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billvon

Signs of authoritarianism

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10 hours ago, normiss said:

The military, like the rest of America’s major institutions, cannot afford to lose every figure willing to question authority. When principled dissenters step aside, they leave space for those eager to follow orders without hesitation.

It’s a very fine line between that and military coup. Because most generals etc in coups think they’re doing the right thing.

Wendy P. 

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11 hours ago, normiss said:

I just snagged this from The Other 98%'s FB page, and this is the way I feel about those leaving.

It's exactly what the Trump Regime wants us to do.

Lie down and not say a word.

I think you’re either fundamentally misunderstanding the situation with the Pentagon press corps, or you’re talking about something different to everyone else without having made that clear.

For clarity - lying down and not saying a word is what Hegseth is asking for. The agreement reporters are being asked to sign in exchange for their press pass is to not solicit any information from anyone beyond official Pentagon statements… in which case what’s the point? Refusing to sign, and if necessary giving back the pass means those reporters are committing to still doing investigative journalism. It will be more difficult now, but they’re not giving up. If they weren’t walking away, they would be giving up.

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9 minutes ago, jakee said:

I think you’re either fundamentally misunderstanding the situation with the Pentagon press corps, or you’re talking about something different to everyone else without having made that clear.

For clarity - lying down and not saying a word is what Hegseth is asking for. The agreement reporters are being asked to sign in exchange for their press pass is to not solicit any information from anyone beyond official Pentagon statements… in which case what’s the point? Refusing to sign, and if necessary giving back the pass means those reporters are committing to still doing investigative journalism. It will be more difficult now, but they’re not giving up. If they weren’t walking away, they would be giving up.

Walking away IS giving up. 

I would never have turned in my pass, I would have been back every day trying to get back in, making it very loudly known to all.

Not resisting IS giving up.

We do see this fundamentally different I suppose.

 

We're already dead.

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Steady State, a group made up of more than 340 former U.S. intelligence officers from the Central Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency, the State Department, and other intelligence agencies, released a report assessing the state of American democracy. Applying the tools of their craft to the U.S., they assess that the nation is “on a trajectory toward competitive authoritarianism: a system in which elections, courts, and other democratic institutions persist in form but are systematically manipulated to entrench executive control.”

The report, titled Accelerating Authoritarian Dynamics: Assessment of Democratic Decline, finds that American democracy is weakening as the Executive Branch is consolidating power and “actively weaponizing state institutions to punish perceived opponents and shield allies,” and that Congress is refusing to check the president, “creating openings for authoritarian exploitation.”

“We judge that the primary driver of the U.S.’s increasing authoritarianism is the increased frequency of Executive Branch overreach,” the report says, noting that “President Donald J. Trump has leveraged emergency powers, executive orders, federalized military forces, and bureaucratic politicization to consolidate control and weaken checks and balances.”

As Heather Cox Richardson reports.

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27 minutes ago, normiss said:

Walking away IS giving up. 

I would never have turned in my pass, I would have been back every day trying to get back in, making it very loudly known to all.

Not resisting IS giving up.

We do see this fundamentally different I suppose.

 

We're already dead.

So in your opinion OAN is the only network not giving up and all the rest are losers.

 

Really?

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37 minutes ago, normiss said:

Walking away IS giving up. 

I'm going to have to disagree with you on this. They did not give up. They will continue to be reporters. Giving up would be to sign the agreement. They were forced to choose between walking out and being kicked out.

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27 minutes ago, kallend said:

So in your opinion OAN is the only network not giving up and all the rest are losers.

 

Really?

That's not what I'm saying.

You want my press pass? Come and TAKE it. I don't give up.

Laying down and surrendering should serve us well though.

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1 hour ago, normiss said:

Walking away IS giving up. 

I would never have turned in my pass, I would have been back every day trying to get back in, making it very loudly known to all.

Not resisting IS giving up.

We do see this fundamentally different I suppose.

 

We're already dead.

Dude - they're professional journalists. They already have a platform.

