IMO, One of The Lessons of this era has been: "If it's Too Centralized, It's too Easy for Bad Actors to Take Over".

Decentralized systems are less efficient, but more robust (and harder to take over).

18th cent Federalism probably saved us on Jan 6th, tbh.

We need MORE of it. Not less.

The thing to understand about "papers please" fascism is that they don't actually care if you have your papers. They abduct whoever they please and do whatever they want with them.

People need to accept that things can change – in either direction: It really could get much, much worse. But it could also get better. There is nothing inevitable about either doom or progress. We are neither fated nor guaranteed to experience the status quo for all eternity.

As I have said long time, the court really did take over the job of social issue response with pressure relief votes as legislature deferred. Executive agencies really did take over the job of creating legislation as the legislature became evermore calcified.

Everything is the legislature breaking.

"Small print: "it doesn't hurt" promise not a guarantee. Past performance does not indicate future returns. Please consult your hemorrhaging uterus for personalized advice. That will also be $25k please."

Oh gawd. Too soon 😅

📌

Alt title: Impound This

Considering how much pandering demagoguery our esteemed alma mater has done on free speech issues for the past few years...slamming that sign button.

Yick. That requires an assumption that there are pieces left to be picked up in the first place.

Authoritarians exploit frustration with stagnant institutions, while disinformation fuels cynicism and disengagement. A stronger democracy isn’t just about defending it—it’s about making it work. That means tackling corruption, increasing transparency, and ensuring public input leads to real change.

One more angle worth considering is that the return to office directive from the President came weeks before the probationary employee terminations. So anyone who was probationary and was rearranging housing/transport/childcare/etc. to comply with removal of telework got hurt double.

Common Good City Farm: a lil urban ag space in DC growing and sharing fresh produce through a pay-what-you-can market model. secure.givelively.org/donate/commo.... Our end-of-year effort is in full swing!