Mastodawn

“As the Court expressly recognized, the #FirstAmendment draws a line, which the government may not cross, at efforts to use government power — including the #PowerOfThePurse — ‘to punish or suppress disfavored expression’ by others,” Boutrous said in a statement. “The Executive Order crossed that line.”

#law #FreeSpeech #NPR #PBS #Trump #Congress #MafiaState #AbuseOfPower #authoritarianism #autocracy #despotism #dictatorship #fascism #tyranny

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Nonilex 3d ago

Last August, #CPB announced it would take steps toward closing itself down after being defunded by #Congress.

Plaintiffs’ attorney Theodore Boutrous said Tuesday’s ruling is “a victory for the #FirstAmendment & for #FreedomOfThePress.”

#law #FreeSpeech #NPR #PBS #Trump #MafiaState #AbuseOfPower #authoritarianism #autocracy #despotism #dictatorship #fascism #tyranny

Nonilex 3d ago

Judge blocks #Trump order to end #funding for #NPR & #PBS

A federal judge on Tuesday agreed to permanently block the Trump admin from implementing a presidential directive to end federal funding for National #PublicRadio & the #PublicBroadcasting Service.

#law #MafiaState #AbuseOfPower #authoritarianism #autocracy #despotism #dictatorship #fascism #tyranny
https://apnews.com/article/trump-npr-pbs-funding-executive-order-fbd9500e5f7400deab84ead188c35694

Judge blocks Trump order to end funding for NPR and PBS

A federal judge has agreed to permanently block the Trump administration from implementing a presidential directive to end federal funding for National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service. The two are media entities that the White House has said are counterproductive to American priorities. U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss cited the First Amendment in his decision. The impact was not immediately clear — both because it will likely be appealed and because too much damage to the public-broadcasting system has already been done, both by the president and Congress.

AP News

Wisdom in Space Feb 26

As a nation, be began by declaring that 'all men are created equal'.... When the Know-Nothings get control, it will read 'all men are created equal, except negroes, and foreigners, and Catholics.' When it comes to this I should prefer emigrating to some country where they make no pretense of loving liberty &mdash to Russia, for instance, where despotism can be taken pure, and without the base alloy of hypocrisy.
-- Abraham Lincoln

⬆ #Wisdom #Quotes #AbrahamLincoln #Discrimination #Despotism #Hypocrisy #KnowNothings

⬇ #Photography #Panorama #MississippiRiver #PikesPeak #Iowa

WIST Quotations Feb 16

A quotation from Montesquieu

When the savages of Louisiana want some fruit, they cut down the tree at the base and gather the fruit. That is how a despotic government works.

[Quand les sauvages de la Louisiane veulent avoir du fruit, ils coupent l’arbre au pied, & cueillent le fruit. Voilà le gouvernement despotique.]

Charles-Lewis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu (1689-1755) French political philosopher
Spirit of Laws [The Spirit of the Laws; De l’esprit des lois], Book 5, ch. 13 (5.13) (1748) [tr. Stewart (2018)]

More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/montesquieu/82151/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #montesquieu #spoils #autocracy #despotism #destruction #devastation #exploitation #inefficiency #pillage #taking #thoughtlessness #tyranny #unsustainability

Montesquieu - Spirit of Laws [The Spirit of the Laws; De l’esprit des lois], Book 5, ch. 13 (5.13) (1748) [tr. Stewart (2018)] | WIST Quotations

When the savages of Louisiana want some fruit, they cut down the tree at the base and gather the fruit. That is how a despotic government works. [Quand les sauvages de la Louisiane veulent avoir du fruit, ils coupent l’arbre au pied, & cueillent le fruit. Voilà le gouvernement despotique.]…

WIST Quotations

WIST Quotations Feb 4

A quotation from Madeleine L'Engle

We think because we have words, not the other way around, and the greater our vocabulary, the greater our ability to think conceptually. The first people a dictator puts in jail are the writers, the teachers, the librarians — because these people are dangerous. They have enough vocabulary to recognize injustice and to speak out loudly about it. Let us have the courage to go on being dangerous people.

Madeleine L'Engle (1918-2007) American writer
Speech (1983-11-16), “Dare To Be Creative,” Lecture, Library of Congress, Washington, DC

More about this quote: wist.info/lengle-madeleine/818…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #lengle #madeleinelengle #censorship #communication #concepts #despotism #dictatorship #jailing #librarians #suppression #teachers #tyranny #vocabulary #wellspoken #writers

L'Engle, Madeleine - Speech (1983-11-16), "Dare To Be Creative," Lecture, Library of Congress, Washington, DC | WIST Quotations

We think because we have words, not the other way around, and the greater our vocabulary, the greater our ability to think conceptually. The first people a dictator puts in jail are the writers, the teachers, the librarians -- because these people are dangerous. They have enough vocabulary to recognize…

WIST Quotations

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Nonilex Feb 2

…The search & the administration’s flood of lawsuits against states have alarmed #election officials & experts, who worry that the moves are laying the groundwork for the administration to contest the results of this year’s congressional #midterms.

#law #WeaponizationOfGovernment #ElectionLaw #ElectionInterference #democracy #Trump #coup #MafiaState #authoritarianism #autocracy #despotism #dictatorship #fascism #tyranny

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Nonilex Feb 2

“I don’t know why the director was there,” #ToddBlanche said of #TulsiGabbard. “She is not part of the grand jury investigation, but she is for sure a key part of our efforts at election integrity & making sure we have free & fair elections. She’s an expert in that space & it’s a big part of what she & her team look at every day.”

#law #Trump #WeaponizationOfGovernment #ElectionLaw #ElectionInterference #coup #MafiaState #authoritarianism #autocracy #despotism #dictatorship #fascism #tyranny

Nonilex Feb 2

🚨🚨🚨

#Trump Had Unusual Call With #FBI Agents After #Georgia #Election Center Search

The phone conversation was arranged by the director of national intelligence, #TulsiGabbard, who met with the agents a day after the search for reasons that remain unclear, NYT has learned.

#law #WeaponizationOfGovernment #ElectionLaw #ElectionInterference #democracy #coup #MafiaState #authoritarianism #autocracy #despotism #dictatorship #fascism #tyranny
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/02/us/politics/trump-fbi-phone-call-georgia-gabbard.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share

Gabbard Arranges Trump Call With FBI Agents After Georgia Election Center Search

Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, brokered the call and President Trump directly questioned frontline agents on the inquiry, The Times has learned.

The New York Times