Professor Reich: but WHAT is ultimately the last card that the orange toddler can play? what will cause him and his toadies to FINALLY be imprisoned for their abject greed? all of us current and future impoverished serfs want to know.
Yes, is it possible to go too far with the daily normalization of corruption? A corrupt act used to be career ending, a notorious scandal. Now it’s just another reality show segment designed to own the libs. Where’s the Newsweek cover “Morality is Dead”?
I think those of us who still have a grip on reality, legality and morality have to keep expressing outrage to give legitimacy to some Constitutionally legal overthrow of the coup.
Jonni, you nailed it! We are living in the orange man's reality show and it absolutely sucks! I hated reality shows since their conception. I do not give a tinker's damn about how other people are living, fighting or anything else. I have my own life to live. That's all American TV is now - reality shows! Even though it is tiresome, we must call out every single corrupt, illegal thing this POS does. We must continue to call out to others the importance of morality, integrity and decency!
I know, Susan! It was all so fake and scripted! Much like the orange man and his stupid cabinet and musk-rat! They are fake! I cannot stand that they got a foothold in our country and are now in the process of tearing it down! It sucks!
In recent days, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has been sharing educational resources to help migrants know their rights when dealing with federal law enforcement. Donald Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, is starting to get pretty steamed about it. Yesterday, Homan made multiple appearances on Fox News where he boasted of asking Trump’s Justice Department to criminally investigate Ocasio-Cortez.
“It’s like AOC and others don’t want ICE to enforce the law that they enacted,” Homan told Fox News. “I’ve asked DOJ, where is that line of impediment, where is that line of interference?”
In response, Ocasio-Cortez was defiant. “Go ahead,” she wrote on social media. “Let the people see you for what you are.”
Today’s MAGA Republicans are on a raw-power bender the likes of which we’ve never seen. Years spent fruitlessly yearning to grind the hated libs beneath their heels have suddenly given way to a glorious moment where the barriers have all fallen away at once. They control all the power, and they’ve jettisoned all compunction about how they’re going to use it. The time has come at last, they rejoice, to crack some skulls.
What can Democrats do? Well, here’s something they can do—if, like Ocasio-Cortez, they’ve got the stomach for it. They can step forward and put a target on their own backs. They can spit in the eye of the authoritarian bullies, not because they foolishly believe the bullies won’t retaliate, but because they know they will. They just can’t help themselves. Authoritarian bullies never can.
It is ironic that former Republicans are more spirited in fighting the fascist MuskianTrump regime, than Democrats like Hakeem Jeffries whose gift is finding excuses.
This is the bottom line. The real truth...there is no one to stop him. I am 80 years old and watching my country die as I am in the process of dying. I was a civil rights, women's right, anti Vietnam war activist in the 60s and 70s. Where are our young people now? We
So true, Peggy, orange menace's show 'The Apprentice' was the phoniest show in history yet it catapulted his sick image to fame as a successful businessman. Without NBC and him having suckered the public out of half a billion $$ he never would have made president. His only real success was as kingpin of a criminal syndicate, the '----- Organization'.
Robert, so true, t. has not been held to account fully in his entire life, so he thinks his joy ride will last forever. His crash may come sooner than we might foresee.
Thanks Peggy, my sentiments exactly. I never watch reality shows. What is real about being surrounded by a camera crew and trying to be ridiculously ... interesting? I can't think of an adjective...worth something to watch? It IS worthless!
Elizabeth, that is why I did away with my cable. I have a ROKU TV and I can watch far better shows than what the American producers are putting out. I love British, Canadian, Australian and African shows. Actually international tv is so much better! I subscribe to Acorn and Britbox. They offer many great selections.
Brit Box and Acorn are good sources for better things to watch than commerical TV. Also PBS. - I am fortuntate to be able to see what is on NH and Maine PBS. Or I can read a book or listen to music or go for a walk and listen to silence.
Exactly, Fusspot! I love PBS and watch it every day! Masterpiece Theatre is great and I love the Walter Presents picks. Like you, reading, listening to good music and going for walks are excellent as well! I also like to spend time working in my "victory" garden!
I cut cable years ago and haven't missed American TV. Like you, I enjoy TV and films from other countries, mostly from MHZ. The scripts are much better than anemic American products, and I have not been subjected to never-ending TV ads or inane TV News.
The British version of "The Weakest Link" is excellent, they usually have newspeople and actors/actresses/other performing artists on as the contestants. These people actually know stuff about the world, and get more right answers than the off-the-street American contestants. The best American episodes are the "celebrity" ones, and they still don't do as well as their UK counterparts. I really like the host, too - Romesh Ranganathan. Much more sympathetic to the competitors than that thoroughly nasty Anne Robinson. His inter-round comments are still kind of lame, but are improving with practice.
My husband and I watch the local news, National news and 60 minutes. All other TV is from other countries, the acting is outstanding, scripts are so much better and no commercials. We just put on the English subtitles and sit back an enjoy.
Peggy and everyone, FSTV is wonderful. It'sFree Speech TV, It has Thom Hartmann, Amy Goodman, Stephanie Miller, Sonali, great documentaries, no ads, viewer sponsored voluntarily. I really love it Also, I watch MSNBC, really trust most of them!
You said it! I hate reality shows, always have and you're right, we're living in one which is making a lot of people, including me, crazy. But you missed one thing - the shows that aren't reality are blood guts gore and 'do whatever it takes to win'. Think about all the cop shows where the cop goes rogue and breaks the rules, ignores regulations, because that's what he/she needed to do it get the bad guy. It all turns out ok for them in the end. That's the same mindset we're facing with trump and musk - doesn't matter what you do or who you hurt, they don't care, as long as they get that win in the end. Sadly the American public are the losers.
Peggy, you are right here. We need to find ways to reach the people who think Toddler-Trump even cares about them, even though he told them he doesn't. They are already blaming Biden for what is going on. That is really being out of touch with reality, living in a reality show because those programs aren't reality either or honest. Trump was never a good businessman and certainly not a great businessman as "The Apprentice" portrayed him to be. He didn't even have some kind of fancy office or any of the trappings.
That’s not corruption, that’s bad judgment. With yes, not enough morality informing the judgement.
But that’s not the same as: saying you’re better than any other president, then indulging every single way in behavior that is ANTITHETICAL to every American value.
That is head spinning gaslighting : replacing our idealistic values with utter corruption
If "Trumpet" connives to get his face on Mount Rushmore along with other "real" presidents, I suspect it will be blown up long before that desecration is finished.
A single Dem, b!d behavior? I know this is controversial to assert, but I think Joe Biden's financing of genocide in Gaza was criminal behavior, and in part got us to this place.
I don't think Bidden knew how to use power in the ME. Not sure he truly wanted to either. Our support of Bibi's regime in the destruction of Gaza and deaths of Palestinians is one of the most terrible things America has done. Biden never even offered a defense of US actions that I recall, other than a few meaningless soundbites. And then Biden refusing to step down, and those in the Party covering for his decline, then nominating a black woman because, gosh, black women have a great record winning the Presidency. Oh wait, winning was not the criteria perhaps in this utterly crucial election.
Rather than having an open convention they had a roll call where Kamala won 99.9 % of the vote of Dem delegates. That's groupthink.
Dean Philips was on the ballot along with Jason Palmer. Jason Palmer might have made a very strong candidate. https://palmerforpresident.us/about/
I'm not just beating a deadhorse for the sake of it. We are in this situation in large part because the Democratic Party has lost it's mojo for some time. Tired old leadership needs to go. You can't say the Trump Party isn't dynamic and creative--in the most destructive of ways-compared to the Democratic establishment.
Some of you here know younger people who are cynical of both Parties. Tell them they need to take over the Democratic Party and join to make a difference like AOC. If they don't (and they have not for the most part) then they will get a corrupt Trump and Trump Party in the majority. I was glad to see the gun control younger man David Hogg elected to be one of 3 vice chairs of the DNC.
I think he thought he was being a loyal ally at first. He tried to diplomatically work with Netanyahu, but he was acting in bad faith. It seems obvious to me that Trump and Netanyahu were colluding long before the election. Bibi screwed Joe Biden and the Americans giving him support. He is another madman.
Although, technically, according to the NEW Supreme(sic) Court, nothing Biden did toward the end of his term is a "crime". Thinking people are able to see this as a "goose and gander" moment, but that would only be OUR HALF of America, Nancy.
Frankly, I would consider even picking one's nose in public to be "bad behavior", so I clearly should have "typed" more specifically.
Yes, Gaza is ONLY a horrible situation, and will never be other.
Do you really expect any magazine, newspaper, TV or radio station to take even the slightest stand on anything that might upset the orange turd. Look at how the once proud Washington Post has refused to run an ad criticizing this administration. They know the ghost of Ben Bradlee must be leaving the newsroom in disgust.
I must defend MSNBC. They, more than virtually any other outlet I follow, have been steadfast in calling out the coup, standing strong in the face of its destruction, promising to stick by us and the Constitution and the rule of law. When all other outlets were covering the planes crashes 24/7, MSNBC was covering the coup - warning us, and detailing what was happening!
Totally agree. Nicole Wallace, Racheal Maddow, Joy Reid, and Chris Hayes are all very good. I know Nicole Wallace has been swatted. I don't know if any others have been threatened. I'm sure they have been. They are who I trust.
Go Rachel! I suspect she is thinking by now that "Trumpet" may not reach 100 days as president, but she'll keep us informed right up to the last hour and minute of that time period.
That's only the case because of one person, the owner, Jeff Bezos.
And the NYT is owned by Rupert Murdoch. (But then, who EVER imagined that the Wall Street Journal (granted, just the editorial page) is now perhaps America's biggest hope!)
(CORRECTION: I meant to say New York POST)
Whatcha gonna do?
"More Democrats (50%) indicated they were changing their spending habits compared with Republicans (41%) and independents (40%). Democrats were also more likely to say they have stopped shopping at companies that have opposing political views to their own – 45% of Democrats indicated so, compared with 34% of Republicans.
It’s a sign that consumers with liberal views are starting to use their wallets in response to politics in the private sector."
Murdoch does not own the New York Times. And the White House belittles it at every turn. Yes, it's corporate, and there's enough editorial suppression that Paul Krugman left, but every day I find something useful to read there.
Thank you. I had to laugh when they were allowed to replace the Times in the Pentagon press pool. Without the NY Post and the Daily News, Trump might never have become a celebrity.
Jonni - yes! To those who bash me locally when I talk about the coup or write to the local papers about what the coup is doing, I say 'to NOT call it a coup doesn't express the gravity of what is happening".
Check out Network NOVA Friday Power Lunch. They just sent a "Tuesday Tidbits" that included footage of protests across Virginia. It is good to see it live. It will give you strength and confidence. We are not alone and we are fighting back.
something needs to be seen by his supporters as bad. Til that happens they will never stop believing in him. And as time goes by, he gets stronger and so it lessens even their ability to stop him if they ever do start seeing it. The thing, whatever that is, needs to happen. It has not yet.
In regards to the Pro-Apartheid Neoliberal Fascists Party, they cannot win an election without cheating, grifting, gerrymandering, dark money, Jim Crow voter suppression laws, and an insurrection. I'm sorry, but Agent Orange's supporters are functionally illiterate. They would follow him off a cliff. They really thought by voting for him, they exempt from his wrath. He's projecting his pathological revenge on the world. They think he's doing a great job. He's a racist, lawless mother fucker, who would take the nickels off his dead mother's eyes. Fucking stupid voters.
Bonhoeffer's theory of stupidity applies here. If you don't know it, take five minutes and try to familiarize yourself with it. That five minutes will save you MANY hours of wasted time.
Having read Bonhoeffer's Cost of Discipleship and his biography, I'd say that stupidity is an oversimplification of his views, and it bugs me that David Brooks seems to lack a deep appreciation of the subtleties. As you may know, Bonhoeffer was in residence at Union Theological Seminary, where he would have been safe, and chose to return to Germany to try to stop Hitler from overtaking the Lutheran church. The people who supported Hitler were not all "stupid" but thought they had something to gain.
The sad part is a family member who is deep into MAGA / Christian nationalism. When we interact -- which is seldom now -- I keep the focus on the external liberation part.
Thank you. That was very helpful, and after viewing it, I agree that Bonhoeffer may have a very valid point. It certainly is a compelling video and I also agree that time spent viewing it is time well spent.
I wondered about just one part. The video claims (Trump-like, actually. That is, without any evidence.) that it's a waste of time to try to convince stupid people and that only incarceration will prepare them to accept evidence. The video doesn't use that word, but the cartoons show a manacle being clamped to a "stupid" person's leg and a barred prison cell after the "stupid" person is somehow liberated from stupidity.
Isn't locking up people who don't agree with you exactly what happened to Bonhoeffer?
Hold on a bit. Bonhoeffer said that the morally stupid person had given up their autonomy -- often of their own free will. Once you give up your autonomy as a free human being, you are in a kind of prison -- a mental and spiritual one.
While a person is in that state, arguments about a political issue do no good.
Any discussion that might help the person to realize their captive state would be helpful. One "external" way that has worked is getting them physically away from their cult.
