neilabrams.bsky.social
Corruption, democracy, rule of law, Eastern Europe, Ukraine. Words in WaPo, Slate, Foreign Policy. PhD, political science. He/him.
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@unroll.bsky.social
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Yanukovych’s repression managed to turn what were fairly limited protests into a national rebellion against his rule. He ultimately fled to Russia and Ukrainian democracy was restored. We can expect something similar with Trump.
open.substack.com/pub/thedetox...
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Depending on your perspective.
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And here: www.readthedetox.com/p/are-the-co...
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Wrote more about it here: www.readthedetox.com/p/things-are...
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I've seen this movie before. I've been studying oligarchs in Eastern Europe for 20 years. Ironically, they can hold more influence in democracies as the rule of law affords them some protection from executive abuse. But authoritarian leaders need not concern themselves with such trivialities.
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I said it again in February, in this piece: www.readthedetox.com/p/elon-musk-...
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I said it in January too. bsky.app/profile/neil...
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I said it as early as December: bsky.app/profile/neil...
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Also this: www.readthedetox.com/p/the-daily-...
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I think it is. I wrote something explaining why: www.readthedetox.com/p/are-the-co...
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Yes because they can be useful for authoritarians. But when push comes to shove the authoritarian is the one holding the cards.
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The rule of law is effectively dead in America.
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And this in January: bsky.app/profile/neil...
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I wrote this in February: www.readthedetox.com/p/elon-musk-...
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To be clear: This is how ICE does things on the regular. Arrest first, worry about the details later, make people suffer in detention without access to counsel or family in a faraway prison—precisely what Mahmoud Khalil has been made to endure.
At great cost, Yunseo Chung blew up that scheme.
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The federal judge who issued the order essentially exposed the scheme:
ICE confirmed in a letter yesterday that the government was not willing to initiate deportation proceedings against the Chung, let alone serve her with a notice to appear, without imprisoning her first.
Banana republic stuff:
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Why thank you, Amanda.
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www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
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The zenith will come when Musk flees the country amid multiple criminal probes. Wrote about this back in February: www.readthedetox.com/p/elon-musk-...
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I was just following convention by referring to racism against Jews by its generally accepted name: antisemitism. I'm not wedded to it by any means.
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The actor who plays him, though? Not so much.
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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.
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You'd be surprised!