The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

berg80

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Until his death in 2011, Scott-Heron was alternately proud of the song’s power and resonance but also frustrated by the way its meaning had been consistently misunderstood by many listeners who took the song’s title literally, that the revolution won’t be aired live on television. But what Gil meant in the song, and it’s obvious from hearing the lyrics, is that you have to be active, you can’t be a passive participant in the revolution. When the revolution happens, you’re going to have to be in the streets. If you want to make change in society, you have to get off your ass and take action. You just can’t sit on your couch and watch it on TV.

Catchy title, right? I'm going to borrow it for my own purposes. Apparently not the one Heron intended when he wrote the poem.

When I think of the phrase what comes to mind is when autocracy comes, revolutionary in its own way, it enters through the side door, not the front. It happens gradually, not all at once. It breaks the old ways down in incremental steps, not suddenly.

You don't wake up one day and find the state is in total control of all media outlets. You don't find troops patrolling the streets of every city. Free speech is not repressed entirely. You don't find all the members of previously independent institutions have been replaced with loyalists.

New Trump appointee Miran calls for half-point cut in only dissent as rest of Fed bands together​


Cuz if it happens suddenly people take notice, and strenuously object (as some of us have). Better to let them get used to the new order, like being snatched off the streets by masked men, a little at a time.

Man With Green Card Who Was Held by ICE for 77 Days Speaks Out—'Inhumane'​


What I keep waiting for is the tipping point for trump devotees. The point at which they say wait........this isn't what I voted for. I voted for better border security, not illegal deportations. I voted for lower prices (and didn't get them) not ending cancer research. I voted for a crackdown on criminal behavior, not giving criminals pardons.

Until the tipping point comes the revolution will continue apace.
 
The regime provides examples of moving towards autocracy every day.

Trump officials pressuring federal prosecutors to bring criminal charges against NY AG Letitia James: Sources​

Top Trump administration officials are pressuring federal prosecutors in Virginia to bring charges against New York Attorney General Letitia James for mortgage fraud, despite investigators so far failing to find sufficient evidence supporting such charges, according to sources familiar with the investigation.

After a five-month investigation and interviews with more than a dozen witnesses, federal prosecutors have so far uncovered no clear evidence that James knowingly made false statements to a financial institution to secure favorable terms on a mortgage for her Virginia home, according to multiple sources briefed on the investigation.

 
A federal judge threw out President Donald Trump’s $15 billion lawsuit against The New York Times, calling it an undignified public relations exercise meant to ā€œrage against an adversaryā€ rather than present a well-reasoned legal case.

ā€œAs every lawyer knows (or is presumed to know), a complaint is not a public forum for vituperation and invective,ā€ U.S. District Judge Steven Merryday, an appointee of George H.W. Bush, said of Trump’s 85-page grievance-laden lawsuit. ā€œA complaint is not a megaphone for public relations or a podium for a passionate oration at a political rally or the functional equivalent of the Hyde Park Speakers’ Corner.ā€

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/09/19/donald-trump-new-york-times-lawsuit-order-00573073

Sometimes trump's attacks on media he doesn't like fail. The courts have become the primary bulwark against autocracy.........with the notable exception of the SC.
 
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