Authoritarianism vs. democracy in Argentina. Is this what WW III looks like?

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Sunday October 22, 2023 · 8:33 AM PDT

2023/10/22 · 08:33

‘BAD AND DANGEROUS’: ARGENTINA’S TRUMP ON TRACK TO BECOME PRESIDENT

If elected Sunday, populist Javier Milei vows to abolish central bank, loosen gun laws, legalize sale of human organs

A foul-mouthed, far-right populist who has been described as a cross between Boris Johnson and the killer doll Chucky is in pole position to become president of South America’s second-largest economy as Argentina chooses its next leader on Sunday against a backdrop of anti-establishment fury and economic disarray.

Election-eve polls suggest Javier Milei, a charismatic and wild-haired political outsider who found fame pontificating on television chatshows about monetary policy and sex, could sneak a first-round win, although a November runoff is likely.

At his final campaign event in Buenos Aires on Wednesday, the 53-year-old “anarcho-capitalist” addressed a packed 15,000-capacity stadium from a stage adorned with a banner proclaiming him “The Only Solution” to Argentina’s economic malaise.

More whack-a-fascist to play, and a very whack-able face to boot. Now it’s Argentina's turn.

I'm an armchair international affairs expert and all, but is it possible that this IS WW III? If so, maybe it's just a different sort of war: a few hotspot shooting wars, like Ukraine, the Middle East and West Africa; but generalized democracy vs. authoritarianism political struggle and information warfare, nearly everywhere. Of course, to no one’s surprise the Bolsonaro family appears in this saga, in support of this jackal. In some ways I'm a little surprised we weren't learning of a Trumpian figure arising in Argentina sooner as the nation has a long history of populist, personality-driven politics.

It’s all the same struggle — democracy versus authoritarianism. It’s everywhere.

I'm car-free in Chicago!

daveinchi

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Sunday January 15, 2023 · 8:33 AM PST

2023/01/15 · 08:33

Travelers and commuters arrive at the Chicago Transit Authority's Rosemont station and head towards shuttle busses after a train derailment shut down the CTA's O'Hare International Airport station on March 24, 2014 in Chicago, Illinois. — My transit future - short term

When my car broke down out in "Illinois" a couple weeks ago, that was its swansong. It won't be returning to service. :-( I spent about 95% of my first 9 years in Chicago living without a personal vehicle, and it was fine; being car-free was a point of pride even! That ended in 2009 when I took a job out in the Northwest Indiana suburbs, and of course, I needed one. I've had a car ever since.

I was planning on getting a new car this summer, as there has been some writing on the wall, about my current vehicle, for a little while. But the machine had other ideas, and checked out early.

I've been going back and forth about holding out to save money on the car I WANT (probably something all-electric) vs. just finding a way to cough up some of that dough now, and getting a cheaper (probably NOT all-electric) vehicle, sooner. But I just saw how much money the feds are trying to pass out for buying an electric vehicle. I think I'm gonna wait, and live car-free for awhile so I can save up for an e-vehicle (?e-hicle?!). Those incentive$ will help me pay for it!

So the experiment is on! It's been 14 years since I went about my business without a car. Since then, I've added a whole family into the mix, and for the next few months, it's biking at CTA-ing for me, probably with the occasional ride-share thrown in. Luckily I got this great trailer to take my little girl around in, on my bike

Wish me luck!

Anti-democratic terrorists are riling Brasília and invading Congress RIGHT NOW (Updatesx6)

daveinchi

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Sunday January 08, 2023 · 10:57 AM PST

2023/01/08 · 10:57

This isn’t much of a diary, but anti-democratic protesters have gone way past just “blocking traffic” in the Brazilian capital, as hundreds appear to have invaded the Hall of Congress and the Supreme Court as well.

The greater war for the soul of democracy continues.

Deja vu.

UPDATE:

Definitely a TON of heads inside their hall of congress, the footage is grotesquely similar to what happened up here. Cracked glass. Trashed offices. Absolutely massive acts of violence and vandalism. There appear to be thousands of people out on the streets.

