Mastodawn

People minimizing Orbán’s defeat in #Hungary through voting, and claiming that the same can’t be done to Donald Trump: Remember that Orbán was in power for SIXTEEN YEARS, that is, 2.5× LONGER than Trump. He had more than twice the time Trump has had to intimidate, corrupt, and destroy Hungary’s systems of voting. And yet, voting unseated him.

PLEASE do not preemptively give up on voting. Voting still works in the US, and it is quite likely that our voting infrastructure will far outlive Trump and his destructive party.

Authoritarians rely on a perceived popular mandate to continue their abuse. Voting can decisively deny them that mandate. Do not give up prematurely.

VOTE. VOTE. VOTE.

Vote in numbers too massive to ignore.

Check your registration well before Election Day to be sure you're still on the roll.

Bruce Mirken 1d ago

@drahardja True. Also true: Be prepared in case a desperate and cornered Trump tries something crazy and dangerous.

Orion Ussner kidder 1d ago

@drahardja Yes.

And then, once the Democrats are in power, do NOT let them sleep until they prosecute everyone anywhere near the Republican party who aided in Trump's lawbreaking and ban the party itself.

Otherwise, they will just run again in the next election. It's not over until you show them they can't do this again.

Magnus Ahltorp 1d ago

@OrionKidder @drahardja Yes, every elected person is just a starting point for the activism.

The activism is easier with a better (or less bad) candidate, but it is still the activism that gets you there.

Running a marathon is much easier if you only need to run half of it, without lead weights, and if you only have to avoid a few death squads along the way instead of one every 100 metres. Heck, even half of the death squads would be nice.

@OrionKidder @drahardja Exactly. Follow-through is essential. Even better: make sure the Democrats are new ones, and/or DSA. With few exceptions the old ones have failed so badly they shouldn't be let anywhere near the levers of power; their hunger for the corporate teat, and ingrained tendency to appeasement, runs far too deep.

@OrionKidder @drahardja Have you noticed that Trump promised to prosecute a lot of Democrats going to back to Hillary "You'd be in jail" Clinton in 2016, and did not do it?

The Democrats might go after Trump and his family - they are outsiders and need to be punished for trespassing in the political club - but other club member Republicans are off limits just like club member Democrats were.

related:

https://mas.to/@Techaltar/116393412483853913

TechAltar (@[email protected])

Fidesz' massive defeat comes despite: - multiple active Russian disinformation campaigns - the US government actively supporting Fidesz - Fidesz owning the majority of TV & radio stations + newspapers - Fidesz having gerrymandered the crap out of the country - many documented cases of voter suppression & paying disinfrenchised voters for support - Fidesz pouring unprecedented $$$ into their campaign Feeling a little proud of my country for the first time in a while 🇭🇺

mas.to

Nicole Parsons 1d ago

In addition to voting, try to reduce the fascist fossil fuel funding that elevates goons like Fico, Orban, & Trump.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/01/politics/elon-musk-2024-election-spending-millions

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/trump-rfk-billionaire-timothy-mellon-100-million-super-pacs-1235043814/

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/100-million-did-trump-accept-161713895.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/20/us/politics/koch-network-2024-election-trump.html

As with Assad & Yanukovych, follow the money and erode the financial corruption too.

Go after their tech proxies too.
Pop the AI bubble and soon.
Ditto cryptocurrency.

1/

Elon Musk spent more than $290 million on the 2024 election, year-end FEC filings show

Elon Musk spent a total of more than $290 million on the 2024 election, new federal filings show, boosting President Donald Trump and Republicans in a staggering effort that has helped to secure unprecedented access for the world’s richest person in the new administration.

CNN

Nicole Parsons 1d ago

2/

They all need investigation.

1. SpaceX $288,723,409
2. Adelson Clinic/Miriam Adelson $146,881,700
3. Uline Inc $146,027,201
4. Citadel LLC $108,669,316
5. Susquehanna International Group $101,468,362
6. Andreessen Horowitz $89,036,553
7. Empower Parents PAC $82,500,000
8. Coinbase $79,008,020
9. Elliott Management $68,846,510
10. Securing American Greatness $67,558,284
11. Senate Leadership Fund $67,445,300
12. Club for Growth $59,846,594
13. Koch Inc $49,092,685

Nicole Parsons 1d ago

3/

Focus attention on the public corruption of these entities.

