Ruth Ben-Ghiat and I discuss the fecklessness of university leaders and other American power elites, how to handle authoritarian trial balloons, and the "Hands Off!" protests coming this weekend
I kicked off an in person antifascist book club with 8 women (whom I have never met) at my home. I’m following the structure Veterans Fighting Fascism provides. Being with other like minded women was incredible and very much needed.
Sharon I am sorry to hear that. I have an anti-fascist book club in Democrats Abroad. It meets online Tuesdays at 6-7:30 pm on Central European time. People around the world are welcome.
Sharon, I take that back. I misread "I kicked off: as :I got kicked off of." So, more power to you. I kicked off my book club last spring by saying we should read Project 2025 as a book club book. That was our first. We just finished reading Freedom's Dominion by Jefferson Cowie, and we are going to have him talk to Democrats Abroad at the end of April.
Amazing Linda! I’ll do a search for your group. This is such important work! We read then meet to discuss and create a plan to take action locally in our communities. You may want to check out veterans fighting fascism for ideas to enhance your club! I’ll add that book you mentioned to my list.
We are too. We are working on a website to collect health care stories from Americans abroad, and we are also planning local action, but we also do that with our local Democrats Abroad groups. Right now, they are getting set to disenfranchise those of us abroad so that is one of the things we are fighting. Also, Trump is shutting down consulates in Germany and other countries, so we are going to protest that. I wrote an article about it.
The dystopian turn toward fascism in the United States—marked by the squandering of trillions of dollars, the devastating loss of life during the COVID-19 pandemic, the betrayal of allies such as the Kurds, the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, and the broader erosion of democratic institutions—could have been preempted with one bold and foundational safeguard: the responsible enforcement of the First Amendment, specifically by curbing its systematic abuse.
Let me be clear: freedom of speech is sacred. But that freedom was never intended to serve as a shield for deliberate falsehoods, conspiratorial delusions, or psychologically manipulative propaganda that corrodes the public mind. The constitutional framers did not envision a reality in which malicious actors would be allowed to inundate the airwaves and digital platforms with unrelenting disinformation—unchecked, unchallenged, and unmoored from empirical reality.
The tragic irony is that the rise of modern authoritarian populism in America could have been thwarted by a resolute stance against weaponized lies. The unregulated proliferation of falsehoods—perpetuated by opportunists like Trump and his media surrogates—has created an epistemic crisis. Once the cognitive script of a conspiracy takes root in the brain, psychological studies have shown it becomes nearly impervious to reason or counterevidence (Nyhan & Reifler, 2010; Lewandowsky et al., 2012). This is not merely conjecture—it is scientifically documented cognitive entrenchment.
Had the Obama administration possessed the political will and rhetorical clarity to confront this trend at its inception, the trajectory could have shifted dramatically. President Obama, vested with the executive authority frequently invoked by his successor, could have—and should have—addressed the nation in a prime-time emergency broadcast. He could have delineated the existential danger posed by coordinated misinformation campaigns masquerading as "free speech," and appealed to the public’s sense of civic duty and factual integrity.
Indeed, the First Amendment, while fundamental, is not absolute. Legal precedent (e.g., Brandenburg v. Ohio, 1969) acknowledges limits—particularly when speech incites violence or lawless action. The unchecked broadcasts of disinformation by figures like Tucker Carlson, Alex Jones, and Steve Bannon were not benign political commentary; they were the ideological equivalent of arson.
This permissiveness came at staggering cost. According to the Brookings Institution, disinformation about COVID-19 significantly undermined vaccine uptake, directly contributing to preventable deaths estimated in the hundreds of thousands. The Lancet Commission (2022) concluded that misinformation was a primary driver of the United States' exceptionally high mortality rate during the pandemic. Meanwhile, Brown University’s Costs of War Project estimates the post-9/11 wars have cost U.S. taxpayers over $8 trillion and resulted in over 900,000 deaths worldwide—much of it made worse by poor decision-making driven by populist pressure and manipulated narratives.
Populists understand the power of grievance. They exploit emotional triggers—immigration, religion, race, national pride—not to solve problems, but to inflame divisions and secure loyalty through fear and distortion. Trump’s team, whether consciously or not, echoed the propaganda model perfected by fascist regimes, most notably the Nazi regime, which also weaponized mass media and distorted facts to reshape public consciousness (Mein Kampf, Goebbels’ speeches, etc.). The parallels are not accidental; they are instructive.
