Russian opposition leader #AlexeiNavalny has died after feeling unwell & losing consciousness following a walk on Friday in the penal colony where he was held, according to the country's prison service. He was 47. Kremlin spox Dmitry Peskov told reporters today that Russian President Vladimir #Putin has been informed of his death, & prison medics are working to identify the cause of death.
#POTUS#Biden praised #Navalny’s activism & his courage in returning to #Russia after being poisoned in 2020. “Even in prison, he was a powerful voice for the truth,” Biden said. He also repeated denunciations of fmr President Donald J. #Trump, who said recently that he would “encourage” Russia to attack #NATO#allies that do not spend enough on their militaries, calling Trump’s comments “dangerous” & “outrageous.”
If #LaraTrump were to become co-chair of the #RNC, it would let #Trump have a family member in a prominent position & give him a level of trust & insight as his campaign seeks to meld with the RNC.
#LaraTrump has worked closely w/the cmte for several years, & she is seen as a prolific fund-raiser (no comment). She also would be trusted by the #Trump family (till she isn’t) which has put an imprimatur on almost every aspect of TFG’s #political life & which closely watches how resources are allocated (i.e. how much to them?).
Something we should pay close attention to: Bukele, El Salvador & the rise/return of strongmen (Ruth Ben-Ghiat) around the world. High rates of crime & economic distress open way for people to accept or even clamor for anti-democratic measures that ignore the rule of law.
All but criminals want violence to drop. But throwing thousands in jail with no trial is dangerous too. Who checks the power?
… related, looking forward to reading Surving Autocracy by Masha Gessen on my flight to NYC today. #autocracy#democracy#elsalvador
This book is excellent: well-written, full of historic comparison and analysis, extremely concise and packs a punch.
My highest recommendation. #autocracy#democracy#government
I don’t believe that about Donald Trump. I don’t believe it, because I do believe Trump when he promises, over and over and over again, to use his powers in fashions that are not merely unconstitutional but anti-constitutional.
there is a fundamental incompatibility between Donald Trump the man and the powers of the American presidency.
"And of course, the very dangerous part of this is it can lead people to engage in violence if they're called to against immigrants, but also indifference to the suffering of the group that's been dehumanized. And we saw this with the mother and children who were left to die on the border. And so indifference and hatred go together. You need both for the proper climate for autocracy and it's repression to unfold."
--NYU Professor Ruth Ben-Ghiat
"Believe in truth. To abandon facts is to abandon freedom. If nothing is true, then no one can criticize power, because there is no basis upon which to do so. If nothing is true, then all is spectacle. The biggest wallet pays for the most blinding lights."
"Americans would do well to observe the lessons unfolding in Israel. Returning a strongman to power, who will actively seek to undermine the judiciary, civil institutions and the rule of law in pursuit of his own personal goals and to escape legal accountability, will result in political chaos as the citizenry protests his moves."
3 yrs after the #Jan6 attack, #Republicans are more sympathetic to…(the #insurrectionists) who stormed the US Capitol & more likely to absolve#Trump of responsibility for the attack than they were in 2021, acc/to a WaPo-University of MD poll.
#Republicans are showing increased loyalty to TFG as he campaigns for reelection & fights #criminal charges over his attempt to stay in power…. They are now less likely to believe that #Jan6 participants were “mostly violent,” less likely to believe #Trump bears responsibility for the attack & are slightly less likely to view Joe #Biden’s #election as legitimate….
Supporters of jailed Russian opposition leader #AlexeiNavalny said Mon that they had lost contact w/ him & that they have been unable to ascertain his whereabouts for almost a week. #Navalny, who was convicted on an array of charges widely viewed as political #retribution & carrying combined sentences of 30 yrs, wasn’t in the prison colony IK-6 where he had been held in recent months.
"Trump [won't] cancel elections, but [will] co-opt the machinery of state power in the way that Viktor Orban has done in Hungary. "
Georgetown professor @donmoyn has written a good article describing the mechanics of how the GOP will institute an autocracy, ending Democracy in the US, if we see a second term of the previous president. Moynihan includes his full NYT piece plus some additional commentary.