14. Blackstone Group $48,609,890
15. Stand Together Chamber of Commerce $44,801,948
16. Restoration PAC $41,168,363
17. Crownquest Operating $35,752,512
18. Bigelow Aerospace $34,991,590
19. Building America's Future $33,670,000
20. Stephens Inc $27,343,518
21. British American Tobacco $26,175,838
22. American Prosperity Alliance $22,549,000
23. Manzanita Management Group $22,159,143

Nicole Parsons 1d ago

4/

These entities need to be outed.

24. America First Action/America First Policies $21,724,798
25. Mountaire Corp $21,375,080
26. Reyes Holdings $21,192,607
27. Energy Transfer LP $19,321,695
28. Hendricks Holding Co $19,306,538

https://www.opensecrets.org/elections-overview/top-organizations

Who are the Biggest Organization Donors?

Who are the biggest organizations donors in the 2024 election cycle? See the details.

OpenSecrets

Nicole Parsons 1d ago

5/

Fund a Fascist & Find Out.

1. Elon Musk $291,482,587
2. Timothy Mellon $197,047,200
3. Miriam Adelson $148,304,900
4. Richard Uihlein $143,498,936
5. Ken Griffin $108,402,284
6. Jeff Yass $101,128,680
7. Paul E. Singer $66,800,800
8. Marc Andreessen $42,365,113
9. Stephen Schwarzman $40,202,039
10. Timothy Dunn $35,780,200
11. Rob Bigelow $34,991,500
12. Diane Hendricks $33,165,417
13. JJ Ricketts $32,273,650
14. Shirley W. Ryan $32,198,116

Nicole Parsons 1d ago

6/

These people fund sedition & coup attempts.

15. Warren A. Stephens $25,895,650
16. Isaac & Laura Perlmutter $25,344,890
17. Vince & Linda McMahon $23,961,659
18. Ronnie & Nina Cameron $21,372,500
19. Jan Koum $20,855,091
20. Thomas Klingenstein $17,410,263
21. Rob Walton $17,572,601
22. Janet J. Duchossois $16,306,033
23. Howard W. Lutnick $16,503,667
24. Kelcy L. Warren $16,151,105
25. Walter W. Buckley Jr. $15,522,500
26. Thomas Peterffy $14,305,900
27. Anthony Pratt $14,000,000

Nicole Parsons 1d ago

7/

28. Sherrilyn Fisher $13,299,894
29. David Millstone $13,413,486
30. Lynne Walton $13,037,750
31. Charles Schwab $12,801,600
32. Stephen Wynn $12,518,750
33. Anthony Lomangino $9,529,705
34. J. Christopher Reyes $9,536,425
35. Jay Winters Faison $9,084,324
36. James Davis $8,497,854
37. John W. Childs $8,694,286
38. Patricia Duggan $8,446,099
39. Richard G. Haworth $7,500,800
40. Marc J. Rowan $8,721,299
41. Jeffrey Specher, Kelly Loeffler $7,052,013
42. John L. Nau III $7,030,556

Nicole Parsons 1d ago

8/

43. John & Shannon V. Addison $6,757,065
44. Robert H. Book $6,986,387
45. Susan Fox $6,687,414
46. Patricia Perkins-Leone $6,606,600
47. Jeffrey Hildebrand $6,508,389
48. Bernard Marcus $9,397,150
49. Steve Brodie $6,481,298
50. Daniel Newlin $6,063,928
51. Trevor D. Rees-Jones $5,765,124
52. Ross & Sarah Perot $5,643,416
53. Harold C. Simmons $5,596,530
54. Kelly Navarro $5,373,100
55. Alice Walton $10,248,000
56. Rob Granieri $5,587,899

https://www.opensecrets.org/elections-overview/biggest-donors

Who are the Biggest Donors?

Who are the biggest donors in the 2024 election cycle? See the details.

