German Election Solidifies Europe’s Sharp Rightward Turn As Far Right Surges

• by: C.J. Polychroniou

C.J. Polychroniou

02-25-2025 ~ AfD saw the biggest victory of a far right party since WWII as Social Democrats suffered their largest postwar defeat.

The results of Germany’s February 23 election have cemented a chilling trend that has increasingly characterized European politics in the 21st century: the collapse of social democracy and the subsequent resurgence of far right parties and movements, with some of their followers openly glorifying fascism.

The snap national election left no room for doubt about Germany’s sharp rightward shift. The racist, far right Alternative for Germany (AfD) emerged as the country’s second-strongest party, with 20.8 percent — roughly twice the votes it had received in 2021. This is the biggest victory a far right party has scored in Germany since World War II, and the AfD is surely the biggest winner in this federal parliamentary election. As for Elon Musk’s interference in German politics, his endorsement of the AfD appears to have played no significant role in the outcome of the election. Musk drew outrage in December for posting on X that, “Only the AfD can save Germany” and has continued to actively advocate for the party, but the far right performed no better than what polls had predicted when the snap election was called.

At the same time, the once mighty Social Democratic Party (SPD) suffered its worst defeat since World War II, with 16.4 percent of the vote share. The SPD is the country’s oldest political party and has historically drawn support from industrial workers and trade unions. It has seen its vote share significantly decline over the last couple of decades, even if it did manage to win a narrow victory in the 2021 election with 25.7 percent of the vote, marking an end to 16 years of conservative-led government under Angela Merkel.

As was expected, the conservative alliance of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) and the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU) emerged victorious, with their leader Friedrich Merz set to become the new chancellor, but fell way short of preelection polls. In fact, CDU/CSU scored its second-worst postwar result, with 28.5 percent of the vote. They will need to enter a coalition with another party, most likely with the SPD, as CDU has ruled out including the AfD in a coalition government. Read more

Trump’s Executive Orders Build Toward Dictatorial “Unitary Executive” Power

• by: C.J. Polychroniou

David M. Driesen – Syracuse University

02-22-2025 ~ The president’s power grab over federal agencies is the latest example of his use of the controversial legal theory.

During his first month in office, President Donald Trump has signed a plethora of executive orders that have proclaimed a dramatic expansion of the powers of the executive branch. In his latest, issued on February 18 and entitled Ensuring Accountability for all Agencies, Trump aims to bring all independent federal regulatory agencies under the direct control of the chief executive. Unsurprisingly, the 47th president of the United States has already referred to himself as the “king” and may even envision himself as emperor, making the Napoleonic statement “He who saves his Country does not violate any Law” after several judges blocked a slew of his executive actions.

David M. Driesen, university professor at Syracuse University College of Law, says that Trump’s executive order to curb the authority of independent agencies is illegal and that the president is using unitary executive theory to establish a dictatorship. In the interview that follows, Driesen addresses Trump’s recent actions as well as the debate over unitary executive theory — a legal theory which says that the U.S. president can rule over the executive branch with absolute power. In two recent cases the far right Supreme Court has signaled increasing openness to this theory, once considered a fringe interpretation of the Constitution. Legal scholars and advocates, including Driesen, are now sounding the alarm that Trump’s seizure of dictatorial executive power may succeed with the court’s approval.

Driesen is the author of many academic articles and books, including The Specter of Dictatorship: Judicial Enabling of Presidential Power.

C. J. Polychroniou: On February 15, Donald Trump proclaimed on his Truth Social network that “He who saves his Country does not violate any Law.” The post raised a lot of eyebrows, as this quote is often attributed to Napoleon, who crowned himself emperor. Trump then went on to sign an executive order that allows him to claim power over independent agencies, which would turn the presidency into an office of almost unlimited powers. Many constitutional experts say that he cannot do that — so what are the constitutional powers and limits on the U.S. presidency?

David M. Driesen: Demagogues and tyrants frequently claim that they are saving the country and denigrate the need to follow law. But the Constitution requires the president to “take care that the law be faithfully executed,” and Trump is doing the opposite, attacking law at every turn.

The order asserting control over independent agencies usurps congressional authority to structure the government under the Necessary and Proper Clause. It also asserts a power to “adjust” statutes (referred to as “obligations” of independent agencies) to fit the president’s political preferences. This amounts to usurping congressional authority to amend statutes. It also calls for defunding activities that the president does not support, thereby usurping the power of the purse. The fundamental limit on executive power is that it must be used to faithfully implement, not violate or impede, statutes and further their purposes. Read more

‘Only The People Can Save The People,’ Say Migrant Workers

• by: Sonali Kolhatkar

Sonali Kolhatkar

02-22-2025 ~ The National Day Laborers Organizing Network (NDLON) embodies an ethos of “solidarity, not charity,” in both fire relief and immigrant rights.

When the Eaton Fire began on January 7, 2025, in Altadena, California, it blazed through residential neighborhoods, destroying thousands of family homes. On the morning of January 8, as businesses burned on North Lake Avenue, a group of migrant workers met 2 miles to the south in neighboring Pasadena. They gathered at 6 a.m. to discuss an emergency response to the fires.

For the past 25 years, the Pasadena Community Job Center on South Lake Avenue has connected employers with skilled migrant labor, ensuring safe work environments, a living wage for workers, and quality work for customers.

Run by the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON), the job center has also been a hub for much more: strengthening rights and protections for migrant workers, being of service to the local community, and sharing the culture, stories, and music of its members. NDLON’s work is intersectional, bringing together labor rights, fair pay, immigration, racial justice, climate resiliency, and community solidarity.

