Tootfinder

Let's conclude the "checks&balances" of US democracy are truly gone, nobody can or will stop Trump in militarizing Washington DC. The rest of the world is watching the fascist dictator Trump in action.
Apparently city government is no longer relevant or in charge...Democrats in Congress don't lift a finger, they should walk out and obstruct everything in government they can....
#trump

"France’s top court strikes down pesticide clause in farming law"
#France #Pesticides
ht…

France’s top court strikes down pesticide clause in farming law
Critics called the decision a win for democracy and the planet. Some lawmakers have already vowed to push for a full repeal in the coming months.

I can't help but wonder if "...democracy-under-threat messaging might not work on voters in places such as the Central Valley. It hearkens back to 2024, when Democrats repeatedly — and unsuccessfully — warned that then-candidate Trump posed a risk to Democracy." is key to Democratic losses.
I have heard too few Democratic messages that clearly offer a meaningful message of how a #DemocraticParty

Will Prop. 50 burst state Dems’ bubble?
Advocates warn messaging that works in places like SF doesn’t cut it elsewhere.

I can't help but wonder if "...democracy-under-threat messaging might not work on voters in places such as the Central Valley. It hearkens back to 2024, when Democrats repeatedly — and unsuccessfully — warned that then-candidate Trump posed a risk to Democracy." is key to Democratic losses.
I have heard too few Democratic messages that clearly offer a meaningful message of how a #DemocraticParty

Will Prop. 50 burst state Dems’ bubble?
Advocates warn messaging that works in places like SF doesn’t cut it elsewhere.

How the US democracy is designed to avoid representation
Right now in the US, a system which proclaims to give each citizen representation, my interests are not represented very well by most of my so-called representatives at any level of government. This is true for a majority of Americans across the political spectrum, and it happens by design. The "founding fathers" were explicit about wanting a system of government that would appear Democratic but which would keep power in the hands of rich white landowners, and they successfully designed exactly that. But how does disenfranchisement work in this system?
First, a two-party system locked in by first-post-the-post winner-takes-all elections immediately destroys representation for everyone who didn't vote for the winner, including those who didn't vote or weren't eligible to vote. Single-day non-holiday elections and prisoner disenfranchisement go a long way towards ensuring working-class people get no say, but much larger is the winner-takes all system. In fact, even people who vote for the winning candidate don't get effective representation if they're really just voting against the opponent as the greater of two evils. In a 51/49 election with 50% turnout, you've immediately ensured that ~75% of eligible voters don't get represented, and with lesser-of-two-evils voting, you create an even wider gap to wedge corporate interests into. Politicians need money to saturate their lesser-of-two-evils message far more than they need to convince any individual voter to support their policies. It's even okay if they get caught lying, cheating, or worse (cough Epstein cough) as long as the other side is also doing those things and you can freeze out new parties.
Second, by design the Senate ensures uneven representation, allowing control of the least-populous half of states to control or at least shut down the legislative process. A rough count suggests 284.6 million live in the 25 most-populous states, while only 54.8 million live in the rest. Currently, counting states with divided representation as two half-states with half as much population, 157.8 million people are represented by 53 Republican sensors, while 180.5 million people get only 45 seats of Democratic representation. This isn't an anti-Democrat bias, it's a bias towards less-populous states, whose residents get more than their share it political power.
I haven't even talked about gerrymandering yet, or family/faith-based "party loyalty," etc. Overall, the effect is that the number of people whose elected representatives meaningfully represent their interests on any given issue is vanishingly small (like, 10% of people tops), unless you happen to be rich enough to purchase lobbying power or direct access.
If we look at polls, we can see how lack of representation lets congress & the president enact many policies that go against what a majority of the population wants. Things like abortion restrictions, the current ICE raids, and Medicare cuts are deeply unpopular, but they benefit the political class and those who can buy access. These are possible because the system ensures at every step of the way that ordinary people do NOT get the one thing the system promises them: representation in the halls of power.
Okay, but is this a feature of all democracies, inherent in the nature of a majority-decides system? Not exactly...
1/2
#uspol #democracy

Democracy on the March... into the abyss...
In today's news, a rather small fish in the world of voting systems swallows a whale.
This reporter wonders: Who provided the funding for this acquisition?
"Scoop: Dominion Voting sold to company run by ex-GOP election official"
htt…

Scoop: Dominion Voting sold to company run by ex-GOP election official
Dominion is one of the biggest election equipment providers and was used by 27 states during the 2024 election.

