Intensity and timing matter in stopping strongmen
We’re reaching back this morning to events and posts from last week. But it’s important.
The Trump 2.0 administration has been losing court challenges to its campaign of anti-democracy and police-state intimidation. But that won’t be the end of it, warns Stanford University politcal scientist, Adam Bonica.
The script “is frustratingly predictable,” Bonica writes (Substack). In Turkey (Erdoğan ), in the Philippines (Duterte), in Brazil (Bolsonaro), in Italy (Bolsonaro), in Zimbabwe (Mugabe), and in Israel (Netanyahu).
What makes Trump’s rhetoric so dangerous? Because the escalation is already visible. We’re seeing calls for their impeachment based on flimsy pretexts, doxxing of judges, the outright intimidation, the vile death threats that endanger not just the judges but their families. We even hear whispers about replacing civilian courts with military tribunals. This isn’t a drill.
We can stop it, Bonica argues, but it will take us all out of our comfort zones. It will cost us.
So how do we combat this?
– BUILD broad coalitions beyond party lines
– MOBILIZE professionals, not just activists
– SUSTAIN pressure through strikes and protests
– FRAME it as defending democracy, not partisan politics
None of this is easy. But democracy never is.— Adam Bonica (@adambonica.bsky.social) May 26, 2025 at 5:47 PM
Massive protests stopped Netanyahu’s push to gut the courts. But when the Law and Justice party (PiS) took power in Poland in 2015, “they executed a masterclass in judicial capture” that sounds rather familiar.
The Polish people didn’t take this lying down. Tens of thousands, sometimes hundreds of thousands, took to the streets repeatedly from 2017 to 2023. Protests erupted in over 100 cities and towns. International judges flew in to show solidarity. “We judges must not be afraid,” declared Judge Pawel Juszczyszyn at one protest. “Without free courts there are no free citizens.”
But, unfortunately, it wasn’t enough. By 2018, PiS had complete control over the Constitutional Tribunal and the body that appoints judges. Over eight years, they appointed 3,000 new judges through their captured institutions. Even after PiS lost power in 2023, the new government finds it nearly impossible to undo the damage. As Judge Tuleya now says, “defending the rule of law is easier than rebuilding it.”
Intensity and timing matter in stopping strongmen. Massive, single-day protests aren’t enough.
Democracy versus authoritarianism
The Path Forward
So when we hear Trump’s rhetoric about “USA HATING JUDGES” and see the escalating threats against our judiciary, the question isn’t whether this is dangerous—history has already answered that. The question is: will we mobilize in time, or will we become another Poland?
The roadmap is clear:
- ACT IMMEDIATELY—don’t wait for the first purges. Poland shows us that once judges start being removed, it’s almost too late
- BUILD broad coalitions—this isn’t about party politics. When lawyers, tech workers, veterans, and business leaders unite, power listens
- PREPARE for economic action—protests matter, but general strikes change the game
- FRAME it correctly—this isn’t left versus right; it’s democracy versus authoritarianism
None of this is easy. Protecting democratic institutions rarely is. But history shows us both paths clearly. Every authoritarian who successfully destroyed judicial independence\ did so because civil society failed to unite quickly and forcefully enough. When mass protests defended courts, because people recognized the threat early and acted decisively. they were also defending democracy.
Dig deep. I’m naturally an introvert. This will be hard.
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