Why did you not include in the Los Angeles section a reference to California Senator Padilla having been manhandled and brought to the ground for asking a question? Seems as relevant to your point as the inclusion of McIver and Lander’s experiences in the New York section.
"Congress has become so flaccid in the face of authoritarianism that they appear wholly unreliable as a counterforce against the Executive."
I am hitting my head against the wall wondering about this one. In light of our democracy disintegrating and while the judicial branch is trying its best to exert their authority in fighting against this authoritarian regime, Congress has become impotently limp, pathetically handing over their power to stop the destruction. If nothing else, does it even cross their minds what their descendants will think of them?
Seems like the fascist orange felon and his fascist Rasputin are giving all those masked goons permission to do what is normally done by the goons in uniform. Even the ones who have brown skin themselves seem to revel in going after brown-skinned women and babies.
They must hate themselves as much as the hairless Jewish Rasputin does.
I would like to hear a specific plan of action from Senator Padilla in response to his false confinement and battery. Senator Padilla and the mayoral candidate- to use them as examples - have spoken out about what happened (illegal in both instances & civil battery), but no statement of action to be taken to stop it from occurring to others. Why don't 10-15 senators or congress members show up an make inspections of federal facilities? Where was Senator Padilla's security?
Speaking up is a first step, a proactive response is the second.
Regarding Senator Padilla, I am particularly concerned that his security escort (Secret Service and National Guard) did nothing when Padilla was assaulted.
I apologize but this is going to be a rant.. I am sick and tired of this horrible man unleashing gangs of thuggish masked commandos into our communities terrorizing and attacking peaceful people going about their daily lives! Terrorizing school children! I am disgusted by the 30% of the country who voted for this convicted felon/rapist/wannabe dictator/lying charlatan! If they want to live in an authoritarian country, why don’t they go to Russia and leave us in peace! I am equally disgusted by the 30% of the country who couldn’t even be bothered to vote! Your lazy ignorance has caused this national crisis! And I’m also disgusted by the weakling attitude of the Democrats in Congress who, with a few exceptions, are just sitting on their hands and letting this disaster happen. I am also angry and sad to see the implosion of our long fought struggle for freedom and justice for ALL! But I’ll keep fighting for freedom and justice for ALL!
Just reminding people that there are lies (i.e., misinformation and disinformation - I prefer the word "lies" since they know what they are saying is false) coming from more than just Mike Lee. Heather Cox Richardson describes the unsubstantiated claims of acting ICE director Todd Lyons, as reported by Philip Bump in the Washington Post. Lyons claims that assaults against ICE agents are up 413%, a claim not backed up by any data and in contrast to decreases reported by CBP. Interim US Attorney Alina Habba lied about Rep. Monica McIver (D-NJ) and charged her with assaulting ICE officers during the arrest of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem lied about Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) "lunging at her" before agents manhandled and handcuffed him. New York city comptroller Brad Lander was also arrested by plainclothes, masked agents with DHS threatening to charge him with assaulting an officer although he was later released and the charges dropped. There is video showing no such assault in all three cases unless one considers, as Bump says, that Lander “assaulted the officers in the sense that a bully might accuse you of having gotten in the way of his fist.”
These lies are being used to justify federal agents masking and wearing no identification allegedly to protect them because opponents of their actions, especially Democrats, are dangerous and a threat to dox and commit violence against them. The Trump administration is also trying to normalize their presence and thuggery. Lack of accountability is one of the key features of authoritarian rule.
I freely admit that the math goes by untouched by my brain, but the claim they make of a Musk satellite network poised to eliminate votes combined with Dump's prophesy of Blue States disappearing in 2026 appears pretty far fetched.
But, then there's that pesky data I don't understand ....
Next -- I think the (weekly) Democracy Index would be even more enlightening if you could also provide a week-by-week trend-line for each of the 6 categories. Perhaps that trend-line info could be published every 4 weeks.
