Watching Fedi and the world react to the US president go absolutely unhinged in public, threatening war crimes as his cognitive grip disintegrates before our eyes, watching the horror and the outrage…there is something I want to tell you from Minneapolis.
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My fellow people of the United States, if I have anything to teach from what Minneapolis just lived through, it is this:
Nobody is coming to save us.
Not Congress. Not the courts. Not the ICC or the EU or NATO. Not the generals or the rank and file. Not the press. Not the markets. Not the elections. Not some mythical version of “The People” that materializes out of nowhere as some messianic external force.
We’re it. We’re all we’ve got. If we don’t stop fascism from completely engulfing the US, then nobody stops it.
7/
@inthehands general strike now!
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I cannot tell you what to do, watching the US president and his horrific regime trying to plunge the world into flame and darkness. I can’t tell you because I have no idea either.
All I can tell you is this:
You have to know, with total and completely clarity, that nobody is coming to save us.
And knowing that, you will feel lost — but strangely clear.
And suddenly the work will be on you.
And you will do it, because that is •just what you do•, because you •know• that nobody else is coming.
And you will still have no idea what to do, even as you are already doing it.
11/
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Watching Fedi and the world react to the US president go absolutely unhinged in public, threatening war crimes as his cognitive grip disintegrates before our eyes, watching the horror and the outrage…there is something I want to tell you from Minneapolis.
And I’m not sure how, and I’m not sure if I can, but I want to try. People are always thanking us and calling us heroes and asking us for some kind of…something, anything we can offer in the face of the authoritarian march, and well, here it is, here is something, if I can figure out how to say it.
🧵
Thank you for this, Paul!
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It was a dark, dark day when US cops repurposed this wise adage by inverting its meaning. Or maybe it's just the LAPD, but they use it a lot and I hate it.
"Is justice, just … ice?
Governed by greed and lust?
Just the strong doing what they can
And the weak suffering what they must?- Joni Mitchell, in "Sex Kills"
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@inthehands general strike now!
There's several organizations aiming for May Day, 5/1/26.
Need about 12 million to be effective .. no work, no school, no shopping (a big one) no driving no nothing but protesting
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@inthehands I am not sure his cognitive abilities are degrading. AS a mafioso, his definition of "art of the deal" has always been to threaten people and impose his deal with a "take it or leave it" attitude , and he continues to apply this to Iran the same way he applied it to a concrete supplier since back then, this worked because if one supplier stoof up, Trump would turn to another concrete supplier and woiudl eventually find one. He was elected to implement "art of the deal" and doing so.
His cognitive abilities have never been that great, which is why he used to keep his academic records private.
Being a thug and a bully works only until it doesn't. He's so ready lost his war with Iran, and oil prices went up again today in reaction to his threats.And
He's been vigorously TACOing on every deadline he's set. Iran is getting $2 million for every ship they let through. And with the presence of VIA assets being active in Iran publicly known because of news reports of CIA activity in the rescue of the lost pilot, you can be sure those agents will be hunted down, even if it means killing 100 suspects for each real one.
This is the essence of survival. Iran can't afford to back down, ever. Not to the US, not to Israel, not to anyone. The US simply doesn't have the manpower to pull off a successful invasion, which wouldn't reopen the Strait anyway, and businesses would prefer to pay the Iranians to let their ships through rather than have them blocked for the next 3 months or more.
Simple economics. Trump is a lame duck even before the midterms.
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There's several organizations aiming for May Day, 5/1/26.
Need about 12 million to be effective .. no work, no school, no shopping (a big one) no driving no nothing but protesting
@Sfwmson @inthehands and the protests need to be constant and relentless, no leaving after 1day out in the field protesting.
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It was a dark, dark day when US cops repurposed this wise adage by inverting its meaning. Or maybe it's just the LAPD, but they use it a lot and I hate it.
@AdrianRiskin @jzb @inthehands how very armed gang of them. Feels very thin blue line punisher logo.
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His cognitive abilities have never been that great, which is why he used to keep his academic records private.
Being a thug and a bully works only until it doesn't. He's so ready lost his war with Iran, and oil prices went up again today in reaction to his threats.And
He's been vigorously TACOing on every deadline he's set. Iran is getting $2 million for every ship they let through. And with the presence of VIA assets being active in Iran publicly known because of news reports of CIA activity in the rescue of the lost pilot, you can be sure those agents will be hunted down, even if it means killing 100 suspects for each real one.
This is the essence of survival. Iran can't afford to back down, ever. Not to the US, not to Israel, not to anyone. The US simply doesn't have the manpower to pull off a successful invasion, which wouldn't reopen the Strait anyway, and businesses would prefer to pay the Iranians to let their ships through rather than have them blocked for the next 3 months or more.
Simple economics. Trump is a lame duck even before the midterms.
@barbra @inthehands I do not disagree. However, if one is to speak of mental illness, you need to prove degradation, and since he has never been able to negotiate and always been a thug to impose his terms/condition, he isn't really degrading. He is just stuck into conditions where he was NEVER able to deal with.
(he is a mafioso thug unless subservient to someone who rescued him financially like the Russians).The crowd size when first elected closer to psychosis illness than current war.
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My fellow people of the United States, if I have anything to teach from what Minneapolis just lived through, it is this:
Nobody is coming to save us.
Not Congress. Not the courts. Not the ICC or the EU or NATO. Not the generals or the rank and file. Not the press. Not the markets. Not the elections. Not some mythical version of “The People” that materializes out of nowhere as some messianic external force.
We’re it. We’re all we’ve got. If we don’t stop fascism from completely engulfing the US, then nobody stops it.
