news shows that Apple and Google’s crackdown on ICE-spotting apps, which started after pressure from the Department of Justice against Apple, is broader in scope than apps that report sightings of ICE officials. It has also impacted at least one app that was more about creating a historical record of ICE’s activity during its mass deportation effort."
#USA #Trump #iCE #Immigration #Deportation #Apple #SocialMedia
404media.co/apple-banned-an-ap…
Apple Banned an App That Simply Archived Videos of ICE Abuses
Eyes Up's purpose is to "preserve evidence until it can be used in court." But it has been swept up in Apple's crackdown on ICE-spotting apps.Joseph Cox (404 Media)
You know, I damn #Trump and his whole administration all to hell, if you are #Trans, do yourself a favor and avoid coming to the #US whatever you do, make an excuse, avoid coming here like the plague until we've kicked #Trump and his brutish people out of office. I hope one day, we will be able to return toward a more inclusive and freedom-based time here, but don't come here, let the people who might want to visit you who can safely do so, but coming to the US right now is the same as asking for a death sentence, all because you might have a gender-neutral card or your #gender on that card is different than what was assigned to you at birth. I'm feeling so much shame for what the US has become and I feel terrible that we are being made to look like people who aren't accepting of #Trans people, but I promise, not all of us here want this to happen or condone this type of anti-trans behavior. Stay safe y'all, the storm will pass, but don't come here for your own safety, the fact I even have to write this down to me is absolutely disgusting and horrifying and I want this all to end and for us to return toward a freer, more inclusive time like has been in years' past.
"Welcome to the new normal, where a late-night comedian making fun of the president is 'the sickest conduct possible,' but calling for trans people to be institutionalized was just Charlie Kirk practicing politics the right way."
#Trump #CharlieKirk #JimmyKimmel #FreeSpeech #fascism #media
/22
"The timing isn't coincidental. This is happening while people are still being fired for not mourning Charlie Kirk appropriately. Karen Attiah lost her Washington Post column. Airline pilots got grounded. Hospital workers were terminated. Now a comedian with one of the longest-running shows on television gets yanked off the air for making a joke about Trump…."
~ Parker Molloy
#Trump #CharlieKirk #JimmyKimmel #FreeSpeech #fascism #media
/21
readtpa.com/p/read-the-jimmy-k…
Read the Jimmy Kimmel Monologue That Led to an FCC Crackdown
The comedian condemned Kirk's murder and called it "monstrous." That wasn't enough. He had to mourn correctly or lose his show.Parker Molloy (The Present Age)
"Time and again, the corporate media would rather surrender than fight for their First Amendment rights.
But ownership is also driving the shift. …
There are exceptions, but much of the corporate press is now too loyal to, or too afraid of, Trump to act as a true check on power."
#Trump #CharlieKirk #JimmyKimmel #FreeSpeech #fascism #media
/20
"That could never happen here, right? Not with our long tradition of a vibrant, free media?
Well, the MAGA Right is on the verge of controlling the vast majority of the American media ecosystem.
A dynamic highlighted by the fact that Disney announced it was bowing to pressure from the Trump Administration and pulling Jimmy Kimmel off the air indefinitely because of comments he made about Charlie Kirk."
#Trump #CharlieKirk #JimmyKimmel #FreeSpeech #fascism #media
/19
"One of the necessary conditions for an authoritarian takeover is control of the media. It’s a critical step to quash dissent—turning a free press designed to hold power accountable into a propaganda organ that amplifies the state’s message."
#Trump #CharlieKirk #JimmyKimmel #FreeSpeech #fascism #media
/18
messageboxnews.com/p/does-maga…
With Kimmel and TikTok, Trump Takes Control of the Media
The Kimmel suspension is a scary sign for the future of free speechDan Pfeiffer (The Message Box)
"And while they cloak their project in American flags and talk of law and order, the blueprint is the same one authoritarian regimes across the twentieth century wrote in blood: silence the critics, glorify the leader, criminalize dissent."
#Trump #CharlieKirk #JimmyKimmel #FreeSpeech #fascism
/17
"Donald Trump and his loyal enforcer Stephen Miller have once again revealed the heart of their political project: to recast the state as an instrument of vengeance against dissent. ...
Trump and Miller do not simply want to punish their critics—they want to reshape America into a machine of loyalty and fear. Their vision requires enemies because enemies justify repression."
~ Mark Mansour
#Trump #CharlieKirk #JimmyKimmel #FreeSpeech #fascism
/16
mmansour.substack.com/p/the-de…
The Death Of Free Speech
the murder of Charlie Kirk has freed the regime to do what it has always wanted to doMark Mansour (America’s Fractured Politics)
"It’s not just about one late-night comedian or even one assassination.
