Brian Gocial
@briangocial.bsky.social
Grandson of Holocaust Survivors (גאטשל-רוס, Poland 🇵🇱 ), Son of Immigrants (Sweden 🇸🇪-Cuba 🇨🇺), 1st Gen American (Philly 🦅 🇺🇸). Watching the world crumble, again.
Pinned
Brian Gocial
@briangocial.bsky.social
· Oct 14
“Many of us, indeed, have a feeling that we are living in a country where fanatics, hooligans and eccentrics have got the upper hand.”
-British Ambassador to Berlin, June 30, 1933
-British Ambassador to Berlin, June 30, 1933
We must not allow them to have died in vain.
January 25, 2026 at 2:53 PM
We must not allow them to have died in vain.
The Trump administration “seeks to reduce us all to a state of constant fear — a fear of violence from which some people may at a given moment be spared, but from which no one will ever be truly safe. That is our new national reality.”
Opinion | State Terror Has Arrived
www.nytimes.com
January 25, 2026 at 12:36 PM
The Trump administration “seeks to reduce us all to a state of constant fear — a fear of violence from which some people may at a given moment be spared, but from which no one will ever be truly safe. That is our new national reality.”
Reposted by Brian Gocial
Executed by the U.S. government
January 24, 2026 at 8:04 PM
Executed by the U.S. government
Reposted by Brian Gocial
What we are watching is a paramilitary force learning that they can kill with impunity, that the regime will smear the victim and defend them. Unless politicians and the legal system exerts accountability, it will not stop. donmoynihan.substack.com/p/past-the-b...
January 24, 2026 at 4:32 PM
What we are watching is a paramilitary force learning that they can kill with impunity, that the regime will smear the victim and defend them. Unless politicians and the legal system exerts accountability, it will not stop. donmoynihan.substack.com/p/past-the-b...
Reposted by Brian Gocial
All of this is fucking senseless. Minnesota did not have an immigration problem. Trump sent his Nazi thugs here because he's racist against Somali people and to own libs like Tim Walz. Now two Minnesotans are dead and Minneapolis is on the verge of going up in flames. None. Of. This. Was. Necessary.
January 24, 2026 at 4:55 PM
All of this is fucking senseless. Minnesota did not have an immigration problem. Trump sent his Nazi thugs here because he's racist against Somali people and to own libs like Tim Walz. Now two Minnesotans are dead and Minneapolis is on the verge of going up in flames. None. Of. This. Was. Necessary.
Reposted by Brian Gocial
Immigration is a fake problem. We have politicians on the one hand who want to use immigrants as scapegoats for our real ones and politicians on the other who are too cowardly to stand against them and tell the truth. That is the entire situation. Until that changes, people will continue to die.
January 24, 2026 at 4:25 PM
Immigration is a fake problem. We have politicians on the one hand who want to use immigrants as scapegoats for our real ones and politicians on the other who are too cowardly to stand against them and tell the truth. That is the entire situation. Until that changes, people will continue to die.
Reposted by Brian Gocial
ICE has now carried out two summary executions of innocent people in the streets of an American city.
If you work for ICE, there's no denying that's the mission you're supporting now. You don't get to claim in one year or ten or twenty that you didn't know what ICE was doing. You're complicit.
If you work for ICE, there's no denying that's the mission you're supporting now. You don't get to claim in one year or ten or twenty that you didn't know what ICE was doing. You're complicit.
January 24, 2026 at 3:55 PM
ICE has now carried out two summary executions of innocent people in the streets of an American city.
If you work for ICE, there's no denying that's the mission you're supporting now. You don't get to claim in one year or ten or twenty that you didn't know what ICE was doing. You're complicit.
If you work for ICE, there's no denying that's the mission you're supporting now. You don't get to claim in one year or ten or twenty that you didn't know what ICE was doing. You're complicit.
Speechless, again. How much longer before we reach the breaking point?
ICE attacked an observer after they tailed a group of clergy on a spiritual pilgrimage.
Our digital producer @sam.vp just so happened to be with the clergy on their journey. He spoke with the observer who was attacked and others who witnessed the assault.
Our digital producer @sam.vp just so happened to be with the clergy on their journey. He spoke with the observer who was attacked and others who witnessed the assault.
January 24, 2026 at 2:03 PM
Speechless, again. How much longer before we reach the breaking point?
Reposted by Brian Gocial
Essentially, what stops abductions is when crowds outnumber the masked kidnappers. When people aggressively follow ICE with whistles and horns, crowds are ready to show up. If they show up fast enough, ICE leaves and a family is not broken. (People here understand the stakes).