7/
@inthehands This is definitely where I am. We have (only) whispers of opportunities in a different country, but excitement gave way to a sense of responsibility, of rolling up our sleeves to fight for our communities and a different vision of our country. Few have the option to leave. That means we fight or roll over. The latter doesn’t really seem like an option.
LOVE the Carolyn Forche callout. I pulled her books out when this all started. They’re still on the corner of my desk.
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And of course there are a thousand practical lessons in fighting authoritarians, and we are passing them on as best we can as so many thousands of thousands have before us — but for now, for today, this is the one thing I can tell you: stop waiting for someone else to save you. This is it. We’re all we’ve got. Either we do this or no one does.
❝
It is either the beginning or the end
of the world, and the choice is ourselves
or nothing.
❞/end
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@inthehands A labor organizer once told my colleagues & me something along the same lines to what you're saying now, and I've come back to it again and again in the years since, since applies in many contexts:
"If you’re waiting for the cavalry to come over the hill, they’re not coming. It’s just you, but you are enough."It's just us, but we are enough!
@belehaa @inthehands They are loud , but they are few. We are many! We are right!
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@inthehands Paul, this extraordinary lesson for these times can't be allowed to disappear into the depths of old Mastodon posts. Please pull it together into a pdf. I promise to help disseminate it, and hard copies. Thanks for giving me another grain of hope.
@knownasrose @inthehands yes, this.
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It was clarifying. We knew, with complete certainty, that nobody was coming to save us.
If we don’t stand in their way when they come to kidnap our neighbors, nobody will stand in their way.
If we don’t try to help people who need to hide, nobody will help them hide.
If we don’t try to feed people who can’t work, can’t even go outside to get food, nobody will feed them.
It put things into focus really fast.
3/
@inthehands @jenniferplusplus "If not us, who? If not now, when?"
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Watching Fedi and the world react to the US president go absolutely unhinged in public, threatening war crimes as his cognitive grip disintegrates before our eyes, watching the horror and the outrage…there is something I want to tell you from Minneapolis.
And I’m not sure how, and I’m not sure if I can, but I want to try. People are always thanking us and calling us heroes and asking us for some kind of…something, anything we can offer in the face of the authoritarian march, and well, here it is, here is something, if I can figure out how to say it.
🧵
@inthehands yeah no one will be dropping "liberation" bombs on this regime (or the civilians who aren't doing enough to overthrow the regime) as USA have done around the world for almost a century. Guess the pedo in chief's regime & the oligarchy behind it also knows this fact and doing whatever they want with impunity as they know next iToy is just the perfect distraction that will keep a majority not giving a hoot about what is happening around them...
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@barbra @inthehands I do not disagree. However, if one is to speak of mental illness, you need to prove degradation, and since he has never been able to negotiate and always been a thug to impose his terms/condition, he isn't really degrading. He is just stuck into conditions where he was NEVER able to deal with.
(he is a mafioso thug unless subservient to someone who rescued him financially like the Russians).The crowd size when first elected closer to psychosis illness than current war.
@jfmezei @inthehands you don't have to prove mental degradation for a mental illness diagnosis. Look at the people who are obviously mentally ill without any past baseline history, based on their current behaviour.
When someone is standing on the corner howling at the moon it's obvious they have a problem. When they let addictions drive their every action they're tucked up at a pretty basic level. When they want sex with underage minors who can't consent and they insist it's the kids fault they are messed up. And then there's bestiality ...
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if enough of us wrote/emailed/phoned/screamed outside their office to our congressional reps to IMPEACH or face voter outrage leading to being voted out, and kept it up, we could regain our democracy
citizensimpeachment.com/
@inthehands @libramoon Please read again what Paul wrote.
Parliamentary democracy is not going to save you from fascism. You and I will. -
Watching Fedi and the world react to the US president go absolutely unhinged in public, threatening war crimes as his cognitive grip disintegrates before our eyes, watching the horror and the outrage…there is something I want to tell you from Minneapolis.
And I’m not sure how, and I’m not sure if I can, but I want to try. People are always thanking us and calling us heroes and asking us for some kind of…something, anything we can offer in the face of the authoritarian march, and well, here it is, here is something, if I can figure out how to say it.
🧵
RE: https://hachyderm.io/@inthehands/116354480071471219
@inthehands brilliant thread and very chilling that the fascists and billionaires have taken such control that it is up to individuals sharing with each other to resist the invasion by the evil forces. Well done and thank you. I hope I never have to experience it in such a raw way.
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[The quote is from the book _The Country Between Us_ by Carolyn Forché. It is some of the most powerful and gut-wrenching poetry I’ve ever read, and the book still burns like a hot coal in my hands when I hold it. The book is among other things the origin of my handle, “in the hands.” Don’t look up that quote; look up the book. Read it slowly. You’ll know the quotes when you find them.]
@inthehands
I checked out the book.
These poems aren't exactly jumping into my lap but I'll give them a few reads.
She has quite a 1980s leftist story. -
@jfmezei @inthehands you don't have to prove mental degradation for a mental illness diagnosis. Look at the people who are obviously mentally ill without any past baseline history, based on their current behaviour.
When someone is standing on the corner howling at the moon it's obvious they have a problem. When they let addictions drive their every action they're tucked up at a pretty basic level. When they want sex with underage minors who can't consent and they insist it's the kids fault they are messed up. And then there's bestiality ...
@barbra @inthehands The problem is that by the time the signs of demantia are obvious enough to diagnoze officially, the person is already pretty advanced, (but can still have good days).
In a case such as Trump, because the chief of staff can hide the president on his down days, we don't get to see such obvious signs. The tell will be when he forgets to use utensils during state dinner visible to foreign leaders (or to media).
Differentiating between normal Trump & mental illness is hard
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