This is the way.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/sep/11/brazil-supreme-court-bolsonaro-guilty-coup

#FreeDC

"The question of whether we’re in a constitutional crisis or whether authoritarianism has arrived is kind of an academic one. It’s either here or it’s going to be here very soon. **We’re still short of them openly defying a supreme court ruling or intentionally deporting US citizens or attempting to shut down a news media operation. But we’re not very far short.**"
Trump promised to be a dictator on day one. We’re now past day 200 | Donald Trump | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/10/donald-trump-authoritarian-democracy

Brazil’s supreme court finds Bolsonaro guilty of plotting military coup
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/sep/11/brazil-supreme-court-bolsonaro-guilty-coup

From Distrust to Retribution: America’s Escalating Spiral: https://blog.rmendes.net/2025/09/11/from-distrust-to-retribution-americas.html

"Appointed by Starmer as his undersecretary of state for homelessness and democracy she could have been a trailblazer for reform in the housing sector. She could have championed the return of sold-off council houses to the public sector. She might have persuaded the Cabinet to introduce rent controls to drive private-sector rents down to affordable levels."
The Rushanara Ali case is a spotlight on a broken housing sector | Morning Star

The mainstream media loves making it seam like dysfunction in Washington is coming from both parties.
Hello?
Much of the GOP no longer accepts the rule of law, or the norms of democracy, or the legitimacy of the opposing party.
Enough of the false equivalence.
https://bsky.app/profile/rbr…

Robert Reich (@rbreich.bsky.social)
The mainstream media loves making it seam like dysfunction in Washington is coming from both parties. Hello? Much of the GOP no longer accepts the rule of law, or the norms of democracy, or the legitimacy of the opposing party. Enough of the false equivalence.

"‘I don’t expect to live a normal life’: how a Leeds teenager woke up with a Chinese bounty on her head"
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2025/aug/11/leeds-teenager-china-chloe-cheung-democracy-p…

Speculative politics
As an anarchist (okay, maybe not in practice), I'm tired of hearing why we have to suffer X and Y indignity to "preserve the rule of law" or "maintain Democratic norms." So here's an example of what representative democracy (a form of government that I believe is inherently flawed) could look like if its proponents had even an ounce of imagination, and/or weren't actively trying to rig it to favor a rich donor class:
1. Unicameral legislature, where representatives pass laws directly. Each state elects 3 statewide representatives: the three most-popular candidates in a statewide race where each person votes for one candidate (ranked preference voting would be even better but might not be necessary, and is not a solution by itself). Instead of each representative getting one vote in the chamber, they get N votes, where N is the number of people who voted for them. This means that in a close race, instead of the winner getting all the power, the power is split. Having 3 representatives trades off between leisure size and ensuring that two parties can't dominate together.
2. Any individual citizen can contact their local election office to switch or withdraw their vote at any time (maybe with a 3-day delay or something). Voting power of representatives can thus shift even without an election. They are limited to choosing one of the three elected representatives, or "none of the above." If the "none of the above" fraction exceeds 20% of eligible voters, a new election is triggered for that state. If turnout is less than 80%, a second election happens immediately, with results being final even at lower turnout until 6 months later (some better mechanism for turnout management might be needed).
3. All elections allow mail-in ballots, and in-person voting happens Sunday-Tuesday with the Monday being a mandatory holiday. (Yes, election integrity is not better in this system and that's a big weakness.)
4. Separate nationwide elections elect three positions for head-of-state: one with diplomatic/administrative powers, another with military powers, and a third with veto power. For each position, the top three candidates serve together, with only the first-place winner having actual power until vote switches or withdrawals change who that is. Once one of these heads loses their first-place status, they cannot get it again until another election, even if voters switch preferences back (to avoid dithering). An election for one of these positions is triggered when 20% have withdrawn their votes, or if all three people initially elected have been disqualified by losing their lead in the vote count.
5. Laws that involve spending money are packaged with specific taxes to pay for them, and may only be paid for by those specific revenues. Each tax may be opted into or out of by each taxpayer; where possible opting out of the tax also opts you out of the service. (I'm well aware of a lot of the drawbacks of this, but also feel like they'd not necessarily be worse than the drawbacks of our current system.) A small mandatory tax would cover election expenses.
6. I'm running out of attention, but similar multi-winner elections could elect panels of judges from which a subset is chosen randomly to preside in each case.
Now I'll point out once again that this system, in not directly confronting capitalism, racism, patriarchy, etc., is probably doomed to the same failures as our current system. But if you profess to want a "representative democracy" as opposed to something more libratory, I hope you'll at least advocate for something like this that actually includes meaningful representation as opposed to the current US system that's engineered to quash it.
Key questions: "Why should we have winner-take-all elections when winners-take-proportionately-to-votes is right there?" and "Why should elected officials get to ignore their constituents' approval except during elections, when vote-withdrawal or -switching is possible?"
2/2
#Democracy

