Douglas Brown
@douglasdbrown.bsky.social
Dad, husband, lawyer, writer, amateur singer/bartender. Anti-fascist. Christian Leftist. LGBTQ+ ally. No DMs.
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The Authoritarian Regime Survival Guide
verfassungsblog.de
From 2017 “With love, your Eastern European friends”:
YEAR 1 Under Authoritarianism
What to Expect?
***
2. They will divide and rule. Their strength lies in unity, in one voice and one ideology, and so should yours. [more following]
verfassungsblog.de/the-authorit...
YEAR 1 Under Authoritarianism
What to Expect?
***
2. They will divide and rule. Their strength lies in unity, in one voice and one ideology, and so should yours. [more following]
verfassungsblog.de/the-authorit...
Reposted by Douglas Brown
But, but they must be persuadable to our logical arguments, right?
January 26, 2026 at 3:57 PM
But, but they must be persuadable to our logical arguments, right?
For those of us church kids from the 80s that were warned about the day we would be persecuted for our faith feeling a glimmer of recognition in this moment, didn’t we always know it would be the most Pharisee-like Christians doing the persecuting?
January 23, 2026 at 8:12 PM
For those of us church kids from the 80s that were warned about the day we would be persecuted for our faith feeling a glimmer of recognition in this moment, didn’t we always know it would be the most Pharisee-like Christians doing the persecuting?
Here’s a thought experiment for white liberals, and the first involuntary thought is the only one that counts:
(Scroll down please)
The idea of non-whites having power over me and not needing my benevolence makes me feel _____________.
(Scroll down please)
The idea of non-whites having power over me and not needing my benevolence makes me feel _____________.
January 18, 2026 at 7:10 PM
Here’s a thought experiment for white liberals, and the first involuntary thought is the only one that counts:
(Scroll down please)
The idea of non-whites having power over me and not needing my benevolence makes me feel _____________.
(Scroll down please)
The idea of non-whites having power over me and not needing my benevolence makes me feel _____________.
I agree 100% with Amanda Nelson of Amandasmildtakes (multiple platforms). In any substantive sense, how is all of this any different from the long-invoked specter of martial law the left has been using to enforce calls for decorum and civility?
January 10, 2026 at 5:28 PM
I agree 100% with Amanda Nelson of Amandasmildtakes (multiple platforms). In any substantive sense, how is all of this any different from the long-invoked specter of martial law the left has been using to enforce calls for decorum and civility?
And if he’d rather we see all of this than what’s in those files…
January 9, 2026 at 2:32 PM
And if he’d rather we see all of this than what’s in those files…
Reposted by Douglas Brown
I will never forget this one
October 15, 2025 at 7:46 PM
I will never forget this one
Reposted by Douglas Brown
I vividly recall when Pres. Obama announced bin Laden’s killing, Republicans to a person refused to give any credit. There was no “well you have to admit” or “even though I disagree.”
The current president has less than no skill at statesmanship, and deserves no credit. Any peace is in spite of him
The current president has less than no skill at statesmanship, and deserves no credit. Any peace is in spite of him
October 12, 2025 at 1:19 PM
I vividly recall when Pres. Obama announced bin Laden’s killing, Republicans to a person refused to give any credit. There was no “well you have to admit” or “even though I disagree.”
The current president has less than no skill at statesmanship, and deserves no credit. Any peace is in spite of him
The current president has less than no skill at statesmanship, and deserves no credit. Any peace is in spite of him
I am starting to think having coaches teach Civics as a throwaway position all those years may have been a little shortsighted.
October 10, 2025 at 1:44 PM
I am starting to think having coaches teach Civics as a throwaway position all those years may have been a little shortsighted.
Reposted by Douglas Brown
From 2017 “With love, your Eastern European friends”:
YEAR 1 Under Authoritarianism
What to Expect?
***
2. They will divide and rule. Their strength lies in unity, in one voice and one ideology, and so should yours. [more following]
verfassungsblog.de/the-authorit...
YEAR 1 Under Authoritarianism
What to Expect?
***
2. They will divide and rule. Their strength lies in unity, in one voice and one ideology, and so should yours. [more following]
verfassungsblog.de/the-authorit...
The Authoritarian Regime Survival Guide
verfassungsblog.de
April 3, 2025 at 12:39 AM
From 2017 “With love, your Eastern European friends”:
YEAR 1 Under Authoritarianism
What to Expect?
***
2. They will divide and rule. Their strength lies in unity, in one voice and one ideology, and so should yours. [more following]
verfassungsblog.de/the-authorit...
YEAR 1 Under Authoritarianism
What to Expect?
***
2. They will divide and rule. Their strength lies in unity, in one voice and one ideology, and so should yours. [more following]
verfassungsblog.de/the-authorit...