Psychiatrists and cognitive scientists have long understood that once these distorted narratives are implanted and emotionally reinforced, they hijack the neural circuitry of belief, creating what is effectively a cultic framework (Hassan, The Cult of Trump, 2019). Undoing that damage is infinitely harder than preventing it in the first place.
Thus, we must ask: where was the democratic firewall?
The Democratic Party, though ostensibly in a position of power, failed to grasp the psychological magnitude and rapidity of this authoritarian contagion. Whether from political cowardice, over-intellectualization, or a failure to understand the stakes, their inaction permitted the metastasis of delusion.
Had I held that responsibility, I would have taken immediate, decisive action, regardless of the political cost. I would have invoked executive authority to protect truth as a public good. I would have established a bipartisan commission on disinformation, expanded the Fairness Doctrine, and demanded that all public discourse—particularly from broadcast platforms—adhere to rigorous standards of factual integrity. Not censorship—standards. The same way we regulate medicine, aviation, and engineering. Facts matter.
We do not permit bridges to be built on fantasy. Why should we allow public opinion to be?
In closing, the current nightmare—a nation fractured by unreality, millions dead, trillions lost, democracy in peril—was preventable. Every single aspect of it. The solution was not authoritarianism, but a courageous re-commitment to truth. A refusal to let the First Amendment become a suicide pact.
And now we must ask ourselves—do we have the will to stop this descent, or will we continue to let lies reign because we fear the noise of confronting them?
I teach English at a tiny Catholic university on the West Coast--the type of school usually described as a "college access" or HSI. We can't fly under the radar, because we receive federal funding and so many of our students receive Pell Grants (federally funded financial aid for low-income students),and are first-generation college students. Between the feds who expect us to scrub anything "DEI"-related from our program, and the conservative Catholics who troll our website for "forbidden" language, we are under threat. As recently as two weeks ago, our administration assured us that we have "academic freedom" and don't need to censor our syllabi language and courses. But I am hearing reports of faculty being advised to scrub language from proposals that are NOT public facing. It is not so easy to be in the Humanities here, because we receive pressure from the feds and even from some of our faculty to guarantee that our students will have "job skills" when they graduate. Apparently, "critical thinking" is not considered job preparation, but AI prompt writing is. I feel besieged on all sides, but I am brave, and make a point of expressing resistance during each class period.
Phoenix … attended Bernie/AOC, the Bulwark show live &protesting #teslatakedown not2mention absentee ballot successfully tracked to WI #crawford4supremecourt
It's true that Pete Buttigieg is a polished communicator. He also received money from more billionaires than any other democrat the year he ran for prez and changed his stand on 3 important issues after he got that money, starting with a switch from supporting Medicare for All to agreeing instead to adding a public option to Obama Care. He also changed his policy agenda for education and the economy from somewhat progressive stands to corporate approved positions. We must stop admiring democratic politicians for how smart they appear and how well they speak and get behind those with progressive values who refuse to be bought.
I'm a sign painter! I've painted over 60 signs so far for recent protests. I love RESIST REFUSE RIDICULE, a great slogan that I got from one of your guests. Other ones are positive one word, like I've painted TRUTH.. . JUSTICE.... SCIENCE (inspired by my smaller pieces of cardboard lol) and P.S. LOVE WINS!
I've got humorous ones too like THIS IS YOUR SIGN and Make America Gay Again. Dark ones like VULTURES IN OUR GOV'T and PUTIN TRUMP AXIS OF EVIL. I sure enjoy painting my colorful signs, and then I just donate them to rally goers. I'm an introvert so I stay at home AND contribute!
Just want to say that I'm grateful for this podcast every Monday. It keeps me informed and grounded. I don't watch live, so please add me to your viewer list - make it 4,001 for today :) I'm 74, and after all my and others' involvement over the years - Viet Nam protests, women's marches, phone banking, election canvassing, pollworking, contribution$ - I do not want to grow old with this bs happening in my government. trump&co are stealing our country, and we need to stop it. Thank you both for your guidance and good sense.
I kicked off an in person antifascist book club with 8 women (whom I have never met) at my home. I’m following the structure Veterans Fighting Fascism provides. Being with other like minded women was incredible and very much needed.
Sharon I am sorry to hear that. I have an anti-fascist book club in Democrats Abroad. It meets online Tuesdays at 6-7:30 pm on Central European time. People around the world are welcome.
Oh that’s great! I will let others know as many around here want to be virtual and not in person.