Most impressing video about the differences between Europe and the USA...
explanation for what occures in the USA so regularly, that they have a name of it:
Post Europe Depression.
People come from the most advanced democracy of the free to Europe and realize their delusion. When they go back home, they are very unhappy...
https://www.

When social opprobrium fails to stuff a turd like Charlie Kirk into some powerless far corner of society where he can’t hurt people, that’s when a turd like Kirk gets shot.
When democracy and the law fail to reign in corporate greed and harm and cruelty, that’s when you get a Luigi.
When the press and civil society fail to stop a rising authoritarian, that’s when you get WWII.
6/

Because calling for one's political opponents to be incarcerated is a perfectly normal and healthy part of a liberal democracy. 🙃
#uspol

🗷 Gerrymandering erodes confidence in democracy
#politics

Gerrymandering erodes confidence in democracy
When politicians redraw congressional district maps to favor their party, they may secure short-term victories. But those wins can come at a steep price—a loss of public faith in elections and, ultimately, in democracy itself.

Mike Flood, (R-NE), wasn’t received as expected by his Constituents on 10/4. Met with Boos & chants of “Tax the Rich” & “Vote Him Out”they’re not happy about Medicaid & SNAP cuts

JUST Wait ‘till they 👀 their ACA INCREASES!
Vote for ACA subsidies Mike & end the GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN
https://

Guardrails of Democracy (@demguardrails.bsky.social)
Mike Flood, (R-NE), wasn’t received as expected by his Constituents on 10/4. Met with Boos & chants of “Tax the Rich” & “Vote Him Out”they’re not happy about Medicaid & SNAP cuts JUST Wait ‘till they 👀 their ACA INCREASES! Vote for ACA subsidies Mike & end the GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN

To the GenZ & GenAlpha... I'm so sorry.
I hope you all grow up w/ a better sense of civic duty & what it means to be a Republic than previous generations did.
Take heart in knowing the dumbassed male Boomers & GenX like me will all be dead by then.
That is, if we're still a democracy. 😕

"The Librarians" @ BBC Four Storyville
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002kkmj
"A Storyville documentary that explores how librarians across the US are risking their safety to defend free speech as book bans and censorship threaten democracy from within."

Maybe Musk saw how easily democracy can be destroyed in a federation of 50 states?

'Archivist fired by Trump launches a national effort to strengthen democracy': 'On Constitution Day, Shogan launched a national bipartisan effort called "More Perfect" to work on strengthening democracy' https://www.pbs.org/newsho…

Archivist fired by Trump launches a national effort to strengthen democracy
Colleen Shogan made history when she became the first woman to serve as Archivist of the United States in 2023. In February, President Trump fired her with no reason given. On Constitution Day, Shogan launched a national bipartisan effort called "More Perfect" to work on strengthening democracy. Amna Nawaz reports for our series, Art in Action, and our arts and culture coverage, CANVAS.

https://terikanefield.com/whyextremismhappens

Why Intolerance and Extremism Happen (and how to protect democracy in a divided world) - Teri Kanefield
Hello, and welcome. I plan to take on some big questions, including: Why do some people spiral into extremism? Why does democracy seem perpetually on the brink? Why are we so divided? What can we do to protect democracy in a divided world? To answer these questions, I’ve pulled insights from political psychologists, neuroscientists, American […]

The Most Important Election In 2025 | Rep. Mikie Sherrill by Democracy Docket
#NewJersey

BREAKING: Democracy Forward Sues DOJ and FBI to Enforce FOIA Compliance Over Withheld Records Relating to Epstein
https://michaelpopok.substack.com/p/breaking-democracy-forward-sues-doj

Der Thread von @… über die Zerstörung des US-Amerikanischen Rechtsstaats.
Vorbereitet wurde das mit einer gezielten Besetzung des US-Verfassungsgerichts mit Trumps Handlangern in seiner ersten Amtszeit.
Ein Spiel das CDU und CSU derzeit auch spielen: sie versuchen die Besetzung des deutschen Verfassungsgerichts mit Richter*innen, die nicht auf Partei- son…

toad.social
Mastodon server operated by David Troy, a tech pioneer and investigative journalist addressing threats to democracy. Thoughtful participation and discussion welcome.