January 23, 2026 at 7:20 PM
Essentially, what stops abductions is when crowds outnumber the masked kidnappers. When people aggressively follow ICE with whistles and horns, crowds are ready to show up. If they show up fast enough, ICE leaves and a family is not broken. (People here understand the stakes).
“I’m becoming radicalized,” Galasinski said, his voice rising. “I’m seeing our nation become more and more fascist before my eyes — I saw it. I saw it. I mean, demanding papers? I never thought I would live in a country like this.”
Hundreds of clergy descend on Minneapolis and go on lookout for ICE
MINNEAPOLIS (RNS) — The faith leaders, who hail from across the country and represent a range of religious traditions, deployed to neighborhoods with significant immigrant populations, where DHS agent...
religionnews.com
January 24, 2026 at 12:11 PM
“I’m becoming radicalized,” Galasinski said, his voice rising. “I’m seeing our nation become more and more fascist before my eyes — I saw it. I saw it. I mean, demanding papers? I never thought I would live in a country like this.”
Who the hell wants to live in a country like this?
Damaged, deranged people.
Damaged, deranged people.
nine years old
January 23, 2026 at 3:43 PM
Who the hell wants to live in a country like this?
Damaged, deranged people.
Damaged, deranged people.
One day sometime in the future there will be a display there about this horrific attempt to erase our history.
Here's one of the panels that Trump just removed from the President's House site in Philadelphia. (I took this picture of it last March. A couple of weeks later I led a walking tour that included the site.) Does this information "disparage" the United States?
![MOUNT VERNON TO PHILADELPHIA:
A Path to Freedom-For Some
The nine enslaved men and women of the President's House were chosen by Washington to accompany him to Philadelphia. They were separated from their families back in Mount Vernon and rotated out of state regularly to prevent them from gaining freedom under Pennsylvania law.
CHARACTERS
Christopher Sheels, enslaved attendant to Washington
Hercules. enslaved cook
Richmond, Hercules' enslaved son
Giles, enslaved stable hand
Oney Judge, enslaved maid and seamstress to Martha
Austin, Ona's enslaved half brother, house servant
Paris. enslaved stable hand
Moll, enslaved maid to Martha
Joe Richardson, enslaved postillion for the presidential coach
[Floor plan]
SERVANTS' EATING HALL](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:kok4aqdr3qnsj6ktfkq76kqz/bafkreibrargcgl4dng3rc2jltpsj32eaxyu7tgj3b6w36scpezni3ltm6m@jpeg)
January 23, 2026 at 12:32 PM
One day sometime in the future there will be a display there about this horrific attempt to erase our history.
Reposted by Brian Gocial
The Trump disbelief that the Norwegian govt doesn't control the Nobel process is deeply indicative of his thinking. He can't conceive that an institution could (or should) be genuinely independent of coercion or political power. That's the change he represents.
Trump: "I should have gotten the Nobel prize for each war...I saved millions and millions of people...and don't let anyone tell you that Norway doesn't control the shots. It's in Norway. Norway controls the shots. It's a joke. They've lost such prestige.“
January 20, 2026 at 8:02 PM
The Trump disbelief that the Norwegian govt doesn't control the Nobel process is deeply indicative of his thinking. He can't conceive that an institution could (or should) be genuinely independent of coercion or political power. That's the change he represents.
Reposted by Brian Gocial
"The most corrupt president The United States have ever seen."
UK Member of Parliament Ed Davey does not mince words when characterizing Trump after his move to take Greenland.
UK Member of Parliament Ed Davey does not mince words when characterizing Trump after his move to take Greenland.
January 20, 2026 at 9:44 AM
"The most corrupt president The United States have ever seen."
UK Member of Parliament Ed Davey does not mince words when characterizing Trump after his move to take Greenland.
UK Member of Parliament Ed Davey does not mince words when characterizing Trump after his move to take Greenland.
Reposted by Brian Gocial
Quite the statement from the Prime Minister of Poland
January 20, 2026 at 6:37 PM
Quite the statement from the Prime Minister of Poland
Reposted by Brian Gocial
“It is impossible to exaggerate how high the stakes are. If Putin had put an agent in the White House, what would would be doing differently?
We are talking about the survival of the Western way of life, about the world order of which the United States is the chief exemplar and beneficiary.”
2/2
We are talking about the survival of the Western way of life, about the world order of which the United States is the chief exemplar and beneficiary.”
2/2
January 20, 2026 at 10:54 AM
“It is impossible to exaggerate how high the stakes are. If Putin had put an agent in the White House, what would would be doing differently?
We are talking about the survival of the Western way of life, about the world order of which the United States is the chief exemplar and beneficiary.”
