We are up against an administration that daily announces or implements policies that are incredibly unjust and flagrantly unlawful. That is our reality, and we need to get used to saying it again and again. It’s exhausting but we have to do it or they win. - ThreadSky

evanbernick.bsky.social • 8 days ago

We are up against an administration that daily announces or implements policies that are incredibly unjust and flagrantly unlawful. That is our reality, and we need to get used to saying it again and again. It’s exhausting but we have to do it or they win.

Comments

hapibuddha1.bsky.social•7 days ago

This makes clearer who Trump is listening to.. musk.

led0260.bsky.social•8 days ago

Exactly. The law still has meaning, unless we throw up our hands and abandon it.

augustadsays.bsky.social•8 days ago

they are taking a lot of drugs and they are very energetic

evanbernick.bsky.social•8 days ago

I have no illusions that saying anything will actually stop anything. Saying it, believing it, acting like it, demanding that others do all of those things? Yes, that can stop things.

evanbernick.bsky.social•8 days ago

I’m a broken record on this at this point but the administration does not have enough guns tanks and bodies to do what it wants to do without a lot of other people’s help. And people will be less likely to help if they think that shit is unjust and unlawful. So, say it.

evanbernick.bsky.social•8 days ago

Power does not just come out of the barrel of a gun, actually. Long term, power comes from people believing that some people with guns have a right to have and use them. Deny them that power.

evanbernick.bsky.social•8 days ago

Arendt got a lot of shit for saying this, but she was definitely on to something. Revolutions—and we are indeed looking at a would-be revolution—succeed, stick only if they establish legitimacy. Guns are never sufficient, as revolutionaries rarely have enough of them.

abenomicon.bsky.social•8 days ago

the gap btwn molotovs + state violence has always been so enormous that technical improvements make no difference. in violence against violence the superiority of the government is absolute but lasts only as long as commands are obeyed + the police are prepared to use their weapons

evanbernick.bsky.social•8 days ago

Which is why every refusal to accept this as legitimate, as right, as lawful, counts. It may seem silly, but it counts. You may feel powerless, but it counts. Don’t let them change your reality.

nicholasbednar.bsky.social•8 days ago

I've been asked why it matters that any of this is unlawful if the courts won't or can't stop it. I keep repeating that law is a mechanism for evaluating legitimacy and it matters that the actions are unlawful even if the Administration ultimately accomplishes their short term goals.

realbenisons.bsky.social•7 days ago

I think Arendt was right there

and also that what Mao said about political power *growing out of* wasn't all wrong

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_power_grows_out_of_the_barrel_of_a_gun#:~:text=Every%20Communist%20must%20grasp%20the,allowed%20to%20command%20the%20Party.

ascotrose.bsky.social•8 days ago

I think it absolutely will help over time. What we are ultimately trying to do is break a political brand in the public imagination, and repetition helps with that. It has definitely wrecked Musk.

jenebbeler.bsky.social•8 days ago

💯

glenbarr.bsky.social•8 days ago

and SCOTUS is silent

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