By-the-way, it is clear that we are experiencing the end of Democracy and rise of Dictatorship in the US.
We have long observed the rise of large corporations as a class of privileged nobility.
And now we are watching the onset of governance by artificial "intelligence".
Perhaps we will resume democracy, but unless we change our ground rules - such as our Constitution - the power of corporations and, now, AI's will remain a serious problem.
So I will men…

Event: Religion and Democratic Ideals: Reproductive Healthcare Access and White Nationalism
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2024, 6 – 7:30PM This event is free and open to the public. A liberal democracy should produce societies that are inclusive, equitable, dynamic, and responsive to the needs of citizens. This series will focus on where religion intersects with democratic ideals and institutions. We will discuss the outcomes we want from a democratic system and how such an…

The EU is pushing to scan ALL private messages, even encrypted ones, endangering privacy, security, and fundamental freedoms across 450 million people.
This is mass surveillance disguised as child protection, and it breaks encryption, risks false accusations, and threatens democracy worldwide.
Learn more & act NOW: https://fightchatcontrol…

It's not hyperbole to say that what we in the Fediverse are doing to build decentralized social media is important for the future of liberal democracy.
https://www.techdirt.com/2025/08/05/take-back-our-digital-infrastructure-to-save-democracy/

Like put Wikibase in the fediverse already, come on!
What?
Are you waiting for the downfall of democracy first?
GET ON IT!
#fediverse #Wikibase #GetOnIt

Part of me wants to end democracy so that fash can't vote. But I don't trust the current left to be good dictators.
If only I and people who thought like me solely held political office.

„MAGA seems to think it can begin with coercion and then build hegemony. But they may be making the same mistake the Leninist parties did in the West: pursuing an insurrectionary politics unsuited to the terrain of an advanced liberal democracy with a developed civil society. They are pursuing what Gramsci called the “war of maneuver”—rapid, lightning assaults—rather than the “war of position”—a gradual and more deliberate kind of approach.“

This #WaPo slogan is outdated.
Democracy dies in darkness was the official slogan of the American newspaper The Washington Post since 2017. It was meant to symbolise that a thriving democracy requires transparency and illumination of government actions and decisions. The slogan underscores the role of journalism in holding power accountable by shining a light on public officials and decision…

#lectrr #cartoon #democracy

A look at how the Canadian Journalism Collective has distributed Google's annual CA$100M payment under the Online News Act; 400 outlets have received funds (Gretel Kahn/Reuters Institute)
https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.a

«The whole thing is a mess and yet another embarrassment for the UK. And they were all warned about it, while insisting these concerns were exaggerations. But this isn’t just about the UK—it’s a cautionary tale for every democracy grappling with how to regulate the internet»
Go UK, "yet another embarrassment" is just too fitting 😅
https://www.techdirt.com/2025/08/04/didnt-take-long-to-reveal-the-uks-online-safety-act-is-exactly-the-privacy-crushing-failure-everyone-warned-about/

Missouri Dems Hold Sit-In for 100 Hours to Protest GOP Assault on Democracy | Common Dreams
https://www.commondreams.org/news/missouri-congressional-map

"I was elected mayor of Istanbul, but I write this from jail: Turkish democracy is under grave threat"
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/sep/24/mayor-istanbul-jail-ekrem-imamoglu-turkey-democracy

"The United States, just months before its 250th birthday as the world’s leading democracy [sic], has tipped over the edge into authoritarianism and fascism. In the end, faster than I imagined possible, it did happen here.
'America' (i.e. the USA) Tips Into Fascism
https://www.

America Tips Into Fascism
Today is different than before.

A brief explainer of how chief justice John Roberts became the main actor in dismantling US democracy
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/10/supreme-court-john-roberts-lisa-graves/

Taking stock of the Roberts court at 20—and the shadowy forces that built it
"Roberts will go down in history as the most destructive chief justice."