Boenhoffers Theory of Stupidity is instructive. Trying to convince, reason with, or debate the MAGA’s is futile. I don’t have the luxury of futile pursuits given the urgency of the moment
You are at the core of the matter, and I can't hold out hope. The followers literally don't see the same. I kept hearing the sympathetic talking heads lauding what a great job Harris did in the debate. Reducing T. to "....concept of a plan!" for heaven's sake! But how well I know, what any given authoritarian saw and heard: a shrill, obstreperous, nasty woman screeching at the poor guy. Maybe some had an additional race filter on, but the main default revulsion was female.
ALMOST like some some of these morons are saying, "Mom did such a TERRIBLE job of raising me to think for myself and love mankind that I can't imagine ANY WOMAN ever being in a position of power. Heck, she couldn't even keep me from voting for a name-calling school-yard bully with zero fashion sense! Why should we respect such people? Besides, Don-Gawd says their stoupit."
Agree 100%. After all as I predicted (I'm a Canadian who finds US Presidential elections strange and a bit bizarre), the USA DID elect a male Black president before a female one of any colour. That tells me that sexism in US politics "trumps" racism every time.
it won't be "seen" it will be "felt"... when he starves them, when they won't have healthcare, won't have jobs they will feel it but will be too weak to act on it..
I suspect that farmers be Democracy's best resource, at this moment. (If only because they will feel the pain among the first, even though they overwhelmingly voted for Trump.)
We're seeing some pretty unexpected resources, such as the editorial page of the WSJ. (The editorial page has been more "sane" than the rest of it for years now, but having a new anti-Trump policy editorial just about EVERY DAY must be difficult for a small child like Trump to tolerate.)
These viewers grew up watching trash and trying to bully people who had to work and kids whose parents taught them character. They made fun of kids who were smart, kids who were in sports, and those who followed the rules. They loved making rude remarks and getting by with them. Now they see a leader just like them and loving it.
Something needs to be FELT by his supportes as bad, and blamed on him. It is likely coming though it will be more of a slow building of destructive impacts than a single moment. I guess. Look at climate change. A slow building of destructive impacts but still no sea change of sentiment and sense of urgency.
Oh, wait. "They hate lying...that hurts them more than it hurts liberals."
And that is what is now happening in pretty much EVERY red state, as the typical BLUE STATE surpluses continue to accumulate to help protect BLUE STATE residents from Trump's hate...but not red state Trump-kissers.
I'm thinking possibly Supreme Court justices have their personal bank accounts cleaned out by identity thieves, due to Musk and his doge boys hacking into IRS and Social Security data. Suddenly, "presidential immunity" will look far less appealing.
When Musk talks about he will make mistakes, he does not recognize that this is not Space-X or twitter.
When mistakes are made by the government people die and suffer. Nuclear security personnel are fired. Oops.
He doesn't care about such things. It's more important to him that he be the one who makes such unqualified decisions. It's called an ego trip. Unclear to me whether ketamine use is an important factor in his behavior. Of course, how he got this way not important: he needs to be stopped.
Watching some of the Parkman videos, thinking about Fred Trump diagnosed with dementia at age 85 (he lived to 93 I am thinking that Trump is much in mental decline (e.g. he walked out of the ceremony for Tulsi's swearing in) and is less and less the controller and more and more the conduit for those who have his ear, as others here have said. This sets up another worrisome dynamic. In the Presidential succession we have to work down to get to pro tempore Sen Chuck Grassley to get to someone who is not an utter fool. Beyond Chuck it's cabinet heads all the way down. Grassley is 91 . Looks like Peter Thiels gambit is paying off. The Pay Pal gang. palantier https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/jan/26/elon-musk-peter-thiel-apartheid-south-africa
That particular mistake? The "$50,000,00/$100,000,000 Hamas condoms" stupidity was NO mistake.
Though I hope that his "mistakes" can all be cleared up with a 10 SECOND Google search, like this one supposedly wasn't, I have no such hope that logic or reality will EVER insert themselves into any aspect of ANY of this evil cruelty.
Democrats in Washington have failed to enforce the law and say that Trump and Republicans are insurrectionists destroying democracy. Democrats should enforce the federal law on insurrection, 18 U.S. Code § 2383 to stop Trump, Republicans and oligarchs such as Musk who violated the law which says they cannot hold office and can be imprisoned up to ten years. The good news is that 22 states with Democrats as governors, Democrats as attorney generals, and state courts can end the crisis by enforcing the law.
The analysis in the following paragraphs justifies and describes the 4 STEPS that can rapidly end the crisis. Trump supported the insurrection of January 6, 2021, and the insurrection which continued during the 2024 election campaign when Project 2025 was published, and Trump promised, if elected, he would act against the laws of the United States, reject the Constitution and become a dictator on Day One. Trump’s actions since losing the election in 2020 made him a criminal violator of federal law, 18 U.S. Code § 2383, which states “whoever incites, sets on foot, assists, or engages in any rebellion or insurrection against the authority of the United States or the laws thereof, or gives aid or comfort thereto shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the united states”. In addition, all citizens who voted for Trump or otherwise supported the election of Trump were also criminal violators of federal law, 18 U.S. Code § 2383.
However, attempts to remove Trump from office with conventional tactics by Democrats will fail while Trump is president because Trump will continue breaking federal laws, refuse to obey orders from federal courts, and prevent the DOJ from enforcing the law. Unconventional tactics by 22 state governments including state courts are required to end the crisis.
The Supreme Court made a huge mistake by ignoring federal law 18 U.S. Code § 2383 and the right for states to enforce that law when the Court decided against a case filed in the state of Colorado which attempted to enforce Section 3 of the 14th Amendment and block Trump, who was an insurrectionist, from holding office. States can legally attempt to remove Trump, an insurrectionist, from office by enforcing federal law 18 U.S. Code § 2383 and applying other rights granted to the states by the Constitution.
STEP 1 – In 2025, 21 states which have a Democrats as governor, attorney general and secretary of state plus Pennsylvania which has a Democrats as governor and attorney general, the governor and attorney general should use their authority and file lawsuits to have judges in their state courts reject all votes cast for Trump/Vance in those states as a violation of federal law 18 U.S. Code § 2383 and block all citizens in the respective states who voted for Trump in 2024 from ever voting again in those states because they were criminal violators of federal law 18 U.S. Code § 2383. The secretary of state in those 22 states should be ordered to do a recount of votes and determine new Electoral College vote totals. The Electoral College votes in five critical swing states would change from Trump to Harris. – Arizona, Nevada, Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. In a recount, there would be enough Electoral College votes in the 22 states to elect Harris/Walz in a new national election.
STEP 2 – In 2025, the 22 states should file a lawsuit in a federal court demanding that a new presidential election should be held in 2026 in addition to the normal House and Senate elections because all the votes for Trump in those 22 states were illegal and have been rejected in a recount of votes in those 22 states. The five states which would change their Electoral votes after the recount would be Arizona (11), Nevada (6), Wisconsin (10), Michigan (15), and Pennsylvania (19) with a total (61). In 2024, Trump won 312 Electoral votes with Harris at 226. The new total after the recount would be Trump (261) and Harris (287). Harris would win a new election. The new election should be ordered to be held in 2026. If the order by the federal court is challenged and appealed, the lawsuit would be heard by the Supreme Court. If the Supreme Court rejects ordering a new election, a new election would be held in 2028.
STEP 3 - In 2025, the governors in those 22 states should order the National Guard in their respective state to immediately arrest and retain all violators of 18 U.S. Code § 2383 because they voted for Trump and are either members of Congress (House and Senate) or members of state legislatures. Violators would be criminally prosecuted in state courts and permanently removed from office after conviction. New elections would replace arrested members of Congress and state legislatures. The divided state legislatures in Arizona, Nevada, Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania would become totally Democratic. The change in federal representatives and senators should create a new Congress with a Democratic majority in the House and a Democratic majority in the Senate. The Senate would go from 47 Democrats & 53 Republicans to 49 Democrats and 48 Republicans until new elections. After new elections, the Senate would be 52 Democrats and 48 Republicans because all Republicans who voted for Trump in states other than Kentucky would be blocked from voting. In addition, the governors in Maryland, Colorado, and New Jersey should order the National Guard in their respective states to immediately arrest justices in the Supreme Court who are residents of their states for violating 18 U.S. Code § 2383 by supporting the election of Trump, then have the attorney general prosecute them in state courts, and imprison them following conviction by have judges in state courts. Four conservative justices would be removed from the Court changing the political membership on the Court from 6 conservatives and 3 liberals down to 2 conservatives and 3 liberals with four vacancies. Trump may try to replace these justices but the new Democratic majority in the Senate would block all replacements.
STEP 4 – Depending on the decision by the Supreme Court to order a new election in 2026, a new national election would be held in 2026 or at least in 2028 that would elect Harris/Walz together as president/vice-president. On January 20, 2027, or 2029, Harris/Walz would be installed as president/vice-president and an entirely new executive administration of the federal government would be formed. Harris would appoint four new justices to the Supreme Court confirmed by the Senate. Harris would then invoke the Insurrection Act and have the military arrest and remove the remaining 2 justices on the Supreme Court and arrest and remove all remaining Republicans in Congress who supported the election of Trump as a criminal violation of federal law 18 U.S. Code § 2383. Harris would appoint 6 new justices to the Supreme Court who would be confirmed by the Senate. A new federal law in would permanently block citizens in any state who voted for Trump in 2024 from ever voting again in federal or state elections. Following elections in 2030, all 100 members in the Senate would be Democrats and 50 states would have only Democrats in state governments.
I agree. What IS the straw that will break this camel's back??? We have lost the federal law enforcement agency to Trump’s power. There is no one willing to enforce the laws he has broken. Congress may as well go home if they don't do anything about this. He will be coming for them soon enough anyway. The presidency and parliament were steam rolled by Hitler, and Germany's constitution was destroyed. The same thing is happening here step by step.
Here's the thing. It's consistent with the "ostrich" view. Democrats should abandon the old "We must disagree without being disagreeable" doctrine.
For example, I hunger and thirst for someone interviewing the Oval Office convict or one of his paid political mouthpieces to stand up, point at them, then yell: "You're nothin' but a goddam lyin' sack of shit! Now get you're lyin' ass out of my sight and off my goddam sound stage!" That, for me, would be a fantasy interview and the gold standard for how those assholes should be approached.
I'd also like to see congressional Democrats, as well as all in state government, to be ready to ignore Roberts to stand up, and shout "you're a goddam liar" to MAGAts puking alternate realities. I'd also like for them to concealed carry a kosh into chambers to use in knocking the livin' shit out of any MAGAt mouthpiece that would presume to physically attack them.
He has by now played that ultimate last card. What is absent at this moment is the means and motive to activate that 'corrective mechanism.' A sequence of ever increasing offenses add to the larger pile, but it started with one. The actual final one will be known when it leads to the actions that will address and reverse these abominations.
I’m sure Trump will try and get the Treasury Department to mint new bills with him on it, maybe eating a hamburger, sitting on a toilet. It might read. “ life has never been easy for me but now I’m Rich”, with an image of him fellating a microphone on the other side.
Either that Mike, or he'll get the Department of the Interior to refashion Mount Rushmore with the images of him, Barron, Eric, and 'Dauphin Don'!...It's far too hard to wish you, our American cousins, a happy President's Day, while we'd rather send you all Australian eggs, given that you need to keep THEM closer! Hang in there USA, while you're better than him!
Fortunately, Mount Rushmore doesn't have room for another image, and attempting to carve one would destabilize and likely destroy the images that are there.
Maureen, he wouldn't care. He would be glad they were destroyed! It is now, has been and will ever be all about himself. He literally sucks the oxygen from everyone! You cannot look anywhere and not see his stupid orange toad of a face screaming at you on tv, magazines and signage!
He'd simply dynamite the whole thing, while putting in an artificial replacement mountain with the dynasty faces being carved by that vulgar 'artist', Jeff Koons!
Apropos of Rushmore side-track: my nominee for addition would be Dr. Robert Atkins.Massive cultural influencer for good. I am astounded every day that you hear something about "lo-carb!" or "high-protein," yet never hear that pioneer's name. Tragic.
Remember when Trump used to claim that "testing caused Covid"?
Well, he just took his revenge for being ridiculed over such an asinine statement.
Or...
He actually believes that without testing, there will NEVER be diseases running rampant in America.
(Of course it's the first one! It's the far batter method for providing the CHAOS that Putin has demanded of him.)
-------------------------------------
"Hundreds of employees at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have been fired by the Trump administration, including “disease detectors”.
Among the 750 CDC employees notified on Saturday via email were Laboratory Leadership Service fellows, informally known as ‘disease detectors,’ who trained public health laboratory staffers and supported outbreak response efforts.
“If you’re not testing, you don’t know what disease is there,” a LLS fellow who received a notice of termination told NBC News.
Given that we can't send you guys eggs, Barbara, this instead might make for an alternative gift, while in recalling the great Blaise Pascal's observation that "man's problems stem from his inability to sit quietly in a room" (sic.), really sit down and genuinely listen to it, while may it give all of you there across the pond, courage and strength in the months and, I regret to say, years ahead, as 'we' continue to ever fight this Beowulf: https://youtu.be/GdmFfGHpgj8?si=qMwH9K55uF9xiGml
"We will fight shoulder to shoulder, every day, and we will win in the end. The truth will prevail. Love will prevail over hate. Democracy will prevail over fascism."
