I think #Democrats would be wise to try to postpone the #TikTok ban, to avoid being labeled as the censorship party by #Republicans.

#GOP would capitalize on the outrage, which could hurt progressives in the midterm election with younger voters.

👉🏾 US lawmakers urge #Biden to extend TikTok Jan. 19 ban deadline reuters.com/technology/us-lawm…

"Donald Trump didn’t make the Republican Party corrupt and bigoted – he just supercharged its corruption and bigotry. As evidence, I offer this timeline of the last 50 or so years, starting with Richard Nixon. I think it drives home the point that lovers of liberty must stop Republicanism, not just Trumpism."

~ Mark Jacob

#Trump #Republicans #democracy #authoritarianism

stopthepresses.news/p/a-half-c…

A half-century of horrible Republican behavior

This timeline is a reminder that GOP awfulness didn’t start with Trump.

^{Mark Jacob (Stop the Presses)}

#Zuckerberg is now at the grovelling stage of happily being the lackey whose job is laying the groundwork of social acceptability, for his new buddies #Trump and #Republicans to then make this happen universally throughout law.

(and sorry, I didn't know that Wired only allows one free article a month earlier)

#Meta #Facebook #LGBTQ #gay #trans

"Mark Zuckerberg visits Mar-A-Lago and listens to the national anthem being sung by the January 6th Prison Choir which is, yes, a choir made up of people accused of crimes related to the riot. Trump lent his voice to a fundraising recording for the choir. The song has been a staple of Trump’s rallies, along with his invocation of the attackers as 'patriots.'”

#Trump #Republicans #ElonMusk #MarkZuckerberg #autocracy #oligarchy #EconomicElites
/9

"The distance between the aftermath of Jan. 6 and today could not be more vast. Then, Trump was pushed off social media. Now, Trump has his own social media. Elon Musk has turned X into a pro-Trump site and is part of the Trump administration."

~ Don Moynihan

#Trump #Republicans #ElonMusk #autocracy #oligarchy #EconomicElites
/8

donmoynihan.substack.com/p/jan…

Jan. 6 and the path not taken

At key moments, Republicans were unwilling to defend democracy

^{Don Moynihan (Can We Still Govern?)}

"Under Musk-Trump, every attempt will be made to make oligarchy, rule by the wealthy few, seem normal. The deeds of billionaires will be justified by the very fact that they are billionaires. Their own rise to the top of American politics will be celebrated as the success of everyone."

#Trump #Republicans #ElonMusk #autocracy #oligarchy #EconomicElites
/7

"Four years ago today, Donald Trump led an attempt to overthrow a democratic election and thereby undo our constitutional system. In two weeks, the same man will be inaugurated president of the United States, this time with a centibillionaire as the unelected de facto head of government and with anti-qualified anti-patriots as his cabinet nominees. What to do?"

~ Timothy Snyder

#Trump #Republicans #ElonMusk #autocracy #oligarchy #EconomicElites
/6

snyder.substack.com/p/shadow-c…

Shadow Cabinet

A Positive Form of Opposition

^{Timothy Snyder (Thinking about...)}

"We’ve heard this so often about the ultra-rich when they enter politics as candidates: It is their very commitment to devoting their lives to amassing ever more money that shows they can’t be bought. This is something many Trump supporters say about him, all the evidence of his relentless grasping for every last dime notwithstanding."

#Trump #Republicans #ElonMusk #autocracy #oligarchy #EconomicElites
/5

"When the interviewer pointed out that in fact Musk holds billions of dollars in federal contracts and so has quite a conflict of interest, Sununu countered that 'everyone has a conflict of interest,' and besides, Musk has so much money that he could not possibly care whether his new ability to shape federal policy will benefit him personally. 'He’s doing it for the bigger project and the bigger vision of America.'”

#Trump #Republicans #ElonMusk #autocracy #oligarchy #EconomicElites
/4

"Appearing on CNN a week ago, the supposedly moderate New Hampshire Republican governor Chris Sununu expressed his gladness that Elon Musk, who spent $277 million to get Donald Trump elected, is 'an outsider' who is 'not looking for anything' from his hostile takeover of the American government."

#Trump #Republicans #ElonMusk #autocracy #oligarchy #EconomicElites
/3

"The tech oligarchs have found their man. Turns out the corrupt, buffoonish Trump is what they were looking for all along."

~ Paul Waldman

#Trump #Republicans #ElonMusk #autocracy #oligarchy #EconomicElites
/2

paulwaldman.substack.com/p/the…

The Tech Oligarchs Have Found Their Man

^{Paul Waldman (The Cross Section)}

"The Billionaire System is a foundational lie, the greatest of which is that only some people deserve life while the rest do not."

~ A.R. Moxon

#Trump #Republicans #ElonMusk #autocracy #oligarchy #EconomicElites
/1

the-reframe.com/being-more-lik…

Being More Like Republicans

Four simple observations from the recent election about the nature of opposition.

^{A.R. Moxon (The Reframe)}

@the5thColumnist @mloxton @KathyLK

#trump wants #israel to "finish the problem" in #gaza while #biden started withholding arms at one point because of the #genocide

both the #democrats and #republicans suck

but one is better, and one is worse

if you hew to the standard of perfect and don't #vote or vote 3rd party, you help get us worse

i don't like that. but that is reality

you *never* get perfect as a choice

you must choose better, and *iterate*

#toxicidealism is self-destruction

i agree #democrats need a stronger backbone

however i disagree with this phenomenon:

1. #republicans do something awful

2. people blame democrats for not stopping it

let's keep our blame game squarely focused on the #right where it belongs, while we also makeover the democrats in the #midterms with more strong #left #candidates

#primaries2026

"This is the year in which it became obvious that the right-wing #media has more power than the mainstream media. It’s not just that it’s bigger. It’s that it speaks w/one voice, and that voice says #Democrats & liberals are treasonous elitists who hate you, and #Republicans & conservatives love God & country...

And that is why #DonaldTrump won. Indeed, the right-wing media is why he exists in our #political lives in the first place"
- @newrepublic

newrepublic.com/post/188197/tr…

#Politics #News #US

Why Does No One Understand the Real Reason Trump Won?

It wasn’t the economy. It wasn’t inflation, or anything else. It was how people perceive those things, which points to one overpowering answer.

^{The New Republic}