Brad Rourke’s Blog
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Frog, Pot, Bird, Flock
I have been thinking about the old frog-in-the-pot metaphor. We all know it. Put a frog in cool water and turn on the heat. The temperature rises slowly and the frog does not notice until it perishes. It is tempting to say we are in the time of the frog and the pot, as the…
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The Tools of Empire: How Private Tech Is Powering Autocracy
As we watch and worry about the dismantling of our democracy, the tools of empire are being built. The foundations were laid quietly, in the early months of the Trump administration. As Elon Musk wielded a public chainsaw, a small group of technologists and financiers stitched together databases under the guise of “efficiency.” What they…
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The Sandbag Republic: Law as Resistance
For those who fear autocracy is coming—or already here—there is real hope in the legal response that rose to meet it. Indeed, the legal defense of democracy stood up faster than many expected, and remains stronger and more nimble than we possibly could have hoped. Within a week of the inauguration, lawyers and nonprofits had…
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Become Ungovernable
On my way to downtown DC to march in the No Kings rally, I was unsure of what I would find. * * * * * We all knew what to expect as the year began. It had been laid out for us very clearly in the document called a Mandate for Leadership, otherwise known…
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Still No Kings
Find a No Kings 2 event near you and sign up: the live map is here. The matter was settled. The founders broke from monarchy and built a republic ruled by law. The crown was thrown aside. But the desire to be ruled is persistent. It lives on, waiting for someone willing to claim it.…
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Razing Democracy
In Athens last week, I walked among ruins around which the modern city had grown. Stone columns beside electric vehicles. The air itself carries argument between old and new. The remains of the Acropolis loom over the city. Hadrian’s Library is tucked into a neighborhood. All reminders that democracy can be razed. At the Athens…
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20 Things You Can Do to Throw Sand in the Gears
As the authoritarian regime continues its march to undermine constitutional democracy, it is clear that only through solidarity and action can we have a hope of retaining the American way of life. We need to get off the sidelines and take action. Writing in postwar Germany in 1951, poet Günter Eich wrote a 5-play cycle,…
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We Are Allowed to Feel Joy
The authoritarian consolidation is real. Each week brings fresh evidence. The courts weakened. The guardrails stripped. Communities made vulnerable. Immigrants disappeared. Trans people targeted and despicably made out to be a violent threat. Higher education attacked for producing independent thought. Journalists threatened for telling the truth. Comedians deplatformed. None of this is abstract. It is…
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The Impotence of Norms
There was a time when shame played an important role in public life. It kept the system intact. A leader might lie or spew hate, but not without cost. The collective would respond. A rebuke, a cold shoulder, a quiet, forced resignation. Shame had teeth. It made norms real. That time has passed. Today, to…
Brad Rourke 