Ellis Hankins
@forrepdemruleoflaw.bsky.social
990 followers 1K following 4K posts
Very concerned American in North Carolina. Retired lawyer & public policy/management professor in a purple state (the state, not me). Married up. Public commercial airport board member, aviation enthusiast.
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forrepdemruleoflaw.bsky.social
“Once a government is committed to the principle of silencing the voice of opposition, it has only one way to go—down the path of increasingly repressive measures, until it becomes a source of terror to all its citizens and creates a country where everyone lives in fear.”
—Harry Truman
forrepdemruleoflaw.bsky.social
This is Day 16 that the U.S. House of Representatives has been out of session—during a government shutdown.

This American regime has now murdered 27 people on the high seas, claiming that they were “narcoterrorists,” but with no publicly released evidence.
forrepdemruleoflaw.bsky.social
Gen. Mark Hertling

“The Pentagon is…attempting to redefine journalism…as a narrow privilege granted on condition of obedience—‘authorized’ questions only, escorted steps, badges forfeited if you decline to sign. The effect is a kind of prior restraint.”

Like all other authoritarians.
Locking Down the Pentagon Press Is Dangerous
Pete Hegseth’s proposed restrictions would harm the people whom both the military and the press are meant to serve.
open.substack.com
forrepdemruleoflaw.bsky.social
JVL

“The administration does not believe that it has enough public support to do mass arrests of dissenters. So it is trying to build up to that point.”
….
“That’s what this ‘Antifa’ bullshit is all about. It’s about coming for you and anyone who would stand up to the authoritarians.”
Are YOU Antifa?
Plus: Hostage releases and prisoner swaps.
open.substack.com
forrepdemruleoflaw.bsky.social
As I keep saying, if suddenly I gained power & wanted to diminish the [former] United States of America, I would do everything these people are doing.
forrepdemruleoflaw.bsky.social
Anne Applebaum

“If we are no longer a country that aims to make the world better, but rather a country whose foreign policy is designed to build the wealth of the president or promote the ruling party’s foreign friends, then we have fewer reasons to work together at home.”
The Beacon of Democracy Goes Dark
For nearly 250 years, America promoted freedom and equality abroad, even when it failed to live up to those ideals itself. Not anymore.
www.theatlantic.com
forrepdemruleoflaw.bsky.social
Anne Applebaum

“Healthy political systems solve real problems, not imaginary ones. But that might not be possible at the moment.”
Manufactured Drama
ICE violence in Chicago is real, but it's also made for Instagram
open.substack.com
forrepdemruleoflaw.bsky.social
Paul Krugman

“The man who promised to make America great again has probably ended our position of global leadership for the foreseeable future.”
How Trump Is Making China Great
Why we’re going to lose the trade war, and much more besides
open.substack.com
Reposted by Ellis Hankins
mrsbettybowers.bsky.social
"A future president, even dumber than you, will allow Qatar, the country that harbored Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the architect of the plane attacks in NY, PA, and DC today, and whose royal family will help him escape capture by the US, to build a military base on US soil to train Qataris to fly jets."
forrepdemruleoflaw.bsky.social
None of the “leadership” in any federal agency cares.
forrepdemruleoflaw.bsky.social
The previously somewhat sane and very conservative Republican Party in our state of NC went MAGA before there was MAGA. They are no longer conservatives. They’re radical regressive authoritarians. They’ve rejected representative democracy under the rule of law. They think they’re entitled to power.
forrepdemruleoflaw.bsky.social
The current extreme partisan gerrymandering is not extreme enough.

“NC Republicans…created a map in 2023 that resulted in GOP candidates winning 10 of the state’s 14 U.S. House seats in 2024. That division compared to the 7-7 seat split between Democrats and the GOP under the map used in 2022. “
North Carolina GOP announce plans to vote on new House map amid nationwide redistricting battle
North Carolina Republican legislative leaders say they will vote next week on redrawing the state’s U.S. House district map.
apnews.com
forrepdemruleoflaw.bsky.social
The current extreme partisan gerrymandering is not extreme enough.

“NC Republicans…created a map in 2023 that resulted in GOP candidates winning 10 of the state’s 14 U.S. House seats in 2024. That division compared to the 7-7 seat split between Democrats and the GOP under the map used in 2022. “
North Carolina GOP announce plans to vote on new House map amid nationwide redistricting battle
North Carolina Republican legislative leaders say they will vote next week on redrawing the state’s U.S. House district map.
apnews.com
forrepdemruleoflaw.bsky.social
Also intends to violate the Geneva Convention & international law, because he has no respect for the law or anyone, including fellow Americans.
forrepdemruleoflaw.bsky.social
TNR:
“In the end, Posobiec is a facism fanboy who likes to vote in a swing state he doesn’t even live in, and Trump’s roundtable on countering antifascism is exactly the political farce it presents as.”
forrepdemruleoflaw.bsky.social
Prof. Timothy Snyder calls out the Pizzagate conspiracy guy for a revealing comment during the absurd “Presidential Roundtable on Antifa” last week. He implied that the bad guys then, the anti-fascists, were those opposing the rise of Hitler & the fascists. So we anti-fascists now are the bad guys.
When Anti-antifa means Pro-Nazi (video)
Notes from a Presidential "Roundtable"
snyder.substack.com
forrepdemruleoflaw.bsky.social
Professor Timothy Snyder

“Being against kings is about being for freedom. It’s about loving America.”
No Kings — Freedom (video)
Why protest is patriotic
snyder.substack.com
Reposted by Ellis Hankins
davidcorn.bsky.social
Dumbest gaslighting ever. Who was president on January 6?