This is a years-long task, and it is early. If you plan to/have to stay,what can you/should you be doing now? Build your tribe. Gather resources you will use. Finish grieving your idea of the world of the past. Decide for yourself in advance how far you are willing to go and what you will sacrifice.
October 6, 2025 at 3:23 PM
This is a years-long task, and it is early. If you plan to/have to stay,what can you/should you be doing now? Build your tribe. Gather resources you will use. Finish grieving your idea of the world of the past. Decide for yourself in advance how far you are willing to go and what you will sacrifice.
Reposted by Douglas Brown
Attn Black people, stop scrolling.
This is not a drill: Chicago
This is not a drill: Chicago
October 4, 2025 at 3:20 AM
Attn Black people, stop scrolling.
This is not a drill: Chicago
This is not a drill: Chicago
If you’re not a radical by now you’re part of the problem.
October 1, 2025 at 1:59 AM
If you’re not a radical by now you’re part of the problem.
Reposted by Douglas Brown
Agreed. Time we all started evangelizing for The Enlightenment
September 20, 2025 at 6:13 PM
Agreed. Time we all started evangelizing for The Enlightenment
Folks on the Right believe the buffoonish caricature of us on the Left because they want to. The fantasy version of the world is their safe place, fellow believers their tribe, and they won’t be convinced by our side until they let themselves. And I have no idea how we get there.
September 12, 2025 at 11:58 AM
Folks on the Right believe the buffoonish caricature of us on the Left because they want to. The fantasy version of the world is their safe place, fellow believers their tribe, and they won’t be convinced by our side until they let themselves. And I have no idea how we get there.
Reposted by Douglas Brown
Nazi Germany wasn’t Nazi Germany until it was. Everything was normal, life went on until it didn’t.
September 9, 2025 at 10:19 PM
Nazi Germany wasn’t Nazi Germany until it was. Everything was normal, life went on until it didn’t.
Reposted by Douglas Brown
Know your rights, Illinois.
Stay safe and stay informed.
Stay safe and stay informed.
September 6, 2025 at 7:40 PM
Know your rights, Illinois.
Stay safe and stay informed.
Stay safe and stay informed.
We’ve tried truth to power. Time now for power to power. For most movements, internal reckoning only comes after defeat. We owe them that.
August 12, 2025 at 12:43 PM
We’ve tried truth to power. Time now for power to power. For most movements, internal reckoning only comes after defeat. We owe them that.
If we just let the wealthy live tax-free unregulated lives, this would all be over, because they are willing to burn down the house with the rest of us inside if we don’t.
August 8, 2025 at 1:45 PM
If we just let the wealthy live tax-free unregulated lives, this would all be over, because they are willing to burn down the house with the rest of us inside if we don’t.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, if two of us have a contract, and you break it constantly, if I still follow that contract, it doesn’t make me principled, it makes me a chump. Conservatives have been breaking the contract for the last 40+ years. There is no consensus to be had.
July 29, 2025 at 3:19 AM
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, if two of us have a contract, and you break it constantly, if I still follow that contract, it doesn’t make me principled, it makes me a chump. Conservatives have been breaking the contract for the last 40+ years. There is no consensus to be had.
If we are to believe this president won the election legitimately, our country is broken and must be remade. If we believe this president actually lost the election but was fraudulently installed anyway, our country is broken and must be remade. Grieve that fact and then let’s get on with it.
July 22, 2025 at 11:54 AM
If we are to believe this president won the election legitimately, our country is broken and must be remade. If we believe this president actually lost the election but was fraudulently installed anyway, our country is broken and must be remade. Grieve that fact and then let’s get on with it.
Reposted by Douglas Brown
Let me say this—a sustained protest movement must be non-violent if only because the other side has more dedicated personnel and weaponry. Rescuing people who are in the process of being abducted and disappeared is an entirely different enterprise. A can of corn is about .60 and lands like a brick.
July 11, 2025 at 2:20 PM
Let me say this—a sustained protest movement must be non-violent if only because the other side has more dedicated personnel and weaponry. Rescuing people who are in the process of being abducted and disappeared is an entirely different enterprise. A can of corn is about .60 and lands like a brick.
Reposted by Douglas Brown
Our new reality and it ain't pretty.
I’m sorry for the long post but a lot of you have followed me for a long time, since 2016 when I was one of the first to repeatedly call out Trump for being a Russian asset.
I don’t know how else to say this, as a person who has studied cults (wrote a bestseller about it) and totalitarian states.
I don’t know how else to say this, as a person who has studied cults (wrote a bestseller about it) and totalitarian states.
July 6, 2025 at 11:23 AM
Our new reality and it ain't pretty.