WASH POST: “Corporate bankruptcies surged in 2025, rivaling levels not seen since the immediate aftermath of the Great Recession, as import-dependent businesses absorbed the highest tariffs in decades.” www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

@ruthbenghiat.bsky.social QOTD (Book) - Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present" by Ruth Ben-Ghiat, scholar on fascism and authoritarian leaders.

🍊🤡🌮💩 bombed Nigeria. WTAF??!! He is doing this in our collective name. He is demented, but the armed forces have to follow his murderous orders. In "Strongmen," by @ruthbenghiat.bsky.social proves 🍊🤡🌮💩 is following the path of the worst dictators in modern history. He's enjoying killing people.

Ok, I don't usually do this, but the Molly Worthen piece on Christian Nationalism in the NYT? Apologetics. I'm on Xmas break and I don't feel like wasting my time breaking this down but let me just say this: WHO IS WE? Because some of us get Christian Nationalism, the NAR, and Dominionism.

Strongmen: How they rise, why they succeed, how they fall. by @ruthbenghiat.bsky.social If you haven’t gotten it yet, “even better” - you get the updated paperback version with an epilogue substack.com/@melissadalt...

@ruthbenghiat.bsky.social with very supportive thoughts open.substack.com/pub/lucid/p/...

@ruthbenghiat.bsky.social QOTD (Book) - Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present" by Ruth Ben-Ghiat, scholar on fascism and authoritarian leaders.

"You Know Smotrich and Ben-Gvir. Now Meet the Dangerous Israeli Minister You've Never Heard Of" Amichai Eliyahu is helping lead one aspect of Israel’s ethnic cleansing campaign: the stealing of Palestinian land for “archeological” reasons. By @dianabuttu.bsky.social: zeteo.com/p/heritage-m...

An important investigation by @ericlipton.nytimes.com ⬇️

@ruthbenghiat.bsky.social QOTD (Book) - Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present" by Ruth Ben-Ghiat, scholar on fascism and authoritarian leaders.

i have thoughts...thoughts drawn from the history of fascism...Mussolini had this level or micro managing including which fonts could be used in newspapers

In case you missed it, listening to this discussion between @simonwdc.bsky.social and @ruthbenghiat.bsky.social is time well spent. youtu.be/F5koz58DkBc?...

"Press conferences" as performances of authoritarian bullying

Read #Strongmen and compare with Mussolini quotes on same subjects...

Donald Trump’s disdain for international justice represents a historical rupture to the diplomatic tool of post-conflict justice – and a potentially serious threat to peace. – International law expert Ruti Teitel via @ruthbenghiat.bsky.social

👀

There is no diplomacy in the democratic sense: open.substack.com/pub/lucid/p/...

@ruthbenghiat.bsky.social QOTD (Book) - Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present" by Ruth Ben-Ghiat, scholar on fascism and authoritarian leaders.

Trump's Dangerous Disregard for International Justice A guest post by international law expert Ruti Teitel by @ruthbenghiat.bsky.social #USA #Trump #uspoli open.substack.com/pub/lucid/p/...

That's the idea! Wrecking the biggest threat to autocratic domination.

In 2022, Biden earmarked billions of dollars to help former coal communities. It was the largest investment in Appalachia since LBJ's 1960s’ war on poverty. But Trump won West Virginia 70% to 28% in 2024. And now he's taking away the funding Biden gave them. When are they going to learn?

👀

🔥🔥🔥 A 3 alarm fire for House Republicans following Marjorie Taylor Greene’s announced resignation, courtesy of @punchbowlnews.bsky.social:

The Noose and the Swastika MAGA's Big-Tent Racism by @ruthbenghiat.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/lucid/p/...

Trump launches a military occupation of Charlotte, NC, to punish the city for having a Democratic governor and Democratic mayor. www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...

My book #Strongmen turns 5 today! The paperback edition, with a new epilogue on January 6, is now 4. The book built a large readership gradually and became a New York Times bestseller in Nov. 2024. Thank you to all who read it and share its warnings about what such leaders do to societies.

How the shutdown relates to autocracy. For the tyrant Congress and Parliament are expendable. I am the only one that matters Trump tells us. We deserve good governance and leaders who care about our welfare.

"Instead of toilet paper we were given pages from books by writers and philosophers to use. The secret police wanted to show their contempt for ideas." -- @ruthbenghiat.bsky.social , "Strongmen: Mussolini to the present"

An incredible and prescient analysis by @ruthbenghiat.bsky.social of how our situation harkens back to autocrats past ... open.substack.com/pub/lucid/p/...

Live from the Zohran victory party

Moral leadership isn't public consensus, or found in institutions. It's created by singular individuals, whose perspectives may conflict with popular values. Moral adaptibility, is useful. Speak softly, carry heavy. @ruthbenghiat.bsky.social

On Election Day, Nov 4, The Left Hook is rolling out an awesome lineup! 3 pm ET: @ruthbenghiat.bsky.social 4 pm ET: @levparnas.bsky.social 5 pm ET: @hannahgais.bsky.social Join us! No paywalls. Thelefthook.substack.com

Resistance means using all the tools and spaces you have for peaceful opposition. My latest video.

A moving essay by @mollymckew.bsky.social www.greatpower.us/p/the-sacred...

🤩Super excited that Le Monde have published a summary of our piece for @JoDemocracy on the "Myth of Democratic Resillience", with a stronger focus on the implications for Latin America 🤩 This version is for Spanish speakers out there ... www.eldiplo.org/notas-web/el...

Inevitable and tracks with the cycles of regimes

That's the authoritarian dream

Always told liberals Bill Maher was a racist piece of shit, especially against Muslims and Arabs, and we were ignored for years. www.yahoo.com/news/article...

Bannon says Tr*ump is acting as a vehicle of divine providence. This is an old authoritarian propaganda theme.

From last night: How @runforsomething.net's plan to expand the map will actually work, why Schumer doesn't get a say in where we invest, and why it matters to create many paths to victory in the next five years. www.youtube.com/watch?v=1D_d...

It's an amazing book. Congratulations to @joycevance.bsky.social!

Flip the script on democracy's destroyers. It's Day One of the new phase of the fight for our democracy.

My comments on what President Tr*mp's AI video tells us about autocrat psychology: youtu.be/JNt8YoqQzWE

"The appeal of these leaders for many rests on their having the power to get away with things that ordinary men cannot, whether in the bedroom or in politics." -- @ruthbenghiat.bsky.social , "Strongmen: Mussolini to the present"

Giant copy of the Constitution being carried down Pennsylvania Avenue.

In protesting peacefully we reclaim our cities and communities from state brutality. These are our spaces, our homes.

Important: this is exactly how propagandists operate.

Chris Christie: “Thie is no longer, the Department of Justice, is no longer the premier prosecuting office in America. What it is now is a capo regime who goes out and executes hits when directed by the Don to do so. That’s what it is.”

* Over 20,000 Palestinians killed since January * 100s starved to death, including kids * Congress bypassed to send more & more bombs to Israel * US citizens murdered in the West Bank I hope this ceasefire holds & I am glad the hostages are free, but this is Trump’s *actual record* so far.

Just in case the dramatically low Leni Riefenstahl-style angle was too subtle, they used a word from her most famous movie