Last week, the populist theocratic authoritarian former Alabama chief justice Roy Moore beat Luther Strange in a special election to fulfil the rest of Jeff Sessions’ term in the Senate. Strange, who had been filling the seat, was endorsed by President Trump, even though Moore, who pulled a gun out at a rally right before the special election, is far more Trumpian than Strange. In some ways, he is even more Trumpian than Trump. Moore’s closest analogue may be fascist former Maricopa County sheriff Joe Arpaio, whom the president recently pardoned.
Donald Trump
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Democracy in Crisis Podcast: Dale Beran on 4chan, the alt-right and the rise of Donald Trump
This week, co-host Baynard Woods talks with Dale Beran about 4chan, the alt-right and the rise of Donald Trump. Earlier this year, Beran wrote an article about the growth of 4chan from a message board used by (mostly) young men talking about things like comics and video games to a site associated with far right movements.
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Democracy in Crisis Podcast: D. Watkins on white supremacy, policing and the Trump administration
This week, co-host Baynard Woods talks with author D. Watkins about white supremacy, policing and the Trump administration. D. is the author of ‘The Beast Side: Living (and Dying) While Black in America’ and ‘The Cook Up: A Crack Rock Memoir’ and is editor at large for Salon.
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Iowa Trump supporter sentenced for voter fraud
An Iowa Republican who pled guilty to voter fraud for casting two ballots for Donald Trump was sentenced on Thursday.
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Trump’s Justice Department drops its support for an Americans with Disabilities Act lawsuit
The U.S. Justice Department’s sudden reversal in a case involving the Americans with Disabilities Act is adding to concerns about the Trump administration’s commitment to protecting civil rights.
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Democracy in Crisis: Trump’s America is not “not normal”
Trump was right when he said the system was broken. He is proof of that. He is a product of our normal, its culmination. It’s not normal that a psycho rich guy like Trump takes over the office to make profit for his family. But it is normal for rich guys to hold the office.
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Iowa’s Sam Clovis is no scientist, but that didn’t stop Donald Trump from nominating him for the top USDA science job
President Donald Trump has decided the chief scientist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) doesn’t need to be a scientist, so on Wednesday, Trump nominated Sam Clovis for the job. Making Clovis, a non-scientist best known for hosting a rightwing radio talk show in Sioux City, the USDA undersecretary for research, education and economics would break with the tradition of finding a qualified scientist for the position, and it might break the law.
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CBS 2 and Fox 28 in Cedar Rapids will start airing more pro-Trump content
Both KGAN (CBS 2) and KXFA (Fox 28) will be increasing the amount of Trump-friendly news commentary they broadcast. Neither station has a choice in the matter. Sinclair Broadcasting Group, the media company that owns one of the Cedar Rapids stations, and operates the other, is mandating the pro-Trump content boost.
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Democracy in Crisis: Press Briefs — Sad little scenes from the White House briefing room
1. The White House briefing room feels like a mansion’s pool house, but with the carpet of a church basement. On the eve of the summer solstice, after a week without an on-camera press briefing, the room smells like a grill doused with too much lighter fluid. Cameramen and techies move around in loose clothes […]
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Protesters, Trump supporters face off outside of Trump’s Cedar Rapids rally
In the hours leading up to President Donald Trump’s Cedar Rapids rally, protesters and Trump supporters stood in the rain on separate sides of the street. One side held aloft posters and chanted — “Dump Trump” and “Love Trumps Hate.” The other side sported “Make America Great Again” hats and occasionally shouted slogans of their own, including the ever popular “USA, USA.”
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Iowa City’s Sudanese community navigates Trump’s travel ban rhetoric
Hanadi Elshazali will always remember what it felt like to go to work on Nov. 9, 2016 — the day after the country elected Donald Trump as its 45th president. She’ll remember the chaotic silence as she entered her office at the Pheasant Ridge Neighborhood Center of Johnson County, the muffled whispers that made her […]
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Democracy in Crisis: The indictment of journalist Aaron Cantú portends grim future for First Amendment
Dozens of defendants, each sitting with their own lawyer, fill a Washington, D.C. courtroom, looking like college students wearing their nicest clothes for a job interview. It is far more serious than that. They are all facing charges of felony rioting, conspiracy to riot and destruction of property on the morning of Donald Trump’s inauguration, when they were scooped up en masse by police with a controversial crowd-control technique which corrals protesters in a “kettle.”
