Category Archives: authoritarianism

Tearing Down

Posted on Saturday 4 October 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

How the current administration loves to fire people; Trump’s license to kill, from a man who wants the Nobel Peace Prize; Heather Cox Richardson on Trump’s hate, and Russell Vought; A Trump memo that casts atheists as terrorists; how other … Continue reading →

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Sometimes They Really Are Out to Get You

Posted on Thursday 2 October 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Evidence of Republican hate of the Left; And evidence about their incompetence; And wondering when their “Two Minutes Hate” will appear. – – – Fortunately, in this case they’re not very bright. \\\ Ten days or so ago, at Charlie … Continue reading →

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And Now It’s Jimmy Kimmel

Posted on Thursday 18 September 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

And so the authoritarian playbook continues. Latest victim: late-night TV host Jimmy Kimmel. (Whom I’m aware of though I’ve never watched his show.) Salon, Heather Digby Parton, 18 Sept 2025: Jimmy Kimmel is the latest casualty in Trump’s war on … Continue reading →

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The Disappearance of Linus

Posted on Wednesday 27 August 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Distracted the past couple days by the disappearance of Linus. I mentioned this on Facebook last night. Maybe he’ll come back. Click for much larger image. I posted this on Facebook, yesterday the 26th. Our beloved Linus, who appeared exactly … Continue reading →

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AI Is Telling People What They Want to Hear?

Posted on Saturday 16 August 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Tom Tomorrow on “defunding the police”; The unreliability of AI, with an example of John Scalzi; An essay about how the future will be mundane; Several links on Trump’s meeting with Putin in Alaska; Slate’s handy summary of people in … Continue reading →

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No Policies, No Principles, Just “Deals”

Posted on Friday 8 August 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

And Threats. And Extortion. And Lies. A quote from Bertrand Russell; Trump wants to win the Nobel Peace Prize, while making wars worse and threatening countries around the world; Heather Cox Richardson on the motives behind the idea of changing … Continue reading →

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Their Make-Believe World

Posted on Wednesday 6 August 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Trump’s tantrum; His own version of reality; Assaulting reporting, statistics, and the historical record; Ordering an independent office to become as big a liar as he is; Every accusation is a confession; The “Russia Hoax” is whatever he says it … Continue reading →

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Undermining and Discrediting

Posted on Saturday 2 August 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

More about Trump’s firing of the head of Bureau of Labor Statistics, with responses at Slate, from David Brin, The Atlantic, PolitiFact, Heather Cox Richardson, and Robert Reich; How Trump is now extorting UCLA; How Trump had references to his … Continue reading →

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The Outright Denial of the Scientific Consensus About Climate Change

Posted on Wednesday 30 July 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Trump’s EPA now denies the worldwide scientific consensus about climate change; The history of Trump’s fake history; How Trump wins by suing institutions for absurd amounts and settling for relatively trivial amounts; How Europe took Trump for a ride; Robert … Continue reading →

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More Items from the Authoritarian Playbook

Posted on Sunday 27 July 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

About the conservative agenda concerning colleges, and education; Charlie Kirk thinks you don’t need college; just watch YouTube videos, especially his own online courses; Education Secretary Linda McMahon admits her political motivations for dismantling her department; Brief items about a … Continue reading →

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