#Trump’s border #intimidation has come for US citizens too

Leftwing, pro-Palestine streamer’s interrogation by airport officials on return to #US shows chilling escalation of war on #FreeSpeech

He was detained, questioned for hours by border control as he re-entered US (he is #US #citizen

Countries behave like this towards political commentators & dissenting voices who are their own citizens are either nakedly #authoritarian, on the way

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/may/13/donald-trump-border-intimidation-us-citizens-hasan-piker

Old #authoritarian #joke:

A man walks by a newsstand every day. Each day, he stops and picks up a newspaper, looks at its front page, puts it back down, and continues walking. He does this every day for years, until the newsstand owner decides he could not contain his curiosity any more. The following day, the man stops by the newsstand as usual, and does his same routine. As he puts the newspaper down, the newsstand owner stops him and asks: “Excuse me sir, you come to my newsstand every day, pick up a newspaper, look at the front page, and put it back down. Why do you do that?”

“I’m looking for an obituary,” the man says.

“But obituaries are on page sixteen,” replies the newsstand owner.

“Not *this* obituary,” the man replies, as he walks away.

Are we heading for another world war, or has it already started?

Implosion of Pax #Americana, interconnectedness of #conflicts, new willingness to resort to state-sponsored #violence & ignoring institutions of rules-based order have all been on brutal display this week

Policy analyst, adviser to #UK govt on its strategic defence review, argues the #WWIII has already started, if only we would recognise it.

https://www.theguardian.com/news/ng-interactive/2025/may/10/are-we-heading-for-another-world-war-or-has-it-already-started

Experts say the American president is borrowing a playbook from other elected leaders who have used the tools of democracy to undo it. #trump #democracy #authoritarian

https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2025/0509/donald-trump-authoritarian-playbook-democracy?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub

Posted into The American Story @the-american-story-csmonitor

“They Don’t Need A Warrant”

“We’ve crushed fascism before and we’ll crush it again”

WW2 veteran Ken, 98, in the tank

https://youtu.be/lw4ZjhOukwU

#BernieSanders is calling #US #fascism " #authoritarianism" because when we eventually do #communism, we'll have to use " #authoritarian" measures to repress #capitalism while building #socialism, & #socdems like him will be leading the charge against us.

https://bsky.app/profile/sanders.senate.gov/post/3lnyq6yksi22v

"But the road ahead cannot rely on elected officials to stem this #authoritarian spiral: I am looking to millions of Americans demonstrating in the streets to say they’ve had enough. That cannot be an occasional thing but an ongoing effort to ensure the survival of our centuries-old democratic experiment."

https://www.salon.com/2025/05/05/resistance-to-shock-and-awe-takes-root/

Here's a podcast that I have listened to twice now, originally released in April 2022, that provides interesting insight into the personalities that are drawn to authoritarianism.

#authoritarian #authoritarianism
#humanbehaviour #socialscience
#curiosity

https://www.cbc.ca/radio/ideas/who-s-drawn-to-fascism-postwar-study-of-authoritarianism-makes-a-comeback-1.6403074

Instilling fear, causing uncertainty and doubt, and most importantly, destroying trust

These are critical parts in establishing an #authoritarian #regime.

These aren't bugs of the #Republican #GOP agenda, they're full on features.

It is deliberate.

A concerted effort to disassemble civilization from the inside out, and install a dictatorship. Just like in Russia, Iran, North Korea.

The minister of foreign affairs of the #usa just meddled in #germany 's security affairs in an incredibly shameless and most undesirable way. One wonders why #europe still has diplomatic ties with these thugs.

"presents itself as a neutral glimpse into the minds of disaffected #Americans, but... it platforms a dangerous cocktail of #misinformation, grievance #politics & #authoritarian nostalgia—all without a single factual challenge.

This isn’t #journalism. It’s stenography...

In a country where the truth has already been bent into oblivion by years of conspiracy & #propaganda, refusing to correct blatant falsehoods is not neutrality—it’s surrender."
https://www.theindex.media/we-read-the-nyts-trump-voter-focus-group-so-you-dont-have-to/