Unconscionable conduct! Shame on Marco Rubio and the rest of the Trump administration. So gratified about Tufts standing up for their student and speaking truth to power
We pointed out that, whether one agreed or not with the students, they were exercising their right to freedom of speech. I recall that some fellow students told me that perhaps it was not prudent on my part to co-sign a letter criticising the School dean, at the time when a decision on my scholarship for the second year was due. My reaction was: ‘It is a free country, isn’t it?’ My scholarship for the second year was actually increased. This episode helped defined my image of the US. I have problems in understanding what is going on in the country.
Well, yes… But we ARE talking about Marco Rubio, after all.
One of politics most vacuous opportunists… his entire personal history is pretty much a fraud (Mormon kid from Vegas that he is, not a proud migrant Catholic Cubano).
He constantly railed against Castro’s oppressive crush of his own people, before he became a bootlick for an even more oppressive authoritarian.
Remember when Russia and Putin were endlessly on the “great threats to democracy” Marco play list before he became a knowing and willful Russian parrot?
One can generate no shock and outrage in response to the obsequious nature of the “Liddle” one. He will eventually be consumed by those he serves, as well he should be.
Hi Paul. I agree with most of your sentiments and Marco has indeed becoming a bootlicker of Trump who has plenty of authoritarian impulses. But to suggest Trump is even in the same league as Castro, let alone 'even more authoritarian' is plain wrong. Trump has not put dozens of political opponents in jail for decades. Castro did this and I rather suspect the number is in the hundreds. Just because conservatives get carried away in partisan exaggeration there's no need for us lefties to do the same.
You realize they’re just at the start of this project, right…?
Project 2025 is derived from Operation Danube, which was generated by the Danube Institute under instruction/assistance of Putin. It aspires to institute the same level of control as the Putin autocracy.
Currently, Erik Prince is establishing a gulag system that will be beyond the reach of any legal response to retrieve political prisoners. Flynn is also involved in this enterprise, though to a lesser extent.
I understand your point, and am intimately familiar with Castro’s Cuba, having been there while he was in charge. There’s a long discussion to be had regarding the similarities and differences between the two styles of autocracies. Trump’s is currently in the rapid development stage. I can see no element of the Cuban version that is not aspirational in Trump’s.
Thanks for your point, though… I understand and encourage the pushback on hyperbole from the Left. I do, however and respectfully, feel my viewpoint to be supported by current facts. Best.
"Trump has not put dozens of political opponents in jail for decades."
He's sent several hundred people off to the gulag very recently. None of them are coming home. And he's publicly said he wants to send citizens there. And he's very publicly accusing his political opponents of "crimes".
I tracked down the Marco Rubio press conference to see if his statements look better in context. They don’t. Here’s a link to the full video on the State Department’s Youtube channel:
Thank you. This is unconscionable indeed. Kudos to Tufts for their strong statement; I am especially happy to see it as a Tufts alum and parent of two Tufts grads, and a longtime Boston area resident. Also a longtime staff member of UMass, I am very concerned about the welfare of international students, and the willingness of international students, scholars and faculty to come to and stay at universities in the US. I appreciate greatly your detailed updates on this case. She needs to be freed, and we need to find a way to hold this administration accountable.
I was a student at Fletcher some forty years ago. I was marginally involved in a freedom of speech issue, when I co-signed a letter to the Boston Globe criticising Fletcher’s dean, who had deplored x that Tuft students’ planned protests had caused the cancellation of a much awaited intervention by Henry Kissinger in a panel discussion at Fletcher.
This is how powerful right wing figures - newly, almost euphoricly powerful - troll the libs. A woman who wears a Hijab. An a international student. Catastrophic effect on international student enrollment? Surely that is the point.
So, what do I say to a grand-nephew from Albuquerque (an excellent student, and believe me, an interesting, all-round young man looking to expand his life experiences) who wants to come to Boston this summer and look at colleges, most particularly Tufts? I don't know what to say anymore.
Unconscionable conduct! Shame on Marco Rubio and the rest of the Trump administration. So gratified about Tufts standing up for their student and speaking truth to power
We pointed out that, whether one agreed or not with the students, they were exercising their right to freedom of speech. I recall that some fellow students told me that perhaps it was not prudent on my part to co-sign a letter criticising the School dean, at the time when a decision on my scholarship for the second year was due. My reaction was: ‘It is a free country, isn’t it?’ My scholarship for the second year was actually increased. This episode helped defined my image of the US. I have problems in understanding what is going on in the country.
Sadly it seems that the answer to your reaction is 'not any more, it isn't'.
But well done and thank you for taking the stance you have.
Well, yes… But we ARE talking about Marco Rubio, after all.