Not sure what you are referring to when you say you’re ’sorry to hear that’? 🧐😊
Sharon, I take that back. I misread "I kicked off: as :I got kicked off of." So, more power to you. I kicked off my book club last spring by saying we should read Project 2025 as a book club book. That was our first. We just finished reading Freedom's Dominion by Jefferson Cowie, and we are going to have him talk to Democrats Abroad at the end of April.
Amazing Linda! I’ll do a search for your group. This is such important work! We read then meet to discuss and create a plan to take action locally in our communities. You may want to check out veterans fighting fascism for ideas to enhance your club! I’ll add that book you mentioned to my list.
https://www.veteransfightingfascism.org/antifascist-book-club-reading-list
We are too. We are working on a website to collect health care stories from Americans abroad, and we are also planning local action, but we also do that with our local Democrats Abroad groups. Right now, they are getting set to disenfranchise those of us abroad so that is one of the things we are fighting. Also, Trump is shutting down consulates in Germany and other countries, so we are going to protest that. I wrote an article about it.
https://lindaweide.substack.com/p/the-german-consulate-in-hamburg-germany?r=f0qfn
Oh wow. Thank you for sharing this and the link below! Keep up the good fight!!!
Here is a link to the sign up for the group.
https://www.democratsabroad.org/de_events
It gets posted each week, usually by Sunday.
Hi Linda, you can go back to your original post, and are able to edit it.
I participated in an event this weekend called The Resistance Lab organizing for justice with Pramila Jayapal in Seattle......
I did too and it was great!
I’m “old,” and I want Hands Off my social security!
I made a sign for April 5 in Jackson, Wyoming, and I had an art party with my great neices. We made a joyful mess and fun art.
The dystopian turn toward fascism in the United States—marked by the squandering of trillions of dollars, the devastating loss of life during the COVID-19 pandemic, the betrayal of allies such as the Kurds, the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, and the broader erosion of democratic institutions—could have been preempted with one bold and foundational safeguard: the responsible enforcement of the First Amendment, specifically by curbing its systematic abuse.
Let me be clear: freedom of speech is sacred. But that freedom was never intended to serve as a shield for deliberate falsehoods, conspiratorial delusions, or psychologically manipulative propaganda that corrodes the public mind. The constitutional framers did not envision a reality in which malicious actors would be allowed to inundate the airwaves and digital platforms with unrelenting disinformation—unchecked, unchallenged, and unmoored from empirical reality.
The tragic irony is that the rise of modern authoritarian populism in America could have been thwarted by a resolute stance against weaponized lies. The unregulated proliferation of falsehoods—perpetuated by opportunists like Trump and his media surrogates—has created an epistemic crisis. Once the cognitive script of a conspiracy takes root in the brain, psychological studies have shown it becomes nearly impervious to reason or counterevidence (Nyhan & Reifler, 2010; Lewandowsky et al., 2012). This is not merely conjecture—it is scientifically documented cognitive entrenchment.
Had the Obama administration possessed the political will and rhetorical clarity to confront this trend at its inception, the trajectory could have shifted dramatically. President Obama, vested with the executive authority frequently invoked by his successor, could have—and should have—addressed the nation in a prime-time emergency broadcast. He could have delineated the existential danger posed by coordinated misinformation campaigns masquerading as "free speech," and appealed to the public’s sense of civic duty and factual integrity.
Indeed, the First Amendment, while fundamental, is not absolute. Legal precedent (e.g., Brandenburg v. Ohio, 1969) acknowledges limits—particularly when speech incites violence or lawless action. The unchecked broadcasts of disinformation by figures like Tucker Carlson, Alex Jones, and Steve Bannon were not benign political commentary; they were the ideological equivalent of arson.
This permissiveness came at staggering cost. According to the Brookings Institution, disinformation about COVID-19 significantly undermined vaccine uptake, directly contributing to preventable deaths estimated in the hundreds of thousands. The Lancet Commission (2022) concluded that misinformation was a primary driver of the United States' exceptionally high mortality rate during the pandemic. Meanwhile, Brown University’s Costs of War Project estimates the post-9/11 wars have cost U.S. taxpayers over $8 trillion and resulted in over 900,000 deaths worldwide—much of it made worse by poor decision-making driven by populist pressure and manipulated narratives.
Populists understand the power of grievance. They exploit emotional triggers—immigration, religion, race, national pride—not to solve problems, but to inflame divisions and secure loyalty through fear and distortion. Trump’s team, whether consciously or not, echoed the propaganda model perfected by fascist regimes, most notably the Nazi regime, which also weaponized mass media and distorted facts to reshape public consciousness (Mein Kampf, Goebbels’ speeches, etc.). The parallels are not accidental; they are instructive.