I saw a better article where this CR group was calling Bannon some "perfectly aligned with our values" sort of thing, w/o ever reading anything he has publicly written, or any public speech (cause there are none!) Sorry I wasn't able to find it. in HISTORY.
If he can be convinced that his primary task as president is to play golf EVERY day (which can't be a distant thought, considering that most of it goes right into his pocket), then he'll at least need someone to sit in "the chair" and keep the Diet Coke button working properly.
Oh my God, Mike, my eyes! my eyes! I cannot erase the picture you painted! I fixed it by adding to the toilet a giant flushing mechanism with a ginormous hand fixing to push the handle with the words We The People on the wrist! Whew! Now I can sleep at night!
Hey, orange man! Your face was molded from fossilized poo and your maggot riddled body is fetid even the lowest form of fungus refuses to grow and feast on it. Hell won't be hot enough for you. There, I feel better now! America, strengthen your wrists and flush him into oblivion!
He stinks to high heaven, Laurie! The smell caused Adam Kinzinger's eyes to water! That rotten stench is permeating the White House. Our next valid president will have to send in extermination crews to clear it out!
MOSCOW (The Borowitz Report)—Vladimir Putin has entered into negotiations with Elon Musk over the ownership of Donald J. Trump, the Kremlin confirmed on Tuesday.
Those negotiations, however, are proving contentious, as the Russian president is arguing that, having fully owned Trump between 2017 and 2021, he is entitled to a majority stake now.
For his part, Musk claims that he purchased Trump outright by spending nearly $300 million on his 2024 campaign.
In one heated exchange, Musk reportedly told the Russian leader, “You’re being greedy, Vlad—you already own Tulsi.”
Sure I always knew we could have a corrupt President. But a corrupt Supreme Court, and a GOP majority in Congress willing to throw American under the bus (not to mention endangering their own self-preservation)? I did not know the extent of the rot or the widespread propaganda that would spring up. Nor did most people, including even Mitch McConnell.
You are correct, who expected a majority who happened to be disqualified in Congress? George Santos wad the test, completely disqualified even wildly rejected and protesting his being in office after lying on his resume, lying about everything, and they could not get rid of him. It seems like everything depends on that two thirds majority to pass in Congress. There are those little rules that keep us from getting legislation and even enforcing the rules , that are like munitions, ready to interfere with ending the insanity and carnage we face. All placed so cunningly and effectively. Some day there will be a real revolution when we, the humans will refuse to obey these roadblocks these defeatist bombs that keep us down. We remain at the mercy of our illegitimate enemies . They must go. Whatever it takes.
Mitch McConnell had polio as a younger Mitch. Must have been a bridge too far to entertain the idea of banning a valuable life saving vaccine, but he didn't mind stacking the court. With all three branches mudged up with corruption, we are in deep trouble.But humans are protesting and we have the real power. The more of us resist their crap. The better off we will be.unite and fight 😤 ⁸ and we will win !
Try to envision a wondrous tree on a hillside with the sun setting in the distance behind its spreading limbs. This scene isn't that difficult to imagine, unless you can't see. How does a blind individual picture things in their mind if they have never seen them in the first place? How does a sightless person dream? How can an individual whose eyes have been darkened since birth construct a memory from a past they have never seen? The next time I bump into a Trump supporter I'll have to ask them; what faint photon of light do you see in the darkness of Trump's lies? The blackness of which we witnessed during the half time of the last Super Bowl. That's one chocolate Forrest would have gladly left in the box.
I fear it's too late. Even if trump croaks now, the 'bad guys' are already in control with a nefarious agenda, wrenching apart the fabric that holds the country together, torching the economy and alienating all of their (former) allies. Sadly, republicans in office are dispensing the matches to these pyromaniacs (so sad). Isolationism? To what end?
I’ve found that they choose at least one thing trump says and they latch onto it like mother’s milk. It doesn’t matter what else he says or does. It’s actually easy for them as they tune out everything else.
It seems to me Trump has hooked their child, so mother's milk would be spot on. Love is blind kind of thing.
AI:
In the context of Transactional Analysis (TA), "hooking someone's child" refers to a psychological concept where an individual unconsciously triggers or "hooks" another person's Child ego state. The Child ego state is one of the three ego states in TA, along with the Parent and Adult ego states. The Child represents feelings, emotions, and behaviors that are replayed from childhood.
When someone "hooks" another person's Child, they are essentially evoking emotional responses or behaviors that are rooted in that person's childhood experiences. This can happen through specific words, tones of voice, or actions that resonate with the person's past.
Thanks for your rather poetic comment, 'Good Donald' (as opposed to 'Bad Donald'!), while 'he/it' makes Warren G. Harding look like a saint! Further to your Socratic questionings, one
might now ask: How did so many of your compatriots (assuming that you're there in the US) come to believe the images they saw on the wall when they allowed themselves to be tied up in Plato's cave; indeed those shadows that have now come back to bite, claw, and chew?
I used to ask the (I thought) very reasonable question, "Do blind people dream in images? And are the images sometimes in color?"
The answer was generally, "How would we know but to ask, and how would a blind person even KNOW if they dream in color, or what images even are, with no basis for comparison?"
Maybe that's a means of understanding these T-cultists, who by the own admission (as followers of a hate-spewing cult leader) can't "see" empathy, or any positive emotion.
How would they know? What might they compare their feelings to, other than by merely being a mirror to hate?
He is not even trying to hide his corruption anymore because he can claim presidential immunity and know ultimately the corrupt six supremes will defend his actions. Who is left to stop this despicable looting of the country and the unfathomable loss of faith in the former United States?
Myra Evan’s, the pino (president-in-name-only) has done his part to make sure that mafia-style leaders are no longer shamed and can reign as president/monarch openly.
Bribery of elected officials became legal with the decision of Buckley vs. Valero, where the Supreme Court ruled that the Federal Elections Campaign Act of 1971 was unconstitutional, because it went against the First Amendment, and that more money meant more speech. This was further enhanced with the Citizens United vs. FEC, where it was ruled that restrictions on corporate spending for elections was against the First Amendment.
This meant that corporations could spend as much as they want on a political campaign. Corporations are not going to give funds to a candidate that goes against the whims of the corporations. This encourages people running for office to do whatever corporations want them to do, when it comes to legislation regulating these corporations.
As far as I am concerned, this is legal bribery. It continues today with the Republicans wanting to deregulate corporations and privatize services that are run by the government.
And now with the current administration, it has lead to a pure fascist coup. This must be stopped if we are to have an actual democracy in the US
Both parties are guilty of caving to corporate overloads. Subsidies are bullshit. They have no oversight at all. They both do it. That's why we are here. Republicans say no to everything except their stock portfolios. Democrats clean up every recession, but yet pass the minimal carrots to keep us engaged. We shouldn't be here. Trust is a luxury.
Definitely, not equally. Democrats keep bringing a piece of cake to a knife fight. We knew this was coming. There needed to be a united front in place. A unified message. Divided we will fall. This is unacceptable. This wasn't a surprise.
I believe we must keep telling ourselves the truth. WE ARE THE COUNTRY, WE ARE THE GOVERNMENT. Those that govern only represent us. WE elected them. 89 MILLION DID NOT VOTE. TRUMP WON BY 2.1 MILLION, HARDLY A MANDATE. What we are experiencing is as ancient as Julius Cesar's Rome. "Are you not entertained?" Trump has stunned us. We have safeguards to leverage. The first is the truth. Communicating with each other to create a language of community messaging the facts. KEEP MESSAGING. It's work but the alternative is unacceptable. RAISE YOUR VOICE. The truth must be be a drum beat. DID YOU VOTE FOR THIS?? We are unsafe. In business, you can innovate and break a few things, a moonshot. In government, breaking a few things can kill people. Service and profit work differently.
Eileen, as you spoke of truth, I imagined it lying dead and limp on the ground. But as I read on, you helped to ease the dejectedness I feel today. Thank you --- it's so important to continue positivity and sometimes even kick each other in the arse.
Eileen, you're welcome. Keep going. Your words are powerful and they have a good rhythm. Are you familiar with the free newsletter from FrameLab that discusses effective political messaging from Messaging Guru, George Lakoff and Others?
Kind of looks like they’re trying to get away with as much as they can as quickly as they can, doesn’t it? While the courts will tie up some of it, Trump and Musk are trying to grab what they can, and break what they’ve been told to before. a handful of Republicans find their spines and start #ImpeachmentNumber3.
Say, Robert, do you think there’s a chance that the David Joyce of Ohio gambit might be rolled out again? You know me… always grasping for whatever thread of hope I can. I can live with being Todd Quixote because one of these days that old windmill is going to fall flat!
I can't for the life of me figure out HOW they are getting away with Musk being there all the time???!!! Has all of Congress lost its collective mind??? This is the craziest shit and they just keep letting Trump get away with anything and everything!!! Personally, my most fervent hope, wish, prayer and dream is that Trump dies a horribly painful and expedient death! Today would not be too soon!!!!!!!! In the next hour would not be too soon!
Agent Orange is doing what Leonard Leo tells him him to do. The white Christian Nationalist oligarchs are running the show. His rallies were nonsensical. He was a babbling idiot. Now, through his ear piece, they tell him what to say. Or he'll read it. And people think he's got this. 🙄 All they have to do is dangle shiny objects in front of him. Malignant narcissistic psychopaths don't fucking change. They die. Irrelevance is the only cure.
Certainly, Leo has been used as he has wished to be used.
But I only see Trump kissing the RUSSIAN donkey, not an American one who can offer little but money. (Putin offers EVERYTHING Trump wants, and everything he sees himself as. And all Trump has to do in return is to provide the thing both he and Putin want for America: OWNERSHIP!)
Now Trump's only real task is to decide whether he wants to share power with Putin, or "...maybe now I can be even BIGGER...and RICHER...than Putin! And with better RATINGS!"
Absolutely. Putin's and Shitpants money laundering relationship goes back decades. He sees Putin as head of the International cartel. Putin runs his country like a Mob boss. Taking cuts from his oligarchs, but keeps them out of his business. There's a name in the Mafia for ass kissers, cigarette holders. Shitpants needs his cigarette holders (Republicans) to keep him relevant. The corruption between these two criminals is epic. We are witnessing Shitpants daddy issues. His mastery of manipulation is mind blowing. He convinced half a nation and a government, he knew better.
There's a series on Prime and Tubi called 'Mafia and Banks'. It's a 3 part series on how Cartels run the show. That kept me up for a few nights.
Trump desperately wants a martyr right now. Rather, one that is NOT him.
Musk has a protection circle, each one of which is expected to accept arrest in the process of protecting their Musk-GAWD. And I can only imagine Trump thinks that's PRETTY COOL! (His "protection circle" is all the way almost to south Florida, and NOBODY wants to be that far from escape, even WITH a circle of babbling rich idiots.)
I can imagine Trump sees Musk in what he imagines to be a typical "martyr" task: To strengthen Trump's ratings, without receiving any of the boost themselves ('cause he's DEAD!)
It's hilarious that thousands will break the law and go to jail for him. Like it's a bucket list thing. This is Jim Jones on the world stage. When all of this blows up and it will, Shitpants will say, "I don't know Elon. I never met the guy."
I've little doubt that if Trump felt the LAST image every human would have is of his face, and the LAST sound every human heard was his voice...
He would gladly push the button to destroy the world, knowing that “He who dies being universally known for having created the greatest amount of pointless misery, wins.”
Folks, WE HAVE A WINNER!
"Tragically, We Now Know Exactly What “American Exceptionalism” Means to the Monsters of the Far-Right, Including White Evangelicals
The Legacy of Donald Trump Appears Destined to Transcend That of Jesus…and Not by Accident"
And a guy with <10 brain cells will call "Leon" something like "Weed-Head Baby-Making Rainman", and claim that he (TRUMP!!!) has never met anyone stupider.
The Trump cult would survive, and there are individuals ready to take his place. Complex problems seldom have simple solutions. Our best hope is that he will discredit himself, which it appears he already is doing.
Yes. The GOP in Congress have lost their collective mind, though there was not much there to start.
AI:
The phrase "madness of crowds" often refers to situations where collective behavior leads to irrational or extreme actions. This concept has been explored in various contexts, including economics, sociology, and psychology. Here are some common causes:
Groupthink: When a group values harmony and coherence over accurate analysis, leading to poor decision-making.
Social Influence: People may follow the actions or beliefs of others, especially in uncertain situations, leading to a herd mentality.
Emotional Contagion: Emotions can spread quickly through a crowd, amplifying feelings like fear, excitement, or anger.
Deindividuation: In a crowd, individuals may lose their sense of individual identity and moral responsibility, leading to behavior they wouldn't normally exhibit alone.
Information Cascades: When people make decisions based on the actions or opinions of others rather than their own information, leading to a rapid spread of behaviors or beliefs.
These factors can contribute to phenomena such as financial bubbles, riots, and mass hysteria.
I think most in Congress are frightened: only a few standouts remain, like Raskin, Warren, Sanders, AOC, and a few others. As Michael Moore suggested yesterday --there maybe a plan underway. I want to be pleasantly surprised and overjoyed by it!