One of politics most vacuous opportunists… his entire personal history is pretty much a fraud (Mormon kid from Vegas that he is, not a proud migrant Catholic Cubano).
He constantly railed against Castro’s oppressive crush of his own people, before he became a bootlick for an even more oppressive authoritarian.
Remember when Russia and Putin were endlessly on the “great threats to democracy” Marco play list before he became a knowing and willful Russian parrot?
One can generate no shock and outrage in response to the obsequious nature of the “Liddle” one. He will eventually be consumed by those he serves, as well he should be.
Hi Paul. I agree with most of your sentiments and Marco has indeed becoming a bootlicker of Trump who has plenty of authoritarian impulses. But to suggest Trump is even in the same league as Castro, let alone 'even more authoritarian' is plain wrong. Trump has not put dozens of political opponents in jail for decades. Castro did this and I rather suspect the number is in the hundreds. Just because conservatives get carried away in partisan exaggeration there's no need for us lefties to do the same.
You realize they’re just at the start of this project, right…?
Project 2025 is derived from Operation Danube, which was generated by the Danube Institute under instruction/assistance of Putin. It aspires to institute the same level of control as the Putin autocracy.
Currently, Erik Prince is establishing a gulag system that will be beyond the reach of any legal response to retrieve political prisoners. Flynn is also involved in this enterprise, though to a lesser extent.
I understand your point, and am intimately familiar with Castro’s Cuba, having been there while he was in charge. There’s a long discussion to be had regarding the similarities and differences between the two styles of autocracies. Trump’s is currently in the rapid development stage. I can see no element of the Cuban version that is not aspirational in Trump’s.
Thanks for your point, though… I understand and encourage the pushback on hyperbole from the Left. I do, however and respectfully, feel my viewpoint to be supported by current facts. Best.
"Trump has not put dozens of political opponents in jail for decades."
He's sent several hundred people off to the gulag very recently. None of them are coming home. And he's publicly said he wants to send citizens there. And he's very publicly accusing his political opponents of "crimes".
This might be a good time to (re-?) read Hannah Arendt’s 1951 Origins of Totalitarianism
Or at least this essay of 8 years ago, emphasizing how Leaders go beyond Authoritarianism or dictatorship, to Totalitarianism: https://medium.com/amor-mundi/the-theory-of-totalitarian-leadership-1af00db6873e
Arendt is more than relevant. Been reading “Origins” with a Substack reading group.
I tracked down the Marco Rubio press conference to see if his statements look better in context. They don’t. Here’s a link to the full video on the State Department’s Youtube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtHuznPn7lo&list=PLNxLozf2cP4uA54GumsRWcDbw7Njat0i3&t=13m35s
Thank you. This is unconscionable indeed. Kudos to Tufts for their strong statement; I am especially happy to see it as a Tufts alum and parent of two Tufts grads, and a longtime Boston area resident. Also a longtime staff member of UMass, I am very concerned about the welfare of international students, and the willingness of international students, scholars and faculty to come to and stay at universities in the US. I appreciate greatly your detailed updates on this case. She needs to be freed, and we need to find a way to hold this administration accountable.
Y'know Dan, I know it was only a couple weeks back you posted about staying, but I read this the other day and thought about you: https://www.thelongmemo.com/p/ill-leave-if-it-gets-bad-the-dangerous?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Stay strong, safe and alert, please.
Unfortunately, nothing prevents the SOS from revoking a visa. This is done at their sole discretion, and cannot be appealed.
I was a student at Fletcher some forty years ago. I was marginally involved in a freedom of speech issue, when I co-signed a letter to the Boston Globe criticising Fletcher’s dean, who had deplored x that Tuft students’ planned protests had caused the cancellation of a much awaited intervention by Henry Kissinger in a panel discussion at Fletcher.
Prof Drezner. Since you're into SF you've probably seen Babylon 5. If you haven't, it's extremely, and depressingly, relevant today.
We're doing a rewatch over at Tor
https://reactormag.com/babylon-5-rewatch-voices-of-authority/
This is how powerful right wing figures - newly, almost euphoricly powerful - troll the libs. A woman who wears a Hijab. An a international student. Catastrophic effect on international student enrollment? Surely that is the point.
Is "Canary Mission" a well-known organization? First I've heard of it so had to google it.
I'm old enough to remember "I have a list of 205 communists working in the State Department". Thought the US had learned its lesson back then.
So, what do I say to a grand-nephew from Albuquerque (an excellent student, and believe me, an interesting, all-round young man looking to expand his life experiences) who wants to come to Boston this summer and look at colleges, most particularly Tufts? I don't know what to say anymore.
But it sure travels faster than the truth…🪽