If there is security fighting back to regain control of these iconic buildings, it’s not showing up in the footage yet. I married into a Brazilian family and have been to their glorious capital. What is happening to these works of art is an absolute outrage. Any feeling human being should be livid, whether they have seen this wonderful city or not. Shameful and disgusting. Luckily the buildings were essentially empty.

All these criminals are going to achieve is: “HEY WE SMASHED SOME STUFF!!!” And for what?!!?!?

UPDATE II:

Ok finally some footage of security guys rolling out.

UPDATE III:

There’s disturbing footage of the crowd attacking a mounted police officer and his horse. At least the security forces appear to have finally showed up.

Choppers hovering very low over the crowd in front of the Palácio da Alvorada — the Brazilian “White House” — in an effort scare the manifestantes off.

UPDATE IV:

Lula is on TV, safe from the State of Sao Paulo today, declaring that there will be a federal intervention to remove these terrorists from the Esplanada dos Ministérios

UPDATE V: Security forces have re-taken the Supreme Court building and the footage I’m watching would SEEM to indicate the same for the presidential palace

UPDATE VI:

New footage of hundreds of Bolsonaristas getting hauled off in paddy wagons. So that’s good to see at least. Seems like it’s mostly just a terrorist act of mass vandalism, although there has been some disturbing footage of violence directed at civil police officers.

www.cnnbrasil.com.br

Two years ago . . .

daveinchi

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Friday January 06, 2023 · 8:01 AM PST

2023/01/06 · 08:01

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 06: A large group of pro-Trump protesters overtake police and barriers in order to access the Capitol Building on January 6, 2021 in Washington, DC. A pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol, breaking windows and clashing with police officers. Trump supporters gathered in the nation's capital today to protest the ratification of President-elect Joe Biden's Electoral College victory over President Trump in the 2020 election. (Photo by Jon Cherry/Getty Images) — A dark day . . .

. . . . maniacs from the rabid right assaulted the nation's capitol in an effort to end democracy in America, while their hero, the former White House occupant, spent three hours doing absolutely nothing to end the carnage. Five people died, and 140 capitol police officers were injured. Even after a violent insurrection that could have threatened their actual lives, a great majority of the GOP House members, that same night, voted to overturn the election results, on the basis of Absolutely No Evidence That Ever Actually Stood Up In Any Court In the Land.

Today, that same GOoPer House Caucus, after 11 tries, STILL hasn't been able to do the One Damned Thing That Has to Happen First, in order to have a functional House of Representatives - pick a Speaker. So in some ways, the assault on democracy continues. Take a good look, USofA - THIS is what the GOP has to offer you: shitshow "democracy" and extreme dysfunction. The January 6th insurrection continues in a different form.

We're soaking in it.

El Drumpfo is the GOoPers' problem now

daveinchi

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Sunday November 20, 2022 · 5:45 PM PST

2022/11/20 · 17:45

El Drumpfo has announced for 2024, but it's quite clear that this time Jabba the Hutt is not paying attention to the chain that could easily be wrapped around his neck. El Drumpfo has been demoted from being the humanity's problem and America's problem, to being the GOoPers' problem, and I'm here for it. The RepubliCon elites keep saying "no more Trump" and "it's time to move on," but it really seems A LOT like a decisive chunk of the base isn't listening. I suspect he will be the nominee in 2024. Gee I wonder who would win, El Drumpfo or Biden.

Sure the current GOP will continue to run the board in places like Idaho, and Wyoming, and Mississippi, and probably Florida. But nationally, the party attached itself to El Drumpfo at the nutsack, and it's really hard for me to see how they win elections with him, or without him, unless he actually finally does one bump of meth too many, or eats one cheeseburger too many, and finally does the one duty he can't delay by abusing the courts. This dye was cast in 2016 when they all got in line like good little toadies, afraid that the Orange One would say mean things about them. Since then, it was ALWAYS going to end like this. Cowardly ending for a bunch of cowards, and that's just how it is. The schadenfreude is going to be amazing.