And here’s a similar ploy, written from the perspective of a House Republican who is unwilling to let his nation go further down the drain, or even worse, continue to be responsible for not stopping it. And if he resists now, he may be a prominent player in politics after Trump implodes, is impeached, and dozens of trials start.
That's basically what this sham of a president is doing! Bribery, or exchanging a political favor for money or an IOU sometime in the future, is the orange man's stock and trade! I'll scratch your back but in return you will not only scratch my back but include a yacht, house, statue, money or whatever the orange man's whim is at the moment! It is so blatantly obvious and disgusting! I apologize to our probably former friends and allies around the world! Many of you know he got this position through lies, cheating and manipulating the votes. We did not vote for him and would love to see his sorry ass rotting away at Gitmo in solitary confinement! Once again, the supposed leader of our country is showing our children the exact opposite of what they should aspire to as they become adults! Lord, I absolutely hate what is happening to my country right now!
WOW! Thank you, Marie! It is easy right now for many of us to feel isolated and alone from our friends and allies around the world. To tell you the truth, this is NOT us! We Americans are NOT LIKE that orange man and his scum occupying the White House. True Americans are fighting like hell to stop this horror show and I believe that when the dust settles, we will come out victorious. Please keep us in your thoughts. It is easier to continue this fight knowing that there are those around the world hoping we are victorious!
Beautifully said, Peggy! You are far more proficient at International Relations than our whole dipstick cabinet of Life's Nincompoops.... diplomacy ...you have the inate gift for....Goodnight...my Paddy Tuppence ( from the far vistas of the Rainbow Bridge) and I wish you & yours sweet dreams...and the scent of strong fresh coffee in the morning to start your day!☺️
"Many of you know he got this position through lies, cheating and manipulating the votes. "
The lie here is the one that people are telling themselves.
When Joe Biden beat Trump in 2020, he said that one of the main goals of his presidency would be to "turn the page" on Trumpism. It was Biden's desire to cling to power that kept him in a race he NEVER should have been in -- and finally had to leave just over 100 days before election day.
NOTHING could have given the Trump cult a bigger gift -- especially after all the war crimes in Gaza and Lebanon (in violation of US LAW) -- and now the page has been turned to a new chapter of Trump.
I live among these people, and have for most of my life.
NOTHING will motivate these cretins like hate. Not even money, or promises of health care, jobs, or lower prices.
They've been told since their first Sunday School lesson that "FAITH is enough!"
So OF COURSE they think that their "faith" in Trump comes directly from God, and that Trump is is God's NEW SON, and Jesus needs to be kicked out the back door until he exchanges his rags and sandals for Gucci.
But I fear that when Trump's cultists look in the mirror, it's Trump they see. Not themselves. And that didn't change a bit even when his lies cost the lives of hundreds of thousands of their beloved family members to Covid.
But what it did do was make them each complicit in the completely unnecessary deaths of all those people. Only by continuing to believe in Trump do they protect themselves from the truth about their own part in the death of someone whose only crime had been to NOT be as loved by their own family members as was Trump.
I am not sure that your optimistic conclusion is justified, namely that Trump will overstep at one point and his misdeeds will catch up with him. As you and Justice Sotomayer point out, he has been given carte blanche by the Supreme Court to do whatever he wants, justifying it as an official action. Indeed, the whole justice system of the United States is being corrupted systematically, as witness the Eric Adams situation. I believe that Trump is more likely to die of a heart attack brought on by one too many MacDonald's hamburger than to be brought to justice.
No, I agree with many posters here. Trumpet is so blind to the effects of what he is doing that one of them (or more) will finally smack him in the head, and bring legitimate law enforcement officers to the White House and drag him out in handcuffs. I'd even watch Fox News to see that event!
The House and the Senate have turned into crickets. The Fourth Estate sits on their hands. Some say protest is useless but use of the 1st Amendment is within our collective grasp right now. Enumerating bad acts might seem old fashioned but Madame Defarge had her utility.
Let us hope we do not come to "Defarge World." Defarge would be more like Timothy McVeigh's mom helping him load the fertilizer. Did you really take a look at that sentiment?
Trump is going to make as much money as he can for as long as he can! The only good thing is that most of the money will be coming from the ignorant people who voted for him because he is their savior!
Oddly, money only presents as Trump's "grand plan" if the past 10 years are ignored.
If Trump was more "Scarecrow-like" (brainy), he might have sacrificed HUGE sums for the power he knew he might one day have.
But he's FAR too stupid for any thinking, much less long-term planning involving half a century.
It's been a widely known fact for a long time that if Trump had simply invested his inheritance in safe, long-term bonds, he'd be FAR RICHER now than he is. But it wasn't money he wanted, it was to FILL the LARGEST SPACE IN EXISTENCE...
His EGO. And over the past decade, that space has only increased in size.
No, I think money is more the means to an end (though I'm sure he's rather be RICHER THAN MUSK, and it must be difficult for him to feel so confused. (Usually he simply feels SUPERIOR, 24/7/365.))
If it was not clear that the U.S. of the 1970s no longer exists, this is just one more data point. It is time to move on and found a new country. The colonists faced somewhat similar corruption with the Royal franchises.
"'..That’s tantamount to repealing a law. Trump has no qualms about doing this, but it rides roughshod over Congress and the separation of powers that’s a keystone of our Constitution..."
I don't get it. When you make a law, the conditions for violating it must be clear. So if a law is broken, the violator must be arrested. Period. In this democracy, the separation of powers cannot be violated. The president must be impeached immediately if he does.
Why do we read so much about the actions of the new regime being 'probably' unconstitutional and such? Why is it necessary to file lawsuits when the president is clearly breaking the law? Filing a lawsuit against Trumpf is like fighting a pig anyway. In Europe, if you want a job done for the government by a third party, you are required to get quotes from several parties so that you can choose the best offer. How is it possible that in the US a department that doesn't even exist gets an assignment that involves trillions of dollars with no vetting of the contractors, no legitimate approved plan, no oversight, no reporting to approve or disapprove, no accountability, no conditions at all? Any agent who wants to enter my home has to prove that he has the legitimacy and authority to do so. All actions of "DOGE" amount to unsollicited private trespassing. These DOGE people should be arrested on the spot if they enter a government building. What is happening in the US is completely unbelievable to me.
It's completely unbelievable to me also and I was born here and have lived almost 70 years here. I also have read every single word of the Constitution (a long time ago).
It's also completely unbelievable to me that Trump ever was elected at all.
It is strange trying to get in the (supposedly elite/bright) heads of all the self-styled "conservative" groupies, when the obtuseness when it comes to perfectly foreseeable outcomes is so tragically unbelievable. It begs psychological prognosis: who on the "Supreme" Court (must put it in sad quotes now) will fall back on, nothing to do with them: who will be able to comprehend; there was a fundamental good to "the general welfare" intended by the Founders, and Project 2025 is not it?
Over the past week, two images stick with me. The first is "gazpacho" border goon Homan threatening to have AOC arrested because her website has bilingual instructions for the people living in her district to deal with the ICE police.
The second is seeing a clip of Homan on FOX & Friends having a good old time with Eric Adams. Adams is going to do everything Homan wants.
The BIG problem in all of this is the governor of New York -- who has the authority to REMOVE this corrupt mayor. Every tick of that clock makes the Democratic tolerance of corruption all the more evident.
Professor Reich: but WHAT is ultimately the last card that the orange toddler can play? what will cause him and his toadies to FINALLY be imprisoned for their abject greed? all of us current and future impoverished serfs want to know.
Yes, is it possible to go too far with the daily normalization of corruption? A corrupt act used to be career ending, a notorious scandal. Now it’s just another reality show segment designed to own the libs. Where’s the Newsweek cover “Morality is Dead”?
I think those of us who still have a grip on reality, legality and morality have to keep expressing outrage to give legitimacy to some Constitutionally legal overthrow of the coup.
Jonni, you nailed it! We are living in the orange man's reality show and it absolutely sucks! I hated reality shows since their conception. I do not give a tinker's damn about how other people are living, fighting or anything else. I have my own life to live. That's all American TV is now - reality shows! Even though it is tiresome, we must call out every single corrupt, illegal thing this POS does. We must continue to call out to others the importance of morality, integrity and decency!
Me too re reality shows. They are 1984 for the proles on full display, and don’t forget the first one (that I remember) was called “Big Brother.”
I know, Susan! It was all so fake and scripted! Much like the orange man and his stupid cabinet and musk-rat! They are fake! I cannot stand that they got a foothold in our country and are now in the process of tearing it down! It sucks!
Trump can do anything he wants, because there is nobody to stop him.
Words on paper won't stop him. And if he lives that long, he will still be "Dear Leader'" in 2029.
Here is a piece of advice from never Trumpers
In recent days, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has been sharing educational resources to help migrants know their rights when dealing with federal law enforcement. Donald Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, is starting to get pretty steamed about it. Yesterday, Homan made multiple appearances on Fox News where he boasted of asking Trump’s Justice Department to criminally investigate Ocasio-Cortez.
“It’s like AOC and others don’t want ICE to enforce the law that they enacted,” Homan told Fox News. “I’ve asked DOJ, where is that line of impediment, where is that line of interference?”
In response, Ocasio-Cortez was defiant. “Go ahead,” she wrote on social media. “Let the people see you for what you are.”
Today’s MAGA Republicans are on a raw-power bender the likes of which we’ve never seen. Years spent fruitlessly yearning to grind the hated libs beneath their heels have suddenly given way to a glorious moment where the barriers have all fallen away at once. They control all the power, and they’ve jettisoned all compunction about how they’re going to use it. The time has come at last, they rejoice, to crack some skulls.
What can Democrats do? Well, here’s something they can do—if, like Ocasio-Cortez, they’ve got the stomach for it. They can step forward and put a target on their own backs. They can spit in the eye of the authoritarian bullies, not because they foolishly believe the bullies won’t retaliate, but because they know they will. They just can’t help themselves. Authoritarian bullies never can.
https://www.thebulwark.com/p/staying-patriotic-in-trumps-america
It is ironic that former Republicans are more spirited in fighting the fascist MuskianTrump regime, than Democrats like Hakeem Jeffries whose gift is finding excuses.
This is the bottom line. The real truth...there is no one to stop him. I am 80 years old and watching my country die as I am in the process of dying. I was a civil rights, women's right, anti Vietnam war activist in the 60s and 70s. Where are our young people now? We
desperately need you!! Heartbroken.
So true, Peggy, orange menace's show 'The Apprentice' was the phoniest show in history yet it catapulted his sick image to fame as a successful businessman. Without NBC and him having suckered the public out of half a billion $$ he never would have made president. His only real success was as kingpin of a criminal syndicate, the '----- Organization'.
Robert, so true, t. has not been held to account fully in his entire life, so he thinks his joy ride will last forever. His crash may come sooner than we might foresee.
MAFIA - that is the correct spelling of the red caps.
Thanks Peggy, my sentiments exactly. I never watch reality shows. What is real about being surrounded by a camera crew and trying to be ridiculously ... interesting? I can't think of an adjective...worth something to watch? It IS worthless!
Elizabeth, that is why I did away with my cable. I have a ROKU TV and I can watch far better shows than what the American producers are putting out. I love British, Canadian, Australian and African shows. Actually international tv is so much better! I subscribe to Acorn and Britbox. They offer many great selections.
Brit Box and Acorn are good sources for better things to watch than commerical TV. Also PBS. - I am fortuntate to be able to see what is on NH and Maine PBS. Or I can read a book or listen to music or go for a walk and listen to silence.
Exactly, Fusspot! I love PBS and watch it every day! Masterpiece Theatre is great and I love the Walter Presents picks. Like you, reading, listening to good music and going for walks are excellent as well! I also like to spend time working in my "victory" garden!
I cut cable years ago and haven't missed American TV. Like you, I enjoy TV and films from other countries, mostly from MHZ. The scripts are much better than anemic American products, and I have not been subjected to never-ending TV ads or inane TV News.
Cable TV is a waste of time and money.
Absolutely, Jean!
The British version of "The Weakest Link" is excellent, they usually have newspeople and actors/actresses/other performing artists on as the contestants. These people actually know stuff about the world, and get more right answers than the off-the-street American contestants. The best American episodes are the "celebrity" ones, and they still don't do as well as their UK counterparts. I really like the host, too - Romesh Ranganathan. Much more sympathetic to the competitors than that thoroughly nasty Anne Robinson. His inter-round comments are still kind of lame, but are improving with practice.
I'll have to check that out! I also like Graham Norton. His talk shows with various actors, actresses and musical talent are fun and upbeat.
My husband and I watch the local news, National news and 60 minutes. All other TV is from other countries, the acting is outstanding, scripts are so much better and no commercials. We just put on the English subtitles and sit back an enjoy.
Peggy and everyone, FSTV is wonderful. It'sFree Speech TV, It has Thom Hartmann, Amy Goodman, Stephanie Miller, Sonali, great documentaries, no ads, viewer sponsored voluntarily. I really love it Also, I watch MSNBC, really trust most of them!