Labor Day: Bigger Than Ever 17x17K Rally!
📍 El Camino Real, Santa Clara to Redwood City.
🗓️ Monday, Sept 1 | 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM
https://tinyurl.com/historic17x17k

From Santa Clara to Redwood City: Historic 17x17k Rally on El Camino Real · May Day Strong
DEFEND OUR DEMOCRACY AND SAY NO TO FASCISM. Note: the "contact organization" link on the right of this page DOES NOT go to us!! Do not reach out that way, as we will not get it. ONCE YOU REGISTER, you will be able to connect with us directly with questions and comments!! To find a place to stand, you must sign yourself up for a segment, at signup.com: https://tinyurl.com/17x17ksegmentsignup. We cannot assign a spot for you, we really need you register yourself on this other site to get accur…

The #US got #democracy wrong. It's not one vote per dollar, it's one vote per person.
http://talkwards.c…

yo! listen up!
I am HERE for:
🧀 cheese
🏛️ democracy
🎨 art, animations, #pixelart, #b3d
📷 photography
🎸 tasty solos
🤓 nerdery

More news from the extermination camp of Gaza.
https://mstdn.social/@DemocracyMattersALot/114908465532225924

⚖️ Inequality, pollution, and democracy levels shape how quickly populations age: Study
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-07-inequality-pollution-democracy-quickly-populations.html

Inequality, pollution, and democracy levels shape how quickly populations age: Study
A groundbreaking international study of 161,981 participants across 40 countries published in Nature Medicine reveals that air pollution, social inequality, and weak democratic institutions substantially accelerate aging. The collaborative study involves leading researchers from the Global Brain Health Institute in Trinity College Dublin.

Warnings From Weimar. Why Bargaining With Authoritarians Fails.
#weimar

Warnings From Weimar
Why bargaining with authoritarians fails.

A New Digital Divide? Coder Worldviews, the Slop Economy, and Democracy in the Age of AI
Jason Miklian, Kristian Hoelscher
https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.04755 https://

A New Digital Divide? Coder Worldviews, the Slop Economy, and Democracy in the Age of AI
Digital technologies are transforming democratic life in conflicting ways. This article bridges two perspectives to unpack these tensions. First, we present an original survey of software developers in Silicon Valley, interrogating how coder worldviews, ethics, and workplace cultures shape the democratic potential and social impact of the technologies they build. Results indicate that while most developers recognize the power of their products to influence civil liberties and political discours…

Performative Politics Is a Dead End https://jacobin.com/2025/09/ndp-leadership-race-social-democracy-identity-politics/

Performative Politics Is a Dead End
Canada’s New Democratic Party once rallied workers around a bold social democratic vision. The leadership contest now unfolding shows a center left so busy virtue signaling it forgets how to build power.

I am very disappointed in #MayorLurie's action re TNC's on Market. It's clear the voters got snookered/[played by the language re "commercial vehicles" - where the clear intent was to allow deliveries to the businesses on Market. Conveniently ignoring the commercial licenses of TNCs - but hey, we need to keep the segment that can afford to use the TNCs happy, don't we…

Lurie is damaging transit, the environment—and democracy—on Market Street - 48 hills
The mayor is undoing the will of the voters and opening the street to Uber, Lyft, Waymo—and others are sure to follow

I am very disappointed in #MayorLurie's action re TNC's on Market. It's clear the voters got snookered/[played by the language re "commercial vehicles" - where the clear intent was to allow deliveries to the businesses on Market. Conveniently ignoring the commercial licenses of TNCs - but hey, we need to keep the segment that can afford to use the TNCs happy, don't we…

Lurie is damaging transit, the environment—and democracy—on Market Street - 48 hills
The mayor is undoing the will of the voters and opening the street to Uber, Lyft, Waymo—and others are sure to follow

Hamburg police have understood what “defensive #democracy” means:
“Does flying the 🏳️‍🌈 flag violate the neutrality requirement? No! Our neutrality means political impartiality – but not neutrality in value. The flag represents values like diversity, tolerance & equality of rights, which are deeply embedded in our constitution.
Positioning ourselves against hate & discrimi…

Andreas Froese (@Andreas_Froese@mastodon.social)
Attached: 1 image Im Bundestag geht die Polizei auf Anordnung der Präsidentin und der Verwaltung gegen die #Regenbogenfahne vor. Die Hamburger Polizei hat dagegen dieses stabile Statement offiziell veröffentlicht. Klare Worte zur #Neutralität mit einer klaren #Haltung! #LGBTQIA+ #Regenbogenflagge #Queer

I'll gonna take some time today to personalize the message and send out emails from my own account to hopefully ditch filtering on the target side and make my voice heard. Allowing chat control does not only put privacy and democracy in danger. At times of constant digital attacks from rogue states like Russia, the US, North Korea and China etc. it should be obvious that having weak encryption and standard backdoor access to secure communications channels is an invitation for any malici…

