Was GW Bush more fascist than Trump?
This good @michelleinbklyn column highlighted for me why I'm not the left.
Because not only do I disagree with those who say Bush was worse than Trump, I don't think "who was more fascist?" is a useful

Much of left discourse fixates on fascism. Some use "fascism" to mean any right-wing govt, anything bad about govt, or sometimes just "bad thing."
But even those who are more precise fixate on it, which leads them to search for parallels to historical cases and fascist theory
2/x

Instead of asking questions like "closer or farther from a free society?" or "how strong are these institutions?," the fixation on fascism leads to "how much does this resemble 1920s-30s Italy or Germany?" and "how close is this to that scholar's description of fascism?"
3/x

But fixating on the danger of a fascist takeover in America misses the more salient threat of democratic backsliding.
Simplifying a bit, fascism features strong institutions to impose its vision on society while democratic backsliding features weakening institutions.
4/x

So some lefties say Bush was worse than Trump because Bush created DHS after 9/11 while Trump tried to duck responsibility with COVID rather than use it to seize power like an American Reichstag fire.
But it was Trump's weakening of institutions that posed the big danger.
5/x

1/ Trump doesn't care about legacy, family, or duty. He sure as fuck doesn't care about the law, or even money (he knows the illusion of money is just as good).

Trump only cares about himself, and his only motivation is power. An illegitimate "win" is a win to him.

2/ Imagine Trump playing a video game.

He'd try for 30 seconds, get destroyed, and quickly resort to cheat codes to get by.

After celebrating his ill-gotten victory, he'd quickly realize that he's empty inside. There would be no sense of accomplishment.

3/ From here it could go in two directions. He gets bored of the game and does something else, or he plays again.

Because he has no interest in developing any skills, he would continue to cheat using more elaborate codes.

He'll never be satisfied, so he'll continue to escalate.

4/ Games aren't designed to be played this way. If you keep piling on cheat codes the systems stop working how they're supposed to.

If you keep at it, the game becomes almost unplayable.

The issue is, Trump treats the Presidency and government this way.

5/ Trump has trapped himself in a nightmare. He's stuck playing a glitched out game he hates. He knows if he stops, he'll go to prison.

He's miserable as President, truly hates it, but he's cheating to stay in power out of necessity. He doesn't care what breaks in the process.

At the moment, POTUS is sitting on a stack of Trump cards that he's just waiting to unleash...a royal flush!
He has court cases that will go to the Supreme Court and thanks to the Texas case, he's now aware how to file them properly...under article 3 not 2...

@DaveSharma misses the point. The entire world has just witnessed a shocking attack on #democracy. All the #freespeech noise is deflecting focus from the far more important discussion about the staging of a violent coup by the #POTUS #auspol

Trump has not been stripped of his political voice or silenced. He has access to a press agency and the world’s media. He has fallen into his own trap. By dismissing traditional media outlets as “fake news” he has voluntarily limited his own options.

In Australia, with an election possibly on the horizon and growing evidence of a threat from far-right extremist groups, what is needed is calm, objective and clear leadership. We need swift and decisive condemnation of the violent attack and of the #POTUS for inciting it.

Instead, we have @ScottMorrisonMP bucking the trend of other world leaders by refusing to condemn Trump, @M_McCormackMP indulging in his own incendiary remarks and loud complaints from @DaveSharma about Trump being “silenced”.

#Wentworth voters are unlikely to be impressed. @DaveSharma lacks the more considered approach we might have seen from former members. #Wentworth is a moderate electorate where people understand that #freespeech comes with responsibilities.

https://t.co/F3cnLl3Lqa

NEW -- If you have spent years sending a few dollars a month out of your paycheck or Social Security check to Donald Trump's campaign, congratulations. You helped Trump funnel $8.5 million of that back into his own cash

Other GOP candidates and committees kicked in another $2 million.

The biggest spender in that category?

America First Action, which spent $573,132 at Trump's DC hotel.

Through a trust that he controls, Trump owns the hotels, golf courses and buildings that received the money, with every penny of profit flowing to him personally.

The HuffPost analysis is based on a review of filings by the Trump campaign, the RNC and their two joint fundraising committees, representing all spending reported between Jan. 20, 2017 and Nov. 23, the last date for the final filing period this year.

Trump Tower, the NYC skyscraper where Trump keeps a penthouse residence and his business offices, received $1,716,155 in the form of rent payments, even though the campaign was based in a high-rise office building in Arlington, VA, across the Potomac River from the White House.

For so long social media companies have been disguising themselves as a method of free speech to hide their true corporate nature. This is why they have avoided censoring @realDonaldTrump and others.

Social Media companies want us to see twitter/Facebook/Reddit/Instagram like a public-use bulletin board when they are really more analogous to the Target intercom system. This keeps the users from realizing they are generating content for corporations for free.

But, most importantly, when social media corporations disguise themselves as public-use bulletin boards they confuse the public into thinking first amendment protections should apply to user-generated content AND THEREFORE we should not regulate social media as a whole.

Plainly, twitter (et al) wants to be seen more like your right to self-publish a manifesto and less like a corporation for whom we work for zero wages while they steal our data. They are hiding behind the Bill of Rights which, simply, does not apply to them whatsoever.

As a result, users like @realDonaldTrump are allowed free range to “say whatever they want” in “the name of free speech.” That right is not guaranteed by the BOR, but rather, it is promised by the terms and conditions of this corporate entity.

1. In honor of Trump’s last full day in office, and what may end up being the big story of the day, here’s a quick #thread on the President’s pardon power — and answers to some of the questions about it that may come up today:

2. Article II, § 2 of the Constitution gives the President the power to “grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment.”