Democracy Under Attack in Brazil

daveinchi

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Thursday September 09, 2021 · 3:30 PM PDT

2021/09/09 · 15:30

Brazil's Bolsonaro slams Supreme Court, calls election a 'farce' as supporters rally

From Reuters

"If he loses, we know there was fraud," said Monica Martins, a 51-year-old lawyer at the [Tuesday September 7th] rally in Rio.

Bolsonaro embraced the occasion, donning the presidential sash at a military event marking Independence Day in Brasilia before touring the early rally there by helicopter. He flew midday to Sao Paulo for his defiant address to supporters.

"I'll say to those who want to make me unelectable in Brasilia: Only God will get me out!" he shouted. "And tell the scoundrels that I'll never be jailed!"

In the USA, in Brazil, and all over the world, democracy is under attack in a way not seen since WWII. Far right personality cult and current a-hole President Bolsonaro says the next election in Brazil will be rigged, that the only way he could lose is via fraud. Nevermind that the election is over a year away, and that he is currently in charge, and thus, at least administratively, is in the most power to do something about the fraud. Then he says will either win, be arrested, or be killed; that only God can remove him from office. This is exactly how democracies fail. You can't have a democracy when one party says: "The Election was only legitimate if we win." That's pretty much the opposite of what democracy means. I wonder where he may have learned such tactics. I wonder, wonder wonder.

Calling Bolsonaro Brazil's El Drumpfo is accurate, but he manages to be somehow worse than his orange North American inspiration. He is politically shrewd, a long-time operator in Brasilia, tightly glued to the military top brass, and an Evangelical "true believer . . ." plus he's perfectly comfortable taking a sh** on decades of political precedent. In other words Bolsonaro is a natural-born dictator. His likely opponent Lula is popular, but viewed as corrupt, and an extremely well-known figure. He well-beloved by many, but also despised by many. We will see how it all plays out - the election is in October of 2022, but I fear for my adopted second country. Democracy is only about 30 years old in Brazil. And it has known MANY military dictatorships throughout its history.

Great News! Justice Dept. to file lawsuit against state of Georgia over new voting restrictions

daveinchi

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Friday June 25, 2021 · 8:24 AM PDT

2021/06/25 · 08:24

Kristen Clarke, nominee for Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division, speaks after being nominated by US President-elect Joe Biden at The Queen theater January 7, 2021 in Wilmington, Delaware. (Photo by JIM WATSON / AFP) (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)

This isn’t much of a diary. But thankfully once in awhile there are reminders that elections have consequences! From The Washington Post (paywalled) www.washingtonpost.com/...

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT TO FILE LAWSUIT AGAINST STATE OF GEORGIA OVER NEW VOTING RESTRICTIONS

"The Justice Department will file a federal lawsuit Friday against the state of Georgia for its efforts to enact new voting restrictions that federal authorities allege discriminate against Black Americans, according to people familiar with the matter.

The legal challenge takes aim at Georgia’s Election Integrity Act, which was passed in March by the Republican-led state legislature and signed into law by Gov. Brian Kemp (R). The law imposes new limits on the use of absentee ballots, makes it a crime for outside groups to provide food and water to voters waiting at polling stations, and hands greater control over election administration to the state legislature.

Attorney General Merrick Garland and Kristen Clarke, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, will make the announcement later Friday alongside others who worked closely on developing the lawsuit, including Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta and Principal Deputy Assistant Pamela Karlan, the people familiar with the matter said."</blockquote>

Autogolpotic Asphyxiation: #WeWillNotStandForThisDepravedAssaultOnAllOurLilyWhiteConstitutionalIngra

daveinchi

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Tuesday November 24, 2020 · 8:42 AM PST

