{"id":60067,"date":"2026-09-09T06:00:30","date_gmt":"2026-09-09T13:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=60067"},"modified":"2026-09-08T20:46:15","modified_gmt":"2026-09-09T03:46:15","slug":"open-thread-september-9-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2026\/09\/09\/open-thread-september-9-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Open Thread September 9 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

I do realize that we are in September, not October – and that Hallowe’en is still 52 days away. But today I am going to do my best to scare you – because the dangers are real. All of these are videos – one on YouTube and two on Substack – which means for the ones on Sunstack there is a Transcript – and for the one on YouTube you can generate one. So you don’t actually have to watch them. However, I personally find that tones of voice, facial expressions, and general body language add to the urgency, and I want to offer that to you, whether or not you choose to accept it. I also kept the two normal videos, so today we have ans all-video (except the cartoon) post.<\/p>\n

This is the first one from Substack – specifically from “Confront the Hate” published by Phil Williams<\/a>. It’s 47 minutes and 3 seconds. All of the scariness is right out in the open. Much of it is from the viewpoints of people who are actively fighting it – which is not easy.<\/p>\n

This is the one from YouTube – specifically from The United Front Show<\/a>, by Max Kuhn and Dr. David Benjamin (although Max has been appearing less and less often, and is not in this video at all). It runs 20 minutes and 25 seconds, which includes a sponsor message – but it is also divided into “chapters,” which makes it very easy for you to find and skip the ad. If you just look at the title, it would appear to be good news. But, as Dr. Benjamin stresses, Trump’s mental condition is one which will cause him to become more dangerous in real time as he loses power. And that should definitely scare you.<\/p>\n

This second Substack video is from Joyce Vance’s “Civil Discourse,”<\/a> and includes Ruth Ben Ghiat. While it too emphasizes the danger, it also presents possibilities for antidotes – for ourselves and for spreading to others. It runs 32 minutes and 54 seconds. Ruth is one of our top experts on autocracy and autocrats, and author of the book “Strongmen,” and Joyce is a lawyer and a professor of law, and author of the book “Giving Up Is Unforgiveable.”<\/p>\n