OpenSecrets

Chuck Darwin 1d ago

@Npars01
Who are the biggest doners?
@mastoreaderio unroll please

Masto Reader 1d ago

@cdarwin here's the unrolled thread: https://mastoreader.io?url=https%3A%2F%2Fc.im%2F%40cdarwin%2F116394673361342000

Next time, kindly set the visibility to 'Mentioned people only' and mention only me (@mastoreaderio). This ensures we avoid spamming others' timelines and threads unless you intend for others to see the unrolled thread link as well.

Thank you!

Masto Reader

@drahardja A victory for Hungary and the EU, a lifeline for Ukraine, another nail in Trump's coffin and an overdue setback for Putin. Great news!

TheNovemberFella ✊🏳️‍🌈 🇺🇦☸️🛰️🚀1d ago

@drahardja 👍💯👍

𐁂𐀑𐀐𐁐 1d ago

@drahardja I think most people's problem isn't that they think Trump won't leave office via an election, it's that the DNC doesn't have a democratic primary process and they are just going to run Gavin Newsom, who will win probably, and while better than Trump, we're looking at a marginally better rightwing president whether he or JD wins 2028, making it seem like voting doesn't matter -- the choice is oligarch-aligned rightwinger vs oligarch-aligned rightwinger at the end of the day as always.

Dave Rahardja 1d ago

@Emerson61 I will vote for Newsom if that’s the alternative I’m given.

Here’s my perspective: https://sfba.social/@drahardja/116377823558685082

Dave Rahardja (@[email protected])

People on the left have this bizarre trait of criticizing their candidates for not being left enough, when the current alternative is literally Hitler without a mustache. David Sedaris wrote this quip that stuck with me: “To put them in perspective, I think of being on an airplane. The flight attendant comes down the aisle with her food cart and, eventually, parks it beside my seat. "Can I interest you in the chicken?" she asks. "Or would you prefer the platter of shit with bits of broken glass in it? To be undecided in this election is to pause for a moment and then ask how the chicken is cooked.”” A center-left candidate can be ahead in the polls against a literal Fascist, and leftists will will be like “yeah but they don’t support bike lanes” and be sad about it. Perfection is truly the enemy of the good.

SFBA.social

obscurestar 1d ago

@drahardja @Emerson61 And Newsom is a fine example of why the primaries are so very important because we really do not want that used car salesman.

𐁂𐀑𐀐𐁐 21h ago

@obscurestar @drahardja the party will force him on us like Genocide Joe and Hillary before...

obscurestar 21h ago

@Emerson61 @drahardja If you sit around sniveling for the next two and a half years, probably. But you could get off your ass and be part of a grass roots movement to work towards getting someone decent in. That's what I'm going to do.

𐁂𐀑𐀐𐁐 21h ago

@obscurestar @drahardja my sweet summer child... hold onto that idealism for when the left finally decides to ditch the DNC as their party so we CAN win... The only way Gavin doesn't win is a 2008-style internal intrigue situation among the party elites. But they are all boomers, so Schumer can't be the "young" upstart Littlefingering Obama as the ordained party candidate in 2028. It's going to be Gavin and if we are spitting into the wind, a third party is the better long term effort.

obscurestar 21h ago

@Emerson61 @drahardja Sure and the establishment Republicans were desperately horny for Trump in 2016.

No wait, I know you're gonna tell me liberals aren't able to organize the same way. We're just not that good. Just accept defeat roll over and let the fascists win. it's what you want.

Let me guess, you're gonna be the Road Warrior when society falls and build a new world in your own image.

Nice you can punish minorities in the US until you get your way tho. Very privileged.

𐁂𐀑𐀐𐁐 21h ago

@obscurestar @drahardja wow. That's a lot...

obscurestar 3h ago

@Emerson61 @drahardja Truth often is for those who haven't heard it.

The system is busted. FPTP and corporate spending means its a 2-party system. A 3rd party would need just as much money and become just as corrupted by it.

Grassroots replacement is vastly more logical.

But what do you care if some trans people lose their civil rights and a few brown people get murdered as long as we learn our lesson for not having the power to provide YOUR no-compromises perfect candidate.