And if course, couldn't do without PBS...this month, great stuff for Black history month
Yes, hidden camera shows are the only reality shows, Candid Camera, and the newer one, think it's called What Would You Do?
As to bribes, that's how Don did it on the way up.
btw, there's no mention of checks and balances or of separation of powers, in the Donstitution.
You said it! I hate reality shows, always have and you're right, we're living in one which is making a lot of people, including me, crazy. But you missed one thing - the shows that aren't reality are blood guts gore and 'do whatever it takes to win'. Think about all the cop shows where the cop goes rogue and breaks the rules, ignores regulations, because that's what he/she needed to do it get the bad guy. It all turns out ok for them in the end. That's the same mindset we're facing with trump and musk - doesn't matter what you do or who you hurt, they don't care, as long as they get that win in the end. Sadly the American public are the losers.
So true, Peggi!
Peggy, you are right here. We need to find ways to reach the people who think Toddler-Trump even cares about them, even though he told them he doesn't. They are already blaming Biden for what is going on. That is really being out of touch with reality, living in a reality show because those programs aren't reality either or honest. Trump was never a good businessman and certainly not a great businessman as "The Apprentice" portrayed him to be. He didn't even have some kind of fancy office or any of the trappings.
It's still a crime to us.
I can't think of a single Dem that has been allowed by THEIR OWN PARTY to engage in BAD BEHAVIOR.
Or a single Repub ever properly called to task in the past 30 years or more by their own party.
That’s not corruption, that’s bad judgment. With yes, not enough morality informing the judgement.
But that’s not the same as: saying you’re better than any other president, then indulging every single way in behavior that is ANTITHETICAL to every American value.
That is head spinning gaslighting : replacing our idealistic values with utter corruption
Ain’t the same
If "Trumpet" connives to get his face on Mount Rushmore along with other "real" presidents, I suspect it will be blown up long before that desecration is finished.
A single Dem, b!d behavior? I know this is controversial to assert, but I think Joe Biden's financing of genocide in Gaza was criminal behavior, and in part got us to this place.
I don't think Bidden knew how to use power in the ME. Not sure he truly wanted to either. Our support of Bibi's regime in the destruction of Gaza and deaths of Palestinians is one of the most terrible things America has done. Biden never even offered a defense of US actions that I recall, other than a few meaningless soundbites. And then Biden refusing to step down, and those in the Party covering for his decline, then nominating a black woman because, gosh, black women have a great record winning the Presidency. Oh wait, winning was not the criteria perhaps in this utterly crucial election.
Rather than having an open convention they had a roll call where Kamala won 99.9 % of the vote of Dem delegates. That's groupthink.
Dean Philips was on the ballot along with Jason Palmer. Jason Palmer might have made a very strong candidate. https://palmerforpresident.us/about/
He recognizes the importance of getting younger people in Congress https://togetherpurple.org/
I'm not just beating a deadhorse for the sake of it. We are in this situation in large part because the Democratic Party has lost it's mojo for some time. Tired old leadership needs to go. You can't say the Trump Party isn't dynamic and creative--in the most destructive of ways-compared to the Democratic establishment.
Some of you here know younger people who are cynical of both Parties. Tell them they need to take over the Democratic Party and join to make a difference like AOC. If they don't (and they have not for the most part) then they will get a corrupt Trump and Trump Party in the majority. I was glad to see the gun control younger man David Hogg elected to be one of 3 vice chairs of the DNC.
I think he thought he was being a loyal ally at first. He tried to diplomatically work with Netanyahu, but he was acting in bad faith. It seems obvious to me that Trump and Netanyahu were colluding long before the election. Bibi screwed Joe Biden and the Americans giving him support. He is another madman.
Netanyahu ... corrupt, egotistical, and inhuman - yes. Mad - no.
Trump and Netanyahu are not the same.
I'm sorry.
I should have said "illegal" behavior.
Although, technically, according to the NEW Supreme(sic) Court, nothing Biden did toward the end of his term is a "crime". Thinking people are able to see this as a "goose and gander" moment, but that would only be OUR HALF of America, Nancy.
Frankly, I would consider even picking one's nose in public to be "bad behavior", so I clearly should have "typed" more specifically.
Yes, Gaza is ONLY a horrible situation, and will never be other.
Thanks!
Do you really expect any magazine, newspaper, TV or radio station to take even the slightest stand on anything that might upset the orange turd. Look at how the once proud Washington Post has refused to run an ad criticizing this administration. They know the ghost of Ben Bradlee must be leaving the newsroom in disgust.
I must defend MSNBC. They, more than virtually any other outlet I follow, have been steadfast in calling out the coup, standing strong in the face of its destruction, promising to stick by us and the Constitution and the rule of law. When all other outlets were covering the planes crashes 24/7, MSNBC was covering the coup - warning us, and detailing what was happening!
Totally agree. Nicole Wallace, Racheal Maddow, Joy Reid, and Chris Hayes are all very good. I know Nicole Wallace has been swatted. I don't know if any others have been threatened. I'm sure they have been. They are who I trust.
And don’t forget Lawrence O’Donnell, the best of the best.
That is true. I love him too. And Stephanie Ruhl.
Go Rachel! I suspect she is thinking by now that "Trumpet" may not reach 100 days as president, but she'll keep us informed right up to the last hour and minute of that time period.
Kathleen, I think Ben Bradlee is currently spinning at 5000 RPM in his grave.
That's only the case because of one person, the owner, Jeff Bezos.
And the NYT is owned by Rupert Murdoch. (But then, who EVER imagined that the Wall Street Journal (granted, just the editorial page) is now perhaps America's biggest hope!)
(CORRECTION: I meant to say New York POST)
Whatcha gonna do?
"More Democrats (50%) indicated they were changing their spending habits compared with Republicans (41%) and independents (40%). Democrats were also more likely to say they have stopped shopping at companies that have opposing political views to their own – 45% of Democrats indicated so, compared with 34% of Republicans.
It’s a sign that consumers with liberal views are starting to use their wallets in response to politics in the private sector."
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/18/shoppers-political-boycotts-spending-patterns-poll
OH, RIGHT! THIS IS WHAT WE"RE GONNA DO!!!
Murdoch does not own the New York Times. And the White House belittles it at every turn. Yes, it's corporate, and there's enough editorial suppression that Paul Krugman left, but every day I find something useful to read there.
progwoman,
I am terribly sorry. I meant to say New York POST.
You are 100% correct.
Thank you. I had to laugh when they were allowed to replace the Times in the Pentagon press pool. Without the NY Post and the Daily News, Trump might never have become a celebrity.
Jonni - yes! To those who bash me locally when I talk about the coup or write to the local papers about what the coup is doing, I say 'to NOT call it a coup doesn't express the gravity of what is happening".
That's all we do. Express outrage. And vote for people who are not corrupt.
If congress ostensibly permits his actions by not objecting, there's not much that can be done, is there?
Check out Network NOVA Friday Power Lunch. They just sent a "Tuesday Tidbits" that included footage of protests across Virginia. It is good to see it live. It will give you strength and confidence. We are not alone and we are fighting back.
something needs to be seen by his supporters as bad. Til that happens they will never stop believing in him. And as time goes by, he gets stronger and so it lessens even their ability to stop him if they ever do start seeing it. The thing, whatever that is, needs to happen. It has not yet.
In regards to the Pro-Apartheid Neoliberal Fascists Party, they cannot win an election without cheating, grifting, gerrymandering, dark money, Jim Crow voter suppression laws, and an insurrection. I'm sorry, but Agent Orange's supporters are functionally illiterate. They would follow him off a cliff. They really thought by voting for him, they exempt from his wrath. He's projecting his pathological revenge on the world. They think he's doing a great job. He's a racist, lawless mother fucker, who would take the nickels off his dead mother's eyes. Fucking stupid voters.
It's their superpower...
Lying the most to their own followers.
Gee, I like your nickname "Agent Orange" better than mine, "Trumpet".
He's a toxic dump. He leaves collateral damage in his wake.
Bonhoeffer's theory of stupidity applies here. If you don't know it, take five minutes and try to familiarize yourself with it. That five minutes will save you MANY hours of wasted time.
He's right. I'd add that ignorance is curable where stupidity isn't.
Gregg,
And I might add to that wisdom...
"Ignorance can be excusable, but stupidity has NO excuse."
If not a form of developmental delay, stupidity is willful ignorance.
Bonhoeffer sees stupidity as a moral failure. Not an intellectual deficiency that can be remedied with education and better information
True, and as such "willful ignorance" is somewhat "a distinction without a difference" when compared to ignorance.
You are spot on about Bonhoeffer. Read it.
Having read Bonhoeffer's Cost of Discipleship and his biography, I'd say that stupidity is an oversimplification of his views, and it bugs me that David Brooks seems to lack a deep appreciation of the subtleties. As you may know, Bonhoeffer was in residence at Union Theological Seminary, where he would have been safe, and chose to return to Germany to try to stop Hitler from overtaking the Lutheran church. The people who supported Hitler were not all "stupid" but thought they had something to gain.
Bonhoeffer called them out for abandoning the Jesus gospel for “joyous secularism”. Reminds me of white evangelicals.
David Brooks bug me, period. He is so off-kilter.
The sad part is a family member who is deep into MAGA / Christian nationalism. When we interact -- which is seldom now -- I keep the focus on the external liberation part.
I checked it out. I couldn't find anything by that name (and I spent more than five minutes searching).
Bonhoeffer was clearly a dedicated and courageous theologian. I'm not sure what else he had to say, however.
https://youtu.be/ww47bR86wSc?si=zo9VI_MNP7e3DaWw
Thank you. That was very helpful, and after viewing it, I agree that Bonhoeffer may have a very valid point. It certainly is a compelling video and I also agree that time spent viewing it is time well spent.
I wondered about just one part. The video claims (Trump-like, actually. That is, without any evidence.) that it's a waste of time to try to convince stupid people and that only incarceration will prepare them to accept evidence. The video doesn't use that word, but the cartoons show a manacle being clamped to a "stupid" person's leg and a barred prison cell after the "stupid" person is somehow liberated from stupidity.
Isn't locking up people who don't agree with you exactly what happened to Bonhoeffer?
Hold on a bit. Bonhoeffer said that the morally stupid person had given up their autonomy -- often of their own free will. Once you give up your autonomy as a free human being, you are in a kind of prison -- a mental and spiritual one.
While a person is in that state, arguments about a political issue do no good.
Any discussion that might help the person to realize their captive state would be helpful. One "external" way that has worked is getting them physically away from their cult.
Boenhoffers Theory of Stupidity is instructive. Trying to convince, reason with, or debate the MAGA’s is futile. I don’t have the luxury of futile pursuits given the urgency of the moment
You are at the core of the matter, and I can't hold out hope. The followers literally don't see the same. I kept hearing the sympathetic talking heads lauding what a great job Harris did in the debate. Reducing T. to "....concept of a plan!" for heaven's sake! But how well I know, what any given authoritarian saw and heard: a shrill, obstreperous, nasty woman screeching at the poor guy. Maybe some had an additional race filter on, but the main default revulsion was female.
ALMOST like some some of these morons are saying, "Mom did such a TERRIBLE job of raising me to think for myself and love mankind that I can't imagine ANY WOMAN ever being in a position of power. Heck, she couldn't even keep me from voting for a name-calling school-yard bully with zero fashion sense! Why should we respect such people? Besides, Don-Gawd says their stoupit."
Agree 100%. After all as I predicted (I'm a Canadian who finds US Presidential elections strange and a bit bizarre), the USA DID elect a male Black president before a female one of any colour. That tells me that sexism in US politics "trumps" racism every time.
it won't be "seen" it will be "felt"... when he starves them, when they won't have healthcare, won't have jobs they will feel it but will be too weak to act on it..
yep. my exact reaction. Not sure about to weak to act on it though.
Well, farmers in the Midwest who sell their grain abroad or to USAID are speaking up, and I find that hopeful.
I suspect that farmers be Democracy's best resource, at this moment. (If only because they will feel the pain among the first, even though they overwhelmingly voted for Trump.)
We're seeing some pretty unexpected resources, such as the editorial page of the WSJ. (The editorial page has been more "sane" than the rest of it for years now, but having a new anti-Trump policy editorial just about EVERY DAY must be difficult for a small child like Trump to tolerate.)
American farmers are going to miss the $2 billion USAID paid them for food aid.
These viewers grew up watching trash and trying to bully people who had to work and kids whose parents taught them character. They made fun of kids who were smart, kids who were in sports, and those who followed the rules. They loved making rude remarks and getting by with them. Now they see a leader just like them and loving it.
Something needs to be FELT by his supportes as bad, and blamed on him. It is likely coming though it will be more of a slow building of destructive impacts than a single moment. I guess. Look at climate change. A slow building of destructive impacts but still no sea change of sentiment and sense of urgency.
T-cultists HATE lying...
Oh, wait. "They hate lying...that hurts them more than it hurts liberals."
And that is what is now happening in pretty much EVERY red state, as the typical BLUE STATE surpluses continue to accumulate to help protect BLUE STATE residents from Trump's hate...but not red state Trump-kissers.
I'm thinking possibly Supreme Court justices have their personal bank accounts cleaned out by identity thieves, due to Musk and his doge boys hacking into IRS and Social Security data. Suddenly, "presidential immunity" will look far less appealing.
