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As if the recent obsession with “Alligator Alcatraz”—and the images and memes popping up all over social media in celebration of it—isn’t grotesque enough as it is.

A 🧵

Just look at the images our own government is putting out:

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But this isn’t the first time in American history that images and themes of alligators have been conjured up by elements of our political culture.

And it’s this history that instructs us as to the danger of what’s playing out.

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As much as I loathe all the damage Musk has inflicted on our government and our country, Trump’s latest response in their battle is as dark as it gets.

Let me tell you why:

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When I worked in Russia, and as it was growing in corruption in front of our eyes, one of the most clearcut tell-tales of its slide into lawless authoritarianism was that as most people began to behave corruptly—

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LAUNCH DAY: “Saving Democracy, Second Edition”

“David Pepper has the experience and the skills to help us make a better American future. Read, learn — and act."

- @TimothyDSnyder

1/ “In Saving Democracy, David Pepper explains the tactics of authoritarians in America and offers strategies to fight back. For anyone who wants to know what to do and how to make a difference, this book provides a practical and badly needed road map.”

- @anneapplebaum

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If Project 2025 had had a chapter outlining the role the federal judiciary could play in putting all its dark promises into place—and allowing authoritarianism to advance quickly and broadly—here are what the key elements would be:

1/ 1) create immunity for federal officials engaging in official acts

2) make it as difficult as possible for courts and those aggrieved by illegal acts to stop them—even after they have been found to be illegal or when they are blatantly illegal

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Ohio: an analysis finds that the following rural hospitals are most at risk of closing due to Medicaid cuts:

1) Bucyrus (Crawford County): Bucyrus Community Hospital

2) Cadiz (Harrison County): Harrison Community Hospital

1/ 3) Coshocton (Coshocton County): Coshocton Regional Medical Center

4) Dennison (Tuscarawas County): Twin City Hospital

5) East Liverpool (Columbiana County): East Liverpool City Hospital

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A huge ruling in Ohio yesterday: universal vouchers struck down as unconstitutional

A 🧵 on some of the damning facts:

1/ 1) Columbus City Schools receive only $2,800 per student (45,000 students) from the state, while the 7,500 voucher-funded private school students within its district are funded at more than $5,400 per student

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Husted, We Have a Problem

A 🧵 on the Golden Opportunity to Flip Ohio’s Senate Seat Blue in 2026

Last week, Chuck Schumer flew to Ohio in a not so subtle effort to recruit @SherrodBrown to run for the US Senate in 2026.

The dinner meeting was caught on camera…

1/ …leading to a national story, and a whole lot of people from beyond Ohio asking who the @rooster_ohio is

But these same people should also be asking, more and more intensely, who the sitting Senator is.

His name is Jon Husted, he is a deeply tainted and untested candidate,

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A Tale of Two “Public Servants”

A 🧵

Yesterday, I drove to a food pantry in rural Ohio where I was told they were running out of food.

Here’s what I learned.

1/ The food pantry itself (in a town called Manchester) is doing heroic work to help those in need.

The dedicated staff and volunteers—aided by donations from local churches, Kroger, and some grant funding—are doing what they can.

Here’s what they told me:

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🚨 Ear-Witness to Gaslighting

Somehow my family was on the list to join OH Senator Husted’s teletownhall last night.

I listened in for 45 minutes.

The level of disingenuous BS was truly nauseating.

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https://twitter.com/davidpepper/status/1932236130939711573

So many of the Ohio voters asked the most basic questions about health care, food security, Medicare, deficits, and the like.

Husted left the impression that what he kept calling the “Big Beautiful Bill” would save it all.

Examples:

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Trump has long made clear that he wants to deploy the American military into what he perceives as Democratic cities.

On the campaign trail, Trump said he would “unilaterally send troops into Democratic-run cities.”

1/ And it is well documented that in his first term, Donald Trump pressed to invoke the Insurrection Act in wake of the Black Lives Matters protests in June 2020.

That’s when he infamously asked military leaders:

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The Trump-Musk Play by Play

A 🧵

One thing I learned in life, as a middle child in my early teenage years, was that when you have a disagreement with someone, it’s best to stay focused on the point of that disagreement.

1/ While in the heat of the moment, it may be tempting to score all sorts of other points on other issues, all that usually does is risk creating a downward spiral that does far more lasting damage. Way beyond the actual point of disagreement.