2020/11/24 · 08:42

IT'S A GIANT PLOT INVOLVING DEAD HUGO CHAVEZ AND MILLIONS OF FRAUDULENT VOTES BEING CAST. THEY ARE JUST SO CLEVER AND INTELLIGENT AND INGENIUS THAT EVEN THOUGH MILLIONS OF FRAUDLENT VOTES ARE INVOLVED IN AN INTERNATIONAL GLOBALIST CONSPIRACY WITH THOUSANDS OF PLAYERS, THERE JUST HAPPENS TO BE ABSOLUTELY NO EVIDENCE WHATSOEVER THAT WILL ACTUALLY STAND UP IN A COURT OF LAW! ahem . . .#WeWillNotStandForThisDepravedAssaultOnAllOurLilyWhiteConstitutionalIngrainedFraudlentVeryBadPeoplesAttackOnOurDemocraOhErpRepublicoficiationofTheUSConst**For some strange reason, *shrugs,* the above did not work on the American people . . . this time. (Though it definitely worked with an alarming number of Republicans). With Michigan certified in glorious anticlimax, Pennsylvania essentially a done deal, and that insane person at the GSA finally convinced . . . outrageously, and despicably two weeks late . . . to do the *only* part of her job that matters . . . Election 2020 is finally over.** This has been true since the Tulsa Rally, but from here on out it's all fizzles, and no bangs.We are stuck with right wing terrorism regardless. That was always going to be the case. I worry that some of it may have metastasized into something a little more "organized." A lot of disparate far-right connections have been made over the last few years. They are mostly dumb, but there are always one or two who may have some smarts, and savvy. If they find a communicator who can half-way seem "reasonable" to more suburban or even urban voters, and less like a guy who's on meth, we'll be back where we started, and the lower brush has been cleared for a more successful coup or autogolpe.But THIS roller coaster is sliding in to the station, for now, folks. The Transition of power will begin in earnest, the Trumpies will slowly dissolve out of the White House, and an imperfect, but earnest, and competent administration will take over, with the biggest mess any President has inherited at LEAST since the Depression. If nothing else, Biden has experience and contacts. Maybe he IS that guy for the Moment.At the very least, we can rest assured that . . hey! (checks date) in less than two months, we will not be worried about what the sitting President of the United States is tweeting.

**98% confidence

. . . and on Someday the 15th of Never . . .

daveinchi

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Saturday November 14, 2020 · 12:54 PM PST

2020/11/14 · 12:54

. . . 5,000 word "think pieces" will start to emerge in more thoughtful, if traditionalist, conservative news and opinion sources. And these think pieces will explore, at length, how and why conservatives need to "understand the concerns of urban voters," and try to "reach out to them," with ideas that meet their more urban, progressive needs! And these think pieces will go viral, and millions of conservatives across America will open their minds, and really try to *see* urban voters.

World's Saddest Presser Viewed as "Instant Classic" at RedState. WTF?

daveinchi

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Saturday November 07, 2020 · 9:25 PM PST

2020/11/07 · 21:25

Today Rudy Giuliani led a brief presser outside of a landscaping company in Philly, the details of which are delicious, and ridiculous. (At one point during the presser, Giuliani is INFORMED that the Election has been called.)

There is so much to unpack with this portion of our recent drama, not the least of which, was that instead of it happening at the Four Seasons Hotel, as *resident Trump had tweeted it would, it occurred at Four Seasons Total Landscape in some dusky, industrial sector of Philly, which neighbors an adult book store, and a crematorium. Personally my favorite part is when Giuliani says: "The networks don't decide elections. Courts do." The American people are not mentioned.

Curious about the state of right wing mindframes, I sullied myself with a mainstream conservative website - Redstate. (Won't Link - they're just awful). There is an article there suggesting that this moment was an "Instant Classic," and it’s quite popular. As in, a lot of people at RedState think this looked GOOD, on Rudy Giuliani, and that "the fight for Election 2020" goes on, which, no it does not! Literally, that was their take: "Giuliani was on fire during this press conference." Just another reminder that we live in different realities. They have not accepted reality, at least not yet.