Good one! We have no idea what's being done with the data shared with Musk. I assume more bribery or blackmail to mushroom. Creepy business!
and either does Congress. Amazing isn't it?
When Musk talks about he will make mistakes, he does not recognize that this is not Space-X or twitter.
When mistakes are made by the government people die and suffer. Nuclear security personnel are fired. Oops.
He doesn't care about such things. It's more important to him that he be the one who makes such unqualified decisions. It's called an ego trip. Unclear to me whether ketamine use is an important factor in his behavior. Of course, how he got this way not important: he needs to be stopped.
Watching some of the Parkman videos, thinking about Fred Trump diagnosed with dementia at age 85 (he lived to 93 I am thinking that Trump is much in mental decline (e.g. he walked out of the ceremony for Tulsi's swearing in) and is less and less the controller and more and more the conduit for those who have his ear, as others here have said. This sets up another worrisome dynamic. In the Presidential succession we have to work down to get to pro tempore Sen Chuck Grassley to get to someone who is not an utter fool. Beyond Chuck it's cabinet heads all the way down. Grassley is 91 . Looks like Peter Thiels gambit is paying off. The Pay Pal gang. palantier https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/jan/26/elon-musk-peter-thiel-apartheid-south-africa
That particular mistake? The "$50,000,00/$100,000,000 Hamas condoms" stupidity was NO mistake.
Though I hope that his "mistakes" can all be cleared up with a 10 SECOND Google search, like this one supposedly wasn't, I have no such hope that logic or reality will EVER insert themselves into any aspect of ANY of this evil cruelty.
He could cause a crash of the stock market that would even hurt his rich "friends".
Hear! Hear!
Maybe a video of what they really do at their "parties".
Democrats in Washington have failed to enforce the law and say that Trump and Republicans are insurrectionists destroying democracy. Democrats should enforce the federal law on insurrection, 18 U.S. Code § 2383 to stop Trump, Republicans and oligarchs such as Musk who violated the law which says they cannot hold office and can be imprisoned up to ten years. The good news is that 22 states with Democrats as governors, Democrats as attorney generals, and state courts can end the crisis by enforcing the law.
The analysis in the following paragraphs justifies and describes the 4 STEPS that can rapidly end the crisis. Trump supported the insurrection of January 6, 2021, and the insurrection which continued during the 2024 election campaign when Project 2025 was published, and Trump promised, if elected, he would act against the laws of the United States, reject the Constitution and become a dictator on Day One. Trump’s actions since losing the election in 2020 made him a criminal violator of federal law, 18 U.S. Code § 2383, which states “whoever incites, sets on foot, assists, or engages in any rebellion or insurrection against the authority of the United States or the laws thereof, or gives aid or comfort thereto shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the united states”. In addition, all citizens who voted for Trump or otherwise supported the election of Trump were also criminal violators of federal law, 18 U.S. Code § 2383.
However, attempts to remove Trump from office with conventional tactics by Democrats will fail while Trump is president because Trump will continue breaking federal laws, refuse to obey orders from federal courts, and prevent the DOJ from enforcing the law. Unconventional tactics by 22 state governments including state courts are required to end the crisis.
The Supreme Court made a huge mistake by ignoring federal law 18 U.S. Code § 2383 and the right for states to enforce that law when the Court decided against a case filed in the state of Colorado which attempted to enforce Section 3 of the 14th Amendment and block Trump, who was an insurrectionist, from holding office. States can legally attempt to remove Trump, an insurrectionist, from office by enforcing federal law 18 U.S. Code § 2383 and applying other rights granted to the states by the Constitution.
STEP 1 – In 2025, 21 states which have a Democrats as governor, attorney general and secretary of state plus Pennsylvania which has a Democrats as governor and attorney general, the governor and attorney general should use their authority and file lawsuits to have judges in their state courts reject all votes cast for Trump/Vance in those states as a violation of federal law 18 U.S. Code § 2383 and block all citizens in the respective states who voted for Trump in 2024 from ever voting again in those states because they were criminal violators of federal law 18 U.S. Code § 2383. The secretary of state in those 22 states should be ordered to do a recount of votes and determine new Electoral College vote totals. The Electoral College votes in five critical swing states would change from Trump to Harris. – Arizona, Nevada, Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. In a recount, there would be enough Electoral College votes in the 22 states to elect Harris/Walz in a new national election.
STEP 2 – In 2025, the 22 states should file a lawsuit in a federal court demanding that a new presidential election should be held in 2026 in addition to the normal House and Senate elections because all the votes for Trump in those 22 states were illegal and have been rejected in a recount of votes in those 22 states. The five states which would change their Electoral votes after the recount would be Arizona (11), Nevada (6), Wisconsin (10), Michigan (15), and Pennsylvania (19) with a total (61). In 2024, Trump won 312 Electoral votes with Harris at 226. The new total after the recount would be Trump (261) and Harris (287). Harris would win a new election. The new election should be ordered to be held in 2026. If the order by the federal court is challenged and appealed, the lawsuit would be heard by the Supreme Court. If the Supreme Court rejects ordering a new election, a new election would be held in 2028.
STEP 3 - In 2025, the governors in those 22 states should order the National Guard in their respective state to immediately arrest and retain all violators of 18 U.S. Code § 2383 because they voted for Trump and are either members of Congress (House and Senate) or members of state legislatures. Violators would be criminally prosecuted in state courts and permanently removed from office after conviction. New elections would replace arrested members of Congress and state legislatures. The divided state legislatures in Arizona, Nevada, Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania would become totally Democratic. The change in federal representatives and senators should create a new Congress with a Democratic majority in the House and a Democratic majority in the Senate. The Senate would go from 47 Democrats & 53 Republicans to 49 Democrats and 48 Republicans until new elections. After new elections, the Senate would be 52 Democrats and 48 Republicans because all Republicans who voted for Trump in states other than Kentucky would be blocked from voting. In addition, the governors in Maryland, Colorado, and New Jersey should order the National Guard in their respective states to immediately arrest justices in the Supreme Court who are residents of their states for violating 18 U.S. Code § 2383 by supporting the election of Trump, then have the attorney general prosecute them in state courts, and imprison them following conviction by have judges in state courts. Four conservative justices would be removed from the Court changing the political membership on the Court from 6 conservatives and 3 liberals down to 2 conservatives and 3 liberals with four vacancies. Trump may try to replace these justices but the new Democratic majority in the Senate would block all replacements.
STEP 4 – Depending on the decision by the Supreme Court to order a new election in 2026, a new national election would be held in 2026 or at least in 2028 that would elect Harris/Walz together as president/vice-president. On January 20, 2027, or 2029, Harris/Walz would be installed as president/vice-president and an entirely new executive administration of the federal government would be formed. Harris would appoint four new justices to the Supreme Court confirmed by the Senate. Harris would then invoke the Insurrection Act and have the military arrest and remove the remaining 2 justices on the Supreme Court and arrest and remove all remaining Republicans in Congress who supported the election of Trump as a criminal violation of federal law 18 U.S. Code § 2383. Harris would appoint 6 new justices to the Supreme Court who would be confirmed by the Senate. A new federal law in would permanently block citizens in any state who voted for Trump in 2024 from ever voting again in federal or state elections. Following elections in 2030, all 100 members in the Senate would be Democrats and 50 states would have only Democrats in state governments.
I agree. What IS the straw that will break this camel's back??? We have lost the federal law enforcement agency to Trump’s power. There is no one willing to enforce the laws he has broken. Congress may as well go home if they don't do anything about this. He will be coming for them soon enough anyway. The presidency and parliament were steam rolled by Hitler, and Germany's constitution was destroyed. The same thing is happening here step by step.
I totally agree with her opinion, and have for as long as I've participated on this forum:
https://youtu.be/wFmTOnjUxF0?si=tFb4NVBCxiP_K64i
Here's the thing. It's consistent with the "ostrich" view. Democrats should abandon the old "We must disagree without being disagreeable" doctrine.
For example, I hunger and thirst for someone interviewing the Oval Office convict or one of his paid political mouthpieces to stand up, point at them, then yell: "You're nothin' but a goddam lyin' sack of shit! Now get you're lyin' ass out of my sight and off my goddam sound stage!" That, for me, would be a fantasy interview and the gold standard for how those assholes should be approached.
I'd also like to see congressional Democrats, as well as all in state government, to be ready to ignore Roberts to stand up, and shout "you're a goddam liar" to MAGAts puking alternate realities. I'd also like for them to concealed carry a kosh into chambers to use in knocking the livin' shit out of any MAGAt mouthpiece that would presume to physically attack them.
CRYPTO just may solve ALL America's problems (as long as WE don't also fall to this "chain letter" scam):
"Here’s How Donald Trump Has Become The First Unofficial ‘Crypto President’ "
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trump-crypto-president_n_67b46fefe4b046fcb34071d1
CREEPY AND CRYPTO! This truly IS a historic time!
He has by now played that ultimate last card. What is absent at this moment is the means and motive to activate that 'corrective mechanism.' A sequence of ever increasing offenses add to the larger pile, but it started with one. The actual final one will be known when it leads to the actions that will address and reverse these abominations.
Great post. Good questions.
I’m sure Trump will try and get the Treasury Department to mint new bills with him on it, maybe eating a hamburger, sitting on a toilet. It might read. “ life has never been easy for me but now I’m Rich”, with an image of him fellating a microphone on the other side.
Either that Mike, or he'll get the Department of the Interior to refashion Mount Rushmore with the images of him, Barron, Eric, and 'Dauphin Don'!...It's far too hard to wish you, our American cousins, a happy President's Day, while we'd rather send you all Australian eggs, given that you need to keep THEM closer! Hang in there USA, while you're better than him!
Fortunately, Mount Rushmore doesn't have room for another image, and attempting to carve one would destabilize and likely destroy the images that are there.
Maureen, he wouldn't care. He would be glad they were destroyed! It is now, has been and will ever be all about himself. He literally sucks the oxygen from everyone! You cannot look anywhere and not see his stupid orange toad of a face screaming at you on tv, magazines and signage!
He'd simply dynamite the whole thing, while putting in an artificial replacement mountain with the dynasty faces being carved by that vulgar 'artist', Jeff Koons!
Apropos of Rushmore side-track: my nominee for addition would be Dr. Robert Atkins.Massive cultural influencer for good. I am astounded every day that you hear something about "lo-carb!" or "high-protein," yet never hear that pioneer's name. Tragic.
Remember when Trump used to claim that "testing caused Covid"?
Well, he just took his revenge for being ridiculed over such an asinine statement.
Or...
He actually believes that without testing, there will NEVER be diseases running rampant in America.
(Of course it's the first one! It's the far batter method for providing the CHAOS that Putin has demanded of him.)
-------------------------------------
"Hundreds of employees at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have been fired by the Trump administration, including “disease detectors”.
Among the 750 CDC employees notified on Saturday via email were Laboratory Leadership Service fellows, informally known as ‘disease detectors,’ who trained public health laboratory staffers and supported outbreak response efforts.
“If you’re not testing, you don’t know what disease is there,” a LLS fellow who received a notice of termination told NBC News.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2025/feb/18/donald-trump-elon-musk-eric-adams-us-politics-live-news
?
That's the point. Then, his would be the ONLY face on Mt Rushmore.
Thank you, Marcus, and Australia.
Given that we can't send you guys eggs, Barbara, this instead might make for an alternative gift, while in recalling the great Blaise Pascal's observation that "man's problems stem from his inability to sit quietly in a room" (sic.), really sit down and genuinely listen to it, while may it give all of you there across the pond, courage and strength in the months and, I regret to say, years ahead, as 'we' continue to ever fight this Beowulf: https://youtu.be/GdmFfGHpgj8?si=qMwH9K55uF9xiGml
"We will fight shoulder to shoulder, every day, and we will win in the end. The truth will prevail. Love will prevail over hate. Democracy will prevail over fascism."
Meidas Mighty = Truth, Facts, Empathy, Compassion, Strength, Sanity, Inclusiveness, Resilience, Diversity, Understanding, Intelligence, Morals, Values, Support, Determination, Equality, Patriotism, Community. TRUTH TO POWER.
That is why Beethoven is so important in moments such as this! Best etc.
Yes, but I am sure that some Republican out there is composing a funeral march for democracy.
I'm curious about who Trump will promote as his OWN REPLACEMENT.
"DJTJ", or perhaps Bannon (with a law change setting minimum age of "18".)
Or is it more likely NO ONE, because each generation may produce several "god-like" beings...
But only ONE TRUE GAWD!!!
(I feel sick just typing that.)
Barron
All the more convinced to agree after seeing this...
"NYU GOP Group's President Resigns After Calling Fellow Student Barron Trump An 'Oddity'"
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/nyu-barron-trump-college-republicans_n_67b49d0be4b046fcb34097f9
I saw a better article where this CR group was calling Bannon some "perfectly aligned with our values" sort of thing, w/o ever reading anything he has publicly written, or any public speech (cause there are none!) Sorry I wasn't able to find it. in HISTORY.
Trump contemplating his own replacement? Impossible!
Yes and no.