The idea was to provide the executive with a check on (perceived) excesses by the courts.

3. That’s why the pardon power is absolute; it wouldn’t be much of a check on the courts if they had the power to review every pardon. Instead, the remedy for abuses of the power, as Chief Justice — and former President — Taft wrote for #SCOTUS in 1925, is ... impeachment.

4. But which offenses can be pardoned? The widespread consensus is that the President may pardon any federal offense (this includes “local” crimes in federal territories like D.C.) by anyone *else* that has been committed (even if not charged) prior to the granting of the pardon.

5. This *includes* so-called “blanket” pardons, such as the one President Carter issued on his first full day in office for Vietnam-era draft

President Trump extends the national emergency with respect to Southern Border until February 15, 2022.

Donald Trump’s presidency was defined by multiple financial conflicts of interest and unprecedented abuses of power. Here are some of the most important things we’ve uncovered about Trump’s actions in office — and what we’re still

Trump’s Attacks on the Legitimacy of the Election: Trump’s attacks on the legitimacy of the 2020 election began long before he lost it. Once it was clear that President-elect Biden had won, Trump made wildly unfounded allegations about the election being rigged.

We’ve been investigating state-level attacks on voting rights, including uncovering communications between state election officials and voting-restriction activists in Florida, Georgia, and

We previously represented Maine Sec. of State Matt Dunlap in his lawsuit compelling the release of records from Trump’s Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity, of which Dunlap was a member.

Those records revealed that the Trump-aligned members of the commission were preparing to issue broad findings of “voter fraud issues,” but had failed to come up with evidence supporting their desired

THREAD on @CletaMitchell, @realDonaldTrump and @FoleyandLardner.

Here is the letter I sent today to the @FoleyandLardner attorneys who graduated from @UVA and/or @UVALaw: 1/

Dear Natalie, Edmund, Nanette, Courtenay, Christopher, Julia, Jasmine, Navid, Heidi, Sarah, Kristine, Gregory, Sarah, Michael, Eric, Nicole, Nicholas, Shane, Frank, Libby, Lori, Christopher, Charles, Kathryn, Joseph, Andrew, David, Sommer, Randolph: 2/

i am writing to each of you as @FoleyandLardner attorneys, and fellow @UVA graduates and members of your respective bar associations, to ask that you address your partner Cleta Mitchell's active involvement in the alarming, undemocratic, and potentially illegal phone call 3/

to Georgia's secretary of state that occurred this weekend. I graduated from the School of Law in 2004, and two of my sisters received their undergraduate degrees from UVA as well (go 'Hoos!) 3/

As we all know, it's impossible to graduate from UVA without deep inculcation in the values of the Honor Code. And, obviously, the ethical requirements of our respective bar associations impose on us the requirements to uphold the Constitution and the rule of law. 4/

So a lot of people have seen this flyer and the heard the media saying that Trump supporters are staging armed protests at every state capitol. I spent the last few days looking into this. Fake news! Thread:

1\

General Flynn Special Counsel 302s

"FLYNN introduced TILLERSON to the Transition Team through ROBERT GATES so he took a personal interest in the matter."

Thread: Message to President Trump. @realDonaldTrump “The time is now near at hand which must probably determine whether Americans are to be freemen or slaves; whether they are to have any property they can call their own; whether their houses and farms are to be pillaged and ..

See thread below for President Trump’s entire Christmas message. It is inspiring and wonderful! ❤️

As usual, so much vying for our attention. But tonight two members of Biden team gave the most detailed interview to date abt incoming Admin’s plans for dealing w asylum, Central American migration, & the southern border. It was more a statement of purpose than an action plan. 1/

There are very encouraging signs and, as expected, some lacunae. A few noteworthy details: (1) The advisors said Biden will “expand legal pathways for migration...allowing people to apply for refugee resettlement & temporary worker and employment-based programs” in the region. 2/

All presidential admins (some MUCH more cynically than others) stress the dangerousness of the overland journey to the US. It obviously *is* dangerous. It’s also true that large #s of those arriving at US border don’t qualify for asylum under strict dictates of US imm law. 3/

All legal/policy/humanitarian experts I consult agree: there need to be *more* ways, not less, to give people a chance both to seek asylum & come to US legally (if not permanently) to work. Regional processing helps w this. Language used by Biden team is good in this regard. 4/

What else is striking abt Biden team’s language from interview? (2) Asylum officers will adjudicate claims. This is on the progressive wish-list. It’s a practical and humane way to give people speedier relief and take pressure off of a beleaguered immigration court system. 5/

This thread is against attempts to 1) downplay the danger of a coup and/or 2) argue that Trump's Twitter ban is actually what we should be worried about. All posts are directly lifted from today's WSWS perspective, linked at the end.

#CoupAttempt

The claims being made by various pseudo-left tendencies that the seriousness of the events in Washington should not be exaggerated, that it is wrong to refer to a coup, are dangerously complacent.

Jacobin magazine, which is affiliated with the Democratic Socialists of America, argues against “social media posts and liberal magazines of record [that] immediately characterized the rampage as a coup.”

The danger of fascistic violence, Jacobin claims, is minimal because the ruling class supports democracy. It writes: “The takeover of the Capitol has laid bare the lack of backing, both among corporate elites and within state institutions, for far-right authoritarianism. [...]

[...] Capital, it seems, is still committed to liberal democracy, which has served to safeguard its interests throughout American history.” [end of Jacobin quote]