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Discrimination Time Machine

A 🧵

So, I ventured up to the Ohio Statehouse yesterday to testify against the terrible SAVE Act equivalent — SB153 — that is now before the Ohio Senate. Thank you to so many other democracy champions—of both parties—for speaking out

1/ But…most of the people gathered in the hearing room were not there to oppose SB153.

They were there to talk about another bill.

To set the scene, here’s a photo of the hearing room. Not an empty seat.

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Knowledge vs. Ignorance

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One of my favorite speeches of American political history is John F. Kennedy’s Rice University speech committing to put a man on the moon.

In it, he speaks of a “decade of hope and fear” and an era of “knowledge and ignorance,” intertwined.

1/ Now, more than half a century later, consider the following incredible breakthroughs, all happening right now. Even more than Kennedy described in that speech.

Here is just a sampling:

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Yesterday, our unhinged president—who promised to end the war in Ukraine on Day 1—went on a rant blaming everyone but himself that his buddy Putin is now engaged in the most deadly drone strikes in years.

1/ Apparently, Zelensky defending his invaded nation (“talking the way he does”) is the equivalent as Putin’s invasion.

But far worse is that Trump wants us all to forget all the ways that he’s empowered and enabled Putin in recent months.

If Putin had a wishlist, Trump has…

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Smoking Gun

A 🧵

It’s a pretty simple rule of thumb.

The forces attacking democracy have been at it for years.

They know the gameplan.

Which means they know exactly what conditions enable their long-range plan to succeed.

1/ And they know exactly what threatens that plan.

So the side that cares about democracy can learn a lot by watching what those attacking democracy do.

What they value and protect, and what they attack.

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As DOGE, Musk and the GOP attack Medicaid, the FAA, FEMA and education, it’s a good time to remind ourselves what government actually is and can be when run by honorable people, and not the billionaire class:

“Government is more than some remote institution…

1/ that we read about or that is defined for us by angry partisans. And it is not to be simply dismissed as an assortment of bureaucrats.

Government is the policeman who protects your home and your family.

It is the firefighter who faces danger

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Beating Vivek and Stopping Ohio’s DOGE

A 🧵

It looks like Vivek has taken over the Ohio GOP in his run for Governor.

On the one hand, his candidacy is a risk to Ohio’s future, as he makes one reckless proposal after the next—doubling down on policies already

1/ sending our state in the wrong direction.

On the other hand, his candidacy presents Ohio with a huge opportunity…to toss off that failed direction and finally start lifting Ohio and its citizens again.

To do this, Ohio Dems will have to get it just right.

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The Trump Administration launched another salvo in its Orban-style attack on Harvard University.

But it isn’t so much that they did so, but the way they did it, that’s striking.

1/ Take a moment and read the letter (ostensibly) from Secretary of Education Linda McMahon.

Although it appears on her formal letterhead, it feel like it’s written by an angry eighth grader (with apologies to eighth graders). Or maybe it was Trump himself.

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WHITEBOARD: Voter Registration Manipulation

A 🧵

There is a Death Star hovering over American elections and democracy at the moment

A threat as great as any suppression tactic we’ve seen in a long time

But one well know in the annals of our history—

WATCH & RT

1/ and at our nation’s darkest moments.

Right now, most see it largely as the so-called SAVE Act, along with the president’s outrageous executive order that one federal court has already ruled to be illegal.

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There are so many terrible cuts, it’s hard to rank which are the worst.

But @clevelanddotcom & @sabrinaeaton highlighted one of the most senseless.

Americorps.

I’ve met some of the finest public servants America has to offer thanks to Americorps.

Such a great way

1/ …to lift communities, while inspiring young people to commit themselves to public service.

All being cut. For no good reason.

Here’s how this impacts Ohio alone, and cuts off the path of those public servants in the making:

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Back in the USSR

A 🧵

Here’s a joke for you: “After a speech, Brezhnev confronts his speechwriter. "I asked for a 15-minute speech, but the one you gave me lasted 45 minutes!" The speechwriter replies: "I gave you three copies..."

1/ I worked in Russia (St. Petersburg) shortly after the end of the Cold War. Made friends while I was there.

I often asked what things were like in the Soviet era….what they were really like.

Here’s another joke:

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