Threadbare Republic
@threadbarerepublic.bsky.social
We're examining the unraveling of American democracy through history, politics, and culture, connecting past events to today’s challenges with insight and urgency.
Substack: http://threadbarerepublic.substack.com
Substack: http://threadbarerepublic.substack.com
Yesterday, Donald Trump stepped up to the marble podium at the United Nations General Assembly and delivered what may be remembered as one of the most destabilizing addresses ever given by an American president.
Submitted for Your Disapproval: The Bullshit Zone
When the president uses the world’s stage to rage, lie, and gloat
threadbarerepublic.substack.com
September 24, 2025 at 2:47 PM
Yesterday, Donald Trump stepped up to the marble podium at the United Nations General Assembly and delivered what may be remembered as one of the most destabilizing addresses ever given by an American president.
It’s bad politics. It is terrible science.
Scapegoating Science
When politics needs a villain, even Tylenol will do
open.substack.com
September 23, 2025 at 1:56 PM
It’s bad politics. It is terrible science.
In a single week, Donald Trump moved across the corridors of power like a storm, leaving upheaval in his wake. Any one of his moves might seem calculated or chaotic. Together, they reveal the pattern of a leader testing the limits of every institution meant to constrain him.
The United States’ No Good, Very Bad Week
In seven days Trump pressured the press, rewrote immigration, claimed control over prosecutors, erased history, and pushed the courts to their limits.
threadbarerepublic.substack.com
September 21, 2025 at 6:06 PM
In a single week, Donald Trump moved across the corridors of power like a storm, leaving upheaval in his wake. Any one of his moves might seem calculated or chaotic. Together, they reveal the pattern of a leader testing the limits of every institution meant to constrain him.
Reposted by Threadbare Republic
In ABC's defense, Jimmy Kimmel should have said something much less offensive during his monologue, such as advocating that we kill homeless people.
September 17, 2025 at 11:33 PM
In ABC's defense, Jimmy Kimmel should have said something much less offensive during his monologue, such as advocating that we kill homeless people.
Freedom of speech is being hollowed out. If a regulator can use merger approvals to pressure broadcasters into canceling dissent, then the government has found a back door into censorship. That is authoritarianism, plain and simple.
Democracy Dies in Silence
When the FCC silences comedians and networks shovel dirt for mergers, freedom of speech dies.
open.substack.com
September 18, 2025 at 2:32 PM
Freedom of speech is being hollowed out. If a regulator can use merger approvals to pressure broadcasters into canceling dissent, then the government has found a back door into censorship. That is authoritarianism, plain and simple.
When Americans say “this is our Reichstag Fire,” they are pointing to the possibility that fear will be weaponized to erode rights and entrench one-party control. They are reminding us that the real test comes when those in power decide whether to protect democracy or bend it to their will.
America’s Reichstag Fire
How violence could be used to rewrite the rules of power
open.substack.com
September 17, 2025 at 10:03 AM
When Americans say “this is our Reichstag Fire,” they are pointing to the possibility that fear will be weaponized to erode rights and entrench one-party control. They are reminding us that the real test comes when those in power decide whether to protect democracy or bend it to their will.
Let’s call it what it is: Trump is dismantling the free press, installing a state mouthpiece, and stripping away another vital check on presidential power.
open.substack.com/pub/threadba...
open.substack.com/pub/threadba...
The Authoritarian’s Oldest Enemy: A Free Press
When the press is the enemy, democracy is at risk
open.substack.com
September 16, 2025 at 6:29 PM
Let’s call it what it is: Trump is dismantling the free press, installing a state mouthpiece, and stripping away another vital check on presidential power.
open.substack.com/pub/threadba...
open.substack.com/pub/threadba...
Distraction is not incompetence. It is a weapon. If we fail to call it out, we become complicit in it. And unless the public learns to resist the churn, the noise will smother democracy itself.
Welcome to the Machine
Chaos is not his weakness. It is his strategy, and it is slowly erasing the line between outrage and catastrophe.
open.substack.com
September 15, 2025 at 12:59 PM
Distraction is not incompetence. It is a weapon. If we fail to call it out, we become complicit in it. And unless the public learns to resist the churn, the noise will smother democracy itself.
Trump has made cruelty his brand, but this moment strips away even the veneer of leadership. A president who laughs at tragedy is not a leader.
open.substack.com/pub/threadba...
open.substack.com/pub/threadba...
