Experts who study protest movements say the scenes unfolding in California broadly follow a script that has played out many times in other countries — sometimes with deadly consequences.
Crackdowns shape optics, and optics shape uprisings.
Heavy-handed responses can lead to more violent protests.
Crackdowns can be steppingstones to wider power grabs.
No dictator thinks they’re gonna get Ghadaffi’d until they’re mid spit-roasting on a sword. Our job now is to make very sure they understand that it’s a real fucking threat and we’ll follow through.
Not always. I’m from Spain, and you can read about how our dictator Francisco Franco ended his life (spoiler alert: his regime lasted from 1939 to 1977).
Unfortunately, the real world is not like a movie where wars are always won by those who defend the most just cause.
This was Trump’s playbook all along. And an old one that we’ve seen from authoritarian regimes.
The confusing thing to me is, have they not also seen how those regimes always end?
No dictator thinks they’re gonna get Ghadaffi’d until they’re mid spit-roasting on a sword. Our job now is to make very sure they understand that it’s a real fucking threat and we’ll follow through.
Not always. I’m from Spain, and you can read about how our dictator Francisco Franco ended his life (spoiler alert: his regime lasted from 1939 to 1977).
Unfortunately, the real world is not like a movie where wars are always won by those who defend the most just cause.
What do you mean, “always?” Way too many dictators have lived to a ripe old age and died peacefully of natural causes.
Fair point. Shit’s fucked.