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Fascism's Soothing Affect

Fascism’s Soothing Affect

The White House release of that ‘ASMR’ video of a migrant being shackled and deported was rightly attacked for its shocking dehumanization. But it revealed something else. From Nuremberg rallies to Trump rallies, we usually think of fascist leaders mobilizing popular support by igniting feelings of fear, anger, vengeance, and the violent targeting of demonized

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Election Eve Reading

Election Eve Reading!

Dear Readers, I’d like to share two new articles. The first, for LOGOS, is on the Trump rally at Madison Square Garden I attended last week. The second, for New Lines Magazine, is on the deeper crisis of liberal democracy of which fascist election denialism is a critical symptom. Hoping for the best tomorrow, or

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Joe Biden

Rapid Decline: The President’s Two Bodies

Concerns over Joe Biden’s fitness to stand for election turned into full-blown panic after his senescent debate performance against Donald Trump last week. A steadily-growing number of Democratic Party leaders, along with the New York Times Editorial Board, has called on him to step aside. Meanwhile, other elected Democratic officials have vociferously defended him. Although

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Newt Gingrich and Karl Rove

Not just Trump: the tactics of election subversion have long been a GOP strategy

At the first Republican debate tomorrow night we will no doubt see most of the candidates onstage condemn the various indictments against Trump for conspiring to steal the 2020 presidential election. With the exception of Asa Hutchinson and Chris Christie, these challengers feel they must tread lightly in their criticisms, since Trump remains overwhelmingly popular

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A crowd of excited people.

Reconstruction/Redemption: Democracy, Civility, and the Tennessee Three

If we have been in the midst of a Third Reconstruction, as historian Peniel Joseph has argued, then the expulsion today of two Black lawmakers from the Tennessee state legislature is an attempt at a Third Redemption. A Republican supermajority expelled two Black Democratic lawmakers from their seats for joining a protest calling for action

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Supreme Access

The New York Times broke a story two days ago revealing that Samuel Alito leaked a 2014 Supreme Court contraception decision, weeks before it was publicly announced, to anti-abortion activists. The story also details the extraordinary access these activists have to other justices as well – at restraurants, hunting retreats, and even prayer sessions in

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The Jan 6 Hearings, Patriot Front, and Martin Luther King’s Mustache

This week John McNaughton, artist laureate of the Trumpist right, unveiled his newest work, “Politically Incorrect.” The painting was released on the third day of hearings by the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack – hearings that opened by dramatically portrayed the role the Proud Boys in the capitol assault, and closed

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