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neilabrams.bsky.social
Corruption, democracy, rule of law, Eastern Europe, Ukraine. Words in WaPo, Slate, Foreign Policy. PhD, political science. He/him. Subscribe at https://www.readthedetox.com
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This, and other forms of nonviolent civil resistance, is the *only* thing that can check Trump's abuses at this point. Congress, the courts, the executive branch - none of those things can effectively limit an authoritarian president. It's either this or autocracy.

submitted 20 hours ago • 3 comments

woke dei financial times

submitted 21 hours ago • 4 comments

My latest: Elon was always vulnerable to Trump—because that’s how things work in authoritarian regimes. The autocrat controls the oligarchs, not the other way around. 🧵 www.readthedetox.com/p/the-daily-...

submitted 1 day ago • 2 comments

Ironically, oligarchs can wield more power in democracies because the rule of law protects them from abuse by the executive. Not so under authoritarianism—which is why it was so easy to rein in Russia’s oligarchs as soon as they got a president who wasn’t passed-out drunk all the time.

submitted 1 day ago • 1 comment

Ah, and I wrote this in December: bsky.app/profile/neil...

submitted 1 day ago • 1 comment

“The University of Michigan is using private, undercover investigators to surveil pro-Palestinian campus groups, including trailing them on and off campus, furtively recording them and eavesdropping on their conversations, the Guardian has learned”

submitted 1 day ago • 39 comments

I wrote this back in February. The fact that these two idiots would come to blows was inevitable. It was equally obvious how vulnerable Elon was and how dangerous it would become for him as soon as Trump decided he was done. www.readthedetox.com/p/elon-musk-...

submitted 1 day ago • 0 comments

Yunseo Chung, the Columbia student and green-card holder who has been in hiding since ICE tried to disappear her in March, wins sweeping order preventing her arrest and detention. She becomes the first of these pro-Palestinian advocates to circumvent the Trump administration policy to deport them.

submitted 1 day ago • 19 comments

Just sayin’, but I wrote this in February when everyone was convinced that Elon was the new king of America: [Neil says, patting himself on the back] open.substack.com/pub/thedetox...

submitted 2 days ago • 4 comments

Trump lacks something every leader needs: legitimacy. Without it, he can only maintain power by dispensing rewards and deploying coercion. This leaves him vulnerable, and his opponents can exploit that. My latest: www.readthedetox.com/p/the-daily-...

submitted 2 days ago • 0 comments

The reason why authoritarian regime are vulnerable to removal is because they lack legitimacy. Well, Donald Trump has lost his legitimacy.

submitted 3 days ago • 0 comments

A message for the "traditional values" Westoids in the back who admire Ru and say things like "Ru isn't our enemy": Ru looks down on Europe and spits on family values.

submitted 5 days ago • 3 comments

Last week, three prominent fascism experts announced that they're leaving for Canada, comparing what's happening in America to the early stages of Nazi rule. But we need to see Trump’s authoritarianism for what it is, and Nazi Germany it is not. My latest: www.readthedetox.com/p/the-fix-no...

submitted 6 days ago • 0 comments

What is antisemitism? It's not expressing animus towards Israel. It's not expressing animus towards Zionism. It's expressing animus towards Jews because they are Jewish. Unless further details emerge to the contrary, the attack in Boulder was an act of antisemitism, plain and simple.

submitted 6 days ago • 1 comment

Attacking people protesting for the release of Israeli hostages is evil and it is antisemitic. You are doing NOTHING to stop the genocide in Gaza by violently attacking innocent people. Nothing. You're just drawing attention from genocide victims and putting it on yourself and your new victims.

submitted 6 days ago • 1 comment

1/6 A strategic blow and humiliation for Putin and russia as whole: Ukraine’s successful strikes save lives and weaken russia’s ability to attack other countries in the future. As usual, russia will retaliate by targeting Ukrainian civilians

submitted 6 days ago • 10 comments

My latest, on the decision of three prominent scholars of fascism to leave the country. We need to see Trump’s authoritarianism for what it is, and Nazi Germany it is not. www.readthedetox.com/p/the-fix-no...

submitted 6 days ago • 0 comments

Trump is trying to get Democratic lawmakers killed.

submitted 8 days ago • 0 comments

I've heard that if you stand in front of a mirror and repeat the word "non-binary" three times, an apparition of the Gender Language Police will appear behind you. Wild stuff.

submitted 9 days ago • 0 comments

This thread would be shorter and more to the point if the 3rd way types just said “we’re mostly older white guys and we’d have compromised on civil rights in the 60s too.”

submitted 9 days ago • 28 comments

Is the gender language police in the room with us right now?

submitted 9 days ago • 3 comments

I wrote the inversion of legality that is evident in Trump's regime. It is, in fact, a pattern inherent to all authoritarian regimes. www.readthedetox.com/p/the-daily-...

submitted 9 days ago • 0 comments

My latest: After 250 years of checking executive power, the judicial branch can no longer be considered independent. www.readthedetox.com/p/the-daily-...

submitted 10 days ago • 0 comments

I wrote about the decision of three prominent specialists on fascism to flee to Canada. In short, it's not a good look and will hurt the resistance movement against Trump.

submitted 11 days ago • 1 comment