‘Democracy is under threat globally’

‘I’d be Thailand’s leader now if the system wasn’t rigged’

Pita Limjaroenrat at The New York Times

Thailand has “cycled through prime ministers with dizzying speed, driven by this same game of political roulette,” says Pita Limjaroenrat, the former leader of Thailand’s Move Forward Party. As “Thailand shows, autocratic forces today secure their grip not only with tanks and rifle butts.” They “wield the velvet cudgel of lawfare: the undemocratic use of legal mechanisms and nominally independent bodies to dissolve parties, disqualify candidates and cripple opposition.” In “Thailand, nonelected institutions remain stronger than the will of the people.”

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‘9/11 was avenged on us. On its anniversary, I refuse to forgive.’

Mansoor Adayfi at Al Jazeera

Forgiveness is “never simple, especially when justice has yet to be served,” says Mansoor Adayfi. There were “countless innocent people kidnapped during the global campaign of the United States of revenge and terror after Sept. 11, 2001.” The phrase ‘Never Forget, Never Forgive’ echoes once again,” but it’s “crucial to consider what those words really mean, especially when they are used as a rallying cry for revenge, retaliation, retribution, or vengeance, rather than as a thoughtful appeal for justice.”

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‘As the Epstein case shows, Trump’s MAGA faithful care about only one kind of sex-crime victim’

Emma Brockes at The Guardian

Epstein “occupies the worst and most taboo category of sex offender — a child abuser, in which no grey area exists,” says Emma Brockes. That “assumes the existence, within MAGA circles, of a continuum ranging from pedophile sex trafficking (very bad), through other categories of sex offending (less bad but still quite bad), to ‘date rape’ and the whole of #MeToo (lot of fuss about nothing).” But “this isn’t how Trump supporters have calibrated their outrage.”

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‘Texas vs. Chicago: Why Trump’s next National Guard gambit is so dangerous’

Richard Primus at Politico

President Donald Trump is “considering sending units of the Texas National Guard to Chicago,” but “might do so without taking full responsibility for what might happen when armed Texans descend upon Chicago,” says Richard Primus. This “violates one of the most fundamental doctrines in American constitutional law: that the citizens who bear the burdens of governmental action must be able to hold the relevant government accountable.” Using “military personnel for domestic law enforcement is dangerous and fraught.”

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