Fight Chat Control (@chatcontrol@mastodon.social)
Angehängt: 1 Bild Germany's position has been reverted to UNDECIDED. Despite expressing concerns about breaking end-to-end encryption, Germany refrained from taking a definitive stance on the Chat Control proposal during the September 12th LEWP meeting. A willingness to negotiate and compromise remains. This is an unfortunate development as Germany is crucial to defeating Chat Control. Please make your voices heard! https://fightchatcontrol.eu/ Source: https://netzpolitik.org/2025/chatko…

Democracy in the US is going to the dogs right now, and yet there are still people who fly there for a vacation or a conference with a clear conscience. It's unbelievable.
#USA

Analysis of 1.76M Community Notes received by X from January 2021 to March 2025: 90% of submitted notes are never published, with many notes "stuck in limbo" (DDIA)
https://ddia.org/en/a-deep-dive-into-xs-community-notes-report

A Deep Dive into X’s Community Notes: An Analysis of English and Spanish Contributions Between 2021 and 2025
The Digital Democracy Institute of the Americas (DDIA) examined how X’s Community Notes system functions across English and Spanish, drawing from over 1.76 million notes submitted globally between 2021 and 2025. The report explores submission and publication dynamics, contributor behavior, and systemic challenges like transparency gaps and rating backlogs. As community-driven content moderation becomes a global model, this report sheds light on its potential, and limitations, for building a h…

In Italy, for thirty years under the Borgias, they had warfare, terror,
murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michaelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci
and the Renaissance. In Switzerland, they had brotherly love, they had
five hundred years of democracy and peace -- and what did they produce?
The cuckoo-clock.
-- Orson Welles, "The Third Man"

Good electoral reforms. But it's VERY disappointing that Labour clings to first-past-the-post. Not only does FPTP make no sense when there are more than 2 parties, but, most importantly, change to PR could be the only way to prevent a far-right majority in 2029. Wake up!
https:…

16 year olds to be given right to vote through seismic government election reforms
Sixteen year olds will be given the right to vote in all UK elections as part of seismic changes to modernise UK democracy

# My thoughts on EU Chat Control
I just don't think we are ready for what's coming, most people will be caught off guard when the real consequences of losing our privacy come: democracy and other rights will be affected in the near future, and when people realize this it will be too late (the "I've got nothing to hide" crowd is what I am referring to).
Insane timeline that we live in, I don't see a future where we get to maintain end-to-end encrypted com…

"Protests in Serbia: a battle for democracy that the EU must not ignore"
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/aug/25/the-guardian-view-on-protests-in-serbia-a-battle-for-democracy-that-the…

If by American democracy we mean a pluralistic, multiracial society of political and social equals, then American democracy as we know it began with the signing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, 60 years ago today.
Under the current Supreme Court’s vision of a rigidly colorblind Constitution
— indifferent to either racial inequality or the mechanisms of color caste
— the Voting Rights Act is very likely toast.
There is also the matter of Chief Justice John Roberts, wh…

Opinion | Donald Trump and John Roberts Have a Lot in Common
The Supreme Court may extinguish a law that more than any other made the promise of American democracy a reality.

The US is a slave state founded on genocide that *still* hasn't actually abolished slavery. Nazi race law came from Jim Crow, but you won't find that taught in a single classroom in the US. The Senate and Electoral College are *explicitly* anti-democratic institutions... Like, they were designed to prevent democracy. The whole punitive legal system exists to suppress dissent and legitimize slavery. The genocide of indigenous folks *has not even ended* much less has there been any attempt at reparations.
How exactly are you going to fix that by voting harder in the mid terms, and finding a more acceptable candidate for 2028? Seriously, someone explain it to me.

From #RobertReich @…
The moral bankruptcy of #America’s #leadership class.…

America without a leadership class
In the face of the worst crisis American democracy has faced in living memory, they’re silent or complicit

**Appeals Court Rejects Trump’s Attempt to Fire FTC Commissioner** - Democracy Docket
https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/appeals-court-rejects-trumps-attempt-to-fire-ftc-commissioner/

Podcast recommendation: The @… Podcast "How to fix the Internet" talks with @…, founder of the @…

Podcast Episode: Building and Preserving the Library of Everything
All this season, “How to Fix the Internet” has been focusing on the tools and technology of freedom – and one of the most important tools of freedom is a library. Access to knowledge not only creates an informed populace that democracy requires, but also gives people the tools they need to thrive....

sometimes, the misaddressed msgs for MEPs in the parltrack inbox are truly wtf. today some young citizen schleiming around and asking for:
> I would be extremely grateful if it would be possible to receive a small
autograph from you or perhaps a small gift or souvenir related to the
European Parliament. Such a gesture would mean a lot to me as someone who is eager to learn more about European institutions and democracy.

