On the one hand, it’s always concerning to see the rise of threats to imprison political opposition.
On the other hand, this is a pivotal moment. This is one of those things that you could lift straight from Andor or the Martian Revolution series or any other radical fiction because it’s just cookie-cutter dropped in to so many revolutions of history that it just almost has to happen. The milquetoast electoral reformer gains some success in the light of the horrors of the authoritarian regime, the regime loses its shit and responds with an over-the-top militant reaction, which in turn triggers an actual militant defense capable of breaking the stalemate of liberalism.
In other words, for those of us who want revolution in some form or another, who see the American empire and all empires as systems of oppression, they’re playing right into our hands with this response, assuming New Yorkers & Angelinos and other Americans are capable of effective resistance.
One must hope. For the earth. For mankind.
What the other guy said. Look up the “Revolutions” podcast and start at episode 11.1. I really like it because it’s sort of him distilling a lot of the patterns he’s noticed studying revolutions into fiction. A lot of fun.