Standing outside the Pentagon with a megaphone is not louder than writing stories for national newspapers or broadcast news shows.

Doing what you suggest would, in fact, be giving up on doing their job of holding government to account.

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2 hours ago, jakee said:

Dude - they're professional journalists. They already have a platform.

Standing outside the Pentagon with a megaphone is not louder than writing stories for national newspapers or broadcast news shows.

Doing what you suggest would, in fact, be giving up on doing their job of holding government to account.

Mark is not suggesting that they SIGN the paper. Rather that they refuse to sign or vacate their offices. 

BTW, the Australian Newspaper signed the agreement, then seeing they were out of step with everyone else rescinded their agreement (said their lawyers had reviewed the terms and they couldn’t in good faith comply). 

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50 minutes ago, nigel99 said:

Mark is not suggesting that they SIGN the paper. 

Didn't say he was.

He's suggesting that protesting outside the building would be 'louder' than doing their job as reporters, gathering information and writing stories in the national news. 

53 minutes ago, nigel99 said:

Rather that they refuse to sign or vacate their offices. 

You can't do that. It's the Pentagon. If they don't want to let you in, you can't get in. 

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2 hours ago, jakee said:

Didn't say he was.

He's suggesting that protesting outside the building would be 'louder' than doing their job as reporters, gathering information and writing stories in the national news. 

You can't do that. It's the Pentagon. If they don't want to let you in, you can't get in. 

And, if they wanted to, they could all have shown up this morning in protest, happily dancing outside the Pentagon dressed as Sesame Street characters, waving Pom-Poms, and singing 99 bottles of beer on the wall. 

 

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2 hours ago, jakee said:

Didn't say he was.

He's suggesting that protesting outside the building would be 'louder' than doing their job as reporters, gathering information and writing stories in the national news. 

You can't do that. It's the Pentagon. If they don't want to let you in, you can't get in. 

I never said that nor did I infer anything of the sort.

You may now reinsert your cranium.

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17 minutes ago, normiss said:

I never said that nor did I infer anything of the sort.

Of course you didn’t infer it. The reader infers, as the writer you implied. 
 

But for real though if this “I would have been back every day trying to get back in, making it very loudly known to all.” Isn’t a protest then what the fuck is it?

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1 hour ago, jakee said:

Of course you didn’t infer it. The reader infers, as the writer you implied. 
 

But for real though if this “I would have been back every day trying to get back in, making it very loudly known to all.” Isn’t a protest then what the fuck is it?

I took it interpret it differently to you.

Go and try and get access, denied, file complaint to relevant places, broadcast it on your news channel, or write about it, possibly file in court.

Rinse and repeat everyday.

I think that is “shouting” at everyone who will listen, and I suspect you probably agree with at least some of that.

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Hi folks,

Chalk this one as a win for the good girl:  She said the verdict “shows that this administration and their peons are not able to invoke fear in all citizens.”

Not guilty verdict in ICE case sends stark message to Trump DOJ’s political prosecutions

We must keep this ball rolling.  

Jerry Baumchen

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(edited)
8 hours ago, nigel99 said:

I took it interpret it differently to you.

Go and try and get access, denied, file complaint to relevant places, broadcast it on your news channel, or write about it, possibly file in court.

Rinse and repeat everyday.

I think that is “shouting” at everyone who will listen, and I suspect you probably agree with at least some of that.

They are broadcasting and writing about the fact that they’re no longer allowed into the Pentagon. How do you think you heard about it? Accusing them of walking away from democracy because they didn’t physically go and knock on the door is hair splittingly petty. 

Edited by jakee

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Hi folks,

As I have posted before; I am opposed to illegal immigration.  However, everyone, even criminals, deserve due process.

Looks like the ICE thuggery is getting more intense:  

They arrested . . . Napoleon Andres Magaña, and . . . Arturo Garcia Cabrera

. . . Neither was the man that agents were seeking.

ICE in Oregon: Pointing rifles at family, stopping teens at gunpoint, pinning man during arrest - oregonlive.com

Jerry Baumchen

 

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