It’s about when America will finally wake up.
Or fail to."
#Trump #CharlieKirk #JimmyKimmel #FreeSpeech #fascism
/15
"Kimmel’s accusation that Trump is using the Kirk murder for political payback was right on the money.
It’s not as if this is surprising. It’s not as if we haven’t been warned about what’s coming again and again. It’s not as if the President of the Right hasn’t signaled his yearning for absolute rule day after day after day."
~ Lewis Grossberger
#Trump #CharlieKirk #JimmyKimmel #FreeSpeech #fascism
/14
grossbergerbulletin.substack.c…
Jimmy Kimmel's Show Assassinated By the Right
Free Speech Shot Down By TrumpLewis Grossberger (Lewis Grossberger's Raw Truth Bulletin)
“You may think you’re angry over Colbert and Kimmel but as someone who is familiar with the history of Nazi Germany I promise you, you’re not nearly angry enough yet.”
~ J David Clark
#Trump #CharlieKirk #JimmyKimmel #FreeSpeech #fascism
/13
"Don't you dare call us fascists, they say, as they force people off the airwaves for criticizing them while vowing to crush and criminalize their opposition."
~ Mehdi Hasan quoted by The Bulwark
#Trump #CharlieKirk #JimmyKimmel #FreeSpeech #fascism
/12
"Trump and MAGA did not get Kimmel suspended for a joke. They got Kimmell suspended for a show of power. They are sending the message to stick to their approved MAGA script or they will come for you."
~ Dean Obeidallah
#Trump #CharlieKirk #JimmyKimmel #FreeSpeech #fascism
/11
"This approach has been widespread in the punditocracy, which has almost uniformly moved to hold Kirk up as a rare avatar of civil disagreement in an uncivil era.
These pundits' paeans to Charlie Kirk's 'civil' approach to politics ignore the many illustrations of his incivility."
#Trump #CharlieKirk #JimmyKimmel #FreeSpeech #fascism
/10
"As the nation reckons with the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, there has been a notable trend from mainstream pundits and press outlets. They have tended to downplay or outright ignore the ugly things that he said and instead to stress the polite ways he said them. It's an emphasis on style over substance."
~ Kevin Kruse
#Trump #CharlieKirk #JimmyKimmel #FreeSpeech #fascism
/10
"It is really important to understand the contrast between Trump’s behavior and those of previous presidents for two reasons [after a highly publicized murder of an outspoken ideologue]: First, to get a clear measure of the extent of our moral descent. And second, to fully understand the authoritarian dangers our republic is facing."
~ Berny Belvedere
#Trump #CharlieKirk #JimmyKimmel #FreeSpeech #fascism
/9
theunpopulist.net/p/other-pres…
Other Presidents Tried to Heal America After Political Violence—Trump Is Dividing It
The contrast between their and his behavior is a measure of America's moral descentBerny Belvedere (The UnPopulist)
"Fueled by the rhetoric of prominent politicians, social media platforms have turned into a staging ground for collecting names and orchestrating campaigns to call for firings. Conservative social media influencers have encouraged people to submit posts of coworkers or community members, and then have used their large platforms to amplify calls for punishment."
~ Daniel Moritz-Rabson
#Trump #CharlieKirk #JimmyKimmel #FreeSpeech #fascism
/8
truthout.org/articles/conserva…
Conservatives Are Using Charlie Kirk’s Death to Enact Sweeping Speech Crackdown | Truthout
The US has entered a new era of McCarthyism as the Trump administration equates leftist critique with “terrorism.”…britney (Truthout)
"What happened to Jimmy Kimmel Live! is not just about a late-night host or a single corporate decision. It is a flashing red warning sign of how fragile the foundations of free discourse have become in the United States."
~ Aaron Parnas
#Trump #CharlieKirk #JimmyKimmel #FreeSpeech #fascism
/7
aaronparnas.substack.com/p/bre…
BREAKING: ABC Pulls Jimmy Kimmel's Show Indefinitely After Trump Pressure
In a stunning move that exposes the fragility of free expression in American media, ABC announced that Jimmy Kimmel Live! has been pulled indefinitely.Aaron Parnas (The Parnas Perspective)
"We are governed by liars and crooks whose agenda is to demolish the rule of law and the rights of the rest of us, including our First Amendment right to free speech (Happy Constitution Day, by the way!)."
~ Rebecca Solnit
#Trump #CharlieKirk #JimmyKimmel #FreeSpeech #fascism
/6
meditationsinanemergency.com/t…
The War on Truth Heats Up (just in time for Constitution Day)
Hannah Arendt famously wrote, “The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the convinced Communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction (i.e.Rebecca Solnit (Meditations in an Emergency)