Good piece. Worth reading.
Still, I sometimes think speculation about Trump's health is often tinged with hope this could send him packing. Wild hopes, I fear, and something I saw in authoritarian regimes over the years - like it would be a magic key to the exit door.
It's hard for some of my fellow Europeans to understand why Trump is sending the military to US cities.
It's hard for me to understand why some of my fellow Europeans support Trump wannabes in the EU & UK.
Politics based on imagined threats of internal enemies always heads in this direction: toward state violence against innocent people.
How can anyone look at the descent of the US into authoritarian mass violence & think, "yeah, that's what my country needs, too?"
https://www-bbc-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgq044n72po.amp
Read this. Seriously, read it.
The Trump regime is declaring open season on its critics - NGOs, philanthropists, activists. They will be harassed, arrested, jailed. The silencing effect on others who might speak out will be huge.
This is authoritarianism.
Some personal news. Along with a number of other colleagues, I was laid off by Human Rights Watch for budget reasons in July.
Looking back, I’m proud of what I helped the HRW team achieve in the more than 12 years I worked there. There are still many smart, dedicated people at HRW, working in the toughest global context for human rights we’ve seen in a very long time. They continue to have my support, and they deserve yours.
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Whatever the merits of the arguments, the threat seems empty - along the lines of, "I'll hit myself in the head with this hammer if you don't do what I want"
There is no organization called "antifa" - so, why label a non-existent group "terrorists"?
This gives the regime maximum scope to hunt down opposition and critics. They label you "antifa", and then they come for you.
It's definitely not an authoritarian regime trying to silence dissent. No, certainly nothing like that. All comparisons to Nazi Germany are completely absurd.