Further -- As a retired engineer, I would also be interested to see what the Index (Indices?) would have been in past Administrations if calculated by the same criteria as you use now. Perhaps an overall average/mean "score" for past admin.s could be calculated.
Yet anther week of wasteful and shameful spending. This should be ledgered and flagged up to compare occasionally with the cuts being anticipated in the BBB:
- unneeded military presence in LA = $ 340 MM
- wasteful birthday parade in DC = $ 61 MM
- refurbishment of Trump's illegal gift plane = $ 1 MMM
- fines now over to DOJ for Trump's maligning of E. Jean Carroll = $83 MM
- costs for ICE gestapo sent to LA = $___ MM
I wonder how many patients' healthcare could be restored for these wasted sums.
The "Free Elections" risk assessment strikes me as unrealistically low. Documented history over the past decade suggests all of the following: The incumbent president will never, ever voluntarily relinquish power; as a class, elected and appointed republican officials at the federal and state levels have abandoned integrity in favor of slavish cultism; and big-money/big-tech is happy to manipulate anything and everything they can in service of their own interests. In that context, what basis is there to believe those parties have not already put measures in place to guarantee the outcome of elections in 2026 and beyond? Or put another way, what can be done *now* to defend against this oh-so-likely constitutional crisis rather than simply reacting after the fact to all the others already in progress?
How many of those masked goons are pardoned J6’rs?
Yes, trump's personal militia. At least they're not shooting people in broad daylight...yet.
You may have missed that they’ve been formally deputized and are now working with ICE.
I’m betting they’ve all been promised (new) pardons for their “ICE” work.
How many of them are even ICE?
Why did you not include in the Los Angeles section a reference to California Senator Padilla having been manhandled and brought to the ground for asking a question? Seems as relevant to your point as the inclusion of McIver and Lander’s experiences in the New York section.
Otherwise, a very strong piece. Thank you.
last week, I believe.
"Congress has become so flaccid in the face of authoritarianism that they appear wholly unreliable as a counterforce against the Executive."
I am hitting my head against the wall wondering about this one. In light of our democracy disintegrating and while the judicial branch is trying its best to exert their authority in fighting against this authoritarian regime, Congress has become impotently limp, pathetically handing over their power to stop the destruction. If nothing else, does it even cross their minds what their descendants will think of them?
Seems like the fascist orange felon and his fascist Rasputin are giving all those masked goons permission to do what is normally done by the goons in uniform. Even the ones who have brown skin themselves seem to revel in going after brown-skinned women and babies.
They must hate themselves as much as the hairless Jewish Rasputin does.
We have our very own brown shirts now.
I would like to hear a specific plan of action from Senator Padilla in response to his false confinement and battery. Senator Padilla and the mayoral candidate- to use them as examples - have spoken out about what happened (illegal in both instances & civil battery), but no statement of action to be taken to stop it from occurring to others. Why don't 10-15 senators or congress members show up an make inspections of federal facilities? Where was Senator Padilla's security?
Speaking up is a first step, a proactive response is the second.
Regarding Senator Padilla, I am particularly concerned that his security escort (Secret Service and National Guard) did nothing when Padilla was assaulted.
I apologize but this is going to be a rant.. I am sick and tired of this horrible man unleashing gangs of thuggish masked commandos into our communities terrorizing and attacking peaceful people going about their daily lives! Terrorizing school children! I am disgusted by the 30% of the country who voted for this convicted felon/rapist/wannabe dictator/lying charlatan! If they want to live in an authoritarian country, why don’t they go to Russia and leave us in peace! I am equally disgusted by the 30% of the country who couldn’t even be bothered to vote! Your lazy ignorance has caused this national crisis! And I’m also disgusted by the weakling attitude of the Democrats in Congress who, with a few exceptions, are just sitting on their hands and letting this disaster happen. I am also angry and sad to see the implosion of our long fought struggle for freedom and justice for ALL! But I’ll keep fighting for freedom and justice for ALL!