𐁂𐀑𐀐𐁐 22h ago

@drahardja I was done with being a slave to the duopoly in 2000, I'm sure as shit done voting for the "lesser" evil, which is still a rightwing dude doing genocide at this point

MacCruiskeen 1d ago

@Emerson61 @drahardja I would bet money (but not on Polymarkets) that Pritzker runs in 2028. But that doesn't really matter now. 2028 is far away. We should be focusing on the midterms and flipping as many R seats as possible.

Mastodon Migration 1d ago

@maccruiskeen @Emerson61 @drahardja

He will certainly run. We will see if he is any good. The best candidate will prevail. That's the way the primaries work.

𐁂𐀑𐀐𐁐 21h ago

@mastodonmigration @maccruiskeen @drahardja Tell that to Joe Biden, who came in 5th in every race before the party rigged the election for him in 2020. Tell that to Howard Dean, who the party corruptly undermined by getting Clear Channel to run "the scream" bits on classic rock stations that were normally Dirty Deeds by AC/DC on a loop in 2004. The DNC puts its rightwing finger on the scale in EVERY federal race. A Summer Lee beating them is a vanishingly rare event.

Mastodon Migration 21h ago

@Emerson61 @maccruiskeen @drahardja

Loved Howard Dean, and worked for him, but he didn't really connect with voters. You are right about Biden, but he was a VP incumbent. The last real primary was Obama, and it pretty much worked as it should.

𐁂𐀑𐀐𐁐 21h ago

@mastodonmigration @maccruiskeen @drahardja regardless of candidate quality, it is CHEATING for a political party to bring to bear billions of "earned media" insofar as it wasn't paid, and corruption is a form of earning, against a primary candidate in that party. I have never voted in a fair DNC primary, and nobody who turned 18 after November 1992 has. They pick a winner EVERY federal race and cheat. Occasionally they are so arrogant an AOC slips through, but that is the exception.

Mastodon Migration 21h ago

@Emerson61 @maccruiskeen @drahardja

Indeed they will try to cheat. Politics is basically cheating. But, a real primary process creates the opportunity for the most skilled politician no matter if the DNC tries to put a finger on the scale. We are right now in this battle. Julianna Stratton is an example. Show up. Go. Fight. Win.

𐁂𐀑𐀐𐁐 21h ago

@mastodonmigration @maccruiskeen @drahardja I will believe it when I see it, and will note the GOP did NOT cheat to act against Trump in 2016, because their primaries are actually intended to be democratic. I view AOC's 2028 run as the DNC pulling a Lucy to her Charlie Brown and pretending she can win so she doesn't knowably end Chuck Schumer's career with a senate run, which would be the better move for her, the left, and the party.

Mastodon Migration 20h ago

@Emerson61 @maccruiskeen @drahardja

As you say, we will see. If you want a prediction, think that JB Pritzker, allied with the likes of Warren and Murphy in the Senate, and AOC in the House are going to mount a very well resourced campaign to overturn the influence of the DNC, and take over the party apparatus. Hope they are successful.

𐁂𐀑𐀐𐁐 20h ago

@mastodonmigration @maccruiskeen @drahardja There is no world in which a billionaire is gaining enough outsider traction to do Bernie 2016, much less 2020, much less win a DNC primary for president. That's just not in the cards. I am the male scumbag left you would theoretically defeat a DNC anointed one with as the voters and I can tell you right now, I know NOBODY who hates Newsom and would consider a billionaire.

Mastodon Migration 20h ago

@Emerson61 @maccruiskeen @drahardja

We will see. It's just a prediction. Could be wrong. Newsom has very high negatives in CA. He is awkward and slimey and will do poorly under closer examination.

Mastodon Migration 20h ago

@Emerson61 @maccruiskeen @drahardja

Plus, Pritzker is a Roosevelt sort of billionaire. You might warm up to him.

𐁂𐀑𐀐𐁐 20h ago

@mastodonmigration @maccruiskeen @drahardja this isn't about me, I always vote for the loser (I voted for Bill Bradley in the primary). If you want to make the governor a thing, you probably don't want me voting for him. I also deregistered as a dem after Genocide Joe 2020. If my primary vote doesn't count, why do I WANT to be part of your shitty party that hates people like me? Green Party, Nader voting young me was ACTUALLY right about everything and every inch I gave the right debased me.