Ask Not What I Can Do for You…
When the president couldn’t care less, democracy pays the price.
open.substack.com
September 14, 2025 at 12:07 PM
Trump has made cruelty his brand, but this moment strips away even the veneer of leadership. A president who laughs at tragedy is not a leader.
open.substack.com/pub/threadba...
open.substack.com/pub/threadba...
Writing about Charlie Kirk is hard because it forces a reckoning with how far political discourse has shifted, how fragile our civic norms have become, and how careful we must be when telling stories about death, influence, and morality in public life.
Between Outrage and Reflection
Why some stories of political violence resist simple narratives
open.substack.com
September 12, 2025 at 8:14 PM
Writing about Charlie Kirk is hard because it forces a reckoning with how far political discourse has shifted, how fragile our civic norms have become, and how careful we must be when telling stories about death, influence, and morality in public life.
The emergency docket was meant to be an exception. Under Trump, it has become a governing strategy. That shift threatens not only the independence of the judiciary but also the very idea of democratic accountability.
What They Do in the Shadows
How Trump and the Supreme Court turned an obscure legal tool into a weapon of power.
open.substack.com
September 9, 2025 at 2:15 PM
The emergency docket was meant to be an exception. Under Trump, it has become a governing strategy. That shift threatens not only the independence of the judiciary but also the very idea of democratic accountability.
Trump is telling the nation that he views American cities as enemy territory. The oath he swore was to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution. Instead, he has deiced to declare war on the people he governs. If we accept this, then the line between democracy and dictatorship is already gone.
Trump: King of Monsters
Why the president’s warlike threats against Chicago signal a deeper authoritarian turn.
open.substack.com
September 8, 2025 at 5:51 PM
Trump is telling the nation that he views American cities as enemy territory. The oath he swore was to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution. Instead, he has deiced to declare war on the people he governs. If we accept this, then the line between democracy and dictatorship is already gone.
Trump promised light. He delivered shadows. He promised justice. He delivered silence. Trump will never tell the truth about Epstein but will the public keep letting him bury it?
The Art of the Cover-Up
Trump’s long record of objectifying women collides with his broken vow on Epstein’s files.
open.substack.com
September 8, 2025 at 4:01 PM
Trump promised light. He delivered shadows. He promised justice. He delivered silence. Trump will never tell the truth about Epstein but will the public keep letting him bury it?
Trump’s boat strike is a test. If we let it pass without scrutiny, we will have signaled that the President is free to kill in secret and call it justice. If we demand accountability, we remind the office and the man holding it that power has limits.
open.substack.com/pub/threadba...
open.substack.com/pub/threadba...
President of the Caribbean
Trump’s boat strike shows what happens when unchecked power sails free of accountability.
open.substack.com
September 7, 2025 at 1:49 PM
Trump’s boat strike is a test. If we let it pass without scrutiny, we will have signaled that the President is free to kill in secret and call it justice. If we demand accountability, we remind the office and the man holding it that power has limits.
open.substack.com/pub/threadba...
open.substack.com/pub/threadba...
Independence is not some ivory tower principle. It is the reason your paycheck holds its value, why your mortgage rate is not set by campaign strategists, why savings mean something. Break that wall and money becomes another political tool, pumped out before elections and devalued after.
Trump’s Assault on the Fed
When the strings of power run through one man, the economy becomes his toy.
open.substack.com
September 4, 2025 at 3:51 PM
Independence is not some ivory tower principle. It is the reason your paycheck holds its value, why your mortgage rate is not set by campaign strategists, why savings mean something. Break that wall and money becomes another political tool, pumped out before elections and devalued after.
The fight over unions is about whether people can defend themselves against the wealth of corporations and the authoritarianism of leaders. When Trump strips collective bargaining rights from federal employees, he is weakening one of the last organized defenses against unchecked executive authority.
The Long War on Unions
Every blow against unions is a blow against democracy.
open.substack.com
September 2, 2025 at 8:06 PM
The fight over unions is about whether people can defend themselves against the wealth of corporations and the authoritarianism of leaders. When Trump strips collective bargaining rights from federal employees, he is weakening one of the last organized defenses against unchecked executive authority.
A government stripped of independent voices cannot challenge mistakes, check corruption, or serve the public interest. Trump’s call for unquestioning obedience is a warning: when leaders demand a cult of yes-men, the very foundations of democracy are at risk.