If he can be convinced that his primary task as president is to play golf EVERY day (which can't be a distant thought, considering that most of it goes right into his pocket), then he'll at least need someone to sit in "the chair" and keep the Diet Coke button working properly.
Didn't some Florida congresswoman already offer a bill to make his birthday a national holiday? Please call it national "grift day".
Are you sure that your 'Florida congresswoman' isn't from Georgia? (i.e. you know who!)
Agree : a true traitor's traitor.'
Actually, it's as a "public" holiday.
But as far as I can tell, that's just to prevent public employees from getting paid for it.
Oh my God, Mike, my eyes! my eyes! I cannot erase the picture you painted! I fixed it by adding to the toilet a giant flushing mechanism with a ginormous hand fixing to push the handle with the words We The People on the wrist! Whew! Now I can sleep at night!
They can come “pre-rolled” for snorting which there’s no shortage of in this administration.
Probably true! They act like guys hopped up!
It's all in the wrist! That is the secret. We the people cannot be limp wristed.
Hey, orange man! Your face was molded from fossilized poo and your maggot riddled body is fetid even the lowest form of fungus refuses to grow and feast on it. Hell won't be hot enough for you. There, I feel better now! America, strengthen your wrists and flush him into oblivion!
I heard he is not nice to be near.
He stinks to high heaven, Laurie! The smell caused Adam Kinzinger's eyes to water! That rotten stench is permeating the White House. Our next valid president will have to send in extermination crews to clear it out!
Hahaha, I guess he just really stinks!
Who would be surprised at any of that after what we've seen so far!
Not many would be surprised. Imagine having him just disappear; like he never even happened. Service Master style.
MOSCOW (The Borowitz Report)—Vladimir Putin has entered into negotiations with Elon Musk over the ownership of Donald J. Trump, the Kremlin confirmed on Tuesday.
Those negotiations, however, are proving contentious, as the Russian president is arguing that, having fully owned Trump between 2017 and 2021, he is entitled to a majority stake now.
For his part, Musk claims that he purchased Trump outright by spending nearly $300 million on his 2024 campaign.
In one heated exchange, Musk reportedly told the Russian leader, “You’re being greedy, Vlad—you already own Tulsi.”
https://www.borowitzreport.com/p/putin-agrees-to-negotiate-with-musk?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=2337656&post_id=157106016&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=ntqz&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email
(I'm confused. I thought BOROWITZ was satire, but this is obviously 100% real.)
"Priceless"! Thanks foofaraw & Chiquita(ARF!)
Mike , it has to be a Golden toilet!
At ANY other time or place in history, all the way from the apes banging on the Monolith with femurs right up until 2015...
This would have been SO very funny.
But that monster has ruined EVERYTHING!!!
Not quite everything. now we know what can go wrong. We must demand better leaders.and no bribes, no dirty (or clean) money buying our government.
Sure I always knew we could have a corrupt President. But a corrupt Supreme Court, and a GOP majority in Congress willing to throw American under the bus (not to mention endangering their own self-preservation)? I did not know the extent of the rot or the widespread propaganda that would spring up. Nor did most people, including even Mitch McConnell.
Steve reed " some "trifecta" huh? Not for most of the humans! He has no mandate, and his "best buddy" is also null and void.
You are correct, who expected a majority who happened to be disqualified in Congress? George Santos wad the test, completely disqualified even wildly rejected and protesting his being in office after lying on his resume, lying about everything, and they could not get rid of him. It seems like everything depends on that two thirds majority to pass in Congress. There are those little rules that keep us from getting legislation and even enforcing the rules , that are like munitions, ready to interfere with ending the insanity and carnage we face. All placed so cunningly and effectively. Some day there will be a real revolution when we, the humans will refuse to obey these roadblocks these defeatist bombs that keep us down. We remain at the mercy of our illegitimate enemies . They must go. Whatever it takes.
Mitch McConnell had polio as a younger Mitch. Must have been a bridge too far to entertain the idea of banning a valuable life saving vaccine, but he didn't mind stacking the court. With all three branches mudged up with corruption, we are in deep trouble.But humans are protesting and we have the real power. The more of us resist their crap. The better off we will be.unite and fight 😤 ⁸ and we will win !
It is their ideology that is corrupting the presidency.
You're right, Laurie.
NOTHING he can do will end the sense of commitment that the "good half" of America feels now (to varying degree, of course.)
Mike : Or he will appear on a $2..00 bill looking saintly and dressed immaculately. Maybe even with a halo.and his fake Bible upside down.
Here's my candidate for ANY denomination bill (but especially the $100!)...
"This is why you fight these cowards.
The moment you stand up to them, they crumble.
Homan has nothing. The Fourth Amendment is clear and I am well within my duties to educate people of their rights.
He can threaten me with jail & call names all he wants. He’s got nothing else."
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-tom-homan-coward_n_67b4617fe4b0765f4479853a
AOC, I do LOVE you! (You make it so easy!)
Oof! Thanks for reminding me of THAT. 🙄😂 To be fair, Bunkerboy has spent It's ENTIRE LIFE felating others.
Try to envision a wondrous tree on a hillside with the sun setting in the distance behind its spreading limbs. This scene isn't that difficult to imagine, unless you can't see. How does a blind individual picture things in their mind if they have never seen them in the first place? How does a sightless person dream? How can an individual whose eyes have been darkened since birth construct a memory from a past they have never seen? The next time I bump into a Trump supporter I'll have to ask them; what faint photon of light do you see in the darkness of Trump's lies? The blackness of which we witnessed during the half time of the last Super Bowl. That's one chocolate Forrest would have gladly left in the box.
That is EXQUISITE, Donald! Are you a writer by trade (or past-time)?
What did he do during the Super Bowl? I was SO HOPING he would be assassinated, but alas, they had too much security there!
I fear it's too late. Even if trump croaks now, the 'bad guys' are already in control with a nefarious agenda, wrenching apart the fabric that holds the country together, torching the economy and alienating all of their (former) allies. Sadly, republicans in office are dispensing the matches to these pyromaniacs (so sad). Isolationism? To what end?
Klare--At the current speed Mr. Trump is acquiring enemies, his future will be in our past.
Sooner or later voters will realize that Trump is for himself, not for them. We must encourage the media to shine a light on his corruption.
I’ve found that they choose at least one thing trump says and they latch onto it like mother’s milk. It doesn’t matter what else he says or does. It’s actually easy for them as they tune out everything else.
It seems to me Trump has hooked their child, so mother's milk would be spot on. Love is blind kind of thing.
AI:
In the context of Transactional Analysis (TA), "hooking someone's child" refers to a psychological concept where an individual unconsciously triggers or "hooks" another person's Child ego state. The Child ego state is one of the three ego states in TA, along with the Parent and Adult ego states. The Child represents feelings, emotions, and behaviors that are replayed from childhood.
When someone "hooks" another person's Child, they are essentially evoking emotional responses or behaviors that are rooted in that person's childhood experiences. This can happen through specific words, tones of voice, or actions that resonate with the person's past.
Thanks for your rather poetic comment, 'Good Donald' (as opposed to 'Bad Donald'!), while 'he/it' makes Warren G. Harding look like a saint! Further to your Socratic questionings, one
might now ask: How did so many of your compatriots (assuming that you're there in the US) come to believe the images they saw on the wall when they allowed themselves to be tied up in Plato's cave; indeed those shadows that have now come back to bite, claw, and chew?
I used to ask the (I thought) very reasonable question, "Do blind people dream in images? And are the images sometimes in color?"
The answer was generally, "How would we know but to ask, and how would a blind person even KNOW if they dream in color, or what images even are, with no basis for comparison?"
Maybe that's a means of understanding these T-cultists, who by the own admission (as followers of a hate-spewing cult leader) can't "see" empathy, or any positive emotion.
How would they know? What might they compare their feelings to, other than by merely being a mirror to hate?
He is not even trying to hide his corruption anymore because he can claim presidential immunity and know ultimately the corrupt six supremes will defend his actions. Who is left to stop this despicable looting of the country and the unfathomable loss of faith in the former United States?
Myra Evan’s, the pino (president-in-name-only) has done his part to make sure that mafia-style leaders are no longer shamed and can reign as president/monarch openly.
What happens if he refuses to leave the Whitehouse when he loses the next election?? If there is one!!!!
I'd guess he'll spend these next years writing his name on EVERYTHING in the White House.
As every 5-year-old schoolyard bully knows...
"Once it has your name on it, IT'S YOURS!"
what are they doing right now to ensure he wins the next election
Mitch Rapp ‘im
Bribery of elected officials became legal with the decision of Buckley vs. Valero, where the Supreme Court ruled that the Federal Elections Campaign Act of 1971 was unconstitutional, because it went against the First Amendment, and that more money meant more speech. This was further enhanced with the Citizens United vs. FEC, where it was ruled that restrictions on corporate spending for elections was against the First Amendment.
This meant that corporations could spend as much as they want on a political campaign. Corporations are not going to give funds to a candidate that goes against the whims of the corporations. This encourages people running for office to do whatever corporations want them to do, when it comes to legislation regulating these corporations.
As far as I am concerned, this is legal bribery. It continues today with the Republicans wanting to deregulate corporations and privatize services that are run by the government.
And now with the current administration, it has lead to a pure fascist coup. This must be stopped if we are to have an actual democracy in the US
Both parties are guilty of caving to corporate overloads. Subsidies are bullshit. They have no oversight at all. They both do it. That's why we are here. Republicans say no to everything except their stock portfolios. Democrats clean up every recession, but yet pass the minimal carrots to keep us engaged. We shouldn't be here. Trust is a luxury.
I will agree that to some extent both parties are guilty, but not equally.
Definitely, not equally. Democrats keep bringing a piece of cake to a knife fight. We knew this was coming. There needed to be a united front in place. A unified message. Divided we will fall. This is unacceptable. This wasn't a surprise.
the Parties are not equivalent. You're not suggesting that are you?
I believe we must keep telling ourselves the truth. WE ARE THE COUNTRY, WE ARE THE GOVERNMENT. Those that govern only represent us. WE elected them. 89 MILLION DID NOT VOTE. TRUMP WON BY 2.1 MILLION, HARDLY A MANDATE. What we are experiencing is as ancient as Julius Cesar's Rome. "Are you not entertained?" Trump has stunned us. We have safeguards to leverage. The first is the truth. Communicating with each other to create a language of community messaging the facts. KEEP MESSAGING. It's work but the alternative is unacceptable. RAISE YOUR VOICE. The truth must be be a drum beat. DID YOU VOTE FOR THIS?? We are unsafe. In business, you can innovate and break a few things, a moonshot. In government, breaking a few things can kill people. Service and profit work differently.
Eileen, as you spoke of truth, I imagined it lying dead and limp on the ground. But as I read on, you helped to ease the dejectedness I feel today. Thank you --- it's so important to continue positivity and sometimes even kick each other in the arse.
Eileen, and yours words about running gov like a business were excellent. They need tobe on loop on a nationwide loudspeaker.
THANK you for your encouragement. You've encouraged me to reach out to a piece of art in a yard sign! THANKS!!! I needed that!
Eileen, you're welcome. Keep going. Your words are powerful and they have a good rhythm. Are you familiar with the free newsletter from FrameLab that discusses effective political messaging from Messaging Guru, George Lakoff and Others?
No! But I will! Thank you!
Kind of looks like they’re trying to get away with as much as they can as quickly as they can, doesn’t it? While the courts will tie up some of it, Trump and Musk are trying to grab what they can, and break what they’ve been told to before. a handful of Republicans find their spines and start #ImpeachmentNumber3.
Say, Robert, do you think there’s a chance that the David Joyce of Ohio gambit might be rolled out again? You know me… always grasping for whatever thread of hope I can. I can live with being Todd Quixote because one of these days that old windmill is going to fall flat!
I can't for the life of me figure out HOW they are getting away with Musk being there all the time???!!! Has all of Congress lost its collective mind??? This is the craziest shit and they just keep letting Trump get away with anything and everything!!! Personally, my most fervent hope, wish, prayer and dream is that Trump dies a horribly painful and expedient death! Today would not be too soon!!!!!!!! In the next hour would not be too soon!
Agent Orange is doing what Leonard Leo tells him him to do. The white Christian Nationalist oligarchs are running the show. His rallies were nonsensical. He was a babbling idiot. Now, through his ear piece, they tell him what to say. Or he'll read it. And people think he's got this. 🙄 All they have to do is dangle shiny objects in front of him. Malignant narcissistic psychopaths don't fucking change. They die. Irrelevance is the only cure.
Certainly, Leo has been used as he has wished to be used.
But I only see Trump kissing the RUSSIAN donkey, not an American one who can offer little but money. (Putin offers EVERYTHING Trump wants, and everything he sees himself as. And all Trump has to do in return is to provide the thing both he and Putin want for America: OWNERSHIP!)
Now Trump's only real task is to decide whether he wants to share power with Putin, or "...maybe now I can be even BIGGER...and RICHER...than Putin! And with better RATINGS!"
