Recommended Reading: The Far-Right Has Heart Eyes for Hungary's Viktor Orbán

This Week's Recommended Reading on Substack: Jemar Tisby, Thor Benson, Sian Norris, Dean Obeidallah, Judd Legum, Marisa Kabas, and Don Moynihan

Nov 20, 2023

The Week's Recommended Reading on Substack:

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writes that the “far-right in the U.S. is looking to Orbán’s regime for a roadmap of how to implement their illiberal policies here. They view him as the quintessential strongman who brought his country back from the power of the ‘Leftists’ and made their country great again.”

Footnotes by Jemar Tisby

Why Far-Right Has Heart Eyes for Hungary's Viktor Orbán 😍

White Christian nationalism is greatest threat to democracy and the witness of the church in the United States today. I define white Christian Nationalism as an ethnocultural ideology that uses Christian symbolism to create a permission structure for the acquisition of political power and social control…

a year ago · 26 likes · 3 comments · Jemar Tisby, PhD

Thor Benson

writes that a “second Trump term would be far worse than the first, because the first was essentially practice. As we saw with Viktor Orbán of Hungary, sometimes authoritarians fail to centralize power and dismantle democracy the first time they attempt it, but then they come back having learned from their mistakes.”

Madness

Trump's Project 2025 and the American people

If you’re wondering what a second Trump term would look like, you can stop looking, because Trump and his people have already told us. Beyond the fact Trump is saying he will “crush” his opponents if reelected or the fact he refers to them as “vermin,” there’s currently an orchestrated effort to prepare for a possible second Trump term. It’s called…

a year ago · 29 likes · Thor Benson

Sian Norris

writes that “there are three key pillars of fascist ideology: one is the natural order, two is the mythic past, and three is the constant state of war. Russia is aggressively pursuing all three.”

Sianushka Writes

Russia's pro-life campaign: babies for cannon fodder

On Thursday, Julia Davis – an expert in analysing Russian disinformation – tweeted that “the link between Putin’s current and potential wars and looming restrictions on abortion is far from subtle”. The tweet was accompanied by a photo of a billboard of a foetus next to a child in army uniform…

a year ago · 5 likes · Sian Norris

Robert P. Jones

writes that “Trump’s most recent comments should jar us back to our senses. They signal something new, even for Trump—that he has now fully embraced the rhetoric and strategies of the Nazis.”

White Too Long by Robert P. Jones

"Vermin": Trump Crosses Fully into Nazi Territory

Dear #WhiteTooLong readers, I’ve heard from many of you that you appreciated my virtual conversation with Greg Garrett last week, author of The Gospel According to James Baldwin: What America’s Great Prophet Can Teach Us about Life, Love, and Identity…

a year ago · 52 likes · 2 comments · Robert P. Jones

Dean Obeidallah

writes that “Trump’s recent ratcheting up of dehumanizing rhetoric directed at those who oppose him is truly dangerous.”

The Dean's Report by Dean Obeidallah

Judge's ruling on Friday that Trump "engaged in an insurrection" is even more alarming given Trump’s recent actions

We all wanted the judge in Colorado to disqualify Donald Trump from the ballot for engaging in an insurrection in violation of Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. Unfortunately, the judge refused to do so, instead engaging in a strained and questionable reading of the specific language of Section 3 finding it did not apply to the President. (I’ll touch on …

a year ago · 137 likes · 36 comments · Dean Obeidallah

Judd Legum

writes that “deciding not to subsidize bigotry on X — by Musk and others — has nothing to do with free speech. Musk is free to say whatever he wants. And corporations can decide whether or not they would like to subsidize it.”

Popular Information

Free speech does not require subsidizing bigotry

On November 15, Charles Weber posted on X, the platform previously known as Twitter, about "the cowards hiding behind the anonymity of the internet and posting 'Hitler was right.'" Weber, who identifies as Jewish in his online bio, said that anonymous online trolls should "say it to our faces…

a year ago · 349 likes · 52 comments · Judd Legum

Marisa Kabas

writes that Jonathan Greenblatt “has taken on main character status throughout the early days of the war in Israel and Palestine, but in the most cynical way possible.”

The Handbasket

The cowardice of Jonathan Greenblatt

The Handbasket is fueled by reader subscriptions. Consider becoming a paid subscriber here, and help support 100% independent, woman-produced journalism…

a year ago · 78 likes · 3 comments · Marisa Kabas

Don Moynihan

writes about how college professors are the target of a “system of surveillance funded by wealthy right wing forces, where students with phones are selectively recording other students or faculty, looking for the clip or quote that a supportive media will broadcast, triggering punishment and intimidation. It is not about free speech.”

Can We Still Govern?

The surveilled campus

This is a story about the professional outrage machine on American campuses, and how it targets faculty and students. It is both a small and silly story and a microcosm of what is happening in campuses across America. In the name of free speech and opposing cancel culture, people are surveilled and reported to a supportive media, who then broadcasts the…

a year ago · 57 likes · 4 comments · Don Moynihan