Psychiatrists and cognitive scientists have long understood that once these distorted narratives are implanted and emotionally reinforced, they hijack the neural circuitry of belief, creating what is effectively a cultic framework (Hassan, The Cult of Trump, 2019). Undoing that damage is infinitely harder than preventing it in the first place.
Thus, we must ask: where was the democratic firewall?
The Democratic Party, though ostensibly in a position of power, failed to grasp the psychological magnitude and rapidity of this authoritarian contagion. Whether from political cowardice, over-intellectualization, or a failure to understand the stakes, their inaction permitted the metastasis of delusion.
Had I held that responsibility, I would have taken immediate, decisive action, regardless of the political cost. I would have invoked executive authority to protect truth as a public good. I would have established a bipartisan commission on disinformation, expanded the Fairness Doctrine, and demanded that all public discourse—particularly from broadcast platforms—adhere to rigorous standards of factual integrity. Not censorship—standards. The same way we regulate medicine, aviation, and engineering. Facts matter.
We do not permit bridges to be built on fantasy. Why should we allow public opinion to be?
In closing, the current nightmare—a nation fractured by unreality, millions dead, trillions lost, democracy in peril—was preventable. Every single aspect of it. The solution was not authoritarianism, but a courageous re-commitment to truth. A refusal to let the First Amendment become a suicide pact.
And now we must ask ourselves—do we have the will to stop this descent, or will we continue to let lies reign because we fear the noise of confronting them?
I teach English at a tiny Catholic university on the West Coast--the type of school usually described as a "college access" or HSI. We can't fly under the radar, because we receive federal funding and so many of our students receive Pell Grants (federally funded financial aid for low-income students),and are first-generation college students. Between the feds who expect us to scrub anything "DEI"-related from our program, and the conservative Catholics who troll our website for "forbidden" language, we are under threat. As recently as two weeks ago, our administration assured us that we have "academic freedom" and don't need to censor our syllabi language and courses. But I am hearing reports of faculty being advised to scrub language from proposals that are NOT public facing. It is not so easy to be in the Humanities here, because we receive pressure from the feds and even from some of our faculty to guarantee that our students will have "job skills" when they graduate. Apparently, "critical thinking" is not considered job preparation, but AI prompt writing is. I feel besieged on all sides, but I am brave, and make a point of expressing resistance during each class period.
more time for Ruth please
I live in MAGA land. All I can do is cheer you on, give some small $$
Small Town in Middle TN. Sign: Hands Off Social Security!!
Phoenix … attended Bernie/AOC, the Bulwark show live &protesting #teslatakedown not2mention absentee ballot successfully tracked to WI #crawford4supremecourt
I spent time with my grandson
It's true that Pete Buttigieg is a polished communicator. He also received money from more billionaires than any other democrat the year he ran for prez and changed his stand on 3 important issues after he got that money, starting with a switch from supporting Medicare for All to agreeing instead to adding a public option to Obama Care. He also changed his policy agenda for education and the economy from somewhat progressive stands to corporate approved positions. We must stop admiring democratic politicians for how smart they appear and how well they speak and get behind those with progressive values who refuse to be bought.
We all have to be brave!
We all have to step up to fight this!
Everyone will need to go outside of their comfort zone.
How can the wealthiest be such utter and complete weaklings?
I'm a sign painter! I've painted over 60 signs so far for recent protests. I love RESIST REFUSE RIDICULE, a great slogan that I got from one of your guests. Other ones are positive one word, like I've painted TRUTH.. . JUSTICE.... SCIENCE (inspired by my smaller pieces of cardboard lol) and P.S. LOVE WINS!
I've got humorous ones too like THIS IS YOUR SIGN and Make America Gay Again. Dark ones like VULTURES IN OUR GOV'T and PUTIN TRUMP AXIS OF EVIL. I sure enjoy painting my colorful signs, and then I just donate them to rally goers. I'm an introvert so I stay at home AND contribute!
I got together 20 people to go to National rally on April 5 th. In Ann Arbor. What a United feeling.
Just want to say that I'm grateful for this podcast every Monday. It keeps me informed and grounded. I don't watch live, so please add me to your viewer list - make it 4,001 for today :) I'm 74, and after all my and others' involvement over the years - Viet Nam protests, women's marches, phone banking, election canvassing, pollworking, contribution$ - I do not want to grow old with this bs happening in my government. trump&co are stealing our country, and we need to stop it. Thank you both for your guidance and good sense.