Absolutely. Putin's and Shitpants money laundering relationship goes back decades. He sees Putin as head of the International cartel. Putin runs his country like a Mob boss. Taking cuts from his oligarchs, but keeps them out of his business. There's a name in the Mafia for ass kissers, cigarette holders. Shitpants needs his cigarette holders (Republicans) to keep him relevant. The corruption between these two criminals is epic. We are witnessing Shitpants daddy issues. His mastery of manipulation is mind blowing. He convinced half a nation and a government, he knew better.
There's a series on Prime and Tubi called 'Mafia and Banks'. It's a 3 part series on how Cartels run the show. That kept me up for a few nights.
Lisa,
I just came across this brand-new article...
"Will Donald Trump Make Money Laundering Great Again?
The US was on the verge of major anti-corruption reform. Then Trump took office."
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/02/donald-trump-corporate-transparency-act-foreign-corrupt-practics-act-money-laundering/
Thanks, I'll check it out.
Well said!!
Thank you, Lisa.
Trump desperately wants a martyr right now. Rather, one that is NOT him.
Musk has a protection circle, each one of which is expected to accept arrest in the process of protecting their Musk-GAWD. And I can only imagine Trump thinks that's PRETTY COOL! (His "protection circle" is all the way almost to south Florida, and NOBODY wants to be that far from escape, even WITH a circle of babbling rich idiots.)
I can imagine Trump sees Musk in what he imagines to be a typical "martyr" task: To strengthen Trump's ratings, without receiving any of the boost themselves ('cause he's DEAD!)
It's hilarious that thousands will break the law and go to jail for him. Like it's a bucket list thing. This is Jim Jones on the world stage. When all of this blows up and it will, Shitpants will say, "I don't know Elon. I never met the guy."
I've little doubt that if Trump felt the LAST image every human would have is of his face, and the LAST sound every human heard was his voice...
He would gladly push the button to destroy the world, knowing that “He who dies being universally known for having created the greatest amount of pointless misery, wins.”
Folks, WE HAVE A WINNER!
"Tragically, We Now Know Exactly What “American Exceptionalism” Means to the Monsters of the Far-Right, Including White Evangelicals
The Legacy of Donald Trump Appears Destined to Transcend That of Jesus…and Not by Accident"
https://medium.com/@foofaraw/tragically-we-now-know-exactly-what-american-excellence-means-to-the-monsters-of-the-far-right-e06dd8b1b3df
I'm not much of a believer, but what you are writing is shameful.
I'll presume from your bio that you mean that the behavior of Trump and his GOP cultists is what is shameful.
Thank you, Klare. I couldn't agree more!
And a guy with <10 brain cells will call "Leon" something like "Weed-Head Baby-Making Rainman", and claim that he (TRUMP!!!) has never met anyone stupider.
The Trump cult would survive, and there are individuals ready to take his place. Complex problems seldom have simple solutions. Our best hope is that he will discredit himself, which it appears he already is doing.
Yes. The GOP in Congress have lost their collective mind, though there was not much there to start.
AI:
The phrase "madness of crowds" often refers to situations where collective behavior leads to irrational or extreme actions. This concept has been explored in various contexts, including economics, sociology, and psychology. Here are some common causes:
Groupthink: When a group values harmony and coherence over accurate analysis, leading to poor decision-making.
Social Influence: People may follow the actions or beliefs of others, especially in uncertain situations, leading to a herd mentality.
Emotional Contagion: Emotions can spread quickly through a crowd, amplifying feelings like fear, excitement, or anger.
Deindividuation: In a crowd, individuals may lose their sense of individual identity and moral responsibility, leading to behavior they wouldn't normally exhibit alone.
Information Cascades: When people make decisions based on the actions or opinions of others rather than their own information, leading to a rapid spread of behaviors or beliefs.
These factors can contribute to phenomena such as financial bubbles, riots, and mass hysteria.
This is the rationale for Trump's rallies.
Not all of Congress, just the MAGA fearing Republicans.
and the republicans who caved and let maga in. So yes they all have
Indeed, all the Republicans live in fear of being primaried. But if there will be no more elections, what does that matter. Grow some spines.
maybe they should fear more a repeat of Jan 6th in some form
Yes, including someone who was once among the dissenters, Tim Rice, and who was once my congressperson. Is being a good person (sometimes) enough?
Well, it's not much, but it ain't "nuthin" either!
"Tom Rice — Good Guy with a…Tragically Trump-Centric Agenda"
https://medium.com/@foofaraw/tom-rice-good-guy-with-a-tragically-trump-centric-agenda-384e0b8e26a5
I think most in Congress are frightened: only a few standouts remain, like Raskin, Warren, Sanders, AOC, and a few others. As Michael Moore suggested yesterday --there maybe a plan underway. I want to be pleasantly surprised and overjoyed by it!
Do you have a link to that, Joan?
And here’s a similar ploy, written from the perspective of a House Republican who is unwilling to let his nation go further down the drain, or even worse, continue to be responsible for not stopping it. And if he resists now, he may be a prominent player in politics after Trump implodes, is impeached, and dozens of trials start.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/2/5/2301773/-Could-a-Handful-of-Reps-from-the-SecretSaneGOPCaucus-Kneecap-Trump-s-Overreach-Via-Censure
And maybe our phone calls and protests outside home offices in his district will “inspire“ him into becoming a member of the #SecretSaneGOPCaucus.
Or guilt him into ending the #SquanderingAmericasGreatness…
Here’s what I mean about the David Joyce gambit:
https://open.substack.com/pub/toddtelford/p/dems-can-kneecap-maga-by-supporting?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
And maybe our phone calls and protests outside home offices in his district will “inspire“ him into becoming a member of the #SecretSaneGOPCaucus.
Or guilt him into ending the #SquanderingAmericasGreatness…
That's basically what this sham of a president is doing! Bribery, or exchanging a political favor for money or an IOU sometime in the future, is the orange man's stock and trade! I'll scratch your back but in return you will not only scratch my back but include a yacht, house, statue, money or whatever the orange man's whim is at the moment! It is so blatantly obvious and disgusting! I apologize to our probably former friends and allies around the world! Many of you know he got this position through lies, cheating and manipulating the votes. We did not vote for him and would love to see his sorry ass rotting away at Gitmo in solitary confinement! Once again, the supposed leader of our country is showing our children the exact opposite of what they should aspire to as they become adults! Lord, I absolutely hate what is happening to my country right now!
Hang in there,Peggy!! From New Zealand, we are thinking of you all!!
WOW! Thank you, Marie! It is easy right now for many of us to feel isolated and alone from our friends and allies around the world. To tell you the truth, this is NOT us! We Americans are NOT LIKE that orange man and his scum occupying the White House. True Americans are fighting like hell to stop this horror show and I believe that when the dust settles, we will come out victorious. Please keep us in your thoughts. It is easier to continue this fight knowing that there are those around the world hoping we are victorious!
Beautifully said, Peggy! You are far more proficient at International Relations than our whole dipstick cabinet of Life's Nincompoops.... diplomacy ...you have the inate gift for....Goodnight...my Paddy Tuppence ( from the far vistas of the Rainbow Bridge) and I wish you & yours sweet dreams...and the scent of strong fresh coffee in the morning to start your day!☺️
Thanks, Lynn! You rock!
"Many of you know he got this position through lies, cheating and manipulating the votes. "
The lie here is the one that people are telling themselves.
When Joe Biden beat Trump in 2020, he said that one of the main goals of his presidency would be to "turn the page" on Trumpism. It was Biden's desire to cling to power that kept him in a race he NEVER should have been in -- and finally had to leave just over 100 days before election day.
NOTHING could have given the Trump cult a bigger gift -- especially after all the war crimes in Gaza and Lebanon (in violation of US LAW) -- and now the page has been turned to a new chapter of Trump.
Read it and weep.
I live among these people, and have for most of my life.
NOTHING will motivate these cretins like hate. Not even money, or promises of health care, jobs, or lower prices.
They've been told since their first Sunday School lesson that "FAITH is enough!"
So OF COURSE they think that their "faith" in Trump comes directly from God, and that Trump is is God's NEW SON, and Jesus needs to be kicked out the back door until he exchanges his rags and sandals for Gucci.
Yup, truth hurts.
Sooner or later voters will come to resent his ego centrism and corruption.
I hope, Victor.
But I fear that when Trump's cultists look in the mirror, it's Trump they see. Not themselves. And that didn't change a bit even when his lies cost the lives of hundreds of thousands of their beloved family members to Covid.
But what it did do was make them each complicit in the completely unnecessary deaths of all those people. Only by continuing to believe in Trump do they protect themselves from the truth about their own part in the death of someone whose only crime had been to NOT be as loved by their own family members as was Trump.
I am not sure that your optimistic conclusion is justified, namely that Trump will overstep at one point and his misdeeds will catch up with him. As you and Justice Sotomayer point out, he has been given carte blanche by the Supreme Court to do whatever he wants, justifying it as an official action. Indeed, the whole justice system of the United States is being corrupted systematically, as witness the Eric Adams situation. I believe that Trump is more likely to die of a heart attack brought on by one too many MacDonald's hamburger than to be brought to justice.
or fade into senility. Where does that leave things? In the hands of JD Vance and his techbro buddies.
Musk will be around a long time.
No, I agree with many posters here. Trumpet is so blind to the effects of what he is doing that one of them (or more) will finally smack him in the head, and bring legitimate law enforcement officers to the White House and drag him out in handcuffs. I'd even watch Fox News to see that event!
The House and the Senate have turned into crickets. The Fourth Estate sits on their hands. Some say protest is useless but use of the 1st Amendment is within our collective grasp right now. Enumerating bad acts might seem old fashioned but Madame Defarge had her utility.
Let us hope we do not come to "Defarge World." Defarge would be more like Timothy McVeigh's mom helping him load the fertilizer. Did you really take a look at that sentiment?
Trump is going to make as much money as he can for as long as he can! The only good thing is that most of the money will be coming from the ignorant people who voted for him because he is their savior!
Sadly the money will come from the rest of us too. He is looting the country for the benefit of himself and his uber rich buddies.
Oddly, money only presents as Trump's "grand plan" if the past 10 years are ignored.
If Trump was more "Scarecrow-like" (brainy), he might have sacrificed HUGE sums for the power he knew he might one day have.
But he's FAR too stupid for any thinking, much less long-term planning involving half a century.
It's been a widely known fact for a long time that if Trump had simply invested his inheritance in safe, long-term bonds, he'd be FAR RICHER now than he is. But it wasn't money he wanted, it was to FILL the LARGEST SPACE IN EXISTENCE...
His EGO. And over the past decade, that space has only increased in size.
No, I think money is more the means to an end (though I'm sure he's rather be RICHER THAN MUSK, and it must be difficult for him to feel so confused. (Usually he simply feels SUPERIOR, 24/7/365.))
If it was not clear that the U.S. of the 1970s no longer exists, this is just one more data point. It is time to move on and found a new country. The colonists faced somewhat similar corruption with the Royal franchises.
"'..That’s tantamount to repealing a law. Trump has no qualms about doing this, but it rides roughshod over Congress and the separation of powers that’s a keystone of our Constitution..."
I don't get it. When you make a law, the conditions for violating it must be clear. So if a law is broken, the violator must be arrested. Period. In this democracy, the separation of powers cannot be violated. The president must be impeached immediately if he does.
Why do we read so much about the actions of the new regime being 'probably' unconstitutional and such? Why is it necessary to file lawsuits when the president is clearly breaking the law? Filing a lawsuit against Trumpf is like fighting a pig anyway. In Europe, if you want a job done for the government by a third party, you are required to get quotes from several parties so that you can choose the best offer. How is it possible that in the US a department that doesn't even exist gets an assignment that involves trillions of dollars with no vetting of the contractors, no legitimate approved plan, no oversight, no reporting to approve or disapprove, no accountability, no conditions at all? Any agent who wants to enter my home has to prove that he has the legitimacy and authority to do so. All actions of "DOGE" amount to unsollicited private trespassing. These DOGE people should be arrested on the spot if they enter a government building. What is happening in the US is completely unbelievable to me.
It's completely unbelievable to me also and I was born here and have lived almost 70 years here. I also have read every single word of the Constitution (a long time ago).
It's also completely unbelievable to me that Trump ever was elected at all.
There has to be a credible deterrent. Laws are useless in no one enforces them.
And it appears there is no one to enforce.
It is strange trying to get in the (supposedly elite/bright) heads of all the self-styled "conservative" groupies, when the obtuseness when it comes to perfectly foreseeable outcomes is so tragically unbelievable. It begs psychological prognosis: who on the "Supreme" Court (must put it in sad quotes now) will fall back on, nothing to do with them: who will be able to comprehend; there was a fundamental good to "the general welfare" intended by the Founders, and Project 2025 is not it?
Over the past week, two images stick with me. The first is "gazpacho" border goon Homan threatening to have AOC arrested because her website has bilingual instructions for the people living in her district to deal with the ICE police.
The second is seeing a clip of Homan on FOX & Friends having a good old time with Eric Adams. Adams is going to do everything Homan wants.
The BIG problem in all of this is the governor of New York -- who has the authority to REMOVE this corrupt mayor. Every tick of that clock makes the Democratic tolerance of corruption all the more evident.
The Governor needs the people to rally behind her. I suggest fear is stalling her. We'll find out.
Like Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson said (paraphrasing), "this allows the President to have a crime syndicate "