ICE incompetence exposes deadly risks: Poor weapon retention, weapon dropped more than once on busy street, doesn’t notice he loses his mag, aims firearm at unarmed bystanders. Incompetence risks accidental shootings, public backlash, failed ops. Untrained agents endanger lives, risk escalation.

Trump’s new EO echoes a Reichstag Fire Decree. It blurs the line between dissent and terrorism, ordering DOJ & federal LE to investigate “all participants” in supposed criminal conspiracies. Free speech is the target. www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...

When the state erases evidence to prop up their lies, you’re no longer in a free society. thehill.com/homenews/adm...

“The indictment…came over the objection of career prosecutors…who found insufficient evidence to support charges but were overruled by Lindsey Halligan, a Trump loyalist handpicked by the president…” www.nytimes.com/2025/09/25/u...

In America, courts decide guilt. In authoritarian regimes, leaders do.

Attacking federal officers and buildings is “terrorism” if you’re on the left, but pardoned if you’re MAGA. That’s authoritarianism.

Trump “jokes” about asking Somalia to take Illhan Omar back—xenophobic, dangerous, and conditioning the public to see opponents as illegitimate. Meanwhile, Vance calls it “inciting violence and terrorism” to describe Trump as authoritarian. The hypocrisy couldn’t be clearer. @atrupar.com

substack.com/profile/3446... An informed and stark assessment of our president's ability--or lack thereof, to formulate a strategy.

Miller claims calling out the following as authoritarian incites violence and terrorism: masked men jumping from unmarked cars, people disappearing without due process, and labeling the Democratic Party an extremist organization. Naming authoritarian behaviors ≠ advocating for or inciting violence.

The Bonfire of Relief: the Cruelty is the Point "....Remember this not only as a tragedy of waste but as reminder that when we abandon humanitarian leadership, we imperil our own security. Government should serve as a bulwark against chaos and not, through neglect and cruelty, as an accelerant."

🚨 🚨 🚨 Did JD Vance just call Newsom and Democrats domestic terrorists? His claim that Democrats’ rhetoric “encourages crazy people to go and commit violence” mirrors the language in Trump’s EO designating ANTIFA as a terrorist organization (“radicalizing young Americans to engage in this violence”).

Trump says the Kimmel show is an arm of the DNC, which he claims to be an illegal campaign contribution.

Newsom: "I fear that we will not have an election in 2028 -- I really mean that in the core of my soul -- unless we wake up to the code red, what's happening in this country, and we wake up soberly to how serious this moment is."

“These are authoritarian actions by an authoritarian government.” Newsom describes masked men dragging people into vans, Trump telling his DOJ to take people out, and Stephen Miller calling the Democratic Party an extremist organization. He closes by saying “This can't be normalized.”

Graham hopes Trump runs for a third term, but nothing to see here, right? Just a U.S. senator casually suggesting we ignore the 22nd Amendment, dismantle democratic norms, and trade the Constitution for a cult of personality.

Note the obvious double standard that appears to be developing regarding free speech. Watters states we need to either leave the UN or bomb it - in response to the malfunctioning teleprompter and escalator.

The State Superintendent of Public Instruction is supposed to oversee public education fairly and neutrally, ensuring that schools serve all students regardless of ideology. Public schools are not supposed to be vehicles for partisan recruitment.

Your tax dollars at work: The State Department is bragging Trump “ended 7 wars in 7 months.” That’s not fact. When official channels sell spin as achievement, it looks like state propaganda.

When presidents call movements “terrorist orgs” without legal basis, they aren’t fighting terror—they’re building authoritarian “security services” to crush critics. That’s what Trump is signaling with “Antifa.” Read our letter to SSCI and HPSCI here. open.substack.com/pub/steadyst...

RFK Jr.: “No 70-year-olds with autism.” That’s like saying there was no left-handedness until the 1960s when kids were forced to write right-handed. Recognition changed, not biology. Spreading false “epidemic” claims isn’t science. It’s disinfo that fuels authoritarian control over truth.

Trump tries to impose moral authoritarianism on the UN, boasting, ‘Your countries are going to hell.’ But the hypocrisy is clear: he declares that ‘every sovereign nation must have the right to control their own borders,’ yet insists, ‘it is time to END the failed experiment of open borders.

Trump calls global warming a “hoax” and says it’s a “globalist concept of asking successful industrialized nations to inflict pain on themselves and radically disrupt their entire societies.” He says it “must be rejected completely and totally, and it must be immediate.”

Trump and his allies have claimed the homeless should be euthanized, implied autism shouldn’t exist, pushed pseudoscience, and withdrawn the U.S. from the WHO This is not policy, yet authoritarian and denial of reality.