2/2
We are talking about the survival of the Western way of life, about the world order of which the United States is the chief exemplar and beneficiary.”
2/2
Reposted by Brian Gocial
“It is an occupation designed to punish and terrorize anyone who dares defy this incursion and, by extension, Donald Trump’s power to wield limitless force against any enemy he wishes.”
“This is tyranny.”
“This is tyranny.”
Opinion | In Minneapolis, I Glimpsed a Civil War
www.nytimes.com
January 19, 2026 at 1:49 PM
“It is an occupation designed to punish and terrorize anyone who dares defy this incursion and, by extension, Donald Trump’s power to wield limitless force against any enemy he wishes.”
“This is tyranny.”
“This is tyranny.”
“[A]mong the most remarkable things about this administration’s foreign policy is that, for all the talk of “America First,” Trump evinces seemingly unlimited global ambition. He enjoys wielding American power even as he depletes it.”
America vs. the World
President Trump wants to return to the 19th century’s international order. He will leave America less prosperous—and the whole world less secure.
www.theatlantic.com
January 19, 2026 at 12:27 PM
“[A]mong the most remarkable things about this administration’s foreign policy is that, for all the talk of “America First,” Trump evinces seemingly unlimited global ambition. He enjoys wielding American power even as he depletes it.”
“Americans are entering the most dangerous world they have known since World War II, one that will make the Cold War look like child’s play and the post–Cold War world like paradise.”
America vs. the World
President Trump wants to return to the 19th century’s international order. He will leave America less prosperous—and the whole world less secure.
www.theatlantic.com
January 19, 2026 at 11:55 AM
“Americans are entering the most dangerous world they have known since World War II, one that will make the Cold War look like child’s play and the post–Cold War world like paradise.”
🎯
Average Sunday show interview:
OFFICIAL: we are going to dip enemies of the state into acid vats
HOST: how will you pay for it?
OFFICIAL: tariffs
HOST: critics say tariffs don't generate acid vat money
OFFICIAL: tariffs have generated more money than has ever existed
HOST: thank u for ur time
OFFICIAL: we are going to dip enemies of the state into acid vats
HOST: how will you pay for it?
OFFICIAL: tariffs
HOST: critics say tariffs don't generate acid vat money
OFFICIAL: tariffs have generated more money than has ever existed
HOST: thank u for ur time
January 18, 2026 at 4:27 PM
🎯
Reposted by Brian Gocial
Sums it up.
Europeans, Canadians and Mexicans can't trust America again until America visibly changes in strategic approach and cultural outlook towards the world. Americans can't afford their hubris anymore.
Europeans, Canadians and Mexicans can't trust America again until America visibly changes in strategic approach and cultural outlook towards the world. Americans can't afford their hubris anymore.
January 18, 2026 at 10:42 AM
Sums it up.
Europeans, Canadians and Mexicans can't trust America again until America visibly changes in strategic approach and cultural outlook towards the world. Americans can't afford their hubris anymore.
Europeans, Canadians and Mexicans can't trust America again until America visibly changes in strategic approach and cultural outlook towards the world. Americans can't afford their hubris anymore.
“We have become a country…”
Opinion | One Year of Trump. The Time to Act Is Now, While We Still Can.
www.nytimes.com
January 18, 2026 at 10:26 AM
“We have become a country…”
“LET US HAVE FAITH THAT RIGHT MAKES MIGHT, AND IN THAT FAITH, LET US, TO THE END, DARE TO DO OUR DUTY AS WE UNDERSTAND IT.”
What Would Lincoln Do? | Matthew Pinsker | Substack
Seeking historical insights for today's politicos. Click to read "What Would Lincoln Do?", by Matthew Pinsker, a Substack publication with hundreds of subscribers.
matthewpinsker.substack.com
January 17, 2026 at 1:57 PM
“LET US HAVE FAITH THAT RIGHT MAKES MIGHT, AND IN THAT FAITH, LET US, TO THE END, DARE TO DO OUR DUTY AS WE UNDERSTAND IT.”
“This year, the 250th birthday of the nation Paine helped write into existence is at hand. But with a leader who yearns for the powers of a king and an administration working to discount the currency of our most Revolutionary ideals, we seem to be reverting to the old world Paine wished to bury.”
‘To Begin the World Over Again’
Common Sense was a provocation in 1776. Maybe it’s the provocation we need now.
www.theatlantic.com
January 17, 2026 at 12:30 PM
“This year, the 250th birthday of the nation Paine helped write into existence is at hand. But with a leader who yearns for the powers of a king and an administration working to discount the currency of our most Revolutionary ideals, we seem to be reverting to the old world Paine wished to bury.”