@cdarwin@c.im‘They slammed their M16s against his skull’:
-- inside the film about Amy Goodman’s fearless reporting
As "Steal This Story, Please!" charts her astonishing reports on everything from climate summits to earthquakes to massacres,
Goodman talks about dissent, censorship – and her ‘magic moments'
👉 "I consider an exclusive a failure,”
Amy Goodman says.
It is not a typical observation for a journalist to make,
but it is the approach a…
@servelan@newsie.social#GiftLink Sally Quinn: "there’s lots more damage that will be done to this city, and to our democracy — not to mention America’s place in the world — before Mr. Trump and his rabble are through. But it’s clearly starting to dawn on the MAGA minions that the morning after is going to be a doozy."
Opinion | It’s No Longer So Much Fun to Be MAGA in Washington - The New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/19/opinion/washington-dc-maga-trump.html
@cdarwin@c.imDonald Trump hates voting and he hates democracy.
This is not really in dispute.
But just in case anyone forgot,
he reminded us again last week when he unexpectedly and churlishly declared on Truth Social that
he would not sign the ROAD to Housing Act
which had passed with massive bipartisan support
(358-32 in the House; 85-5 in the Senate).
“Today’s Housing News Conference and Signing is hereby cancelled
until such time as we pass the desper…
@curiouscat@fosstodon.orgI donated again to the Southern Poverty Law Center. Due to the dire threats to the USA from the current administration and the Republican party I am donating as much as I spend on myself to charity this year.
https://www.splcenter.org/
We still have so much racism and injustice in the USA. Organizations…
@cdarwin@c.imAmericans are not accustomed to learning lessons about democracy from Nigeria, Peru, or the Philippines.
That disregard may soon change.
Those countries offer examples of what it looks like to reclaim stolen or swindled wealth from fallen authoritarian rulers.
Done right, this work can deliver justice and strengthen democratic institutions for the long run.
But cleaning up after a corrupt regime also comes with serious challenges and hazards.
The Trump presi…
@chris@mstdn.chrisalemany.caIf your government cabinet includes one “extremist” hellbent on killing “30 to 40” people of a particular ethnic or cultural background every night then YOUR GOVERNMENT IS EXTREMIST.
This is known as the Nazi Bar principle.
Put a different way, parliamentary democracy, where MPs are elected and form the executive cabinet, function on the principle that the Ministers of Cabinet must always implement the direction and will of the government.
If they are not able to do so, then they must resign from the executive cabinet and another MP must replace them.
Therefore, as long as Ben Gvir and others like him remain in Cabinet and continue to advocate these policies, then the Israeli Government must be in agreement with his principles.
#genocide #extremism #israel #gaza #bengvir #netanyahu
https://apnews.com/article/ben-gvir-israel-gaza-hamas-netanyahu-53f98e92686746f3c9bccd7cf59f26ad?utm_source=app&utm_medium=iOS_share&utm_campaign=copy_link
@chris@mstdn.chrisalemany.caThe German state election yesterday is a perfect demonstration of why Proportional Representation (PR) is far superior for democracy than First Past the Post (FPTP).
TLDR: Thanks to Proportionality, the AfD only won a minority, not majority parliament because the state parliament always reflects the popular vote.
The picture shows the state of Saxony-Anhalt divided into its electoral districts. It is almost all blue because the AfD won the most votes in all but three districts but with 42% of the popular vote overall.
Had this been a province in Canada, it would have produced a legislature with just 3 opposition members, and all the rest government members. Delivering absolute majority power with no meaningful voice for any other party (likely also losing official party status and key funding for political activities) despite a significant share of the popular vote. This has happened in Canada many times, including in BC in 2001 when the NDP won just 2 seats with all 77 others going to the B.C. Liberals… it led to a referendum on PR that won over 60% of the vote but was never implemented.
Had this German state used FPTP they would have a gigantic majority of exclusively far right members and just 3 opposition.
Thanks to PR, their legislature will actually reflect the vote of the people.
42% AfD (39 seats)
17% CDU (15)
9% SPD (8)
8% GRN (8)
8% LNK (8)
5% BSW (5)
83 seats: 42 needed for majority.
AfD: 39
Other parties: 44
In B.C., one of the tropes the status quo campaigners constantly bring up is that PR somehow enables extreme parties more than FPTP and is thus dangerous. This has been proven false over and over including right now,
Here we are, with another example as this German state breathes a sigh of relief that PR saved them from a whollly undemocratic and extreme outcome.
Meanwhile, back in B.C., our own now far right BC Conservatives have successfully splintered the “big tent” remnants of the old slightly more centrist B.C. Liberals leading to a mish mash of independents and new parties in the B.C. Legislature that have not been elected by the people and are unable to really function as a proper opposition to the majority government. FPTP doing a great job! *sarc
Why doesn’t Canada have *any* proportional elections?
Inertia, greed, and power.
Germany 2026 state election: #democracy #fptp #pr #germany #canada #bcpoli
@chris@mstdn.chrisalemany.caImagine if Americans had the kind of power and influence as Ukrainians have.
Even while they fight invasion and constant bombardment, Ukrainians, young and old, take to the streets to demand their government reverse a decision critical to the war effort and fighting corruption.
And their government listens.
Imagine if Americans had this kind of poise and resilience to fight their supposedly democratic government.
It is hard not to come to the conclusion that Americans are just too wrapped up in themselves, and too lazy, to do anything about Trump.
#Ukraine #USA #Democracy
https://aje.news/1zc5su
@chris@mstdn.chrisalemany.caAnd just to underline the point of betrayal of democratic promises. Here is the seminal tweet from September 21, 2015 just before that year's Canadian Federal Election where the eventual winner, Justin Trudeau and the Liberal Party of Canada, promises to abolish FPTP.
He did not.
(i love that X pulled up the current Liberal Party preview card, appropriately associating both the former and current Liberal party leaders with this betrayal. Democracy denied.)
#canpoli #cdnpoli
#democracy #fptp #pr #germany #canada #bcpoli