This guy makes me laugh!
#Capitalism #AntiCapitalism

People in Moldova, choose for Europe, democracy and prosperity. Not for Russia, corruption and destruction.
#moldova #elections #europe

"By now it should be clear that the subjection of the United States to the dictatorship of Donald Trump is no longer a theoretical possibility or even a distant probability. It is an imminent reality."
Andrew Coyne , Globe and Mail
https://www.theglobe…

Donald Trump is on the brink of becoming a dictator. Can he be stopped?
As the guardrails of American democracy fall one by one, it is no longer a question of where the President is going, but how fast he will get there

CA voters: Vote YES on Prop 50.
Here's the latest ad featuring AOC explaining how EVERYONE IN AMERICA is depending on Californians to counterbalance Trump & the Republican's gerrymandering in TX with CA Prop 50, the Election Rigging Response act.
Healthcare. Paychecks. Democracy. We're the last line of defense against Trump's rigging of future elections.

I wonder what inspired TIL to post this today.
https://noc.social/@todayilearned/115232287275687330

Today I learned (@todayilearned@noc.social)
Attached: 1 image TIL that Palpatine being a ruthless politician dismantling a democracy to achieve supreme power was inspired by real life examples of democratic backsliding. Nixon’s presidency got Lucas to thinking about how democracies turned into dictatorships: “Democracies aren't overthrown; they're given away“. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palpatine #til #todayilearned https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1nlamby/til_that_palpatine_being_a_ruthless_politician/

She "emphasizes the importance of embracing a cacophony of voices in the fight against the rigid and coordinated forces of the Christian right. She advocates for a coalition that includes people of various faiths and those with no faith at all, working together to uphold the values of a multiracial democracy."
How the Christian Right is Taking Over America with Talia Lavin
https://religionnews.com/2025/09/06/how-the-christian-right-is-taking-over-america-with-talia-lavin/

Q&A with Wired's global editorial director Katie Drummond on how it is impossible to disambiguate tech from politics as the US turns toward authoritarianism (Oliver Darcy/Status)
https://www.status.news/p/wired-katie-drummond-interview

WIRED for the Moment
In a conversation with Status, WIRED’s Katie Drummond argues that Silicon Valley is no longer just innovating new technology—it’s actively shaping American democracy.

Reminder that most of our political rules & institutions are purely extra-constitutional norms,
held together by shared beliefs in democracy & a lot of duct tape,
& we’re all out of shared norms
& have shredded our last rolls of tape.
“Democracy is a system in which parties lose elections”
h…

Norm Ornstein (@normornstein.bsky.social)
The constitution does not explicitly say that members have to be sworn in by the Speaker. [contains quote post or other embedded content]

Americans worry democracy in danger amid gerrymandering fights, new poll finds – live;
Armed troops in cities? Kidnappings in broad daylight? No big deal.
Gerrymandering? OMG! 😏

Trump is not the actual problem. The problem are all those people that enable him. And John Roberts stands out as someone that has the pretence of integrity (which nobody in MAGA or TESCREAL has), yet is going at great lengths to destroy the checks and balances of American democracy.
https://

The Roberts Court Is Winning Its War on American Democracy
Chief Justice John Roberts has now overseen 20 years of increasingly illiberal rulings by the Supreme Court.

So now the Labour Party is a democracy that money can buy.
"Powell, who has cast herself as the "independent choice" in the contest, has also been boosted by a £15,000 donation from green energy industrialist Dale Vince."
Phillipson: I've been the victim of sexist briefings - BBC News
https://www.

Phillipson: I've been the victim of sexist briefings
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson is running against Lucy Powell for Labour's deputy leadership.

😎 How do politicians view democracy? It depends on whether they win or lose
#politics

How do politicians view democracy? It depends on whether they win or lose
There is a heightened concern about the current state of democracy around the globe. These include worries about a decrease in freedom, the growing number of autocracies around the world and citizens' dissatisfaction with democracy or government.