They Live, Democracy Dies
Trump’s loyalty pageants and purges are not sideshows. They are the machinery of authoritarian rule.
open.substack.com
August 31, 2025 at 6:57 PM
A government stripped of independent voices cannot challenge mistakes, check corruption, or serve the public interest. Trump’s call for unquestioning obedience is a warning: when leaders demand a cult of yes-men, the very foundations of democracy are at risk.
What happens to an authoritarian movement when it’s leader is gone? Authoritarianism doesn’t always end when the leader does. The movement can outlive the man, reshaping itself into nostalgia, legend, or grievance politics that carry his name long after he’s gone.
Grave Matters
Trump won’t rule forever. But his myth might.
open.substack.com
August 31, 2025 at 1:51 PM
What happens to an authoritarian movement when it’s leader is gone? Authoritarianism doesn’t always end when the leader does. The movement can outlive the man, reshaping itself into nostalgia, legend, or grievance politics that carry his name long after he’s gone.
America does not need more thoughts and prayers. It does not need another press conference outside another school. It needs laws, accountability, and citizens who refuse to live in fear.
God, guns, and the gospel of fear.
How the NRA, politicians, and lobbyists turned America’s obsession with firearms into a deadly faith
open.substack.com
August 29, 2025 at 5:04 PM
America does not need more thoughts and prayers. It does not need another press conference outside another school. It needs laws, accountability, and citizens who refuse to live in fear.
Trump’s romance with Kim is heavy on theater and light on substance. Proof that diplomacy by love letter is diplomacy without results.
#trump #kimjongun #romance
#trump #kimjongun #romance
What if we kissed at the DMZ?
A short history of the love affair between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un
open.substack.com
August 27, 2025 at 7:21 PM
Trump’s romance with Kim is heavy on theater and light on substance. Proof that diplomacy by love letter is diplomacy without results.
#trump #kimjongun #romance
#trump #kimjongun #romance
The soldiers are already in the streets. Trump has already said out loud what he intends to be. The question is not whether he will keep going. The question is whether Democrats will finally act before it is too late or whether the end of the American republic will come with a shrug and a hashtag.
The Party of Shrugs
Authoritarianism advances while the opposition hides behind press releases.
open.substack.com
August 27, 2025 at 2:48 PM
The soldiers are already in the streets. Trump has already said out loud what he intends to be. The question is not whether he will keep going. The question is whether Democrats will finally act before it is too late or whether the end of the American republic will come with a shrug and a hashtag.
By banning flag burning, Trump has placed his brand of loyalty above the liberties the flag was meant to protect. The order is not about honoring Old Glory. It is about extinguishing the freedom it represents.
Flagged for Hypocrisy
Trump’s flag-burning ban proves his loyalty is to control, not country.
open.substack.com
August 26, 2025 at 9:58 PM
By banning flag burning, Trump has placed his brand of loyalty above the liberties the flag was meant to protect. The order is not about honoring Old Glory. It is about extinguishing the freedom it represents.
The paradox is stark. America, the world’s oldest continuous democracy, has also become a master of undermining its own democratic ideals through cartography. The more precise the tools become, the more distorted the representation. Politicians, rather than voters, choose their constituents.
Democracy, Served by the Slice
Gerrymandering lets party bosses cut up the country like cake meaning power for them, scraps for us.
open.substack.com
August 26, 2025 at 3:59 PM
The paradox is stark. America, the world’s oldest continuous democracy, has also become a master of undermining its own democratic ideals through cartography. The more precise the tools become, the more distorted the representation. Politicians, rather than voters, choose their constituents.
The ballot may say “president.” The office may appear unchanged. But when accountability is gone, when institutions are weakened, when elections are hollowed out, what remains is not a president. #trump
When Democracy Elects Its Own Undoing
Ceci n’est pas un président.
open.substack.com
August 25, 2025 at 6:34 PM
The ballot may say “president.” The office may appear unchanged. But when accountability is gone, when institutions are weakened, when elections are hollowed out, what remains is not a president. #trump
Trump’s second presidency is proof that the failure to prosecute has consequences far beyond one man. What happens next depends not on what has been tolerated already, but on whether this time, at last, America decides that accountability is not optional.
The Unfinished Trial of American Democracy
Trump’s second presidency is the consequence of appeasement. The question now is whether accountability can still come before it’s too late.
threadbarerepublic.substack.com
August 25, 2025 at 12:39 PM
Trump’s second presidency is proof that the failure to prosecute has consequences far beyond one man. What happens next depends not on what has been tolerated already, but on whether this time, at last, America decides that accountability is not optional.