Mastodon Migration 18h ago

@Emerson61 @maccruiskeen @drahardja

Maybe because the alternative is fascism and this purity holding you breath stuff just doesn't work. Feel like the lesson of Hungary is if you want to break the hold of the fascists on power you need to make a broad alliance with everyone except the fascists. That said, working during the primary process to nominate better Democrats and reform the DNC is worth fighting for.

𐁂𐀑𐀐𐁐 3h ago

@mastodonmigration @maccruiskeen @drahardja I was more amenable to that argument before Genocide Joe. The DNC forced a genocidal madman on their own voters without a real primary. Twice. Once genocide is involved, you're multiplying infinities, the math stops mathing to be the "lesser evil" and I'm just unwilling to degrade myself by voting for that. It's a red line I am simply unwilling to let slide because fascism. Until the DNC stops supporting genocide, no vote from me no matter what.

Mastodon Migration 3h ago

@Emerson61 @maccruiskeen @drahardja@chihuahua.

And you realize that many more of the Gazan people you profess to care about were killed because of this principled stance.

𐁂𐀑𐀐𐁐 2h ago

@mastodonmigration @maccruiskeen I have no reason to believe Kamala wouldn't have been completely controlled by Israel like Biden and Trump, so I would argue there is no basis by which to assume it would have been any better. She literally campaigned with Liz Cheney to show that she is a war monger.

Mastodon Migration 2h ago

@Emerson61 @maccruiskeen

You can say this if that helps you sleep at night, but you know it isn't true.

𐁂𐀑𐀐𐁐 1h ago

@mastodonmigration @maccruiskeen I honestly don't, and I sleep very well. It is a political party's job to appeal to voters, especially those who have voted for them and donated and volunteered for decades, not the job of voters to drag an offputting rightwinger they hate, picked by party bosses, across the finish line on the premise they might be better than the rightwinger the other rightwing party is running.

Mastodon Migration 1h ago

@Emerson61 @maccruiskeen

Understand your point, just saying you and a lot of folks like you got a lot of the people you profess to support killed. If you feel like this is a reasonable sacrifice for your principles, so be it.

𐁂𐀑𐀐𐁐 20h ago

@mastodonmigration @maccruiskeen @drahardja Kamala had such bad negatives in CA she had to drop out before the primary to avoid embarrassment. She was still VP in 2020 and top of the DNC ticket (sans process) in 2024. High negatives in America generally doesn't phase the DNC. They exist to spend money on ads so that Jen O'Malley Dillon's yacht can have a yacht, not win elections. Kamala had shit CA numbers and the PR consultants made a cut on a BILLION, maybe a more unpopular figure would be mo!

Mastodon Migration 1d ago

@Emerson61 @drahardja

Absurd. There will be a Democratic Primary. It will be riveting and get the entire nation fired up. The best candidate will win the nomination and crush the Republican candidate.

@Emerson61 @drahardja

Do you think TISZA has a democratic primary process??
TISZA gave party members the choice between three predetermined candidates in each district. (Just check their wikipedia site). The Democratic party in the USA is more democratic and open than that.

Also Newsom is to the left of Magyar (and I hate Newsom, he's awful).

And several leftist parties decided to not run at all in order to unify opposition votes in Hungary.

But some leftist US Americans would rather endlessly complain about Democrats' primary process without realizing how lucky you are because you actually do get to choose your candidates in primaries. That's not the standard everywhere!

Hungarian leftists were pragmatic instead of choosing perfection, that's how they got rid of Orbán.

#Hungary #USpol #Magyar #Newsom

𐁂𐀑𐀐𐁐 21h ago

@Mab_813 @drahardja the DNC had a similar process before 1972. We had "pageant primaries" to see how popular various options for the party to pick were. In 2020, the DNC ordained Genocide Joe as their candidate after he came in 5th in every state before they came in HARD for him. Is that more democratic than a pageant primary? I would argue it is less, as if Humphrey had come in 5th in four states, the party wouldn't have run him. Unlike Genocide Joe.