"The degree of equality of women within countries predicts best—better than their degree of democracy and better than their level of wealth, income inequality or ethno-religious identity—how peaceful or conflict-ridden their countries are. Further, democracies with higher levels of violence against women are less stable and more likely to choose force rather than diplomacy to resolve conflict."
The Mortal Sins of Patriarchy
https://www.juancole.com/2025/10/mortal-sins-patriarchy.html

sometimes, the misaddressed msgs for MEPs in the parltrack inbox are truly wtf. today some young citizen schleiming around and asking for:
> I would be extremely grateful if it would be possible to receive a small
autograph from you or perhaps a small gift or souvenir related to the
European Parliament. Such a gesture would mean a lot to me as someone who is eager to learn more about European institutions and democracy.

If you're not against the Trump administration and its full-blown destruction of science and democracy.. Then you are for it. So sad to see that this is apparently the path chosen by #DartmouthCollege, so easily contributing to the "divide and conquer" Trump strategy.

How Dartmouth Became the Ivy League’s Switzerland
Rob Wolfe writes about the policy of “institutional restraint” pursued by Sian Beilock, the president of Dartmouth College, in her dealings with student protests and Donald Trump’s Administration.

Do you enjoy working? Sure, as long as the shop floor runs on real democracy and it’s the workers themselves making the calls through good old-fashioned worker self-management, without bosses or rigid hierarchies.
#RevolutionarySyndicalism #Syndicalism

Worth a read...
"What Exactly Is Required to Preserve Our Democracy?"
https://www.theatlantic.com/podcasts/archive/2025/07/what-exactly-is-required-to-preserve-our-democracy/683492/

What Exactly Is Required to Preserve Our Democracy?
It will take a “total mobilization of our forces,” in the words of new Autocracy in America host Garry Kasparov.

“The United States, just months before its 250th birthday as the world’s leading democracy, has tipped over the edge into authoritarianism and fascism. ”
https://www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/america-tips-into-fascism-f51000e08e03254d

America Tips Into Fascism
Today is different than before.

Your regular reminder that marginal income & capital gains tax rates are too low
-- and this poses an existential threat to 🇺🇸 democracy
https://bsky.app/profile/robertscotthorton.bsky.social/post/3lzu3j77n622p

Scott Horton (@robertscotthorton.bsky.social)
Larry Ellison envisions a surveillance state in which techbros rule. '“Citizens will be on their best behavior, because we’re constantly recording and reporting everything that is going on,” Ellison said in an hour-long Q&A during Oracle’s Financial Analyst Meeting last week.' https://fortune.com/2024/09/17/oracle-larry-ellison-surveillance-state-police-ai/

Well, we got our California Proposition 50 voting materials - that's the proposition to do redistricting.
Unlike the fake-democracy states, like Texas, here in California we voters actually get to chose whether we re-district or not.
(BTW, I am voting "YES" on Proposition 50.)

😰 Americans worry democracy is in danger amid gerrymandering fights, poll finds
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/08/22/world/politics/gerrymandering-us-democracy-danger-poll/
🆓

Americans worry democracy is in danger amid gerrymandering fights, poll finds
As Texas Republicans redraw the state's congressional maps to benefit their party, California Democrats threaten to respond in kind.

If you read what Jimmy Kimmel actually said...this is free speech in any democracy in the western world, his comments weren't even hateful or inciting. The USA is transforming into a fascist state before our eyes.
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/09/17/charlie-kirk-jimm…

ABC pulls 'Jimmy Kimmel Live' off air 'indefinitely' over Charlie Kirk comments
Jimmy Kimmel suggested that Tyler Robinson, the man accused of killing Charlie Kirk, was aligned with President Donald Trump's MAGA movement.

Antiwar activists led by @jvp.bsky.social occupied the lobby of the New York offices of
Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand on Friday
to denounce their votes against halting arms shipments to Israel.
Banging pots and pans, they chanted
"Stop starving Gaza!" and
"Never again for anyone!"

10 actions we can take to help protect our democracy | The Seattle Times
https://archive.ph/lbkPK

31 Days of Action – All August!
Funding cuts. Banned words. Fired public servants.
Trump & his cronies are dismantling America’s greatest experiment - our democracy - & with it, science.
Between now & Sept 30th we decide: Are we a democracy… or an oligarchy?
https://

After Losing in Court, Utah GOPers Unveil Audacious Scheme To Create New Gerrymander - Democracy Docket
https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/after-losing-in-court-utah-gopers-unveil-audacious-scheme-to-create-new-gerrymander/

An election law expert weighs in on Trump's effort to reshape our democracy : NPR
https://www.npr.org/2025/09/10/nx-s1-5536528/an-election-law-expert-weighs-in-on-trumps-effort-to-reshape-our-democracy