"This is a story about serving justice and repairing our democracy. Either there’s rule of law or there’s not. Either we are defined by a system of justice that holds the guilty accountable or we aren’t. 1/4 .open.substack.com/pub/america/p/… "Either we have a democracy that limits the use of violence to define our public life and the rights of our citizens or we have a country devolving into authoritarianism in which a strongman leader can employ fear and intimidation to get and keep power. 2/4

“It's no show of strength to deny people the ability to think for themselves and learn their own history. It's an expression of fear.” Sharing this thread: 1/9 america.substack.com/p/desantis-cow… “The authoritarian strongman types want us to believe in their power. They may even want us to think that their power is divinely influenced, a sign that they’re not like the rest of us, but better…. 2/9

Changing our culture of violence is no small task, especially as long as it’s intertwined w/current political divisions & the obsession w/maintaining the 2nd Am as a sacrosanct justification for bearing every kind of firearm, incl. assault rifles. But..1/7
america.substack.com/p/america-the-… Culture change requires confronting...guns, toxic masculinity, murder-filled pop entertainment, militarized police forces & failed training, leaders modeling cruelty & promoting violence, & social issues that exacerbate stress & motivate people to act out violently. 2/7

These are times to assert what we believe, what we value and what we refuse to just let happen. Here's a baker's dozen of these assertions in a thread from me. america.substack.com/p/no-im-not 1—No, I’m not taking it as a given Republicans will regain the majority, even if it’s a historical tendency, even if polls in recent weeks have suggested the tide is turning against Dems. Can we really trust the polls? And...have you noticed turnout for early voting is way up?

The big missed opportunity is all those who don’t show up. Getting out the vote is key. A few thoughts:

In 2016, Hillary Clinton lost to Donald Trump with 65.8M votes to his 63M votes—while 95.2M eligible voters chose to stay home. 1/8
america.substack.com/p/how-will-you… You’ve surely heard it said many times that the size of turnout is critical to determining an election’s outcome, especially when a passionate minority is determined to assert their will and overcome the majority view. 2/8

In a sane world, there wouldn’t even be a Senate debate involving Herschel Walker. But that’s not the world the GOP has foisted upon us. Their cynical depravity in the pursuit of power is on full display. Here’s my summary. 1/21 america.substack.com/p/the-will-to-… "Once upon a time, there was a Grand Old Party that asserted itself as the flag bearer of family values. In that fabled past, there was the first divorced president, Ronald Reagan, the thrice-married House Speaker, Newt Gingrich... 2/21

Reveling in the pain of others and concocting sadistic stunts is not a vision for America or a path to victory--no matter how much DeSantis and other Republicans think feeding an angry base with cruelty and hate will lead to the WH. Here's my thread. 1/21 america.substack.com/p/when-sadism-… "It’s not like sadism never existed in American political life. In 1870, President Grant formed the DOJ, prioritizing a response to the terrorizing violence of the KKK that was on a murderous rampage to undermine Reconstruction & deny the rights of formerly enslaved people. 2/21

What a week this was. My eyes needed to adjust to the unexpected light. 1/10

america.substack.com/p/reasserting-… It’s hard to overstate how long and dark—how surreal—the tunnel of the last six years has been. 2/10

It’s tragically laughable to recall the Republican candidate who lived in a tower and played a serious businessman on TV promised to surround himself with “the best and most serious people” if he became president. 1/4 america.substack.com/p/pillows-and-… The MyPillow guy Mike Lindell offers a rich illustration of the kind of operators who have advised the man who sat in our Oval Office and who have continued to cheerlead for the stolen election lie and the overthrow of our government... 2/4

He was a sadistic, vengeful man long before he descended the elevator and talked about criminals and rapists coming from Mexico. Of course, as the vise tightens, he will incite more violence. How crazy is all this? I offer this thread. 1/20 america.substack.com/p/american-car… "He urged the execution of the Central Park Five back in 1989, even took out a full-page ad in The New York Times to make his point, then said nothing when it was found that the five Black and Latino men were wrongly convicted.He called Mexicans criminals and rapists... 2/20