Why apologize? Your rant is entirely justified and its viewpoint is shared by many others.
Just reminding people that there are lies (i.e., misinformation and disinformation - I prefer the word "lies" since they know what they are saying is false) coming from more than just Mike Lee. Heather Cox Richardson describes the unsubstantiated claims of acting ICE director Todd Lyons, as reported by Philip Bump in the Washington Post. Lyons claims that assaults against ICE agents are up 413%, a claim not backed up by any data and in contrast to decreases reported by CBP. Interim US Attorney Alina Habba lied about Rep. Monica McIver (D-NJ) and charged her with assaulting ICE officers during the arrest of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem lied about Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) "lunging at her" before agents manhandled and handcuffed him. New York city comptroller Brad Lander was also arrested by plainclothes, masked agents with DHS threatening to charge him with assaulting an officer although he was later released and the charges dropped. There is video showing no such assault in all three cases unless one considers, as Bump says, that Lander “assaulted the officers in the sense that a bully might accuse you of having gotten in the way of his fist.”
These lies are being used to justify federal agents masking and wearing no identification allegedly to protect them because opponents of their actions, especially Democrats, are dangerous and a threat to dox and commit violence against them. The Trump administration is also trying to normalize their presence and thuggery. Lack of accountability is one of the key features of authoritarian rule.
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/june-20-2025
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/06/19/brad-lander-ice-assault-masking/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
Thank you for the week;y\update. Sometimes it is difficult to keep up with authorism at play. How do we deep a positive outlook and remain vigilant?
I keep seeing this:
https://thiswillhold.substack.com/p/she-won-part-iii-the-devil-is-in?r=1s95aw&utm_medium=ios&triedRedirect=true
I freely admit that the math goes by untouched by my brain, but the claim they make of a Musk satellite network poised to eliminate votes combined with Dump's prophesy of Blue States disappearing in 2026 appears pretty far fetched.
But, then there's that pesky data I don't understand ....
Love this synopsis. Very useful. Thank you.
Joshua Kolb, Joyce Vance, and Lily Conway --
1st -- Thanks for all you do to keep us informed.
Next -- I think the (weekly) Democracy Index would be even more enlightening if you could also provide a week-by-week trend-line for each of the 6 categories. Perhaps that trend-line info could be published every 4 weeks.
Further -- As a retired engineer, I would also be interested to see what the Index (Indices?) would have been in past Administrations if calculated by the same criteria as you use now. Perhaps an overall average/mean "score" for past admin.s could be calculated.
I also agree with Ms. Callahan.
Get 15 Senators and their security details to march into an ICE center. That's the only kind of language playground bullies like these understand.
And it's the only kind of language Dump understands.
Sometimes, you have to take the kit gloves off.
Yet anther week of wasteful and shameful spending. This should be ledgered and flagged up to compare occasionally with the cuts being anticipated in the BBB:
- unneeded military presence in LA = $ 340 MM
- wasteful birthday parade in DC = $ 61 MM
- refurbishment of Trump's illegal gift plane = $ 1 MMM
- fines now over to DOJ for Trump's maligning of E. Jean Carroll = $83 MM
- costs for ICE gestapo sent to LA = $___ MM
I wonder how many patients' healthcare could be restored for these wasted sums.
The "Free Elections" risk assessment strikes me as unrealistically low. Documented history over the past decade suggests all of the following: The incumbent president will never, ever voluntarily relinquish power; as a class, elected and appointed republican officials at the federal and state levels have abandoned integrity in favor of slavish cultism; and big-money/big-tech is happy to manipulate anything and everything they can in service of their own interests. In that context, what basis is there to believe those parties have not already put measures in place to guarantee the outcome of elections in 2026 and beyond? Or put another way, what can be done *now* to defend against this oh-so-likely constitutional crisis rather than simply reacting after the fact to all the others already in progress?
Thank-you for keeping us informed. Agree that we cannot turn away from these developments.