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Micah Sifry ❌👑 @msifry.bsky.social · 16h

40+ years ago, a peace initiative from Egypt triggered a sea change inside Israel, led by the Peace Now movement. My new book recalls that history and offers some lessons for today’s fraught conflict in Israel-Palestine. Details here: open.substack.com/pub/theconne...

Image shows the cover of a new book: When Doves Try: israel's Peace Now Movement 1978-1983--With an Epilogue for the Post-October 7 World. Learn more at micahsifry.com/whendovestry

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Center for Ballot Freedom @centerforballotfreedom.org · 1d

🎙️ New #ThisOldDemocracy podcast episode alert! A closer look w/ @msifry.bsky.social & @jrdresden.bsky.social from @protectdemocracy.org. We dive into promising election reforms like proportional representation and fusion voting — you won’t want to miss it. centerforballotfreedom.org/this-old-dem...

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Center for Ballot Freedom @centerforballotfreedom.org · 6d

🎧 Just dropped: the latest episode of our podcast #ThisOldDemocracy! @msifry.bsky.social talks to @jrdresden.bsky.social from @protectdemocracy.org about fusion voting and proportional representation. Give it a listen now. centerforballotfreedom.org/this-old-dem...

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Micah Sifry ❌👑 @msifry.bsky.social · 6d

Sebastian Haffner’s memoir Defying Hitler is terrifying, but a close reading suggests we are (so far) doing much better than the 56% of Germans who *didn’t* vote for Hitler in March 1933 but put up no meaningful resistance to him when they still had the chance. open.substack.com/pub/theconne...

We are Not "Good Germans"

While echoes with the 1930s abound, a closer look at how Germans failed to stop Hitler suggests that America's antibodies are much stronger.

open.substack.com

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Center for Ballot Freedom @centerforballotfreedom.org · 11d

#FusionVoting isn’t new—it’s part of America’s political DNA. Ongoing lawsuits in NJ, KS, and WI aim to restore it. For much of U.S. history, fusion was common. It still is where legal. Time to remember: there’s more than one way to do democracy. @protectdemocracy.org @jrdresden.bsky.social

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Micah Sifry ❌👑 @msifry.bsky.social · 10d

Immigrant rights groups are desperate for funding to help hire more lawyers. Meanwhile, we also live in this country. sfstandard.com/2025/09/27/s...

Investors have splurged $10M on sperm racing

The instantly viral F-1 races for semen are given a big boost by backers who see a fertile future in the health-meets-entertainment company.

sfstandard.com

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Micah Sifry ❌👑 @msifry.bsky.social · 12d

Some ideas on ways to combat the Trump-Vance-Miller juggernaut that unite all the Americans who do not approve of what they’re doing and that doesn’t also give fuel to the other side’s resentments. open.substack.com/pub/theconne...

How Radical Love Could Depolarize America

Why pro-democracy folks should avoid strategies that deepen the political divide and increase the chances of defections from Trump's base.

open.substack.com

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Micah Sifry ❌👑 @msifry.bsky.social · 19d

but when the party in power decides to use state power to silence and intimidate critics and ideological opponents, the “bridge-building” approach is out of date. (More on how the "Braver Angels" sector is responding to the current moment in my latest newsletter.) open.substack.com/pub/theconne...

Blessed Are the Bridge-Builders?

As the Trump regime moves to "dismantle" the "radical left," leaders of the civic renewal movement are struggling to build common ground. Maybe their "both sides equally bad" approach is out of date?

open.substack.com

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Micah Sifry ❌👑 @msifry.bsky.social · 19d

I get why some people want to stand in some imaginary middle, blame “extremism” on “both sides” and help Americans find common ground — and indeed most ordinary folks aren’t against civil dialogue... (1/2)

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Micah Sifry ❌👑 @msifry.bsky.social · 25d

We’re in a worsening “two-party doom loop” and to reverse it, we have to open up the system to more parties.

Center for Ballot Freedom @centerforballotfreedom.org · 25d

A centrist party could nudge the major parties back toward the moderate middle—and that's exactly what’s missing in our politics today. Balance isn’t weakness. It’s how democracy works. #ThirdParty #ThisOldDemocracy @msifry.bsky.social @billkristolbulwark.bsky.social

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Micah Sifry ❌👑 @msifry.bsky.social · 26d

"...The vast majority of us want to live in a country we can disagree with each other without fear of arrest or a bullet. And if you want that to be true, it has to apply to people you really disagree with. Let’s hope that the people on the other side agree." open.substack.com/pub/theconne...

Whose Lives Matter?

A meditation on 9/11, war and political assassinations.

open.substack.com

Micah Sifry ❌👑 @msifry.bsky.social · 26d

From my latest newsletter: "Now is one of those times when it’s important to be smart, and not only be right. Charlie Kirk was a human being with a family. The way to defeat bad ideas and movements is with better ideas and movements, not assassinations...." (1/2)

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Jeff Sharlet @jeffsharlet.bsky.social · 27d

If I have any credibility with you from 20 years of reporting on rightwing & fascist movements, please listen when I beg you not to celebrate Charlie Kirk getting shot. Leave aside morality: this isn’t a match in dry grass, it’s a torch. We do not want what this could ignite & we would not win.