"....an unrestrained plunge into authoritarianism. Increasingly, Trump’s regime looks like... Orbán’s autocracy (albeit less organized) where threats and silencing of enemies provoked by personal whim have become commonplace." Indicators... Trump and his Cronies. open.substack.com/pub/contrari...

Stephen Miller’s Kirk tribute mirrors Goebbels’ 1932 speech with storm/warrior metaphors, “good vs evil” binaries, and turning adversaries into destroyers, glorifying martyrdom. In a climate marked by rising authoritarianism, reviving fascist rhetoric is a red flag.

Trump says he hates his opponent. Indicators of authoritarianism: dehumanization of opponents, justification for repression.

Trump announces they have found the “answer” to autism and “how it happens so we won’t let it happen anymore.” Authoritarianism 101: substituting experts with loyal figures, declaring reality solved by decree, denial as control, and silencing and stigmatizing.

Authoritarianism 101: Silence opposing and dissenting voices Sadly, and very disturbingly, this is no joke. And as the author, Charles Ray, notes, we have it directly "from the horse's mouth."

Authoritarianism 101: Silence opposing and dissenting voices Sadly, and very disturbingly, this is no joke. And as the author, Charles Ray, notes, we have it directly "from the horse's mouth."

We love our BlueSky crew 💙 but if you’re not already subscribed to our Substack, please join us there too! To go a step further, a paid subscription helps us bring on a few more much-needed interns (they run on caffeine, but we still have to pay them!). 🙏 👉 steadystate1.substack.com

Protecting Intelligence from Politics; Senator Mark Warner Speaks --following his address on the floor of the Senate expressing his concerns about mismanagement, politicization and interference with oversight and "the increased risk it brings to all Americans.

Spreading the word… to my followers 👇

Pass it on

Not yet fully reported what happened -- but it matches a pattern -- criminal investigations are for political enemies; for friends and allies -- not so much. A hallmark of authoritarianism... and it not just corrupt -- it is strategic -- breeds fear, ensures loyalty...

We love our BlueSky crew 💙 but if you’re not already subscribed to our Substack, please join us there too! To go a step further, a paid subscription helps us bring on a few more much-needed interns (they run on caffeine, but we still have to pay them!). 🙏 👉 steadystate1.substack.com

Important Stuff to Know About - The Diplomatic Toolkit: Mediation Another great "Firepit Conversation" in the series, "How NOT to do Diplomacy" by Charles Ray! Don't miss it!!

Prior restraint + viewpoint discrimination + chilling effect. However you slice it, the Pentagon’s rules collide directly with the First Amendment.

Trump compared going into major U.S. cities with “war.”

Trump states it is “illegal” for newscasts to speak unfavorably about him—a blatant attack on free speech: “The newscasts are against me, the stories, and they said 97 percent bad. So they gave me 97. They'll take a great story and they'll make it bad. See I think that's really illegal, personally.”

We @steadystatevets.bsky.social have managed a lot in our careers… but creating a Wikipedia page is beyond us. If anyone out there knows the mysterious ways of Wikipedia editors and can create one, we’d be grateful! www.thesteadystate.org #TheSteadyState #Wikipedia #HelpWanted

Today, @steadystatevets.bsky.social transmitted the attached letter to the SSCI and the HPSCI, calling attention to the President’s recent threats to misuse national security authorities against domestic dissent, and to urge immediate Congressional oversight. open.substack.com/pub/steadyst...

Ted Cruz speaking out recognizing the dangers of Carr’s remarks.

This is a program worth watching -- Senator Warner does not pull punches, www.youtube.com/live/5FS1CZr... Thanks @markwarner.bsky.social @haydencenter.bsky.social

Kelly invokes the First Amendment while blaming Kimmel’s comedy as “dangerous rhetoric” that somehow caused a murder. This is the antithesis of free speech. The First Amendment doesn’t exist to protect speech the government likes — it exists to protect speech that critiques those in power.

While the United States grapples with internal division and threats to First Amendment freedoms, Russia has violated the airspace of yet another NATO partner. www.bbc.com/news/article...

“The Politicization of Intelligence: A Threat to Our National Security” U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner open.substack.com/pub/steadyst...

“The Politicization of Intelligence: A Threat to Our National Security” U.S. Sen. Warner “At stake is something…fundamental: whether America will continue to have an intelligence community free to “speak truth to power,” or whether political pressure will blind us to very real threats...”

Another example of Congress acting to safeguard our democracy: the Protecting Our Democracy Act. Watch Senator Adam Schiff explain why this reform matters.

The playbook Governor Pritzker references is the Authoritarian Playbook. Many of our senior intelligence officers have witnessed abroad the very indicators of authoritarianism it outlines.