Showing posts with label maga. Show all posts
Showing posts with label maga. Show all posts

Sunday, August 30, 2026

How to Protect Our Democracy from Trump

"Democracy? I don't think so..."

Yes he's nuts. But because he could trigger his army of fellow nut jobs (AKA MAGA crazies) to show up in primary political races and polling booths all over the country, Trump is essentially intimidating reasonable Republicans who might otherwise oppose him. So he continues to stomp along, crushing any opposition, as the egomaniac who would be king of a country that rejected Kings long ago. 

So what can we do? See the four strategies below. Then dive deeper in the references presented with each. Then, most importantly, get involved at your state and local levels to actively protect our democracy. 

Core Strategies Summarized


With the 2026 midterms approaching, the Trump administration and its allies have intensified a sweeping campaign to erode the safeguards that keep our elections free, fair and secure. These efforts form a clear pattern: undermining the rule of law; destabilizing election administration; and weakening our institutions and election protections.

In response, organizations and legal groups have published analyses, legal frameworks, and safeguarding strategies to protect the 2026 midterm elections from executive and partisan interference. These include:
  • Legal Litigation: Filing lawsuits to block unauthorized federal collection of state voter registration lists and restrictive postal service rules.
  • Voter Education: Helping eligible citizens understand their voting rights and countering false narratives about noncitizen voting or ballot integrity.
  • Community Mobilization: Deploying trained volunteers and nonpartisan monitors to polling places to assist voters and document irregularities.
  • State-Level Safeguards: Supporting state lawmakers and attorneys general who pass local protections against unauthorized federal law enforcement presence or sudden rule changes near Election Day. 

Core Strategies: The References

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Bonuses: Need a little pep talk to nudge you to action? Check out these articles & podcasts:
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Monday, January 27, 2025

Goodbye Facebook. Hello Bluesky!

My Account on Bluesky

Overview

After nearly 15 years as a Facebook user, I've completely deleted my account. And I've also stopped posting or signing in to my Twitter account. My new (and only) active social media account is Bluesky. In this article I'll review the why and how of all this. 

Toxic Trumpism

As we all know, Donald Trump lies... frequently and with little regard for those who suffer from those lies. Worse, Trump's zealous followers take their cues from him and either repeat his lies or invent lies of their own that support his themes. These lies place the social media platforms who publish them in a difficult position. They can catch them and publish disclaimers, verified by their fact checkers. Or they can simply pass them along, inadvertently amplifying them and causing them to "go viral." In the recent past, the platforms' fact checkers worked overtime and beyond, feverishly trying to keep up with it all. They were trying to do the right thing by their readers and honor the truth.  Sadly, they burned out quickly and it was difficult and costly to replace them. 

In his second term, Donald Trump is essentially unconstrained by any administrative or institutional guardrails. Supported by congressional sycophants and a cadre of others who would lay waste to all such guardrails, Trump is an existential threat to all those who publish. Crossing him or his propaganda agenda, even in the noblest pursuit of truth, risks getting bogged down in a public war of words or worse, costly and time-consuming lawsuits. 

Zuckerberg and Musk Surrender

In an era of endless Team Trump lies, Facebook and Twitter find that it's easier and cheaper to simply eliminate fact checking. And that's just what they have done. Not only does this allow their founders to suck up to Trump and get a seat at White House dinners, but it saves them money and effort. So what if their users are subjected to lies, weird conspiracy theories, etc.?  

Given all this, I have decided that I can't and won't help either of these platforms by posting or engaging on them in any way. So I've effectively disappeared from both. 

Here are some references: 

Enter Bluesky

These days I've decided to get my social media fix exclusively from Bluesky. And while it's true that not all of my former Facebook friends have made the leap to Bluesky, many have and I've invited many others to join us there. 

What's so good about Bluesky? I put this question to Google Search Labs AI and it answered as follows:

"Bluesky is a decentralized social media platform that gives users more control over their content and experience. It's built on the AT Protocol, an open network that allows developers to build on top of it. 

Features
  • Custom feeds: Users can create custom feeds based on their interests, such as a feed for cat photos or a feed for mutual followers 
  • Content moderation: Users can create custom keyword lists to mute certain types of content, and control who can interact with them 
  • Starter packs: Users can create curated lists of suggested accounts to share with others 
  • Website addresses as handles: Users can use their website address as their handle, which could act as a verification tool 
  • Transparency: Bluesky is built on an open network, so no single company has complete control over the platform 
  • Open API: Bluesky has an open API, which makes it easier to automate with third-party tools 
Benefits
  • More democratic approach to content curation: Bluesky offers a more democratic approach to content curation, with less reliance on algorithmic feeds 
  • Safer spaces: Bluesky's moderation tools help to filter out harmful interactions and create safer spaces for meaningful engagement 
  • Transparency and open standards: Bluesky is built on an open network, which promotes transparency and collaborative improvements "

Conclusion

So that's it. I have no more Facebook account and I've stopped using my Twitter account. Below is a powerful quote from Brian Boland, a former Facebook developer, in his article Deleting Facebook that makes it clear why we should all consider leaving these two behind:

"The latest news that Meta is ending its fact-checking program and scaling back user protections is the final straw for me. This is the same company whose platform contributed to genocide in Myanmar, harmed teenage users and enabled political and racial polarization across the globe. Instead of addressing these harms, Meta consistently prioritizes its growth over public safety..."

Unfortunately, the same can be said of Musk's Twitter. So that's it. I'm out. These days you can find me at Bluesky. As Google's Search AI says regarding Bluesky:  "... many appreciate the feeling of a more controlled and personalized social media experience compared to other platforms... [and] a lack of algorithmic manipulation in the feed, a more positive and less toxic community compared to other platforms." 

See you on Bluesky! 

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Previous, Related Articles

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Saturday, December 10, 2022

Why It's Pointless to Argue about Politics or Religion


"My experience tells me... You're wrong!"

I used to argue a lot, especially in The Before Times.. before Trump... before Covid... before the January 6th Insurrection. I'm ashamed to say I disrupted many a dinner or visit with extended family and friends by holding forth with my rants and my "well thought out" positions on the political issues of the day. And worse, sometimes these drifted into my noisily defending my half-baked religious philosophy. 

Predictably, this left a trail of broken, or at least slightly dented, relationships. After a while I realized that I came away from these confrontations not feeling better but worse, having stubbornly held my ground and made my points come hell or high water. When the dust settled, I felt a little sad and sometimes ashamed that I was leaving behind post-brawl wounds that might never fully heal. 

Like most writers, I sometimes write to figure out what I'm really thinking. That was the case when I created the rather lengthy essay "Why Its Pointless To Argue About Politics Or Religion."  I decided to revive it from the archives at this time when we are so very fractured as a nation. And I'm also sharing this just in time for the holidays. Maybe it can help you avoid inflicting scars on relationships that are important to you. 



Related Articles: 



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