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Micah Sifry ❌👑 @msifry.bsky.social · 28d

ICYMI--Still highly relevant to the moment we're in. Give it a listen!

Center for Ballot Freedom @centerforballotfreedom.org · Sep 4

Episode 6 of #ThisOldDemocracy is officially out now. Tap the link below to tune in to Micah Sifry and Ian Bassin discussing authoritarianism. @msifry.bsky.social @ianbassin.bsky.social @protectdemocracy.org

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Center for Ballot Freedom @centerforballotfreedom.org · 29d

📷 New #ThisOldDemocracy podcast episode alert! We dive into authoritarianism — don’t miss it. Link below. @protectdemocracy.org @ianbassin.bsky.social @msifry.bsky.social

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Micah Sifry ❌👑 @msifry.bsky.social · Sep 3

...it's already clear that we're in a back-and-forth battle, with many signs that Trump can be pushed back. Read more in my latest newsletter, linked below. Also, come for the political analysis but stay for the LOTR and Andor references! open.substack.com/pub/theconne...

Lighting the Beacons of Hope

A conversation with Ian Bassin of Protect Democracy, on the seven steps to autocracy and how to resist them. Plus why he's an optimist.

open.substack.com

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Micah Sifry ❌👑 @msifry.bsky.social · Sep 3

While Trump, our Mad King, follows the authoritarian playbook, we shouldn't despair -- as Ian Bassin of Protect Democracy explains to me in a new episode of my podcast This Old Democracy, our side can reverse the downward spiral. Indeed, as we talked about the last eight months... (1/2)

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Micah Sifry ❌👑 @msifry.bsky.social · Aug 31

Thinking how “Yes We Can” was once a unifying slogan, now I think “No He Can’t” could well for the No Kings movement.

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Micah Sifry ❌👑 @msifry.bsky.social · Aug 29

"...If anyone turned up here in a fur hat, boots and a grim look he would be recognized and shunned…But when our dictator turns up you can depend on it that he will be one of the boys, and he will stand for everything traditionally American.” --Dorothy Thompson, 1937

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Micah Sifry ❌👑 @msifry.bsky.social · Aug 29

“No people ever recognize their dictator in advance. He never stands for election on the platform of dictatorship. He always represents himself as the instrument for expressing the Incorporated National Will. When Americans think of dictators they always think of some foreign model...." (1/2)

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Micah Sifry ❌👑 @msifry.bsky.social · Aug 29

TIL that new members of the Klu Klux Klan in the 1920s paid their initiation fees in “Klecktokens” and all I can say is the more things change, the more they stay the same. #cults #bitcoin

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Micah Sifry ❌👑 @msifry.bsky.social · Aug 27

This won’t get as many clicks and shares as the guy who wrote that “the success rate at stopping fascists is 0%—once they win elections, it’s too late,” but trust me, that analysis of the historical record of movements against fascist regimes is 100% wrong. open.substack.com/pub/theconne...

Keep Calm and Protect Democracy

Instead of "catastrophizing" ourselves into despair, pay attention to the regime's weaknesses, including among the MAGA base.

open.substack.com

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Micah Sifry ❌👑 @msifry.bsky.social · Aug 21

A lot of ppl are overwhelmed by Trump’s onslaught. The emails begging for money and the efforts of many groups to get folks to join their *particular* fight don't help. Solutions are emerging but as I say up top — it’s ok to stop trying to keep up with it all. open.substack.com/pub/theconne...

It’s OK If You Don’t Read This

Pro-democracy activists and veteran organizers alike are struggling with information overload and outrage fatigue. But there are ways to cope!

open.substack.com

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Center for Ballot Freedom @centerforballotfreedom.org · Aug 19

We’ve been cooking up something good — and it’s finally live. New #ThisOldDemocracy podcast episode available now! Our usual host @msifry.bsky.social & your special guest @astra.bsky.social engage in the paradox of democracy. Watch now or give us a listen! centerforballotfreedom.org/this-old-dem...

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Andy Craig @andycraig.bsky.social · Aug 19

The push for re-legalizing fusion voting from @centerforballotfreedom.org is the most important flying-under-the-radar electoral reform effort happening today. I can't recommend them highly enough, and was glad to help put together the joint Rainey Center / @cato.org / CTW brief in this case.

Dan Cantor @danielcantor.bsky.social · Aug 18

It’s not every day a former Dem & GOP governor agree on fixing democracy—but Jon Corzine and Christine Todd Whitman just did. In New Jersey, they’re calling to revive fusion voting: more choice, more accountability, less toxic politics. NJ could lead the way. 👀 #FusionVoting 🗳️ #DemocracyReform

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