Parscale's Gun Incident Barely Qualified as News

daveinchi

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Saturday October 10, 2020 · 11:37 AM PDT

2020/10/10 · 11:37

Uh oh!

Police report of suicide threat by former Trump campaign manager includes domestic abuse allegations

The VERY Liberal Bezos-owned Washington Post somehow decided this was news**.

Brad Parscale, who managed President Trump’s campaign for nearly 2½ years until he was demoted in July, was hospitalized for his own safety after threatening suicide while holding a handgun during a confrontation with his wife at his Florida home, local police said Monday.

Parscale’s wife, Candice, called authorities shortly before 4 p.m. Sunday to report that he had loaded a gun in front of her, prompting her to flee the house out of fear for her safety. She told police that Parscale was still inside the house with multiple guns, that he had made several threats of suicide and that she feared he might attempt to take his own life. Parscale was ultimately transported to Broward Health Medical Center under the Baker Act, a Florida law that allows authorities to detain a person they think poses a danger to themselves.

Fort Lauderdale Police Department reports from the incident reveal a grim and troubling picture of Trump’s former campaign manager. His wife said Parscale had been drinking heavily, had been physically abusive toward her, and had been stressed and making suicidal comments for weeks. She also told police that he “suffers from PTSD,” or post-traumatic stress disorder, without elaborating.

** for one day

Can you imagine what the media would have done if one of Hillary Clinton's, Barack Obama's, or Joe Biden's top deputies, or CAMPAIGN MANAGERS, was involved in a gun incident that was linked to domestic abuse claims and suicide threats? You KNOW we live the Crazy Times because this little news story has long since slunk off the back page to the very bottom of our collective consciousness.

Let's be clear. Something like this would represent all the nails-in-the-coffin for a Democratic politician's campaign. If this person had been Hillary's, or Obama's, or Biden's campaign manager, it would CERTAINLY have been treated as "a reflection on the candidate" by the mainstream media, and that candidate would complete toast. No "October Surprise" would be needed or necessary. The entire month of October would have been consumed ONLY by this story.

Don't ever let anyone tell you the corporate media is "liberal." It's he most insidious, most effective, and possibly the biggest lie, ever told.

Looking for Recommendations: Who should get my money?

daveinchi

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Sunday September 13, 2020 · 5:53 AM PDT

2020/09/13 · 05:53

Cash, puzzle, money — Looking for a final puzzle piece . . .

Ha ha "with my active lifestyle" I don't have time to volunteer for campaigns. So I give money. (Plus we can't go out, or go on vacay, what with the COVID and all, so, importantly, I've actually got a little extra money to give. We are very lucky to be doing okay in this terrible time.) This year it's so important, that I've decided I am going to ramp my donating to an amount roughly equal to "all the donations I've ever made ever in my life so far," just for this cycle. I am dividing my beefed-up donations-on-steroids three ways. First, I am giving money to the Wisconsin Democratic Party, as they are ground zero.

The second helping is going to this organization: https://floridarrc.com/ Can you believe it? Florida voters gave felons the right to vote in an overwhelming referendum a couple/few years ago, by a roughly 2-1 margin.Then, their GOoPer legislature and their shitbag Governor Ron DuhSantis, said: "No nevermind how them folks voted, we're gonna still make it impossible for felons to vote, by making them pay all their court fees and fines first." This is pretty close to a modern-day poll tax, and a majority of its targets are African American. Nevermind the fact that this would (continue to) disenfranchise 775,000 people - some would say that's the point. Nevermind the fact that in many counties and jurisdictions in Florida, record-keeping is terrible, and many Florida ex-cons CANNOT EVEN FIND OUT HOW MUCH THEY SUPPOSEDLY OWE! The 11th circuit just handed down a trash ruling, saying the law can stand as is. So I am giving my second portion to the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition.

The recommendation I am looking for is: what organization gets my third helping? Where can my donation really be impactful? Where is it at least possible that I can actually help a candidate, or organization WIN a critical state, or a critical seat? If you've got ideas, I am open to the suggestions.

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