Less than two weeks before Donald Trump’s January 20 inauguration, migrant workers, who were poised to oppose the incoming administration’s anti-immigrant agenda, quickly pivoted to emergency fire relief. Omar Leone, NDLON’s arts director, helped organize “fire relief brigades,” to clear debris and brush from burned and smoke-damaged areas in the wake of the deadly 100 miles per hour winds.

NDLON put the call out for volunteers and workers and, over several weeks, trained members of the brigades outfitted them with protective gear and cleaning equipment, and sent them to impacted neighborhoods with trucks bearing the slogan “Solo El Pueblo, Salva Al Pueblo,” translated to “Only the People Can Save the People.” Immigrants worked alongside citizens, and workers stood shoulder to shoulder with employers. Leone, in an interview on YES! Presents: Rising Up With Sonali, explained how the brigades consisted of “day laborers, household workers, and many community volunteers from various areas of the greater Los Angeles area.” Read more

An Actual Neofascist Coup Is Now Underway In The United States

• by: C.J. Polychroniou

02-20-2025 ~ Trump’s attempt to incite a coup in 2021 and his subsequent victory in the 2024 presidential election speak volumes of the democratic decline in the United States. We must admit exactly where we are at this point in time.

Over the past few years, there has been an alarming surge of coups d’état across the world, particularly in Africa. The most common definition of a coup is an illegal attempt to seize control of the government. The seizure of power by coup leaders is often justified by pointing to poor governance and/or deteriorating security situations.

Coups are typically irregular transfers of power that occur in countries with weak democratic institutions and may be carried out by military or civilian elites. Consolidated democracies have long prided themselves of being immune to the conditions that generate coups d’etat, but the Trump phenomenon in U.S. politics seems to suggest that there are no absolutes, and that liberal democracy can be brought down.

The storming of the U.S. Capitol building on January 6, 2021, was a coup attempt incited by outgoing president Donald Trump, and can be best described as an “attempted auto-coup.” Yet, shockingly enough, not only wasn’t Trump held accountable in the end for being criminally engaged in a “multi-part conspiracy” to overturn the lawful results of the 2020 election but was allowed to run again for the presidency in 2024. And what is even more shocking is that he prevailed in his third presidential bid by winning both the electoral college and the popular vote.

Both Trump’s attempt to incite a coup in 2021 and his subsequent victory in the 2024 presidential election speak volumes of the democratic decline in the United States. Citizens’ support not just for a democracy-eroding leader but for one who repeatedly promised during his campaign to be a dictator, even if only for one day, is ample evidence to make the case that the end of democracy in the U.S. (or whatever is left of it as the country was never designed to be democratic) is upon us.

Indeed, an actual neo-fascist coup is now underway. Trump and his Nazi buddy Elon Musk are trying to destroy civil society by dismantling the State. Trump had promised on numerous occasions during his campaign to “demolish the deep state,” and even offered specific details for how he planned to do so. And this is exactly what is happening right now. Read more

Dispatch From Kolkata: LGBTQ Activists Face Mob Attack

• by: Saurav Sarkar

Saurav Sarkar -sauravsarkar.com

02-18-2025 ~ In another demonstration that the fight for LGBTQ rights in India goes far beyond marriage, a dispute in a Reliance Fresh supermarket in the posh South Kolkata neighbourhood of Jodhpur Park suddenly assumed a sinister character on 11 February. What started as an argument over a place in line became a mob assault outside the store.

Members of Sappho for Equality who were initially involved or arrived to assist were verbally, physically, and sexually assaulted. Sappho is a Kolkata-based organisation for lesbians, bisexual women, and trans men that runs a nearby cafe.

“This incident is something in our own locality – we know of this place – this was something of a shock to us”, said Shreosi, a member of the organisation who was not present during the assault but is in contact with those who were.

Neither the store’s staff nor nearby police immediately intervened during the incident, during which the Sappho members were grabbed and beaten with helmets. When the police finally did respond, they removed the Sappho members from the scene rather than stopping the mob. The Sappho members were then taken to receive medical attention, and a case was filed.

Ree, one of the five Sappho members who was assaulted, said, “The trauma that has been created, it’s a real burden. The physical pain will ease, but we don’t know how the rest of it will be relieved”.

To be queer or trans in India is a quixotic reality today. There is no doubt that progress has been made over decades – most notably with the 2018 decriminalisation of same-sex relations. It was the “fruits of labour of millions and millions of queer and trans workers,” said Shreosi. Read more

Data On Corporate Pollution And Emissions Now Threatened Under Trump

• by: C.J. Polychroniou

Michael Ash – PERI -University of Massachusetts Amherst

02-17-2025 ~ Researchers have published data on corporate pollution and emissions since 2004. Now the data is at risk under Trump.

Since the late 1980s, just 100 companies have been responsible for 71 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Researchers at the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) at the University of Massachusetts Amherst publish annual lists of the top corporate air and water polluters and top greenhouse gas emitters in the U.S. They have just released the latest data amid widespread fear that our environmental crisis will rapidly worsen in the next four years as the Trump administration rolls back regulations and stalls climate action at the federal level.

In the interview that follows, Michael Ash, professor of economics at UMass Amherst and one of the main researchers behind the PERI project tracking U.S. corporate pollution, shares the latest data identifying the biggest corporate polluters, discusses the potential impact of Donald Trump’s “Unleashing American Energy” policy and offers his thoughts on how activists can push back against corporate polluters. The interview that follows has been lightly edited for clarity. Read more