The Opinionated Observer
@opinionatedobserve.bsky.social
https://www.opinionatedobserver.com/ - my blog
Watching closely. Saying it plainly.
Examining current events through the lens of democratic norms, accountability, and the normalization of harm.
Watching closely. Saying it plainly.
Examining current events through the lens of democratic norms, accountability, and the normalization of harm.
Pinned
The Opinionated Observer | political accountability
The Opinionated Observer is a space for clear-eyed commentary on politics, power, and the stories we tell ourselves to avoid hard truths—especially in moments of genuine threats to democracy. These es...
www.opinionatedobserver.com
I started a blog because too much of what passes for political commentary asks us to look away or soften language when clarity is required.
This is an attempt to pay attention and say things plainly.
www.opinionatedobserver.com
This is an attempt to pay attention and say things plainly.
www.opinionatedobserver.com
When agents claim that being watched makes their job impossible, what they are really saying is that their authority depends on being unaccountable.
January 17, 2026 at 3:46 PM
When agents claim that being watched makes their job impossible, what they are really saying is that their authority depends on being unaccountable.
Power that cannot be observed cannot be restrained. -- A special edition on how ICE is a tool of the Federal Govt in the current political system, called Authoritarian Fascism.
www.opinionatedobserver.com/post/observa...
www.opinionatedobserver.com/post/observa...
Observation Is Not Obstruction—Until Power Needs Silence -- SPECIAL EDITION
01/16/2025
Please read Letter to the Reader first.There is a line that separates a democracy from something darker. You can usually find it where citizens are no longer permitted to observe the gover...
www.opinionatedobserver.com
January 16, 2026 at 4:47 PM
Power that cannot be observed cannot be restrained. -- A special edition on how ICE is a tool of the Federal Govt in the current political system, called Authoritarian Fascism.
www.opinionatedobserver.com/post/observa...
www.opinionatedobserver.com/post/observa...
Tomorrow special edition: Observation Is Not Obstruction—Until Power Needs Silence -- will post at 6:00 AM. opinionatedobserver.com Agents have claimed that filming them is “interference.” That observing them is “obstruction.” That presence itself is hostile.
The Opinionated Observer | political accountability
The Opinionated Observer is a space for clear-eyed commentary on politics, power, and the stories we tell ourselves to avoid hard truths—especially in moments of genuine threats to democracy. These es...
opinionatedobserver.com
January 16, 2026 at 4:08 AM
Tomorrow special edition: Observation Is Not Obstruction—Until Power Needs Silence -- will post at 6:00 AM. opinionatedobserver.com Agents have claimed that filming them is “interference.” That observing them is “obstruction.” That presence itself is hostile.
www.opinionatedobserver.com/post/this-is...
In other words, it does not abolish democracy.
It weaponizes it.
In other words, it does not abolish democracy.
It weaponizes it.
This Isn’t the Fascism We Remember. That’s the Point.
What’s emerging in the United States isn’t just authoritarianism. It’s a system that preserves democratic forms while hollowing out accountability—and grows stronger the longer it goes unnamed.When pe...
www.opinionatedobserver.com
January 16, 2026 at 3:41 AM
www.opinionatedobserver.com/post/this-is...
In other words, it does not abolish democracy.
It weaponizes it.
In other words, it does not abolish democracy.
It weaponizes it.
A taste of Thursday's release: What we are facing is a hybrid political system—authoritarian fascism adapted to American conditions—one that preserves the outward rituals of democracy while hollowing out its restraints.
opinionatedobserver.com
opinionatedobserver.com
January 14, 2026 at 12:32 AM
A taste of Thursday's release: What we are facing is a hybrid political system—authoritarian fascism adapted to American conditions—one that preserves the outward rituals of democracy while hollowing out its restraints.
opinionatedobserver.com
opinionatedobserver.com
Fascism Has Arrived in America. Will We Admit It? www.opinionatedobserver.com/post/fascism... On Thursday, I will explain further how this is not the fascism we know from the 20th century, but a hybrid, American style, for today's world.
Fascism Has Arrived in America. Will We Admit It?
Americans have long treated fascism as a foreign disease—something that happens in other countries, under other conditions, to other people. We comfort ourselves with the belief that our institutions ...
www.opinionatedobserver.com
January 13, 2026 at 7:06 AM
Fascism Has Arrived in America. Will We Admit It? www.opinionatedobserver.com/post/fascism... On Thursday, I will explain further how this is not the fascism we know from the 20th century, but a hybrid, American style, for today's world.
Who does the government ultimately serve—and when did we stop making it serve us?
January 13, 2026 at 4:23 AM
Who does the government ultimately serve—and when did we stop making it serve us?
I was raised to believe that when government acts, it must justify itself to the public, and that when it fails, accountability is not optional. Watching that expectation erode—watching fellow Americans rationalize what should horrify them—has been more chilling than any headline.
January 13, 2026 at 12:35 AM
I was raised to believe that when government acts, it must justify itself to the public, and that when it fails, accountability is not optional. Watching that expectation erode—watching fellow Americans rationalize what should horrify them—has been more chilling than any headline.
A lot of our political discourse asks us to soften language or wait for a “better moment.”
I’m interested in what happens when we do that—when accountability fades and power fills the vacuum.
That’s what I’m writing about.
I’m interested in what happens when we do that—when accountability fades and power fills the vacuum.
That’s what I’m writing about.
January 12, 2026 at 3:38 AM
A lot of our political discourse asks us to soften language or wait for a “better moment.”
I’m interested in what happens when we do that—when accountability fades and power fills the vacuum.
That’s what I’m writing about.
I’m interested in what happens when we do that—when accountability fades and power fills the vacuum.
That’s what I’m writing about.
I started a blog because too much of what passes for political commentary asks us to look away or soften language when clarity is required.
This is an attempt to pay attention and say things plainly.
www.opinionatedobserver.com
This is an attempt to pay attention and say things plainly.
www.opinionatedobserver.com
The Opinionated Observer | political accountability
The Opinionated Observer is a space for clear-eyed commentary on politics, power, and the stories we tell ourselves to avoid hard truths—especially in moments of genuine threats to democracy. These es...
www.opinionatedobserver.com
January 11, 2026 at 6:21 AM
I started a blog because too much of what passes for political commentary asks us to look away or soften language when clarity is required.
This is an attempt to pay attention and say things plainly.
www.opinionatedobserver.com
This is an attempt to pay attention and say things plainly.
www.opinionatedobserver.com