Is it necessary to consider now and then what a sane world would look like, one that is so different from the one we currently occupy? I think so, which is why I gathered together this list from a sane world. 1/
america.substack.com/p/in-a-sane-wo… "You wouldn’t need to be a legal expert or a psychiatrist to follow the daily news. 2/33

You know as the criminal vise tightens, Trump will intensify what he knows best: grievance, persecution, endless excuses, blaming others. With that in mind, I share with you my summary of the ridiculous crying of the rich boy who was given everything. 1/18
america.substack.com/p/grievance-pe… "Poor Donald. It’s the deep state. It’s Antifa. It’s racist prosecutors. It’s Robert Mueller. It’s a witch hunt, a hoax, fake news. It’s Democrats and RINOs and now the FBI. 2/18

The prescience of George Washington in his Farewell Address for our times is something to behold. Oh, how he understood the dangers of factionalism and despotism. 1/4 “The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism… 2/4

"The world is a wonder. Let’s not doubt it. The creative power of humankind has yielded a modern world that’s safer, richer, more connected, more mobile, and full of opportunity for more people than our ancestors could have imagined." And yet.../1 "How strange it is that many of the same people who have eaten the fruits of progress are determined to... make life poorer for everyone else. It’s as if they've...only learned that their path forward depends on making the path of others more treacherous and painful./2

I had five minutes on Earth Day to speak about 500 years of history, rethinking narratives of progress and time. Here's what I said: Consider a few of the over-arching narrative notions that have ruled the last 500 years: The Age of Exploration and Discovery, Manifest Destiny, The Industrial Revolution, the Dawn of America as the world’s greatest economic power, the modern world. /1

What must change? 21 examples:

1—Vladimir Putin is murdering children & refuses to stop.

2—Billionaires added $5 trillion to their wealth during the pandemic.

3—Donald Trump is not restricted from running for President again. 4—Fully vaccinated people are 93.4 percent less likely to die from COVID-19 than unvaccinated people, yet millions of Americans still refuse to get vaccinated.

Short thread, from a column in July, titled “The Battle of Our Lives.”

Every time I think we can move forward as a nation, the dark forces keep pulling us down. This is the battle of our lives, playing out in real time, right in front of our eyes. /1 There was a time when the political divisions and confrontations seemed more nuanced, more civil, more likely to end in a tolerable middle ground. Not now. Not as long as… /2

Friends—I’m excited to announce I’m launching my first “chapter” in January. Chapter is an innovative new learning platform, where you can engage with thought leaders to expand your knowledge in just 4 weeks. My Topic: “The End of Democracy?” 1/4 getchapter.app/@beschloss/dem… How does it work? Each “chapter” is a supercharged learning experience – you get content (articles, videos, podcast) handpicked by me + exclusive analysis + direct access to ask me questions. And you’ll discuss each module with enthusiastic peers, like a college seminar. 2/4

Of course when given the chance to do the human thing in response to the death of Colin Powell, Trump used it as another chance to show what a despicable malignancy he is. The most tragic part is how many are modeling this behavior. This:

Yes, I had hopes after 9/11 the world would come together, that Americans would come together and realize what we have in common is more powerful than what divides us. "This was before the start of wars in Afghanistan & Iraq, before Shock & Awe, before the Patriot Act... 1 "...before secret CIA torture sites, before waterboarding, Gitmo and Abu Ghraib, before confusing orange and red terror threat levels from a gargantuan new Department of Homeland Security, before a fear-fueled rise in Muslim hate crimes... 2

Sharing a thread from some months ago on america.substack.com about the cancerous danger of sociopathy and sociopaths driving the GOP, represented by governors like Abbott & DeSantis. We can't minimize the danger to human life and democracy. We must trust our eyes and ears. 1 "For four years I fixed, maybe obsessively, on the criminal sociopathy of Trump. The mind-blowing selfishness, the callous indifference to human life, the utter disregard for right & wrong, the absence of shame or capacity for remorse..call it antisocial personality disorder. 2